The Rewiring Project Resumes

As I've said, there has been a low-priority rewiring project under way, focusing especially on the oldest part of my layout, where there are undocumented feeders and wire runs, and where solder joints are coming loose. This had me stumped for a year or so, but the T-track project gave me better insights into DCC, the best way to wire it, and the value it adds.
In 2013, I got the NCE entry-level system, a PowerCab. Previously I had two DC walkaround systems, which the maker discontinued not long after DCC came in, and they were wearing out, with replacement parts no longer made. (But they had a 30 year life, no complaints there.) I disconnected one of the DC systems from the block wiring for one side of the DPDT controls and replaced it with the PowerCab.
However, this was giving me only DCC control of locos with decoders. Once I became aware of what stationary decoders can do, I began to realize I can do away with conventional control panels and a lot of confusing wiring, and eventually use a computer screen to control the layout.
So here's the old wiring. As I said in a previous post, I learned to paste labels and other documentation to terminal strips and so forth, but this was a gradual process, and older parts of the layout don't have this.

As of now, "CAB A" is a former DC walkaround system that has been disabled. The PowerCab was connected to the "CAB B" wiring. Under the current rewiring project, the "CAB B" circuit will be connected to a full DCC bus, for starters on the oldest part of the layout. This will result in 14 gauge wire with a different color code replacing all the green and yellow track circuit wiring, This will take place on a piecemeal basis. Here are some terminal strip panels that had been added but not completed as part of the ongoing rewire project. Here's where this stands:

It will be possible to get rid of all the dangling green and yellow wires. With DCC, there's less wiring, and things can be a lot neater. All the "CAB A" wire, terminal strips. and spade connectors are now surplus and can be recycled, for instance on my T-Track modules:

In honor of the rewiring project, Interstate RS-3 31 pulls a Western Union material car over a stretch of track that will be the first rewired:

More Thoughts On DCC

The oldest part of my layout dates from the late 1980s (almost 30 years, come to think of it). There has been a low-priority rewiring project under way for this oldest section -- overdue, as old solder joints are coming loose. The expanded layout was begun in my current home in 1993, with part of it moved from our old place. This was all pretty much pre-DCC, and by about 2000, DCC was still not really mature -- decoders buzzed and required loco frames to be milled out in many cases.

I started adding DCC to operations in early 2013, and since then have concentrated on installing decoders in locos. Since working on my T-Track layout, I've begun to look at the world of stationary decoders, which is leading me to think hard about computer interface. One thing I've come to realize about my HO layout is that it's pretty much reached the limit of what I can accomplish with traditional block control and separate switch machine wiring. Here's an example of what I'm struggling with:

In contrast, here is equivalent wiring for a full DCC application:

Among other things, I can do away with that whole Masonite panel with the lines and switches on it. This is leading me to rethink the rewiring on my HO layout.

T-Track Modules 1.0 Getting Close

My order of additional Unitrack and DCC components arrived, and the pieces are coming together. Here is module 1, top and bottom:

I'm using a trick I figured out in my HO layout, which is to glue documentation next to the DCC and other electrical components so I quickly know what I have and how it's wired months or years down the road. Below is module 2, top and bottom:

This is is the one with the depressed deck that will represent a Chicago grade-separated line. The elevated section is white foam. An industrial siding will go at the top center. I've cut out a circular space in the foam to install a Rapido/RailCrew magnetic uncoupler, which will go in as part of next month's work.

I got enough components to be able to move my NCE PowerCab between the HO layout and the T-Track modules. Here's the first power-up, showing the red LED lit on the fascia:

And here's the first loco to move on the layout, showing its headlights lit under DCC:

The next task that will complete the 1.0 phase will be to program the stationary decoders that control the switches and assemble the four starter modules on a temporary surface to get things running and start scenery.

New Camera

I got my Pentax K-7 body in the mail last evening. As I had been hoping, the lens, memory card, and USB connection from the old camera are all compatible, although the K7 is a step up in sophistication from the K2000. This is more or less what I'd meant to do all along, since the K2000, an entry level DSLR, was my first digital camera, although I'd been using SLRs for 40 years. So I was able to upgrade using a used body at a reasonable cost and am now getting used to the incremental changes.

Here's a test shot:

The video capability is new with this camera. I spent a couple of hours figuring out how to take a video, edit it, and upload it. Here's the first test:

Phase 1 T-track Plan

Here is a rough sketch of the Phase 1 layout plan that I'm putting together with T-trak modules. The track outline is in black, the module borders are in blue.

I'm putting together an order to complete most of the Phase 1 trackwork and electrical components. So far, my experience is encouraging. For me, it's a foray into new principles of layout design, because this layout will be

• modular
• easily dismantled and moved
• reconfigurable
• expandable
• with new-generation electrical components and a computer interface via JMRI, programmable

The computer interface and two additional lengthwise modules will be part of a Phase 2. But moving to stationary decoders means switches can be thrown from the DCC hand-held controller, so no permanent control panel is needed. Adding or moving modules means yoiu don't have to change the control panel schematic or do something about control panel switches -- and there's no rat's nest of wiring to redo. As a design principle, I want to keep wiring local to each individual module.

Then at a later time, I can add a computer interface that, with infrared detectors, can control trains for automatic operation.

Pentax K2000 RIP

My Pentax K2000 camera expired over about the past two weeks. Here's one of the last photos I shot with it, a boxcar converted to a HEP B unit on the Napa Valley Wine Train:

Here are a couple more last photos, N projects I pulled out of storage. I did these in the late 1970s and early 1980s:

I got the K2000 in 2009. I'm a little miffed that it lasted all of seven years, but then I took thousands of photos with it, so I suppose it paid for itself.

Researching options, I found a used Pentax K-7 body on line, and it looks like I can use the lens from the K2000 with it. The K-7 also shoots video, so I can expand my projects.