Quick August Update

Been a busy July and August, so not much to report. Summer activities, band rehearsals and gigs, including some cool ones on the beach at sunset, have put a dent in model railroad work for sure. But a few things have occurred.

I attended an Op Session on Mark Fryzstacki's PRR Northern Division, which just started up Ops this year. I'll have to post some more pics and info on that, but here is a look at one area of the double deck layout, as well as my paperwork for one train I ran.

Mark Fryzstacki's PRR Northern is a large double deck layout with a double track helix .

Mark's Waybills, Locomotive Card and Train Card. As you can see my train cards were inspired by what Mark has implmented on his and other local layouts.

I also worked on the short circuit issue. Running a long length of bus between the command station and circuit breakers did not do the trick, but I did notice that at some point I decided to wire jumpers to up the short circuit trip level. I think I was trying to fix an issue at the time, but now this causes a new issue with the circuit boards never tripping before the command station does. Cutting those wires seems to have fixed the issue. We'll see if this is a permanent fix as more Ops continue on.

I did raise the UR92 panel for better reception, but really should do the UR91 panel as well as most guys are running simplex throttles (all my throttles but 1 are duplex, so I need both to accommodate local guys who bring their own throttles). I still need to address a track issue in Morrisville and a dead spot in Hardwick. It would be nice to have some more trackage in Lyndonville and North Stratford to make those jobs a little more interesting. We'll see.

UR92 Panel now above the backdrop aty the end of St. Johnsbury.

I hope to have another session in early September. I have put it off only because I really have not addressed too much from the first session. Some adjustments to the Op Session schedule, along with some tips picked up at Mark's session, will be made implemented in the next session.

If anyone is on Facebook, do a search for Northeast Kingdom Model Railroad. I started a group there to occasionally share a picture or other update.

A reminder that the MER NMRA Fall Convention is coming up in October. My layout will be open for visits Friday afternoon. (The op session is already sold out). There will be Free-mo modules at hte hotel, including my Woodstown Jct. module. Check out http://delawarevalleyturn.org for more info.

The annual November Open House is scheduled for Saturday November 21st from 1 to 5. I'll post this again later.

And, if you noticed, I also updated the theme for this blog page. Was having trouble really reading it myself, so went a little more traditional with just a touch of fall or Maine Central-like colors!