Wiring

Since the day will come that all existing track is going to be replaced with Tillig Elite code 83, I started preparing for the operation. So the feeders from the track segments had to be un-soldered, as it can be seen in the photo. This was done for all the segments, so now there's nothing much that remains to be solved, except removing the pins that hold it in place. Just as the photo shows, they were another downside to this old track.

And since there was some spare time, I also started working towards installing an entry signal right next to the east tunnel portal. The signal will be a 4012 Viessmann - fitted with 3 lights - red, yellow, green. 4 wires have to be set-up for this one. Installing the wires is a bit complicated on this layout, because it wasn't build on just a plain wooden board. Back when it was designed, since there wasn't much space available in this room (it still isn't), the board was installed on 2 hinges, and it sits between 2 closets. When it's not in use, the layout is raised vertically, and a nice shiny wooden board appears. When it's being used, the board comes down.
Since wires couldn't just go through the board on the other side, a checkered maze of foam squares, about 1 cm high, was installed, and on top of this a foam board, about 3.5 cm thick. The plan was to route all the wiring through this maze. Unfortunately in practice it gets difficult, partly because the maze tunnels are getting crowded quickly by lots of wires, and adding new wires requires special equipment. So I started drilling access holes in the top foam board, for better access. In the second photo the wires are installed and labeled, ready for the new signal.

New Orders

Now that all the track had to be changed, I made a new order to LokShop, with a few track items for initial tests. Among them were: the replacement switch for the old PIKO ones, Tillig 85323, the corresponding motor drive 86112, the roadbed specifically designed for this switch 86513. Since the 2 possible radiuses of the PIKO sectional track I had (380 mm and 440 mm) were nowhere to be found, I opted to go for flex-track. This is a special type of track that can be bent in the required shape, so one could create the desired radiuses around a layout. This also means that the model track can resemble its real-life conterpart more closely: real railroads use easements to go from straight track to curved track, something that is not so easy done with sectional pieces of track. The standard piece of Tillig flex track is 890mm long, and 3 pieces were ordered. I also got one piece of roadbed for the flex track. Tillig manufactures 2 types of ballast: a dark one and a grey one. And since all the products so far were based on the dark type, I also got a medium piece of grey ballast, to see how this would look. I added a couple of connectors and electric feeders for the new track, and also ordered the Lenz USB interface, and a new Silver decoder, to be fitted on an existing loco.

In the meantime I revised the plan of the layout, and decided how long the new tunnel would be - almost half of its initial size. And for catenary I decided I would use something discovered back when I was looking at the Viessmann products - a tunnel catenary kit. Inside you get a couple of masts, and some special metallic band that serves as the contact wire. Only problem with the masts is that they are bit taller than my designed clearence - so they'll need to be somehow hid under the terrain. I also found a couple of accesories for the catenary system (a height template and an auxilliary tool for setting up masts in curves) and made a new order with LokShop.

Looking around model railroading forums, I found that most of the pros in the hobby would paint the ties of new railroad track, to remove the plastic shiny look, and some would go as far as detail every separate tie individually, for increased realism. I decided to "break" the layout into sections that could be worked upon individually. And for the section just next to the tunnel, I decided for some retaining wall. The problem with most of the building sets, as well as tunnel portals/walls is that weathering needs to be applied, because out of the box, they don't look very good. But for weathering, the forums mentioned on and on the use of the airbrush - this is a small device that sprays paint in thin coats, allowing for remarkable effects - and various powder chalks, to simulate the aging. So yet another order went to LokShop, for 2 powder kits (one from Noch and one from Woodland Scenics), a fixing solution from Noch, and a retaining wall, also by Noch. Since tests with the curved Tillig track and roadbed showed that after installing the track, there were still places underneath the rail where there was a shortage of ballast, I added a box of dark Tillig ballast to the order.

I then turned to the airbrush, and started researching what was needed for this new tool.Besides the actual airbrush, a good source of compressed air was required. Small cans were available on the market, but as forums were against it - because of quickly mounting costs, I opted for an air compressor. This have the advantage that they produce constant pressure, and usually come fitted with a regulator and a water-trap, that keeps water out of the exposed blast of air. The compressor was a no-name, at about 90 EUR, and the airbrush chosen was a double-action one, a Paasche MVL, at 130 EUR.The double action airbrush has the advantage of being able to control the amount of paint that gets sprayed, something that on single-action ones is not possible. The decision was to buy an airbrush that was a bit expensive, but hopefully superior in quality, than to go with a cheap one and just waste my time, taking into account I had no experience with this type of tool so far.

