 All right, this is James Wright in the April What's Neat this week or it's not what's needed this week It's what's neat this week. Is it sure? No, what is it? It's just what's neat. I don't know what it is. It says what's neat this week or it's what's neat I can't decide and every show it's different. Okay. I am James Wright in the April What's Neat starts right now This is what's neat for April 2017 I'm your host Ken Patterson in this month. We've got a lot of good stuff in the show First of all for our layout construction segment this month We do an experiment with various types of glues to add four inches to a segment of my layout Where I wanted to put a run-around track and also we go into building railroad crossings and it's kind of an interesting segment This month also on the show I talk about for our DCC segment this month Dynamic digital exhaust and we look at the tsunami to decoder and in fact I've created a video that was edited in such a way that I think it really simplifies the process Understanding how to program the dynamic digital exhaust We're gonna get really good at this stuff before it's over But one thing a trivial fact I did want to point out is Soundtracks on the tsunami to decoder gets into what is called page to programming in order to page the dynamic in order to program the dynamic digital Digital exhaust and in this video we program CV 32 to 2 to get there But what's really interesting about it is when the NMR a design the DCC system and the platform 20 years ago They actually put so much thought into the Expansion of DCC that it's just not paged one or page two if you drew a graph and made an L shape on a graph It's page 256 up and 256 over which means that there's the potential for over 65,000 CVs that could have been and could be utilized for the current platform of DCC as it was designed by the NMR a Back in the 90s also in the show there's something else And that is a thern has given us permission to run a video that I created for them It is four years worth of work over a hundred photographs and video clips in an 18 minute Presentation that is just and I know I'm going to get emails when I say this it'll knock your socks off This is a video presentation that is unlike anything that I think has ever been produced in this industry It is just visual eye candy from start to finish Support yourself a hot cup of tea and enjoy the last segment of the show this ather and trade show video that I created It is just an expose of various scenes and a lot of different work to create a video unlike anything I think we've ever had in the industry and so with that let's continue on with the rest of April's what's neat I have construction segment on what's neat I want to take an existing layout my layout that I've got and I simply want to add four inches to it just enough Width so I could run a run-around track on this area of my layout So I could just take the drawers where I store my trains and put trains right on the track right here and make it simple I've been avoiding this project like the plague because quite frankly I did not know of a way to attach foam to an existing layout and make sure that it held The last thing I wanted to do was build everything get the control panels in Apply wood on pick it up to take it outside and hear that cracking sound as it separates and pulls all the wires out So that's the pain portion of this video What I've come up with was this Accident that happened the other day This is my favorite mountain range that I like to use outside for photo shoots and the other day the wind Cracked it and broke it right now So what I was faced with was either making a new sheet a new mountain Which I really didn't want to spend the time doing or figure out a way to butt joint glue this together so that it would hold firm and in fact I Was able to do that and when I say butt joint what I'm saying is just take two simple pieces of foam And glue them together just like that and then depend upon the joint to actually work I mean would you build a craftsman structure on a joint like this and trust it well with the solution that I've come up with? I think that I can which will allow me then to add foam to this What I did was I went into the shop and I took two pieces of foam And I butt jointed them together and I filled the gap with a foam pro the glue that we always use on the show And I let this set and then I did the same thing using gorilla glue where I took two more segments of foam But join it them together wet it put the gorilla glue on it and put weights on top of that and let that cure Six hours later. I came back to our experiment to find out which glue held the best. I took the Foam pros section that was glued together And I straddled it between two paint cans and dropped a 15 pound weight on top of it And it's successfully held up to that I then took the gorilla glue joint and I did the same thing I dropped the 15 pound dumbbell on it It helped being satisfied with that. I wanted to try to really break it So I took a 30 pound dumbbell and I placed that on top of our joint and it in fact held Very strong as well So I got to the point where I wanted to know at what point these joints would break So I put my entire body weight on top of the foam pro that one broke relatively easy But the gorilla glue joint I had to fight it I fought hard to get that one to break and when it did pop It was so much pressure that I have complete faith in the fact that the gorilla glue is going to be the Way to go to add four inches to a layout where we'll have no support underneath It's going to cantilever and hang in the air and that'll allow me to add one more track to the layout where I want to do it So I'm going to proceed to do this Let's see how I'm able to sandwich it compress it and keep things squeezed together as the glue dries So let's see what happens