I almost did the same thing. I was ready to start building the "Big One" that filled my whole basement. It took me over a year to draw the trackplan. I moved a couple walls in the basement. I even cut through the foundation to move the door to the coal cellar. Then I started dating my wife. I didn't build that layout and looking back I'm glad. I would have never moved from that house if I had started the layout. One good thing is that I purchased all the kits I'll ever need before we got maried!
Stole this from my blog... learned these lessons on my first layout 1) Don't just throw down track and fasten it down without running trains for hours to determine if there are any problems with the initial trackplan. I learned derailments were a lot harder to remedy when the track is already tied down. 2) Don't put a town on the back burner in the planning phase. I absolutely HATED how my town had one bridge in and out of it. I suppose it wasn't the biggest thing to get bent out of shape with, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Even for a fantasy layout, it just didn't seem "real" enough to me, as most towns are founded along route of travel, and any "natural disaters" would require multiple ways in and out of town. 3) Don't build sharp curves on a grade, inside a tunnel. This should be obvious to those who have experienced/heard about it. 3.5) Don't build a grade using foam "tiers" without doing the proper math to figure out their proper heights. Kind of goes along with #3. 4) Don't use plain old white foam. Although cheaper, Its a nightmare to work with. It leaves balls of foam everywhere, its nearly impposible to sculpt, and unless sealed properly, will soak up numerous bottles of WS Realistic Water (and sometimes allow it to drain through the bottom.) 5) On such a small layout, numerous turnouts are a derailing nightmare. I really wasn't able to run a train for more than 15 minutes without re-railing stock. Really took the wind out of my sails when it was time to sit back and enjoy. 6) Don't rely on WS's Forest Canopy kits for forests. Although it was attractive to the eye, it really cost and arm and a leg, and had I searched for better alternatives, I couldn've saved a lot of money.
1 I used woodland grass and charcal ash from my grill for ballest,my goal was a overgrown weedy milw branch with only dirt ballest.Looked great at first but after drying a day or two there was some kind of chemical reaction with whiteglue, alcohal and the truck,ballest,groundfoam and rail turned white. After green paint more groundfoam it also turned white I needed 3 coating before it looked aceptable. 2 Tryed to kitbash a milw SDL39 using Trix U28 frame cut down and GP35 Atlas shell.Still have it in pieces it did not run.
And if I remember the original post there was a nice red hand in the other shot. Although never revealed I guess that was all the was red painted. Note Murphy's law in effect there paint everywhere but the caboose. Sort of like when I go to paint a room, which is why my Wife doesn't let me paint the walls anymore except in a Tyvek suit with a plastic headcover.
This one?: Ya, that is all red paint. I was not injured, (except for my ego), in this "lesson". I've been unable to find the original thread.
Buy a soldering pencil with a round handle. When you reach for it, it will have moved. Did that this morning. Still hurts.
Well I’d have to say using plastic resin to make a deep body of water is not one of my specialties. Not only does it get very heavy but can make one heck of a mess. A number of years ago I was making a mountain top lake spilling over a water fall to a river below. I was warned by everybody to be sure to seal it properly. I used 2” foam for my mountain and glued it all together with caulking, plus I sealed it with a couple of coats of latex primer. As I started pouring in the resin, I noticed that it was using a lot more then I had anticipated. Being that it was the first time I ever used the stuff I checked underneath to see if it were leaking and it looked ok, so I thought maybe it has a shrink rate and I made up more batches. Well after 3 coffee cans full I stopped and it looked like I was done because it was slowing down and went to bed. The next morning I discovered that my mountain lake was dry and still nothing was on the floor, not even a drop. Then I tried to move it and it was heavy. The only thing I could figure was that the foam absorbed all of the resin so I waited until the next weekend to try again. So the next week the weather had turned cold and I left all the resin and stuff outside. This time the lake bed was sealed and I only used about 2 cups. The only problem was that since it was cold it was filled with bubbles and it was so thick I could not get them out. The only thing I could do was to drag them toward the falls to look like foamy water. I thought I learned my lesson so last year I decide to make a deep water harbor and it was late fall so I decide to do it in the house with all the materials inside to warm up. Only this time I was going to use wood and seal it with caulking. I also decide to do it in small pours and do it in layers. Well it leaked right off on to the floor. Luckily I had porcelain tiles on the floor and was able to clean it up with a mop and acetone. I decided that I would never try that again or at least not in the winter. cool:
I never going to send off locomotives for detailing again. They can stay as they are after seeing the units I sent off, never come back.
