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

[katoftw]

I think you'd find it a very boring layout to run over time.  Stations all feed the inner loop, and you have to access the next loop to finally get to the most outer loop.  So one train out of station to outer loop, then next train out to 2nd outer loop etc.  Then if you wanna change trains, you reverse the process.  I think you'd end up running the same 4 trains on the outer most loops and the changeover process will become tiresome.

[Pauljag900]

Thanks for the feed back and comments buddy.

do nt take this the wrong way but if I can explain why it has to be this way.

The layout I have now has 16 sidings all fed from the inner loop,and as you rightly said to change trains it has to cross all the other tracks,but it’s far from boring,operating and switching the trains is part of the fun,the tracks are isolated on the far side so when changing trains the ones already out on the tracks are simply “parked” in the isolated section while one or all are changed.All this said I generally change them all at the same time,so I ll run six then change to run a diferent six.The layout is designed this way for a few diferent reasons,the main one being that after my knee and hip operations I find it difficult to get under the boards,I rather naively thought everything would be ok after my operations,so I need to be able to reach everything from the front of the boards,it s also designed to take as many of my trains as possible and also to give maximum viewing of the trains in general,I class it as a display layout as much as an operational one,I want all,or as many as I can,of my trains on there to run and not in boxes on a shelf out there,but that’s just my opinion.It also looks worse as an aerial view on paper,the layout I have now looked the same as a plan,boring loops just going around but when set up and all the accessories and scenics are added and with all 8 trains and two trams running you tend to forget it’s just going around in a circle.

I ve tried a number of diferent plans and spent hours on anyrail but this is the best I can come up with at the moment to suit both my physical state and my wish list of what I want on there.I love this hobby and wo nt  ever give it up but unfortunately  I need to make compromises to be able to maintain it properly.

👍👍😀

regards,

Paul

[gavino200]

5 minutes ago, Pauljag900 said:

Thanks for the feed back and comments buddy.

do nt take this the wrong way but if I can explain why it has to be this way.

The layout I have now has 16 sidings all fed from the inner loop,and as you rightly said to change trains it has to cross all the other tracks,but it’s far from boring,operating and switching the trains is part of the fun,the tracks are isolated on the far side so when changing trains the ones already out on the tracks are simply “parked” in the isolated section while one or all are changed.All this said I generally change them all at the same time,so I ll run six then change to run a diferent six.The layout is designed this way for a few diferent reasons,the main one being that after my knee and hip operations I find it difficult to get under the boards,I rather naively thought everything would be ok after my operations,so I need to be able to reach everything from the front of the boards,it s also designed to take as many of my trains as possible and also to give maximum viewing of the trains in general,I class it as a display layout as much as an operational one,I want all,or as many as I can,of my trains on there to run and not in boxes on a shelf out there,but that’s just my opinion.It also looks worse as an aerial view on paper,the layout I have now looked the same as a plan,boring loops just going around but when set up and all the accessories and scenics are added and with all 8 trains and two trams running you tend to forget it’s just going around in a circle.

I ve tried a number of diferent plans and spent hours on anyrail but this is the best I can come up with at the moment to suit both my physical state and my wish list of what I want on there.I love this hobby and wo nt  ever give it up but unfortunately  I need to make compromises to be able to maintain it properly.

👍👍😀

regards,

Paul

 

Have you though of convincing the Misses to give up a room inside the house, so you can access your tracks with more ease?

[Pauljag900]

Hi Gavin,

😂😂😂😂😂yes I have,you must be joking buddy,!!

Joking aside I d rather have it in my shed mate,it s my little escape and hide away,it s got a heater,32” tv,drinks fridge,kettle etc,I m quite happy out there mate,I just need to build something I can manage😂😂👍

[chadbag]

Yesterday (Dec 31) I made the frame and test fit the blue foam top.  I ran out of time before we were due at my parents' for a New years Eve party so today I will flip the frame over, add some extra metal straps to the center cross piece (the actual cross and the ends of the short pieces on the outside) since those straps/braces are thinner than the corner and T pieces.  I'm also adding a shelf at the bottom of the frame on one long side and will get that screwed on today.   Then I will tack down the blue foam with silicone.

