my 8 x 13 design with 45-degree crossovers and mth arch bridge

Nice layout! I especially like that airplane and the runway/mountain backdrop. That runway and the mountains look like a bad place to lose an engine after liftoff...

MELGAR

I like it a lot!

Nice mountains!

FLEMMING,  Real nice backdrop, especially the Runway.

I like it, great mountain, the rest simple and clean. Although I probably fall into the too much animation trap myself I am aware that one Lionel gadget after another quickly gets to be too much.

Bogie

That's neat!  I especially like the runway backdrop!  Thanks for sharing.

-Greg

Cool!

What process did u use at the entrances  to your tunnels to keep the walls dark?  If u don't mind to share...

thanks

John d.

Very nice layout. It almost looks like a Lionel Showroom layout, but better. Don

Well done indeed.  Great perspective on runway.😀

Very cool looks fantastic love the runway

NICE !!!!!

Love the mountain and runway! Eye catching!

Very well done!

Greg Houser posted:

That's neat!  I especially like the runway backdrop!  Thanks for sharing.

-Greg

the plane is made out  of lego

To answer your question, you most likely have a bad section of track. Should be easy to check.

I thought I recognized the track plan, which is a very good one for having no switch tracks.  I saw it in Classic Toy Trains , "Basic Layouts".  It has alot of possibilities for both passenger and freight.  More than one train can run, controlling one another via insulated rails and dead spots.  

John d Sewell posted:

What process did u use at the entrances  to your tunnels to keep the walls dark?  If u don't mind to share...

thanks

John d.

My Friend Did the the mountain and the painting

Where is the train stopping? In one spot every time?

Denatured alcohol on a piece of old bath towel or wash cloth with a little rubbing will help. Check the wheels, too. They get a crud buildup.

I use a drywall sanding pole with a swivel head and put the cloth on instead of sandpaper. 2-3 minutes to wipe your whole layout. You can even sneak it in the tunnel from each end.

Pole sander from HomeDepot

Probable just needs cleaning, but once I had a similar problem develop were a section of  track, the engines were slowing down, cleaning did not solve the problem. I lived with it for months until one day I had an engine creeping from opposite direction and the other engine going into the problem section. But didn't slow down. that made me think and experiment. Long story short, it was the track connectors that had gotten dirty rather then the top of rails. Spraying electronic cleaner along side and having it leak into rails solved the problem and hasn't risen back. I now clean all track connectors before laying down and have been surprised by the dirt on and inside connectors. Just to add, I use Fast Track.

You could be loosing the TMCC signal.  Does the locomotive turn off completely or just stop moving?  If the engine sounds stay on and you just can’t control it, it’s a signal issue... if it turns off completely, it’s a track issue.

Evan Cihlar posted:

You could be loosing the TMCC signal.  Does the locomotive turn off completely or just stop moving?  If the engine sounds stay on and you just can’t control it, it’s a signal issue... if it turns off completely, it’s a track issue.

just stop moving then i give it a push it goes then stops  what's the best way to clean the tracks if they are dirty ??

flemming posted:

Evan Cihlar posted:

You could be loosing the TMCC signal.  Does the locomotive turn off completely or just stop moving?  If the engine sounds stay on and you just can’t control it, it’s a signal issue... if it turns off completely, it’s a track issue.

just stop moving then i give it a push it goes then stops  what's the best way to clean the tracks if they are dirty ??

Do the lights turn off?

I have dead spots  on this layout my train stops and goes and then stops again would it help  adding more wires to  a terminal strip  from the dead spot how do I keep my train from stopping half way around the layout ??

Evan Cihlar posted:

flemming posted:

Evan Cihlar posted:

You could be loosing the TMCC signal.  Does the locomotive turn off completely or just stop moving?  If the engine sounds stay on and you just can’t control it, it’s a signal issue... if it turns off completely, it’s a track issue.

just stop moving then i give it a push it goes then stops  what's the best way to clean the tracks if they are dirty ??

Do the lights turn off?   yes the strain stops completely  

flemming posted:

I have dead spots  on this layout my train stops and goes and then stops again would it help  adding more wires to  a terminal strip  from the dead spot how do I keep my train from stopping half way around the layout ??

Assuming the reason the train stops and goes is due to loss of voltage/poor electrical connections, performance can be improved by either running a buss wire and installing drops to the track at different locations or by connecting the transformer outputs directly to a distribution panel and then running wire from the various panel outputs to drops at different locations around the track.

I notice you are using Fastrack and have an elevated section supported by trestles. My experience is that the track flexes a little between the trestles which can cause electrical issues. Connecting drops in these sections and hiding them is difficult, but it can be done by running the wires up along a trestle or through a pier.

You could also hard-wire the Fastrack sections together, but that is a lot of work and makes taking track out (for expansion, changes, etc.) difficult, if not impossible.

flemming posted:

Evan Cihlar posted:

flemming posted:

Evan Cihlar posted:

You could be loosing the TMCC signal.  Does the locomotive turn off completely or just stop moving?  If the engine sounds stay on and you just can’t control it, it’s a signal issue... if it turns off completely, it’s a track issue.

just stop moving then i give it a push it goes then stops  what's the best way to clean the tracks if they are dirty ??

Do the lights turn off?   yes the strain stops completely  

 

If the lights turn off and the locomotive stops it could be dirty track or a bad piece of track.  The best way to clean track in my opinion is either with a bright boy or with a q tip with rubbing alcohol on it.

Richie C. posted:

flemming posted:

I have dead spots  on this layout my train stops and goes and then stops again would it help  adding more wires to  a terminal strip  from the dead spot how do I keep my train from stopping half way around the layout ??

