Timeline

Upon funding by the FWHPS, the teacher in charge will purchase the required materials and cut the tempered hardboard to size at home using a circular saw. Students are not allowed to participate in this process due to the dangers inherent with using power tools. The teacher in charge will video record the process and post this video on YouTube so that students understand how the wood went from being 4 feet by 8 feet to the pieces they begin with.

In the fall students will register to participate in the model railroad club. Students will meet once a week during school sponsored after school activities or STEAM PM. STEAM PM runs for seven weeks in the fall and seven weeks in the Spring. In that time frame, students from both schools will complete the following activities:

  • Construct a 308x355 millimeter single module
    • Measure each piece for correct dimensions
    • Measure from the corners of each piece to check for square
    • Use sanding blocks to make adjustments and clean up rough cuts
    • Pour a bead of glue around the perimeter of the underside of the largest piece
    • Put glue on the ends of the two short pieces
    • Clamp each piece in the corners
    • Clamp middles where the boards pull away from the edge
    • Pour a bead of wood glue inside all corners like caulking a tub
    • Once the module has dried for 24 hours, unclamp and sand off any spilled glue
  • Sand the tempered hardboard
  • Prime the tempered hardboard
  • Paint the entire module in flat black matte latex paint (easily touched up if scratched)
  • Lay two mainline’s of track using Kato N-Scale Unitrack
    • Use a track laying jig to align the two mainline tracks
    • At least 1/3 of the modules MUST have track feeder wires drilled through the module (Blue, White, White, Blue)
    • Pre-drill the holes for the screws to attach the track
    • Attach Unitrack to the module using Aleene’s tacky glue on the edges
    • Rub in the excess glue
    • Once the glue dries, screw the track to the module
  • Add Scenery
    • Choose what you want to model
      • Mountains
      • Rail yard
      • Farm
      • Airport
      • Industry
      • Main Street
      • Ball field - Baseball, Football, Soccer, etc
    • Shape the landscape with extruded foam
    • Add any roads, sidewalks, rock walls, fences, etc
    • Test fit all landscape, buildings, scenery, light poles, telephone lines, etc
    • Glue down all of the landscape
    • Use spackle and wet hands to remove seams, cracks, and sharp edges
    • Paint any roads
    • Paint rocks
    • Paint ground with a dirt color base coat of latex paint
    • Paint with homemade scenery cement
    • Add ground cover
    • Spray with scenic cement and repeat ground cover with another color or density
    • Add buildings, automobiles, pedestrians, etc
  • Construct an Arduino based DCC power supply
    • Materials needed:
      • Arduino Uno
      • Arduino Power Supply
      • USB to printer cable
      • Arduino Motor Shield (or Pololu for higher amperage)
      • Power Supply (Pevono PS305)
      • 2 male pin wires
      • Arduino Case (with room for motor shield and cables
      • Download Arduino IDE
      • Download DCC++ Arduino code
    • Install Arduino IDE on Windows computer
    • Connect Arduino via USB to printer cable
    • Test Arduino connecting pins 13-5, 13-3, etc
    • Cut away the connection on the Arduino Motor Shield
    • Attach the motor shield
    • Connect the pins
    • Connect the power supply to the motor shield
    • Test the DCC Power Supply
    • Connect the track feeder wires to the motor shield
  • Construct a Raspberry Pi based DCC command control
    • Materials Needed:
      • Raspberry Pi B+
      • Raspberry Pi Case
      • Micro USB Power Supply
      • 32 GB Micro SD Card
      • Download the Raspberian OS
      • Download the JMRI software (for Linux)
      • Download SD Card Formatter
      • Download Win32 Disk Imager
    • Install Raspberry Pi in the case
    • Format the Micro SD card using SD Card Formatter
    • Install the Raspberry Pi w/ JMRI image from Steve Todd
      • https://mstevetodd.com/rpi
    • Insert the micro SD card into the Raspberry Pi
  • Connect handheld wireless throttles (school owned iPad) to JMRI to run DCC enabled locomotives
    • Install WiiThrottle (Apple) or Engine Driver (Android) to a cellphone/tablet
      • Smith STEM has 24 iPads!
    • Connect cellphone/tablet to the Raspberry Pi WiFi network
    • Test the wireless throttles to control DCC enabled locomotives
  • Test the system by running some locomotives on a feeder track module
  • Connect modules and test run some locomotives
  • Edit the Raspberry Pi coding to change wireless network and password
  • Edit Locomotive Decoder
    • Change locomotive #3 to Road #
    • Make adjustments to decoder settings
    • Speed match all locomotives
  • Make a ‘from the engine’ video of the completed layout and publish on YouTube and club website
  • Use a rolling tripod to make an around the layout video to publish on YouTube and the club website
  • Connect handheld virtual reality controllers to iPad to run DCC enabled locomotives
    • Connect MagicSee R1 virtual reality controller through bluetooth to an iPad running WiiThrottle (Apple) or Engine Driver (Android)
    • Connect cellphone/tablet to WiFi
    • Test the virtual reality controllers to control DCC enabled locomotives
  • Take a photo of each module to be shared on http://ttrak.wikidot.com
  • Create a club website (get parent photo consent)
  • Grade Level Assemblies
    • Set up layout in the cafeteria
    • Set up club banner
    • Wear club t-shirts
    • Invite each grade to come down every 30 minutes (Also invite the FWHPS representatives)
    • Show a slide show and have students describe what they did
    • Invite each class to come up and see the layout
    • Invite grade level students to control the locomotives
  • Train Show Display
    • Set up layout in the cafeteria
    • Set up club banner
    • Wear club t-shirts
    • Students take shifts controlling the trains and describing to the public what they learned