NTS&B Merry Christmas 2010

Another year has passed, and the layout is still in process. I'd like to wish everyone a merry Christmas, and happy and safe New Years.

NTS&B Ya mon, the Lego Jamaica Station's open for business

When our lone construction worker finally got off smoke break, the bricks and tiles started flying like you wouldn't believe. The station was up in a flash, and now customers are enjoying the brand new sparkling clean station.

Thank you, Mr Cross. (Our lone construction worker)

NTS&B First (annual?) Piedmont Pilgrimage

Since this was the first time we participated in the Piedmont Pilgrimage, I decided to write this note to describe our experience for anyone who is thinking about trying it in the future. We had right at 50 people attend, but it was fairly evenly spread over the 4 hours. The maximum at one time was about 10 people. Everyone was very friendly. There were discussions about their layouts and mine, and many demonstrations on the few accessories that are currently on the layout. We had 4 or 5 people (including myself, Kathy, my son and his wife, and Ron S part time) working the open house. There were 2 people stationed on the main floor guiding people and making sure everyone signed in. The other 2 or 3 people stayed in the train room to operate the layout and chat with visitors. Having 3 people is the least I would recommend, while 4 and 5 worked out really well.

The trains ran for almost the whole 4 hours, with only 2 or 3 5 minute breaks when no guests were there. Reactions to the layout was lots of smiles, a couple “Wows”, and even one highly excited “This is awesome, I’ve never seen anything like this in my whole life” at the top of the voice of one of our young club members. There were only 2 train accidents, which to my sons delight were both caused by me. Luckily no trains hit the floor, or even made it off the table. The fast acting #91 breakers were a life-saver, since they shut down power as soon as the derailment occurred, so the trains didn’t keep driving themselves right off the layout (Thanks Train Dr. Ted).

We planned snacks and drinks for about 50 people. The weather was great, so we set up the food on tables on the back patio outside the train room. Out of the 24 bottles of water, my son was the only one that drank one. Only 1 bottle of soda and 2 bags of cookies were opened, so we had way too much food and drink. Three of the 4 boxes of donut holes were devoured, but I’m fairly sure it was mostly by the ‘help’. We stopped at another layout in the afternoon, and they had a bowl of Halloween candy. That appears to be a much more reasonable approach. The good news is my wife has some extra cookies for her quilting club meeting.

The overall experience was fantastic. We had numerous small children, which were all very well behaved and supervised. A couple people even talked about wanting to come back next year. So, would I do it again next year? If we are invited again, and depending on the timing and other commitments, You Betcha :)

NTS&B Jamaica Station Lights

The Under Ground Lego Station has been re-named to Jamaica Station, in honor of the Station on Long Island. Construction of the station is underway but going slow, since there is only 1 construction worker. The LED lights are now in, waiting for the station, which may come even sooner than planned.

The lonely construction worker hard at work

A confused engineer stops at the in-process station

Panel of the station LEDs (Bottom/Front view). LEDs and fixtures are from a string of Christmas LEDs

Panel of the station LEDs (Top/Back view)

NTS&B Does the NTS&B like Post War Trains?

Sounds like a simple enough question. But the answer kept me busy all day on 2 switch tracks. Many post war operating cars have slide shoes that pick up power form an extra set of extra rails between the standard rails (yes that makes 5 rails). These shoes hand down a little between the tracks, and some brand of switch tracks will catch the shoes and try to pull them off. So far, I used all Gargraves 0-42 switch tracks, and Ross Switches for the bigger radius switches. After having many problems with modern engines with the Gargraves turnouts, I decided to try 2 Ross 0-42 switches. The Gargraves switches have all been repaired, and I have not had problems with post war shoes on the 4 postwar cars I tested, or with modern equipment.

The Ross 0-42 switches both had the 'pull off the shoe' feature. Per Ross, the postwar power pickup shoes catch on sharp points in the black rails in the switch. Their recommended fix is to taper black rails with a file, or insert track pins and bend them down like a ramp. I decided to use pins to reduce metal filings, but ended up having plenty anyway.

I also discovered an additional feature with the Ross switches. The power rollers on my post war trains are wider than the modern ones, and kept shorting out on the switches. Per Ross website, extra power rail was used to make it easier for them to supply power through the switch. The problem is, the rails are close enough to the ground rail that the wider roller creates a short circuit. I decided to insulate and cut the extra rail. Below are slides that showed where cuts had to be made to fix both problems.