 

The frame was purposefully made slightly larger than the blue foam top so that I have an edge to drill holes into and can use to support a backdrop board and clear plastic safety walls.  The safety walls will be 2 feet long each and removable to work on the tracks and then put back for running.   The backdrop wall as well will use the same holes.

 

I need to buy a sheet of that brown chipboard stuff (like they make old-school clipboards out of) and have it cut in half (long way).  I am going to use it as a scenery backdrop with dowels attached to the bottom and the holes described above to support and mount it.   I may do that today.  We'll see if I have time.   The plastic safety walls will come next week or whenever I have time to actually put it together, but the scenic backdrop wall I need for some photography as my instagram as been bare the last few weeks. LOL

 

I will also put a screw underneath each cross piece where it abuts the table to act as a stop so the whole thing does not slide off the table top it rests on if someone bumps it.

 

While I design some track layouts, I am going to use it as a big table top to practice setting up different DCC circuits and running temporary trains, and having a place I can use for the photography and videography without having to take over the kitchen.  So for a while it will just have my green table cloth or green felt "tops" I have for setting up temporary layouts. 

 

Eventually, when I have gotten all the DCC circuits figured out and running, and have a layout designed I want to try, I'll cover the blue foam in square or rectangular sheets of 4-5mm type foam board and build on that.  That way it can cover wiring I embed in the foam and make a smoother, nicer surface to build on.  The blue foam is kind of rough finished.

 

The goal today is to get the shelf on, the stops underneath on, maybe the scenic backdrop, and set up the command station and stuff and a temp track or two (probably a DCC outside and a DC on an inside loop).  Unfortunately I have to work on a side project as they have reported a crashing bug I need to find.   And I am supposed to also be doing some outside training on some new technology we want to use (and I want for my own projects) for work.  Only because I did not get it done this last quarter (and am making it up).

 

Luckily I have tomorrow off work as well, though the kids start school back up tomorrow and I have to play taxi for school and swimming etc.  The wife does not return from Japan and her visit to her mother until next Tuesday morning.  (She leaves Japan next Monday evening and flies to Hawaii, with a 12 hour layover there and a red-eye back to SLC, arriving SLC Tuesday morning US time at 7 am --  😞 for the crappy connection ).  That gives me a little extra time to get things running, get photos and videos of all the new trains, and get the Dijikeijs DR5000 and stuff up and try to get my switch decoders running.  Fun Fun!

 

 

 

[chadbag]

So, with my kids' help, we got the underside straps in the middle on, the shelf screwed on, flipped back around, and the stop screws underneath in, and then the foam board siliconed on.   The random stuff on top is helping to hold it down while the silicone dries.

 

I need to clear out a couple feet more space so it actually fits and you can walk around all the sides of it.  That is up later today.

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by chadbag
mi is not my

[cteno4]

Great progress chad! Good to have a big space like this to fiddle with stuff like this! I have the same in my office of this same 1.5” blue foam that sits on top of a folding banquet table with 6 2x4 running crosswise to support the foam, it’s amazing how solid the foam is with minimal support as it’s existed like this for like 15 years! I worried about it getting knocked around but I never had an issue with me crashing around it or when friends’ kids came over to play trains.

 

I later made a temp table in the basement out of a queen sized futon frame I had and the office one has been sadly relegated to a messy pile of train stuff but with all the weight on it and the edges and corners not well supported it’s held up amazingly well! I need to get it cleaned up and replaced by better storage as it’s pretty inefficient right now and a mess.

 

Jeff

[gavino200]

2 hours ago, chadbag said:

So, with my kids' help, we got the underside straps in the middle on, the shelf screwed on, flipped back around, and the stop screws underneath in, and then the foam board siliconed on.   The random stuff on top is helping to hold it down while the silicone dries.

 

I need to clear out a couple feet more space so it actually fits and you can walk around all the sides of it.  That is up later today.

 

 

Great progress Chad. Looking forward to watching your progress. Also, congratulations on finding the only good use for 'La Croix'. 

