Ugh... I toasted a TCS decoder after I'd had it installed. I was programming it but noticed the headlight wasn't lit. Then the blue spark, orange glow, and white smoke within a second of each other.
Good news on 2 points. TCS has a "goof-proof, no questions asked" replacement policy. Also, I reqired the engine for DC to check it and no damage to the motor or anything else.
Oh, well. Guess I'm set back until I can get the replacement decoder.
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
Dave Vollmer wrote: Ugh... I toasted a TCS decoder after I'd had it installed. I was programming it but noticed the headlight wasn't lit. Then the blue spark, orange glow, and white smoke within a second of each other.Good news on 2 points. TCS has a "goof-proof, no questions asked" replacement policy. Also, I reqired the engine for DC to check it and no damage to the motor or anything else.Oh, well. Guess I'm set back until I can get the replacement decoder.
Well it could be worse, you could have toasted the locomotive, now that would suck royally.
What should be the spacing between parallel track (rail to rail?)
Dewayne
A new section of track/layout I plan to build has to span a window. Any Ideas how I can build a lift out section so that the blinds can lowered and raised?
Dewayne wrote: What should be the spacing between parallel track (rail to rail?)Dewayne
1 1/4" track center to track center is good. It might be increased to 1 1/2" on tighter cuves if you are running longer equipment, but then again, the longer equipement won't look to pretty on those curves.
Dewayne wrote: A new section of track/layout I plan to build has to span a window. Any Ideas how I can build a lift out section so that the blinds can lowered and raised?
You could build it like a swing out section, or, automate the blinds!
I just found a problem in RTS V7.0.2.33 .
The grid spacing does not show correctly when you zoom to zoom level 1 or 2. Zoom level 3 and higher shows correctly.
Well The main line and one industrial section is down. The unitrack is great, made a few loops with a small train and no derailments, goes through the turnouts sweet as can be. First trains I have run since losing my leg 3 years ago. Hopefully will have all the track down by the end of next weekend.
GREAT NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY - Report #1
Land rights have been granted and the Right-of-Way has been cleared. We now have open spaces to begin construction. Land surveying is in the works to determine best passage way with allotted amount of land. Power tools have been gathered from previous borrowers and lumber will arrive soon. Pictures will be posted soon.
The current GNPR will serve the two backwoods towns of Black Diamond and Tincup in the Pacific Northwest and will have interchanges North, South and East to Seattle, Portland and Yakama respectively.
Tincup is the smaller of the two towns with a quarry as it's main industry. There is also a grocer warehouse and large lumber supply near the Tincup depot. In addition there are a few stores in the area serving the nearby residents.
Black Diamond is an industrial town with a fuel depot situated just inside of town as you cross the Green River. The fuel depot carries oil , coal and wood for home heating. Along the line is the Black Diamond depot just before entering the main industrial area. The industrial area is flanked by a large lumber mill and cement plant with a few smaller industrial buildings in between.
Just behind the industrial area of Black Diamond is a small yard where interchanges move out North, South and East.
There is a lot of work to complete but all are looking forward to beginning construction. As construction progresses additional reports will be published and photos provided.
Owner and Operator of The Great Northern Pacific Railway.Headquartered in Olympia, Washington
Rob Newman
I have been laying a lot of Atlas flex track lately. I really dislike the looks of the ties at the end of a piece of flex when it is joined. I found that Atlas makes "end ties"(ET) for HO flex. This ET is shown in the following URL - https://secure.atlasrr.com/mmMOD1/Images/598.JPG . Atlas does not make these ET's for "N" Flex track. What I have found is if you cut the ET's off of their 2501 straight track they will slip over the flex track very easily. I tried to use ET's off of their curved sections and they don't slip over the flex very well and I advise you not to use ET's off of curved sections. It's a lot of work to get them to fit - not worth the effort.
I received the couplers from Kato today and I got them installed with no problems.
Now they are ready to go when I get the layout back in a running condition.
Question for the n scale experts. I have a spare HO power pack, rated at 19 volts ac and 5.5va. Are there guidelines/specs on what size power pack can be used with N scale ?
