Some Important Progress

I was able to negotiate some railroad time tonight from my better half and was able to achieve some important milestones.

1. Wiring is functionally finished. I can now operate trains but there are three things related to wiring that are still on the table
   1. I couldn’t find my electrical tape so I need to go through and tape up all my feeder to bus connections
   2. I was going to use the mechanical switches in the tortoises on the mainline switches to power the frogs but given the complexity/hassle of the wiring and the simplicity of the Tam Valley Depot Frog Juicer I’m just going to frog juice it. In my test running today I don’t strictly speaking need them but since these are built to be Free-mo modules they need to be powered
   3. My old modules had Jones plugs as was the old free-mo standard, however it has since changed to Anderson PowerPoles which I have not gotten yet. I’m using my old Jones plugs for sectional power connections
2. The curved run to the larger industry crosses a section border, I had laid the track as single pieces across this joint with the intent to cut them when things were running well. Tonight aftera couple test runs I cut it (and didn’t make a mess of it!)I also started the alignment system for the sub-module connection I’m using 1/2 copper pipe and couplers. A hole is drilled in both sections the same size as the coupler. A coupler is glued in each side of the connection and a copper pipe is inserted to align the sections.

   
   I got this from a Free-mo modeler but I’ve modified it slightly by using Stub out & air chamber which has a conical end that helps achieving alignment.
   

My plan is to try and get the rails and ties painted next week. This is because I have time off from work and because I want to get the airbrush or spray painting done while it’s still nice out in the garage. Beyond that things are going to slow down a little bit in working on fine tuning the operations plan and working on starting scenery.