Some Details on Sound

Following my last posting (Finally, Some Sound), I had a few questions on how I mounted the electronics in the slope-back tender of the 0-6-0. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of the tender insides but here is a diagram of what is mounted and where.

   To begin with, the motor and drive was replaced with a Sagami 16x30 can motor and a NWSL 150-6 gearbox (36:1). All of the electronics mount in the back half of the tender shell. I had previously filled the coal bunker with coal and had weights in the water part adjacent to the coal. I used a Micro-Tsunami (C-Class Steam) with a Soundtraxx 810112 oval speaker. The wires for both were oriented toward the middle of the tender beneath the mounting strap. The capacitor was also mounted beneath the mounting strap. I used an incandescent 1.5V bulb for the backup light and the resistor for that was stuff in one of the legs adjacent to the coal bunker. None of these pieces was fastened to the tender body but just laid in. Three 1/8” holes were drilled in the tender floor beneath the speaker to let the sound out. An additional hole was drilled in the floor for the wires to pass through to connectors located beneath the front truck body bolster. I kept the wires as short as possible so they could all be stuffed beneath the mounting strap when assembled. It was programmed this morning and it sounds great. 

Finally, Some Sound

The Number 19 at Orford Junction.

Like everyone, I work on a project for a while, get tired of it, quit, and, hopefully, get back to it some time later. A couple of years ago, I refitted almost all of my locomotives with Tsunami sound decoders. By the time I had finished most of them, I got tired of the project and left two locos silent and running with only non-sound decoders. Over the last couple of days, I finally decided to remedy that situation and install the sound decoders.

The speaker can barely be seen at the left rear corner of the tender. A Sagami 16x30 motor  was used.

Some of the tender frame had to be removed to allow the decoder to fit.

   The two engines in need were No. 19, a Pacific Fast Mail import of the V&T Reno. This engine is a 4-4-0 with the motor, decoder and speaker in the tender. There is precious little room for all these things, so little in fact, that I had to skew the motor slightly to allow the Tsunami to fit. Many people think that a motor in the tender will result in "tender wobble" as the loco runs. This is not the case. If a rubber tube coupling is used between the engine and motor, you can expect the wobble but not if Northwest Short Line U-joints are used. The drive shaft between the engine and tender is not real noticeable and there is more room in the engine for weight which means long trains. My 4-4-0s pull 10-12 normal-sized cars without a problem.
   The speaker I used was a Soundtraxx 3/8" speaker. It's not real big but it does put out the necessary sound and it's the only one that I can get to fit. It's located at the extreme rear of the tender behind the flywheel.

The motor is attached to the tender shell. Screws are covered by the wood load.

The Number 16 at Stockton. It is still lettered for the MSN but the tender will be repainted and relettered for the Stockton & Copperopolis.

   The other engine was No. 16, the Stockton switcher. It had a small Lenz decoder in it which gave good results but no sound. Another Tsunami went in here. There was enough room to add a big larger rectangular speaker I had. Everything was a tight fit due to the slope of the tender deck but it now works well and will please the Stockton yardmaster who was complaining about having an engine without sound.

Oakdale Gas Works

I have always been fascinated with obscure industries of the nineteenth century. The ones to which I refer are those that were commonplace at the time but vanished by the early- to mid-20th century. One of these is the gas works. Before tapping the abundant natural gas supplies, cities who wanted gas for lighting and other duties had to manufacture their own gas. There were several different processes but most involved heating coal and capturing the gas which resulted. Some, such as the Lowe process, added oil to the gas.

Note the coal bin at the right side of the processing building. 

   It doesn't appear that Oakdale had a gas works but I decided to add one simply because I wanted to model such a plant. I patterned my model after the Modesto Gas Works of 1884. In that form, it used coal and had only a single gasholder which made it a bit easier for the space I had allotted. The woodcut showing the gas works was found in the History of Stanislaus County published in 1884 while the Sanborn map drawing was from 1888 after they added another gasholder. The Modesto plant was not rail-served but other plants, such as the San Jose Works were so I added a spur to provide the coal that would be needed.
   The processing building was modified from a Vollmer kit while the gasholder used a Rix tank with scratchbuilt superstructure. In the Modesto sketch and map, you can see the coal storage bin which was freelanced. Fencing was by Central Valley.

   The small gas company wagon was modified from a Jordan buckboard to more resemble a prototype wagon found at Travel Town in Los Angeles.

 

Sometime in the future, I may "convert" the plant to the Lowe process so I can run an occasional tank car to the facility but, for now, I will leave it as it is.

The Younger Generation

Much talk has been in the model press lately about the future of model railroading and how we should get the younger generation involved. Our six-year-old granddaughter, Jessica, has been interested in the railroad since she was about two years old. Recently, she completed her first kit. It was not too difficult and she had some help but she is very proud of "Jessica's Pet Shop." I'm not quite sure where it will end up on the S&C but it should be somewhere. Will this lead her into the hobby of railroading? Who knows? All you can do, though, is expose them to the hobby and see what happens. It will be interesting to see what her interest is when she is tall enough to actually see the trains.

