Dawson Station

NASA's Shortline.

2011-12-21T04:42:00.000-08:00

Not much action here at Dawson Station. Here is a short video about another endangered short-line. What else does it have in common with Dawson Station?

Webscraped?

2011-04-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

I have an "alert" set with Google that emails me when ever "Dawson Station" gets blogged about. Of course, it is usually me tooting my own horn. Occasionally, it is something cool, like a French website. More and more often, it is my words and pictures put on someone else's blog and made to look like their own, like this example.

It is called "webscraping", and while it has legitimate uses, this one is just plain theft. It took me a minute to figure out where this even came from. It is from my first YouTube video and includes my word-for-word description as well as all the comments left from others. Imitation may be a form of flattery, but this just pisses me off.

Oh well, that is enough steam for now. Back to more usefully endeavors.

Why Didn't These Catch On?

2011-04-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

A 1/64th scale Hotwheels train?

Got this at the thrift store for $10. Very clever design. Lights, sound, infared remote. Switches & gates work automatically. Loads and unloads cars by pressing a switch.

Now all I need is a 1/64th scale centerbeam and logging truck and I'm set.

Train Show

2011-04-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

We took Dawson Station to the Eugene Train Show again. I did a much better job of getting kids involved this year, and my assistant was a big help. I handed out a lot of cards, so I figure I better post an update.

We met a lot of nice people, including someone who actually switched Hull-Oakes in the WPRR 1801 (he told me I had the engine facing the wrong way), and a McBee, as in McBee Memorial Park, as in helped Ralf Hull build the sawmill. I met a couple of people who recognized it as a "micro" layout, one who had seen it in Carl Ardent's website. He told me Carl passed away last month. Very sad. Hopefully they will keep his website alive as it is a trove of micro detail and he was a prophet. I also met someone who knew what an "Arduino" was, and shared his project with me which included an computer controlled RC car with live video. Very cool.

To those I told about my rocketry, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8vmeCdeI48

To those looking for the "game", here it is:
http://dawson-station.blogspot.com/2010/04/virtual-scale.html

They have trains in France?

2011-02-11T19:50:00.000-08:00

Just kidding. They also have blogs, one of which recently featured Dawson Station.

http://francis.pichon.123.fr/?p=1583

As near as I can tell, they said they found it through Carl Ardent's website and to visit if you are not too put off by English.

Wait, a blog about a blog, about a blog? That kind of recursion could bring down the inner-webs!

Merit Badging

2010-11-20T21:54:00.001-08:00

I got invited back to help with the Railroad Merit Badge clinic this year.

Roy Severn has a nice O-scale setup he lets the boys run. First they have to learn about car types, train types, and how locomotive work. They also have to plan a trip by Amtrak using real time tables.

Here is an example of scales I set up, with my N-scale loco on the left and Roy's O-scale on the left. The center is the more popular HO. There are also smaller scales (Z) and larger (G)!

After work comes play. Roy teaches wiring and operations while I show them how to switch out the mill.

New this year was my switching puzzle program. It took this crew eleven minutes to solve a Timesaver. Nobody was able to finish a 5-3-3 Inglenook, which is a bit tougher than Dawson Station. You can "gauge" the difficulty for your self at my switching puzzle page.

Dawson Station in the Walthers 2011 N & Z Scale Catalog!

2010-11-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

A strange package arrived today. It contained the 2011 Walthers N & Z Scale Catalog, which I didn't remember ordering. I completely forgot I had sent in some pictures for their annual photo contest.

I was the 2nd Place winner, on page 261. They didn't even pick my favorite shot. These were from my first attempt at extending the focal length by stacking images. In addition to the free catalog, which provides hours and hours of day-dream material, I was awarded $100. The check, signed by Mr. Walthers himself, was for $125. It took reading the small print about the check covering "any additional images" published before I figured it out.

A quick thumb-through found a second photograph on page 83 at the beginning the "Decals" section. That puts a pretty nice feather in my cap. I'm pretty much done promoting Dawson Station. For now it hides high in the garage.

Crashing the Company Picnic

2010-09-28T04:29:00.000-07:00

Well not so much crashing, but I did invite myself to this years Hull-Oakes company picnic at Belfoutain Park.

Fittingly, they eat at one of the six massive table tops they cut.

Dawson Station spent most of the summer up in my garage. There is no other group I would rather get it out for. I set it up in my newest hobby, a 1985 Westfalia. The layout, including the overhead lighting, draws only 44 watts. I was going to run it off a converter, but was able to plug in to AC and save my battery.

I got a lot of positive comments and it was kept busy running back and forth. I also got to hear some good stories. Not only were we well fed, but I was given a Hull-Oakes jacket and hat just like all the other employees!

Thank you!

2010-09-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

To the couple from Canada who helped us get unstuck at the beach! You saved the day!

I gave them my card, which has this website on it. The full report is on my personal blog.

Just to give you some Hull-Oakes content, here is our other stranding near the mill in 2006. We had pulled off to watch the train go by and the front end slipped down in to the ditch. A kind lady down the road (probably a Hull) got her 4x4 and pulled us out.

Sumpter Junction Restaurant

2010-08-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

We stumbled across the neatest restaurant on a recent trip. It is called Sumpter Junction, and is located in Baker, Oregon.

They have a G-scale train which loops through the entire restaurant every four minutes.

It even passes above the server area.

It makes several loops through the lobby and some nicely detailed structures.

Definitely a "must-see" for any train buff. Reasonable prices, good food, and trains!

Other hobbies . . .

2010-06-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

I'll point you toward my personal blog if you want to see what other crazy things I do for fun. A volcano is involved! http://bugled.blogspot.com/2010/06/tdb-2010-crazy-fun.html

Brag Wall

2010-06-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

There were six of these issued last year (for Prototype Modeler). I am now 1/7th the way to Master Model Railroader (and probably as far as I'm going to get in my 40s).

NMRA Divisional Mini-meet.

Sixth Annual Pacific Model Logger's Conference.

2011 Walther's "Magic of Railroading" Photo Contest, 2nd Place:

Prototype Vehicles

2010-05-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

By far the most prolific vehicle seen at Hull-Oakes is the Gerlinger Straddle Carrier. The number on the side indicates there are at least 10 of them, and they all predate WWII.