Assuming the reason the train stops and goes is due to loss of voltage/poor electrical connections, performance can be improved by either running a buss wire and installing drops to the track at different locations or by connecting the transformer outputs directly to a distribution panel and then running wire from the various panel outputs to drops at different locations around the track.

I notice you are using Fastrack and have an elevated section supported by trestles. My experience is that the track flexes a little between the trestles which can cause electrical issues. Connecting drops in these sections and hiding them is difficult, but it can be done by running the wires up along a trestle or through a pier.

You could also hard-wire the Fastrack sections together, but that is a lot of work and makes taking track out (for expansion, changes, etc.) difficult, if not impossible.

where the yellow note pad  is that is where the dead spot is and that is where the train stops

Given that the track is down, it would be difficult to look at the tabs in the fastrack to see if it is making good contact. If cleaning the rails doesn't work, then yes, putting feeder wires into the section would work, in general it is always better to have multiple power drops on the layout every X feet or so.  One quick check, if you have a car that is lighted (caboose, passenger car, etc) turn on track power and roll it until it hits a dead spot (to make it even more accurate, if the car has two contact rollers, put tape over one of them so you can see exactly when it dies, if you roll the lighted car with only one roller and the light goes out, you can see which section exactly where the break has occurred. If the break is in an area not easy to bring in a feeder, if you find that the power goes dead in a particular section (coming into it), you could solder a small piece of wire on the third rail between the good section before it into the bad one, if bringing a new feed wire isn't possible. 

Rented for 30 years and now the owner wants to sell?  You probably paid off the mortgage.  😀

Really neat layout.  Like others have said, the backdrop alone is great.  It's also very clean and open without the large number of buildings and cars and everything else most of us would've tried to cram on there.  By keeping it so open, it really creates a larger feel to it.

Is the yellow and brown building in the distance O scale?  It almost looks like you tried to force perspective by going smaller in the distance?  

Thanks for sharing this and if you have to end up tearing it down, hopefully you can spend a lot of time enjoying it while you can.

Moonman posted:

Where is the train stopping? In one spot every time?

Denatured alcohol on a piece of old bath towel or wash cloth with a little rubbing will help. Check the wheels, too. They get a crud buildup.

I use a drywall sanding pole with a swivel head and put the cloth on instead of sandpaper. 2-3 minutes to wipe your whole layout. You can even sneak it in the tunnel from each end.

Pole sander from HomeDepot

 

I am going to try  this product  WD-40  Specialist Electrical Contact Cleaner Spray to clean my tracks it says 

• Removes oil, soil, dirt, flux residue and condensation
• Pinpoint spray dispenser
• Dries quickly
• WD 40 contact cleaner leaves no residue behind
• Safe for use on plastic, rubber and metal
• 50-state VOC compliant
• Ideal for use on printed circuit boards, controls, switches, precision instruments, electric panels and more

flemming posted:

Moonman posted:

Where is the train stopping? In one spot every time?

Denatured alcohol on a piece of old bath towel or wash cloth with a little rubbing will help. Check the wheels, too. They get a crud buildup.

I use a drywall sanding pole with a swivel head and put the cloth on instead of sandpaper. 2-3 minutes to wipe your whole layout. You can even sneak it in the tunnel from each end.

Pole sander from HomeDepot

 

I am going to try  this product  WD-40  Specialist Electrical Contact Cleaner Spray to clean my tracks it says 

• Removes oil, soil, dirt, flux residue and condensation
• Pinpoint spray dispenser
• Dries quickly
• WD 40 contact cleaner leaves no residue behind
• Safe for use on plastic, rubber and metal
• 50-state VOC compliant
• Ideal for use on printed circuit boards, controls, switches, precision instruments, electric panels and more

Contact cleaner works good too!

Train Nut posted:

flemming posted:

Moonman posted:

Where is the train stopping? In one spot every time?

Denatured alcohol on a piece of old bath towel or wash cloth with a little rubbing will help. Check the wheels, too. They get a crud buildup.

I use a drywall sanding pole with a swivel head and put the cloth on instead of sandpaper. 2-3 minutes to wipe your whole layout. You can even sneak it in the tunnel from each end.

Pole sander from HomeDepot

 

I am going to try  this product  WD-40  Specialist Electrical Contact Cleaner Spray to clean my tracks it says 

• Removes oil, soil, dirt, flux residue and condensation
• Pinpoint spray dispenser
• Dries quickly
• WD 40 contact cleaner leaves no residue behind
• Safe for use on plastic, rubber and metal
• 50-state VOC compliant

Ideal for use on printed circuit boards, controls, switches, precision instruments, electric panels and more

Contact cleaner works good too!

 

the product i am going to try

flemming posted:

the product i am going to try

From the looks of it they are pretty much the same.  I use the stuff all the time. You'd be amazed how many things you can use it on.

Train Nut posted:

flemming posted:

the product i am going to try

From the looks of it they are pretty much the same.  I use the stuff all the time. You'd be amazed how many things you can use it on.

could i use it on my train wheels  because tmcc locomotive  would start to go then stop 

Anything that's gunked up with black gooey grease will dissolve like nothing would that stuff. Great for Wheels but a little hard to keep the overspray from getting on everything around it.  They say they don't hurt plastic or rubber but I did have an instance with an old K line steamer that took the black paint off of the motor box.

In the spring the owner want's to sell the property we lived here for  31 years and now mom and I have to move and I have to take down the layout and my hobby

I am wondering if Lionel legacy and tmcc locomotive will run on he MTH REALTRAX  if I wired the tracks  to the Lionel legacy system I think MTH REALTRAX look much better