As 3 weeks went by from the initial LokShop order, and since the Lenz USB interface was the only item that didn't make it in their stock, holding the entire order, I emailed them for details. And since they had no idea of the cause of the delay, I emailed Lenz, that previously provided very helpful when I was inquiring about the LZV station and the BR66 loco. The reply was that a part used for manufacturing the USB interface is currently not in stock, but production is expected to be resumed in 2-3 weeks. And since it was already mid-May, I chose to have the order delivered without the interface, and also without the Woodland Scenics weathering powder, that also didn't make it in their stock. In all, it's just under 180 EUR - for the track pieces, the tunnel kit and the Noch products.

The DHL tracking looks promising, and hopefully tommorow I'll be able to pick up the products. A small note about buying directly from dealers in Germany - it usually costs less, including the transport costs than to get the products at a local dealer, that usually has only a few items in stock.

Update: The Noch fixing solution came in a can, so the whole shipment was refused on the airport in Germany, and got sent back to LokShop. They re-send it again, and hopefully this week it will be delivered.

Track Solutions

Around the beginning of april this year, I started looking for solutions to the track problems, detailed in the post "The Layout".The biggest one was replacing the PIKO switches, and I started looking around for a switch with the same dimensions. Web searches weren't successful, as different retailers used all kinds of different radiuses and the details of switches weren't clearly stated. I then turned to the program used for creating the original layout plan, called 3rd Planit, who had an extensive library of track items. So with the details of my PIKO switch on one side, I started comparing the different switches. After a while I found that Tillig produced a switch that had exactly the same dimensions I was looking for. Further research showed that this company was considered by many the producer of the most realistic model track around - the code .83 - named so after the height of the rail. So finally I would be able to change the old U profile with a normal "I" one, as on the real railroads. They also produced a slow-motion motor for turning the switches - which again adds realism. Tillig goes even further as to produce roadbed for their track, with already made holes for the ties of the track to fit in - so the final product looks as it's supposed to - unlike my PIKO track that was just layed on top of my flat ballast. The sawdust for my initial roadbed also doesn't scale so good as to simulate crushed stones normally used on the railroads - while the Tillig one looks right at home. But since pictures on different websites weren't enough, I made a visit to a local dealer to see the product first-hand. It was looking good, so I bought a small piece of curved track, with the corresponding roadbed, for further studies.
The new Lenz loco, just as the cleaning car, work just fine on this type of track, however most of the old PIKO rolling stock, because of the larger dimensions of the wheel flanges used back then, tends to lightly brush the ties as they go along. I could see 2 methods for fixing this - buy new wheel sets for the cars, and for the locos, where available, or use a grinder to reduce the diameter of the flanges. No solution was chosen at the time (actually I haven't made a decision to this day) but I studied further the track produced by Tillig, and found that they produced different models of curved switches, something I could only dream of with the PIKO straight switches I had. The decision was finally made that all track had to be changed.

Fixing Old Locos

After I got the spare parts for the PIKO BR 01.5, and saw that the parts actually fit, I now turned to a couple of old locos that had problems. This were 2 BR 110, both produced in the '80s - a red one and a blue one. The red one worked perfect for a while, unfortunately started exhibit strange symptoms: the motor would start making a buzzing sound (like friction) and the power was gone, as the engine was barely advancing. Seeing this, the guy who bought the whole collection of PIKO trains as I was a kid, namely my father, decide to buy another loco, of the same type, thinking that this particular loco had somehow developed a problem. So when he went back again to Germany (this were the '80s - e-commerce did not exist, and because Romania, the country I lived in, was still communist at the time, this meant going to Germany to get some good rolling stock - East Germany that is, since it shared the same ideas about communism as Romania - West Germany was out of the question), the model chosen was a blue one. Unfortunately after a while, the same symptoms were also experienced by this loco. Since any lack of lubriant was out of the question, since the locos were well maintained, something was clearly wrong with the engine for the whole series. Various tests were done with the motor in this blue loco (the reason the roof top is missing in the photo on the left, taken in april 2010), but no solution was found.

