SeeYou190 I like as variety of rail sizes, all the way down to code 40. . On STRATTION & GILLETTE layout #4 I had a siding that was code 40 soldered to PC board ties. It was only about 20" long, but that super-light rail made quite an impact. There will be at least one foreground siding on the new layout with this rail. . -Kevin .
I like as variety of rail sizes, all the way down to code 40.
.
On STRATTION & GILLETTE layout #4 I had a siding that was code 40 soldered to PC board ties. It was only about 20" long, but that super-light rail made quite an impact. There will be at least one foreground siding on the new layout with this rail.
-Kevin
Not sure if I'm going that light on my railroad, but I wish I had not purchased a whole bunch of code 100 turnouts (and built my previous layout almost entirely with code 100).
I found a website that discusses rail codes vs weight. Looks like I should be using code 70 for just about everything, if not somewhat smaller (does anyone sell code 65 or code 60 rail for handlaying?).
Found this website to be useful:
http://wpporter.worthygems.com/railweight.php
SeeYou190 RR_Mel I always wanted to use TELCO “D” rings to keep my wiring in order. . Mel, . These things look great and handy! I am definitely going to do this! Thank you very much. . -Kevin .
RR_Mel I always wanted to use TELCO “D” rings to keep my wiring in order.
Mel,
These things look great and handy! I am definitely going to do this! Thank you very much.
Living the dream.
One more thing I wish I made a standard and sadly this is a looking back standard. Code 70 track. Yup,I wish I kept that (to me) high track standard since IMHO it looks far better then C83 or 100..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
SeeYou190 gdelmoro I too built the layout WAY too deep . I made that mistake too, but only 42" worth of mistake. I am 6' 6" tall, and figured I could reach that far. Yes I could, but not without breaking things. . 28" Maximum depth for me now! . -Kevin .
gdelmoro I too built the layout WAY too deep
I made that mistake too, but only 42" worth of mistake. I am 6' 6" tall, and figured I could reach that far. Yes I could, but not without breaking things.
28" Maximum depth for me now!
Let me be the contrarian here. I have some very deep scenes, as much as 4 feet in places. The key is to keep all the railroading in the first 2 feet. The rest I consider to be a 3-D backdrop. Once it's installed, I rarely have to access it. I have a long handled duster when I need to do that chore. If something does need fixing which almost never happens, many of the foreground structures can lift out and my benchwork is strong enough to allow me to climb on it to do the fix. I figured in a worst case scenario, I could get the Topside Creeper sold by Micro-Mark but so far that hasn't been necessary. There is one location where I have put in a liftout access hatch. I could have put more in but I didn't see the need.
PS. I noticed in the recent MR issue that Rod Stewart did the same with his urban scene.
JEREMY CENTANNI I've done it from pretty close to the beginning. Kadee coupler gauge and NMRA standards gauge. Use them early and often on all new bulds and when issues crop us.
I've done it from pretty close to the beginning.
Kadee coupler gauge and NMRA standards gauge. Use them early and often on all new bulds and when issues crop us.
I'll ditto this one, especially the coupler gauge. Nothing good can come from couplers not at the correct height.
I'll contribute one idea of my own. I've tried a number of different methods for road building and none of them turned out as good as I wanted until I started using joint compound that comes in powdered form which you add water to. It has a much longer working time than other materials such as plaster or Durham's Water Putty. I even tried concrete patch. Even after the joint compound begins to set you can continue to work it using a wet foam brush to smooth the pavement. Easier to carve distress cracks into than the other materials.
dinwitty Walther's goo, been around for years, put a dab on the screwdriver, pick that screw and put it in.
WOW! That is a great little kink, and a great solution to a problem. Thank you for sharing this one.
I miss the "KInks" column from Model Railroader. There were lots of good solutions to problems like this in there.
fender777All of the above !
I think fender 777 has it right! Unfortunately we all started out as rookies and many of these items were learned as we blundered through.
I started out very early with Kadee #5's as I always got frustrated with NMRA or whatever the train set couplers were called. I learned pretty early on that wheelsets can be a problem so Kadee came to my rescue again there. Since those days I tried a few of the plastic Kadee clones and quickly threw them away and some other metal wheels which were given away and promptly replaced with KD's. Some things just can't be improved upon.
Like most, I think, I started with code 100 Atlas brass snap track, moved into NS Atlas and then started to hand lay my track in everything from code 55-70-83-100 which I really prefer. I'm now back to Walthers c83 which I like.
By following a few smarter modelers and my career with aircraft I soon adopted as numbering/color coding wiring system which has proven it's benefits over the years. Same with an inventory system for cars, mods & maintenance for all my equipment. Starting with 3x5 file cards it is now a self designed computer inverntory system that has proved a great help.
I can't think of any particular item that I didn't do until later that I wished I had done early on. Not that I'm a genius or anything but with all the great articles and modelers I have been presented with since I started around 1954 just following their leads and thoughts has been such a great help.
One especially helpful part of my railroad upbringing is the advice found in Tony Koesters' Trains of Thought columns and the sage wisdom of Joe Luber from Pro Custom Hobbies. They have both been instrumental in my modeling and thoughts.
Roger Huber
Deer Creek Locomotive Works
CSX_road_slugI always assumed I was going to be a lone wolf,
I am also assuming/preparing that I am going to be a lone wolf railroad operator. Aisles will be failrly narrow, and operation is limited to just me with a single DC cab controller.
Given the ample amount of socializing I get from Wargamers in the garage, I hope this does not turn into a bad decision in the layout room.
cudaken I should have never made a section wider than 32" aginst the wall! Most of my bench work is 44" wide and it is a pain to work on.
Ach... Just wait until you get old.
