Test track and cradle

Hi Nick,

Here’s a couple of photos of some tooling I made with stuff I scrounged in the garage.  I need to add some foam to the test track and find some thinner foam for the cradle.

Hope this helps.

John

There have been several extensive posts on test tracks. Do a research.

@CA John posted:

Hi Nick,

Here’s a couple of photos of some tooling I made with stuff I scrounged in the garage.  I need to add some foam to the test track and find some thinner foam for the cradle.

Hope this helps.

John

Nice, I like it. Although not completed yet, I use a three-foot section (and maybe a second one if needed) of Atlas concrete-tie three-rail track with a KD coupler height gauge on one end. I use the Atlas track as all of the rails are insulated from one another and I am a two-railer. With that set-up i can also test any three-rail that I may get. I am thinking of replacing the Atlas with a forty inch Fastrack section as it is easy to two-rail and the Atlas (pricey but good-looking) can then be used on the layout.

My cradle is a U-shaped channel made of 1x3 strips about twenty-four inches long lined with some bubble wrap topped with thin foam and then a piece of soft cloth.

What did you use for your cradle's mount?

I can't post pictures of my test track since I am out of town, but it is very similar to NJC Joe's here:  (Photo is from NJCJoe's post)

The section on the left slides to accommodate engine and tender sizes.  The left and middle sections should be powered.   O gauge Rollers are available from Micromark and Polk's Hobby.

Bob

@RRDOC posted:

I can't post pictures of my test track since I am out of town, but it is very similar to NJC Joe's here:  (Photo is from NJCJoe's post)

The section on the left slides to accommodate engine and tender sizes.  The left and middle sections should be powered.   O gauge Rollers are available from Micromark and Polk's Hobby.

Bob

Are you sure about Polk's hobby ? I did a search and it seems they're out of business.

I bought a foam cradle through Amazon, $14. Best thing I ever did, because if I work and there are small screws, if I drop one, it goes into the cradle, as opposed to bouncing to the floor, never to be seen again. I recently started routine maintenance on my fleet, since I retired last year. In the past, I would have worked on the table. Also, the cradle holds the items nicely. Mark

@barrister.2u posted:

I bought a foam cradle through Amazon, $14. Best thing I ever did...................

Which one?  I looked and there were several all of them more than $14.  Most for HO

Thanks,

John

Here's mine, I whacked it together with some left over Fastrack.

The step allows me to easily test steamers with either the Lionel IR drawbar or the MTH "wireless" drawbar.

@Craftech posted:

Which one?  I looked and there were several all of them more than $14.  Most for HO

Thanks,

John

John, Knot Models on the Amazon Market Place. I made a typo, It was $24. Free shipping. It is for "O". Mark

Oh then there is the smaller versio

Ron

I made a cradle out of the plastic that used to hold computers that sat on the floor. Remember those? I used bubble wrap for padding. This has worked well for over 20 years.  My test track is just tubular track on a board hooked up to a transformer.

Hi PRRMP54,

The cradle supports are from a couple of outdoor lights.  They're solid brass.  I had a contractor doing some landscaping about 5 years ago when I was still working and he asked me if I wanted some additional lights.  I said yes.  I won't repeat what I said when he gave me the invoice for the lights.    I fished the bases out of the trash.  Good thing, because they came in handy when I wanted to build a cradle. 

John