The end of the 2022-2023 season has arrived and with it comes an end-of-year video of a Santa Fe El Capitan passenger train and a Santa Fe mixed freight running on the Oasis Palms layout. The goal this year was to build the table, make the base scenery, wire the track, build a control panel, and get a couple of trains running.

The next season will be Phase 2. The goal for Phase 2 is to install buildings, roads, and sidewalks, finish the remaining crossing gates, and add block signals to the control panel. The Phase 3 goal is to lay ground cover, ballast the track, plant the vegetation, detail the buildings, and automate operations.

While the wiring of the block signals and crossing gates continue, here’s a short video testing a Santa FE F3A freight engine (Lionel 6-18128 circa 1996) on the upper loop a.k.a. “Lucky’s Folly” of the Oasis Palms Scenic Railroad.

 

The goal of the kinetic functionality of the Oasis Palms project was to represent the town of Oasis Palms allowing up to three trains to be circumnavigating the town simultaneously. We also wanted to facilitate the manual operation of the trains or to allow a microprocessor to control autonomous operations. To achieve these goals, the layout was built using O-Guage 3-rail Lionel Fastrack using power blocks and isolated rails. The Oasis Palms layout has been wired into seven (7) separate power blocks and twelve (12) isolated rail sections. The isolated rail sections are monitored by JWA Insulated Rail Signal Drivers that feed signals to lighting, crossing gates, and an Optocoupler connected to an Arduino.

O-Guage 3-rail Power Blocks
Since the 1930’s Lionel has used 3-rail AC power to operate its O-Guage trains. In conventional operation, the engines are controlled by powering the track. If you apply power to the track the electricity goes into the locomotive through a center rail pickup and the wheels complete the circuit on the common rail and the train starts moving.  In order to allow operators to run more than one train at a time layouts are typically split into power ‘blocks’.

Power blocks are created by creating gaps in the center rail of 3-rail tracks. You can then power each section individually to control a train to move over the block. Power block A and the train moves until it gets to block B, power block B and the train continues, stop a different train on block C and it will sit while the first train laps it on blocks A&B. Using this functionality with logic allows an operator to control multiple conventional trains. Lionel & MTH trains built since 2010 use Bluetooth and other technology to allow the operator to control the actual train. Track power is left on high (18VAC) and the trains move based on the Bluetooth instructions sent to the engine. This control is great for manual operations but does not allow for the autonomous operation of multiple engines that is desired for this installation.

O-Guage 3-rail Isolated Rail Blocks
Isolated Rail Blocks are unique to O-Guage 3-rail operations. This allows the use of the third (typically the outside) rail to detect the presence of a train in the Isolated Rail Block. When a train is present, the wheels and axle transfer the 18VAC common [-] signal from the inner rail to the outer rail. Monitoring the outer rail allows devices to be switched when a train is present in the block. Items that can be controlled included crossing gates, lights, and signals. Typically when the train is in the block the device is turned on, when the train exits the block the device is turned off.

JWA Insulated Rail Signal Drivers
For the Oasis Palms layout, Isolated Rail Blocks are also used to communicate the presence of a train to the microprocessor. We are using an isolated outside rail block that is being monitored by a JWA Insulated Rail Signal Driver to communicate with an Optocoupler connected to an Arduino microprocessor. For gate crossings, we are using an isolated outside rail ‘sub-block’ with a JWA Insulated Rail Signal Driver to tell our Optocoupler and Arduino when a train is at a gate crossing.

Custom DC Relays
The challenge with using sub-blocks is to pass the block signal from the block to the sub-block and then back to the block when the crossing is cleared. The solution to this challenge was to use “DC and a Diode” to power our block signals and crossing gates. The JWA Insulated Rail Signal Driver is monitoring the AC current on the isolated outside rail block and they operate relays that are turning on and off DC power to a Optocoupler feeding the Arduino, the block signals, and the crossing gates.

Optocoupler and Arduino
The Al-zard Optocoupler takes the 12VDC ground signal from the relay and sends an Arduino-friendly 5VDC hi/lo signal to the Arduino. The Arduino uses this information to determine what blocks are occupied with trains and then applies logic to power specific blocks and switches to release and hold trains around the layout. The Arduino is programmed with multiple scenarios to change the sequence of the trains to keep the activity interesting to the casual observer.

The kinetic element of this installation is the electro-mechanical railroad operation, city, and cavern lighting designed to depict Oasis Palms circa 1963. The layout is wired to allow conventional toy-train manual operation and automated operation using an Arduino.

Power (yellow), common (white), isolation (green), and gate isolation (purple) rail drops soldered to the back of the Fastrack is fed through 1/4″ holes drilled in the foam deck every 18-24″.

JWA Insulated Rail Signal Drivers are wired to the isolated rails, they in turn are wired to relay boards that operate the block signals, and gates, and pass block detection signals to the Arduino which is programmed to continuously operate multiple trains simultaneously without intervention.