Because of the newly found funds for my hobby, I turned to PIKO, in pursuit of a new engine for this locos, or some other solution that could fix my problems. Learning from the past, where no reply came to my english inquiries, I used google translate to send german text stating my troubles. The reply was quick, and PIKO said that they weren't the ones who manufactured the loco, but instead a company named Gutzold produces this loco, PIKO being responsable only with the packaging under the PIKO trademark. I also remembered I had a different model of loco - BR 120 - that was also experimenting the buzzing sound, and looking through the locos produced by Gutzold, I found all 3 problematic locos on their site. I contacted Gutzold, with the same 'google translate' method - and the short reply was that the engines for this locos has reached the end-of-life.

So right now there is no solution in site for restoring this locos to working order.Gutzold still produces the BR 120, although it uses another model number (Lok 120), and the technology has been updated - DCC decoder inside and for some models even a sound module. You can find more details on their website http://www.guetzold.de/. Unfortunately they are no longer selling the BR 110.

The future is uncertain for the 3 existing locos. Some plastic gears attached to the motor wheels cracked on both BR 110 models, and replacements are no longer possible, although a company exists in my own town that does perfect replicas of different gear cogs. I am determined to get both a BR 110 and a BR 120 in the future. The BR 120 produced by Gutzold is 150 EUR (250 EUR with sound). I found that Roco also produces the model, at 165 EUR, and so does Tillig, at 115 EUR. For the BR 110, Brawa does the BR 114, at 250 EUR, including the sound decoder.

But right now I am determined to build the layout and spend some in this direction, rather than just buying rolling stock and having nowhere to use them, as it happened before.

DCC Testing

After the last shipment arrived, I quickly wanted to see how this DCC loco would perform. I didn't want to use the actual layout, since the old controllers were still connected to it, and since I needed some sort of loop for further tests, a new separate oval loop was constructed, using the same PIKO track.

I was also working on various formulas for automatic control of the trains, and this had to be tested in a consistent manner, and the new oval was just right for this. I had a pleasant surprise when I opened the package from Lenz, because besides the command station, I also found a Lenz DCC Silver decoder, which you were supposed to get only if the order came from North America; but anyway, a free decoder ! And since the spare parts for the PIKO BR 01.5 had to be installed, I figured this loco would make a perfect candidate for this first decoder. The decoder comes with a little book, that explains very well how you must connect the various wires. Basically all you need to do is remove the filtering capacitors and inductors commonly found on the DC locos, connect the wires that take current from the wheels straight to the decoder, and then connect the dedicated wires from the decoder to the engine. And this is exactly what was done in the photo on the right. The BR 01.5 has its motor in the tender, so this is were the decoder was placed. The front of the loco also draws current from its own wheels, but this feed directly the light bulb used for the front headlights, and since no functions were available on this loco, the corresponding wires were later cut from the decoder.

The Lenz BR 66 was impressing. On the original packing there's a little bag containing lots of small details (small pipes, various ornaments etc) that can be mounted on the loco. This were not mounted (actually there are in the same bag to this day), but the piston rods and small stairs from the front drive had to be removed, as specified by the Lenz instructions, so the loco could negotiate the 380mm radius used on the oval constructed.The loco is fitted with spring buffers, just like the prototype. I was further impressed by the speed the loco had on its lowest speed step, so as the engine barely moves. All but the front wheel are powered by the motor, so there should be no problems in the future for the grades on the actual layout. Going full speed ahead presents no problems, and the loco is able to take the abrupt, 380mm radius with no problems, however going backwards, even at a small speed, causes derailments as soon as the curve is reached, probably because of the small set of wheels on the back. This is not critical at all, because most of the time the loco will be set to forward motion anyway. The back-EMF function in the decoder assured a steady speed, regardless of straight or curved track. This is unlike the old DC locos, were this was impossible - you could get the loco to go very slow on a straight piece of track, but as it entered a curve, it stalled, because the friction involved grew, and there was no automatic mechanism to correct this. I found the back-emf to be also working in the PIKO BR 01.5, although because of the relative old motor, the performances of the Lenz engine could not be matched. Coupled with a bell sound, a short and a long whistle available in the Lenz BR 66, at 180 EUR, this proved to be a very good investement (later I would discover the "Made in China" logo on the back of the loco - partially explaining the reduced price - but the quality is nonetheless impressive).