By the way, she's run the trains before and is very careful. Her only fault would be going a bit too slow which is hard to do on a railroad with 15 mph speed limit!

Oakdale Manufacturing Works

Another Oakdale industry has been completed, the Oakdale Manufacturing Works. This was a prototype business located in that city during the late 1800s. They built wagons, carriages, buggies and farm implements according to their ad in the Stockton & Copperopolis Railroad Guide published in 1885. This was a throw-away guide telling a bit about the communities through which the railroad passed and, more importantly, carrying ads for local businesses.

I have not not found any photographs of the prototype so I took inspiration for my structure from Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. The Richart Wagon shop is a small building preserved there which seemed ideal for the railroad. In the 1800s, horse-drawn vehicles were easy to build and did not require much in the way of specialized equipment so many small towns had their own shops. The Oakdale Works and Richart were both of this pattern. The long sloping ramp is typical of many wagon shops. It was used to maneuver the finished carriages down to street level. Unlike one might expect, individual parts were made on the first floor and the final assembly and finishing done on the second. This puzzled me for a bit until someone explained that, if the woodworking was on the second floor, sawdust would always be floating down on the freshly-painted carriages drying on the first floor.

My model was built of styrene following the Richart dimensions. Shingles were from Minuteman Scale Models. Since this was to be a source of revenue for the S&C, I built a small loading ramp which will be located next to the tracks. Right now, I am not quite sure where the Works will end up. It was originally planned to be at the south end of Oakdale adjacent to the gas works but there may not be enough room there. I'll have to finish the gas plant and see if both can be squeezed into that space or if things will need to be rearranged.

I also have to build up some wagons and carriages. After all, a factory needs some evidence of the product produced.

Static Electricity Problems

In my post of July 29, I described how a low-cast rubber mat solved my floor covering problem. Well, I was a bit too quick to brag about it. Everything was fine until the weather started to get colder and the humidity lower. Static electricity reared its head. Walking only about five feet would generate enough static to put out a great spark when I touched almost anything, such as the rails on the layout. With sensitive decoders and command stations about, this did not seem to be a good situation to have. The question was what to do about it.

One end of the wire is stuck into the rubber mat about 4 inches while the other is soldered to an alligator clip which is then attached to a grounded nail.

I looked through various pages of advice on the internet and one suggested grounding the mats. I did this with a piece of 14-gauge solid wire stuck into the side of the mat. An alligator clip on the other end allowed me to attach the wire to one of the nails I shot into the concrete to secure the benchwork. This actually helped the situation but did not reduce it to levels I thought were acceptable. More research was done and I found an industrial static reducing spray, Staticide ACL 2001. I ordered a gallon of it, sprayed it on the matting with a garden sprayer and let it dry. It worked! The static electricity was gone. 

At the same time that I was applying the anti-static spray, I replaced the matting in my humidifier on the furnace. It hadn't been done in a couple of years. Right away, the humidity jumped up significantly which will also help the static problem during the winter. When I lived in Southern California, humidity, or lack thereof, was never a problem so this is rather new to me. The perils of living in the midwest, I guess. At least now I won't be blowing decoders during an op session.

Oakdale Water Works

Oakdale is shaping up as nice little town. We have hotels, stores, industry, a public water works and even a public bandstand. The view of town as you cross over the tracks is fairly attractive. I meant to mention last time that the dry goods store and cyclery were made from a Main Street Heritage kit. These are attractive resin kits and go together easily. The painting is always the problem, though, with an 1800s building. It just takes time to get right. The cafe next door is also Main Street Heritage. The newspaper building is from California Models. Although they are mostly cardboard kits, they go together quite nicely. Next door, the photographer's studio is a Woodland Scenics kit and Kathy's Confectioneries is scratchbuilt with an interior.

The new water works building is placed pretty much where nineteenth century Oakdale had the prototype water works and was about the same size. Made from a DPM kit, all I did was brick up some of the windows and add a smoke stack. I have not found any photos of the real thing so the signs and building appearance are freelanced. Adjacent to the pumping station is the wood water storage tank. The tank is very close in appearance to the prototype tank.

At the far end of Oakdale, the railroad passes over J Street on a short trestle. In later years, the underpass was filled in and now the road goes over the tracks in Oakdale.

Due to several out-of-town trips in the last couple of months, the S&C has not had any operating sessions for about three months. I've scheduled one for this month and the date is coming up quickly so I had to clean the scenery stuff off the layout and get ready for that. The south end of town still needs the gas works to be finished and a fairly large grain warehouse to be built. That's next on the agenda.