Although I can't say for certain that all shoes and rollers will now work, I can say that the cars I tested now should work an my whole layout, except on the unmodified main line switches.

NTS&B TMCC Signal Work Started

The Lionel TMCC (remote control) has problems when 1 track passes over another, unless extra earth grounding is provided. Some engines will remain at a constant speed when they lose the TMCC signal. Others, such as my K-Line Allegheny either stops, crawls, or goes wide open.

North Pole Loop: Helix Portion: Today I started working on the North Pole loop, to see if I could get it running properly. My Polar Express and PA1 run fine, but indicates the lose of signal. The Allegheny wont run at all. It runs fine on the ceiling portion, but wont run at all on the Helix and graduated trestle, and has a little problem on the lower return loop. I first started on the helix, with a ground wire ran up and down the 4 inner posts. This helped the inside loop tremendously with the Polar Express. It had signal at all points on the inside rail (where it lost most of it before), but still had a couple dead spots on the outside loop. I next tried the suggestion of a club member, and dropped only a single line down the center of the Helix (and removed the others). This had about the same effect as the original attempt. The Polar Express and PA-1 had no problems on the inside, and a couple weak spots on the outside. In either case, the Allegheny would not run. I finally ended up using 85 feet of 2 inch wide aluminum furnace tape and attaching that to the earth ground. Although the Allegheny won't take commands at all locations, now at least it has enough signal to remain at the programmed speed and not stop or take off wide open.



Trestle and Lower Loop: I still have more work to do on the trestle, since the Allegheny won't respond to any commands on most of it. I ran a strip of aluminum tape under the winter level under the trestle, but apparently that is still to far away from the track to fix the problem. I then ran a 30 Gauge wire through each trestle riser down one side, laid it next to the track and under the carpet on the lower loop and then through the trestle on the other side. That didn't help the North Pole loop, but the PA1 ran better through the mainline yard underneath it. I then attached the dropped ceiling framework to the ground. No help. Lastly, I ran an earth ground on top of the platform of the cable stay bridge. No help there either. It appears the Allegheny is going to be as good as it gets.

Of course, even though the trains are running well, that doesn't mean the engineer is paying attention. While testing the TMCC on the GG1, I lost track (no pun intended) of where the Polar Express was. Looks like I need to revisit the end-of-train warning car I was working on :(. At lease it proved out my theory on how the trains would derail on the Helix.

Mainline Yard: The PA-1 is now behaving very well, but the Allegheny won't run very much at all on the mainline. It went from ignoring commands in the yard, to going wide open on one of the raised portions with nothing above it. Oh well, that'll have to wait for another day (or month)

NTS&B "Under Ground Lego" Station under construction

A friend at work is big into Legos, and is helping me design and build my "Under Ground Lego" station (actually its more like I'm helping him). Preliminary designs have been completed, and construction will soon be started. The worker on the right is admiring his handwork for the station so far, that new commuters are already standing in line to use.

NTS&B Starting Year 4

Its hard to believe that I started the first (non helix) module of the actual layout 3 years ago. Last year saw progress with Tinsel Town and the 'spring time' sections. which are about done (for now). It was also the first time the layout was opened up to the club. Progress is getting a little slower, because we've also been having some 'play' sessions with some club members, instead of just working on it.


This coming year, the progress will be less noticeable. The main thrust will be in taking the old layout down, and finishing the other side of the basement. The main goal for the NTS&B this year is to get the TMCC signal working correctly, the 'spring time' power station and controls completed, and working on the subway and mainline stations. Its doubtful any new bench work will be started this year, but who knows, stranger things have happened :) This year is also going to be the first time it is opened up to the public, by participating in the Piedmont Pilgrimage in mid Oct.

NTS&B Some Classy Visitors

The NTS&B had some classy visitors running on its rails over the weekend (I believe the official term is 'varnish'). A few friends came over and brought a few 'toys'. Here are some pics of some very nice old equipment, that all still runs like new, and look as good as they run. Only problem was, they ran so good they ran back home :)

Circa 1947 2025 Pennsy steamer with modern train sounds tender pulling some old 0-27 passenger cars.

