During the February blizzard of 2022, we created a Kato Unitrack loop layout that was 135 feet in length. It’s all DC. The ends each had a separate power supply that was turned to a slower speed, to prevent derailments. Each side of the concrete double track had its own power supply running at full throttle. This created four separate power sections. It ran for hours of entertainment without a problem.
We only had this layout for one day. I recorded it, saved it to the server and then forgot about it. We were in the middle of a blizzard and I must have had other things to think about. I ran across it this week and put together the video. One camera was used to shoot everything. Once the train started, it ran flawlessly and the power supplies did not need adjusted. I moved the camera to difference parts of the layout and recorded the train as it went by.
With company coming for Easter weekend, I had to put away the N Scale layout. With the table cleared, it was a good time to get the new garden train out of the box. Actually, it was a bunch of boxes. I picked up the passenger cars came from a show last summer. The caboose came from the Toledo Train Show in March and the steam engine was the prize purchase at the Mount Hope Train Show a week later. This is the first time all of the cars have been together. Work on the garden train will begin soon.
This Kato Unitrack All DC layout is 4×8 feet. There are four tracks that are interconnected with WX310 double crossovers. The beginning of the video shows how one train can traverse all four tracks in one giant lap.
Since I made the ultimate figure eight layout, I have liked the idea of a double reverse loop. This addition to the layout makes it easy to reverse the direction of any train going in either direction without requiring the train to backup at any time. The only problem with a double reverse loop is the size. I managed to fit one in using 249mm radius curves. These are the smallest curves that most of my engines will handle. Using these small radius curves enables placement of two loops side by side inside the larger outside loop. One of the small loops has the double reverse loop and the other small loop has most of the storage for the layout.
This is my first layout using three WX310 double crossover pieces. One property of these switches is that they do not conduct power through the switch. In my last layout I had a double crossover with power injector track on both sides. That was not possible in this layout because two WX310 pieces were separated by only curves. All my power injector track is straight. To solve the problem, I used terminal Unijoiner connectors between the curved piece and the WX310.
This is also my first layout with five power supplies. Each track has its own power supply. The double reverse loop uses the fifth power supply. Insulated Unijoiner (Kato 24-816) connectors were used to isolate the loop area. One power injector track was inserted into each arm. The polarity was setup so that trains moving left to right would be forward on the power supply and in the opposite direction would be in reverse on the power supply. Another set of Terminal Unijoiners was used to power the elevated section of the layout.
This was a very fun layout. It took about 90 minutes to setup and get the power working correctly. The SCARM file is here.
Last Christmas I picked up a 3D printer. After watching way too many YouTube videos about 3D printers, I went with the Ender 3 v2. It is reliable yet inexpensive. The printing resolution is good enough for an N Scale layout. I haven’t regretted going this route at all.
The first items I printed were downloaded from Thingiverse. The engine house is one of those items. The version I downloaded from Thingiverse was HO scale. I scaled it down to N and printed it.
My initial goal was to create the structures I found in historic photos of Dola, Ohio. To meet this goal, I needed to create my own 3D files. I have used Blender to create motion graphics for many years. The GG1 animation I use in my video introductions was created in Blender. Below is a half rendered version of the GG1 showing the 3D wireframe on the right side of the photo.
Blender will export in all the common 3D printer file formats. All of the 3D printed items were going to be much less complicated than the GG1. Also, there would be no animation. A 3D print is made from a single frame of the Blender file. All I really needed to determine was the correct scale. I started with rail cars that I could measure using a caliper. I picked up an electronic caliper that would measure +/- 0.01 millimeters. My 3D printer has a resolution of 0.4 millimeters.
I did test prints like the one below. This is a hopper template, complete with a little handle. I could test out the fit using this template which printed in less than 15 minutes.
After I determined the exact size, I could make more complicated loads. Below is one Blender file with several types of loads for a hopper. I made these shapes using the terrain tool in Blender. The one on the left is mountains. The one on the right is river rock.
