Usual Things This Week

This week I was focused on completing my Emergency Control Panel for the future layout.  I’m still waiting for some deliveries of Servo Motors and SPDT switches.  But I went looking for a piece of hardware that allows me to plug in two RJ45 plugs and an RJ12 plug.  This piece if hardware was found at a local electrical outlet and it was installed into the rear of my Emergency Control Panel.

I had completed all the various soldering up of the wires, when I found that a huge blob of solder had landed on my PCA9685 Port expander right in a place where I was certain that I could not remove the solder.  It covered an IC and various components on the board.  This piece of kit was now more than likely totally cactus.  Luckily I had placed an order for a few more of this piece of equipment during the week and they were on the way.  Now I have to wait for this before I can finally test my Emergency Control Panel.

 

Saturday was a day working on the NMRA FreeMo modules for our division.  We had quite a few workers attend.  Basically it was a bit of a cleanup of some items on the modules, and then we actually started to connect a few modules together.  By the end of the day, we had 6 of our corner modules attached, 2 were in another garage and we might have been a bit slack, and never connected them up.  But we had 6 of the modules connected, and we had a couple of locos running around the ¾ circle very smoothly.  Just looking at the modules, we identified a couple of things to do in the future to help blend the modules together so that the scenery has more flow about them.

 

We also had a few modelling brain waves about some, what I would call unique modelling scenes, that we are planning on some of these modules.  We had very good buy-in from those present to help make these future modelling activities work.  We have tasked various people to 3D print some items and when we get together next time, we will see how these all come together.  These scenes will take these modules, which look pretty good already - even if we say it ourselves, they will go to the next level of fascination of the viewing public.  I think we will have animated scenes that I am not aware of existing on other layouts, let alone exhibition layouts.

The first Loco to run the layout was an 81 Class.  It was controlled by a former NSW Driver.

The Loco is peeking out from under the road bridge.

Next it has to cross the road crossing.

Then it got to the end of the modules.

 

I understand that there is a plan for an official viewing of the FreeMo modules sometime in December/January at a local location.  We will set up in the morning, and get everything working, and after lunch time we will open the viewing to other Division 1 members to come and have a look and maybe run a train on the modules.