Back on the oval layout, I also fixed 3 pairs of Mr Matix MRD1 optical detectors. The photo on the left shows the LZV100 in the upper left corner, the Viessmann 5200 AC transformer, two MRD1 boards, a pair of the optical detectors (right behind the PIKO BR 01.5 tender), and in the bottom a part of the Phidget 1018 interface, used to convey the signals from the MRD1 boards to the computer.
After encountering the same lack of electrical connection described in an older post, the decision was made to solder all the track pieces together, using thin wires, just as was done on the actual layout. The problems with the interference of the sparks and the optical detectors dissapeared, as no false readings were ever encountered.
Lenz also manufactures a computer interface, that connects to the USB port, so the problem of computer-controlling the layout seems solved.
Bottom line: DCC was the way to go, and cost of the decoders for the remaining locos was small compared to the value that the system brings.

More Investments

On the end of december 2009, as the "gap" problem was becoming impossible to solve, I looked around the layout, thinking what else could be done. Since the tests with the Phidget 1017, the board controlling the PIKO switches and Viessamnn signals were successful, I ordered 3 more signals (1 x 4016 daylight exit signal with distant signal and 2 x 4012 home signals) and their corresponding electronic modules. The modules produce the soft-changing of the lights, just like their prototype on the real railroads. Strange enough, the modules are more expensive that the signal itself - the 4012 is 11 EUR, but the electronic module is 23 EUR. I also got some electrical accesories for connecting the different wires that were getting numerous. I also thought of cleaning the track, and since getting through the (then still in place) tunnel wasn't so easy, I decided to go for a TRIX cleaning car - 24050 - very nicely done and with interchangeable cleaning pads, that were easy to wash. I received the order in the first days of January 2010.
I also looked on the figures required for getting in DCC. I decided to go for Lenz, a german manufacturer. A few things are required to begin operating in DCC - a control station, an AC transformer, and compatible locomotives. The Lenz control station (LZV 100) and its remote control were 240 EUR. I didn't need a new transfomer at this stage, since I had the Viessmann one already, and for testing it should have been ok. Trouble was with the locos, since none of them were equipped for DCC. Converting old DC locomotives to DCC operation is done with a special decoder, that is installed inside the locomotive. One Lenz decoder was about 25 EUR, not a steep price, but i wanted to see DCC in action at its full potential, and this would just have been impossible with an old loco fitted with a decoder. So I looked around for a loco that was DCC compatible, and was cheap enough. TRIX made some locos at 70 EUR, and they had inside dedicated space, and a connector for the decoder. So the loco would cost just under 100 EUR, which was fair enough. But further browsing on the Lenz website revealed that they also produced 2 HO locos - a small diesel one, and a steam loco - BR 66, that would be perfect on the layout, since it wasn't too small, nor too long. The BR 66 came in at 180 EUR, and I decided to go for it. At the time I was also trying to fix a broken front headlight piece of the PIKO BR 01.5 steam loco - precisely a light guidance plastic part, that was previously broken and then glued, the result being that 2 headlights were ok, but the third one was dimmed. Also a small spring for the loco-tender coupler was damaged, and some wheels on the tender were quite rusted. Since PIKO had on its website dedicated pictures and codes for the replacement parts, I emailed them for further assistance. Unfortunately I got no reply, as I would later found out the support only works in german, and google translate will prove a success in communicating with PIKO. So I turned to LokShop, where I got the other orders so far, and they were happy to help. So in mid-february I made the order for the Lenz LZV100, the Lenz BR 66 loco, and the spare parts - a total cost of 450 EUR, with the spare parts less than 10 EUR.

Problems and fixes

After switching the hand and sheets of paper with actual rolling stock, troubles started with the optical sensors. The Phidget 1018 and its IR detectors just didn't perform as expected.The problem with the infrared detectors was that the board they were installed on was quite big, and it was difficult to hide this behind a tree or some bush. An apparently good thing was that the IR emitter and the detector were placed on different sides of the same board, so this meant I didn't have to have 2 detectors, in an across-the-track positioning. But after a few days the problems grew: the black plastic of some locos and cars were giving a hard time to the IR detectors, because - as I would later discover - black plastic materials absorb infrared radiation, and so the dark-colored rolling stock was invisible to the detectors. If this were not enough, it wasn't so easy to cover the board behind some form of a wall, with a gap small enough for the IR to flow, because the infrared would just bounce off the inner part of the wall, and back to the IR detector, giving a false reading. So the detection solution had to be rethinked.

