Frogs on the Overhead

 Overhead Crossing Frogs

I just noticed that I haven't finished swapping out the temporary overhead crossing frogs with commercial frogs.

But the temporary frogs have been working out so well that I might just keep them!

Negotiating Frogtown.

Here are the four 90° double track crossing overhead frogs (track obscured for clarity). The two crossings on the left still have the small washers that I was using for temporary crossing frogs. The two crossings on the right have been finalized with crossover castings. But since the washers have been performing flawlessly and they have a much smaller appearance that I've decided to keep them as is. They just need to be finalized by trimming the excess wire and solder it all in place for electrical continuity.

As for the angle crossings I don't think the washers were working well for that. So they have been swapped out for the adjustable crossing frogs. These work great.

Rivers Trolley & Traction Adjustable Crossovers are what I used. But I have no idea where a fella can purchase them these days. Might have to monitor eBay closely for them.

Yes sir! Closely monitor eBay for frogs!

Dandy

Spanned

Successfully Strung a Span Wire Between Two Electroliers - Without Blowing out the Lamps!

This is a big relief since the brass Electroliers are ground for the 3 volt DC streetlamps AND act as an anchor for the 15 volt AC overhead.

The fear being that the 3 volt LEDs are exposed to the 15 volts running current. But since each have their own power source it doesn't seem to be a problem.

Now that all of the Electroliers are in I would really like to install the span wires between them. The overhead in the intersection is a bit bouncy without them. After the success of a little test rig I have commenced stringing the span wires.

These old wooden temporary poles and span wires can finally be removed. The poles were on the building property line and with them gone now, I can finally get to building the buildings.

Trying something new here.  The rule has been Nickle Silver wire for the contact wire and Phosphor Bronze for the span and pulloff wires.  But for these new span wires I'm trying 30 AWG High Quality Polyurethane Enameled Copper Wire. This wire is softer and much easier to work with. The phosphor bronze I was using just loves to pierce the skin!

I found the Polyurethane Copper Wire much easier for wire wrapping and its easier to straighten than the phosphor bronze.

Hmmm... seeing my wire wrappings up close in photographs I see that my wrappings are kind of loose. I need to work on tightening my wire wrapping skills.

Yes sir! Tighten my wire wrapping skills.

Dandy

Street Track and Overhead Cleaning Part 2 ~ Wet vs Dry

Cleaning the Overhead with a Conductive Contact Cleaner and Keep Alive Decoders to "Track in the Dirt and Track out the Clean".

In the last post I wrote about the tools and cleaners I've tried and the ones I'm actually using. This post I'll address how I'm using them to clean the hard to reach track and overhead.

Car № 107 got its decoder before the availability of KeepAlive decoders. So if the track isn't perfectly clean its lights will flicker.

Some years ago there was a lot a debate over "Wet vs Dry" track. Some of the cleaners (like DeoxIT) conduct electricity so why not just leave the track wet with the stuff? If the track get dirty the trains will still run. While others argue that dry, shiny track is the way to go. Personally I find that starting out wet and working my way towards dry works out best for me.

Attack plan. First of all, I start with a general cleaning of the easy to reach outside loops leaving the hard to reach intersection for last. I'll run a car on a loop and address any stalls or hesitation issues until the loop is running well. Then I'll move on the to next loop until they are all running well. Then its time to attack that intersection!

As you can imagine, the intersection is the last place I want to try to retrieve a stalled streetcar. That overhead wire is like a cage. So clean track and overhead is quite desirable there. Cleaning the track through the overhead with the Double Headed Cotton Swabs is straight forward enough. But that overhead! So to clean it I developed a "trick". Let the cars themselves clean the overhead:

This is where having cars with "Keep Alive" decoders come in handy. First I'll give the capacitors in the decoders time to charge up (~20mins) while they run around the outside loops. Then I'll place a drop of DeoxIT on the contact wire just before the intersection. Then throw the turnout to route the car into the intersection. The pole will collect the DeoxIT and spread it on the wires as it goes through the intersection. The "Keep Alive" will keep the car moving through the dirty overhead until it reaches the clean track of the next loop. Each time the car traverses the intersection the trolley pole collects dirt from the contact wire and then spreads it to the clean contact wire of the outside loops. All I do is keep cleaning the track and contact wire on the easy to reach outside loops. The cars track in the dirt to the outside loops and track out the clean into the intersection. And of course, I'll clean the cars wheels and poles from time to time.

