The redo is finally started

Finally back to getting a few things done on the layout redo. Added a few 4' shelves to the end wall.  Jalopy Plateau is now wired into a barrier strip. Both race car loops and the monorail are operational. Ran the 400E on the 42" loop to check clearances under the plateau. THUD. It hit the side of one of the tunnel portals. Had to slide the track over a 1/4 inch. Maybe tomorrow I'll test the 57" loop. Once the track is adjusted, I'll need to screw it down in a couple places because of the tight tolerances going in and out from under the plateau. Plan on a few buddies over next Sunday, so I want all loops running, even if it is with jumper wires.

Steve

Looks very cool Steve!

I like the race cars !!

Steve,

   As usual Top Shelf!

PCRR/Dave

The 5-rail track is interesting. Makes me think of some of the multi-gauge tracks in other countries.

This is dual-gauge track in Melbourne Australia with check rails.

Got lots of wires run today. 7 lines are now somewhat operable. Going a bit old school with cloth wiring on top of layout for most areas. There is a opening on the barrier strip for one more line. The Lumar Valley section will someday get an elevated line for the modern Marx Trains interurbans and trolleys.

Steve

Steve, the older I get the better on-top-of wiring looks. No crawling around on my hands and knees! And I love the look of the cloth wiring. I'm going to start using it on my small tinplate layout.

One more small step. Adding the risers for the elevated loop in Lumar Valley. I want to add the elevated loop in Lumar Valley, which of course requires resizing the two loops a bit to get the risers to fit between the loops. Took out about 2" in length from the inner loop and added 2" in width to the outer loop. The risers are now in place, waiting me to dig out the box of 034 track and get it fitted to the risers. Also will need to repaint the risers. The risers started out life as red light towers. The lights were removed and a rectangle of Masonite added, then painted in flat gray. They were used for one of the Nixon displays years ago holding two upper loops of track. They are being repurposed for Lumar Valley.

Steve

Great idea !   Trestle bents that actually look like the part they are supposed to be playing !

Steve Papa eastman, Looks great and a great way to use old light towers. I do have a side question? What did you do with the light heads from the towers?

Looks really good!!!

Bob

Here is a picture of the towers being installed at the Nixon Library display in 2011. When done, they were actually buried further down in the foam base. Glad I kept them. Most of the lights were sold off. I probably have a few left, just don't know where.

Steve

That looks great. If you find them and want to part with a few, please let me know.

Steve, your modified steel support towers look really good.

I got to thinking about how many different gauges can be run on 5-rail track if they all represent 1:48 scale.

1.25" is regular O-gauge, nominally representing standard gauge.
2.125" represents 8'6" gauge, representing a futuristic wide-gauge railway.
(England had Brunel's GWR 7-foot gauge until 1892 and Hitler proposed a 3-meter gauge system)
1" gauge is close to "OJ" gauge used in Japan and Taiwan for 42" gauge and 1:48 scale.
9/16" gauge approximates On2.

The latter two would be two-rail power, using the center rail for one running rail. Switches would be a challenge for these.

Five-rail allows a variety of operation!

Where do you buy 5 rail track ??  Don't ever remember seeing it for sale.

jim pastorius posted:

Where do you buy 5 rail track ??  Don't ever remember seeing it for sale.

Gargraves offers G/S, G/O, and O/S multi-gauge (37" long sections). Scroll down to the bottom.....

Jim

I had the Gargraves 5 rail track. Never got around to using it. I wanted old type tubular. Bought most of the pieces from Kirk at USA Track LLC and assembled it myself. Tedious, but worth it.

Steve

I thought I saw some 5 rail that was tubular. Standard gauge rail is the same as O gauge and I would like to have a dual gauge loop to get the standard off the floor.  Thanks

great idea Steve

Got the track on the upper level roughed in. Need to make it about 1.5" wider. Good task for tomorrow.

Steve

Looking very nice! Im sure you will get more comments when the East guys wake up tomorrow!

What under the upper loop supporting the track ??  Or is that just a test?

jim pastorius posted:

What under the upper loop supporting the track ??  Or is that just a test?

Jim

Nothing is attached yet, just working the size out. Here is a picture where you can see I flattened the railings down to provide a nice large base to set the track on. When done, I will either put a screw or a zip tie on each one to keep the track from sliding around. Got half of them painted red today before some real nasty rain and wind came through and put a halt to painting.

Steve

mike g. posted:

That looks great. If you find them and want to part with a few, please let me know.

Mike

Found the box. These were all prewar towers, so the lights were pretty tarnished. I cleaned up a few and tested them. They will need bulbs and a hot wire soldered to the back. How many are you interested in?

Steve

Hi Steve,

What are you wanting for the 8 you show there?

Have not had an operating session with the guys since Halloween. The next day I started ripping out track. Tonight was soooo nice. A couple forum members and non forum members were over for a mini train night. Things are still being worked on, not all loops are ready, but we got some run time in. Jeff Meyer helped me get the TIU & TMCC wiring finalized early so we could play. We were running TMCC O gauge on the same loop as DCS Standard gauge at the same time. A nice evening. Gotta love 5 rail track

Steve

It was truly a lot of fun. There is something to be said about the 5 rail track.

Not a lot of progress, but the Lumar Valley upper loop is coming along. I had painted the risers red, and now have the bases and mid base painted black. A few of them even have the track screwed down. Will try and screw the rest down tomorrow.

Steve

Looking' good! Are the tracks between risers long pieces so only joints are above the risers?

Joe Lyons posted:

Looking' good! Are the tracks between risers long pieces so only joints are above the risers?

Joe, Yes the straight sections are a single piece on each side. I figure one support in the middle should be sufficient.

Steve

The last loop is in, tested with jumper wires, but all is well. Need to get it wired in, then start adding the cosmetic stuff.

Steve

Steve, your layout is looking good. The repurposed towers are fantastic! In an earlier photo, I saw your monorail. I really like that.

You mentioned using zip ties to hold track together. I have heard of that before, but have never done it. Would you mind showing some closeup pictures of zip ties after you have them attached? Are the zip ties difficult to remove later? Do you like them better than the gadgets specifically sold for holding track pieces together? 

Santafay

Santafay

I ended up using screws and nuts to hold the track onto the risers. It was becoming obvious things were a bit wiggly and needed a more positive mount. I used the hole in the end tie and drilled through the base of the riser. Two screws on each risers. The Marx Trains interurbans and trolleys are a bit expensive and hard to find, so I wanted a more solid mount. Wouldn't want the track moving around.

Steve

To hold my Standard gauge track together I salvaged some old metal ties from old track and slipped them upside down between two rail ties. I think you can use O gauge ties too. Works good on my standard gauge track. Really improved the running. It is like two upside down broad U'sext to each other with a right side up U between them.

Had not really done anything new for a week or so other than clean up wiring. Tonight I rewired my three Marx 1614 dump stations and dug out three Marx 1605 controllers, tested them all and got them in position. Now to wire them in and add the power supply under the layout form them. Next Easter I'll be able to dump jelly beans for the kids. Also need to move all this track 1/2 inch to the right. We had a collision Sunday

Steve

Looks great Steve! Of course, after my day today I am not very fond of the word "collision."

ra ro.....train or car?

Steamer posted:

ra ro.....train or car?

Car. My 2013 Camaro driving to work and I got nailed in the back by someone who fell asleep at the wheel at about 50......not sure if it will be a total loss yet and I hurt......overall okay but sore and the next few days will be worse.

Looking great Steve!           Jeff. Hope your OK. 

Got the rough wiring and push buttons in today and did the first full power test with dump cars. On the third unit, I had to take it apart and do a little filing on the fiber arms. Seem to be working Ok not.  Now that I have the foot print down for these units, I can start to repopulate Lumar Valley. A little step at a time.

Steve

https://youtu.be/3OubSVwPEx0