The new layout 2023

[Frenchie]

Very interesting ! I prefer dropping feeders every 6 feet, once every two track lengths, where the joiners are soldered. A few of my feeders (22AWG) are about 8 to 9 inches long. A bit more than it should be.
I drop a lot more feeders where turnouts are present.
Extensions between feeders and main bus are solid 14 AWG and main bus is stranded 12 AWG.

 

[Frenchie]

To complete my message. It says" with all rail joiners soldered ", I don't think it is a good idea. Non soldered joiners are important to allow for expansion due to variation in temperature and changing degree of moisture impacting the wooden subroadbed.

 

[rgeiter]

I have a climate controlled basement with a humidifier and dehumidifier, cooled and heated. Basement walls are insulated. Not worried about contraction or expansion. If anything does expand or contract, it’s most likely minor.

 

[diesel]

I agree about soldering joiners. That should never happen except for repairs, special joins like extending a turnout or crossover slightly. If you're soldering sectional track, you may as well be using flex track and it will be better.

Edit - Oh, wait! Yes there is one situation where I do solder joins. That is on curves, because a single piece of flex track is often not long enough to complete the curve. I also stagger the joins by a few inches to add strength and improve the alignment.

 

[Frenchie]

I agree about soldering joiners. That should never happen except for repairs, special joins like extending a turnout or crossover slightly. If you're soldering sectional track, you may as well be using flex track and it will be better.

Edit - Oh, wait! Yes there is one situation where I do solder joins. That is on curves, because a single piece of flex track is often not long enough to complete the curve. I also stagger the joins by a few inches to add strength and improve the alignment.

Yes, concerning curves I proceed the same way.

 

[rgeiter]

Got a little work done this weekend. First, I installed my original Digitrax AR-1 that I used briefly in the late 90’s-2000. It still works perfectly. I still have two more reverse loops to wire up.

Also got my industrial branch figured out and some track glued down. Still don’t know what industries I want to use. The track in mostly the 9” snap track. I just cut off those goofy ties that they use on the ends. If you do it right, it looks like jointed rail.

Finally, I started construction on “Big Mountain”. I needed a change. Taking a break from track work.

Later

 

[rgeiter]

 

[rgeiter]

We’ve all been there. Time to clean and recycle some switches! Cleaning the ballast out of the ties is quite tedious. Only a “few” more to go. These will mostly be for the yard.

 

[diesel]

I certainly do. I don't recommend re-using brass track though, sorry but it has to be said. The reason is, environmental oxidation which is an ever present natural process. But, the oxide of nickel silver is very conductive, and the oxide of brass is a good insulator. That is why the "black goo" that you get when you use lubricant as a track cleaner, enhances rather than ruins wheel to track electrical contact. Regardless of how you clean the track, the nickel silver will always maintain conductivity longer in most environments.

 

[rgeiter]

I certainly do. I don't recommend re-using brass track though, sorry but it has to be said. The reason is, environmental oxidation which is an ever present natural process. But, the oxide of nickel silver is very conductive, and the oxide of brass is a good insulator. That is why the "black goo" that you get when you use lubricant as a track cleaner, enhances rather than ruins wheel to track electrical contact. Regardless of how you clean the track, the nickel silver will always maintain conductivity longer in most environments.

The only place I’ve seen brass track these days is at train shows. The last time I used brass track was in the early 80’s!

 

[rgeiter]

Got a little bit done in the last couple of weeks. Now that I’ve completed renovating my wife’s office, I can get back to work on the layout. Finally gave it a name. I’m calling it the “Conrail Central Penn Division”. To the best of my knowledge, there was no such division.

Been finishing up the fascia on the layout, finally! Glad that is done. Then I started adding some foam in certain areas to get an idea of what I want to do. Using the wooodland scenics hot wire cutter I’m able to cut the foam without any real mess.
Below are a few pics of the fascia, prior to paint, and some areas I added the foam.

