Models From My Eighties Detroit & Mackinac Memories

Detroit & Mackinac N5 caboose and Alco C425M locomotive:
 Modeling my memories of a ride behind the best-looking diesel I can think of

July, 1981: I was a bored teenage dirtbag, driving my parents crazy because I was bored on a boring family vacation with my boring family in boring old Northern Michigan, with two things on my fevered adolescent mind: girls and trains.

Of course, no teenage boy wants parental 'assistance' with girls, but my my Presbyterian minister stepfather is still able to smoke out trains and other train enthusiasts wherever he goes. One of his Michigan-based minister colleagues pointed us in the direction of a round-robin group of railfans and model railroaders.

We drove up to Cheboygan, Michigan for a meeting of the group.  Before the kick off of slide shows and running of model trains, the gang filed out and walked over to the nearby Detroit & Mackinac yard to watch the sunset departure of a southbound freight, mostly boxcars loaded with diapers from the local Procter & Gamble plant.

Two D&M Alco C425Ms, freshly shopped and painted by GE, were on the point--exotic locomotives with a flashy but tasteful paint scheme, followed by 50 or so boxcars and an ex-Pennsy N5 caboose. The D&M train snaked out of the yard, and that old caboose stopped in front of our railfan group.

"You guys wanna ride down the line?" hollered the conductor.  One of the group instantly volunteered to drive his station wagon down to Topinabee, Michigan to bring us all back up to the meeting in Cheboygan. 

We piled on the ancient caboose and rode 20 or so miles on down to Topinabee.  It was an awesome, unexpected treat to ride in a grungy old second hand caboose behind the best looking locomotives in the US--almost as exciting as hot Detroit girls also on boring family vacations in Northern Michigan!

My D&M train ride is among my most cherished railroad memories, and it was made possible by Jim Uttley, my stepfather, whose persistence and patience I have come to admire--especially now that I have had two teenage boys of my own.  The HO models--that's an Atlas C425, a Bowser N5 caboose, and Athearn boxcar--are my modest commemoration of a memorable evening with family and trains. 

American Electrics: The Mighty G

The mighty GG-1 is the quintessential North American electric locomotive--and maybe even the quintessential Pennsy locomotive (The T-1 would be the other 'Pennsy' loco, but it was a dirt-burner). These art-deco beasts-designed by Raymond Loewy, same dude who designed the Empire State Building-toiled for nearly 50 years on what we now call the Northeast Corridor.  4935 lives indoors in a nice museum in Strasburg, PA.

Pennsylvania RR GG-1 #4935 at the Pennsylvania RR museum in Strasburg, PA in 2005 (Steve Lee photo) 

Such a little thing (as paint) makes all the difference: track weathering

Track weathering. It's awesome! What a difference 5 minutes and a spray can of Floquil Rail Brown can make!

Kalmbach's old Small Railroads You Can Build featured a 4' x 6' layout called the Yule Central that featured several innovations, such as extruded styrofoam scenery and weathered sectional track.  Author and Kalmbach Books Editor Bob Hayden's track weathering technique was simple: flat brown spray paint, then clean the railheads.

It was a stupendously revolutionary technique back in the 70s when that book came out--it could make sectional track actually look presentable.Still a great technique that dramatically improves the look of model railroad track in just a few minutes.

Track Detailing, AKA Track Knoblification

Track detailing is underway, with some help from Details West RB-93 Railbars and Central Valley #1603 Switch Detail Parts.  In the photo below, check out the luminescent grey railbars.  I'm carving away spikes and cementing them in place with medium viscosity CA. Track weathering will eventually blend all of this together.

Dig those glowing light grey railbars

The addition of track details like these reminds me of some of my earliest efforts to improve my modeling. Back when I was a wee lad in the early 70s, my Monogram model kits included glossy brochures authored by diorama and military modeling meister Shep Paine. (Shep went on to expand on these brochures with several authoritative modeling books.  And Jim DeRogatis of American Public Media's incomparable rock n' roll talk show, Sound Opinions, has also penned Sheperd Paine: The Life and Work of a Master Modeler and Military Historian.)

Track Knoblifications and Fiddly-Dits

Shep, whom I have had the honor of meeting, had a technique called "creative gizmology," which he used to detail such things as aircraft engine compartments and armored vehicle interiors.  The idea was to fill these empty spaces on his models with plumbing and miscellaneous knoblifications, fiddly-dits, and whatnot--but not necessarily to reproduce these interior spaces in an absolutely prototypically correct way. In short--he filled in the spaces with what the viewers' imaginations thought belonged there.

