Due to the nature of my job I was unexpectedly out of work from last Christmas until te beginning of May which presented a wonderful opportunity to fill the cold winter days by working on my layout uninterrupted. In that time I feel like I achieved quite a lot on the layout construction itself as well as building structures and whatnot. Like most railroad modelers, I tend to get "on a track" of maybe wiring for a while then when I get bored I shift gears and build a structure or two or maybe work on scenery.

After years of not finishing a 555 timer circuit for this cabin car I decided to try an NCE Light It lighting decoder. For this application, it performs very well on the test track. I added a 5.5v 1f super capacitor as a keep alive. The 1f capacitor is overkill. It keeps the decoder led interior light and 0603 marker light led for a few minutes (I was hoping for 10 seconds) and according to my power cab, only draws a maximum of 0.08 amps inflow. Adding the decoder to the caboose took only an hour or so but the truck pick ups and 0603 led light were already on the caboose.

As promised I am including some pics showing the evolution of my railroad over the last 3+ years. As stated previously, this is really two layouts in one with a DC elec loco layout and a DCC steam and diesel layout.

The repairs are done and a new set of shelves are up. Display pieces are back on display should I get a visit from anyone interested in the hobby.

Time to consider a new project.

A Project sitting on the back burner has been to put a decoder in the Presidents Choice steam locomotive on the lower Shelf.