Later, Bob

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Got a little bit done in the last couple of weeks. Now that I’ve completed renovating my wife’s office, I can get back to work on the layout. Finally gave it a name. I’m calling it the “Conrail Central Penn Division”. To the best of my knowledge, there was no such division.

Been finishing up the fascia on the layout, finally! Glad that is done. Then I started adding some foam in certain areas to get an idea of what I want to do. Using the wooodland scenics hot wire cutter I’m able to cut the foam without any real mess.
Below are a few pics of the fascia, prior to paint, and some areas I added the foam.

Later, BobView attachment 247945
View attachment 247946View attachment 247947View attachment 247951View attachment 247952

What do you use for fascia? Can it bend, say around a 34" curve?

 

[rgeiter]

I use 1/8 inch hardboard. I’ve always called it Masonite which I believe is a brand name. Anyway, I get it at Home Depot. It bends really nice due to it being non-tempered. It’s also nice that it’s already painted white. Here is a pic on how flexible it is and a screen shot of the product.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

I use 1/8 inch hardboard. I’ve always called it Masonite which I believe is a brand name. Anyway, I get it at Home Depot. It bends really nice due to it being non-tempered. It’s also nice that it’s already painted white. Here is a pic on how flexible it is and a screen shot of the product.View attachment 248144

Much appreciated. It definitely lightens up the room, another plus. It looks like you screw it and glue it (?)

 

[Frenchie]

Yes, it's a very useful product, I also used it for fascia in some areas, here in Europe it's called "Isorel", probably a brand name. It's
3mm thick, about 1/8 of an inch.
It's great for curved backdrops, but I had to first spray its white side with some kind of
off white in order after to easily apply the "house paints" used for the "sky".

 

[rgeiter]

Much appreciated. It definitely lightens up the room, another plus. It looks like you screw it and glue it (?)

The areas with the screws are for tunnel access. But everything else was glued and nailed with brads.

Where the hardboard extended above the layout side, I glued the pink foam to the plywood and also the hardboard. This gives it some support. Then I will use my hot wire foam cutter and shave the foam to the hardboard profile.

 

[rgeiter]

All painted now

 

[Frenchie]

Well done with the fascia. I like the undulating top edge for a future realistic looking terrain contour.
I found out though that top edge of a plywood fascia is easier to modify if it ends up slightly too high or too low.
I used Isorel (Masonite) in some areas and I had to pay attention to get it right at the first cut.

Fascia colour is a matter of taste. I prefer a dark colour, it makes the fascia disappear and makes the landscape stands out. But I would never use black.

 

[rgeiter]

Well done with the fascia. I like the undulating top edge for a future realistic looking terrain contour.
I found out though that top edge of a plywood fascia is easier to modify if it ends up slightly too high or too low.
I used Isorel (Masonite) in some areas and I had to pay attention to get it right at the first cut.

Fascia colour is a matter of taste. I prefer a dark colour, it makes the fascia disappear and makes the landscape stands out. But I would never use black.

Thank you!

I kept it simple. Used the same color as the walls.

 

[rgeiter]

Soooooooo… was not a good night tonight. Had a lot of movement in/on the layout. Fixed about 12 kinks. One really bad one, three separate areas had to be cut and the rest were nailed back into place. Kinda wished I didn’t glue the tracks down. It’s a bugger to clean the adhesive under the track to get the track flat again. But I got it to where I’m content. And before you ask, the humidifier is working keeping the house and basement at 50% humidity.

The next thing I learned tonight was how miserable it is to mount the Walthers switch machines under the layout. I only did two. It was a success but it was miserable. Connected my new touch toggles. I really like them a lot. (pics below)

Now something else I did that I wished I didn’t do was spend a lot of money on the new Walthers switches/ turnouts. Yeah, the long continuous point rail look great, but they can bend really easy. I only got the #6’s and had to only “fix” one. I can’t imagine what a #8 or #10 would do. Also, the frogs are really rough. I’m going back to Peco and my ol’ go to, Atlas.

So that was my night. No derailments so I have that!