[chadbag]

41 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

 

 

Great progress Chad. Looking forward to watching your progress. Also, congratulations on finding the only good use for 'La Croix'. 

 

Thanks!

 

My neighbor calls "La Croix" -- "Crotch Water" -- not being a refined French speaker himself.   I actually have taken a liking to sparkling water though it doesn't have to be that brand (and we have Kirkland and another brand from Costco as well as the "La Croix", which are inexpensive at the world's largest Costco we have here with much more variety).    I've never been a big soda drinker, and we don't regularly buy it, drinking it when we eat out or have a special occasion like a birthday.  But I've taken to liking the tingliness on my tongue from the carbonation and sparkling water gets you that without all the sugar and/or fake sweetener chemicals.

 

Besides drinking it straight, we sometimes get out our Torani syrup collection and mix it with the sparkling water to make up our own "Italian Soda".

 

--

Cleaning to make more space in the basement to fit the table in a usable fashion is a big PITA.  We'll see if I get to start to hook up the command center today to some simple track.  Luckily I have tomorrow off as well, though the kids have school starting tomorrow.

[malcoJOJO]

I've been a bit out of it of late, but did manage to get a layout update up a while back. 

I'm aiming to be on the forum a bit more - we'll see if that works out. 🙂 
Happy New Year, All! 

 

N•RAIL update - Shake-cam Layout Update for December: Little Details

 

 

Edited January 2, 2019 by cteno4
Fixed youtube embed

[chadbag]

I went to Lowes yesterday (They were open on 1/1) and bought a 4x8 sheet of 1/8" hardboard, which I had them cut in half.  I told the guy that it did not have to be exact, but approximately in half.  I should have had him measure since one is about 1.5" taller than the other.  But for this use it does not really matter.   Because the stuff is really flimsy (bendy), I went back to Lowes this morning on the way home from dropping my kids off at the first day of school in the new year (YES!), and bought some 1x2x8 boards (furring strips) and today I glued them to the backs of these hardboard panels.   I will be drilling holes in the layout frame around the edges so that I can put this hardboard panel, after attaching dowels, on one side to attach background images to for the layout.  I have not yet but will also be buying some thing acrylic sheeting and cutting it to 6" high and attaching dowels and being able to put up a clear safety wall everywhere where the background scenery panel is not.

 

I also finished clearing out behind the table to make room for the layout to be better situated and allow 360 deg access to the layout.   I just need to sweep the floor, move some modular shelves over into part of the space, and then move the layout over and reposition it.  Then I can set up some temp track and try it out!

 

 

Edited January 3, 2019 by chadbag

[gavino200]

3 minutes ago, chadbag said:

I went to Lowes yesterday (They were open on 1/1) and bought a 4x8 sheet of 1/8" hardboard, which I had them cut in half.  I told the guy that it did not have to be exact, but approximately in half.  I should have had him measure since one is about 1.5" taller than the other.  But for this use it does not really matter.   Because the stuff is really flimsy (bendy), I went back to Lowes this morning on the way home from dropping my kids off at the first day of school in the new year (YES!), and bout some 1x2x8 boards (furring strips) and today I glued them to the backs of these hardboard panels.   I will be drilling holes in the layout frame around the edges so that I can put this hardboard panel, after attaching dowels, on one side to attach background images to for the layout.  I have not yet but will also be buying some thing acrylic sheeting and cutting it to 6" high and attaching dowels and being able to put up a clear safety wall everywhere where the background scenery panel is not.

 

I also finished clearing out behind the table to make room for the layout to be better situated and allow 360 deg access to the layout.   I just need to sweep the floor, move some modular shelves over into part of the space, and then move the layout over and reposition it.  Then I can set up some temp track and try it out!

 

 

 

 

 

Are you going to paint the foamboard? 

[chadbag]

4 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

 

Are you going to paint the foamboard? 

 

No.

