My track is down!!!


PIN DR

Member
I started this new thread as I wanted to thank the group for all their great advice and didn't want it to get hidden in the earlier thread about flex track.

My soldering skills from the past served me well and the entire layout went down this weekend without a hitch. No kinks or joint problems anywhere. Soldering a couple of pieces of flex track together before laying them down made for perfectly smooth joints on the corners. I struggled a little at first with getting things lined up right and trying to manhandle the long pieces, but it didn't take long to get the hang of it. Now that I am pretty much done with the track laying, I've finally gotten good at it! :D

No wiring yet, so to test the track layout, I took 4 cars and hooked them together and gave them a big shove, hard enough for them to make it all the way around the track to make sure there were no derailing points. Multiple runs on all tracks in all directions and through all the turnout configurations went well with no problems at all. I don't think my engines can go anywhere near that fast.

Now it's on to the wiring. Getting excited about being able to finally run trains!

Again, thanks to everyone on the group for the invaluable advice. It has made this process a lot easier (and more successful) than it would have been without you.

Jeff
 
To test the layout with some locomotives, you could temporarily hook up wires with alligator clips to the rails to make sure the locomotives make it around the layout good.
 
I knew that, but figured I would be pretty limited with how far the power would go. It's a long way around the layout. I ran the freight cars both with weight in them and empty and figured that if they made it around the layout at high speed with no problems the locomotives would too. Hopefully, that will be the case and I won't have any disappointments once I have power to the layout. If I have to make adjustments of some kind, I guess doing it now or after the wiring is in doesn't make any difference. Now I'm nervous...

Jeff
 
Thanks! I must admit, I was pretty proud of myself at the end of the weekend. I did do as you described and found a couple of joints that took just a tiny bit of filing to get rid of the slightest ticking sound. The entire layout now is smooth as silk.

Jeff
 
I will get some taken and post them up. My layout is pretty simple compared to a lot of you guys on here with extensive yards and the like, but it will work just fine for me. I've got a main line, a secondary inside line, and a couple of spurs, along with three staging/switching tracks off to the side. 6 turnouts in all and 1 double crossover. I am going to be running one passenger train and one or two freight trains.

Jeff
 



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