Even though the ATSF Paradigm Division is still in the plywood prairie style of scenery, it is now,  with the completion of the Union Station Engine Facility, 100% functionally complete and operational in DCC.  The first video is done in a slide format and shows the general step-by-step construction & completion of the engine facility in three phases over a two month time period (June thru August 2016).  Areas of emphasis have been annotated on the individual slides and/or have additional information provided before each section of the video.

This is the third Train Ride with the Cube Camera & shows some of the sections of the layout not shown in the previous two camera train rides. Once again, the camera is facing backward on the depressed center flat car. The two car train is led by an N-scale Kato E8A with a motor decoder only. The trip starts out with the train exiting the West Helix then through Michaelson Junction and around the main level of the center peninsula and back to Union Station.

This is the second train ride using the Cube+ camera on the N-Scale ATSF Paradigm Division. Once again the camera is mounted on depressed center flat car but this time the camera is looking backward.  The train is led by a consist of Kato F7 ATSF freight (cigar band) engines (A-B-B-A) with non-sound decoders installed followed by a track cleaning car and then a depressed center flat car with the Polaroid Cube+ camera mounted looking backward.

I received a Polaroid Cube + camera for Father's Day. It is about a 1-1/4 inch cube video/still camera that can be controlled via wi-fi from my iPhone.  The app allows the phone to be the viewfinder and has buttons to control the actions of the camera while it is riding on the train. This is the first run around a portion of the layout so that I can get an idea how it works. It is mounted on a depressed center flat car in front of a BLI 4-8-2 engine.

One of the great things about the model railroad hobby is that it has a lot of different aspects to it.  When I get tired of doing the layout construction and/or electrical aspect, I can shift to buildings & scenery.  For the last couple of weeks, I have been working on some of the key buildings within the Union Station area of the layout. Even though I had shifted from doing track & electrical, I ended up having to add an additional passenger track (Track # 4)  to Union Station to provide for mail and postal operations.

I have been working in the Union Station area over the last few days. One building, aside from the main passenger station, that is important is the REA Express Building.  The following pictures show the B/W version of the building.  It is based upon the original N-scale version of the building in Kansas City but has been modified to fit the available space. The mockup design version is a PDF (gray scale) printed on cardstock and glued to poster board.

I have been running some trains and I picked these two to show to everyone.  The first video shows a Troop Train led by a Broadway Limited E6A/B with a consist of 15 Micro-Trains Pullman Troop Cars plus an old AHM heavyweight observation car.  I purchased the troop cars back when they were originally released by Micro-Trains some 10+ years ago and this is their first time running in a train.  There are some duplicate numbers but it is N-Scale and unless you really look closely, they are very hard to read.  The train consist is planned to run as an extra from time to time

This is an update to my previous DCC Electrical Fun post.  While looking for what I could use for dwarf signals in the Union Station area (the ready made ones are kind of expensive), I found an item called an LED Assembly.  They are essentially two bi-polar 3-lead LEDs in a plastic housing.  They are a good size for N-scale or HO use.  The first picture below shows the first one installed in the Union Station yard.  The second is a diagram that shows how I wired the LED assembly.

The layout is now operational and full passenger and freight trains can now be run in both the westbound and eastbound directions and to and from the staging level. The project to complete the area inside of the east helix that will house the engine facility and coach yard is now in the planning stage.

After getting the passenger and now the freight yards completed in Union Station, I was having problems seeing the position of the turnout so after a bit of internet research I found the circuit described in this video on the web (later tracked it to a Dec 1997 MR article on pg. 115) and decided to share it since it works and will allow me to see the position of my Peco electrofrog turnouts that are thrown by finger or ground throws.