next as I continue on with this project adding four more inches to my layout And just like that when I thought I had it all figured out I didn't because now comes another problem, and that is how do I keep the foam attached to? the module to the layout while the glue while the gorilla glue expands that was a problem Now because this area Has got brand new fresh laid track on it, and I don't have the electronics in I didn't want to cut these modules apart Pull them out and simply lay them on the side glue the parts in and put weights on them That would have been the easy solution But I want to keep it intact until I get everything wired up in the last tracks in Before I make the final cuts with a dremel between the modules where I have to cut the rail So one option I thought was to use a bar clamp But the problem with bar clamp is once again I've got to pull the modules away from the wall in order to get a good tight Clamp onto the foam so that wasn't going to work another option I thought about would be to get a bunch of 2x4s and Simply take the 2x4s and just you know put them at a 40 at an angle on the floor And put them right up against the foam to help hold that in place While that might work It would probably require three or four 2x4s along the stretch of this and another board laying flat on the foam to Hold it and that's actually going to create more weight as this cantilever is over So I didn't want to end up with that problem. So the solution I think I came up with on this was and I did another experiment another test first I took Two pieces of two inch foam and I took a two and a half inch wood screw I put the gorilla glue between the joint put it on there and then screw it flat and let it sit To see if that wood screw the two and a half inch wood screw would hold This section together and it didn't because I didn't even let it set up halfway through and I already saw that it was Expanding and I was starting to get a gap So the two and a half inch wood screws to hold it in place wasn't going to work So then what I did was I took another section of foam and this time I used two Three inch wood screws and I screwed those into the foam and I glued everything with the gorilla glue This one held this one held pretty good and it was probably going to work I slept on it overnight I made a trip to the hardware store and I found these magnificent Four inch long wood screws with a very large pan head on them almost a half almost I want to say about a three-eighths inch Almost a half-inch head where it's flat almost like a washer now that I did a test on just now It's not quite set up yet But I took another section of foam glued them together with the gorilla glue sprayed water on it And then I took the four inch screw with the big head And I screwed only one of those into this section of foam and it is holding very beautifully So the answer is to use these four inch screws and as I put the foam up on the side of the layout I'll simply screw the screws in let them hold it for the 30 minutes while the glue cures and does its expansion And then I'll take the screws back out again That's my theory and then I'll put the second layer of foam on until I have a complete four inch wide Area to lay my new track on so that's the plan. I think I've got this all figured out Let's see if this goes together relatively quickly and I'll slap two pieces of foam on this and get this expansion finished Measuring about six inches wide I cut a four by eight sheet of two inch foam to create my four inch by ten foot long addition I used an oscillating saw blade to cut my fascia where the new foam will intersect at an angle Pulling away the wood revealed layers of foam to which I will attach our new foam section I used a pizza cutter to roll plastic under the layout to protect the tabletop and the sides from the messy process I sprayed water onto the side of my layout and onto the first layer of foam I had to cut a rectangular hole into the foam to feed block wires through this I then applied an even layer of gorilla glue to this and using the four inch screws Mounted the foam to the side of the layout. I used about 20 screws to hold this section at the place as the glue expanded and cured After 30 minutes, I removed all the screws as the glue was in control now holding things in place very tight I immediately started on the second two inch layer of foam Wedding this and applying a liberal coat of gorilla glue to it After pulling my existing block wires through the foam, I mounted it in place And started securing things into position with the four inch wood screws Working quickly until I had a total of about 18 screws holding things into place as the glue cured When the glue set up, I removed the wood screws and proceeded to smooth the top of the scenery with my Stanley shore form planer creating an even transition to the track and the road I then sealed the foam with a coat of brown latex paint This brown paint makes it easy to clearly see the topography Other than staring into the pink foam when carving the final grade for the track work Now I could figure out how to lay the track and how things would flow through this area Bridging from the wall above the sink through a 26 inch radius curve onto the foam module Following the flow of the track in the area and allowing space for an access road that will run along the track After soldering the track together And rolling a few fray cars through the scene it was apparent that my track leaned a little I corrected this with a flat 17 inch wood planer that had 36 grit sandpaper attached to this This long tool allowed me to smooth and transition the area of track Where the track work actually went down and then back up a about a three foot dip in the track work That paralleled and ran next to the narrow gauge track work. So I wanted to match this topography With this