What's New on the PRR Panhandle Division?

[rogruth]

Hoping for the best.

[G3750]

Hoping for the best.

I very much appreciate your wishes. Unfortunately, she broke her hip on Monday and is too fragile for the surgery.

It's now in God's hands.

George

[rogruth]

Prayers.

[G3750]

Update 1/9/2014:

• I completed the design and drawings for the bridge shoes. Because these will enjoy a prominent spot on the layout, I decided to have the components cut via CNC machine. There are a number of components that must be precisely sized. I will assemble them.
• With the shoe design complete, I computed the total height of the bridge pier and shoes. That allows me to correctly set the height of the backdrop in relation to the bottom of the river.
• This coming week, I will notch the backdrop, test fit it in place, and then position the mounting hardware on the wall.

George

[G3750]

Updated 1/20/2015:

• My cataract surgery (right eye) went well yesterday. I can see out of my right eye again!!!!! Whoo Hoo!!! I will need glasses for close up work and reading, but wow are the colors popping! Lots more light in my life right now.
  
• Did some work on the DZ-2001 Data Wire Driver (Switch Bus) issue today. I have come to understand that the total buss length shouldn't exceed 75 feet in length. Mine, as it stands today, is longer than that. And as I have reported in the past, I have experienced loss of signal on the hidden storage yard switches (switches #17, 18, 19, 20, and 21). The answer is to split the long bus into two. I am in the process of putting Switch Bus #1 together. I have hopes of putting this together sometime later this week. This work needs to happen before the scenery backdrop behind the PRR bridge goes into place.
  
• In support of the work above, I have some additional 4 conductor wire on order - due Friday.

Feels great to be able to see and good to be getting something real done on the layout!!!!

George

[Steamfan77]

Glad to hear the surgery went well, and you're back to working on the layout


Andy

[G3750]

Thank you! The medium and long distance vision is significantly improved. Up close I'm using reading glasses with limited success (headaches). I think I need to get the other eye done soon as well.

I took a crack at re-connecting Switch Bus #1. Things never seem to go as easily as planned. It works, sorta. I think it's going to need a bit more debugging attention. The point where the DZ-2001 wires meet the accessory bus isn't as clean as I'd like and its got to be expanded to handle the second bus.

George

[rogruth]

I had to get both eyes done for catacts and need reading glasses.
I have had glasses most of my life so I am used to them and use bifocals.
I have a sperate pair that is all for reading also.

Do you know that the lens in your eyes now can get dirty and be cleaned?

[G3750]

I had to get both eyes done for catacts and need reading glasses.
I have had glasses most of my life so I am used to them and use bifocals.
I have a sperate pair that is all for reading also.

Do you know that the lens in your eyes now can get dirty and be cleaned?

No, I didn't. Amazing.

George

[G3750]

Updated 1/24/2015:

• Work on Switch Bus #1 is proceeding. I've cleaned up the spot on the western distribution panel where the DZ-2001 wires split into two busses. That is now a terminal block. Switch Bus #1 is now a closed loop. I've tested the 3 installed switch machines - No. 1, 2, and 3. They work fine. I still have to hook up the switches in the hidden storage yard - 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.
• Picked up my 4 conductor wire Friday. I have started removing the old buss conduit from under the passing siding. I hope to replace it with the new stuff soon.
  
• If I were to do this over again (and that is the plan when we retire), the distribution panel will get re-worked. Right now it is not as clean and organized as I would like, but that is a result of all the changes that were made. The same piece of wood first hosted a DCS set of components, then both DCS and TMCC, and then was reworked as several other TMCC components were added and power supplies changes. That is a lesson learned.

Feels good to be doing some wiring work again.

George

[G3750]

Updated 1/25/2014:

Did some serious re-evaluation of the original bus wiring for switches and signals last night. Because of the way the layout evolved (adding the hidden storage yard beneath the western end of the layout last [also not recommended BTW ]), wiring for those yard switches originated from under the bridge. Now that the double cross-over has been removed from the bridge and the DZ-2001 Data Wire Driver (aka switch bus) is too long, I am taking a good hard look at how best to re-use that length of 4-conductor conduit. And in general, I am looking for opportunities to clean up a number of switch wiring items that are (shall we say) less than clean. Some of this is just my OCD coming out, but most of it is driven by a need to make the layout as reliable as possible. I want this job done once and for all. It's another lesson learned.

George

[G3750]

Updated 1/25/2015:

Got tired of watching the NHL All Star Game and decided to do a little more work on the layout.

I relocated the bus connections for Switches 17 & 18 and hooked them up. They work, both by push button and by CAB-1 remote! The next job is relocating connections for Switch 19 and installing it on the layout. Originally it and the other 4 yard switch machines were DZ-2500a's. Z-Stuff swapped these out for DZ-2500c's. All are programmed, I just haven't had time to get them on the layout.

So far, so good!

George

[rogruth]

George,

Most may know but I don't-what is the difference in the switch machines?

[G3750]

George,

Most may know but I don't-what is the difference in the switch machines?

Roger,

The DZ-2500a's were the original versions of Z-Stuff's new switch machine. It supports TMCC and DCS programming. There were some bad batches of the DZ-2500a. I have a bunch of Curtis HiRail switches with DZ-2500a switch machines. Most of those were fine. By the time I decided to put in the yard, Curtis was out of business. I went with Ross and specified DZ-2500a's for those 5 switches. Unfortunately, the whole set was bad. I talked to Z-Stuff last year and they gave me an upgrade price to swap the DZ-2500a's for DZ-2500c's. The c version is supposed to be more reliable and replaced the a version.

So far, so good.

George

[G3750]

Updated 1/27/2015:

I am happy to report that Switch No. 20 is operational via TMCC (CAB-1) and push-button. I opted to work on this one because it was closer to me (not as deep under the top layer of the layout).

Two more (Nos. 19 and 21) to go!

George