Ye OLE Coffee SHOPEE XXVI


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My layout is somewhat of a G shape. The top of the G is 5.5ft long, The spine is 15ft long, the bottom is 6ft long and the upshoot off the bottom is 8ft. I hope that make sense cause it sure does to me. So the 16ga wire would work but I need to ad feeders every few feet.
The present wiring is 20 or 22ga so it is much to small. I tried to hook up the DCC system when i first got it and it would not work one iota. I bet I have a couple of miles of wire under there right now and most of it will stay as it operates my turnouts plus building lights not yet installed. I went thru several hundred feet of the small wire when I put this layout together in 2000. Everything worked fine except one small 12" section which I have never gotten around to adding a feeder to. About 1/3rd of the ballasting is done and not finished because of the DCC system waiting to be installed. I think I am afraid of messing up what I do have when I do the changeover. In my mind I know I cannot hurt it to much but my heart is not convinced as of yet. I have talked to a good friend and after the first of the year we are going to try and get together and get me started. Once I get started there will no holding me back. I just need to add some restraint to my energy and go slow and easy. I have a tendency to get in a hurry but patience is slowly creeping into my vocabulary.
Thanks to all for their help and guidance.
It makes sense. Now, from somebody that's been there, done that, and has the tee shirt to prove it... Use two different color wires, and only use one color wire on one rail, and the other color on the opposite rail. It's too easy to reverse a wire somewhere and have a short, then go crazy trying to find which wire is reversed.
 
Larry, I agree with Terry: go with the 16awg. It will be fine for your size layout, particularly if you use some parallel paths with the bus.

CJ, I have a F&C Sou wood caboose kit that I will give you. I started on it and quickly decided not to take the time needed. ;)

Glad you guys mentioned Jim. I will try to connect with him this afternoon and let you guys know how he is doing.
 
Rex;
I really appreciate that. Decide on a day, (probably should wait until after the holidays), and let me know, then you come up and see what's been happening on the ACRR.
 
Larry,

The 16 ga buss will be fine for the size of layout that you have. Helpful hint: work on the wiring with the DCC system powered up. That way if you connect a wire wrong it will normally start beeping and tell you that you messed up! You can also test run before soldering to the buss.

Rex, Hope you catch up with Jim. It will be good to get an update. Hope he is doing better!

Glenn
 
CJ: Sounds like a winner. I will make note of it and we can discuss a time soon in the new year. Maybe we can go over to Oak Mountain Hobbies, if I have any money left after Christmas :D. Looking forward to seeing the excellently designed ACRR taking shape. :)
 
Good Morning from Soaked Calif.

5.2" of rain in three days and still raining a bit. The temp is 42*.


Amazon has a heck of a deal on a Cordless "Dremel 8000-03 10.8-Volt Lithium Ion Cordless Rotary Tool" plus hardware, for just, $62.99.
**Be sure to click on the Amazon link on the forum here, so the site gets credit, to go into Amazon. It's the first item on the Cordless listings.
 
Well, an unsuccessful deer season for me. Yesterday a guy we were hunting with shot a big doe, another guy missed a smaller doe, and my dad missed the same deer. Today i only had one crack shot at what looked like a 4 or maybe 5 pointer. I also kicked up a doe but didnt have time to get the gun up before she was waving goodbye with her tail :eek:.

Looks like its time to make Christmas cookies, or as i like to call it, eat cookie dough while mom does the hard stuff :rolleyes: :D

Looking forward to hearing an update with Jim as well.
 
Good afternoon everyone.

I have the day off and decided to dive head first into my roads. I started out with cutting the last few pieces of styrene for my little town area. The pieces were cut to size and then scribed for expansion lines before paint. I gave them a coat of primer earlier and now the textured, concrete color is drying. I decided against giving the streets a crown so I will be able to install them in a day or two with few problems, hopefully!:D

While that paint dries I started my asphalt highway. I taped off an outline of the road with masking tape and laid down a layer of joint compound. I'm going to let the mud dry for a while and then try to smooth it more with a wet sponge. I'm guessing it will look just about like the rest of the layout. At first glance it will look nice, but don't look too closely.:) The three foot rule is always in affect on my layout!:)

I think I'll find another project while the paint and mud dry.
Have a good day everyone.
 