Once the track and overhead is clean enough to run my cars that don't have the "Keep Alive" decoders well I'll begin the process of drying the track. Leaving the track and wires wet with DeoxIT will just collect a thick layer of gunk and when that dries its difficult to get it off. In the photo above, the upper rail is covered with some gunk that the cars tracked in from the intersection. While the lower rail has been polished dry. That dry, polished track and overhead throughout the layout is the ultimate goal.

San Diego Electric Railway wagon outfitted for overhead wire maintenance.

So to recap:

DeoxIT on double ended cotton swabs for a general cleaning of the track and overhead as well as the poles and wheels on the cars.

Let the cars track the DeoxIT around on the rails and overhead until the layout is running smooth.

Use the double ended cotton swabs to begin the process of drying and polishing of the track, overhead, poles and wheels.

The longer the layout runs for the cleaner it gets.

I've been using that method for years. So of course as soon as I write a major blogpost about it a "new" product comes along that's highly recommended. I'm going to give this NO-OX-ID "A Special" a trial and see how it compares to my usual method. If I find significant improvement with it I'll let you know.

Yes Sir! The cleaner it gets!

Dandy

Street Track and Overhead Cleaning Part 1 ~ What I'm Using.

The BEST way to keep track and overhead clean is to simply run your trains! But oftentimes we need a little extra help to get to that point first.

After spending years trying everything to clean track and overhead, I've seem to have finally settled into a pretty good technique.

As you can imagine, cleaning track under the overhead wires can be quite challenging. But clean track and overhead is imperative for smooth operation. So what to do?

I used to reach under the overhead with a Bright Boy track cleaning pad. But this has proven to be rather destructive, my elbow inevitably bumps a line pole somewhere, slightly bending it enough for the span wire to sag. Unsightly!  And with more and more delicate details being added to the layout, well, my big ol' clumsy paw is just too much. The city now has ordinances against such practice!

The Bright Boy is also too abrasive. It scrapes the paint from the streets revealing the bright white plaster underneath, ruining the realism of the scene. (If I had to do it over again, I would add a grey tint while mixing the paving material (Durham's Water Putty) so if it does chip, it would still have the street color). So at some point I'm going to need to do some touchup painting on the streets- with the overhead in place!

So- except for extreme situations, the Brightboy is out!

So what to do then? Well, one of the benefits of being a member of the Southern California Traction Club are members who have experience of such things.  John McWhirter for one has a great way of cleaning the clubs track and overhead which I have adopted for my own layout:

Double Headed Cotton Swabs. These are perfect for reaching through the overhead to clean the rails. The cotton heads are tightly wound so I'm able to scrub the track without them getting all fuzzed up like Q-Tips do.

Apply drops of the cleaning solution to the ends of the swab for cleaning rails and then apply drops to the sides of the swab to clean the contact wires.

The swabs fit nicely in the girder channel scrubbing the contact surface well.

Slide the side of the swab to clean the contact wire. I'll pinch the wire between my thumb and swab for extra tough spots.

I picked these up at a (now defunct) electronics store, but they are readily available on line. They come in packs of 100 for heap cheap.

For the cleaning solution, DeoxIT works very well for me and seems to be widely available.  Many model train manufacturers also offer track cleaning solutions. A nice property of these contact cleaners are that the solution conducts electricity!

Which brings us to- Wet VS Dry track and overhead. But I'm out of time right now so I'm going to end this here and tackle this subject and the cleaning process with the next post.

