Sunday, June 3, 2012

The South Fork Model Railroad Train Show & Craft Fair

First outing for the yard and return modules.
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Last night was a marathon to get just this plywood pacific running. I somehow borked the wiring and ended up with a short. Didn’t get a chance to test run on the unproven track. Also had plan to run two trains. However, thanks to the USPS detouring the package to Iowa……I couldn’t. Probably a good thing in the long run as I didn’t have time to prep for a 2 train setup. Went to bed around 3a and then work up at 5 to temporarily fix the borked wiring.


The show went well. Had to tune the bolsters on the FRED boxcar. Track needed cleaning. Fixed those and it ran like a charm. The weather was good. Ended up outside in a picnic shelter with some other vendors. No power, but ran it with 9V batteries to my “custom” power pack.

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The question was how long would it run. Well, it ran from 9am to 4:00pm without a problem. The Arduino battery ended at ~6.5V and the track battery at 7V. A “large” slow down, but more than acceptable.

Then there are the photos the wife took. =) Lots more….
DSCN1611.JPG Initial setup….getting those darn expansion tracks ready.
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DSCN1613.JPG Many good conversations about Z at the show. The guy at the right is my Z “crack” supplier. The next two are guys from the HO club that sponsored the event.
DSCN1614.JPG Loco taking a test run
DSCN1615.JPG getting the cars on the track
DSCN1616.JPG yeah…looking over the glasses to set those tiny wheels
DSCN1618.JPG Misc loco picture
DSCN1619.JPG Misc loco picture
DSCN1620.JPG Misc loco picture
DSCN1621.JPG Doing something
DSCN1623.JPG Person eye view…
DSCN1624.JPG and a person viewing from that angle
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DSCN1628.JPG Misc loco picture
DSCN1629.JPG Misc running picture
DSCN1630.JPG Misc running picture
DSCN1631.JPG Misc running picture
DSCN1632.JPG Misc running picture
DSCN1633.JPG Misc running picture
DSCN1634.JPG The Arduino based controller
DSCN1637.JPG again…
DSCN1639.JPG Kathryn enjoying a portable kid friendly layout.
DSCN1648.JPG Byron enjoys it too
DSCN1649.JPG alot
DSCN1650.JPG really =)
DSCN1647.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1640.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1641.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1642.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1643.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1644.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1645.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1646.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1651.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1652.JPG O scale module group
DSCN1653.JPG O scale module group
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DSCN1660.JPG Kiddos taking a break at the nearby playground
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