Innovation! What a great idea. Unfortunately, as Edison said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration.” So I am ambitiously pursuing my brilliant idea of how to do a simple job with the least complicated solution. Developing a means of having a train go down a single track, traverse a reverse loop, and return to its origin with minimal human intervention. Seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Whoa! Let me tell you what I have done so far and what I foresee as yet to come in this “simple” endeavor.

First, I had to overcome the skepticism of my fellow helpers who all claim this is way too complicated to be done simply and efficiently. To do this I sent a preliminary drawing out and asked for help. This at least convinced them that I was serious, even if they thought I was still crazy. Now that the communication exchange had begun, the ideas and answers began to pop up. Some of the simple things that needed to be solved included how to automatically change the polarity of the tracks in the loop without having to stop the train, how to notify the engineer when the main throttle direction should be changed, how to protect the mainline from having the train go against itself when coming out of the loop, and the list goes on. Control of these functions is dependent upon knowing the location of the train at any given time. Here we go again!

Arduino microcontroller

Hall effect sensor

Now I have to find some way of sensing the position of the train and relaying it to some sort of control mechanism. I decided that an Arduino microcontroller should do the job of providing a control mechanism for all the operations necessary to control the power supply for the trains in this section. I also decided to see if Hall effect sensors would work as the means of providing the necessary position indicators to feed this information to the Arduino. Again, simple ideas but complicated answers. How many Gauss does an electric train motor radiate? What, you say. So did I. I need to know something about these little motors in order to use the Hall sensors as a sensing mechanism.

How many relays does it take to control the polarity of the power being fed to the track? Simple suddenly doesn’t seem so simple any more. To answer these questions, I ordered the parts I would need to complete my experiment and test my brilliant ideas. Now all I have to do is wait for them to arrive.

Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out the magnetic pattern of my little locomotives so I know how to position the Hall sensors in the track, if in fact they will work at all, to detect the little trains. If, and that is a BIG if, this all works out as planned, I then need to delve into programming the Arduino to control the necessary hardware to accomplish my end desire. As you can see, what Edison was alluding to is that as each solution for a simple problem comes up, so does another problem required to be solved to support the original idea. Nothing is as simple as it at first appears.

I will keep plugging away at my problem and eventually either come up with a satisfactory solution or realize that it “simply” cannot be done.
Until next time, keep training.

Brian

Christmas is right around the corner as we leave November behind. This past month has been a busy one for FUNTRAK. The first weekend found club members in Syracuse with numerous other clubs running one of the largest t-trak layouts assembled in the area. The double bubble made for some very interesting running. Besides the double bubble, FUNTRAK also had its first showing of the newly constructed mountain division on the t-trak layout. As expected, this ran exceptionally well and provided even more interest and comments from spectators. The red line was set up to accommodate DCC while the remaining loops were all conventionally powered. The main red line was over five and a half scale miles long and took well over nine minutes to traverse. John Allen from Canada put a miniature camera on one of the trains and set out on a journey around the layout.

Overall, the show was a great success for all involved. The two day event allowed everyone to have a chance to run trains and acquire new equipment for their railroad kingdoms.

The next event was the following weekend in Fulton with the Oswego Valley Railroad Association sponsoring their annual holiday show. FUNTRAK again showed up this time with a new and exciting “triple bubble.” Additionally, FUNTRAK club member Greg Brockway managed to bring the new HO t-trak layout. Both layouts were big hits with the public. The next weekend found club members at Brian’s building more HO t-trak modules for future shows. These included four double modules and plans for a new regular outside corner and a new two piece inside corner. This will allow for more diversity in the HO layouts as more and more modules are constructed. The N scale one track modules are still in the works and should be completed soon. One of the newest modules for the N scale t-trak was built by Tim Brien, one of our newer members. Tim’s beautiful work can be seen here. Great work, Tim!

New specialty modules for both scales are being planned for the future. Expansion is the word of the day for FUNTRAK as new modules, concepts, and shows evolve for the club. FUNTRAK’s next endeavor is a show at the Amsterdam Riverfront Center on Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and 2, 2012 where the HO layout will again be displayed for the public’s enjoyment.

Finally, to close out the year, FUNTRAK will again be displaying the t-trak layout at the Oneida County Historical Society from December 27 through December 29. Both of these shows are open to the public and FUNTRAK welcomes all to come and enjoy the trains! So, in the holiday spirit, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all. See you next time and keep on training.

Brian

Lots to be done to get FUNTRAK modules ready for the November shows in Syracuse and Fulton.

