Flimsey10 | modelrailroad

Tips for Building your Home Layout Pt. 10: Some of the “Extras”

Lights! Camera! Block Signals! Crossing Signals! Street Lights! Electrical Ephemera! Turntables! Action!

It will become apparent when the next installment comes out that I have things ever-so-slightly off. I should have put the “Lighting” episode in at this spot and this portion about the extras later. So much dove-tails together when building your layout that, as I have found out, it is difficult to try to categorize it all. This month we’ll start with the “Electrical Extras”, the little things you can add to “enliven” your layout and give it some “life”, so-to-speak.

Starting with Block Signaling

As I mentioned in the “Wiring” section of this series, if it is in your mind to have block signaling on your layout, it begins to entail your sitting on a cold cement floor on your posterior working above your head, adding still more wiring to the eclectic mix-up of variously-colored wires already up underneath your layout. Now, I admit, I get a kick out of layouts with Operating Block Signaling; it rather reminds me of what I saw on the real thing. There are signal systems and the attendant occupancy and detector circuits that you can purchase to make your signals operate like the real thing---Red, yellow, and green indications given according to the occupancy of the track. There are a wide array of different signal types, from General Switch & Signal Type “SA” Target signals (like the Soo Line used here in this area) to the types used by Pennsylvania, Union Pacific, Illinois Central and Baltimore & Ohio. If you’re modeling a specific prototype, most likely one of the manufacturers of signals has something like the specific railroad you model used or something very close.

You’re at a slight disadvantage modeling the Chicago & North Western. The semaphore Signals they used were unique unto the C&NW; no one else had signals like the C&NW did. Oh, they are available, but cost is somewhat restrictive, like, $35.00 per signal.

Oregon Pacific possibly makes the easiest signals to hook up---simply add them to the track power and changes in direction will change the signal aspect. Granted, when your train passes the signal it will not change to red like what happens with the real trains, and there is no yellow aspect with this system, but it is acceptable and doesn’t require a raft of wires running hither and yon under the layout and the “system”, such as it is, isn’t terribly expensive. Just remember, the more elaborate the signaling you desire, the more it is going to co$t you. Even the DCC-driven signaling systems now available are not cheap by any mean stretch of the imagination. DCC-driven signal systems are simpler in many facets---mostly elimination of wiring---but you pay for the simplicity. In the final analysis, you pay for not having to buy everything else you’d need for a signal system not done with DCC for the simplicity offered by the DCC signal system. Everything evens out in one way or another.

I haven’t heard of an operating signal system that replicates the real thing as it is set up in today’s railroading (although some things we see being done by Canadian National in these parts have been/are used by other railroads and are not really “new”, but “new” to this area) like Flashing Aspects, but this makes one wonder just how “accurate” and “detailed” one wants to be.

Train Order Signals

It happens that all of the railroads I actively model (Soo, Milwaukee Road, Green Bay & Western and the Chicago & North Western) all used some form of a “Train Order Signal” at their Depots and Interlocking Towers. The first three I mention (Soo, Milwaukee and GB&W) all used the time-honored “Upper Quadrant” train order signal (with blades that stuck straight up in the clear position) and Soo and GB&W switched over to tri-color electric train order signals later on as an ersatz cost saving matter (manual upper quadrant train order signals have moving parts, and parts cost money---remember what I’ve written already about railroads being cheap by nature). Now, on the Soo Line, use of the upper quadrant train order signal seemed to be restricted to the Chicago-Portal (N.D.) main line. On other lines, the Soo used the older “Nunn” train order signal well into the 1990’s, a marker light mounted atop a short axel with red oblong boards below, mounted to, and suspended from, the structure in various mounting designs (Wisconsin Central Railway of 1872 festooned their Train Order Signals with double WC-shield boards on their Nunn-type Train Order Signals). Many, many railroads used some version of the Nunn train order signal at some point in their existence. It was operated from inside the depot by a crank-type affair; the Upper Quadrant signal had control arms that led inside to two gear-equipped Steel arms hung from where ever they needed to be in the Depot. ITEM: The Soo Line Depot in Abbotsford, Wis., had its train order signal control levers mounted in the floor in the spot where the Telegraph desk should have been. This, too, was a fairly common practice, and an explanation of why some places were equipped this way has never been forth coming. That is why after Abbotsford was taken out of service as a Train Order station that the Mast, Control Arms and white illumination signal at the top remained at Abbotsford, with the Blades and heads removed from the signal, until the Depot at Abbotsford was torn down. Soo Line wasn’t about to spend money re-doing the floor in the bay window area for a structure that was slated to be taken down anyway (Abbotsford was torn down in 1980)

Train Order Signals also become a lightening rod of the era you choose to model. Traffic increases over time dictated using something different to enhance traffic flow on heavily-used lines. Wisconsin Central, for example, started out using the Nunn-style signal, then “upgraded” to a mast-mounted, Lower Quadrant Train Order Signal, and then “upgraded” to the Clark Upper Quadrant Train Order Signal before settling on a newer version of the Clark signal, and then doing away with hand-operated signals to opt for Electric Tri-color signals with only a switch to change aspect. No moving parts except the selector switch (and the Soo Line complained about the replacement cost of that seemingly insignificant switch).