I considered buying more powerfull Sharp detectors for a while, but then dropped the idea, since the price was rather high, and I couldn't rely on this reflective method 100%. Searching around the net, in december last year, I discovered Mr Matix, that produced optical detectors specifically designed for model railroads. Basically for 15$, you got a separate IR emitter and a detector, and one board to hook these up. The good part was that this board could be connected directly to the Phidget 1018 input interface, instead of the IR Phidget sensors. Also installing the emitter and detector across-the-track, meant that there were no more issues with rolling stock material; if something was there, it would be sensed reliably, without false readings.

The photo on the side, took in april this year, shows the detector. I took this because I wanted to remember where it was positioned, since the detector was fixed using the tunnel ceiling.

With the detection problem solved, I went on to test the Phidget motor controller. With the DC operating mode, you actually command a segment of track; a voltage applied on this will move all the locos in that particular segment. Therefore you need to segment the track on the layout. This was already done, since PIKO produced little sections of track, that were gapped on both rails. So I connected 2 outputs of an Phidget 1060 to 2 neighbouring track segments. On a single segment everything went ok, but when the loco crossed the gap, it will get a sort of power surge, until it reached the other segment completely. Another issued appeared: the board itself used a pulse-width modulated signal, basically it was applying the maximum voltage on the loco for a fixed duration, then turning if off. For example, to get a 30% speed, 12V (the maximum voltage for DC operating mode) were applied for 30% of the time, then for the rest of 70%, the voltage was 0. This was of course repeated many times per second, so the effect would be smooth. There are however 2 known problems with applying this kind of signal to DC motors - first, the widespread idea that the motors would overheat, which I did not ran into, and secondly, the locos make a sort of buzzing sound. The buzzing was noticeable - imagine small birds singing quietly from within the loco, as the voltage increases - not very pleasant, but I could just go with this one. Another problem with the controller was soon experienced: the possible voltage was in the range -12V +12 V. For the positive side all went ok, but when you went from a negative value, to a smaller negative value (eg. from -10 to -9), the voltage would momentarily drop to 0, then get back to the correct value. Although it happened quite fast, it was noticeable, as the decellerating loco would appear to stall repeatedly. Yet another incovenient became apparent when the loco crossed the gap - sparks were produced, and this produced false readings in the optical detectors, in a random fashion. So the end of december saw different efforts to resolve the "gap" issues - various large inductors connected to the outputs of the Phidget controller, and a lot of documentation read for computing the correct value for this inductors. In the end the problem was that the controller outputs didn't have an internal common, so when the loco crossed the gap between 2 sections of track, each powered by a different output, in effect 2 different sources were connected together - something that in electronics is not recommended, because the resulting output isn't clearly determined.

Because the time invested in researching solutions for the various controller problems was getting out of hand - sometimes experimenting until late at night with various inductors and an oscilloscope - I decided that the Phidget 1060 had to be abandoned. Searches for direct current controllers weren't so successful, so I started researching DCC more closely. Now in DCC (digital command control) you no longer control sections of track. There's just one big continuos track, and the locomotives can be operated individually. You also get various goodies: output functions (light, whistles, bells), joining 2 or more locomotives in a consist, consistent lights on the locos, regardless of their speed (unlike DC, where the voltage applied to the track also imposed the lighting for the locos and inside of lit passenger cars) and a lot more. Only problem with DCC was the high price...

Boom Times Ahead

Back when I was a kid, I used to play a railroad simulation game called Transport Tycoon. Besides lots of trains, tons of track laying and days from my life spent, this game also incorporated a sort of basic economy, and when things got better, you had this newspaper headline appearing - Boom Times Ahead.

Somewhere in October last year, the layout was basically in the same form as the preceding post. The track was all layed out, with some grey ballast made from sawdust, that I coloured myself. A better closeup can be seen in the left photo, took in april this year, when the tunnel ceiling was removed. At the time, I just wanted to get the layout up and running. All I needed was a way to computer-control the trains, and, hopefully, the rest will come along. In 2008, I stumbled upon a company called Phidgets, that produced some interesting electronics. They made very small boards, that could be connected to the USB port of the computer, and control small DC motors, command relays or read in values from various sensors. The board controlling the DC motors could be used for the computer-controlling part, the relay boards were perfect for throwing switches around the layout, also from the computer, while the sensors and corresponding boards could send values about track occupancy. I also discovered Viessmann, that produced some fine signals, with prototypical slow change of the lights, and semaphore signals that had slow moving arms, just like the real thing. So i made a small estimation of how much money would need to go in a few boards and a couple of signals for experimenting...and then decided to give up for a while, because if was too much at the time. Fortunately, in october 2009 I could get a little monthly budget dedicated exclusely to railroading, so things started looking up. I ordered 2 Phidgets 1060, that allowed me to control 2 DC motors each - this meant being able to control 4 locomotives at this time, one Phidget 1017, that could throw the PIKO switches on the layout, and one Phidget 1018 with 3 IR sensors, which I intended to use for track occupancy detection. Also one semaphore signal (4500) and a light signal (4013), one AC transformer (5200) and a couple other accesories from Viessmann found their way to my layout.