GRRRrrrr
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
SeeYou190What is the one thing you wish you would have made a standard practice for your railroad as soon as you started building it?
Planning for group operating sessions.
I always assumed I was going to be a lone wolf, so my previous layout had duckunders and narrow aisles. After some local friends convinced me to host op sessions, these shortcomings became really obvious!
I wound up demolishing the old layout and spending 3 years designing and building a better one.
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
I wish I would have kept better track of all of my stuff from the beginning. I waited several years into the hobby to start a database inventory of all of my models including price paid and who I bought it from, which couplers are installed, extra detail parts added, etc. I have a database of all my models including rolling stock and locomotives, structures, cars and trucks, even people and animals. Preiser figures are worth anywhere from $1 to $5 each. Some of the information I had to guess or get from price tags on old boxes. Referring to this information can be very useful. Plus I use the database to print out my car cards.
peahrens I'm glad I've routinely added Kadee couplers and metal wheelsets on my freight rolling stock and many (wheelsets, that is) of the fewer passenger cars. On the process side, I wish I took photos and better notes for each loco (e.g., did I change these LL axle gears?) as I opened it and/or did DC to DCC conversion. On the glad I didn't side, I'm glad I didn't keep count of the number of locos I was acquiring as I enjoyed finding types for my UP layout that were new for my roster and/or an opportunity for a DCC conversion.
I'm glad I've routinely added Kadee couplers and metal wheelsets on my freight rolling stock and many (wheelsets, that is) of the fewer passenger cars.
On the process side, I wish I took photos and better notes for each loco (e.g., did I change these LL axle gears?) as I opened it and/or did DC to DCC conversion.
On the glad I didn't side, I'm glad I didn't keep count of the number of locos I was acquiring as I enjoyed finding types for my UP layout that were new for my roster and/or an opportunity for a DCC conversion.
Pea, I use a program called RRTrains. It's an inventory program that allows you to enter any, and all, information about your railroad equipment. It also allows you to refer to a picture of each piece. I'm including a link to their website.
RR Trains
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
OK... Based on my experience theis week I will add the following.
I wish I would have built 1:1 track plan mock-ups out of cardboard for every new layout I ever built. This has been the best learning and experimentation tool I have ever used.
I can only reflect on how much easier this would have made previous layout projects. This was effort very well spent.
1. Hand laid code 83 track. If someone shows you how, it goes pretty quickly (not as fast as nailing down flex track). I also cannot find a curved turnout with the radius I need, so I will be handlaying. If you have a lot of the same frog turnout, a fast tracks jig is an excellent investment. Calculated cost for a code 83 turnout is somewhere around half of a manufactured code 83 turnout (I think somewhere between 10-15 is the break even point). I handlaid a number 4 with no copper ties, it took about 3hrs to build and works flawlessly. Later I will go back and slip tie plates and scale spikes in between the out of scale spikes.
2. Sergent couplers
3. Use a screw to attach coupler boxes, not glue.....Intermountain (also me 5 years ago). It is very easy to say "why would I ever need to take a coupler off" <--I said those exact words. You will find a need one day (Kadees do break if subjected to the right force at the correct angle).
I would not have handlaid any rail. I found it very time consuming to do, required a lot of maintenance, didn't really save me much money and is only marginally better looking. I figured out that good operation is more important to me that fine-tuned appearance. Not that the ready-made turnouts are all better; I've had trouble with some of them too. But on the balance, premade turnouts and flex track have given me the most reliable operation.
Granted, I learned a lot, and if I ever need to custom build a turnout for an odd shape, I know how. As of now, I'm replacing most of the handlaid trackage as time and budget allow.
Genesee Terminal, freelanced HO in Upstate NY ...hosting Loon Bay Transit Authority and CSX Intermodal. Interchange with CSX (CR)(NYC).
CP/D&H, N scale, somewhere on the Canadian Shield
BRAKIE I always had high standards as far as smooth track work,couplers and trip pins at their correct height and wheels in gauge with smooth running trucks..My X2F couplers would work flawlessly because of the extra steps I took. Even my Hobbytown RS-3 and GP7s drives would creep from tie to tie. My above "standards" has always been driven by pride.. You see I want 100% trouble free operation and anything less is highly unacceptable.
I always had high standards as far as smooth track work,couplers and trip pins at their correct height and wheels in gauge with smooth running trucks..My X2F couplers would work flawlessly because of the extra steps I took. Even my Hobbytown RS-3 and GP7s drives would creep from tie to tie.
My above "standards" has always been driven by pride.. You see I want 100% trouble free operation and anything less is highly unacceptable.
I agree. I have no home layout, so when I go to the club it is to work on something there or something of mine I can't do at home. But most of all I want to run some trains trouble free.
Am I only allowed one?
1. I too built the layout WAY too deep (10'). Many years ago I expanded my 4 x 8 into a 10 x 18. Not knowing any better, the objective was to create a large diorama type layout.
2. I did a lot of research about track plans but NONE on how to lay track. Seemed pretty strait forward.
Gary
Kadee short shank, whisker scale couplers on everything.
Adding dates to my freight car inside the case.
I have over a few decades of freight cars from 1950-2006.
1956-1968, 1971-1974, 1978-1989, and 1998-2007.
Organizing freight cars this ways helps me putting freight cars in there approximate era. And stops the confusing looks when putting cars on.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
I should have never made a section wider than 32" aginst the wall! Most of my bench work is 44" wide and it is a pain to work on.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Modular layout construction. It speeds up construction, tracklaying, wiring, etc... It's also very helpful for moving, or re-doing scenes. Working from curent standards like Free-Mo makes it real easy.
Modeling whatever I can make out of that stash of kits that takes up half my apartment's spare bedroom.