If you are a stickler for accuracy in you modeling era, you need to be aware of what the railroad you model was using as certain specific eras when it comes to certain equipment like Train Order Signals depending on what section of a specific railroad you choose to model.

Chicago & North Western used the “Sanborn” Train Order Signal, a lower-quadrant, two-aspect signal with a very distinctive design. I’ve found, over time, that the reason the C&NW did this was because the signal head used on their block signal semaphore signals was nearly the same head used on the Upper Quadrant Train Order Signal. There would have been obvious confusion had the C&NW opted to use Upper Quadrant Train Order Signals as well as their distinctive semaphore block signal head.

Crossing signals

Now, I have installed crossing signals on the Hub City Central. The newer versions offered by Tomar and Walthers are far better than the signals offered by N.J. International----N.J. International’s crossing signals have been around for a looonnnngg time! It’s interesting to note here that NJI’s signals are still using bulbs instead of LED’s and the same black-coated wire as they did when first introduced in the mid-1960’s (I think these signals were introduced before I came along in 1963). You can’t tell the difference between the wires, although of recent NJI uses a slightly longer, somewhat thicker ground wire, but the wires to the lamps are still all the same color and length. Very frustrating to hook up if you don’t take the time to actually “hook up” the signal to a power pack and check each lead to see which bulb it lights (if you do this, make sure you mark each lead so you know which bulbs are lit by what lead!) The newer offerings by NJI are a little easier to hook up and understand, but they have been known to be hooked up “backwards” at the factory and may require re-wiring to get them to operate.

Tomar’s signals are very nice, but they are on the expensive side---current MSRP for a pair is $51.99 per pair---but they come with colored-coded leads which makes them a joy to hook up. Still this is somewhat cheaper than buying N.J. International’s “over-the-road” crossing signals (which we have on the Club Layout) which cost $41.99 per signal---they are not sold in pairs! Now you know why, when it came time to replace the over-the-road crossing signals on my modules, and those damaged elsewhere on the Club layout, I used the far-less expensive Walthers model instead.

Let me intone to you all here reading this that there are no cheap crossing signals, except, perhaps, for the new “Built Ups” line of lighting by Walthers, but by the time you purchase the pair of signals with the detection/operating module, though you’ll have slightly less invested in some other system, it is still a significant amount

That, of course, brings me to the operating units. Tomar and Circuitron offer the best operating flashing units available which are easy to hook up. Unfortunately, like everything else, these items are pricey and you begin to look at a major investment in only one crossing signal installation, particularily if you choose to include a detection circuit to turn the signals on and off realistically. Detection circuits work on a home layout, but not on a modular layout that travels all over creation, which is why the Hub City Central’s crossing signals have regular on-off switches. Detection circuits work on the use of photo-optic sensors which require a steady, constant light source which you will not get from venue to venue with a traveling layout, you can substitute a timer, and the lights will turn on as the train approaches but will only run for so long. With a long train, the signals may shut off before the train has cleared the crossing (Waupaca has this arrangement on one end of their layout with this problem)

One manufacturer had announced a DCC-driven crossing signal installation (I can not remember what firm it was--Atlas I believe) and I have heard no more about it since.

The Walthers “Built Ups” signal animation circuit is driven by both 120volt and track power to activate the signals. It is not DCC compatible nor is it recommended to be. Use with DCC will destroy the Walthers signals. I’ve found this paradox to be rather interesting, given that all of Walthers newer locomotive models are equipped for DCC operation. I guess their innovation hasn’t gotten everywhere yet.

Crossing Signals really are “electronic animation” to add interest. I suppose they should be included in the next segment:

Electronic “animation”

This includes many of the “trinket” items like a flashing arc welder, campfire scene, stop lights, working lighted advertising signs and operating chase lights on a theater marquee or around an advertising sign. These are items you add to help add both detail, “life” and animation to your layout. Personally, I’m not against such things, but lighted signs for businesses would be, in my opinion, a moot point if your layout operates only in “bright sunlight”. Yes, you can see these examples of extras doing their electronic “thing” in regular lighting, but how often is one going to really pay attention to these things when running your trains beyond having guests over to see your layout? The only reason I have added little items like this to the Club layout is because we play to the public, and people get a charge out of seeing these items. But are they necessary for a home layout? I don’t know. At this stage, I really don’t have a qualified opinion. Such things are neat to have, but they entail a lot of work to install, and as I’ve mentioned, in my own quest my basic idea was to adhere to the “K.I.S.Y.M” (Keep It Simple You Moron) principle. What you would do is your business.

