Sumpter Junction Resturant

We stumbled across the neatest restaurant on a recent trip. It is called Sumpter Junction, and is located in Baker City, Oregon.

They have a G-scale train which loops through the entire restaurant every four minutes.

It even passes above the server area.

It makes several loops through the lobby and some nicely detailed structures.

Definitely a "must-see" for any train buff. Reasonable prices, good food, and trains!

Here is the report on the rest of our stay in Baker City, Oregon.

Sawmill revisited

Dawson Station had an out-of-state visitor! Les, from Arizona, took time out of his Oregon Coast vacation to drop in an see my layout. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law from The Dalles. On the agenda was a visit to Hull-Oakes, which I had not been down to in a while. We were greeted by none other than Bill Oakes, who had been coaxed out of retirement to give a couple of tours.

Les, Bill Oakes, and Les' brother-in-law.

I took enough pictures for a couple of posts on various areas of interest (like signage, chip hoppers, and straddle carriers), but here I'll give you some of my overall favorite shots.

Pond Monkey doing his things.

A beautiful modeling scene near the loading shed.

A scrap BN caboose keeping the idle chiploader company. (sniff)

Another great modeling scene across from the main mill building.

We finished the day off with a visit to Hazelnut Hill for some ice cream, a stop at Georgia Pacific's #5 2-8-2 at Avery Park, and the local hobby shop for some scale lumber. Quite a day of rail fun!

Boys & Their Toys

I got invited to a model railroad "operating session". These guys take train operations seriously! Every train has a route, and every car has a destination and load.

There were about twelve of us, two dispatchers, three yardmaster, and the rest operating trains. I was given control of the North West Special headed by SP6320.

I managed to traverse the multi-room layout without causing too much havoc, although I did end up in a bit of a traffic jam at one point. I stopped in Modoc to exchange some cars headed for Kalisbell. Luckily, the yardmasters took good care of me.

The dispatchers took it easy on me as well, giving me the main line most of the way. In all, the session took about three hours. After working on my tiny switching puzzle layout, this was quite an eye opener. A switching puzzle on a much larger scale!

Just a Test

I'm working on a virtual version of Dawson Station so every one can run the puzzle. Here is a very early attempt, just to see if I can get it on the web:


Don't get to frustrated. It still has a lot of glitches. My team of highly motivated programmers are working on it day and night.

Nightfall at Dawson Station

A friend suggested I work on the lighting a bit. Here is what resulted.

[Here is a direct link if the embedded video doesn't show up.]

The Arduino can now control the overhead light with a relay (video here). There are lights in the house and on the end of the loading shed and mill. The star of the show is Ken Stapleton's "Fire" circuit which flickers both a blue LED in the house to simulate TV and yellow LED in a burn barrel.

I also added some nightime audio which plays when the overhead light goes off. The frogs are from a pond near my house, and the dog barking is Mitsty the Wonder Dog, who will bark on command if food is involved.

Kids and Seniors Alike

I got invited to setup in the lobby of the CSME Clubhouse for a senior openhouse. Groups from around the area came in for a layout tour. I got to hear some interesting stories. One lady's brother trained in Adair during WWII. She also remembered, at age 17, being whistled at by German POWs in a passing truck.

The club has an extensive collection of magazines. It was interesting to see the detailed modeling going on in January 1966!

They also have a number of books. I found this likely modeling subject for the next Pacific Model Logger's Conference.

YATS

Yet Another Train Show. It was a Divisional Mini-meet for the Pacific Northwest Region of the National Model Railroading Association in Roseburg, Oregon. There were 35 – 40 people in attendance. When people “under 50” were asked to stand, there were only three of us. This is an old man’s hobby.

There was a modeling contest similar to the Pacific Model Logger’s Conference, albeit much smaller. Dawson Station won both its category, “miscellaneous”, as well as best in show, which came with enough cash to cover gas money. After the award, I gave about a ten minute presentation of the layout with a question and answer session. Talk about being put on the spot. At least I was given a heads up, and had a practice run with the cub scouts a while back.

More important than the competition, I had the layout judged for the NRMA’s Achievement Program for Prototypical Models. Think old man’s merit badge. Four of the Division’s senior members reviewed the layout with consideration as to how it captured the look and feel of Hull-Oakes. I had to document every aspect, and provide photos of Hull-Oakes and my layout taken at the same angles. To give you an idea of how thorough they were, they caught a major detail I had over looked, the chip hopper near the lunch shack. You can see my documentation here.

Also memorable was having lunch with probably the oldest member there. He has macular degeneration, and so couldn’t see much of what was going on. When we got back, I gave him the audio tour of Dawson Station which now includes not only the mill sounds, but frogs and a dog barking at night. Prototypical frogs, mind you.

Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club Train Show

We had a great time at the 22nd Annual Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club Train Show & Swap Meet in Eugene, Oregon. It was far larger than I imagined and well run. We set up the night before, went for dinner and movie, and then spent the night in a camper in the parking lot.The kids had fun. Everyone seemed amazed I had it hooked to a Wii nunchuk. Younger kids would just run it back and forth. The older kids were given specific moves to make. A couple of kids came back for another turn.
One sharp young man started quizzing me about how the electronics worked. I ended up showing him the actual code. Not only could he read and under stand it, but he wanted to make some edits!

Here is a video showing where we were at. There were three full rooms of this! I'll post another entry about some of the other details.

