Best advice of '24!

Have been on here since 2009 and can't count the things I've learned (and unlearned). What a terrific resource we have!

@Mikki, hello, yes Gunrunner John is a super helper in wiring, repairing, and building model railroads. I’ve learned so much about building layouts, operating trains and wiring, scenery, and operating our trains here. It’s a wealth of knowledge.

However, this year I’ve also learned not to take these great friends for granted, many of my good friends have gone to their eternal home. So, I think we all need to eat healthy meals, exercise daily, take the right vitamins, get regular check ups, get vaccinated, enjoy our families and Love each other. May God Bless all of our friends here on this great OGR Forum. Happy New Year

Soldering for all things train-related became much more successful thanks to guidance I received from the forum in ‘24.
Rich

@leapinlarry posted:

However, this year I’ve also learned not to take these great friends for granted, many of my good friends have gone to their eternal home. So, I think we all need to eat healthy meals, exercise daily, take the right vitamins, get regular check ups, get vaccinated, enjoy our families and Love each other. May God Bless all of our friends here on this great OGR Forum. Happy New Year

Very wise. Also do things that make you happy, like running trains.

Yes, I also have learnt so much since joining the forum. In particular, Gunrunner John and Vernon Barry have been instrumental in my learning curve, when it comes to all things MTH and circuit boards.

My deep gratitude to these two guys, and I have also been blessed in actually meeting Gunrunner John, and spending some quality time at his lovely home, and down in the layout room and workshop, earlier this year.

THANK YOU SO MUCH JOHN!!!!

A happy New Year to all of my dear friends on the OGR Forum.

Peter.....Buco Australia.

@Mikki posted:

What did YOU learn on the forum this year that has increased your experience in running, wiring, sceniking.

I was on a thread about soldering a couple of months ago and someone, Gunrunner John, I think, mentioned the WAGO lever-nuts. How have I not heard of these before? I spent last summer using suitcase connectors and they were a pain in the butt. My trains still weren't running smoothly even after a number of feeder wires were installed, and I started checking some connections, the blade in the suitcase did not even penetrate the wire covering. I just came up from my train room after spending some time undoing the suitcase connectors and using the Wago instead which was so much easier to work with. My outer loop is running so much better now! I will work on the inner loop next.

Thank you to all who freely give advice especially to beginners or those just picking up the hobby again. Happy New Year!

Mikki

Good move switching to Wago's Mikki. They are rock solid and you can easily take them apart and reuse them.

Several members are a collective wealth of information and help. Can't list them all but John, Vernon, Pat (Harmonyards), George (GGG),*edit, and Pete (Norton) are always willing to offer guidance. Sometimes just asking a question starts a conversation that shakes the cobwebs out of my brain and I figure stuff out on my own.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Good move switching to Wago's Mikki. They are rock solid and you can easily take them apart and reuse them.

Several members are a collective wealth of information and help. Can't list them all but John, Vernon, Pat (Harmonyards), Jerry (GGG), and Pete (Norton) are always willing to offer guidance. Sometimes just asking a question starts a conversation that shakes the cobwebs out of my brain and I figure stuff out on my own.

Bob

Slight correction Bob, that's George (GGG).

Apologies in advance for being obtuse in wiring issues but...does the Wago connector connect two wires together? I only see in the videos (amazon) how the wires goes in one side of either a two or three connector receptacle. If you have two wires to connect, does one go in one side and one on the other side and then the lever gets depressed?

The application is going from a MTH 24 Terminal Block to the wires hanging down from gargraves track track pin connectors.

Thank you.

Paul

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Slight correction Bob, that's George (GGG).

Oops... noted and corrected.

Thanks John

@Railrunnin posted:

Apologies in advance for being obtuse in wiring issues but...does the Wago connector connect two wires together? I only see in the videos (amazon) how the wires goes in one side of either a two or three connector receptacle. If you have two wires to connect, does one go in one side and one on the other side and then the lever gets depressed?

The application is going from a MTH 24 Terminal Block to the wires hanging down from gargraves track track pin connectors.

Thank you.

Paul

That's basically it Paul. One wire per hole and depress the lever to lock it in place. Nice part to Wago's is that they offer a large range of wire compatibility and you can put a 16 ga wire in one hole and a different size in the next one or two.

Bob

Thanks Bob, it just looked too easy compared to soldering and wire nuts.

Paul - no sense of the obvious electrically - Licata

Bob @RSJB18:

Call me dumb but, how do you use these connectors when running one continuous bus wire under the layout, and want to branch off to connect droppers????

What I imagine is a "tee" type of connector, but I don't see this type of unit in the Wago catalogue.

Just asking.

Peter.....Buco Australia.   

@Buco posted:

Bob @RSJB18:

....... how do you use these connectors when running one continuous bus wire under the layout, and want to branch off to connect droppers????

Wago connectors are interconnected.  A 2 slot connector acts as a splice.   a 3 slot can be 1 power in and 2 power out.  4 slot, 3 power out and so on. 

@Buco posted:

Bob @RSJB18:

Call me dumb but, how do you use these connectors when running one continuous bus wire under the layout, and want to branch off to connect droppers????

What I imagine is a "tee" type of connector, but I don't see this type of unit in the Wago catalogue.

Just asking.

Peter.....Buco Australia.   

Peter- these are for splices, not continuous runs. The suitcase connectors that @Mikki started the thread with would be used in that application. But we see how well they worked for her.....

The compromise would be to leave a service loop/ slack in the mains so that you could cut in a splice where necessary but otherwise have a solid wire until when/if a splice is needed.

Bob

I agree with Bob about leaving some slack as much as we like our wires to be tight and in place BUT when I was changing my connectors, I had a couple that were a struggle because there was not enough slack. Also, I'm not sure BUT if you wanted to splice together two section of a run these would work but you would want the 2-lever model rather than the three. I purchased them as well for future needs. Right now, I have a few screw nuts connecting two sections of the bus and they are holding but I am ready for them when they act up.

Mikki

@Buco posted:

Bob @RSJB18:

Call me dumb but, how do you use these connectors when running one continuous bus wire under the layout, and want to branch off to connect droppers????

What I imagine is a "tee" type of connector, but I don't see this type of unit in the Wago catalogue.

Just asking.

Peter.....Buco Australia.   

If you're running a bus and want to "branch off" to run a power drop wire, there are several options. If you're good with a soldering iron and don't mind soldering under your layout, you can simply cut a small square of insulation off the bus wire with a very sharp Exacto knife and solder your power drop wire to the exposed bare wire. Then cover any bare metal with liquid electrical tape. Lot of work, but pretty bullet proof.

You should also be able to cut the bus wire at each power drop wire connection point and then connect those two now bare end wires plus the power drop wire into a three-wire Wago connector.

Also, if you don't have enough "slack" to do that, you can connect the power drop wire into the bus wire using a "Tee-Tap" connector, shown below. They come in different sizes and configurations and work great.

Thanks Richie @Richie C.:

Those "Tee Tap" connectors look like the real deal. I have a sheathed bus containing two insulated wires (black and red) and these look like they would suit just fine, to add the droppers.

Thank you guys and thank you Mikki @Mikki for bringing this topic to my attention.

Peter.....Buco Australia.

Gunrunner John described how to bypass the smoke regulator on a lionmaster sd 70.  Required no parts and a dab of solder to get it fixed and it smokes great.

Marty