Eventually I was able to make loads that looked realistic by using the physics engine in Blender to smash objects and let gravity pile them onto the template rectangle. That is how I made the coal load.
The only downside to 3D printing is the print speed. The coal tower took a total of 17 hours to print. Of course, I didn’t sit and watch it print. Most of the printing happened while I was asleep. If you want something that looks great, it will take some time to print.
Mrs. Trusty’s great grandfather retired from the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1946. He lived in Dola, Ohio, and the train stopped in his backyard to pick him up for work every day. Chances are good that Grandpa Henry would have known some of the people in the picture below.
The largest feature of the 1922 Dola landscape was the coal tower. The signal tower is to the left of the coal tower. On the right is the Dola train station and the edge of the barber shop/pool room. The telegraph office was just behind the photographer in the picture below.
Based on pictures that I found in the Library of Congress, I have 3D printed the Pennsylvania Railroad stop in Dola as it was in 1922. 3D printed objects include the train station, barber shop & pool room, signal tower, telegraph office and water troughs with support buildings and water tanks. The water troughs were located between Dola and Dunkirk and were used into the 1950s. Railroad workers would keep the troughs full and in the winter build fires along the tracks to keep the water from freezing.
All the structures in these photos are gone. Hopefully the 3D printed versions created for this video will help preserve the history of Dola and the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Many people have asked how to wire a reverse loop. This video shows the easy way, using common components you probably already have.
Two Power Supplies Kato 24-816 Insulated UniJoiner ($5 per pack) Kato 24-827 3-Way Extension Cord ($5)
All of my layouts have more than one track. Since everything I do is DC, I need a separate power supply for each track. Taking advantage of multiple power supplies, I wire the reverse loop to a power supply from a different track. This avoids shorting out the power supply and eliminates the need for a double pole double throw (DPDT) switch.
The illustration above shows a two loop track with a reverse loop in the center. A Kato 24-827 3-way extension cord is used to connect the outside track and the reverse loop to the same power supply. This setup permits using the reverse loop without stopping the train and changing the polarity of the inside track while the train is still in the loop. If the outside track is going counter clockwise, enter the reverse loop at the top. If the outside track is going clockwise, enter the reverse loop at the bottom. While the train is in the reverse loop, reverse the polarity of the inside track. The train will exit the reverse loop going in the opposite direct and the polarity of the inside track will be correct with no chance for a short.
I have used SCARM to design all my layouts. The free version permits a layout with up to 100 pieces of track. This tutorial shows how to use the free version to create an interesting layout and generate a parts list for a specific model of track.
This is my first layout in the new room that comes close to using all the available space. If I moved some furniture, I could add another five feet to the layout, but I have plenty of space without doing that. The layout is about seventeen feet long and four feet wide. With the long trains, the straightaways are fun to watch. This extra large layout took a couple of hours to build. Download the SCARM file here.
I started with the Kato v11 and Kato v16 double track sets. To use up all the available space, I added extra straight pieces as shown above. I do not have enough of the double concrete 248mm pieces (Kato N 20004), so I alternated single 248mm pieces with the doubles. Doing it this way keeps the separate lanes spaced evenly.
The layout has five storage turnouts. With four lanes on the main line, those storage areas give plenty of space for extra trains.
An extra turnout functions as a reverse loop. The turnouts all get power from track number one. The reverse loop gets power from track number four. I will make a video showing exactly how this works. Basically, I avoid using a custom-made double pole double throw switch by tapping into another track’s power supply.
During Christmas break, I created a new 3D intro stinger for my YouTube videos. I created the 3D model in Blender. It’s not perfect yet. I am still tweaking it. It’s a Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 with the same number as the Kato version that I own. That engine is pulling the freight line in this layout.
The new house has enough room for a train around the Christmas Tree. Here is the old Lionel Christmas Train, with some extra Fastrack added, to make what I call the Christmas Tree Pretzel layout.