Forklifts are used to move stacks and load trucks.

Here is a logging truck. They have a number of restored ones that they take to truck shows.

This massive monster is used to unload logging trucks and is parked next to the pond.

I've spotted this vintage Mac in a different location every time I've been to the mill. Bill Oakes told us it is used to spray the road in summer to keep the dust down.

This tracked vehicle looks like a skidder of some sort. You tell me!

Take a look at my modeled vehicles here.

Visit to the Mill

2010-05-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Dawson Station had an out-of-state visitor! Les, from Arizona, took time out of his Oregon Coast vacation to drop in an see the layout. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law from The Dalles. On the agenda was a visit to Hull-Oakes, which I had not been down to in a while. We were greeted by none other than Bill Oakes, who had been coaxed out of retirement to give a couple of tours.

Les, Bill Oakes, and Les' brother-in-law.

I took enough pictures for a couple of posts on various areas of interest (like signage, chip hoppers, and straddle carriers), but here I'll give you some of my overall favorite shots.

Pond Monkey doing his things.

A beautiful modeling scene near the loading shed.

A scrap BN caboose keeping the idle chiploader company. (sniff)

Another great modeling scene across from the main mill building.

We finished the day off with a visit to Hazelnut Hill for some ice cream, a stop at Georgia Pacific's #5 2-8-2 at Avery Park, and the local hobby shop for some scale lumber. Quite a day of rail fun!

Updated Shunting Puzzles

2010-05-22T07:30:00.000-07:00

I just uploaded a new version of the Shunting Puzzles which now includes an Inglenook (see the bottom navigation link on the right). I've also added general instructions and specific puzzle instructions. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Working on a Different Scale

2010-05-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

I got invited to a model railroad "operating session" on a multi-room HO layout. These guys take train operations seriously! Every train has a route, and every car has a destination and load.

There were about twelve of us with two acting as dispatchers, three as yardmasters, and the rest operating individual trains. I was given control of the North West Special headed by SP6320.

I managed to traverse my route without causing too much havoc, although I did end up in a bit of a traffic jam at one point. I stopped in Modoc to exchange some cars headed for Kalisbell. Luckily, the yardmasters took good care of me.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but every car on the layout was beautifully weathered.

The dispatchers took it easy on me as well, giving me the main line most of the way. In all, the session took about three hours. After working on my tiny switching puzzle layout, this was quite an eye opener. A switching puzzle on a much larger scale!

Post your questions.

2010-05-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

I'll be down at the mill for another tour next week, so look forward to some fresh pictures. Let me know if you have any specific questions you would like me ask them!

Shunting Puzzles on Line

2010-05-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

The virtual Dawson Station was a fun way for me to show you how my layout operates. I've taken it a bit farther so that you can try out other puzzles and layouts, right from the comfort of your own computer. Here is an evolving collection of the "classics", and those that have caught my interest enough to try out:

General Instructions:

Uncoupling: If black boxes appear on the track, those are magnet uncoupling locations, and you must stop the train with the coupler over them to unhook (couplers turn red). If there are no magnets visible, just click on the coupler to unhook a car.
Turnouts: Click on the gray circle to move the turnout. They will not operate if blocked. They may also be linked with other turnouts.
Locations: A green dot appears on a car when it is in the correct place (or spot). Click on a car to see where it needs to be spotted.

Keys:
   'h' - toggles stat display if you don't want the pressure.
   'n' - toggles car names.
   's' - shows spot locations (where to park the cars).
   'd' - shows debug information (for me!).
   '+/-' - scales in or out (only some layouts).

Arrow keys will move the display layout (only some layouts).

Specific Puzzle Instructions:
Inglenook: My favorite, and the one Dawson Station is based on. Originally built by Alan Wright in 1978 on a 1' x 4' board. "5:3:3" refers to the capacities of the sidings. To complete the puzzle, build a train on the main (top) siding in the correct order shown by the colors. The cut-down versions require smaller consists, but also reduce the siding capacities. Dawson Station is more like the 3:2:2 "micro" version because the rolling stock is so long (60 ft for the gondolas and centerbeams).

Timesaver: This is the ~~frustrating~~ intriguing classic by John Allen. It will teach you about facing spurs, trailing spurs, and run-arounds. This one also uses magnets. Two inbound cars must be spotted, and two outbounds picked up. Click on a car to see where it goes. Add more cars for difficulty. Allen said, "eight are actually more interesting and more difficult". I've yet to complete the setup with more than seven. He also used two layouts together as a "team" exercise where cars were passed back and forth (future addition?).

Passing with a Spur: Straight from the pages of Carl Arendt's website is the classic passing puzzle, which is a lot harder than it looks: Can you get the blue train car past the one? The siding only holds one car. It is possible! Once you master that, add some cars. The same technique works for longer trains.

New Castle Industrial Railroad: This is a layout and setup designed by Jack Hill that I wanted to try out. He uses a waybill system, but you can do it by just clicking on the cars to see where they go. See his website for the instructions and background (there are some interesting considerations about loading and unloading cars). Designed by a real railroader for realistic operations. You can't beat that.

Arial Views

2010-05-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

Dawson Station, 2010

Hull-Oakes, 1951

Virtual Scale Layout

2010-04-28T22:46:00.001-07:00

Here is your chance to run Dawson Station from the comfort of your own computer! To complete the puzzle, you need to drop off the empty center beam (yellow) at the shed and the empty wood chip car (orange) at the chip loader (compare it to the picture in the banner above!) The game ends when you pick the empties up and head for Alpine Junction. Give it a try and let me know what you think! Post a comments or suggestions below.

If you are having trouble seeing the applet above, please go to java's website
and test your installation. It needs version 1.5 or 5 to work. If you don't want the pressure of the clock or step counter hanging over you while you learn, hit the 'h' key.

If you enjoyed that, head on over and see some other virtual puzzles & layouts I've put together.

When I first started doing research for my layout, I found Adrian Wymann's website which in turn led me to Neil Machin's online layouts. I spent many hours running both his Inglenook and Timesavers before creating my own Inglnook based layout. Now I've created an online version to go along with it!

