<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" 
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
    xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
    xmlns:admin="http://webns.net/mvcb/"
    xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
    xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd">
	<channel>
<title>Sumida Crossing Musings</title><link>http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/index.html</link><description>The latest musings from Sumida Crossing</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>Sumida Crossing</dc:creator><dc:rights>2011&#x2c; All Rights Reserved. Licensed CC by-sa-nc 3.0</dc:rights><dc:date>2012-05-17T01:08:50-04:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
<sy:updateBase>2000-01-01T12:00+00:00</sy:updateBase>
<lastBuildDate>Thu, 17 May 2012 01:12:10 -0400</lastBuildDate><item><title>Kato Viaduct Track</title><dc:creator>Sumida Crossing</dc:creator><category>Structures</category><dc:date>2012-05-17T01:08:50-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120517_Kato_Viaduct_Track.php#unique-entry-id-126</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120517_Kato_Viaduct_Track.php#unique-entry-id-126</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Kato isn&rsquo;t the only provider either, Tomix makes a more extensive line of viaduct compatible with their FineTrack, but I know very little about that and haven&rsquo;t used it, so I can&rsquo;t comment further. ...  You&rsquo;d need to make all elevated track using one kind, stick in a bit of ground-level track with the adapter, or do a bit of kitbashing.


...Kato makes several styles of support for both single and double track (and the double-track ones can be used for two single-tracks as shown above).   And these same supports will work with their bridges (which can connect directly to viaduct, as well as with their elevated Viaduct Station (although the pre-cast style double-track support shown above has advantages as a station support).


...This was actually among the first Unitrack I bought, and for the longest time I though all viaduct used concrete ties, although in truth you can&rsquo;t get the concrete-tie viaduct other than in the V12 set.


...It still has a viaduct station in the urban scene, but this is reached by a bridge at one end, and a raised section of ground-level track at the other. ...  I&rsquo;m planning to swap the wood-tie track for concrete-tie track on a couple of those so they&rsquo;ll fit in better, but haven&rsquo;t gotten to it yet.


...I&rsquo;ve also realized, thanks in part to an editorial in the British Railway Modeller magazine, that there&rsquo;s a lot of jargon in this hobby, and perhaps more than usual in viaduct track, so I&rsquo;ve created a Glossary page in my Model Trains section as well. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>April 2012 Status</title><dc:creator>Sumida Crossing</dc:creator><category>Administrivia</category><category>Monthly Status</category><dc:date>2012-05-14T23:51:45-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120514_April_2012_Status.php#unique-entry-id-125</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120514_April_2012_Status.php#unique-entry-id-125</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[This monthly status is very late, which is why I&rsquo;m doing it as a standalone posting rather than a footnote on an another entry.   It&rsquo;s mainly here because I don&rsquo;t want to miss one, but there really isn&rsquo;t a whole lot to say.


...I&rsquo;ve mainly been working on the River Crossing scenery, although it&rsquo;s moving ahead very slowly.   Work is still continuing on detailing the two apartment buildings.   I&rsquo;ve also been working on the track and catenary for the two double-track curves in the scene, finishing up wiring, adding the sensor tracks for the grade crossing that&rsquo;s going in the adjacent Riverside Station scene, and general cleaning. 

...Some work on the under-table wiring and the power panels continued, although this mostly took a back seat to the track and models.


It all feels like very little has been done, but the layout has absorbed a copious amount of time.    I suppose it&rsquo;s the 80/20 rule: the last 20% takes 80% of the effort.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>New Kato Catenary Sets</title><dc:creator>Sumida Crossing</dc:creator><category>Structures</category><category>Review</category><dc:date>2012-05-04T23:13:31-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120504_New_Kato_Catenary_Sets.php#unique-entry-id-124</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120504_New_Kato_Catenary_Sets.php#unique-entry-id-124</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Two of the new contributions stand out: one is a set of four-track catenary supports, and the other is a set of platform detail parts, including catenary, for a Shinkansen station.  

...A good set of modeler&rsquo;s flush-cutting pliers (sprue-cutters) is very helpful for removing the parts from the casting sprue, but there is negligible flash, and they simply snap onto the bases (and the bases snap onto unitrack, mating with posts near each end of a track section). 

...This appears to be formed as a single casting (there are a couple of parts representing reinforcement plates that need to be added by hand where the structure needs to be closed, something you can&rsquo;t do with a single casting). 

...And, at the same time, they introduced a four-track structure, suitable for use with their new banked curved track V16 (R480/R447) set, designed to fit outside the older V11 (R414/R381) set.


...This was a set of detailing parts for a Shinkansen passenger platform (Kato 23-239), which included catenary suitable for use with Kato&rsquo;s passenger platforms; the first time they&rsquo;ve had something that would work there. 

