Recent content by emptypockets

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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    I suppose everyone that runs lighting in their layout goes through this...the tedious job of running wire, soldering and connecting. Happy to report that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that our wiring is about 75% done. One more building to wire and seven more street lights...
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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    Our six year old stayed up well past his bed time tonight, begging me to get one of our street lamps lit. Being a spoiled little boy, he got his wish...imagine that! Although I didn't get a picture until the soldering was done, each LED street lamp requires a 500 +/- ohm resistor be soldered...
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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    The last week has been spent basically running wires to all of the street and building lights. Couldn't believe it, but we ended up using about 180' of wire once things were said and done. This seems to be the most tedious part of the build, since you really can't see anything is being done...
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    Keeping locos on the table

    Something a friend of mine uses is the chrome edge strips from store shelves. A local K-Mart refitted their entire store and he bought a ton of it to go around his layout. It sits about 2-1/2 inches high and you can see right through it because it's made of a wire frame. I've attached a picture...
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    Comparing loco brands for newbie

    I have personal experience with only 4 brands of locos: Life Like, Model Power, Kato and Athearn RTR. Obviously the latter two are light years ahead of my other engines in terms of detail, build quality and running ability. There's also a large price difference, so they should be better. Some of...
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    How much does it cost +/- to go DCC?

    One of the really nice aspects about this hobby is that you can spend as much or as little as you'd like no matter what element of your setup you're talking about. That certainly holds true with DCC systems as well. I don't have any experience with Bachmann equipment, but I was actually looking...
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    My beginner HO layout, 4 x 6 in my garage

    Nice looking layout. Your detail work is absolutely fantastic.
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    How much does it cost +/- to go DCC?

    The cost of going DCC basically depends on what controller you choose as there's a wide price difference and which decoder(s) you do for each engine. DCC ready engines are going to be more expensive than the non ready locos as well. I picked up a NOS MRC Prodigy Express cab for $75. Decoder...
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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    Final update for the evening. Here, you can see the barrier strips and some of the fixture wiring in the back ground. The first block is the main power distribution block. The next two are for accessories like track switches. In the distance there are four more strips, which are for the...
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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    It's been a while since I last posted an update, so wanted to do that tonight. Basically, I'm still in wiring mode and will be for a little while longer. About half of the "fixtures" in the layout are wired to the barrier strips, but are not connected. I'll finish running all of the wires before...
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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    Sorry about the small type Louis. I'll try to be more conscious about that going forward.
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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    This is a wide shot of our layout so far. There are a few little nit pick things to do yet, such as masking off the gravel road near the parking lot for the gravel pit and deciding what I’m going to do with the pier that will be located in the river and get it built. I will also need to finalize...
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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    Here, we have painted the parking lot area and the cross walks in the city center. Luckily, I had some yellow modeling paint that worked perfectly. This view provides a nice view of the river as well. One dilemma I’m having is where to locate the gravel pit. I’ve bounced back and forth between...
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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    After going through things again, I redesigned the electrical part of our layout. Originally, we were going to group our LED street lights into groups of three with one resistor per group. Now, we’re going to wire them individually with one resistor per lamp. I’ve also reworked the power...
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    New 9'x5' HO Layout

    Since the river is complete, we've moved on to the streets and roads. I masked off the roads with painters tape, then gave them two coats of paint to simulate asphalt. Again, the paint I used was a mistint from a local paint store and picked up very inexpensively. Surprisingly, there was a lot...
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