I'd like to use this spare if possible.
I have a old tyco im using for now until I get decoders in my locos. One thing though you will want to run multipel locos together to get suck more power, otherwise the loco will basically only run on 1 speed if its running light or with a small amount of rolling stock behind it.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
I really don't want to start anything and I normally don't use the word 'wrong', but R.T. what you said in this last post is highly incorrect and could easily break things.
First off, Mailman said he had a 19V AC power pack rated at 5.5VA. 5.5VA @ 19Vac wields about 290mA! That is 0.29A and is barely enough to run a Loco on HO. Plus its AC whereas HO & N locos run on conventional DC (Providing its not DCC we are talking about.)
To get that powerpack to work Mailman, you will need to run the output of that power pack through a FullWave Bridge Rectifier. Even then though, you will have about 11.7Vdc with a maximum amp capacity of 290mA. Unless you read the specs on it incorrectly, that power supply just isnt gonna cut it.
Second off, N scale locos draw less power which means that their motor's resistance is higher, not lower. (plus don't get confused between resistance and impedance, they aren't the same thing!) You are correct in saying that 12V is 12V if you are talking about taking a 12VDC power pack and using it on both HO and N. No issues there. Just make sure it is actually a 12VDC powerpack!
Lastly, adding resistance(and/or impedance) in parallel will not increase the circuits overall resistance, but will, in fact, lower it and draw more current! Which translates into a very hot resistor. If you need to limit current to a device, then install a resistor in series with just that device.
Dave Loman
My site: The Rusty Spike
"It's a penny for your thoughts, but you have to put your 2 cents in.... hey, someone's making a penny!"
Mailman, I'd take it to a hobby shop and ask them.
You could also do a search on the internet for your model and see what you can find.
claymore1977 wrote: I really don't want to start anything and I normally don't use the word 'wrong', but R.T. what you said in this last post is highly incorrect and could easily break things.First off, Mailman said he had a 19V AC power pack rated at 5.5VA. 5.5VA @ 19Vac wields about 290mA! That is 0.29A and is barely enough to run a Loco on HO. Plus its AC whereas HO & N locos run on conventional DC (Providing its not DCC we are talking about.) To get that powerpack to work Mailman, you will need to run the output of that power pack through a FullWave Bridge Rectifier. Even then though, you will have about 11.7Vdc with a maximum amp capacity of 290mA. Unless you read the specs on it incorrectly, that power supply just isnt gonna cut it.Second off, N scale locos draw less power which means that their motor's resistance is higher, not lower. (plus don't get confused between resistance and impedance, they aren't the same thing!) You are correct in saying that 12V is 12V if you are talking about taking a 12VDC power pack and using it on both HO and N. No issues there. Just make sure it is actually a 12VDC powerpack!Lastly, adding resistance(and/or impedance) in parallel will not increase the circuits overall resistance, but will, in fact, lower it and draw more current! Which translates into a very hot resistor. If you need to limit current to a device, then install a resistor in series with just that device.
Thanks Claymore, good info. I think you're correct; I may have misread the pack. Here is all the info. printed on it, exactly as it appears on the pack:
Output: 19V AC 0 ~ 18VDC 5.5VA
Basically, I'm just wondering if I would fry an n scale loco using this pack. Obviously, that would depend on the loco, etc., but just in general.
RR Redneck wrote:GUYS, IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I finally have secured a place to build my new N scale Layout. It will be 4x8, plenty room.
I have buit and dissmantled about six layouts in my time and mostly its because new trackage rights were obtained. I currently finished off two walls in my garage and added partitions to limit the size of the RR. I am committed to this layout and will not expand further into the garage as all it leads to is more plywood layout. Even thogh I don't enjoy some aspects of scenery, once I get past it I love to see the trains run and the visitors see progress.
The most successfull and closest to finished layout I had was 3x6 with a fair sized trestle. The size limit actually forced me to move on to the next phase. I had it in the garage and left the door open often causing cureous passers by to investigate. This layout was a big hit and my wife and 14 year old daughter remind me all the time that I should not have tore it down.