Hey, I got an idea! Wouldn't it be cool if I took every piece of rolling stock I have and put them all on the layout in one huge train and then photograph it? Nevermind all the open benchwork, the wide open 3 tier helix and the 3% grades... Ever see one of those elaborate domino setups that fall all in a row? Ever see the Lucillle Ball Candy Factory episode? Ever see a grown man juggle N scale train cars while running in two directions at once? Ever see a grown man spend the next three evenings fixing broken couplers and stirrups? Never did get that photo. The video of those cars cascading in all directions downhill after I elbowed the first car off the track would have been priceless had someone been there to film it.
never ever ever put a soldering iron down on the floor while underneath wiring the layout then get up to get another part. U think brushing a hot soldering iron hurts? Try stepping on one. I was young and stupid back then...now I'm just slightly older and slightly less stupid.
And another one I just re-experienced. Once a certain age is reached do not, repeat do not disassemble anything and expect to come back to it two weeks later, and slap it together again. Faced with that daunting task of what goes where and which goes there first I decided to check the great WWW wasteland of useless stuff for the 10% meaningful,ie: a parts schematic for this antique loco. Finally found something of fairly good use that showed the truck assembly then realized after looking at it the writer of the article had the wrong truck on the wrong end. Still I gleaned enough from the article to get the trucks back assembled except I overlooked an idler gear and had to go through it with one again. I've finally figured out that once I disassemble a complex piece of equipment without a schematic stay with it until its done and back together.
Another note about HOT soldering irons; If it does fall..... DO NOT try and catch it as it's falling! Let it hit the floor first! Your hands will thank you. :tb-biggrin:
Soldering iron Since we seem to be on a soldering iron kick here; I use a butane one. Lots of heat, fast. But: After you light it, always place the cigarette lighter in your pocket. And keep the iron away from that pocket. If you leave the lighter on the bench, eventually you will lay the iron on it. When it melts through, the lighter won't ignite, but it will take off like a rocket. Scaring the hell out of the cat. Which cat will exit the room by the shortest route. Up one side of you and down the other. Driving pitons all the way. And then you will tippy-toe around the house, opening windows. Of course, it's 22deg outside.
Like this thread. I to have done the soldering iron miss haps. I tried to convert the Bachman 44 tonner to Nn3 when it first came out .Screwed that up. Had a Con-Car Big Boy that ran excellant but thought I could remotor it with bigger motor and brass fly wheel. Well damaged the frame to much. That Big Boy was so smooth that without the motor in it the wheels and drive rods would roll with a gentle push. Still have the Big Boy after 20 + years and still thinking I can fix it. Maybe.
remotoring a first generation Bachman U36B in N scale. I've been working this project off and on for nearly a decade. Mostly off, as everything I try to cram in there doesn't really work. But I'm a sucker for U Boats . . . .
Are you trying to use the original motor or another? I may have a few of the original motors with few if any hours on them. If you can, post a picture of the motor so I can check my motor drawer and see which one it is.
And something I knew was eventually going to happen finally did. Run a very small drill bit into my finger. Minor annoyance in that I'm managing to get a coat of rust on everything I'm holding for awhile. Problem was I was trying to do too much at one time. The old fingers get cramped and I was trying to speed up the process of drilling mounting holes for stirrups in the bottom sills of some diesels that didn't have any. Lesson learned: take it nice and slow, and when the fingers cramp, pick up something else to do.
No I was trying to get something to replace the original and make it run better. The old three pole that was in there never went more then 10 inches or so before stalling. Its long gone . . . but I have others . . . and maybe a properly programmed DCC decoder would have done it. . . . . or a good pager motor . . . .