Street, Depot platform and yard security lights

This becomes an interesting subject if you model the current scheme of things (a.k.a., “today”) but you go back into the 1970’s, most places, be they farm, home or business/industry, didn’t have a lot of outdoor lighting. I remember comments made by the trainmen that worked, not only out to Greenwood but also switching freight cars at other industry along the Soo, making comments about how much they appreciated a business that had at least one security light on their property versus the trainmen having to rely on the scanty light thrown off by their hand lanterns. Working on the real railroad at night still remains a dangerous proposition, but someone trying to “spot” a freight car at a specific point in the dark becomes a true challenge. Now, in model railroading, even I wouldn’t be inclined to operate my layout in the dark (I tried it at the old Clubhouse when I had all that baloney built into the middle of the Layout). John Allen did so with his Gorre & Daphetid layout, a task which entailed a lot of extra work and detailing to make it possible. John relied on phlorescent paints to make automobile headlights glow, for example (remember, this was long before miniature LED’s, fiber-optics, grain-of-wheat and grain-of-rice bulbs). Terrific effect if you plan on operating in the dark---some do----but I question the need to run your trains in total darkness, or, in the case of the Gorre & Daphetid, under the glow of Black Light lighting. Hence, while I add the non-operating detail of a yard security light to a building, it is still non-operating. Part of this comes from my experiences with the Club layout and the need for removable buildings and such. On a home layout you can/could put the extra mile into something and have operating yard, street and security lights.

Speaking of “Yard” lights, in Switching yards (specifically, where a train is made up) Railroads often string up some sort of bright illumination for working in the dark. The old Soo Line Yard here in Marshfield had them; Canadian National has put up even newer versions of what the Soo Line had and Wisconsin Central continued to use. The way it was done in Marshfield (and, to a certain extent, Stevens Point) were two, two-light floods mounted to two separate power poles, about forty feet apart. The floods were then aimed where the light was needed. One covered the Switch from the main line to the Yard lead and Tracks one and two; the next covered tracks three and four, the next covered track five and the RIP Track. On the eastern end of the Yard at Marshfield, there were no lights used at all. Really large yards use tower-mounted, high-intensity floods that, literally, light everything up like daytime sun light. Marshfield’s yard isn’t lit up like daytime, but the effect leaves only darkness between cuts of standing cars on adjacent tracks. The newer light fixtures installed by CN in Marshfield’s yard are the newer, Quartz-Halogen high-intensity lights which give off a noticeably orange glow.

The House Tracks downtown on the Soo Line were only lit by what light filtered over from the Platform lights and from nearby street lights and home/business yard lights. If there were cars sitting on tracks 3, 2 or House 1, the area east of the Freight House was as dark as everything else around it. I don’t know that one would want to be that detailed in Scale, but, as I often say, each to their own devices.

Depot platform and street lights are another issue. I had street lights on my old modules and the inside section I built to the layout in the old clubhouse. In fact, I have street lights on my new modules in the layout, but they remain inoperable, not hooked up. While I am satisfied that I managed to find a street light that looked like what I was after for the period setting on my modules, I don’t have much enthusiasm for hooking them up and having them on, forever on.

The same thing can be said for the Depot Platform lights as well. While I’m happy to have found a platform light that is what I was looking for, I really have no inclination in trying to hook them up. Platform and street lights are, for me at least, a static detail and not much else. In a Modular Layout situation, where the structures are removable, I just can’t see trying to add lighting effects, particularily with a Depot. Depots had platform lights up under the eaves of the roof; to have stand-alone platform lights running down the platform and darkness around the Depot seems out-of-place and just plain wrong in my stilted opinion.

Switch Machines

I probably erred in where I have included this subject line, Switch Machines. I should have gone in to deeper detail on this far back during track laying, but I have very little experience or contact with switch machines. I wish I could defer this subject to Jim Hasz; Jim has hands-on experience with Switch Machines and the attendant hardware. My experience with it has been:

Watching a turnout operate up close

Use of Atlas Switch Machines

Use and installation of Peco Switch Machines

Reading the occasional magazine article about the types of switch machines offered, their installation and use

That is about it. I can offer my own dingy opinions on Switch Machines: Personally, I don’t like ‘em, in part because of my disinclination to extra wiring and sitting on a cold concrete floor on my generous caboose working above my head, and, a switch machine is just one more thing that can go wrong and effect everything else, and they need maintenance. However, keeping an open mind about them, I’ve found that you cannot expect to hand-throw all of your turnouts because of reach considerations/space restrictions between obstacles, such as buildings, etc. Switch machines are a needed item. There is no way around it. How and where you choose to put them is up to you.