Interestingly, the Processing software used to produce this Java applet is almost identical to the Arduino software used to program the microcrontrollers. If you click on the link, you can actually read the source code, should you be so inclined. Here is a quick screen shot:

The nice part is that it will run on ANY computer running a java-enabled browser, including Chrome running on Linux! Gotta love open source software! I plan to do a Timesaver version, and then use it to plan my next switching layout. Perhaps a complimentary module like a paper mill for Dawson Station to send loads to?

Nightfall at Dawson Station

2010-04-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

A friend suggested I work on the lighting a bit. Here is what resulted.

[Here is a direct link if the embedded video doesn't show up.]

The Arduino can now control the overhead light with a relay (video here). There are lights in the house and on the end of the loading shed and mill. The star of the show is Ken Stapleton's "Fire" circuit which flickers both a blue LED in the house to simulate TV and yellow LED in a burn barrel.

I also added some nightime audio which plays when the overhead light goes off. The frogs are from a pond near my house, and the dog barking is Mitsty the Wonder Dog, who will bark on command if food is involved.

Kids and Seniors Alike

2010-04-23T22:36:00.001-07:00

I got invited to setup in the lobby of the CSME Clubhouse for a senior openhouse. Groups from around the area came in for a layout tour. I got to hear some interesting stories. One lady's brother trained in Adair during WWII. She also remembered, at age 17, being whistled at by German POWs in a passing truck.

The club has an extensive collection of magazines. It was interesting to see the detailed modeling going on in January 1966!

They also have a number of books. I found this likely modeling subject for the next Pacific Model Logger's Conference.

A Critical Look at Prototype Modeling

2010-04-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

I took Dawson Station to another event this weekend. It was a Divisional Mini-meet for the Pacific Northwest Region of the National Model Railroading Association in Roseburg, Oregon. There were 35 – 40 people in attendance. When people “under 50” were asked to stand, there were only three of us. This is an old man’s hobby.

There was a modeling contest similar to the Pacific Model Logger’s Conference, albeit much smaller. Dawson Station won both its category, “miscellaneous”, as well as best in show, which came with enough cash to cover gas money. After the award, I gave about a ten minute presentation of the layout with a question and answer session. Talk about being put on the spot. At least I was given a heads up, and had a practice run with the cub scouts a while back.

More important than the competition, I had the layout judged for the NRMA’s Achievement Program for Prototypical Models. Think old man’s merit badge. Four of the Division’s senior members reviewed the layout with consideration as to how it captured the look and feel of Hull-Oakes. I had to document every aspect, and provide photos of Hull-Oakes and my layout taken at the same angles. To give you an idea of how thorough they were, they caught a major detail I had over looked, the chip hopper near the lunch shack. You can see my documentation here.

Also memorable was having lunch with probably the oldest member there. He has macular degeneration, and so couldn’t see much of what was going on. When we got back, I gave him the audio tour of Dawson Station which now includes not only the mill sounds, but frogs and a dog barking at night. Prototypical frogs, mind you.

More Construction Pictures

2010-04-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

This is the start of a second page of construction photos. Earlier photos can be found here.

The front input was expanded to include an additional RJ45 jack for the MRC sound module. This led to the meltdown reported here. LEDs show status of 12V, 5V, audio amplifier, and light sensors (April '10).

I've put a speaker in each corner. The left hand speaker plays the MRC sound module train sounds, and the right speaker the mill sounds (April '10).

The underside has gotten a bit complicated. This shows the center section. The boards, from left to right, include the turnout circuits, 12V distribution, sensor multiplexer, 5V regulator (not currently used), and 5V distribution. The front panel RJ45 connectors are at the bottom right (April '10).

Enclosure for the controllers. The switch on the side cuts the rx/tx line for when I reprogram the boards (April '10).

Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club Train Show

2010-04-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few "non-Dawson Station" pictures from the 22nd Annual Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club Train Show & Swap Meet in Eugene, Oregon. It was the largest train event I've been to, and quite the experience.
This is the main room. There were two other rooms. The array of merchandise was amazing and ranged all scales and interests.

Besides my layout, there were three other setups. There was a well done Ntrack modular layout called the A&P.

However there was some questionable track work on their layout.

Honest advertising. The displays ranged from serious vendors to people just trying to clean out their basement.

Miles and miles of HO scale cars, all reasonably priced!

The other layouts were the Oregon Electric O-Gaugers from Albany, Oregon, and Clay's Trailer-n-Train layout from Lebanon, Oregon.

In all, a pretty amazing event. You can read my other post about the show here.

Dawson Station at the Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club Train Show

2010-04-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at the 22nd Annual Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club Train Show & Swap Meet in Eugene, Oregon. It was far larger than I imagined and well run. We set up the night before, went for dinner and movie, and then spent the night in a camper in the parking lot.The kids had fun. Everyone seemed amazed I had it hooked to a Wii nunchuk. Younger kids would just run it back and forth. The older kids were given specific moves to make. A couple of kids came back for another turn.
One sharp young man started quizzing me about how the controller worked, and I told him it was "magic". "I know about circuits so I know it is not magic," he told me. I showed him the micro-contollers and how the sensors were wired. I even show him the actual code on my laptop. Not only could he read and under stand it, but he wanted to make some edits!

Here is a video showing where we were at. There were three full rooms of this! I'll post another entry about some of the other details.

Here is another post about the show.

Disaster and Recovery

2010-04-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

The next big outing for Dawson Station is the 22nd Annual Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club Train Show in Eugene, Oregon, next weekend. I volunteered to let the kids run the layout.

In getting ready, there have been some major setbacks. First, I accidentally applied 12V to the 5V bus and literally melted the microcontroller chips. Miraculously, that was the only damage to the Arduino's and I was able to easily switch the chips outs since they were in sockets. The motor shield, however, was not so lucky.

I ended up replacing both the L293 chips with some pin compatible SN754410s I had on hand, and the 74HC595N chip. I had to cut the chip legs with a dremel, desolder them, and then put in sockets so it wont be so hard if I do this again.
In doing some rewiring to avoid a re-occurrence of the chip cookout, I cause a meltdown of a different sort. I accidentally reversed the polarity of the 12V supply to turnout switching circuits. That supplied continuous current to the coils, resulting in failure in short order. I'm lucky I didn't start a fire. It wouldn't be the first sawmill to burn at Dawson Station (two mills burned down at the site before Ralph Hull built the current one).