Yes sir! Wet VS Dry contact surfaces.

Dandy

Click here for part 2

Electrolier Electrical Grounding Test

 Question: May AC and DC share a Ground?

Specifically, may the 3 volt DC from the LED lamps ground to the same post that is powering the 15 volt AC trolley trolley overhead?

These Electroliers were a lot of work to construct. I really don't want to blow out the bulbs. But they perform two duties. One, they are street lamps that illuminate. Second, they provide support to the overhead trolley wires. And that's where the AC+DC concern comes in. 

    There wasn't a concern when the layout was a DC layout. 3 volt DC and 15 volt DC grounding together is fine. But now that the layout is DCC, the overhead is AC.  So the DC LED's in the lamp are grounding to the AC pole.

So before I install the trolley span wires between the Electroliers, I'm going to perform a little test first to make sure this AC/DC mixture doesn't blow the LEDs:

Here is the set up:

1. Clamped a brass pole the the layout.

2. Installed the 3 volt DC circuit:

    a. Soldered the negative lead of a LED to the pole.

    b. The positive lead of LED with resistor is connected to a battery.

    c. The negative lead of the battery connected to the pole.

3 Installed the 15 volt AC circuit:

    a. Soldered a wire from DCC command station to the bottom of the pole.

    b. Soldered a wire from top of the pole to the overhead.

    c. Connected a return wire from the track to the command station.

    Then I powered everything up. The LED lit. A trolley was placed on the track. Turning its headlight on and off as well as starting and stopping the car seems to have had no effect on the brightness of the bulb. Which means both AC and DC was flowing through the brass pole with no visible effects to the LED. So I think we are all good for safely installing span wires between the Electroliers.

Yes sir! All good to safely install span wires!

Dandy

Boulevard of Electric Dreams

Finally!  All 12 Electroliers are placed and wired.

After pouring a new rubber mold I concentrated on casting the remaining lamps once and for all.

Electrolier combination streetlamp/trolley line poles stand sentry on Grand Ave.

This whole scene is lit entirely by the Electroliers.

The remaining 8 Electroliers freshly cast and receiving their silver paint.

    For power supply I ordered this regulated 3 volt 2 amp transformer from Evan Designs. Its regulated so as to prevent voltage surges blowing out the LEDs (the LEDs are cast into the lamp, there is no changing them out!). The output voltage is exactly 3 volts and the 2 amps mean I can power up to 100 LEDs. That should be enough power for the streetlamps on all the streets. It also included a wired socket that I mounted underneath the layout for the power supply to plug into.

 

    All that remains to do now is install the span wires between the Electroliers to support the trolley wires. But the fact that the 3 volt dc lamps and 13.8 volts ac DCC both ground to the poles is of great concern for me. It would have worked fine when track power was DC. But since I switched to DCC which is AC, I'm not so sure. The last thing I want is a Boulevard of Broken Bulbs! So i'm going to rig up a test lamp/pole situation to try it out first so as to try to preserve this Boulevard of Electric Dreams.

Yes sir! This Boulevard of Electric Dreams!

Dandy

What In Tarnation!

Oil Field, Signal Hill c. 1940s Jack Lee

Plans for an Oil Drilling Module for the Southern California Traction Club

Today's post is presented by the Vice President for Planning of the Dan D. Sparks Plywood Development and Transportation Co. Arnie Clever:

Shareholders, interested parties and what-not,

Mr. Dan D. Sparks and the Board of Directors and such have declassified some documents plans and what-not and have asked me to share them with you to you today this week. As you might know, the DDSPD(and)TCo also has a vested interest in the Southern California Traction Club too. So the company had me draw up some plans for an oil drilling operation outfit for that clubs layout. And boy! Did I come up with a whopper of a plan! I call it "Tarnation" yep. And its packed full of oil drilling goodness. Check it out for yourself and see!:

