Reggie...If you want my opinion , .... Knowing you will be back, I would oil them up and put them in a good dry storage place and keep them. When you come back, they will be there for you. That would be a lot cheaper than trying to replace them.
Chuck
As it's been said before...not time has been wasted. It's a bitter sweet victory for you and your family. You'll probably have an even bigger layout when all is said and done. We all want to see the progress of the new layout too.
Good luck!
Hi Reggie,
You didn't waste anyones time. I've learned alot from the questions you've asked and enjoyed watching your progress. I hope you stick around but like mentioned earlier, it's good that you have your priorities straight. Trains will always be around no matter how long of a break you decide to take.
REGGIE,
Wish you da best in your endevors. Your always welcome here in Millerburg, Pa. if you can ever find it? Doors open and I do have OLD MILWAUKEE on tap. Keep in touch wit UZ GIZ.
laz57
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Reggie, as others have said, you wasted no ones time. You have become a part of this family and so, we laugh with you, pray with and for you, and only wish the best for you and your family. You have come a long way with your abilities, only wish I could have contributed more to it. I have some good friends originally from SA and should you need any help/information, I am sure we can get it to you.
Please remember us and catch us up from time to time. And Yes, you are always welcome to visit when you get around these parts. Please post here, and by all means, email me if you get the chance.
God Bless you and your family,
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Reggie, sorry yoyu have to leave, been sneakin' a peek on your progress. Family is important and in my own family I made a smaller move to keep the family intact. Blessing upon your family, keep the faith, good luck and I'll keep an eye out for you in the aafl. KEEP IN TOUCH!
Rich
I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.I am the venom in your skin --- Breaking Benjamin
Reggie.....Thanks for sharing with us. You have a great layout started.
Good luck to you and your family. Keep in touch.
Hi Reggie !! It sure was a pleasure talking to you & watching your layout grow & of course the new little one coming along !! I wish you & the family the best & hope you post when you can !!
Thanks, John
Hi Reggie! Sorry about the layout...God has a way of rewarding.
Congratulations on the new playing position, and good luck to you and your family in the new location.
Thank you for the play by play on the layout...It is very inspiring! I don't think I would have the patience to build something that big. Seeing you do it made it seem a little more within reach.
Please keep in touch with us here, and let me know when you make it to Detroit.
Kurt
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
Good luck Reggie. No time wasted here. The next time you set up a layout you will find ways to imporve what you did on this layout. The experience will prove to be very valuable for you I think.
Regards, Roy
I wasn't that much help to you, (I don't know that much) shhh don't tell anyone. But whatever you do don't EVEN think you wasted anyones time. The ONLY way it would be wasted is if you don't keep in touch with us!!! Remember the pot is always available. I will make sure a fresh pot is on at night to accommodate the time difference. KEEP IN TOUCH !!!!
Again, in my opinion your doing the right thing! Family is first, and don't forget to post some pictures of that beautiful girl you have.
Don
Reggie
You are wise in keeping your priorities straight. I have enjoyed watching your layout grow. I feel the pain of terminating a project before fininshing especially after investing the energy and time into it. What you have gained in experience will serve you well for your next layout. Please keep in touch.
May God bless you and your family with this new endevor.
Jim
Reggie, you'll need to do some of the same things that our European friends do to run American trains in South Africa. Their voltage is also 230 and their frequency 50 hertz, but their plugs are very unusual. Here is a link to a site that shows all of that:
http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm
Bob Nelson
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
WOWZER! Hey Reggie...you wasted no ones time here. You made friends, shared your layout and contributed. I only wish you the best in your travels, Sounds like you'll be in the states for a while so keep logging in. Also when you get over seas log on. Great thing about the web is it's world wide.
Safe journey my friend.
Trying to update my avatar since 2020
MartyE and Kodi the Husky Dog! ( 3/31/90-9/28/04 ) www.MartyE.com My O Gauge Web Page and Home of Kodiak Junction!
Only just a small note to your connections. Isn't it wiser to solder your joints? I see that even the wires are screwed with crimp connectors to your toggle switches. Of course this works fine, and a lot of people do it this way, but I know from my work that these screwed connections loosen up sometimes, resulting in problems or power failures.
May be you could add some locktite in the screw holes to prevent the srews from loosening up. I use a solder iron and resincore solder to make connections, it is about equal timeconsuming, but the connection can't loosen up afterwards.
@lionelsony, the way I tried to explain is about the same as yours regarding the phasing of transformers. Based on low or high voltage difference while in or out of phase. I only don't connect the ground wires before checking and am probably a bit blurry describing how I'm doing it.. It works with my transformers however.
On old transformers, those without electronic voltage regulators, you can hear it by the humming sound of the transformer. If you are out of phase, those old transformers make a lot more noise. Not that that is the way to go, since measuring, even if it's only a light, is much securer in these sort of things.
