How far do you space on your benchwork ***Built 1 so far ***

[SpaceMouse]

Hey! Stop it now. Let's get back on topic.

Hey T1, what'd ya get done this weekend. I got a bunch done. Wife left me alone. Got the lower track tuned and the cookies cut.

[TurboOne]

jambalaya and gumbo. [dinner], no wait, trains [4:-)], Jambalaya and gumbo [dinner], no, trains [4:-)]. Finally got the right track.

I added some crossbraces and an deciding on location of layout before the next batch of tables. Wife willing, I should finish 1 or 2 tonight at they only are 2 x 6. The bad part is once the wife sees those, she might figure out that it's not a 4 x 8. She knows but forgot, and I'm not reminding her. [:D]

Your's looks great. Are you running any trains now or waiting until completion? Have you worked with wood before, or had any carpentry experience ?

BTW I opened all the Thomas engines, not only is there no room for DCC, I can't even find room to add weight to help them run. You think with the big cabs, they would have some room but nope.

Also have a buddy selling 15 or so engines, so I think I will do it. They are interesting, used, but he added all the little details that the club likes, so I could run them maybe.

Tim

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TurboOne

jambalaya and gumbo. [dinner], no wait, trains [4:-)], Jambalaya and gumbo [dinner], no, trains [4:-)]. Finally got the right track.

I added some crossbraces and an deciding on location of layout before the next batch of tables. Wife willing, I should finish 1 or 2 tonight at they only are 2 x 6. The bad part is once the wife sees those, she might figure out that it's not a 4 x 8. She knows but forgot, and I'm not reminding her. [:D]

She wants it bigger? Bigger is good. [8D]

QUOTE: Your's looks great. Are you running any trains now or waiting until completion? Have you worked with wood before, or had any carpentry experience ?

I was a general contractor for 15 years. Yes, woodworking is easy for me. (now if I can just learn to solder.)

QUOTE: BTW I opened all the Thomas engines, not only is there no room for DCC, I can't even find room to add weight to help them run. You think with the big cabs, they would have some room but nope.

I know there are people on this board that have done it. What about in the tender? You just run the wires along the coupler. As for the weight, what was enough for the Hogwarts Express was a small washer between the spring and the truck.

QUOTE: Also have a buddy selling 15 or so engines, so I think I will do it. They are interesting, used, but he added all the little details that the club likes, so I could run them maybe.

Tim

My opinion, and you know what that is worth, is that the more used ones you play with the better you can decide the things you want in your trains. Also, I ran all the different trains I had on my track while I was tuning it. Most of them had different characteristics. I found that I had to work on different parts of the track for different locos. IN the end, I think I had the best track from the variety. Not surprizingly, the better trains ran the track better over the flaws.

[rrinker]

Alas, poor Thomas, he is a tank engine and thus has no tender.

Might have to go the N scale route and mill away some of the weight to make room for the decoder. Check out some of those really small decoders like the TCS M series.

--Randy

[TurboOne]

Hey guys, we sorta fixed Thomas' weight issue. We put 1/4 ounce weights on the bottom of his truck and as long as there is no rerailers, he runs fine. He runs on the ez track and the big layout. I don't have any switches in anywhere but the DCC section, so I will have to try him over them, If it works, cool.

Randy, I will check out the N Scale idea, Thomas' buddy James has a tender so I might get lucky. Also Thomas does pull Annie and Clarabelle, so I might be able to put the decoder inside one of them and run the wires like Chip suggested.

Thanks for all the info. Can't wait for all 3 of us to finish our layouts.

Now back to Jambalaya and Gumbo...[C=:-)][dinner][dinner][dinner][dinner]

Tim