I know I prefer the “Under-the-table” switch machines, versus the old Atlas mounted-to-the-side-of-the-turnout switch machine, which still don’t work the best (when they work, that is) and still fry themselves at inopportune times when you least expect it. Some things never change! The Peco switch machines are an under-the-table affair, which work quite well, considering the archaic-looking nature of the Peco Switch Machine (compared to switch machines offered by Taurus and others, the Peco switch machine looks as though it came over with Christopher Columbus on the Pinta). Coupled with Peco’s Turnout Point Spring in the throw bar, you end up with a turnout who’s switch points STAY to the side their thrown to.

Over the years there has been heated debate over Switch Machines and how fast they should operate or not; frankly, I’m not sure what difference speed of a turnout’s points going over to one side from the other should be such a “Big Deal” I’ve seen the real thing operate, and from the time the Dispatcher activated the Switch Motor, until the points slid over and the motor shut off, took approximately 1 minute. No, it wasn’t fast, but I can’t see why one would want this in Scale.

I’m sorry I can’t be more help here. Good Luck on whatever method you choose.

Tables That Turn

There is nagging point that becomes a problem with being exposed in a family way to a real railroad is that you become familiar---perhaps TOO familiar---with that specific prototype’s practices and the reasons surrounding why something was done the way it was. This is my problem within my own modeling when it comes to the time-honored Turntable. Now, don’t get me wrong, a Turntable in any scale for your layout is a must----in fact, I like ‘em better than building a turning wye. Turntables don’t need to take up a lot of real estate. My problem is, I grew up with the Soo Line, and consequently, the Soo Line didn’t believe in large radius turntables (they simply didn’t have the money to build bigger turntables so, consequently, most Soo Line Steam Power was built to fit the turntables they had, which is why Soo Line steam Power all had disproportionately short tenders on their steam power, built to fit the Soo Line’s disproportionately short Turntables). Therefore, I don’t care for too many of the large Turntable kits available out there. I have done some searching over the Internet and found much to my delight, that Diamond Scale Construction still produces and markets their excellent line of Turntable kits with pre-cast Hydrocal plaster pits and clock-work mechanisms. Diamond Scale also offers these kits in O Scale (Scale O Gauge, not O-27 but I think they could be adapted to O-27). These kits are built to scale and available in smaller diameters than other available turntable kits; they are, unfortunately, quite expen$ive because of their basic custom-made nature. The old Heljan Turntable kit (like we have in the Club Layout) isn’t bad, but some of the parts on it are a bit out-of-scale. Heljan’s old 90’ Turntable is a very usable model, with—or without---detail modifications.

Turntables aren’t the hardest thing to hook up electrically, but where they get complicated is trying to index them to operate electrically from track-to-track. Personally, and this is due to my dislike of anything complicated, I’ve always preferred the old hand-crank turntable method.

A Turntable is best located where you can get at it in case you mis-align the table to the track you want to put your loco on, often times in an accessible corner. These are not the worst thing to have on your layout and they add interest as well as operational possibilities.

In closing…………

Unless you can think of something I haven’t touched on at this point, I hope I have provided some of you with some help of some sort, and may have opened up some avenues somewhere in the hobby for you. I can’t----and won’t----try to tell you what manufacturer’s trains to buy, to use Kadee Couplers or not, how fast to run your trains, etc., that just ain’t my job, folks. We all enjoy this hobby for different reason and in turn enjoy it each in our unique own ways, combined with, but separate from, each other. My purpose here has been to try to focus your attention on the things I have used/done myself or have seen used/done elsewhere, and inquiring question periods with those that have done something; the entire objective is to try to help you build your layout better, faster by accident by proxy of using methods known to work, versus making too many mistakes and losing time because you have to start over (and over, and over, ad nauseum). Generally, trying to give helpful tips like this (and I mean truly helpful tips, not sarcasm or quips) tends to be as frustrating as leading a camel to water and trying to make it drink: pretty darned tough to do no matter your intentions are.

Just remember, the Club has all those volumes of Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, Model Railroading, Rail Model Journal, Atlas’s “How To” booklets, and Kalmbach’ s “How To” instructional mini-magazines, for the purpose of helping you along in your quest in building your own layout. I heartily suggest you peruse these helpful guides. They give you wonderful insights on “How To” do something, including instructional help via photographs. What I may not be able to answer, these books generally can. Good Luck and Happy Model Railroading!

“73”

Keith