Model railroad layouts plans

Frank’s been in touch with a fine piece on how to power turnouts on a model railroad.

He’s solved two of his problems – but can you help with the third?

“Hello Alaster, Frank from Surrey, BC here again . . and I think I'm going bald!

Being in Canada, I get to wake up with your emails waiting for me and they are the first I open every day. Thank you again Al.

I read your daily posts with a combination of delight, envy and frustration. Delight at seeing the beauty others have created; envy at wishing I had their talents and frustration thinking that "I'll never get to that level of excellence."

Then I remember the real reason for doing all this is to have fun!

In one of your recent posts, Richard made an excellent point that I seem to have ignored, possibly at my peril.

He said, "Regardless as to how big you eventually "grow" your layout, don't make the mistake of trying to do everything at once."

Those are truly pearls of wisdom. I realize that my D&L is a BIG project and truth be told, there are times that I feel overwhelmed by it's scope, but, I have put a lot of time an money into it, so, as they (who are "they"??) say, "I will persevere".

I would add that he made several other EXCELLENT points. Obviously, a very wise man.

So, one issue with building a railway in an unheated area in the Canadian West Coast "winter" is that . . . . well . . . you can't! So, to wile away the chilly time (it's not really that cold at home), I worked on a few electronic projects.

Two of the projects are a main power supply for the DCC equipment and another to operate Kato, PICO and Tomix turnouts using push buttons.

Both Kato and Tomix us only two wires to operate their turnouts, the polarity of which determines whether the turnout is set straight or bent. For the Kato turnouts, I had planned to use two 12 VDC power supplies to get +12 VDC and -12 VDC which would be send to the coil with push buttons. NO PROBLEM.

I have one Pico turnout, but it has two coils so a different approach is used there. One end of each coil was connected together and is connected to the 12 VDC common. I connected a diode to the other end of the coil to direct power to the appropriate coil. NO PROBLEM.

The Tomix 3 way turnouts presented an interesting challenge as I didn't have room for four buttons in a very small space. So, with a 16 volt AC transformer and a diode matrix, I could control the two turnouts with only three buttons. Again, NO PROBLEM.

However, I was concerned (paranoid??) that the cheap push buttons I ordered online might fail (fuse as the high current disconnected) and not disconnect the turnout's coil after switching, burning out the coil and necessitating a costly, and difficult repair. While this is extremely unlikely (???), I am a very lazy person and I don't want to have to replace turnouts. Way too much work!

Originally, I had a very complex circuit that allowed full current for a maximum of one quarter second and then cut the power but a much simpler suggestion was made by one of your readers – a capacitor discharge power supply. This was a great idea and solved a number of problems, but, since I had already built 4 of 5 control panels, created other problems.

The schematic for the Capacitor Discharge Power Supply is here for anyone to use if they wish. If you need more power, you can increase the size of the capacitors, but these work very well. I have one Kato double crossover which has 4 coils and even with the long wires, the new power supply works reliably every time. NO PROBLEM. (I wish everything was so easy???)

How to power turnouts on a model railroad

OK, so now I have a capacitor discharge power supply that will work with the Kato and Pico turnouts but what about the Tomix?

Each Tomix turnout was to be controlled by three push buttons and a diode matrix but I could not use the capacitor discharge power supplies. (More hair pulled out. At this rate, I'll be bald by the time I get this layout running. Maybe I can buy a wig?)

To make matters worse, I realized AFTER I had built the control panels that most of the Tomix turnouts I had purchased are LEFT-STRAIGHT-RIGHT (L-S-R) but I do have one that is RIGHT-STRAIGHT LEFT (R-S-L). Worse, I had already built the control panels with the markings showing it going right first and left second. (more hair lost) The obvious solution was, to align a Tomix 3 way turnout (R-S-L) left, I will have to set it straight FIRST and then left SECOND. If I forget, trains will go in funny places!

After a lot of head scratching, and loosing more hair, I realized that what I had to do was replicate the AC supply with the capacitor discharge power supply. But how? (more hair loss. It's getting cold up there)

The "problem" is the second turn. Here, a +12 volt FIRST and a -12 volt SECOND is needed to make the second turnout turn. The diode matrix solved that using AC, but a capacitor discharge system does not do that.

I needed something to first apply a +12 volt charge and then a -12 volt charge. The circuit I developed is not simple, but it does work. (Next time, I'll use more buttons . . . or build another one of these.)

Basically, I isolate the +12 volt capacitor discharge unit from the ± Controller with a diode. When the button is pressed to set the second turn, +12 volts is first applied to the diode matrix which operates the STRAIGHT coils and discharges the +12 volt capacitors. When that voltage goes to 0, a small relay with a resistor/capacitor delay, providing a short delay, energizes, which in turn operates a second transfer relay, disconnecting the +12 volt output from the push button and connects it to the -12 volt output.

The -12 volt line discharges, and a third relay, with delays in releasing, energizes, locking up the transfer relay. Without this third relay, the first two relays would just cycle back and forth.

When the button is released, all the relays release and the power supply recharges the capacitors.

How to power turnouts on a model railroad

So, it all worked on a test bed, but would a soldered PCB work? The answer was . . . no!

Well, no until I found a solder bridge and a dead LED. Now it does work and am I happy.

To test everything, I put together a "test bed" using the Capacitor Discharge Power Supply (top right), the Tomix Turnout Controller (bottom right), a diode matrix (top left), a test set of push buttons (top center) and a real Tomix 3 way turnout.

The test was a complete success.

(I think some of my hair may be growing back!)

The diode matrices are different only in which coil is the first to bend the turnout.

