Building an Operating Turntable and Roundhouse My Modular Adventure - Part 3 Runaround track and turnout control – installation and wiring Reader Feedback (click here)
Les Halmos has been a model railroader since 1979. He’s been involved with setting modular standards for the NMRA since 1981. In 2001, he founded the FreeModu-Rail Group and has been active in promoting Free-mo module standards. Click here to learn more about Les.
Editor’s note: Les Halmos’ articles on building a roundhouse and installing a turntable on his Free-mo modulebased layout have been so popular, we asked Les if he’d like to have a regular column. Les said “Yes!” So starting with the next issue of MRH My Modular Adventure will become a regular column!
I
hope you enjoyed Part 2. Did you see the video? Boy, who was that guy… he sure sounded like he had his knickers in a knot. I better have a chat with him and get him to relax a little. Who knows, maybe in his next video he will be a little more at ease!
So let’s go see the progress step by step. First, I made sure I had all the parts I needed for the job. For the track and the #8 Turnouts, I used Central Valley tie strips and Micro engineering Code 83 and 70 rail. The installation method was the same as what I used on our Free-Modu-Rail layout, and as described previously in Part 2 of this article (MRH Issue # 4 Oct 2009). I modified the Central Valley turnout tie strips by removing some ties and replacing them with Fast Tracks PC board ties in several crucial places. To operate the turnouts, I used Tortoise (Circuitron) switch machines. The three Tortoises are controlled by a Digitrax DS64 Stationary Decoder; this gives me the option for either local, throttle, or computer control of each turnout. Prior to starting this segment I had already installed the ties for the mainline, sidings, and turnout strips.
Correction
In issue #5 Jan/Feb 2010, page 112, Fig 89, on the drawing showing the APR (Automatic Power Routing) Terminal Block wiring, the position of the track numbers were wrong. The correction appears in the Department of Corrections and on the MRH Forum Reader Feedback Page for My Modular Adventure - part 2.
OK, you thought that all the wiring was completed. Well there is still a little more. In this segment, I complete the construction and installation of the runaround track and the three turnouts. Page 98 • Issue 7 • May/Jun 2010 • My Modular Adventure, page 1
Tell a friend ...
Contents
Index