Care in layout wiring pays dividends

Looking at that wiring reminds me of the old song "The music goes 'round and around, Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho, And it comes out here" could be adapted to "The wiring goes here and there, Oh boy-Oh boy, and comes out where?"

A thread on wiring a few month back.

Let me 2nd, 3rd, and 4th this topic.  The thread Mike CT resurrected is also chock full of good advice.

1. Come up with a numbering or identification scheme for every wire on your layout and stick to it.  Maintain that wiring plan (I use an Excel spreadsheet).  You also want to identify every point on the layout that gets track power, switch power, an accessory or an insulated control rail.
2. Physically label the wire at each end and (if very long) in the middle somewhere.  Do it while you're installing the wire.  Later (for me that's 5 minutes ) you won't remember.
3. Establish a color code and stay disciplined in its use.  Use a set of colors for track power (14 gauge Red / Black), switch control (20 gauge set Blue / White / Red / Black / Yellow / Green), AC accessory power / control, DC accessory power / control.  
4. Neatness counts!  There are cable ties with mounting screw holes, cable ties with labels, cable wraps, and cable trays out there (see Mike CT's very professional work) that can help make your life easier.  Make sure you can get to the wire easily later.
5. Wire, label, and test as you lay track.  If you do this in stages, it will seem easier and you can adjust and correct techniques and your own conventions as you go.

Lots of people have good ideas on this topic.  To folks just going through the wiring exercise on their layouts - I know it seems like extra work, but it will pay off when you're trying to find a problem or adding something later.

George

I wonder where this wire goes?

Being In the I.B.E.W local  I have seen the above photo  and also cleaned it all up. Or should I say  Its been at least 5 years since I have seen it  due to the loss of my right leg.

Yep, That would be the server room from H@#$.

But I've seen one that was worse.

they laid a board across the mass of cable on the floor to get to the rest. walking on the board inevitably caused yet another failure over time and made the mess worse.

Since things were a bit tangled and prevented removing it, they left old cable and added new on top.

Amazingly, once all the dead cable was removed, the finished product wasn't as bad as the picture above !

New rules were Written and approved:

No old/unused cable to be left in place, no excess length cable allowed, ect..

PS. I recall there were built in channels under the mass of cable for cross walkway wiring to run in once all the old cables on top of them were removed .

There are trading company back rooms on Wall Street that have the floors carpeted with cable!  We used to go in to work on our equipment, and you'd be walking on several inches of solid cable mass!  Needless to say, the panels looked as bad, or worse, than that picture.  Nothing was labeled either, so frequently you'd screw someone else up trying to fix your equipment.

Other server rooms would be pristine.  I remember walking into the American Express server room and standing in awe!  Rows of neat cabinets that all looked the same sitting on the raised floor with every cabinet locked.  When you went in to service, you only had access to your equipment cabinet, and everything coming from the outside was neatly labeled, very easy to work there.

Deviating a bit here, but if any of you have ever seen any older phone co. (AT&T & the Baby Bells) buildings with the old mechanical relays before they all went digital/computerized, the wiring in those was a work of art! Never seen anything like it, amazing! Cable trays were also amazing! They didn't allow cameras, but sure wish I had some pictures of some of them.