Once the order arrived, tests soon started. On the left the Phidget 1017 was being set-up for some tests with the light signal from Viessmann. The 1017 proved to be a success - it had 8 relay outputs - and a switch needed 1 relay to control it, the semaphore signal also 1 relay, while the light signal took 3 relays for displaying all its 4 color aspects. The 1018 and the IR detectors looked promising - at least the hand and some sheet of paper could be detected. The Phidget 1060 was also looking good. The 1.5 amp limit meant that virtually any locomotive could be operated. It also supported acceleration, so coding would be less complicated in the future. And the first tests with a small PIKO steam locomotive made me think that more 1060 boards would soon be needed.

Unfortunately further tests will reveal critical problems...

The Layout

The photos were taken in april this year, and the operation under way was removing the ceiling of the tunnel. Why is this being done ? Well, multiple things led to this - first, the track "hidden" by the tunnel is unacceptably long - about 2 metres, second, one portal was double-track (exit on the left on the right photo), while the other one was single-track (the exit on the upper right on the same photo) - this means a switch is somewhere in there, more precisely, under the track traversing the tunnel on the right side - and fishing derailed locos and cars deep inside a tunnel is a definite no-no, third, I installed a primitive form of catenary on the tunnel's ceiling, as I wanted to have the option to add catenary to the whole layout later; unfortunately the copper wire used as the contact wire was never smooth, always presenting bumps to the oncoming pantograph; fourth, the wire was soldered to small pieces of wire that were fixed to the plywood ceiling - but the soldering points proved too weak for the task, and the wire would just snap, and resoldering under the already fixed ceiling was next to impossible.

A close-up also shows the tin-like track. Unfornately this was the standard back when all the track was bought, and there was nothing to do about it without purchasing new track. Beside the unrealistic appearance, there are several problems with this type of track - the mechanical contacts between the pieces oxidize quickly, and track conductivity becomes a nightmare, so struggling locomotives are a common site. The fix is to solder each piece to the next one, using thin wires, that are hidden under the track itself atferworks. Actually this was done for the whole layout, and combined with good and regular cleaning of the track (I used R-10 contact cleaner, and then wipe again with a clean cloth) proved to be successfull. Not so easy to fix is the next glitch - the pieces themselves don't have exactly the same height, so you'll get bumps as the train crosses from a piece to the next one. It gets worse when a cleaning car is used, as they tend to be very sensitive to this irregularities, often derailing. At least my TRIX 24050, but more about this in later posts. But the fatal problem is that in special configurations, involving a switch right after a curve, some locos will hit the side part of the switch. On the left, the PIKO switch, on which the locos will stumble with their front axle on the plastic part (this is the housing of the electromagnetic mechanism). The point of contact is always the tip of the plastic part, right next to the switch entry on the right side. Of course, a solution had to be found, and because trimming the loco's front axles or cutting away a part of the switches' plastic part was out of the question, I emailed PIKO, asking if there is some replacement for this type of switch. The reply was that the products they made back in those days have little to do with the newer ones - specifically, the A-track that PIKO produces nowdays - but that there are pieces that connect the old kind of track to the new one. Unfortunately none of the current PIKO switches have the same dimension as the old one, and there are already 5 switches of this kind on the layout. It was basically back to the drawing board, and in one of the following posts we'll see the fix.

The Beginning

This is the first post in a (hopefully) long series of entries about the construction of a model railway - 2.00 x 1.20 metres in size. It was started several years back because of the need to run the 12 locomotives and some 50 cars - all of them produced by PIKO (hence the name of the blog). All the rolling stock, track and various accessories were about 20 years old when construction started. This unfortunately meant DC-based locos and sectional / U-profiled, tin-like track. Along the self-made requirements was also automatic, computer-controlled operation of the trains - exactly how I would implement this, I didn't know at that time. In the next entry, I'll upload a couple of photos of the layout and detail a little bit the disadvantages of the old technology.