Model Railroading > Massive Undertaking Monday

None of the pictures and videos that I post would be possible without the dedication of our Chief Electrician, Phil also known as The Kydd.

Our railroad use to be DC, now it's DCC.  We got used to the idea that when Larry tries to roll through a closed switch again (turnout or points, depending upon where in the world you're reading this) it should only affect Larry.  To that end, Phil has divided our railroad into many DCC blocks.  Each block is about twenty feet (just over six meters).

Each block has a PSX short circuit board connected to it.  Each of those boards has an annoying buzzer that lets everyone know that I messed up again.  Some of our members can't hear them.  We might have to copy the Napa, Calif club and use a rotary beacon.  Our latest track panels have red LEDs to let us know which block has a short.  

The PSX boards never have an inrush problem.  

I'll post some photos starting with our command station, then to each node around the railroad.  Rather than having all of the boosters in one place and running heavy gauge wire to each block, we went the other way.

1.  The command station is off to the upper far right, then four 8 amp boosters, then two 20 amp power supplies.  Each booster supplies power to four PSX boards.  Each of those are connected to about 20 feet of track.  This node would cover about 320 feet of track.  We never use the booster built into the command station.  Doing that creates heat in the last place you would want unwanted heat.  A failure of the booster would also take your command station out of service.  We have a spare command station, just in case.  Every booster has a cooling fan attached to the built in cooling fins (heat sink).   The black box is a UPS that supplies power to the DCC only conduit.

2.  The node for The Hill (our Mountain Division).  Four 20 amp power supplies, and eight 8 amp boosters.  

3.  32 PSX boards. 

Larry



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/17 01:06 by Larry020.

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Wow.

1.  Truckee has a power supply, a booster, and six circuit breakers.

2.  Roseville Yard Complex has a power supply, two boosters, and six circuit breakers.

3.  Sacramento has two power supplies, four boosters, and fifteen circuit breakers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/17 01:14 by Larry020.

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1.  Davis, one (I think it's two) power supplies, four boosters, and 14 circuit breakers.

2.  Niles Canyon has four power supplies, seven boosters, and 34 circuit breakers.

3.  Our latest addition, low tech with a twist.  Tam Valley Frog Juicers will eliminate the dead frog dilemma. 

Please visit us in person someday.  Until then please explore 

http://www.gsmrm.org/

Any questions (that I might know the answer to)?

Larry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/17 01:24 by Larry020.

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Your photos explain exactly why my new layout is Dead Rail, i.e., battery powered. My Chief resides in a box.
John

Would be nice, but kinda hard to do in a club setting.  When Dead Rail becomes 'off the hobby shop shelf' then we can eBay what we no longer need.  

Larry

Larry, where does the green wire go again?

PT

obsessedfoamer Wrote:
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> Larry, where does the green wire go again?
>
> PT

The green wire goes to the frog, naturally.

Larry

Larry, your photos make me revert back to my Marx wind-up train!!!

Lynn

That's what is great about a club.  I'll bet that we will never get Phil to do scenery, but from my photos and videos that I've posted here you can see that we've had some people dabble with the scenery now and then...

Larry 

66 Blocks, you guys have/had a "Phone Guy" doing the wiring!

I don't know how many blocks we'll eventually have.  Like every model railroad, the work isn't done yet.

We used to have a telephone guy, but he only wired the telephones throughout our 240' long building.

Our DC guy knew how to search out every surplus electronics store in the Silicon Valley and beyond...

I've been on many layout visits (both home and club) via NMRA National Conventions and I was always amazed at the amount of surplus telephone equipment that was in use.

Larry

Where's the fire extinguisher??!!!

....absolutely incredible....beautifully done....can I borrow this guy for a few years?

Bob

All those photos convinced me. Tain't no way I'm a gonna do that.

tomstp Wrote:
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> All those photos convinced me. Tain't no way I'm
> a gonna do that.

With DCC, all it takes is two wires to the track. 

Larry

Post Script  By the way, if you want to have uninterrupted enjoyment by a few dozen people over a few thousand feet of track, and you want signals, then expect more than two wires to the track.  This is not your ordinary installation.  

PHall Wrote:
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> 66 Blocks, you guys have/had a "Phone Guy" doing
> the wiring!

I thought the same thing! 66 Blocks doesn't mean 66 track segments. It's the white plastic terminals in some of the photos, used to splice connections together.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/17 10:28 by jalang.

Larry020 Wrote:
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> tomstp Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > All those photos convinced me. Tain't no way
> I'm
> > a gonna do that.
>
> With DCC, all it takes is two wires to the
> track. 
>
> Larry
>
> Post Script  By the way, if you want to have
> uninterrupted enjoyment by a few dozen people over
> a few thousand feet of track, and you want
> signals, then expect more than two wires to the
> track.  This is not your ordinary installation.
>  

I was almost ready to quit the hobby after reading this thread. Thank goodness for your clarification above.

Rick

Rick

I'm certain we were still DC the last time you visited (with Tim H).  It's still basically the same railroad.

Larry

I don't know what the reference to 66 blocks is all about.  I've counted about 132 places where PSX boards are or will be soon.  

What's my contribution to this monstrosity?  I help sell unwanted donations in order to bring in money to help pay for the little things that we seem to need.  I also respond to emails from people wanting to donate items to our fine organization.

Larry