Well, since I blew it and my turn went out of town an hour before I marked up...I took the day to get caught up on the shelf layout. If you look at my previous pics in the previous forum, you'll see that I was pretty much done with the shelf around the room. I've been contemplating what to do with the turn around loops, and you guys were great with the answers! So..I tackled one room today:
This is the finished product from the doorway to the spare basement area.
I used the remaining max-brackets and those cheap gray hangers on the exposed studs...
On the concrete wall side, I used 2 2x4's cut a tad short. I drilled holes in the center bottoms of each, and then put those adjustable feet in the holes, hot gluing them into place. I went to the local hardware store, and they were a joke! Had NO CLUE what I was talking about, and didn't even bother to try and find the parts. Lowe's was great...anyways, so I split the difference on the two boards with one 2x4. But then I ran into the obvious problem..uh..how do I get to my track to make repairs?
So I got the jigsaw out and cut a rough hole :( I am NOT a carpenter btw lol...
Started mocking up the foam roadbed. Gonna trace it out tomorrow, and start gluing it down with liquid nails, holding in place with T pins.
Mocked up some wiring for the switches. Gonna run the power feeds about every 15 feet or so. I'll solder the power feeds to the track. This gets me to my other questions...
So, I bought terminal strips at RS with jumper blocks. I thought the wiring/terminal block topic was perfect..but I had already figured it out. So, here are the q's:
1. One of the O-22 switches doesnt throw it's frog all the way over to the stock rail either for normal or diverging. I have my TW transformer, and am feeding the three switches power via the accessory ports from the TW's 14v acc post. Do I just need to give it a good cleaning/lube? Any adjustments inside there?
2. If you notice, I have the Cab Controller and the Command Base. Since at this time I'm just running conventional, can I use those? I'm guessing to run the "U" terminal from the transformer to the "U" terminal on the back of the command base, and then on to the track (middle, right?) I can the "U" to a terminal block that's feeding power to my power feeds down the line, correct? I just like to be able to be free from being at the Xfmer all the time when testing, etc.
Thanks!
Hi
As I understand it you have a 175 watt TW transformer. If that is correct the following applies:
On a TW, "U" is the variable voltage or "Hot" post at 7-18 volts and would connect to the center rail.
On this particular transformer, if you are going to run in command, since "A" is the Common* [or "ground"] post on the TW, it will connect to the "U" [common] post on your Command Base and to the Outside [common] rail.
If you are just going to run conventional leave your command base disconnected and connect "A" [common]to the outside rail.
On the TW, "C" and "D" posts are Hot posts, "C" post is fixed voltage at 18 volts and "D" is 14 volts fixed [for accessories. "A" is common here also].
* on many of the pw transformers such as a ZW, "U" is common---the TW is different. But, on a Comm Base, TPCs, etc, the common post will typically be marked "U".
If you wish to run Conventional and control trains with your Cab 1, you will need a track power controller [TPC] or a power master controller, both are Lionel units.
Bob Nelson
Looks good!
underworld
Well, quick update..
I took the problem switch apart, cleaned it up really well. I noticed that the center rail on the trailing point end of the normal route was up in the air compared to the other two rails. Tugs on the tabs underneath with needle nose pliers and some finessing did the trick. Goo Gone is fantastic btw!
I noticed that the gear cam was jumping a tooth, not allowing the points to throw each way. Hopefully with the gunk cleaned out, a little gear lube will make the switch play nice. It now snaps into place each way with the accessory port plugged in!
I bought liquid nails to cement the roadbed to the plywood. Ok..big mistake. I'm going to use carpenter's glue on the remaining portion..much easier to handle. I'll save the liquid nails for the blue styrofoam on the HO layout.
I just need to finish the other loop (stymied on that one) and run the feeders/wire. I think I'll put the transformer into the book shelf. I'll run the power and accessory feed wire out to the underside of the shelf. My terminal strips will be mounted there...should be hidden by the facing on the plywood edge I'm going to put up.
Here is a link to a previous post that I had up a while ago. There are some pictures there of my shelf layout. I don't think any of the pics show the wiring which all runs under the shelf and is hidden from view. All I did was notch the brackets at the 90 degree corner and all the wiring went up through the shelf right under where it was soldered to the track. I also ran aux power to power switches. All the power equip. is in the cabinet by the bookshelves.
http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/785754/ShowPost.aspx
TomS
Tom,
Where was this post when I started! I could have used it.
Oh well, it's a great layout!
Wes
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