The lessons learned were many, but primarily:

It is hard to idiot proof something when you are the idiot.

1200 YouTube views in 24 hours

2010-03-27T18:14:00.001-07:00

It amazes me how many people have watched the videos I've put up on YouTube about my various projects. Just yesterday Sparkfun, an electronics supplier I frequent, published a blog post featuring a video I did showing how I did the electronics on the model railroad layout. Twenty-four hours later more than 1200 people have check the video out. It is not quite millions like Merton the Chat Roulette piano player, but still amazing! Here are my top videos with their "views" and how long the've been up:

7,700 - Buggy, a Crafty LED Project (1 year ago).

4,400 - Dawson Station (5 months ago).

4,100 - Arduino Control of a Model Train (2 weeks ago).
4,100 - Arduino Rocks (2 years ago, only 11 seconds long).

3,100 - Game of Life - 10 Boards (1 year ago).

2,900 - Wii Nunchuk Controlled Model Train (2 months ago).

2,500 - Dawson Station Update (2 months ago).

Update 3/30 -> 4,100 views!

Update 4/07 -> 6,300 views.

Motive Power (with new photos)

2010-03-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

The major discrepancy in my model railroad layout was that I didn't have a "realistic" locomotive for it. When I bought the N-scale starter set, it came with a ATSF GP-20, which I figured was "close enough" to the GP-39s that Willamette & Pacific were running to start with. In fact, most of WP's locos were previously ATSF units and retained such artifacts as the blue/yellow paint scheme until such time as they made it into the paint shop.

I had obtained a set of MicroScale decals several years ago, but hadn't been brave enough to try a conversion. The gift of the "DARE" car, and the subsequent upcoming video shoot was enough to spark me into action. (The engine was not part of the display at the Model Logger's Conference.) The first step was disassembling the engine:

Here it is after painting. I used an airbrush and GN orange for the body, and Testor's flat black with a brush for the top.

The decals realy make this sharp. They are the same type I used on model kits as a kid. You soak them in water and "float" them into position. After they dry, a couple of coats of matt clear coat protect the decals and make them look painted on! I selected WPRR 2302 "Adair Village", because that is where I live. I've never seen the real "Adair Village" in action. WPRR 2310 "Monroe" would have been perhaps a more appropriate choice, being geographically closer to Dawson, but hey, I'm the boss of this railroad.

For the perfectionists, or "rivet counters" as they are known in the modeling world, here is a picture of the "prototype". The Willamette & Pacific (WPRR) name is confusingly synonymous with Portland & Western (PNWR), but you can see the latter on the current specimen (the decals were made in 1995, and I think the name switching started in about 2000). I've also got my logo set too far back on the body, but hey, sometime "close enough" is close enough!

Prototype WPRR-2302

WPRR-2313 "Lake Oswego" Switching at Dawson in 2007

(photo courtesy Joel Ashcroft)

Another Appearance in Small Layout Scrapbook

2010-03-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Carl Arendt's mentions Dawson Station in his article "How Stage 'Tricks' Can Add Enjoyment to Small Louts" for the use of background sound.

"The point of including them here is that these sounds add immensely to the effectiveness of a micro or small layout. If you haven't yet tried them out, you might want to do so. To demonstrate the point, we have a newly-updated version of Ken Olsen's switching operations on his layout, Dawson Station, which was voted among this site's top favorite layouts of 2009.

"Ken's N-scale 1x4ft (30x120cm) micro layout faithfully models the Hull-Oaks Sawmill in Oregon, which was one of the last railroad-served steam sawmills in the U.S. Ken has reproduced a typical switch-run to this mill and made a video on his tiny layout to show how it worked. I'd suggest you start by turning off the sound on your computer, and watch a couple minutes of this excellent tape. Then stop, rewind, turn the sound on, and watch it all the way through. YOU'LL BE AMAZED AT THE DIFFERENCE TRAIN SOUND MAKES. Even on very small layouts!"

Just in case you want to try what he mentions:

Electronics at the Station

2010-03-09T21:25:00.000-08:00

I put together a video to demonstrate the electronic controls I used for the Model Logger's Congress.

Successful Modeling Conference Showing!

2010-03-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

A full day in Elsie, Oregon, at the sixth Annual Pacific Model Logger's Conference. It is a comfort hanging out with people similarly afflicted with near obsessive interest in scale modeling railroad / lumber themes.A late night of firmware upgrades the night before paid off. The layout performed (surprisingly) perfectly. Pressing the button started the mill sounds and had the train slowly move back and forth on the center spur for about two minutes. Lights, action, and sound must have made for a winning combination because it got first place in the diorama division.

This was a bit amazing because the returning champion, whose model graces this years plaque, brought another amazing entry. He must have been a bit shocked when they announce him for second place. He did win best in show, which I think he deserved. I did get one other surprise, the first ever Memorial Award for modeling spirit. The presenter mentioned that I've taken the layout to various events and have my daughters help me.

A special thanks to my wing man who helped me get setup and provided lunch.

Fresh Rolling Stock

2010-03-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

My friend Bob sent me a beautiful addition to the stable, fixing what was the weak link in my line up. Here it is, fresh out of the box, Microtrain's C-50-9 Caboose SP# 4745.

And here it is again after a little work. It has been weathered and some roof details added.
Just for reference, here is what it replaced. A major upgrade!

Thanks Bob!

The Stack

2010-03-03T21:43:00.001-08:00

The controller hardware design, while less than optimal, has settled down. It is too late to make any major changes before the show. I've taken to calling it "The Stack":
Starting at the bottom is the most robust part of the stack, an Arduino Duemilanove. It is a well loved development board based on the ATmega328 8-bit microcontroller. At 16 Mhz, 32 kB flash, and 2 kB RAM it actually specs out better than my first computer (a Timex ZX-81).

Next up the stack is a motor controller shield from Adafruit. It is a bit overkill, since it can control up to 4 motors at once using two L293D H-bridge chips. I'm only using one to power the train at 12VDC using 2 KHz pulse-width modulation. It connects to the layout using an CAT-5 LAN cable via a RJ-45 socket. I'm bringing in 12V for the controller and 5V for the microcontroller in here.