CJ: Sounds like a winner. I will make note of it and we can discuss a time soon in the new year. Maybe we can go over to Oak Mountain Hobbies, if I have any money left after Christmas :D. Looking forward to seeing the excellently designed ACRR taking shape. :)

Here's hoping neither one of us forgets!;) I think that you'll like the LHS here Rex. The new owners, Beth and Dave, have really put a lot of work into it, and it really shows! Excellent choices and if its not in stock, they can get it here real fast.

One "funny" thing that we've noticed though, at least for here anyways, that even though the economy is on the fritz, they are doing real well! For the past year, I can count on the fingers of one hand, and still have fingers left over that when I've been in the shop, there is always a crowd, and they're not looking, they're buying!:D
 
I got GOOD NEWS! I talked with Jim C. and he is doing very well and getting most of his memory back. He is busy catching up on this-and-that's and hopes to get back to MR and the forum soon.

Carey, oh I won't forget. I put it in my computer reminder thingy that flashes and carries on until I give it my attention...otherwise...well... you know :D:D. BTW: I met the LHS man at the SER convention; a very nice person. In fact, I bought a set of ore cars from him. The price was as good as any ;).
 
"Use two different color wires" Yes I remember that from my first layout. This time I have a blue wire and a white wire. I chose those two colors because there are no blue and white wires there now. That way I will know that white and blue are my DCC system.
 
"Use two different color wires" Yes I remember that from my first layout. This time I have a blue wire and a white wire. I chose those two colors because there are no blue and white wires there now. That way I will know that white and blue are my DCC system.

Had to laugh when I read this! Back before DCC was widely available, one of our club members had the entire club over to see his "finished" layout. Of course it was all DC, and was wired to handle 3 separate cabs using rotary switches. He was very proud of his wiring and opened up the control panel to show us how neat and clean everything was. I have to say it was a textbook wiring setup, just like Lynn Westcott described in his book "How to Wire Your Model Railroad". Wires were cabled together into nice bundles etc.

Problem was each and every single wire in the control panel and out to the layout was a very bright ORANGE!

When asked how he troubleshot any problems, he said he didn't have any problems. OK, what will you do when you do start having a problem???

His answer, "I won't have any!" We all had a very good laugh!
 
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I use green and white wires for my DCC buss and red and black wires for the feeders. The red wires come off the white buss wire and the black wires come off the green buss wire. I use yellow wire for the structure lighting. The lighting is done with incandescent bulbs so one color of wire will suffice. If I was using LED's I would need two different color wires so I could determine the polarity of each wire at a glance. The one remotely operated turnout is wired with industrial telephone wire. The other seven turnouts are manual and so require no wiring.
 
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I got GOOD NEWS! I talked with Jim C. and he is doing very well and getting most of his memory back. He is busy catching up on this-and-that's and hopes to get back to MR and the forum soon.

Yes Rex, that is Very Good News!! Thanks for checking on him for us! Can't wait to see him back on the boards! :D
 
I got GOOD NEWS! I talked with Jim C. and he is doing very well and getting most of his memory back. He is busy catching up on this-and-that's and hopes to get back to MR and the forum soon.
Glad to hear it. I know what it's like to have your life turned upside down by an accident or disaster having been through both myself. I wish him all the best in his continuing recovery.
 
I got GOOD NEWS! I talked with Jim C. and he is doing very well and getting most of his memory back. He is busy catching up on this-and-that's and hopes to get back to MR and the forum soon.


That's great news for sure, glad he's making a comeback as he is. Having the trains there will jog his memory and that's a good thing. It just all takes time and has to happen naturally.

It's interesting to know there are several others on the forum that have also experienced similar situations.

It will be good to see him join in again when he feels up to it.



Say Rex, what kind of ore cars did you buy from the guy at the train show?
 
12/20/2010

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.
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Good Morning

It is currently sitting at 18F going to a high of 27F today. Kinda dull and light snow falling...

Welb, I's be getting ready to go and pick up the few remaining Xmas things that need done and then I's be done for this year...what with the heart attack, then the ICD put in me, and all the diabetes thingees that need done, and all else this has certainly been an 'interesting' year for me...:rolleyes:

So, I'm going to see about getting some more space out of my closet ---so I can more things INTO that closet...:eek:

Have a good day people!!:D:D
 
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