Power Districts and Staining timber

This week has been spent on two main area

1. Pondering the wiring of the layout got me thinking about Power Districts.
2. Staining sleepers prior to track laying.

Firstly on the subject of Power Districts I’ve decided to have seven. You may wonder why I’ve gone for seven on such a small layout but let me explain my thinking… I’ve only had the privilege of operating a couple of DCC layouts but one of the main issues I experienced was electrical shorts. On one layout the short brought everything to a standstill, on the other it shut big sections down that in essence stopped much of the layout functioning. My thinking is that there will be a number of locos drawing current simultaneously, not all moving but with some a sound element running e.g. quietly simmering away. With more locos on the layout there might be a greater chance of a short. The aim of the seven Districts is that in the event of a short the offending District can be quickly isolated either automatically or manually so that it will not affect other areas where locos might be live. This should keep the effect of the short on the overall operation of the layout down to a minimum. With the seven Power Districts there will be a good chance that locos will still be able to move on/off the shed or around the shed while the short is being rectified. 

Well that’s the plan…

 

Note on sound: the intention is to try and create a subtle soundscape. A soundscape that will convey the experience of viewing the engine shed from afar on a hot August day. If it ever gets to an exhibition the hope is you will have to be within a few feet to hear any sound emitting from the layout (not from the other side of the exhibition hall). Possible easier said than done me thinks…

Staining sleepers has progressed reasonably well with a good 1000 stained but I’m not getting all the results I’m after. I’ve been using a number of colour references in books by Peter Gray and Hugh Ballantyne published by Ian Allen. Colour reproduction and type of film used aside, the pictures in these books do show a generally darker shade than I would have expected.

 Above is a sample selection from three different batches of stain that I’ve concocted. I’ll be using these mainly for the Engine Shed area and possibly the main line but I’m after a different colouring for the sidings at the front.

I decided to visit our local Preservation Railway Line to gather photographic references (see below).

These are the colours I would like to achieve for the three sidings at the front of the layout: sleepers that have probably seen better days but were deemed good enough for use in lightly used sections of track and storage sidings. I’ll be trying to portray sleepers that have faded in colour to something like the above photo. I might even try to create a few splits in some of my sleepers with moss/weeds poking through.

To try to achieve something like the above I’ve ordered a few samples of stain that is used to distress furniture or wooden planking for internal walls. These stains have the exotic titles of: Mushroom, Storm Cloud, Gunstock, Tudor, and Gunpowder. Hopefully these will arrive during the week and more sleeper staining trials can continue.