This proto board is just a stop-gap measure to get the rest of the connections (turnout controls and sensor inputs) from the layout. I should be able to combined it to get rid of one layer in "the stack", but for now it works.

Here is the top of the stack. I designed the board using Eagle CAD and had it manufactured by BatchPCB. It has a surface mount CD4067 analog multiplexer to light the LEDs to show the turnouts and throttle. It has given me no end of grief, and needs a redesign. Perhaps the best feature of the board is the Wii Nunchuk interface on the lower left. Even that needed some jury-rigging to get to work.

The turnout controllers, the sensors, sensor multiplexer, and the 5V power supply are all on the underside of the board and discussed elsewhere. What a mess. But it works. For now.

Video tour of the setup.

Detritus

2010-02-27T21:42:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for the Pacific Model Logger's Conference next week. Here is some detritus from the work. It has been frustrating, but hopefully worth it.New interface with the layout. 2 x RJ45 = 16 lines, of which I'm using 14. Note my newest toy, an Adafruit bomb defuser.

Sensorizing the Station

2010-02-16T21:02:00.000-08:00

I used the long weekend to put in some position sensors. I wanted ones at each end of the spurs and under the switches.

Filled in with some ballast to make them a little less obvious.

Under the loading shed there is not much light, so I put in a infa-red emitter and detector pair. The IR reflects off the bottom of the car so it will work in the dark.
Breadboarding the sensors for testing. I wired the infa-red ones in backwards to start with.

The underside has got a whole lot more complicated!

How Dids

2010-02-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

As opposed to "how tos".

Construction Photos

More Construction Photos
Video tour of electronics

Here are some posts about the construction details:
Sensor installation
Multiplexing sensor input
Wii Nunchuk Controller
Turnout Control
"The Stack"
New Caboose
Detritus
YouTube Video Views
Disaster and Recovery

Microcontrolling Turnouts

2010-02-07T07:47:00.000-08:00

I think I've got the turnouts setup the way I wanted. I'm using Ken Stapleton's circuit, but have added a relay to isolate the 12V operating the turnout and the 5V the microcontroller is running on.

I did get the turnouts circuits switching on 5V (as seen on the video), but it wasn't 100% reliable, especially with the train operating, so I went back to the relays.
I'm currently setup on my mother-in-law's dinning table while they are away.

MUX-DEMUX: CD4051 Parlor Tricks

2010-01-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry model train fans, this is more electronics. I wanted to document how I intend to get 16 input/output signals from an 8-channel multiplexer chip using only 5 pins on the Arduino micro-controller. This will take both some hardware tricks as well as some software shenanigans that I should understand better once I try and explain it to you.

I started with the tutorial at http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Learning/4051. The concept is that using just three digital pins you can address one of eight channels at a time (which can be input or output, analog or digital). In total, you use four pins (three signal and one common) to get 8 I/O. That is a good deal and fairly straight forward.

It also occurred to me, that in a manner similar to what I had seen done with multiplexed displays, that by adding an additional common pin I could drive current in either direction and double the number of I/Os. That is not so straight forward, so let me try and explain.
If you consider the pair of LEDs in this example to be a "bank", and you want to light LED_0, you need to set PIN 17 to HIGH, and PIN 18 to LOW. (The pin numbers are confusing, but they match the later example so bare with me). To light LED_1, you just reverse the PINS. The diode nature of LEDs keeps the current from flowing the opposite direction keeping the other one off.
This gets a little more complicated if you want to do an analog read on a CdS light sensor. First, you need to add a diode to each sensor to control the flow. Second, since you are reading values, you need to pull the inputs high or low to keep them from floating. Being a lazy person, I'm going to pull them high using the internal pull-up resistors. To read CdS_0, you set PIN 17 mode to OUTPUT and set it to LOW. This makes it the ground. Then you set PIN 18 mode to INPUT and set it to HIGH to engage the pull-up resistor. Now you are set to do a read on PIN 18 (a.k.a. analog pin 4). To access the other sensor, just switch the modes and outputs.

Alright, if you are still with me, now all we have to do is multiply that by eight. The eight channels are accessed by addressing the 3 select pins (digital pins 14, 15, & 16) as follows:

Channel / Pin 16 / Pin 15 / Pin 14
0 - 0 0 0
1 - 0 0 1
2 - 0 1 0
3 - 0 1 1
4 - 1 0 0
5 - 1 0 1
6 - 1 1 0
7 - 1 1 1

Hey, that looks like a decimal to binary chart. Imagine that.

O.K., now to the breadboarded "proof of concept". I've split it into 4 banks of LEDs (8 total), and 4 banks of CdS cells (8 total), for a grand total of 16 I/O on 5 pins. Before you say, "wait, you can do that with a 4067 chip," let me just say that the 4051 was all I had handy, and that this trick will also work on 4067 if you want to get 32 I/O out of six pins. That is quite the math. Double your pins for the price of one!

I did the schematics and breadboard with a cool program called Fritzing. It will also help you layout a PCB board, but I don't need to go that far with this (I've gone too far already).

Here is the pudding:

I hoped this helped you. It did me.

Wii Nunchuk Train Control?

2010-01-17T05:16:00.000-08:00

With the layout mostly complete, I've been looking at adding some "electronic tweaks". One of the things I've been less than happy with is the controls.

The state of the art for model railroading right now is called DCC, or Digital Command Control. Instead of varying DC voltage to the track to control the train, an alternating voltage is supplied with a digital command signal mixed in. A micro-controller on the engine decodes the signal and applies power to the motor.

That seems a bit much for a four-foot layout, and there is not much by way of hardware decoders for N-scale (yet). Another alternative is to just pulse the DC signal to the track in a scheme called pulse-width modulation. Instead of variable voltage, maximum voltage is applied for variable widths of time. It seems a little crazy, but it works so well that it is used on large industrial motors. The big advantage for model trains is smooth operation at slow speeds - a big plus at Dawson Station.
The key to pulling off a cool hack like this for a wanta-be hacker like me is to let others do the engineering. The Arduino micro-controller was designed to be easy to use and program, and it is. And while it is great at flashing LEDs like you see in a project like the "Game of Life" kit (not technically an Arduino, but the same main chip), it needs a little help driving motors. Another brilliant concept in Arduino is stackable prototyping shields. You basically add another layer of circuit board with the space and wiring to do what you want. In this case, the brilliant engineer LadyAda at Adafruit has designed one for driving motors and servos.

The final piece of the puzzle is the interface. How do you tell the micro-controller what you want? "Buttons", is the correct answer of course. If you saw my earlier video, I used a momentary toggle switch to increase or decrease speed. With the goal of the layout to be operated by kids, I was still looking for something easier. Enter the Wii Nunchuk. (Ed. note: I've seen a lot of spelling variations, but the offical Nintendo manual calls it a "nunchuk"). A couple of years ago (ancient history in web years) I came across a post by Tod Kurt who made a simple little circuit board allowing you to plug your Wii nunchuk into a circuit without cutting anything. I bought a board from him ($4 I think, a bargain for the brilliance), but just forgot about it, not having a killer use for it at the time. Now I do!

And there you have it. Who knows how many dollars of Nintendo engineering on its way to Dawson Station. Stay tuned, since that is only the start of the planned "geekification". If you want to know the bloody details, as in code, I detailed it at great length on Instructables. Which, I just been informed, has been "featured".

Dawson Station, yet again in Small-Layouts Scrapbook

2010-01-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

This time as a viewer's top-10 choice of 2009 at Carl Ardent's Small Layout Scrapbook!
Luckily, I had a decent new picture ready for him to use (not the one on the right). He called mine out as one of his personal favorites of the year as well. Wow!

The clear favorite, and mine as well, was the Brooklyn 3AM layout. I'm still trying to find a video that shows it's awesomeness.

Photo Tour (January '10)

2010-01-06T21:29:00.001-08:00

Entering the layout from the left, the train arrives from Alpine Junction with the caboose in the lead and the engine pushing.

Just before the mill is a small farmhouse on a hill. A number of workers built their homes near the mill using lumber in lieu of wages.

The loading shed is the first major structure of the mill complex. Box cars were loaded by hand here in the 1950s & 60. Now it is more of a storage area.

The tracks cross a creek which runs under the mill site. The lunch shack overlooks the tracks.

See some additional details, or go on a video tour.

Vehicles

2009-12-31T08:43:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of the vehicles that can be spotted near Dawson on any given day.

1941 Chev Pickup (GHQ kit)	1941 Peterbuilt 344 (GHQ kit)
Gerlinger Stradle Carrier (Scatch-built)	1980s Forklift (GHQ kit)
One of two sedans (Kato)	One of two F-150s (Atlas)

Take a look at the prototype photos here.

On hand, but need to be built:

- another fork lift

- 1980s F150 truck

- 1950 F1 truck

- 1966 Mustang cast resin kit

Welcome to Dawson Station

2009-10-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

Dawson Station is my portable 1' x 4' n-scale model railroad layout and is based on the Hull-Oakes lumber mill located in Dawson, Oregon.
Hull-Oakes, one of the last steam-powered sawmills in North America, is located on the end of a six mile spur in the foothills of the Coastal Mountain Range. Until 2007, when a rail embargo began, the mill shipped large dimensional lumber and woodchips by rail.

Being at the end of the spur, and with limited sidings, it presents an interesting switching puzzle. The layout has compressed this into a 3-2-2 Inglenook puzzle, and requires that the empty cars be switched in to the correct locations, and the full cars switched out. To further complicate the problem, a caboose is required on the end of the consist since the train must reverse the final six miles to reach the mill. The layout includes a loading shed, which was scratchbuilt using Midwest Micro-cut scale lumber. The shed and it's dock were used to hand-load boxcars in the 40's & 50's. As flat cars and centerbeams displaced the boxcars, the shed became a covered storage area. Also shown is the mill's unique chip loading station. Woodchips from several areas on the site are blown to the loader using low-pressure air. A chain and motor pulls the railcars back and forth to evenly load them. The mill also uses wood chips to fire a boiler which provides steam to a number of points in the mill, including the 1908 Ames two-cylinder steam engine that powers the headrig band saw. Look around and let me know what you think. I hope this inspires you to give model railroading a try and to learn more about Hull Oakes.

On Display at the Willamette Cascade Train Show in 2010.

Next stop? Take a layout tour!

Links and Resources

2009-10-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the real gems I've found on the net:

Carl Roper's "Evolution of a N Gauge - 3x5 layout", a nice introduction to basic construction and realistic operation of a small, portable layout. http://users.iafrica.com/c/ca/caroper/tutorial/

Carl Arendt's "Micro / Small Layouts", a wonderful collection of big ideas for small layouts. Dawson Station has been featured there more than once! http://www.carendt.com/

Adrian Wymann's "Model Railway Shunting Puzzles", everything you needed to know about railroad puzzles. http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/

Stephan Besier's Whitee River and Southern, an beautiful HO layout based on the Willamette Valley, but located in Europe! http://wolfram-mohr.de/besier/

N-Scale Supply, after my local hobby shop, my favorite model supplier. http://www.nscalesupply.com/

Hull-Oakes photos and reference drawings, courtesy of my uncle, Sam.
http://www.nps.gov/history/hdp/samples/index.htm

Internet Inglenook Version on which I spend many hours before building my own (works in IE or Chrome, but not FF). http://www.precisionlabels.com/shunt/jpage310.html

Detail Photos

2009-10-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

(Updated December '09)

Starting on the far left-hand side, we see rural Oregon at its finest. An abandoned kite in the tree show that children live nearby.

The tracks pass a boy in a tire swing accompanied by his faithful dog. The mother is waiting for her husband, who works at the nearby mill, to come home for lunch.

A tree house built from scraps is occupied by my daughter who picked out the color and painted it. I think that is a blanket next to her. No telling what she has dragged up there.

With the downturn in the housing market, the small lumber yard is starting to fill up with excess inventory. After the economy picks up, it will be like money in the bank.

The loading shed, used for boxcars in the 1950s, now stores lumber out of the weather.

Chips from various parts in the plan are transfered to the loader using low-pressure air. A motor and chain pulls the car back and forth to load it evenly. You will have to keep an eye on it or it will overflow.

The lunch shack with runners still attached showing evidence of lumber camp use in a prior life.

A worker sits near his idle straddle-carrier while waiting for lunch to finish. You are now at the far right-hand end of the layout, and we have just reached the actual mill building.