So instead of having smooth and relatively featureless track and turnouts, I've added some knoblifications and fiddly-dits to fill in what all of us train fans know belongs in those spaces. Interesting how these old but really good ideas--not necessarily model railroad ideas--still work today.

3-D Mockups of Dunes Junction, Take One

I recently tried my hand at using Google's free SketchUp software to make some 3-D renderings of the Dunes Junction Layout. Mostly, I'm using to figure out my scenery and structure placement.  Here's my first cut.

My one hint for anyone who wants to use SketchUp to plan scenery and the 'look' of things is to work in full size rather than in miniature. In other words, my 5' by 1 1/2' layout became a 444' by 130' layout.

On the Passing of William D. Middleton, Who Taught Me All About Electric Railroads

William D. Middleton (Railway Age photo)

Railway Age reports that renowned railroad author William D. Middleton, photographer of trains and author of over twenty railroad books, including two of my favorites, South Shore: The Last Interurban, and When the Steam Railroads Electrified, died on Monday, 11 June 2011 in Livonia, NY, at the age of 83.


Middleton wrote about a wide range of railroad topics--including co-authoring a well-regarded railroad encyclopedia--but in my estimation his most notable contributions were his several authoritative books on electric railroads, trolleys, and interurbans. When the Steam Railroads Electrified is really the singular account of electrified mainline railroads in the U.S.  Originally published by Kalmbach in 1974 and then revised and reissued by Indiana University Press in 2002, When the Steam Railroads Electrified followed up on his earlier electric-focused encyclopedic works, The Interurban Era (Kalmbach, 1965) and The Time of the Trolley (Kalmbach, 1971). Middleton's books have gone in and out of print, but most can be found via Amazon's used book resellers.

1971 cover

1974 cover

The later versions of Middleton's South Shore and WTSRE featured new chapters and new covers reflecting the latest developments on their respective subjects.  I like the additional new material, but still like the old covers better.

Middleton's works were my entry point into historical narrative--I learned much from these books about telling the stories of places and things in words and pictures. They had a formative influence that is still with me today.

2002 cover

2002 cover

A family friend and model railroading mentor, Dr. Alan Roebuck, lent me his copy of WTRSE sometime in the late 70s and I think I kept it for ten or so years.  When I finally returned it to him, that beautiful dust jacket cover had been reduced to tatters because it was my constant companion for most of my middle school years--I must have taken it to school everyday for all of the 5th through 8th grades.

Meanwhile, I had that South Shore book checked out from the Lake County, Indiana, Public Library for something like a year straight during that time.  The glossy plastic cover applied by the library saved it from the weatherbeating taken by Dr. Roebuck's WTRSE.

Over the years since, my travels and experiences have brought me into contact with the subject matter of Middleton's books.  In addition to my childhood adventures on the South Shore (first train ride ever, got to hang out with the motorman between Ogden Dunes and Michigan City) I've been all up and down the Northeast Corridor under wire and on the third rail. And I've seen the Black Mesa and Lake Powell out west.  Through all of these experiences, I've thought of how Middleton introduced me to these great sights and magnificent machines.

Today, I own the Indiana University Press editions, as well a couple of other Middleton titles, such as The Pennsylvania Railroad Under Wire. I leaf through them all often to get ideas and inspiration for Dunes Junction.  And just because I like electric trains.


Bill Middleton will be missed, but his work will forever be a joy to me and many others who love trains.

Hacking Ikea: Keyboard Shelf=Model Railroad Control Station

Ikea Summera keyboard shelf=Dunes Junction control center

I recently acquired my first DCC control system, a Digitrax DCS51 Zephyr Xtra. For my tiny layout, the capabilities of this system was a perfect fit.  But I had a hard time figuring out how to incorporate its physical form into the layout, particularly retracting this compact DCC system under the layout when not in use .

I thought about various hinge and drawer arrangements.  I especially liked what the Model Railroader magazine crew did with its N scale Salt Lake Route project railroad last year: that layout's Digitrax Zephyr slid into a drawer in the layout fascia (link requires a password). But I didn't want to alter the 1"x2" grid framing foundation of Dunes Junction or append a (relatively) massive box or drawer to the underside of the layout.

I shied away from a hinge, partly because I didn't want to eat up space on our pantry shelves to accommodiate the swing of a hinged panel, and partly because I didn't want to drill holes or otherwise void the warranty of the Digitrax Zephyr Xtra with double sided tape, velcro, or the like.

