Model Power Shifter (with Smoke?)

Posted Nov 14, 2017
Updated Jan 18, 2018

Another train that my dad had put together in the late 70s was a series of short passenger cars made by Roundhouse, pulled by an 0-4-0 with slope-back tender made by Model Power. The cars were non-prototypical “Overton” passenger cars built from undecorated kits by Roundhouse. They were shorter than normal passenger cars, but they looked about right for a short line or mountain railroad, and I think they looked okay pulled by the equally short locomotive. One of the things I liked about this model as a kid was the fact that it featured a smoke unit. None of our other HO scale trains did, except for my brother’s short-lived Tyco Chattanooga steam engine. My brother and I called this one “Poppers” because of the way the smoke fluid would occasionally sputter or “pop” out of the smoke stack. My search for a smoking version of this model turned up absolutely nothing. I have a vague recollection of this model coming in a blue Model Power box that had graphics indicating that it was a smoking locomotive, but I have doubts about that memory, because I’ve seen nothing like that on eBay. What I did find is that a …

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Dad’s B&O Passenger Train

Posted Nov 13, 2017
Updated Aug 21, 2019

In the late 70s, my dad put together a B&O train consisting of seven Athearn “blue box” heavyweight passenger cars pulled by a blue Mantua 4-6-2 Pacific. He built the cars a couple at a time from kits, upgraded with Kadee couplers and a lighted drum head on the observation car. The engine was a gift to him from my mom. It was the best rolling stock of my dad’s HO collection. Sometime in the early or mid-80s, the family had switched from HO scale to O gauge, and my dad’s HO collection sat in boxes until I got a little older and was allowed to use all of it on my own layouts, except for this set. Using that set required special permission, which I think was only granted temporarily. I’m sure he was proud of the work and money that went into it, and wanted to keep them in good condition. Despite this, I remember that set being basically useless at some point when the draw bar between the locomotive and tender broke, and the coupler on the tender broke. By the time I was a teenager, I wanted to repair it as a favor to my dad …

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Cinema Marquee

Posted May 18, 2017
Updated Nov 15, 2017

One feature that I’ve wanted to build for a model railroad is a theater or cinema with a lighted marquee outlined in chase lights. Specifically, the “moving hole” type of chase lights, where only one channel is off at a time, while the others normally remain lit, making it appear that groups of lights are chasing with small gaps between them, as opposed to several single lights chasing with big gaps between them. A four-channel circuit might be sufficient, but it would be worth experimenting with up to ten channels.

The first circuit I’ll test for this type of marquee is found in Figure 10 on this post at Nuts & Volts. My intention is to use this circuit to illuminate a series of four to ten LEDs somewhere behind the scenes. The marquee would be outfitted with fiber optic strands inserted into drilled holes from behind, outlining the sign. In a four-channel marquee, for example, every fourth fiber optic strand would be attached to one of the four LEDs, creating the same chase effect as shown in the animation above, while using just four LEDs instead of one for each point of light on the sign.

The other …

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Rob Paisley’s Infrared Proximity Detector Circuit

Posted Apr 15, 2017
Updated Feb 03, 2018

Rob Paisley has a lot of model railroad circuits on his website, complete with detailed diagrams and notes for electronics beginners. For some projects, he also provides a parts list with DigiKey part numbers, and for some, he sells kits that include printed circuit boards.

I’m going to try his Infrared Proximity Detector Circuit to use with my signal system. I’ve looked at a few other block occupancy detection (BOD) methods, but the others have what I see as downfalls. With DCC, you can use a system that detects the voltage draw from the track power, which tells the system where on the line the locomotive is. The problem with this, for me, is that the rest of the train doesn’t normally draw current, and so in order to make the rest of the train trigger this type of occupancy detection, you have to install power-pickup wheels on at least some of the cars, with a resistor between the two wheels. That sounds problematic and like a lot of unnecessary hassle.

With an IR proximity detector circuit, an IR LED, hidden inside a tube below the track, in between two ties, shines invisible light straight up. An IR receiver is …

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Highball!

Posted Apr 15, 2017
Updated Jul 18, 2024
Diverging Approach Signal Indication

I created this blog to document the planning and eventual construction of my next model railroad, to be built sometime in the distant future, when I have the necessary space. My last layout, built around 2002, was small (4×8) and mountainous, but I stopped construction and gave it away when I moved across the country in 2004. There is no space in my current home for a layout of any size, but I’ve come to realize that I can still enjoy the hobby without building a layout, by learning new skills and working on small projects that can be incorporated into my future layout.

Some of the first projects I have in mind are building my own electronic circuits for automated signaling systems with block detection, grade-crossing circuits, scratch-building signals, and practicing airbrushing and weathering techniques. When it comes to practicing techniques, I could purchase some cheap structures, rolling stock, or locomotives on eBay, just to practice on them and then re-sell on eBay when I’m done with them. If my scratch-built signals turn out well, maybe I could make extras and sell them on eBay.

Before I can make certain decisions for my next layout, …

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