Great Northwestern Railway

MAJOR milestone reached: The Great Northwestern Railway had the first "test" operating session!  The management decided the equipment had done enough trials, and the layout was ready for a real stress-test.  So an invite was sent out and 4 volunteers graciously accepted. Good news is the layout performed quite well.  There was a short punch-list of problems that were identified, but all in all, trains moved quite well and reliably. Next step is to flesh out the operating plan and set up waybills for the cars.  It's one thing to just pick up and drop off whatever you like; it is something entirely different to have specific destinations and car routing! Some highlights of the evening.  Thanks to all for making it a great success! Three of the four testers are, left to right, Dave Cochrun, Keith Hayes and Kevin Strong Gerry Glancy made up the balance of the test crew Multiple simultaneous movements in Armstrong yard was a key element of the tes...

LIGHTING Progress has been slow but good on the GNW.  First, added lighting under the deck of the upper to light up the lower.  It was always kind of dark and murky under the upper deck, and it really needed something to brighten things up.  Four 15' strips of LEDs and a new power supply were added and it made a huge difference! Lighting was simply hot-glued under the upper deck.   Compression terminal blocks distributed the power.  Of note, I needed to add power feeds to BOTH ends of each string.  Voltage drop along each string was enough that the LEDs were noticeably dimmer on the far end without.   Here is the new power supply - an Ebay special.  I located it mid-point between the two pairs of LED strips. LED Power Supply Some before/after shots. Looking east before lighting Looking east after lighting. Looking west before lighting Looking west after lighting.  Quite the difference! ...