Arnie Clever

Tarnation Oil Drilling Module

2'x4' HO Scale Traction Module

• 5 Oil Derricks with containment ponds.
• An oil supply warehouse with steam boilers
• A freight and passenger depot
• Various oil tanks
• Oil loading racks with tank cars

-all in a compact space. And its very prototypical as well. I actually lifted the layout of these structures from an genuine prototype photograph!:

Huntington Beach, CA. c.1920s

Everything this side of the tracks in the photo are on the module! Starting at the lower right, a road passes a supply warehouse, past some boilers, past a derrick with containment pond, ending at a mainline with overhead trolley wire and what appears to be a cannery (which I substituted with a depot). On the other side of the tracks sits an oil loading facility with tank cars. To the right of the center oil derrick are two tanks and another derrick. And through all that, power lines are strung. Its all there!

Model by Mark Paulson

The 5 derricks will use the Campbell Scale Models Timber Oil Derrick to start with and then built up to look more like those in the photos.

DPMs Schultzs Garage will represent the supply warehouse.

I'm not sure exactly what these boilers were used for, but I could easily imagine they came in very handy when dealing with sticky, clumpy tar! This one is by American Model Builders.

For the Depot, a modified American Model Builders Northern Pacific Depot fits the space nicely.

This Chama Oil Dock would have been perfect, but it doesn't seem to be available anymore. So other arrangements will have to be made.

The Oil loading platform could be populated with some 1920s era tank cars available from an assortment of manufacturers.

Non-rolling tanks are available from a variety of manufactures as well.

Throw in some Jordan Highway Miniatures vehicles and lots of assorted details, and I think we'll have ourselves a darn nifty oil drilling diorama!

Arnie Clever
Vice President of Planning
Dan D. Sparks Plywood Development & Transportation Co.

Boulevard Streetlamp / Line Poles

Attempting To Build A Working Combination Streetlamp / Linepole!

 Well here it is, a fresh 3D print from i.Materialize. But this is only the beginning. This print can't be used on the layout because one: I believe the "Prime Gray" material would be too brittle for the tensions of the overhead, and two: I want these lamps to light up. So this fella will be the "master". A rubber mold will be made from this print that all the other lamps will be cast from. But I digress...

As detailed in a previous post, each of the 6 streets feature distinct line poles. The 1920s era street pictured above is to have Boulevard streetlamps that double as line poles. Right now I have temporary wooden poles that are planted beyond the sidewalks until the streetlamp locations and hole size to be drilled in the sidewalks are determined. But for now, the temp poles are fouling where the building are going to be placed. So these lamps have become the priority project.

 San Diego didn't have these kind of poles but our neighbor to the North was kind of fond of them. The Pacific Electric sported these kind of poles in a few cities. This one was in Long Beach.

The San Diego Electric Railway attached their overhead directly to the adjacent buildings, thus clearing the streets of unsightly linepoles. But I don't want to attempt to deal with attaching the overhead of my layout to model buildings. So I thought I would try modeling these Boulevard Lamp Post / Line Poles (I really wish I knew what these were called!) instead. Besides, they look cool! 

Years ago I fabricated a couple of these lampposts out of brass. But they were very difficult to build and highly time consuming. There are so many small parts that trying to solder one part melts the joints of the other parts. Frustrating. So the project languished until either my soldering skills improved, or I thought of a better way of building these, or some sort of miracle happened.

Well wouldn't you know? A miracle happened! In the form of 3D Printing! Building this lamp with a 3D program is WAY easier than building it with brass. And a lot faster. I modeled this with 3DS Max.

My lamp design is a hybrid of San Diego style Boulevard steetlamps and the Los Angeles linepole streetlamps.

I'm pleased with how the print turned out. The lamp had to be designed with the 1mm minimum thicknesses required for 3D Printing. But I believe the level of detail is just right for HO scale.

Now comes making a silicone mold from this lamp. This will be a new adventure for me. Yes sir! This will be a new adventure!

Dandy