 

For now I will drape one of my green cloths on it and set up temporary track while I figure out all the DCC detection stuff and all the various things I have to figure out.  That way we can run trains still and I can also make videos and take pictures of new stuff, etc.  I plan on a double track loop with DCC and a smaller DC loop inside so we can run things I have not yet gotten around to putting decoders in.  I will add some switches and a small yard to the DCC part as well.  All temporary for figuring things out (wiring wise and SW wise for interfacing with it) and for also just being able to run in the mean time.

 

In the mean time I will be working on a layout design.   When I get ready to do the layout, I think I want to put a layer of 4-5mm or so foam board like you use for posters etc.  And those will be painted or I will apply "scenery" to them.   I would like to be able to swap out buildings etc, and also have a nicer finish on my surface for working on the layout.  The blue foam is kind of rough finished.  And the 4-5mm foam board will cover wiring, etc.  I can score the blue foam, put wiring in, and then put the 5mm board on top to cover it all up.  But still easily remove the board to fix wiring, redo it, etc.  Silicone can probably be used to tack it down so it stays but can easily be removed.   That is the idea.  We'll see how it works out.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2019 by chadbag

[gavino200]

4 minutes ago, chadbag said:

 

No.

 

For now I will drape one of my green cloths on it and set up temporary track while I figure out all the DCC detection stuff and all the various things I have to figure out.  That way we can run trains still and I can also make videos and take pictures of new stuff, etc.

 

In the mean time I will be working on a layout design.   When I get ready to do the layout, I think I want to put a layer of 4-5mm or so foam board like you use for posters etc.  And those will be painted or I will apply "scenery" to them.   I would like to be able to swap out buildings etc, and also have a nicer finish on my surface for working on the layout.  The blue foam is kind of rough finished.  And the 4-5mm foam board will cover wiring, etc.  I can score the blue foam, put wiring in, and then put the 5mm board on top to cover it all up.  But still easily remove the board to fix wiring, redo it, etc.  Silicone can probably be used to tack it down so it stays but can easily be removed.   That is the idea.  We'll see how it works out.

 

 

 

Sounds like a good plan. But why run wires through scored channels? I wonder if it would be easier to just drill through the foam and attach the wiring to the underside of the board using adhesive clips. Either way it's a minor point. 

 

Exciting to see you finally start on your layout!. 

 

[chadbag]

4 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

 

Sounds like a good plan. But why run wires through scored channels? I wonder if it would be easier to just drill through the foam and attach the wiring to the underside of the board using adhesive clips. Either way it's a minor point. 

 

I will probably run wiring through the foam board at points as well.  But I don't want to poke too many holes in the foam and parts of the underside are not easy to get to, as the whole thing sits on an old banquet table.

 

So, the wiring plan is kind of up in the air in terms of what will work best.  Originally I was thinking of going through the blue foam to the underneath, but then I started thinking that running it under the 5mm foam board but above the blue foam might work better.

[gavino200]

1 minute ago, chadbag said:

 

I will probably run wiring through the foam board at points as well.  But I don't want to poke too many holes in the foam and parts of the underside are not easy to get to, as the whole thing sits on an old banquet table.

 

So, the wiring plan is kind of up in the air in terms of what will work best.  Originally I was thinking of going through the blue foam to the underneath, but then I started thinking that running it under the 5mm foam board but above the blue foam might work better.

 

Ah, I see. The ol' board-on-a-table setup. That's what my last layout was. Works great!

[chadbag]

Just now, gavino200 said:

 

Ah, I see. The ol' board-on-a-table setup. That's what my last layout was. Works great!

 

Once we move in 2020, the layouts will be custom made modular pieces with access under the whole thing, etc.  No more boards on tables.  But for now, it is what it is.  The good thing is that the foam board is not resting directly on the table, but is on the frame, and I made it so only the big cross piece is directly on the table, so you can reach up underneath the parts over the table and stuff and nothing like wiring will be smashed by the board as there is the height of a 2x4 of space between the banquet  table and the foam table top.    (And luckily these are old school banquet tables made of particle board and contact paper, not the new fangled plastic ones that bend and can't be used to hold more than food at a banquet or other light weight stuff)

 

The bad news is that I have to go back to work tomorrow (Jan 3) so may not get to start with the track until the weekend.  Tomorrow night is music night with the kids and my music lessons and then their band practices and we are going to the local Blues jam as well.  So no trains tomorrow night.  And Friday (and Saturday) afternoon is a swim meet for the kids.  ONe day I'll be there to help and watch and one day I'll just drop them off.  

