Wires!

[Irish Padre]

 

Had my first ever running session last night using Unitrack and my first ever Japanese stock - and loved it!! Pic attached.

 

But what do I do with all the wires when I add points, an outer loop etc? I assumed there would be small channels under some of the Unitrack straights and curves to permit this but can't see any. So do you just let the track sit on top of any trailing wires or is there another way? Thank you

[railsquid]

Congrats :)

 

The wires... I think that's pretty much up to you how you solve that one (the Kato catalogue cunningly avoids showing pictures of wires in the layout example photos). For anything permanent, ye olde holes in the baseboard will be the way to go. An adventure which I will be shortly embarking upon.

Edited September 15, 2014 by railsquid

[katoftw]

lay the track over the top.  just try to keep the wires under straight sections of track.

[E6系]

Hello Mr Irish Padre,

 

I guess you are running trains on the floor, or dining table?  In such cases there is little you can do but stick the wires down with tape to prevent trip hazard etc.  If you move to a more permanent layout on a base board, you would drill holes and run your wires underneath.

[Irish Padre]

Thanks all, yes it will be table or floor for some years! Perhaps there's a gap in the market for a dedicated "conduit track" to let wires safely under.

[railsquid]

Realistically I don't think it would be practical to cleanly fit more than a couple of cable pairs under even Kato track, even if the track ends were modified to accomadate cables (as is I can't see any sane way to lay cables under it). Laying it under points wouldn't work at all of course, as the space is occupied by the motor.

 

Maybe some day someone will come up with some kind of digital system which sends control impulses along the track which are decoded by points and trains fitted with some sort of decoder? Until then the only thing on the menu is cable spaghetti.

 

I did think about using spiral cable wraps to manage the wires before making my layout more permanent; I'll probably give it a go next week after I finally get my baseboard in its final position while I'm still testing the layout for sanity.

 

(Of course, someone modelling a truly Japanese layout could maybe find some way of incorporating the power/point control cables into the network of overhead power and telephone cables so ubiquitous in Japan).

[kvp]

First, Tomix actually does make a few types of track that do have cable slots. Good examples are their street tracks and car system tracks. Second the problem is usually solved by using flat ribbon cables, that could be laid flat. Afaik this is what Tomix uses for most of it's cables. (TCS, crossing control, turnouts, signal control, etc.)

 

 

Maybe some day someone will come up with some kind of digital system which sends control impulses along the track which are decoded by points and trains fitted with some sort of decoder? Until then the only thing on the menu is cable spaghetti.

If you think of DCC, that does not really work. First, accessory decoders should use their own bus, to avoid overwhelming the track power output or carrying dangerously high currents under the trains, which can be catastrophic in case of a derailment short. Also, position feedback and/or occupancy detection requires the same amount of wires a normal DC system uses. Finally the classic solution to cable spagetti could be to use ribbon cables. You can lay them flat under the rails or under the layout's baseboard, add full width (clip on) connectors to anywhere like a computer parallel ata/floppy cable and take off the required signal pair with a double ended connector pin. (Tomix cables and connectors are compatible with these classic computer cables and connectors) Since Tomix itself uses the same type of cables for many of its accessories, it's a relatively simple solution to cable spaghetti.

[cteno4]

Padre,

 

Glad you enjoyed your first session!

 

Wires, making wires go away will make you a billionaire!

 

Simple to make your own slots, just get a finer flat file and file on the edge to cut your notches where you need them!

 

I've seen some put down a heavy fabric over the surface (like earth brown, or gray) or even a cheap, light flat weave rug/carpet and then you can cut small slits in the fabric (you can later repair unused ones with some tape underneath) to run the wire under the fabric and hide it more, plus give you a more realistic looking starter surface than the totally flat tabletop.

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

Edited September 15, 2014 by cteno4

[Martijn Meerts]

 

Maybe some day someone will come up with some kind of digital system which sends control impulses along the track which are decoded by points and trains fitted with some sort of decoder? Until then the only thing on the menu is cable spaghetti.

 

Marklin's been doing that with their C-track for quite a while, they have a turnout motor and decoder which slot into the roadbed and require no additional wiring. I believe some people have done similar things with a Digitrax decoder and Kato's track.

[Lawrence]

How about some thick cork tiles, you could number them so you fit them the same way each time and carve out little channels to bury the wires in.

[Irish Padre]

Ok so it's not exactly fine scale modelling but here's a temporary bodge..... some Lego, some elastic bands, and we have a cable bridge!!

[railsquid]

Damn, Lego, why didn't I think of that?

[katoftw]

that is think outside the box.

 

although jeffs idea of just cutting grooves/channels into the track is probably the bext solution.  buy a 4 pack of S62 and you have enough to place around your tracks.

[cteno4]

Extruded foam insulation sheets also work well for a temp surface to run on and you can drill holes thru it for wires and run them under the board. They sell it here in the states in thicknesses of 12-50mm in big sheets 2'x8' or 4'x8' usually around 1' think is good and stiff but light and does not take up much room. You can hack it down to smaller sized chunks you can store easily.

 

Our club's first layout was made with these foam chunks that were just framed in some 1'x2' lumber and then we just bolted them together at shows and set them on saw horses.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff