Turnout Servos Installed | 2 Comments - Click Here :

I have successfully installed all of the turnout servos. I utilized the micro servos available from  

Tam Valley Depot. They are very small but work great! Come to think of it; anything bigger is overkill when throwing Sn3 turnouts.

I modified the positioning of the servo bracket by mounting them sideways on a block of wood. This allows the servo arm direct swing to more precisely line up the stub turnouts. To control the servos, I utilized Tam Valley's Quad Pic, Dual Three Way and Hex Frog Juicer. There will be no control levers or switches on the fascia of the layout. Control of the turnouts will be from a wireless NCE DCC throttle. 

I found the installation and programming of these to be easy and am very pleased with the way they operate. I am looking forward to operating the layout using this method!

- Cowboy Up!

Roper Sez: | 0 Comments - Click Here :

Stay thirsty, my friends.

Making Progress | 1 Comments - Click Here :

Having the Labor Day weekend off from rodeo gave me the opportunity to make some real progress on the layout. I am happy to report that all of the rail has been completed with the exception of the hidden staging yards, which have yet to be constructed. I have also installed all of the feeders and completed all of the layout wiring for DCC. All that remains is to install the turnout servo motors.
The layout will then be put through a vigorous shakedown, working out any bugs before painting the rails and adding dirt and weeds. After all of this is completed, I can move on to the shadow-box and lighting installation!
For reference; I used code 55 rail from Micro Engineering and 150% HO spikes from the Proto:87 Stores. The turnout modules and servos are from Tam Valley Depot and the wireless DCC system is from NCE.
I took the following pictures with my iPhone so please excuse the quality!
- Cowboy Up!