Dual Motor 2363 F3A/B Illinois Central from 1955-1956 on bottom front. Dual motor 2367 F3A/B Wabash from 1955 on bottom back pulling original early 1950s freight cars. Dual motor 8580-8582 A/B/A Illinois Central from 1985, 1987 pulling 4 car City of New Orleans aluminum passenger set

6416 Boat Loader Car with original boats (1961 to 1963)

6561 Reel Car with original loads (1953-1956)

A better picture of the 2363 F3A/B Illinois Central from 1955-1956

A better picture of the 2367 F3A/B Wabash from 1955

NTS&B Phase 2-and let there be light

The town is laid in, and all lit up for late night parties. The Street lights are from a 10 light string available around Chrismas, which was cut up, each light wired in parallel, and then powered by a small 12V transformer. The Candelabra in the Ice Cream park was a McDonald's toy that I added the flicker LEDS from an inexpensive set of battery operated motif candles.

Another candle was added to the hot air balloon, that my late mother-in-law made years ago, and which normally gets more comments than the rest of the layout.

NTS&B Phase 2 getting closer

The raised mainline loop over the phase 2 bench work is now fully operational, and most of the buildings are arranged and lit. Still have to put up the Street lights, fantasy park lights, some more trees, and finish wiring in the buttons. Here's how its shaping up

NTS&B First Raised Mainline Loop-Some Progress

Sometimes its hard to tell what direction of progress has been made. I usually lay most of the accessories and track in temporarily to make sure everything fits (see previous entries). When its time to finalize it, then I have to tare it down and do it again. When laying it out, it became obvious that the fire station looked too big next to the other buildings. I decided to gut the plywood table to drop it down 1/2 inch. I also had to cut an access hole. These had to be cut prior to permanently installing the raised track, so when I took the raised track down for painting, I cut out the required holes.
The cut out on the left is for the fire house, the other one is for access to the inner portion of the layout and the ceiling.


I recently discovered I need ceiling access directly over the largest part of this section. I had planned to cut an access hole, but now realized it had to be big enough to fit a step ladder with me on it.

Starting to come back together. Newly painted roadbed is back (still temporary) up. Have another post to re-cut, and supports for the upper raised track to put in before laying down final trackwork.

NTS&B First Raised Mainline loop unboxed

Or is that de-boxed ? Anyway, the support replacing the last box is now installed, so trains can again be run on the lower layer. Still have at least 1 more support to add. Track for the upper layer will come later.

Only 1 little problem. The MTH Helicopter doesn't fit. So much for that plan. Looks like a little adjustment is in order

NTS&B First Raised Mainline loop progress

Made quite a bit of progress this weekend. Have all of the plywood cut and fitted. Have 1 more support to make, then the loop will be 'box free', and trains can run underneath it again. It will also need 1 or 2 more for support. When finished, The sides closest to the camera in the 2 pictures below will be easily removed for access to the tacks and town behind it. Before the raised track is finished, I have to take it all down and paint it and finish laying in the town, including cutting access holes and 'sinking' the fire station so is level with the layout.

NTS&B First Raised Mainline loop started

The first raised section of the mainline is now in process. Notice how perfectly the supports (boxes) go with with the rest of the layout :) The inner loop is 0-63, with one section of 0-80 on the reverse curve. The outside loop is all 0-72. I also posted a temporary video with my K-Line switcher and Williams passenger car running on the inner O-63 loop.

NTS&B Tinsel Town Almost Completed

Tinsel Town is almost complete. About only planned tasks are to re-paint, re-letter as Tinsel Town, and add a blinker to the water tower , and add push button switches. All buildings are lit, and have on/off switches at the power control center, but will have push button switches added around the layout at a later date.

NTS&B Tinsel Town Park Completed

The Tinsel Town park is finished. Park has switched Christmas and Street Lights. The 5 white Christmas trees are lit with chasing lights from underneath as seen in the bottom picture. The lights were pulled out of a birthday card, that had flashing candles.

NTS&B Phase 2 buildings sneek preview

Here is phase 2, with a couple buildings added in roughly the position they will be in when finished. Shown are 6-22993 LIONEL ROUTE 66 DINOSAUR CAFÉ AND GAS STATION (1999-2000), and 30-9034 MTH RK ORIGINAL 1955 MC DONALDS (2000). The uncoupling / Remote Control track is also connected and operational.