What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Updated 10/3/2020:



Sometimes things just "click". While waiting on various items to arrive, I decided to search for the HO houses that will go above the Steubenville station. The Walthers website is a great source; they seem to have the largest number of HO structures on the planet.  I identified a friend's grandmother's house and have acquired that kit. I also have one of the houses to its right (Tillman Farm House). I was intrigued by the 3 identical houses at the right of the photo.





They looked vaguely familiar to me. They are Albion Catalog Houses (I am currently looking for 4 of these Branchline Train Kits #621). Yes, you buy the real houses as kits from (get this) Sears! They would come unassembled on a truck. Unload the truck and assemble!




Here's the kicker. The reason the house looks familiar is that my maternal grandparents lived in one! My father told me that his father-in-law built his own house in the 1920's. I never explored the subject, but I remember the floorplan and outside appearance of the house. It seems to have been an Albion home with some modifications (expansions). And being a carpenter, cabinet maker, and ship builder (he made some large ship models out of wood from fruit crates) by trade, it would not have been beyond his skills.  This makes a lot of sense.

George

Thanks Adam.  I'm 95% sure it's accurate.  My sister might have some photos of the old house that will help confirm it.  I remember taking a snapshot of it in 1968 as it was being torn down.  Ironically, that whole neighborhood was acquired by Weirton Steel to make room for their "Mill of the Future", which was demolished last year.

But the outside appearance fits my memory of the house.  And the floor plan is a dead ringer, although it's reversed.

George

Yes, as originally specified, this 7 room (4 bedrooms) house had only 1 bathroom - upstairs.  Yes, having a bathroom was a luxury.  

I recall that the house 2 or 3 doors over had a chicken coop in the backyard.  I remember because it caught fire.

Thanks, I hope it will be a nice scene.  It's far enough away from the viewer to carry off the effect of being in the distance from the station, although the area from the track to the backdrop is only 14" deep.  It's a new area for me.

George

Nice work on the signal bridge, George. 

I know that wiring routine very well. 

Updated 10/10/2020:



In the spirit of "measure twice, cut once" and planning ahead, today I:

• Did a re-check of the length and path of Switch Bus #1 (Western DZ-2001 Data Wire Driver). I've run about 25' of it. I'm going to start hooking up signals and switches.
  
• Ordered 200 Scotchlok 905 "suitcase" connectors. These will connect the Switch Bus to DZ-2500 switch machines, signals, and crossing gates. Each switch needs 3; signals and crossing gates take 2 each. I've got about 30 on hand at the moment.
  
• Cleaned up my wiring diagrams (added mounting hardware quantities) for Switches w/ pushbuttons (no signals) and MTH Signal bridges (with simple block occupancy circuits). These are going to be used in the near future.
  
• Flemish bond brick pattern styrene sheets from The N Scale Architect arrived yesterday. They are for the Steubenville station.
  

George

Updated 10/13/2020:

• Made and tested some adjustments to the circuitry feeding the MTH signal head (3 inputs). The test circuit works fine and we are getting ready to install the components & signal bridge on the layout soon.
  
  
• At the suggestion of a friend, I painted the bottom supports of the MTH signal bridge a concrete color. The land around the signal bridge base will be built up to hide the large boxes housing the boards.
  
  
• Ran and connected the Western Switch Bus (Switch Bus #1) to its power supply (K-Line PowerChief 120F 15VAC tap). Voltmeter shows 15.3 VAC at Switch No. 40 on the C&P_River Route.
  
  
• Connected the Western Switch Bus to Switch No. 40 and tested it. Switch responds correctly under TMCC.
  
  
• Currently fighting some sort of Microsoft software licensing bug. Woke up today to find that software that I bought and paid for years ago is telling me that my "trial period" has ended.  WTF?