To power my rail empire, I had originally obtained a second hand transformer but realized that it has a 20 volt output. As I am in N scale, the difference in power (20 volts transformer output minus 12 volts (N scale track voltage) times current needed to run) has to be dissipated as heat by the Digitrax DB200+. As they sit in a drawer with limited ventilation, I decide to build a new 16 volt, 8 amp, Power Station that I hope will be sufficient for the whole layout.

A third issue, NOT YET RESOLVED, is how to get Kato (and Tomix) turnouts to let an Arduino (micro controller running the signals) know which way the turnout was thrown.

This has to provide correct position information so that if a turnout is thrown manually or by power, with the main power on or off, the Arduino will know the ACTUAL position of the turnout. A work in progress and probably more hair loss.

I hope this may be useful to others. After all, I have gotten a lot of information, and help, from this blog and its readers.

Thank you all.

Respectfully,

Frank
Surrey, BC
Canada”

A huge big thanks to Frank for putting this together, if you’ve enver scratched your head over how to power turnouts on a model railroad, I hope it helps.

But who can help with Frank’s lastest issue? Please leave a comment below if you can.

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.

Keith has been in touch with a stunning layout – it’s a great example of how using battery power for model trains works just as well:

“My model railroad is a fiction layout based on the narrow gauge lines both Rio Grande Southern and the Colorado and Southern.

Track gauge is 3’ or ¾” in O scale. This is On3 or ¼” Finescale modelling.

The layout fills a 42’x12’6” room in my basement.

All track is hand laid including the turnouts and all locomotives are powered by battery power with what is known as Power on Board.

Control is by way of radio throttles and Soundtraxx Tsunami Decoders.

The layout is built for operation and includes approximately 26 industries or switching locations all spaced out at four separate locations.

The main yard is Archuleta, with Argo, Eagle and Pitkin.

JMRI Operations Pro is used to prepare train manifests.

All scenery is built using traditional cardboard lattice covered with paper towels dipped into plaster to create hardshell.

Rubber rock molds are used to make rock faces by overlapping and then hand carving to create a seamless joint between each mold.

About 350 lbs of plaster was used to make the rock faces around the layout.

The backdrop is hand painted directly onto the walls using store brand acrylic paints. I painted the rocks the backdrop simultaneously to ensure a seamless blend of colours.

A swing bridge across the layout room entrance door allows for trains to circle the perimeter of the room during open houses.

Much of the layout was used to earn NMRA Achievement certificates on my way to becoming MMR 767.

View the layout on YouTube at Keith Stamper On3

Keith”

A big thanks to Kieth. Battery power for model trains is something that comes up every now and then on the blog.

If you want more of a ‘how to’ when it comes to battery power, Richard’s post is very good:

Battery powered model trains.

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.

Dan’s been in touch with his HO scale mainline layout which has everything: a coal mine, a town for the miners and an industrial area:

“This is layout number 8. My layout was number 1 and the other 7 were for others. In all cases I did the scenery and for most either designed the layout or corroborated with the owner. All ways keeping their wants foremost.

The layout is mostly contemporary and no specific railroad. He did the bench work, track, and wiring. It was a good thing because I had back surgery during part of the time. He had experience working on our club layout. I designed the basic layout and did all of the scenery and buildings.

The basic track plan. HO scale DCC power.

The room is a second floor of a manufactured home. The part in this photo is 40 by 25 feet and on the right side is where we added another 20 by 4 foot extension. The add on was to correct a flaw in the original track plan. The track plan shows the add on in yellow. Once we began to set up the operation of the trains, it became obvious the yard was too small. I will explain the solution later in this post.

Looking the other way.

Viewing from near the photo in number 2. A view block will run the length dividing the layout where the gap is.

Progress. The view block shows nicely here.

Here is the alcove area. In the diagram it is to the top of the photo. There is a coal mine that is reached from the yard seen at the bottom of the diagram photo. The lower track in the photo is the return loop on the HO scale mainline.

This shows the ramp to the coal mine coming from right to left. The track with the train is the HO scale mainline where the return loop begins. Part of this will be in a tunnel to protect the trains from the operation of the coal mine. Other wise you would be reaching over active track while switching (shunting) the mine. The track just to the right of the caboose is where the HO scale mainline loop comes back.

This shows the mine and mainline tracks. From the white box on the right to far left the mainline is in the protective tunnel.

The next sequence will be the construction of the hill that the “company houses” miners lived in. Company houses were owned by the mine. On this version of the layout the times have changed and now they have been gentrified and no longer owned by the mine.

The road is made from the backing on tack board. I described this in one of my layout posts. I used cardboard strips, plaster cloth, Sculpta mold pre-colored with craft paint, and Woodland scenics ground foam.

This area represents a change in the progress of the railroad. The track to the left is the “old” HO scale mainline and goes to an industrial area. The two tracks to the right is the realigned mainline and is double tracked. I first thought I would put them in a tunnel. Then I thought it would be more interesting seeing a cut. This is the result.

Here is the industrial area and the path of the old mainline. The schematic of the area.

Two bridges on the road to the homes near the mine.

This is addition I had to add to make the operations scheme work. We also needed a town. The tracks are part of a turning loop and become an arrival and departure track. In the ops sessions a train first arrives at the yard (not shone here) and drops of the caboose. It then proceeds to the addition and makes the loop and backs in to an arrival track. The locos go the servicing area and a switcher comes and pick up the string of cars and rearranges them into another train. The new train is moved to the departure track and a new set of locos picks them up.

The main yard and the new under construction “town” addition.

The finished look.

Dan”

A huge big thanks to Hall of Fame Dan for sharing another layout!

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.