...The set contains more than catenary, although that&rsquo;s the aspect that caught my eye, as I plan to use this for the Shinkansen platforms on my urban station. 

...In fact, you could mount three of these on each side of a platform (although this would place the ones on the end very close to the next set) if you wanted to cut a little plastic. 

...It also appears that you need to do something similar to mount one of these poles atop each side of the end-of-platform section, although I haven&rsquo;t quite figured out that part of the instructions.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Pylons</title><dc:creator>Sumida Crossing</dc:creator><category>Model</category><category>Review</category><category>Structures</category><category>Other Models</category><dc:date>2012-04-28T23:42:26-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120428_Pylons.php#unique-entry-id-123</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120428_Pylons.php#unique-entry-id-123</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[And once I saw this kit in the store, I hit on the idea of putting a pair of them on the back corners, and running &ldquo;power lines&rdquo; between them, as a bit of scenery well above track level to add some dimensionality to the scene. 

...However, Tomytec recently introduced a couple of similar kits (Visual Scene Accessory 084 Power Pylon A and 085 Power Pylon B, the &ldquo;B&rdquo; style is nearly identical to the Kato model), and those have additional details such as molded-on reinforcement plates at joints and a maintenance catwalk. 

...They&rsquo;re beveled to make a good joint, but nothing on them will align the parts or hold them together, and you need to glue all four nearly simultaneously to get all the gaps closed, and correctly aligned or the arms won&rsquo;t meet properly later.  

...This kind of tower is made of galvanized steel, which has a flat light gray color that appears almost a light white in direct sunlight (see the close-up photo above, and the other below), but not shiny. 

...Another detail photo, note how the metal looks gray against the trees, but lighter against the sky (also note the faint rusty tinge in places, and the use of reinforcement plates at joints; and no, I have no clue what the box on the left is for).


I didn&rsquo;t like the &ldquo;plastic&rdquo; look of the original color, so after assembly I first spray-painted mine in a flat gray (Tamiya Haze Gray, I think, although it may have been Medium Gray; both cans were on the bench and I don&rsquo;t recall which I used). 

...I&rsquo;m not sure how visible it will be from several feet away or in photographs, but at a couple of feet it does break up the uniformity of the gray and make it look a bit more like the real thing.


...Finally, the aluminum paint doesn&rsquo;t look as good in person as I&rsquo;d hoped, and I may need to either re-do the tower in a lighter color gray, or add more dry-brushed aluminum. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Catenary</title><dc:creator>Sumida Crossing</dc:creator><category>Scenery</category><category>Structures</category><dc:date>2012-04-18T22:50:42-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120418_Catenary.php#unique-entry-id-122</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120418_Catenary.php#unique-entry-id-122</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Also note in the two photos above how the DC catenary is simply hung from wires attached to insulators, whereas the Shinkansen AC catenary is hung from a complex cantilevered structure, which is likely due to the need to maintain the wire at a more even height, and under greater tension, to support the higher speeds in use. 

...Finally, while double track will normally have a single structure above both tracks, with two outer posts, there are some cases where two tracks run next to each other with independent structures having a single pole for each track. 

...These have cantilevered hangers, and the insulators seem to be a compromise between high and low-voltage designs, so they could be used on either (although single-track Shinkansen lines are mainly found on mini-Shinkansen routes).   They come in a set of 16 poles (eight of each style) and are designed to be used with the bases in set 23-056, which includes 16 each of single-track and single-viaduct bases.


...But with the canted double-track they introduced a &ldquo;wide&rdquo; arrangement, that placed the pole further from the track to improve clearance with a tilted train (even more important when models with a tilting body are used, such as my E351 Super Azusa). 

...In addition, the 23-056 bases are designed  to link together so that two of them can be used to support a &ldquo;narrow&rdquo; style double-track pole on level ground.


...Kato&rsquo;s double-track catenary poles include both older &ldquo;truss&rdquo; designs that are clearly low-voltage (23-060, narrow base, and 23-061 wide base) and newer tubular pole designs that are more ambiguous (23-057, narrow base, and 23-062, wide base). 

...Finally, in 2011 Kato introduced two new models, a much older truss style double-track pole that uses a box truss for both the pole and the crossbar (23-063, which I believe is a &ldquo;wide&rdquo; style) and a four-track post-and-truss design (23-064). ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>More Wires</title><dc:creator>Sumida Crossing</dc:creator><category>Electrical</category><category>Construction</category><category>Electronics</category><category>DC</category><category>DCC</category><dc:date>2012-04-10T01:35:10-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120410_More_Wires.php#unique-entry-id-121</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120410_More_Wires.php#unique-entry-id-121</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[But I&rsquo;m working on all three in parallel, so I can&rsquo;t stop after finishing one or two and say &ldquo;later&rdquo;. ...  I&rsquo;m going to have a fully DCC layout if it kills me (and after this evening&rsquo;s work, it might; I&rsquo;m too old and inflexible to work on the underside of a model railroad :-) ).