There are a lot more details, but for now, how about a video tour?

Public Outings

2009-10-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

November 20th, 2010 - Railroading Merit Badge Clinic

November, 2010 - 2011 Walther's Catalog pages 83 & 261.

September 26th, 2010 - Hull-Oakes company picnic.

April 22nd, 2010 - CSME Seniors Open House, Adair Village, Oregon.Blog Entry

April 17th, 2010 - NMRA PNR Division 1 Mini-meet in Roseburg, Oregon
Blog Entry

April 10th, 2010 - 22nd Annual Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club Train Show & Swap Meet in Eugene, Oregon

Blog entry

March 2010 - Called out in Carl Arendt's article "How Stage 'Tricks' Can Add Enjoyment to Small Layouts" for the use of background sound.

"The point of including them here is that these sounds add immensely to the effectiveness of a micro or small layout. If you haven't yet tried them out, you might want to do so. To demonstrate the point, we have a newly-updated version of Ken Olsen's switching operations on his layout, Dawson Station, which was voted among this site's top favorite layouts of 2009.

"Ken's N-scale 1x4ft (30x120cm) micro layout faithfully models the Hull-Oaks Sawmill in Oregon, which was one of the last railroad-served steam sawmills in the U.S. Ken has reproduced a typical switch-run to this mill and made a video on his tiny layout to show how it worked. I'd suggest you start by turning off the sound on your computer, and watch a couple minutes of this excellent tape. Then stop, rewind, turn the sound on, and watch it all the way through. YOU'LL BE AMAZED AT THE DIFFERENCE TRAIN SOUND MAKES. Even on very small layouts!"

March 6th, 2010 - Sixth Annual Pacific Model Logger's Conference

Won first place in the Diorama division amongst some amazing entries and the first ever Memorial Award for modeling spirit!

Blog Entry

January 2010 - Viewer's top-10 choice of 2009 at Carl Ardent's Small Layout Scrapbook!

December 2009 - Trump's Hobby front window.

December 17th, 2009 - Cub Scout Pack Meeting

November 2009 - Benton County District Merit Badge Clinic

Most of the kids caught on pretty quick and seem to enjoy the challenge. Nothing got broken and I enjoyed getting to show it off.

November 2009 - Espee in Oregon Annual Convention in Corvallis.

An interesting mix of railroad foamers and modelers. They toured Hull-Oakes on their first of three days, so I figured it would fit in. I didn't get much more than "polite interest". I did get to make a lot of connections with several local guys with large home layouts.

I ran into a guy who remembered me from the Model Logger's Conference. I told him I had "taken it up a notch" since then. He agreed.

October 2009 - Hull Oakes

I finally worked up enough courage to take my scale model down to show the folks at Hull-Oakes. Last time I was down for a tour, I told them I was working on a model, and they had asked that I show them when I finished.

They seem genuinely interested (or politely humoring). Left to right were the owner, Todd Nystrom (a Hull grandson), and his son Nathan, who has just graduated from OSU, Don Wagoneer (timber buyer and current tour guide), Bill Oakes (retired saw filer and previous tour guide), and Dave Rainey from sales. I told them that the picture would be my "certificate of authenticity", and that I could now claim the layout was "endorsed" by Hull-Oakes.

March 2009 - 5th Annual Pacific Model Logger's Conference at Camp 18 in Elsie, Oregon.

This was the public debut of Dawson Station. It took third place as an entry in the "diorama" division. I had a poster with historical photographs, and notebooks showing my reference drawings and details about how the puzzle works. It was certainly the best "documented" model there.

Construction Photos

2009-10-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Here are few photos of Dawson Station under construction. I think I've discovered another secret of model railroading: building is as fun as operating.

Early work on the puzzle portion.

Work on the loading shed.

There is a stream running under the mill. In the mid 50's, they channeled it through a concrete tunnel to keep it from washing away the timber supports. A recent EPA study found more fish in the tunnel that out.

The stream is of course, bridged by large timbers, no doubt cut on site. The owner of the hobby shop doesn't seem to mind that I come in every week and buy several lengths of balsa. They are only 22 cents apiece. The smallest regular balsa I can get is a foot and a half wide in scale. It works well for a lot of things at the mill, but I had to buy some special "scale" stuff for the loading shed and dock.

In the movie The Girl with the Pearl Earring, the painter Veermer asks the maid, "what colors are the clouds?" She initialy answers "white", but after studying them for a few moments, begins to detail all the different colors she sees in them. How about asphalt? I thought gray was gray, but after studying it for a bit, it is a bit more subtle than that. I wouldn't be too concerned, except that it need to match the backdrop image. Most of my photos are in overcast weather with a bit of dampness on the ground. That changes the color dramatically. You can see I'm still working on it.

It is starting to take shape (and color). You can see my "test patch" in the lower center. Next up, the chip loading rig.

Putting a frame around it.

Backdrop a-la-inkjet! Printed in 8"x10" sections on matte brochure paper and then glued to 1/4" foam core board.

Work on the chiploader. Those are Legos at the top.

The underside is rather simple. Just power and two switches.

Working on plexiglass cover (Nov '09). The temporary protective covering is blue.

New cover test fitting without backdrop (Nov '09)

Assistant art director helping with new backdrop, printed in two section on a 24" x 36" (Nov '09).

Packed and ready to go to the hobby store for a holiday display. A perfect fit and lightly anchored to the folded back seat. It is also a snug fit in the back of my extened-cab Dakota, although tougher to get in and out. With the plexiglass cover, the weight is also reaching the limit of what I can do single-handily (Dec '09).
Working on turnout switching with microcontroller (Feb '10).

But wait, there is more . . .

Hull-Oakes Mill Photo Tour

2009-10-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

I've been down to Hull-Oakes at least five times. It is loud and usually poorly lit, and since I am showing you my own photographs and videos, you will have to suffer with my modest attempts to capture the spirit of the place.

The wigwam burner is located near the log pond and has survived in an attempt to keep the "historic" appearance of the mill. It is kept operational, and occasionally a load of chips is transferred to it for the employees to use for landscaping.

Logs are brought to the site by truck and dumped into the log pond. They are sorted and set up on the loading ramp by the "pond monkey" driving a highly-maneuverable boat. The wigwam is to the right, and the twin smoke stacks of the boilers are just visible through the steam.

The first stop for a log fresh out of the pond is the debarker, a giant cylindrical contraption that scrapes the bark off.

In the mill, the log is loaded on a carriage which moves back and forth, passing the log through the headrig saw. The man on the carriage sets the depth of the cut, while another across from his controls other settings. They communicate with hand signals because of the high background noise.

This is the 1908 Ames two cylinder steam engine. It powers about half the mills equipment. Hull-Oakes got it second hand and installed it in the 50s.

This is the east end of the mill. Larger pieces come out this way. Smaller lumber goes down to the sorting shed visible on the left.

This shows the unused track running past the loading shed. Box cars were loaded by hand from the dock in the 50s & 60s. Larger timbers went out on flatcars. Now days it is used for covered storage.

This is the east end of the loading shed. Centerbeam railcars are loaded and stored here.

Chips generated at various points in the mill are blown through pipes with low-pressure air to the chip loading station. The railcar is pulled back and forth by chains and an electric motor to load it evenly. Aparently it can be overloaded as well.

These pictures are obviously just a scratch on the surface. I encourage you to take the tour yourself. You can also take my video tour.

More photos from 2010.

Rolling Stock

2009-10-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

It only takes six cars to make the puzzle interesting:

UP260114 - This 60' 8" Thrall® centerbeam flat car with I-beam construction is painted UP box car red with white lettering. It is one of a fleet of 120 cars built in 1988 by the Thrall Car Manufacturing Company. The manufacturer replaced their ‘opera-style’ partition with I-beam construction in an effort to reduce car weight while increasing load limit. The lighter construction created some potential instability, however, so the car bears the safety warning, ‘Car may fall over. Maintain equal weight on each side of car during loading and unloading.’	TTZX86090 - The Thrall Car Manufacturing Co. of Chicago, Illinois built this 60' 8'' Thrall centerbeam flat car in July 1986. It is painted yellow with black lettering and is operated by Trailer Train. 'TTZX' encodes the fact that the car is a 100-ton bulkhead car equipped with a center partition and winch-type tie down system for carrying lumber products.
WPRR74002 "Ducks" - Gunderson flatside 100 ton woodchip car	WPRR74003 "Dare", a gift from my friend Bob from Illinois
WPRR7401 "Beavers" - ex SP 355113, blt 1974	SP 4745 - C-50-9 Steel bay-window caboose, another gift from Bob!

Blog entry on SP Caboose.

Hull-Oakes Video Tours

2009-10-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

This video was shot in 2005 on my second trip to the mill:

These videos were shot in 2007 before rail operations to the mill halted:

Layout Video Tours

2009-10-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a video showing the basic operation of my layout puzzle. My daughter ran the train for me while I filmed. I recorded some audio of the mill while I was showing them the layout the other day. The whistle you hear (repeatedly) was the "end of lunch, back to work" call.

Just for giggles, a screen shot of the video editing process:

I had a tough time of saying "good enough". I'm always catching "one more thing" that needs tweaking. It takes 15 minutes to render the video, and more than an hour to upload it! Unless you see a glaring spelling mistake, I don't want to know about it.

With a 10 minute length limit on Youtube, I also had to leave out some of the historical tidbits I had in the earlier version, which you can still watch below.

Youtube is also getting more possessive about music, so I left it out this time, hoping instead that the UMG clowns don't own the copywright to Stan Kistler's 1959 "Whistles in the Woods".

Here is the layout at night, complete with prototypical Willamette Valley frogs:

Here is the earlier version which, depending on Youtube's lawyer's whims, may or may not have audio commentary and some historical facts:

Here is a video tour of the electronics setup I used for the Model Logger's Congress:

You can see my footage of actual train operations at the mill before they quit running down to there in 2007.

Hull-Oakes Panoramas

2009-10-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Click on the photos to get a close up look at Hull-Oakes:

This shows the East end of the mill.

Here is the East end of the loading shed.

This shows the lumber yard waiting for the building industry to turn around.

Historic Loads

2009-10-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hull-Oakes has survived by cutting large diameter Douglas Fir trees for many special projects. Here are a couple of examples (click to get full size):

The entire staff and some family turned out for this 1964 photo. It was shipped to Memphis Tennessee to become the world's longest loveseat at an amusement park.

This shows the loading of 100 ft long stringers in 1959. Three flatbed railcars were used, one to support the wood, and one on each end to act as spacers.

They were shipped to New Jersey.

An 85 foot long picnic table at Avery Park in Corvallis, Oregon. The plaque says Hull-Oakes cut six of them, but I only know of three (Avery Park, Benton County Fairgrounds, and Blogett County Park).

Modeling Philosophy

2009-10-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

After years and years of wanting to do a model railroad layout, I came to several conclusions:
1) I would never have the space to do even a modest HO size layout.
2) I would never have enough money to do even a modest size layout.
3) I would never have enough time to build a modest size layout.

So, I decided scale back my expectations and do what I could do. I went to N-scale, which is not quite half of the more popular HO scale. I also set a layout size of 4' x 1', being small enough for one person to carry through a door (as in, "honey, can we eat at the table tonight?"). There is actually a group that does "micro layouts", and 4' x 1' is considered quite generous by their standards, especially in N-scale.

Now the real question is what can you do in four square feet? That is just enough room to move a small train back and forth. Boring, right? Not if you make a puzzle out of it. With only two switches, three sidings, and eight cars, you can create a puzzle with more than 40,000 possibilities. If you randomly select five car to put together in order, it can take 40 to 60 moves and a good deal of "brain grease" to build a "consist". Robin has gotten pretty good at this as we tested the layout.

Now the question, "is that realistic?" Model railroaders are always talking about "prototypes", which are the real railroads they base their models on. It turns out that the Hull-Oakes lumber mill down in Dawson is at the end of a six mile spur, and has only two switches and three sidings! While their sidings have considerably more capacity than the typical puzzle, it still requires a bit of "back and forth" to get empties in and loads out (see my videos). A little "compression" is forgivable, even expected in a model railroad.

So, there is my modeling philosophy:
- Small is doable, fun, and can be realistic.
- Small is portable, show it off & inspire others.
- Let the kids run it. If it breaks, it can be fixed.