All of the wiring terminates at a drop-down panel that is accessible from the side of the layout.

For ease of installation and switch automation, Lionel Fastrack was selected. The track was procured and laid out based on the SCARM plans. The track was dry fit to make sure everything connected properly. After a train was able to successfully circumnavigate the town, the cave location, and the scenic flyover all the track was removed to prepare it for permanent installation on the layout.

The layout is split into seven (7) operating blocks to allow the conventional operation of up to three trains simultaneously. This will allow operators to demonstrate the Barco Mining Company hand carts that ran between 1885 and 1899, the Santa Fe passenger trains that visited Oasis Palms between 1897 and 1967, and the Oasis Palm Scenic Railroad that ran between 1952 and 1979.

The Fastrack was prepared for conventional block operation by removing the cross-over straps (to isolate the third rail) and removing select joiner pins in the center rails and isolation rails to allow for operations of the blocks and crossing and block signals. For long-term reliability, each piece of Fastrack was soldered together with jumper wires on the center rail and inner common rail to reliably deliver power to the trains. Power (yellow), common (white), isolation (green), and gate isolation (purple) rail drops were soldered to the back of the Fastrack every 18-24″ and fed through 1/4″ holes drilled in the foam deck.

The track was then weathered with a 10% flat black wash and had brown paint applied to “rust” the sides of the rails. To keep everything in place while wiring the underside of the layout, all the track was temporarily attached to the foam using 2″ long #8 screws. The deck was then turned on its side to facilitate wiring the electro-mechanical system consisting of seven (7) blocks with signals at each end, six (6) switches, and five (5) crossing gates.

To create the terrain that surrounds Oasis Palms, the same pink foam used for the deck was stacked and carved with hot wire tools and razor knives to approximate the plateau terrain. For space savings, the outer loop was compressed closer to town and it uses an exaggerated 4-degree incline to get the train from the town level to the scenic railroad level which was 30′ feet in the air. The left side of the deck has the caverns that housed the Barco Mining operation.

Volunteers built out Buttes and Mesas that were added to visually anchor the corners of the model. Lightweight spackle that has the consistency of whipped cream was used to fill gaps and add texture to the rock formations. This was then all painted with a base layer of dirt brown and multiple layers of accent paint to approximate the chocolate brown hue of the Ship Mountains of the Mojave Desert.

To achieve the effect of the Mojave hill terrain the paint steps included

1. Base coat of Dirt Brown,
2. Black wash using 10% flat Black paint+90% water,
3. Soft brush application of Dirt Brown on mid & high areas,
4. Dry brush application of Raw Sienna in the erosion crevises (desert varnish effect),
5. Dry brush application of 75% Dirt Brown + 25% Titanium White on high areas,
6. Dry brush application of Titanium White on the edges of rocks.

 

 

Once the table layout in SCARM was complete, the final size of the ‘ping-pong’ table grew 6″ wider. The extra width allowed room for the incline to the mesa that sits above the Barco mine tunnel. The table was built using simple 1×3″ L-beam construction and to keep the table as light as possible the deck consists of two sheets thickness of 1″ pink insulation foam.

For our L-Beam construction, we edge glued a 1×3 to another 1×3 and then fastened them together with Kreg 1-1/4″ pocket screws. For our frame, we used pine boards that were ripped down to 1x3s. But 3/4 plywood would have also been a good choice for the frame.

The pocket screws do a great job to secure the beam edges together making the frame stable and sturdy while keeping the framework as light as possible. After assembly, the frame and bottom of the foam deck were painted flat black.

The base of the table was designed to be a pedestal on casters but a temporary pedestal was repurposed from another project. The 2″ overall thickness of the pink insulation board provides plenty of stability while keeping the weight of the 5.5′ x 9′ table to a minimum.

 

 

Originally conceptualized in 2020, the goal of the Oasis Palms project is to create an O-gauge layout of Oasis Palms in the early 1960s. The platform for the installation is approximately the size of a ping-pong table (5’x9′) which allows us to represent the town, gold mine, and elevated scenic railroad in 1:48 scale making it possible to transport the finished work.

In the fall of 2022, the installation planning started. Because we wanted this to be a kinetic sculpture with a working railroad, initial planning was done using a model railroad CAD program called SCARM. The Oasis Palms track plan was laid out and approximate terrain, streets, sidewalks, and buildings were added. The final result was a working track plan that we would be able to recreate using off-the-shelf Lionel Fastrack.

While Oasis Palms sits on a plateau in the Mojave Desert, SCARM renders its ground cover in rich green grass. Other than the green disconnect SCARM allowed us to lay out the track and place the town buildings. A few of the buildings were also modeled in SCARM, while others were represented with simple boxes to approximate the building’s footprint. Want to build your own Desert Oasis? Download the Desert Oasis SCARM file.