...Right now I have two accessory power bus wire pairs under the table, the front blue/yellow set provides power to the BDL168 Occupancy Detectors and future SE8C Signal Controller. ...  I need a third because I decided to separate the PM42 from both the occupancy detectors (which are sensitive) and the general accessory power bus, which is going to be driven off a 5 Amp output from the main PS2012 supply, and since that also provides track power the PM42 can&rsquo;t share it.   The new one will be color-coded blue/white to keep it separate from the blue/yellow set and because it&rsquo;s unlikely to be confused with the blue/white track feeders given the location and wire size.


...One of my take-aways from all of this: in my hypothetical next layout, the bus wires and related terminal strips will go on the wall or other backing, where I can comfortably reach them while sitting on the floor or a stool. 

...The photo at the top of the page shows the first table&rsquo;s drop strip (center) and one end strip (left), as well as a bunch of feeders (top right) and one of the DS64 controllers with its outputs (most of the yellow/orange wires, although I also used yellow/orange for the power lines to accessories; I ran out of different colors).


...I also keep instruction manuals in PDF form for all of the electronics on the iPad, which has turned out to be much more convenient than hauling around a stack of the paper manuals.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Work Table and March 2012 Status</title><dc:creator>Sumida Crossing</dc:creator><category>Construction</category><category>Tools</category><category>Monthly Status</category><dc:date>2012-04-01T18:50:19-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120401_Work_Table_and_March_2012_Status.php#unique-entry-id-120</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120401_Work_Table_and_March_2012_Status.php#unique-entry-id-120</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Of late, I&rsquo;ve been working on one end of the coffee table with an anti-static mat on it, since I&rsquo;ve mostly been doing electrical work, and it&rsquo;s a good surface for taking models apart since it&rsquo;s soft and won&rsquo;t scratch them. 

...I started with a 2&rsquo; square handy-panel of plywood, which I needed to cut down on one side (to fit a gap next to the couch where the table would normally sit when in use). 

...Also, while I could have sanded the surface, I didn&rsquo;t see a need to do so, since it was already fairly smooth and the paint will be a bit rough no matter what I do.


...But this is primarily going to be used on carpet, so a small error isn&rsquo;t likely to cause a problem, and I can always stick a sheet or two of cereal-box cardboard under one leg if it does.


...Then I carefully placed the legs, one at a time, 1.5&rdquo; (3.8 cm) in from the corners and square to the edge of the table and marked where the holes in the braces that touched the table-top went. 

...The reason is that no matter how careful and even I put paint on, drips at the edges seem inevitable, and if I paint the edges while the table is upside-down, those will form ridges on the edge of the upper surface.  

...I need to let it set for a week or so to ensure things won&rsquo;t stick to the top if I leave them on it overnight, but I have my work table for model building and painting. 

...I expect April will go to more work on the buildings, but I also want to finally finish up the DCC electronics (which I haven&rsquo;t touched in several months) so I can actually start running trains on the commuter loop and subway loop.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Customizing Buildings III</title><dc:creator>Sumida Crossing</dc:creator><category>Model</category><category>Structures</category><dc:date>2012-03-22T23:13:08-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120322_Customizing_Buildings_III.php#unique-entry-id-119</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.SumidaCrossing.org/Musings/files/120322_Customizing_Buildings_III.php#unique-entry-id-119</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[This uses the same approach I use for sign-making: reduce images found online to scale size, print them on a 4x6 sheet of glossy photo paper on my inkjet, and glue them to a styrene backing. 

...Further, while some furniture is okay, it needs to be subtle, otherwise it&rsquo;s obvious that the &ldquo;table&rdquo; is really a part of the rear wall of the room.   With the large windows on the river-facing side of these apartments, the rooms are going to be quite visible (as seen in the test picture above). 

...The walls are 0.020&rdquo; (0.5mm) styrene, and to make them stand reliably I used 0.080&rdquo; (2mm) square styrene bars where they wouldn&rsquo;t be visible, and small sheets of styrene at the tops of the walls where I could do so without blocking the planned lighting.


...With some flooring and walls printed, and the first floor assembly done, I cut out a few photos and placed them loosely on the assembly to see how they looked.    As you can see above, the windows on the entry side of the building are quite small, and only a hint of the interior will be visible (the end is even worse, see the Village photo album for an example). 

...I may block a few off so they appear unlit, and just paint the back walls some neutral color (the flooring will still be visible near the window, but otherwise the room would be dark). ...  There are a couple of smaller, non-detailed corridors and very small rooms, which will be painted black so even with lighting nothing will show through the windows
]]></content:encoded></item></channel>
</rss>