Meanwhile, at my workplace, I recently noticed a mouse pad-sized platform on an extension arm mounted to the underside of my desk. Mouse pad-sized is also Digitrax Zephyr Xtra-sized, so this appeared to be a possible solution for retracting the DCC system under the layout when not in use, but unfortunately, a quick web search showed that these 'ergonomic mouse shelves' cost in the hundreds of dollars!

But that same web search turned up the Ikea Summera pull-out keyboard shelf, a paragon of spare Scandinavian styling priced at a reasonable $9.99.  I rushed to my nearest Ikea store with tape measure in hand to look at the Summera shelf in person.

(An important note here, if you've never ventured into an Ikea store: you aren't allowed to rush, because the Swedish overlords of cheap, stylish home furnishings have engineered the store so customers may only can meander slowly through a highly controlled labrynth, the walls of which are formed by every piece of merchandise offered by Ikea. Also, if you are visiting an Ikea in the Metro Washington area, our 24-hour rush hour will similarly prevent 'rushing'.)

All digs on Ikea and the Capital Beltway aside, the Ikea Hackers web site offers a continuous feed of ideas for using Ikea products for something other than their intended purposes--I know that others have successfully used Ikea book shelves for layout benchwork, and I suppose there lots of other ways that Ikea stuff can add value to model railroading.

I bought the Summera keyboard shelf and mounted it to the underside of the layout with two scraps of 2"x2" lumber.  When it's pulled out, there's enough room there for a beverage and an instruction manual (necessary cuz I'm still trying to figure out this DCC thing). When the shelf is pushed in, the Digitrax Zephyr Xtra is snuggled up under the layout, allowing unobstructed access to our pantry shelves. When I eventually apply a fascia to the front edge of the layout, it will have either a cutout or a hinged panel to clear the DCC controller.

But the best part: it was only $9.99. And it doesn't look too bad.

South Shore Freight Locos, Just For Fun

CSS&SB Little Joe 802 and GP38-2 2002 at Dunes Junction

Here's a South Shore Little Joe and GP38-2 during recent DCC tests on the Dunes Junction Layout

American Electrics, "I see these a couple times a week" Edition

Amtrak AEM-7 'Toaster' at Baltimore Washington International Airport in 2006

Hard for this 40-something to believe, but these AEM-7 'Toasters' are actually old--I remember when these locos were brought in to replace then-50-year-old GG1s.  Supertramp and The Cars were on the radio, and I had just discovered girls.

Apparently, AEM-7s are dropping like flies--fires seem to claim them with alarming frequency.  Amtrak recently placed a giant order with Siemens for replacements. Look for decidedly Euro-looking ACS-64 locomotives in 2012 or 2013.  (See below for an artist rendering)

Siemens ACS-64 (image courtesy Amtrak)

With 'fallen flag' and retro/legacy paint schemes all the rage, I wonder if the Amtrak front office will have one or two of these 'new, improved toasters' or 'metal twinkies' or 'Airstream trailers' dressed up in one of the old Amtrak paint jobs, or better yet, Pennsy Brunswick Green or that Mad Men-era McGinnnis EP-5 'Jet' paint job?

Just darin' to dream here . . .

Catching Up with Dunes Junction--Partially Blame the Beer

Holy smokes! It's been over two months since I've posted to Up Dunes Junction!

First, the excuses: there's work (got promoted, so now I write other peoples reviews and answer to even more people); there's family (#1 son placed in full time, salaried work; #2 son looking at colleges and studying abroad) . . .

And there's that other hobby (see photo at right--that's a pale ale I made recently).

Nonetheless, all of the trackwork and wiring is in, Digitrax DCC is up and running, and I 'hacked' an Ikea accoutrement to make a swell control panel.  Look for a details on all of my progress in coming posts!

Bullfrog Mechanical Turnout Controls Are A Go!

Track is down. Woo hoo! Super-
detailing, here I come!

With tracklaying more or less complete, I turned this past weekend to turnout controls. As I mentioned in my previous post, turnout control is among my least favorite model railroad tasks.

Why the hate, you ask? Some of my earliest memories of model railroading include the realization that Atlas and Tyco snap-track turnout motors are horrifically unrealistic, and a frustratingly precise touch of the button was needed to get those solenoid-powered things to actually fire.

The previous Dunes Junction layout used Fulgurex worm-gear motors and a home brewed linkage doodad that I cooked up with brass wire and tubing and some Rube Goldberg-style good luck.  The Fulgurexes were not all that tricky, but expensive and noisy. My linkages were downright hideous, too.

