Over the last few weeks i have been busy wiring up the top deck which houses Yass & Jerrawa.When i started construction of the layout i decided to go DCC.The system i am using is NCE power cab with a SB3a booster.DCC was all new to me as basic layout i had years ago used the conventional power packs & block wiring,so many hours have been spent on the net learning how to wire the current layout to suit DCC.All these new terms of main power bus,sub bus & cab bus ect....the most informative site i found is Alan Gardner's wiring for DCC web site.What did we do before the internet ?.I have broken the layout in to several different districts & separated the main lines from the yards & for short protection i used the tail light globe system.Wiring was made easier with the layout being 1.45 high & the centre being hollow in the middle only cross beams of the frame to work around & one of those mechanic's seats with wheels to sit on.All wiring is soldered off the sub bus,with heat shrink which takes a bit longer but the connections are better than using scotch locks & then i used terminal blocks to connect the track dropper wires which are soldered to the underside of the track prior to laying(it looks much better than blobs of solder on the sides of the rails).I must have got i right,as tonight i test run a few loco's and it all ran perfectly & the tail light glob method works.
Also i have started on the 2nd station on the lower deck branch line.This station will be called Grabben Gullen.The branch line has 4 stations starting with Dalton,then Grabben Gullen,then Kialla & terminating at Crookwell.To come up with the 2 middle stations i just looked on a map & seen what towns lay inbetween Dalton & Crookwell.
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| Grabben Gullen station |
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the approach to Grabben Gullen
The template for drilling the mounting holes for tortoise point motors.In the top photo you can see the locating pin which i place through the hole in the point throw bar and then drill the 4 holes |
