stebbycentral,
Wow, it sure has been along time. My apologies for not sharign all my progress with you, oh but wait, I haven't really made any progress.
I actually have done a little bit of work, but not very much. I will take a couple of pics, and do a follow post ovewr the next few days.
I retired in July 2014, and that is when I really got busy, I have no idea where the time goes.
Aflyer
Aflyer,
I'ts been 6 months and not a peep out of you. How about some progress pictures?
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
Great soldering job! Looks like a professional's work.
Following along,
Kix66
Walt,
Thanks for following along, and commenting on my posts.
Thanks for the tip on All Electronics, I'll go check them out.
I may not be qualified to give advice but its great to watch your progress especially since we both got started around the same time. Just letting you know I am following along.
Hey, I am using the same red/white twisted bell wire from Lowe's for my feeders. But I ended up ordering a bunch of wire for everything else from All Electronics. Local electrical supplies seem to be very limited these days.
Huntington Junction - Freelance based on the B&O and C&O in coal country before the merger... doing it my way. Now working on phase 3. - Walt
For photos and more: http://www.wkhobbies.com/model-railroad/
Not a very exciting day workign on the railroad, but I did make some progress. The lower level sub roadbed is mostly attached to the benchwork for the short loop.
Not a very exciting but necessary job, I cleaned a bunch of track, and began the task of soldering the feeder wires. I went with a 14 gauge bus as I had shared earlier and based on lots of input I decided to go with 20 ga. solid feeders. And you are correct, this is much easier to solder to the track.
I found the red and white easily in a twisted pair from Lowe's it was 20/2 Bell wire. The green and black was harder to find so I ended up at Radio shack and got a couple of 25 foot spool so I could get started.
Attached is a photo of some sample sections with the feeders soldered, and a couple after I put the track back in the roadbed.
Thanks for looking.
Hi all, a little more progress in the last week or so. I have posted pictures below, I now have all the sub roadbed cut, and the track is roughly cut and fit in place. The photos start on the short, 12 foot leg, and continue around to the longer, 16' leg. No bridges built yet, and I will probably just build a sub roadbed for each of the four tracks and build the bridges later.
I have decided to go with a farm scene and placed a barn, house, and a siding for the cattle pen and the milk car. I will add maybe a field, a pasture, and a garden, and maybe a farm pond. Comments always welcome.
Tomorrow I will take it all apart and start the real assembly on the lower level. I still need to level and square up some of the benchwork. I plan to glue down the road bed and start wiring track feeders to the bus.
The outer most curve leads to a bridge over the ravine connecting to the loop shown above. The two sidings are there to service unknown industries. The farm was originally going to be here, but this area seemed to cramped.
The upper level on this loop is only sitting on 2.5 inch blocks, when permanently placed it will be 5 inches above the base level.
The Yard.
The turntable fits between the lead track and the roundhouse, and I have a water tank, but will add more work track coming off the turntable. On the lower lever will be the AF 799 passenger station.
All comments and help welcomed, and thank you for looking
Altoona,
S Gauge is alive and well! Lionel is making several products for S, there is American Models, MTH has a nice start on cars and diesel engines with more coming in 2014. And many more I can't think of at the moment.
I run a whole roster of old AF steam engines and they run like clocks, I also have some diesels that run great too. I have never had any serious problems with any of the 50 year old American Flyer stuff and at our club we run the old steamers for hours and hours with virtually no breakdowns.
If you are into eBay at all, do a search on American flyer, it will bring up 4-5,000 items for sale at any given time. You don't need to buy anything or even setup an account to do searches.
I am glad to hear you are thinking of building a layout and the folks on these forums are ready and willing to help you get setup and running those old trains again.
Thank you for your compliment,
Matthew,
Hi, knowing the dap will stick to painted sub roadbed is a big help, I probably should go ahead and do some base painting before getting into assembly.
I am guessing a need a small pile of bricks or something similar to hold the track in place while the DAP caulk sets up. I haven't gone to buy any yet, so haven't read the specs, does that stuff setup quickly, overnight or some where in between?