In my quest for a happier, simpler Dunes Junction, I thought I'd go for a more elegant solution than grinding old turnout motors and DPDT control switches. I'd always liked the idea of throwing turnouts via a trackside mechanical throw, but that's impractical over track that will eventually sport a delicate lace of catenary wire.  Thus, I needed a turnout control that is under the table and elminates the need to reach across the tracks.  That's where mechanical turnout control comes in.

In the days of yore, some model railroaders used choke cables from the automotive world to control turnouts, instead of solenoids or motors and worm gears. The modern iteration of  mechanical turnout control uses radio control airplane control rods, and a kind of mechanical-only, non-electrical locking mechanism such as FastTracks' Bullfrog or New Rail Models' Blue Point controllers. There are some homebuilt ways of doing mechanical turnout control as well, usually using an electrical switch or a door latch as a locking mechanism.

FastTracks Bullfrog awaiting assembly. Did I mention
these are extremely fun to assemble?

I ordered Bullfrog crossover controller kits from FastTracks for the Dunes Junction.  Nice, responsive, and personal service--hey, they're Canadians, so politeness and civility are the order of the day.  This also means that they ship via CanadaPost and the package clears customs, blah, blah, blah--not good if you are in a hurry. Having made two separate orders from FastTracks, I recommend paying slightly more for air service--it makes a huge difference in delivery time

BullFrogs and Tadpoles assembled and ready
for installation. That SpongeBob mechanical pencil
adds visual interest to my workbench.

These little gems are laser-cut from sheet wood. Wood or white glue secures the super-precise joints; a spring and ball bearing nestles into a circle shaped pocket for locking action.  The only tool necessary is sandpaper--I used a coarse manicure/pedicure board from a beauty supply store.

Piano wire provides a springy but firm linkage to the turnout throw bar.  Nesting plastic tubes typically used in radio control aircraft provide the mechanical control rod linkage from layout edge or control panel to the controller. These control rods need be mounted and guided firmly, so the crossover kits also come with Tadpole mounts, which are also laser-cut wood.

BullFrog with z-link for
crossover control. That black thing
is an SPDT microswitch, which can
be used to power turnout frogs.

Mounting and adjusting the BullFrogs is somewhat painstaking. I had predrilled 3/8" holes under my turnout throwbars in preparation for tracklaying, and the linkage rods fit neatly into the existing holes in the Peco turnout throwbars. #6 screws secured the BullFrogs; slotted mounting holes allow for lateral adjustment. Make sure the BullFrog motion is square against the throwbar and focus the tension of rod on the side-to-side movement of the throwbar--avoid having the rod apply pressure in the direction parallel to the rails.

Control nobs, front of layout view

I mounted the control rods and knobs to the layout edge first, and got them to work. Then I laid the long runs of rod that linked the two crossover turnouts.

My #8 crossovers turned out to be too long for the rod material provided with the crossover kits, but I found that Sullivan Gold-n-Rod control rod kits in the radio control department of my local hobby shop are an exact match for the FastTracks rods. The Sullivan kits also include hardware such as clevises and couplings that came in handy during installation.

Control knob from rear/underneath

One key lesson I learned is that the rod runs should be kept as naturally curving and an simple as possible, with only a minimum of vertical and horizontal curves.  Duct tape also helps to keep play out of the rods, so that the mechanical motion is focused on moving the turnouts instead of wiggling the rods.

 The brass Sullivan clevis is clearlyvisible, as is some duct tape that
steadies the control rod.

The brass clevises provided in the Sullivan Gold-n-Rod kit turned out to be a lifesaver--instead of trying to thread the z-bend rod ends provided by FastTracks into the BullFrogs after they had been mounted and adjusted into the layout, I was able to screw the clevises into the rod ends and simply snap them on to the BullFrogs.

BullFrog control rod overview. Look, no turnout control wires or switches!

Overall, I am quite happy with my BullFrog turnout controls.  To operate, they require a satisfying but firm pull, and lock into place with an understated click. And no wiring of switch machines and toggles! Woo hoo!

Next up: feed wires, then track detailing.

Track Reconstruction Progress

Track has been going back in a steady pace.  The Peco US-style Code 83 #8 turnouts are spiked down; the flex track has been glued down with DAP clear latex.

I have yet to solder any rail joints or feeders. I will do that after turnout control (my least favorite bit of model railroading--more on that in an upcoming post) has been completely and utterly tested and finalized.  I am wary of having to unspike and unseat those turnouts as I sort out mounting and adjusting some new-fangled mechanical turnout controls.

Testing of the track's electrical quality has been good. That yellow flashlight in the photos is an electrician's circuit testing flashlight that I've had for over 20 years--it's a souvenir of my short-lived stint as an apprentice electrician back in Northwest Indiana right after the Army.

On my tiny layout, it's quick and easy to use the leads from that electrician's flashlight to ensure that there are no shorts and that conductivity is good.  I couldn't help using some actual trains and alllgator clips to test the trackwork as well, which went swimmingly. Once permanent feeders are installed, I will post video of the first 'official' run.

The Soldering Comic Book

Two of my favorite things in one: a comic book about soldering! Plus it's free! Bonus!

I've mentioned here before how much I love to solder, and with a railroad that'll (eventually, someday) be equipped with catenary, I suppose I had better love soldering . . .

Track Destruction Progress

Track Destruction Mayhem!

Track destruction continues apace. I've only been able to get to it for 15 or 20 minutes at a time, but if I had a single one- or two-hour go at it, that old Peco Code 75 track would be gone, gone, gone.

I've been using mostly putty knives for this job, with a little help from a 40W soldering iron. The soldering iron breaks loose feeders and rails that had been soldered to brass flathead screws at each end of the layout in anticipation of hinged staging extensions, a la an idea from an Iain Rice book on small railroad planning.

Under the new Code 83 order, I'll be using pieces of Atlas Code 83 sectional track to bridge to staging tracks--not as elegant, but more tolerant of error and discrepancies between detachable and/or hinged sections.

When DCC Re-Wiring Goes Way Wrong

My efforts to upgrade the wiring on my Dunes Junction layout for Digital Command Control (DCC) went way wrong--but the end result will be better track. Plus I've become a little smarter about DCC and the current array of HO track offerings.

Backside of the old Dunes Junction
DC control panel. Oy, what a mess!

With re-ballasting more or less behind me, I began the effort to make Dunes Junction's track and wiring compatible with DCC.  My old DC block wiring scheme was a series of compromises, and an unreliable mess. DC control was also keeping me from enjoying  some of the latest advances in sound and lighting that I would like incorporate into Dunes Junction.

The layout is small and relatively light, so I detached it and put it up on sawhorses--indeed, this is one of the joys of a small model railroad--so I could begin the work of removing the old wiring and adding in more feeder wires. I even screwed in some cheap 1x2 furring strip on the top of the layout as bumpers to protect the track from damage when I flipped the whole layout upside down.

That 1x2 protects the track when I
flip the layout over for wiring.

I soldered in new feeders all over the layout. (Remember, it's only 1 1/2' x 5' so that means three new pairs of feeders!) I had forgotten how much I enjoy soldering . . .

Problems arose when I began circuit testing. Turns out my Peco Code 75 turnouts are the 'Electrofrog' variety. Unfortunately, they were also inducing shorts across the whole (tiny) railroad.

A bit of internet research turned up a solution--specifically, Allan Gartner's Wiring for DCC site, which has a helpful page on Peco Insul- and Electrofrog turnouts. All I needed to do was snip a couple of jumper wires on the back of my four Peco Code 75 turnouts.

This is the point in the story where things go way wrong.  My turnouts have been spiked and ballasted on to the layout already, so getting to the back of them was going to be a trick.

My approach was to carefully drill up through the bottom of the plywood subroadbed and  snip the Peco-installed jumper wires.  Because I could flip the layout face-down, I could easily and precisely drill through the plywood and the roadbed with my trusty AccuDrill Precision Drill guide.

Drilling went well--cutting jumper wires was a different story.  Clipping Peco's wires, which I believe are made of a miraculous superstrong space-age nanotechnology that will someday be used to make space elevators and killer androids, turned out to be impossible, at least with my assortment wire cutters, knives, and dental instruments. It didn't help that all my cuttin' and snippin' was taking place through a single, and then a series, of  3/8" holes.

Peco turnout destroyed by my overzealous jumper snippin'

Long story short: I thoroughly destroyed the first turnout I attempted to modify for DCC operations.

The result: all the Peco Code 75 track is coming out and will be replaced with US prototype Peco Code 83 track.  I like the American overall appearance of the Code 83 track and turnouts, even though the rail is a smidge taller than what I would prefer.  And I'm using the Insulfrog style turnouts for their simple compatibility with DCC wiring. The track and turnouts have already been acquired; the process of pulling up the old track is underway. Stay tuned for more progress!