The new ZW have tracks 1 and 4 to be run as conventional or at 18 volts. You have to do it manually with the Cab1. Press TR 1 and then turn your red button clockwise this will bring you power to your tracks. You can run conventional engines this way. Or you can bring TR 1 and TR4 up to full power and press ENG whatever and run them with TMCC. You can also have all of them running in TMCC by press the preset in the back of the ZW check your booklet that they gave you. Hope this helps.
1st a couple items i got from the hobby shop: fsu collegiate boxcar
cn sd40-2 lionel.
2nd pics of some wiring i did start from the drilled hole from the track to the barrier block, from the barrier block to the toggle switch, from the toggle switch out the drilled hole to the transformers.
3rd i have a question about this wiring.
i have two zw's with six 180 power bricks, connected to those wires i showed earlier. i have the tmcc command base hooked up to the "a" post on the first transformer. i have the red wire to line 1 and a post on first transformer, blue wire to line 2 and b post first trans former, green wire to line 3 and c post first transformer, yellow wire to line 4 and d post first transformer, brown wire to line 5 and a post to second transformer, orange wire to yard/roundhouse/ test track all on b post of second transformer, and i have the black wire common connected to all u post on both transformers together. if i'm right they should be phased right.
now i turn all of it on and all of the bricks are on, lit up, and neither of them are tripped. next i turn the lever's up to post a/b/c/d on transformer one, and post a/b to transformer two to give the track some power. next i hit each individual toggle switch to turn on power for all the lines. now line 1 and 4 bricks on transformer one and lines 1 and 2 bricks on transformer two dont trip, but line 2 and 3 bricks on transformer one trip. now when i turned it on only power went to the b post on transformer two. which is to the yard and roundhouse came on, also when i put the command control engine on it all the sounds worked but when i turn the big red button for it to move in either direction it would not move, but when i held down the boost button it moved in both directions and i hit the brakes button it stopped quickly, i could shut it down and start it up on this line, but there is no power to lines 1, 2 ,3, 4 of transformer one and lines 5 of transformer two. please help i'm lost if you dont understand please pm me and i will give you my number or you can give me your number. maybe by me telling you over the phone vs. typing it can give you a better understanding.
With completely separate loops, you can indeed wire the commons of the loops together and use the same return wire to the transformers. In fact, if the transformers are out of phase with each other, this return then becomes a neutral, in which the return currents cancel each other, reducing or eliminating voltage drop in the return wire.
I don't understand your "phasing" instructions, Daan. I would connect the transformer commons together, then connect the lamp from a variable output of one transformer to a variable output of the other transformer, set to approximately the same voltage. If the lamp is bright, the transformers are out of phase; if dim, they are in phase.
Here is my usual warning against running trains between blocks powered from different transformer outputs--even if they are in phase, and especially if they are outputs from the same transformer.
daan wrote: As soon as you connect the tracks with eachother by a switch, loop or even a simple activation section in the track (crossing) those "seperate" loops are connected and you should get your transformers phased to eachother. In this case, with the transformers phased, you can use a single ground buswire for all the tracks connected.Phasing is simple done with a lightbulb (20 volts) and 2 wires connected to it. Power up your transformers and connect the ground from the first with the ground from the second transformer with the lamp. If the bulb lights up, the plug of the transformer needs to be turned 180 degrees. Then do the same with the second and third transformer untill every transformer has it's ground on the same side. (in other words, connecting your bulb to any of the ground outlets on your transformers doesn't make it light up.)
As soon as you connect the tracks with eachother by a switch, loop or even a simple activation section in the track (crossing) those "seperate" loops are connected and you should get your transformers phased to eachother. In this case, with the transformers phased, you can use a single ground buswire for all the tracks connected.
Phasing is simple done with a lightbulb (20 volts) and 2 wires connected to it. Power up your transformers and connect the ground from the first with the ground from the second transformer with the lamp. If the bulb lights up, the plug of the transformer needs to be turned 180 degrees. Then do the same with the second and third transformer untill every transformer has it's ground on the same side. (in other words, connecting your bulb to any of the ground outlets on your transformers doesn't make it light up.)
i think you just answered my ?. all of my tracks are connected to each other via switches. so i guess i'm ok then.
thanks for the help.
It depends on the construction of your layout. If it's build with several loops which are not connected (in other words, you have multiple single track layouts together on one table) it's most convieniant to see them as seperate layouts and wire the hot and ground wire for each layout seperately. Phasing is not necessary here, because the tracks operate like multiple single layouts. You can't use a shared ground buswire however.
i'm headed back to the room as we all know it as the train room from a few days break from it as i wore myself out from the last visit last weekendt to do a little more wiring. i have a question before i start to work again. i know the displays in the zw pamplets show phasing the ground for both transformers. my ? is can/should i use one ground wire for all the mainline power or should i have 1 per mainline.
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