What did you do on your layout today? (N scale)

[Yugamu Tsuki]

Nothing permanent, just talking inventory for my temporary floor layout Saturday as well as clean some used track I bought that was having issues with the engines not picking up electricity. This was my 10th Q-Tip this morning just on this one feeder.

[cteno4]

nice looks like a fun Saturday coming up! 
 

You can wash the batch in soapy water and rinse well and tamp well in towels and spay some isopropanol on the connectors and the gently (Very low heat or no heat) blow dry. Isopropanol helps evaporate the little bits of water in the nooks and crannies.
 

old Cotten tee shirts work well for cleaning with isopropanol and your index finger. With the track loose you can also pinch the rag over the rail between your fingernails and drag it back and forth. Pretty fast way to clean the whole rail piece by piece.

 

jeff

[Pauljag900]

The curse for all modellers,dirty travk😂😂 I m with Jeff on the isopropanol👍
I ve tried a number of ways and used a few of the track cleaning cars but the best way I found if it’s really dirty is a gentle scrub with a nylon nail brush in warm soapy water,rinse and leave to dry.If it’s really old track it maybe an idea to replace the joiners to make sure you re getting a good contact.

A quick rub with a track rubber,Hoover and then rub with a lint free cloth dipped in isopropanol.Worked a treat for me👍👍😀

Another good little gadget to keep it clean is the dust monkey from woodland scenic,unfortunately it will only fit certain cars though,I used them on which ever trains they would fit on,

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323661762000

 

i used to dip them in the isopropanol and let the train pull it around👍👍😀

Edited October 8, 2020 by Pauljag900

[Yugamu Tsuki]

I have 99% isoprop which seems to be getting the job done. the contacts are fine since it goes back to normal speed after is finishes with the used tracks and reaches a new one. Now just working on painting the 3d printed buildings. I think I've seen the Tidy Tracks at my local shop. Good news too, they said they should be able to fix my Grandpa's old American Flyer. I hope to have that fixed for my Dad for Christmas.

 

-Ken

[cteno4]

Ken,

 

yeah 99% can get at paint. 70% is usually fine to get gunk off.

 

there are some contact cleaners that may be a lot better, I’ve got a new one to try here. Isopropanol being a polar solvent may cause more arcing later when running the train that is actually most of the black gunk you see on track. Some of the contact cleaners are more non polar.

 

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mrhpub.com/2019-05-may/online/index.html?page=9

 

jeff

[Tonytramman]

glad it's not just me that spends ages cleaning! Tomix track cleaner is to big for tram track clearances so is confined to depot, I use a baby wipe in occasions found to be effective on road surfaces.

Tony 

[Martijn Meerts]

My general method for thorough cleaning after not running for a long time, is using a track cleaning rubber to go over everything pretty quickly. Then run a vacuum cleaner over everything, using a handy little piece with a small brush on the end. After that I go over the track twice with a bit of cloth wrapped around a wooden block. First time I'll add a little alcohol to the cloth, second time is just a dry cloth. It's a bit of work, but it cleans the track well, and doesn't leave any residue.

 

For quick cleaning of short sections, it's usually just the cleaning rubber and a quick wipe with some cloth. 

 

Also, make sure to keep the wheels of your locos (and cars) clean, lots of gunk builds up on those over time. I've forgotten to clean the wheels on some trains, and at some point it started looking like there were traction tires on all wheels 🙂

 

I never use any of the track cleaning solutions. While they do work, and work well too, they're usually oil based, and will leave residue on the track that attracts dust, so you'll be cleaning a lot more often.

[roadstar_na6]

I was finally able to build my first (floor) layout, thanks to @Martijn Meerts, his generous donation of a huge pile of Tomix Fine Track and a rather big order from RG-Rokko. 🙂

[Martijn Meerts]

Not really directly layout, but I finally managed to go get some wood cut for the next couple of sections of the layout. Due to the whole corona thing they couldn't cut is straight away, so had to go back later during the day to pick it up.

 

I now have enough wood for another 2 sections. The first one will cap off the helix, and will actually either have no track at all, or at most some track track. I won't be doing a full tram layout though, so I'll either make it static, or a simple point to point where both ends are hidden in / behind buildings. This section will be mostly for the city. The center section will be able to be lifted off, so I can always comfortable work on the helix when needed.

 

The second section is the first of 3 sections of the main station and surrounding area. I'll initially just put down a simple return loop so I can run some trains in a continuous loop, and then start figuring out exactly where all the tracks should go height wise. The wood for the remaining 2 sections of the main station I'll get at a later time.

 

(I also picked up some extra wood for the H0e/H0j inglenook-ish idea I have, so that's another something I can work on)

 

[cteno4]

I’m interested to see if the contact cleaners prevents the carbon muck build up. I may need to just set up a test loop and see! In theory it may explain why some of the things like clipper oil and transmission fluid work to stop the black muck by making a no polar film in all the pits to prevent arcing and carbon soot build up. But I don’t like the issues of slick tracks it can bring about. Contact cleaner is designed to clean and not cause arcing or any contact issues with electrical flow.

 

jeff

[Yugamu Tsuki]

My morning layout and the fabulous sit-in for Mt. Fuji. I may try to see if I can borrow a friend's car today and get a plywood sheet for the kitchen table so I can have something smaller to run that won't need constant set-up each time I want to use it.

