What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

[G3750]

Updated 11/20/2020 (PM):

Working on the layout got kicked to curb as the end of the semester rolls around - grading, evaluating student projects, etc. But some work got done today on the Staging Area:

• The bus for Power District #8 (can't see it - it's under the layout) was extended from the vicinity of the power distribution panel to the far end of the double cross-over.
• The double cross-over got its track feeder wiring pairs (4) at each end.
• Both eastern spurs (for parking locomotives) off the double cross-over were laid out.
• For as far as we've gotten, all feeder wiring pairs are now hanging down below the bench work.
• Holes for all switch machine wires have been drilled in the bench work.
• I made a slight modification to the RR-Track plan for the Staging Area. We are now up to version 100, which can accommodate 1 more locomotive spur on the aisle (south) side of the Staging Area. I don't think we need it, but there's room if it becomes necessary. Current storage capacity for the Staging Area is 6 large locomotives and 3 through trains. And that doesn't count the steel mill interchange track immediately behind the divider.

Eventually all the track will be permanently screwed down into place.

George

[G3750]

Updated 12/5/2020:

Didn't get a whole lot done, but I did manage to wire all the western (OH) track feeders to Bus 4 (PRR Bridge Westbound). That bus is now terminated. There are a few remaining feeder pairs to connect east of the bridge.

George

[healey36]

Any progress on the Panhandle?

[gregj410]

Current storage capacity for the Staging Area is 6 large locomotives

Haven’t followed your thread entirely. If your running Legacy you may want to look into that ground plane issue with multiple Legacy locomotives in a yard. I have some issues entering and exiting the yard with other locos in the yard.

[G3750]

Any progress on the Panhandle?

Yes, lots. I've been a bit stymied by forgetting how to post photos over here, but there is much to report this month of December.

• The DZ-1010 Crossing Gates at the top of Market Street in Steubenville, OH have been test-fitted. The location of Market Street has been finalized.
• A massive effort has been devoted to determining the size, placement, and quantity of windows for the Steubenville PRR station. The size and location of the station itself has been changed several times. The prototype was 204' long; mine will be scale but about 90% of that. I have computed the sizes and shapes of the windows several times and drawn them with Microsoft Visio. This has been a very tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone exercise and I'm not done yet. ("Model railroading is fun?" ) The drawings have been passed to a friend who is 3D printing them for me.
• Materials for the station (clay tile roof, Flemish bond brick walls) have been acquired.
• The Staging Area has been wired. I made a number of wiring errors in the process and then corrected them.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. I will work on that.

George

[healey36]

Good progress, it sounds like. Have you completed the foam-work?

Pics of the station build would be brilliant (if possible). How extensive will the 3-D print be? Is he printing windows and doors as part of the structure walls, or will they be separately printed or 3rd-party supplied?

Curiosity is said to have killed the cat.

[G3750]

Foam work for the area behind the station hasn’t been done. At some point I will get back to it. There’s still some scenery work to be done east of the arch.

Not sure if 3D printing will be limited to the windows. That’s being done by a 3rd party.

George

[G3750]

Updated 2/11/2021:

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. I was stymied a bit by having forgotten how to post photos, but I think I fixed that. Anyway, I've been busy:

• I encountered and solved a phasing issue among the 8 transformers (6 PH180s and 2 PH135s). That took awhile and caused me to eliminate the Legacy PowerMasters from the circuits. I will have to figure out what was making them malfunction.
• I implemented a signal circuit for the Steubenville station area that takes input from 2 switch machines and 1 block occupancy track.
• All 12 DZ-2500c switch machines in the Staging Area are now powered via the Eastern Switch Bus and are operational using the CAB-1 remote.
• The DZ-2502P push-buttons for these switches have all been installed in a mini-console for the Staging Area operator. This will be much more convenient for this person. I've wired 10 of 12 (ran out of 20 AWG white wire).
• All the windows for the Steubenville PRR station have been sized and 3D printed.

To celebrate all this progress, I ran a 12 car ore train the length of the layout (from Staging to Steubenville). That's a distance of about 47'!

Photos are here!
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0BG4TcsmS2cYV

George

[rogruth]

Looks good, George.
What is pulling the ore train?

[G3750]

Looks good, George.
What is pulling the ore train?

Thank you! The ore train is being pulled by my second Decapod (that's new!), a 3rd Rail long tender version.

George

[rogruth]

Great! A decapod it should be as I'm sure you know.
I thought I was seeing the two air tanks on the front under the smoke box.

[G3750]

Great! A decapod it should be as I'm sure you know.
I thought I was seeing the two air tanks on the front under the smoke box.

Q. So what's better than a Decapod on the Panhandle?
A. Two Decapods! https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0BG6XBubJFtMYS



George

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Two Decapods!

Now you have a breeding pair,

[G3750]

Two Decapods!

Now you have a breeding pair,

Exactly. We can continue the species! Somebody cue Marlin Perkins!

George

[G3750]

The other photo indicates the placement of Market Street and its crossing gates relative to the Panhandle tracks and the station (to the right).

George