Another Daddy Adventure

Lane County Fairgrounds

Dinner at Red Robin's

Home Sweet Home

Disaster and Recovery

The next big outing for Dawson Station is the 22nd Annual Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club Train Show in Eugene, Oregon, next weekend. I volunteered to let the kids run the layout.

In getting ready, there have been some major setbacks. First, I accidentally applied 12V to the 5V bus and literally melted the microcontroller chips. Miraculously, that was the only damage to the Arduino's and I was able to easily switch the chips outs since they were in sockets. The motor shield, however, was not so lucky.

I ended up replacing both the L293 chips with some pin compatible SN754410s I had on hand, and the 74HC595N chip. I had to cut the chip legs with a dremel, desolder them, and then put in sockets so it wont be so hard if I do this again.
In doing some rewiring to avoid a re-occurrence of the chip cookout, I cause a meltdown of a different sort. I accidentally reversed the polarity of the 12V supply to turnout switching circuits. That supplied continuous current to the coils, resulting in failure in short order. I'm lucky I didn't start a fire. It wouldn't be the first sawmill to burn at Dawson Station (two mills burned down at the site before Ralph Hull built the current one).

The lessons learned were many, but primarily:

It is hard to idiot proof something when you are the idiot.

Successful Model Conference Showing!

A full day in Elsie, Oregon, at the sixth Annual Pacific Model Logger's Conference. It is a comfort hanging out with people similarly afflicted with near obsessive interest in scale modeling railroad / lumber themes.A late night of firmware upgrades the night before paid off. The layout performed (surprisingly) perfectly. Pressing the button started the mill sounds and had the train slowly move back and forth on the center spur for about two minutes. Lights, action, and sound must have made for a winning combination because it got first place in the diorama division.

This was a bit amazing because the returning champion, whose model graces this years plaque, brought another amazing entry. He must have been a bit shocked when they announce him for second place. He did win best in show, which I think he deserved. I did get one other surprise, the first ever Memorial Award for modeling spirit. The presenter mentioned that I've taken the layout to various events and have my daughters help me.

A special thanks to my wing man who helped me get setup and provided lunch.

Wii Nunchuc Controlled Train?

Why yes, you can.

Wii Nunchuk Controlled Model Train - More DIY How To Projects

Dawson Station, yet again in Small-Layouts Scrapbook

This time as a viewer's top-10 choice of 2009 at Carl Ardent's Small Layout Scrapbook!
Luckily, I had a decent new picture ready for him to use (not the one on the right). He called mine out as one of his personal favorites of the year as well. Wow!

The clear favorite, and mine as well, was the Brooklyn 3AM layout. I'm still trying to find a video that shows it's awsomeness.

Dawson Juction on the Road

I got invited to show Dawson Station at a Cub Scout pack meeting. Mom set the stage by reading the season and subject appropriate book "Polar Express" by Chris Van Allsburg.
I spoke for a bit about Hull-Oakes and then let the cubs run the layout. I'm not sure who was more interested, the cubs or their dads. One father jokingly asked me if I was a historian or something.
Other than the pack meeting, the layout has been prominently featured in my favorite hobby shop front window. They seem to like having it and said one of the Hull brothers was in and commented on it.
It was about this time last year that I started working on it. What a year it has been.

Merit Badging @ Dawson Station

They had a District Merit Badge Clinic at our chapel on Saturday. My friend Roy was doing railroading, so I invited myself along. I had just finished the plexiglass cover and new backdrop.One of the requirements involve doing a shunting puzzle. While one scout ran the layout, another worked a problem on the computer. Most of them caught on pretty quick. Only one was able to complete the computer version (mine is a bit easier).

Roy is an "O-scaler" and has quite a Lionel collection. The scouts helped set it up, wire it up, decorate, and run it.

Part of the merit badge is knowledge of the different scales. Here my N-scale WPRR 2302 "Adair Village" contrasts Roy's O-scale FA unit. Most of the kids were familiar with HO-scale, which is in between.

They gave my layout a good test. They seemed to enjoy it, and nothing got broken. A good day all around! I was glad for a chance to show it off.

Albany P & W Engine House Tour

As part of the Espee in Oregon annual convention, we got to tour the Portland & Western Engine House in Albany, Oregon.

Engineer Robin listening in on the safety briefing.

PNWR1851 "Hillsboro" SD-9 and PNWR1853 "Forest Grove" SD-7.

An unusual view of the underside of PNWR2301 "Sheridan" GP39-2.

PNWR3052 SD40-3 and PNWR2301 Sheridan GP39-2.

Photo op: PNWR1854 "Beaverton" SD-9 in fairly fresh paint. Smitty is on the right.

A "less fresh" PNWR1501 SD-7 which thrilled the "foamers" by starting up while we were there. This engine was built in 1952 and has been in service for 57 years!

Five Model Railroad Layouts in Adair?

Espee in Oregon held their annual get together in Corvallis this year. They arranged tours of four HO-scale model layouts in the Adair area. One was a club layout (which I had seen), and three were room-sized home layouts.

Sawmill on CSME Club's multi-room layout.	Rounding the bend on Gene Neville's workshop Layout.
Ken Roth overseeing visitors at his attic layout. (He had Ann Marie looking for a scale model kitty)	Blueprints of Jerry Boudreaux's award-winning basement layout.

And of course, I wanted to show mine.

Not quite a rooms worth, but far more complete. And they didn't have to try to find my house (I brought it to them).