"Milepost 15": Heritage

After the realization that my Atlas turnouts require power to the frog I started looking around for ways to do so. I found several methods. The first uses a relay off the switch motor. Don't want to buy 40 switch motors. Besides, all the turnouts on the Average Eastern are within aisle range and will be manual throw. A similar solution is the "frog juicer". Although it sounds like some sort of exotic food processor it is actually a device that powers the frog. It switches polarity by sensing shorts. Neat bit of electronics but I'm not crazy about the "short" part. They also cost about $20 a throw. Once again price becomes an issue.

So I sit down and try to design a switch control similar to the Caboose Industries ground throw. If built to conduct electricity it could move the points and power the frog. The position of the switch would dictate the polarity. The idea has already been thought out by others and I fell across a solution on Railwire (where else). Using an electrical slide switch as a turnout throw solves the problem. According to Dave Vollmer the switch can be found at Radio Shack. Look for Radio Shack 275-0409 Submini SPDT.

I've begun "mocking up" decals so I can check how they will look when applied. One of the major issues with printing my own decals is the size of the lettering I use. The very smallest letters are 1pt and simply too small to reproduce on a silk screen. Rather than waste emulsion, transparencies and printer ink I print out black and white copies and glue them in place on the car...

Decal Mock Up

The lettering in the image is about the right size, larger is too big. Smaller doesn't work for some many reasons. Based on these results I've been revising the masters in Visio. Each sheet is 4' x 5' for a specific railroad and car...

Typical Decal Sheet

Although the bulk of the sheet is boxcars, I did sneak a couple of cabeese in. So far I've put together sheets for NYO&W, L&HR, DL&W and the other roads I plan to model. The Average Eastern is included of course, but since the AE has few pieces of rolling stock of its own I added a set of Allegheny Eastern boxcars. The All East and the Lehigh & Atlantic were two of my earlier efforts at layout building. They are also included on a sheet for other model railroads...

Model Railroad Decals

I'm thinking it would be kinda neat to have at least one boxcar from each of the layouts I consider inspiration. I intend to add more as I remember. Some of the roads from the NMRA Heritage sets should also appear here. Guys like Bill McClanahan, George Armstrong and Bob Hegge are all on my list of modeling hero's.

Finallly, based on a request from a subscriber on YouTube I tried to create a new set of videos with better resolution. I learned a trick or two recording my grandson's soccer match and tried to apply them. There is still lots of room for improvement, but I'm getting better at it. Wish I had more equipment to run, but most of it is in the shops...