Update For The Florida Layout

Greetings followers of the Atlantic Pacific Railroad and my blog!

We're down in Florida for a few weeks. When the weather is not so great at times (like rain), we'll do some work on the layout. For some new followers, the layout in Florida is a true modern layout, point to point with two levels. It can handle a max of 3 operators, and designed to be operated solo as well.

There's still much work to be done, especially on the industries. I have most of the kits, and will work on them when I can. 

One area that I wanted to work on is the turntable. I'm using the Atlas turntable with the motor installed. Since I'm using a handful of engines, the purpose of the turntable is to turn them around for the next run. It adds one more process to an operating session. 

Since this needs to be aligned with the rest of the layout, I added some framework a little lower so that I can 'level' the tracks that go from the turntable to the rest of the layout and storage tracks. I do have a limited space, so I can't take advantage of every slot off the turntable. 

Here's the finished process. I added a piece of cardboard to the area, then added some HO scale cork. Painted the area to match the rest of the area. 

The final results of the area are below. It has the capacity of 5 tracks; one of which can be used for the SW1500 units only. It's a short track. Yes, I could have left it out, but those who know me, do know if the real estate is available, I'll use it!

Hayes wheel stops will be brought down on the next trip as I have them at the ready. This will protect an engine from doing a swan dive off the railroad. 

The next step is to power the turntable. Since it runs on DC, I needed to add a power supply. I had an MRC power pack that was not used on the NJ layout, so I brought it down to FL. It needed to be mounted near the turntable, with access close by. Since I'm using it to run the turntable with the variable DC, I wanted it mounted below the turntable. Since there are no true supports for any type of wood, I came up with an idea. A trip to the local Home Depot and picked up a pair of 12"x10" shelf brackets. I mounted them on an angle, and then I put the power pack resting on the brackets. It will be held in place with velcro for ease of removal, if needed. 

The wires are installed to the turntable motor and I added the wires to the turntable track. Next step is to add the drops to each track and then connect to the rest of the system. However, everything came to a halt! In order for me to get everything connected, I needed to add an auto reverser to the turntable track! The part is called a DCC Specialties PSX-AR auto reverser. It works on DCC only. It flips the power to the track within seconds, creating a smooth running transition from one section of track to another and avoiding a short circuit.

I did pick one up at the Amherst Train show the end of January. However, in my quick turnaround from the show and coming to Florida, I left it back home! Geez what was I thinking! I was thinking I needed to secure the NJ house and then head to FL. So this will wait until I come back down to FL March 4th. 

More to follow as it happens! 

Thanks for reading!!