done I sealed the area with more latex paint and proceeded to glue the track into place with liquid nails adhesive I built a railroad crossing for the service access road by filling the track area with a lot of wood glue Now I know this looks like a mess But this is going to make sense on the next step as I place HO scale wooden railroad ties into the glue Forming our crossing now. I let this dry for a few hours While this was drying I started to build the approach track that would hold a 26 inch radius curve And I built this out of plywood and stained it the same color to match the theme of my entire studio I used my oscillating sander to sand the tops of the railroad ties at the crossing To form a nice smooth transition stopping only when I reached the top of the rails I used to do this by hand with a block sander, but the oscillating sander has greatly sped up this process I stained the wood crossing with wood stain and I let this dry for a few hours I then went over the area and ballasted the track with sifted creek rock and dirt Working this into place with an artist brush This is a very important part to get right because you want everything smooth right before you start to glue everything Which I did do using the woodland scenic scenic cement and a piece of cardboard to protect the areas that had already been finished From getting wet with this glue. I soaked the area well After this dried I further finished the service road with a little bit more dirt Smoothing things over between the tracks and the grade crossings and gluing everything into position again With more woodland scenic scenic cement using a piece of cardboard to protect my buildings from getting glue on them I let this dry for about eight hours Until everything set up real nice and hard Then using a hacksaw blade I cut the planked wood crossings parallel to the rail allowing plenty of space for our wheels Flange clearance now a hacksaw blade seems to be the perfect width tool for clearing flange way clearances when I'm making railroad crossings like this After planting a few weeds Adding a new plywood fascia to the layout and finishing a brand new background hill with trees This area of the layout is complete track wise with a new four inch addition Holding a runaround track which adds a whole new 14 foot long siding to the layout Where I can place freight cars onto the track easily with my storage drawers located right underneath I love it when a plan goes together and this one really did This is just a really nice new scene on the layout that has great function And with that I would say that's the end of this layout construction for what's neat Ken Patterson for soundtracks here today to talk about the new tsunami 2 decoder Now that you've got your favorite tsunami 2 diesel decoder put into your favorite locomotive, which I've got here I want to talk today about how to set up the dynamic Digital exhaust now that feature was in tsunami 1 decoders and we used to use cv's 177 through 188 As you've watched some of the past videos that I've done on tsunami 1 on how to adjust the sensitivity of the dynamic digital exhaust So that the locomotive could sense the load of the freight cars and travel and make sounds in accordance with the weight of the train That you're pulling all automatically Well with tsunami 2 dynamic digital exhaust is set up in a different manner We get into the what what soundtracks calls the page 2 Platform of programming where we could program up into the 500 series of numbers And so in order to adjust the locomotives Performance and allow the locomotive to be calibrated to its own gear ratio and its own weight We use cv 503 and 504 in order in order to get to the page 2 You set cv 32 to 2 now you can program cv's 504 and 503 in accordance with Setting up the dynamic digital exhaust sensitivity in the locomotive and the way we do that is we take We take cv 504 and 503 and since we've already set cv 32 to 2 that allows us to get into that Area of the 500 series numbers. So I'm going to program cv 503 to 255 and I do that while the locomotive is moving in notch 1 and again this allows the decoder to Understand the sensitivity of the gears and the weight of the locomotive running light And then what we do is we take cv 504 and we program that to 255 While the locomotive is running in about notch. I want to say I'm running at notch 30 here Just to have the movement of the model forward and again the decoder is calibrating the weight of the Locomotive not pulling a load Then what I like to do is I like to adjust the sensitivity of Of the dynamic digital exhaust and the way I do that is I adjust cv 512 to 35 And that allows the locomotive and you can play with these numbers a little bit You can experiment you can go higher You can go lower on the cv's until you understand the performance of the locomotive and how you like the switch and how it Operates Then after that I like to dial in just a little bit of momentum So that the the decoder has got time to react to the weight of the train So I take cv 3 and I dial it in for about I want to say 75 And then I'll take cv 4 and I'll dial that one in for 150 and what that does All of these cv's we've just programmed allows the locomotive again to sense when it's pulling a heavy train As opposed to running light and it adjusts the sound in accordance with the weight of the train that it's pulling So it's really exciting. It's a new technology from soundtracks in the tsunami two diesel decoders Enjoy it mess around with it play with it. You can't make any mistakes All you can do is add to the model rewarding enjoyment of operation with sound using the new tsunami two decoders from soundtracks Here's a strange question to ponder When you're cooking in the kitchen, do you feel like you're putting ballast on your food? I don't know why I get that feeling all the time