9. December 2020 HO Mountain Spur, Tunnel and Cutting commenced

To try and hide a steel support post I am trying to reduce its visual impact by constructing a mountain spur around it.

I have named it Column Mountain.

Post from front

Post from side

Mountain concept front on

Mountain concept from side

I have started to construct the mountain using polystyrene foam to form the outline.

The polystyrene will be covered by a thin material over which will be spread a render made from acrylic gap filler coloured with artist acrylic paint and mixed with fine sand.

The mountain will extend from the backdrop to in front of the loop rail.

Mountain from Left Hand Side

Mountain from Right Hand Side showing cutting in front

Mountain from Front

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8. December 2020 HO Loop is Complete and DCC Bus and Controller Installed

Work has recommenced on the HO layout after a break of almost a year as work on the G Division ( Ringbalin Light Railway G Division: About the Railway (ringbalin-light-railway.blogspot.com) ) took precedent.

The daytime temperature outside makes working on the G Division difficult so the HO division has now become the focus of attention.

The main loop was completed and tested using a toy train DC controller with trains being successfully run.

All that is now required is the decoders for the locos.

LH end of Loop

RH end of Loop

Middle of Loop

The  Capacitive Discharge Unit (CDU) used to change points remotely ( Ringbalin Light Railway HO Division: Point Control ) and an Auxiliary 12V Power Supply for accessories were mounted under the layout.

CDU in Centre, Power Supply to the Left

The next step was  to install the DCC Bus, Interface and Controller.

DCC Controller and Interface

The DCC Controller is an NCE "Power Cab" and it replaces a Toy Train DC controller used for initial wiring testing.

NCE Power Cab

DCC Interface Rear View

Toy Train DC Controller

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