 

I hate it when real life intrudes.

 

[Pauljag900]

Hi Chad,

just my two pennies worth mate but I ve used both these methods that you and Gavin have discussed. The tram layout was constructed on 2” polystyrene and the wires dropped through and then I dug out channels and hot glued the wires to the polystyrene,worked just fine.

with the train layout instead of foamboard to cover the top I used a high density foam,it’s actually laminate flooring underlay,I glued it to the boards and then I made the shrine and other modules on 5mm foamboard and when finished I simply placed them on the layout and cut the foam around them,removed it and dropped the module in,I did the same with the tram track so the. Rails were at ground level.Ypu can see the foam underlay at the start of the video I put the link up to,it’s also dark grey in colour so is also a good base for the track if you do nt want to ballast just yet.

just be aware that with foamcard if you paint it and it’s not fixed down it tends to curl and bend up as it dries.

as I said,both methods worked just fine and I ll be using the same underlay on the new layout,just my two pennies worth mate but hope it helps.

ypur boards look good mate👍👍😀.

[Pauljag900]

 

 

The tram layout

 

 

Train boards

 

Edited January 3, 2019 by Pauljag900

[AllenZ]

Posted in wrong thread.  Sorry

Edited January 5, 2019 by AllenZ
Wrong thread

[bill937ca]

It works 100%. All I am trying to do is create a simple automatic stop.  THe override is the switch which turns the power back on.

 

[AllenZ]

On 12/12/2017 at 3:46 PM, bill937ca said:

I had completed this some time ago, but didn't photograph it until today. One of the features I want to add to my new Euro themed Unitram layout is automatic blocks at a central plaza.

 

To do this I have created a simple automatic block with off-the-shelf, plug-and-play Kato components. On the selected track piece, I replaced the normal Unitram Unijoiner with the black 24-816 Insulated Unijoiners and added a 44-847 Tram Feeder Power Cable under the selected track piece. The feeder is plugged into a 24-850 Kato Power Feed Control Switch which clips onto the side of a Kato power controller just like a Switch Selector. When the power switch is turned OFF the car always stops at the selected location. When the power switch is turned ON the car continues on through the block or if stopped already begins running.

 

I plan to have a junction with trams coming into a station from four directions like many the tram stops at many European train stations.   Two blocks are installed now before the intersection and two more will installed later at the actual tram stop.

 

 

Hi Bill.  Did this work for you? I'm trying the exact same thing and neither of my 2 Kato 24-850 N Scale Power Feed Control Switches work.  I can't figure out what I"m doing wrong.

 

Allen

[Pauljag900]

So with all the bits to hand I proceeded to make the switch control box.

It was a bit fiddly but worth the effort in the long run I think.

[Drunkenclam]

Not much to report today. Mostly waiting for glue to dry.

 

The small section of road has been cut and glued down. 

 

Cut some wood and moulded plastic  sheets, then started gluing the cutting retaining walls in. As it's curved. This used all my clamps up on each section meaning slow progress. Also the little wooden tabs inside and out to help hold it in place.

 

 

Also connected up one of the pachinko data counters and top light, replaced the EM battery in the games room door and put my 2 newest figurines in the display cabinet. I have a weakness for the bunnies.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2019 by Drunkenclam

[JR 500系]

20 hours ago, Pauljag900 said:

So with all the bits to hand I proceeded to make the switch control box.

It was a bit fiddly but worth the effort in the long run I think.

 

 

That is some amazing work and it looks so professional! Looking at your box of switches, it sorts of encourage me to do something like this for mine too... neat and professional, really nice!

 

17 hours ago, Drunkenclam said:

Not much to report today. Mostly waiting for glue to dry.

 

 

It's looking great actually, I like the contours and height differences in the layout! (Cant say much about the bunnies though ~  😛