Wow, your club, your building and your layout all sound amazing. Thank you for sharing your we-site very informative. The layout photos show a real high quality product.
Totally loving the S Gauge stuff. I have an American flyer set that was my fathers that I would love to build a layout for. i'll be watching this post very closely to see how you make out. Are you going to be able to get all of the S supplies you're going to need? Are you going to be able to modernize the old AF stuff to make it function properly?
Thanks, keep up the good work.
aflyer Matthew, I am thinking the same same thing it will be easier to roll a coat of latex on everything before assembly, and you are right it would look a lot better. I also was thinking about glueing the roadbed down and thinking it might stick better on the bare wood, so no decision yet, I will keep reading what others are doing. Thank you, Aflyer
I am thinking the same same thing it will be easier to roll a coat of latex on everything before assembly, and you are right it would look a lot better. I also was thinking about glueing the roadbed down and thinking it might stick better on the bare wood, so no decision yet, I will keep reading what others are doing.
Thank you,
If you're gluing roadbed down, it will bond better to bare wood, but you're not joining cabinetry here, the yellow glue will still hold to paint as well as the prefered DAP caulking. only difference is caulk will allow for any minor changes and remains slightly flexible @ the joint. Some feel that caulking can even slightly isolate a bit of the sound transmission as well.
The Club is www.ssmrc.org It is almost a warehouse, a 50' x 200' building Navy bomb assy building.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
bogp40,
That is an awesome club layout you have there, how big is it, it looks like a warehouse full?
My layout is in a climate controlled bonus room as you guessed. That probably means I don't have to paint the wood for protection. I am thinking about gluing the track down, this is an AF layout and I have the rubber roadbed which I think might glue down pretty well. Knowing the DAP will stick to the bare wood better than a painted surface is a good tip.
matthewd5I wasn't even considering climate, I just thought it would look better having a matching or complimentary color Matthew
The subroadbed will be covered w/ roadbed, ballast and scenery at some time. Many will paint the "plywood prarrie" especially if it is years before doing the scenery.
aflyer I have a question about the next steps on my layout. I hope to finish all the cutting and fitting of sub roadbed, and then plan to start soldering wires to track sections cleaning and painting track and road bed etc. My question is about painting the sub road bed, should I give all the sub road bed a base coat of paint prior to laying the track? The alternative would be laying track first and then painting. Is there a preferred method? Thank you, Aflyer
I have a question about the next steps on my layout. I hope to finish all the cutting and fitting of sub roadbed, and then plan to start soldering wires to track sections cleaning and painting track and road bed etc.
My question is about painting the sub road bed, should I give all the sub road bed a base coat of paint prior to laying the track? The alternative would be laying track first and then painting. Is there a preferred method?
It appears that the room/ space for your layout is in a rather controlled envionment. If this was in an attic, basement or garage, painting would be an excellent choice for stability. In your case, I feel painting the subroadbed is not needed. I don't know what you plan to use for roadbed (cork, foam etc) or method of adhering it, but the bare plywood will accept any glue, caulking or adhesive w/o any trouble. At the point you are now, I would use DAP Alex Plus caulk for both the roadbed and track. Any minor changes or fiddling w/ track can easily be done by lifting the track/ roadbed w/ a thin flexible putty knife.
My club's rather large layout is in a fully climate controlled space, none of the L-girder, open frame or the 3/4" birch plywood has been sealed or painted. We have never had any issues w/ the trackwork due to this. I realize much is on spline which is most forgiving to any moisture/ humidity changes, but we still have quite a good portion on plywood "strips"
Hi, and thank you for the tips. The plywood is 7 layer "hardwood" from Lowes, and you are right it does get pretty flexible when cut into 4" wide ribbons. I don't know if it is birch, but it seems to be decent quality, with only small voids here and there.
I had thought about adding stiffeners, and actually adding a couple more beams so I can have risers about every 12' where those curves are.
