# "I love it when a plan comes together..."



## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

My wye track and other items finally showed up today so I got right to work on the track. The tracks are smooth and there is no S curve in either track as the wye comes off of the last yard track.

The change in grade was accomplished with cut pieces of cork roadbed cut on a slope and then ganged together. The answer was always right in front of me; I just wasn't thinking far enough outside the box.

The outside track is electrically isolated and will be the new programming track as I'm getting too many locomotives to have to remove every one of them from the rails to program a new purchase.

"I love it when a plan comes together..."

Hannibal Smith


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Looking good.

Magic


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Thanks. I still have catenary wire to install but I have to order some raw wire from Sommerfeldt. Ordinary Viessmann pre-assembled cat wire sections won't work inside the building.

I also have a few bits and pieces for the interior like work platforms, tool boxes, and wire spools and crates that I will be ordering soon.

It's pretty bare in there right now.


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## highvoltage (Apr 6, 2014)

That's a sharp looking building, very detailed. Looking forward to progress pics.


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## Spence (Oct 15, 2015)

Very nice. It's always a good feeling when a plan comes together. :thumbsup:


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

Looks good, glad it worked out for you.:thumbsup:


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Catenary inside the building?*



MichaelE said:


> Thanks. I still have catenary wire to install but I have to order some raw wire from Sommerfeldt. Ordinary Viessmann pre-assembled cat wire sections won't work inside the building.
> 
> I also have a few bits and pieces for the interior like work platforms, tool boxes, and wire spools and crates that I will be ordering soon.
> 
> It's pretty bare in there right now.



MichaelE

Great job on the engine house! :appl: I also have a two-stall engine house on my layout, (shown below in the early stages of construction) and electric locomotives.( My N-scale model railroad is somewhat based on part of the Milwaukee Road in the 1920s)

I have always wondered how electrics got into, and out of, the enginehouse. I thought it unlikely that catenary would extend inside the building as it would be a serious hazard for the possible electrocution of workers, and perhaps also a potential fire hazard for my wooden structure.

I know from reading, that the Milwaukee sometimes used steam, or diesel, switchers to get electrics into the roundhouse in some larger yards. They also used a weird little "extension-cord-powered switcher" made from a surplus power truck and a home-built minimal body. This strange little "locomotive" got its power from the turntable, via a cable, and had a very short range!

I have also read that a device called a "stinger pole" was used, at least on trolley lines, and possibly on main line electrified railroads. It was a long wood pole with a contact plate at one end and a very brave/not too imaginative, man holding the other end. The contact plate had an insulated cable attached, and the man held the plate against the overhead wire to provide power to the car when it had to travel a very short distance beyond the overhead wire. I don't think I'd care for that job, especially if it were raining!

I had planned to build a bit of overhead rail inside my engine house with a wood cover on all sides except the bottom. This is the same third-rail setup used on parts of the New York Subway system, and the approaches to Grand Central Station in New York. I also planned to have a large, Frankenstein-movie-type, throw knife switch up at overhead wire level, operated by a long wooden pole to cut power to the inside part of the overhead, once the locomotive was in place. 

What system does the moderem DB use in your enginehouse?



regards;

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

That was interesting to read.

Modern German electrics run on 15kVAC.

Engine facilities have the cat running into the building. They repair pans to so it would make sense to have a wire.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

Nice work Murdock!


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Cut off switch?*



MichaelE said:


> That was interesting to read.
> 
> Modern German electrics run on 15kVAC.
> 
> Engine facilities have the cat running into the building. They repair pans to so it would make sense to have a wire.


 Fifteen thousand volts!  Gosh, and here I was trying to protect my N-scale guys from the "measly" three thousand volts DC used on the Milwaukee! I assume DB must have some system for cutting off all that power when people are on top of the locomotives, to repair/replace the pans.
One Milwaukee worker was checking one of the pans on a locomotive with a flashlight one night (not inside a shop) He made two fatal errors. He failed to check the other pan, (it was up) and he accidentally let the metal case of his flashlight brush up against the lowered pan. He was killed instantly. I think I'm going to use the semi-enclosed wire, and cutoff switch idea. It may not be prototypical, but it seems more sensible and humane.

regards;

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Murdock?*



Stumpy said:


> Nice work Murdock!


 Stumpy;

Who is Murdock? 

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## highvoltage (Apr 6, 2014)

traction fan said:


> Stumpy;
> 
> Who is Murdock?
> 
> Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


From the A-Team. The thread title is "I love it when a plan comes together," a famous quote by "Hannibal" Smith. And there was "Howlin' Mad" Murdock. Smith would often say "Nice work Murdock."


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Murdock was the crazy helicopter pilot.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

"Nuts! Brothers!" You'd think that mental health issues would have been a disqualifying factor for handling complex machinery such as helicopter.


As for the track, it looked like a normal left hander would have worked great. Why a "Y"?


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

The wye is much shorter than a #6 turnout.


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