Be carefull what you think you want. Limit/challenge yourself to get to a certain degree of completteness on a layout. Also, lesson learned, don"t tear the old one down untill you can run trains if possible.
John
spidge wrote: RR Redneck wrote:GUYS, IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I finally have secured a place to build my new N scale Layout. It will be 4x8, plenty room.I have buit and dissmantled about six layouts in my time and mostly its because new trackage rights were obtained. I currently finished off two walls in my garage and added partitions to limit the size of the RR. I am committed to this layout and will not expand further into the garage as all it leads to is more plywood layout. Even thogh I don't enjoy some aspects of scenery, once I get past it I love to see the trains run and the visitors see progress.The most successfull and closest to finished layout I had was 3x6 with a fair sized trestle. The size limit actually forced me to move on to the next phase. I had it in the garage and left the door open often causing cureous passers by to investigate. This layout was a big hit and my wife and 14 year old daughter remind me all the time that I should not have tore it down.Be carefull what you think you want. Limit/challenge yourself to get to a certain degree of completteness on a layout. Also, lesson learned, don"t tear the old one down untill you can run trains if possible.
Spidge,
Great information and insite! I am on my first layout and will get some work done on it this weekend!! Mine is a 30"x48" not a lot of room but enough for an intresting layout. I am still in the track planing stages, I have put in two basic track plans and neither really worked for me, so on to layouts 3 and 4. Which I hope to put on a disk tonight and bring them into work tomorrow and up load them for comments.
And RR,
Good luck on the 4'x8' keep us posted!!
Curt
Dewayne wrote: I have been laying a lot of Atlas flex track lately. I really dislike the looks of the ties at the end of a piece of flex when it is joined. I found that Atlas makes "end ties"(ET) for HO flex. This ET is shown in the following URL - https://secure.atlasrr.com/mmMOD1/Images/598.JPG . Atlas does not make these ET's for "N" Flex track. What I have found is if you cut the ET's off of their 2501 straight track they will slip over the flex track very easily. I tried to use ET's off of their curved sections and they don't slip over the flex very well and I advise you not to use ET's off of curved sections. It's a lot of work to get them to fit - not worth the effort.
I always just took leftover ties, shaved off the spike details, and slid them under the joint. Paint and ballast makes it all look better.
Because I solder my rail joints, it's better for me not to have plastic ties right at the joint until after I'm done soldering. Otherwise the ties can melt. I have soldered joints with "end ties" like the rerailer sections I use for grade crossings. I use a lot of flux and a 140 Watt iron and do it very quickly. Linger more than 1-2 seconds and you turn your ties to goo.
Dewayne wrote: Mailman, I'd take it to a hobby shop and ask them.You could also do a search on the internet for your model and see what you can find.
Thanks, unfortunately, there isn't a hobby shop anywhere around here. Good idea re the actual loco. I did a general google on n scale electrical specs, but it (obviously) didn't turn anything up.
A little trick : I use is to take extria ties and sand them down untell the spike heads are gone,then slide them under the joints in my flex track,I did this when I was doing "HO" and now I do it with my "N" scale and it works great,and looks good!!
my 2cents worth
JIM
I have an MRC 7000 sound and power power pack I've had for years,it has an switch on the back to change from "G" scale to "HO/N" It seams to work fine on my "N" as well as it did on my "HO" I've run as high as four GP'S in consist and had know problems with it,my back up power is an MRC-1370 it handles HO and N also.I hav'nt ever fried an Engine !
trainfreek92 wrote:How many of you guys like Intermountain N scale locos? I got one the other day for my bday. (Maine Central F3A) And it runs very good and quiet. Is this the norm with Intermountain. Honestly it runs better then some of my Atlas n scale locos. What about you guys?
I don't have any, but I've heard good things about them.
I've got one of the SD40T-2s in DMIR and I love it, I wanna get the other 2 numbers. Its a great loco. Today was also a good day for track laying. I laid 24 feet of track, scratchbuilt and put in place a bridge, and laid 3 turnouts. Measured how far it was to the other end of the mainline and its 27 feet, and Soon as I can get some money I'll do it