Thank you for your comments,
When I first saw the initial "upper" level plywood installed, I was ready to mention that you don't have to fully "deck" those raised portions. I notice the arcs of what appears to be 1/2" birch now for the sweeping curved grades. Even though this quality plywood may seem quite secure/ stable now, I would add additional supports on those turns. Plywood is strongest when the outer graining is parallel to the cut, as you cut the arc and that "grain" becomes crosscut the plywood looses a fair amout of it's strength. Also bending up plywood in this fashion sometimes tends to want to twist. tilt downward opposite of any desired superelevation. Placing additional risers and keeping the subroadbed secure and level will prevent any future trouble on those turns. If placing the added risers is too difficult, adding stiffeners under the plywood is also an option. Very nice work, that Mianne benchwork is rather remarkable.
Hi all,
I have made a little progress on the layout today, I am learning how to cut cookie cutter sub roadbed, and am actually quite happy with how it looks.
The risers are just temporary, to check the grades and make sure everything fits together I have most of the splices cut for joining with biscuits, but I wont glue them until I am ready to assemble this whole leg of the layout.
This first shot is the end view of the 12 foot leg of the layout
The grades are measuring just under 2%, 1" rise in about 54" of track length.
l
Six feet cut out 6 more to go. The next six might go faster, I am learning as I go.
All comments welcome, nothing is screwed or glued yet.
Thank you for looking,
Johnboy,
Thank you for the compliment, I am pretty happy with how it is turning out, just wish it was going a little faster.
I am watching the clearances, my roadbed and track is about .5 inch, which only gives me 4.5 inches to the bottom of the upper level. Once I get everything "tacked" together for a dry fit I think I will know better if I need to make changes.
I have been looking for "S" portals to see that they measure and I think they are 5.5 inches.
Batman,
Thank you, thats a good idea, I'll look into it.
Hi Aflyer,
I am sure you have this covered, but just in case you haven't, I would remind you that on your overpass clearances be sure to take in the additional height of the roadbed and track as well as the tallest car you will operate plus an additional 1/4 inch. (just in case factor)
I have seen where a few people ended up with doing a major reconstruction as they overlooked the roadbed and track in their planning.
You are doing some very nice work, I am sure you will enjoy your layout for a very long time.
The secret is to make it as bullet proof as you can for trouble free operation.
Johnboy out.................................now if I can just get to the Train Room today.
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Have been following with interest.
As far as hook up to the power source, I do mine with a terminal block. This is a photo of another spot on my layout, not at the power source but same idea. Two wires from the power source with bus wires going off in different directions.
"> As far as ending the bus wires goes. I just hook up my last feeder (furthest away) to the ends. No left over to deal with. Looks like your having fun. Good luck.
As far as ending the bus wires goes. I just hook up my last feeder (furthest away) to the ends. No left over to deal with.
Looks like your having fun. Good luck.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Good morning all,
It's been a long time since I last posted, and I haven't made much progress on the layout. But I am getting started again and will post a few photo's this weekend.
I am about to start cutting my sub road bed, and trying to decide on the width. My rubber roadbed is 2.5 inches wide and I am thinking 4 inches for the plywood.
I know this is subjective and also depends on the amount of room between the tracks, however I am looking for any input you have to share.
Thank you in advance,Aflyer
Texas Zepher,
Hi and great to hear from you, one of the original guys who gets credit for my current track plan.
Thanks for the input on the bus lines. I am thinking I need to tie the loose ends of the bus to the benchwork just so they don't flop around and fall out of the holes.
This as a Flyer AC layout, but I appreciate your answer on two shorter bus lines running out of the transformer. One will go in each direction from the transformer which I have decided will go roughly in the middle of the layout. Thanks for that piece of advice.
aflyerMy questions are: How to you anchor the ends of the bus to the benchwork? If you have your control center in the middle of the layout what is the preferred method to connect the transformer to the bus? Do you cut the loop and connect to the transformer as two seperate wires? Or pass the wire through a terminal block and then feed the transformer to the terminal block?
How to you anchor the ends of the bus to the benchwork?
If you have your control center in the middle of the layout what is the preferred method to connect the transformer to the bus? Do you cut the loop and connect to the transformer as two seperate wires? Or pass the wire through a terminal block and then feed the transformer to the terminal block?