Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Benchwork and Backdrop

Hi folks. Its been a busy time on the new layout build these last few days and I have my bench work almost complete. The frame was made of 1X4's and 1X3's and covered with 1/2 inch plywood and 2 inch insulation foam. The front fascia has been added and is ready to have the holes cut for the Lenz throttle panel as well as a DCC RampMeter (Tony's Train exchange). This will then be painted a dark forest green color.  A small shelf was added to the slotted track system underneath the layout to hold the Lenz Command station and transformer as well as the DCC Specialities PowerPax    http://www.dccspecialties.com/products/powerpax.htm  which is used to program sound equipped locomotives. I will also be adding a DCC Specialities PSX1 circuit breaker http://www.dccspecialties.com/products/powershield_x_pics.htm at the suggestion of Doug W. Even though the layout is small, and the Lenz DCC command station has a built in circuit breaker, this will just add another layer of protection for the command station. My wife volunteered to paint the backdrop (after I had primed it) and I must admit it turned out pretty nice. It is a simple sky scene. I may add photo backdrops down the road. I have also been working on some structures these past few weeks as well, so I have been busy. I hope to start the track laying and wiring soon and will give another update at that point. Till next time.....

3 comments:

Gebbie1815 said...

Looking good Wayne... looks like the next NBR&N chin wag should be at your place so we can check 'er out :)

Scott Jay said...

Looking good. Not sure is the PSX1 is really necessary. You'd only be able to create 1 protected block with it which is the same as havinG just the LZV100. The main purpose of the circuit breaker is to have at least two so you can split the layout into protected zones so that a short in one zone does not shut down the other(s).

Doug Whitman said...

Scott, the PSX is used for two reasons. One it will protect the older Lenz system from "seeing" shorts. And two, the PSX handles recovery from shorts on Soundtraxx equipped loco better then the older Lenz system.
Doug