November Updates

 Work as been steadily progressing on the entire layout. Some updates for November 2022 include:

Installation of a mini-control panel for the return loop:

Using Barrett Hill touch toggles, I've made a small turnout control panel for the return loop. Each turnout has its own Tortoise switch machine and then is controlled in turn on the panel.

Each turnout will eventually have its own dwarf signal giving indication of direction. The toggles will control reverse movement signals via manual red/green operation. 

The signals are oversized, but I designed them to accommodate 3 mm LED's.

Stairs to the station platform are finished:

It took quite some time but I've finished the stairs to the station platform. This was a difficult build as I built from the top down. Next time I'll plan better.

I still need to finish the station headhouse, but that may need to wait until after the holidays.\

All station LED Lights are installed and wired:

A huge challenge was getting all of the station lights finally wired. But that task is finally done. Some additional Woodland Scenics Plug-n-play street lights were installed. I'm not too satisfied with these, but they get the job done.

Loop Elevated Structure:

And finally, I've been working on perfecting the design of Loop L structure. The goal here is to make sturdy, yet realistic, yet easy to build structure. This is 80% printed via FDM printing (Ender 3) and 20% via resin (Anycubic Mono X). Overall, there are about 70 individual pieces making up this one foot of structure.

I consider this version 1.0. I need to make some changes and then I'll be adding this to an addition to the layout. Eventually I'll be creating another station.