FUNTRAK continues to expand the size of the club layouts displayed for the public. Again this year the t-trak layout got larger and the new HO t-trak layout was included at the Fonda Fair, thanks to one of FUNTRAK’s newest members, Greg Brockway. The week-long train display draws many visitors and fascinates observers as they watch multiple trains traverse the many routes available on the numerous different scale layouts on display. The hard work of the members of the clubs involved pays off in the many smiles from the public to the people presenting the great model railroads at the fair.

FUNTRAK had a great time at the Fonda Fair! See our video below: A local freight traverses the FUNTRAK t-trak layout at the Fonda Fair on August 30. A full recap coming soon.

As Labor Day approaches and the end of summer is nigh, I reflect on the activities of the past month. Model railroad wise, there was not too much going on. FUNTRAK members managed to assemble a rather large N scale t-trak layout in my basement in preparation for the PicNik as well as a smaller HO t-trak layout. The HO layout was compliments of one of FUNTRAK’s newest members, Greg Brockway. Greg did an outstanding job of finishing, scenicking, and detailing this small layout. The N scale layout used nearly all of FUNTRAK’s available modules and consisted of five separate loops. With the crossovers in use, a train was able to traverse four of the five loops making a total running distance of over three scale miles! See trains in action below.

Other activities include the ongoing construction of new t-trak modules in both N and HO scales. Specialty modules are the order of the day for the N scale modules with two being constructed to accommodate a new one track line and plans for a reverse loop addition to the one track line utilizing standard corners for the return side of the loop. All these are currently a work in progress. Hopefully they will be completed soon and allow FUNTRAK to use them in the upcoming fall model railroading season. More HO modules are underway to expand the size and scope of the HO side of the hobby with FUNTRAK. Specialty modules are being considered as well. Transportation, as always, seems to be posing the biggest obstacle to the expansion of the HO portion of the hobby. All of these issues will be addressed and eventually a solution will be derived and acted upon to solve these problems.

Problems aside, the N and HO modules are being assembled for display again this year at the Fonda Fair. A full review of this event will be forthcoming. Following the fair, FUNTRAK has a fairly rigorous schedule for the fall season. September 8-9 will see FUNTRAK in Clayton with the West Winds group. October will see the annual dinner and then on to November with Syracuse the first weekend and Fulton the following weekend. December may see FUNTRAK back at the Oneida County Historical Society. T-trak in all scales is becoming more and more popular and appears to be on the way to becoming a staple of the model railroading scene. FUNTRAK fully supports this effort and is looking forward to a bright future with many shows and lots of interaction with the public.

If model railroading is one of your interests, this is one of the easiest ways to get involved. The modules are small, inexpensive, and simple. Most important, they are easily transportable. This makes them ideal for people with limited space and transportation means. If you build it, they will come! Keep on training.

Brian

Here are a few pictures of the handiwork of our Canadian friends, Justin Parry and David King. As with most model railroad layouts, these are all a work-in-progress. It is always interesting to follow the progress of a layout as it grows, and moves toward completion. Of course, no layout ever seems to be “complete!” Justin’s layout is a large N scale layout with numerous modern features that are being developed. The electronics involved are truly mind-boggling, but they sure make operation interesting! David’s layout is a smaller On30 layout with a reduced version of similar controls to Justin’s. David usually tries something on his layout and then incorporates into Justin’s after testing and evaluation. The smaller layout provides a “test bed” for trying new things before going upscale to the larger layout. David is doing all these electronics while at the same time scratchbuilding most of the structures for his layout. Retirement contributes to much of the time required to do all these things, but even then things do not go as quickly as one might imagine. FUNTRAK will continue to follow the evolution of these railroads as we overtake the future.

This post is a tribute to our Northern neighbors in Canada. Brian recently visited with longtime
friend David King in Hamilton, Ontario where he was fortunate enough to visit a few home layouts,
including David’s. One of the interesting layouts he visited is pictured below, the Credit
Valley Railway based in the company store in Mississauga.

in store layout at Credit Valley Railway

Besides the HO layout, which this and the other pictures below were taken on, there is also a Lionel layout as well as a small O gauge diorama. All these displays are well done and are a big asset to the hobby shop. The layouts illustrate what can be done with available supplies, of which the hobby shop carries everything needed to build these fine layouts. The selection at the store was wonderful, the help most gracious, and prices reasonable. Many hard to find and unusual items were readily available and easy to find in the well organized store. If you are in the area, do not pass up an opportunity to visit this fine Canadian hobby shop.