[Yugamu Tsuki]

Apologies for the back to back posts. Just got back from the hardware store. It's not too busy of a layout but I can run it either as linear or a loop. Also I can now keep it up with the animals out of their cages.

[Martijn Meerts]

Oooh.. Hibiki, nice one 😄

 

I still have a bottle of Hibiki Master's Select, guarded by a bunch of Gundam ...

 

[AhmadKane]

I've spent last night with toilet paper and glue to fixate and fill the areas. First placing some card from used coupon books as foundation before layering them with the tissue. Then using black cards to prop up the tunnels from within. The entry for visitors would be propped up once the painting phase is complete. 

 

The tricky one would be moulding the terrain that acts as the stairs. Pressing down on it so that the terrain doesn't look too steep for climbers and hikers. I've also placed some panels from unused kits, such as the stairs made out of leftover faller pillars. 

 

It takes a long time to dry, and I'm planning the colors and the lamps later.

 

 

[Tonytramman]

32 minutes ago, AhmadKane said:

I've spent last night with toilet paper and glue 

 

When I started reading this I thought oh yeah where's this going!?

[AhmadKane]

Not much. Im making the overhead signal gantry better. First was drilling a hole and placing some bulbs. 

 

Im gonna need some permanent markers to paint the lights unto the bulb.

 

  

[Martijn Meerts]

Make sure not to put full power through the bulbs if they're regular filament bulbs instead of LEDs. Filament bulbs can get so hot, they can melt the plastic around them.

 

[Tonytramman]

Looking good..

I'm mulling over the thought of digging out the Hornby select and doing a test on DCC...

I will post result on my thread..

tony

[AhmadKane]

9 hours ago, Martijn Meerts said:

Make sure not to put full power through the bulbs if they're regular filament bulbs instead of LEDs. Filament bulbs can get so hot, they can melt the plastic around them.

 

 

Na they're LED. So perfectly fine. 

[AhmadKane]

 

My diecaster friend and I played some trains yesterday and we took some pics. This is one of the best. What do you guys think?

[carledwood]

Made progress on the endless wiring. 

Yesterday I've installed 2 led lights under the bridge. 

[Tonytramman]

so I am awaiting some Kato wiring items to arrive and a station..so took the bold step to remove the lot have a good clean and add a bit of extra space.

Whilst I was at it doing some DCC testing with the old Hornby select. I managed to fill 3 tubs with all the odds and ends!

[AhmadKane]

I spent an hour today soldering 6V bulbs with resistors to prepare for lighting in the layout. I havent decided on where the buildings would go before the bus arrives. So I finish the lights first.

 

The first building I finished is the KATO store. I measure the shelving units and printed out store patterns. Drug store, book shelves, fridge and chips.

 

I also printed some mini posters to put on the window of the stores.

 

I had thought of using 2 mini 6v LED bulbs. But I figured the better way would be using 1 12V LED strip that spans between the stores. Drilling holes to get the cable out. The cable would be attached down to points where youd normally screw the roof on. 

 

As such I also placed some figures. Although due to the short view area and a ton of posters. I didnt bother placing high detail or tons of figures. A small portion would do. I just put high detail ones where its easily seen. 

 

 

Lights, action.

 

 

[cteno4]

Nice lighting! Makes a difference even in daylight as most buildings are lit during the day and not dark inside. Also helps pop the interior detail during the day.

 

6v leds? Do these already have a resistor on them? Most white leds are 3.4-3.6v range, not heard of one at 6v. or were you wiring them to 6v?
 

Also might look at these little variable resistors as they will let you set each led to the desired brightness. 
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20pcs-RM065-RM-065-Trimpot-Trimmer-Potentiometer-Variable-Resistor-HICA-nh3YYY/333752520295?hash=item4db5334e67:g:0QoAAOSwXq5ZqRgt
 

you just wire these in series with your main max load resistor (ie like a 100R for a 3.5v running on 5v power or 442R for 12v supply) so when the variable resistor is at 0 you won’t blow your led with the all the voltage of your supply. You can also do 2 or 3 leds in series with a single resistor and variable resistor to tune them all at once. You can also slap a 2k variable resistor on a single 3 led strip to dim it as well. In many place Turning the leds way down gives a much better effect.
 

Also look for this kind of 30g wrapping wire. It’s very small and tough and is big enough for led current. Also it’s tinned stranded wire so it solders faster and easier than regular stranded wire and way less breaking of fine strands. also means you can bend it around sharp corners w.o fear of breaking strands in finer wires. Big thing is it’s the cheapest wire per lenght you can get by far (305m for about ten bucks) and wire has gotten expensive! 
 

Makes life much easier wiring buildings. You can even glue it down to exterior walls and it looks like Exposed electrical conduit.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/305M-1000ft-30AWG-0-5mm-Electrical-Wire-Single-Core-OK-Line-Airline-Copper-Wire/353154331197?hash=item5239a3723d:g:occAAOSwGM5dQEyW

 

Or 125’ of each color

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/305M-30AWG-0-25mm-Tin-Plated-Copper-Wire-Wrapping-8-Wire-Colored-Test-Cable-Reel/263403509642?hash=item3d5412978a:g:yPQAAOSwi8xaTDw1

 

Cheers

 

jeff

[JR 500系]

I always love populating the layout!

 

 

These plastic pieces as a base are pretty useful!