Got'em all running and just enjoyed watching and making some track tweaks. http://pj-pjphotos.blogspot.com/2013/03/play-time-march-29-2013.html Pj
Yeah, as there is always something to mess with, fix up, or just improve on and I have a lot of room for improvement. I was just so tired from yard work, I decided to set em up and run and watch. Pj
Lookin good Pj! The trees up here have yet to put on the green ...... yard time in the dirt !!!!! keep on keepin on dude !!!
Couldn't agree more, my layout has reached the stage of all track down, tested and now covered over as I attempt to do the scenery for the first time ever. After two months I'm tempted to lift the covers and run a train or two and relax a bit...
I would like to comment. Please don't think it criticism. You really need to support that track fully. Make some TREX stakes, drive them into the ground, then use PT plates or TREX plates.....TREX requiring a lot more supports. If you are counting on dirt packed underneath to hold it...it won't. Dirt will settle for YEARS. If on plates, easy to pack more in without disrupting the line, plus, you can keep all your track cross-levelled. My line has been on the ground for over 20 years, and we STILL have some places that settle, but the track doesn't move. If you cut corners now, you might give up early. Oh, a plus to the plates is moles and gophers. They may burrow, but you won't come out one morning and find your track on edge (seen it). The photo on the left, all the track is on plates and stakes. Never moves. The trestle is on concrete. Dave
I agree fully, Boxcab. Today while tweaking the g-scale track extensions, I just basically turned my lgb train on (one I RARELY use these days) and let her run. I started at 7AM and it's now midnight and I just shut her down for the night. In any scale, we fail to remember WHY we do this hobby, relaxation. Awesome Photos, PJ. Absolutely stunning layout too.
Dave, First even if it was criticism per say, I like to hear it, as I am very new to this Gauge of training and I have taken many tips and used them directly or with some modifications due to my particular situation, location, etc. So please I welcome any comments and suggestions always. As for track stabilization, I fully agree that is needed but to be 100% honest it will be one of the last things I do. I know your jaw just dropped. LOL.. I enjoy the tinkering as much has the train running. I did a lot of reading before starting out, and I know I am doing things way backwards just due to my lack of creativity per say. Meaning everything I read said plan your lay out carefully before doing anything. Well, I am just not that artistic or forth creative. So I go as I go, like walking up to a blank cavus with a paint brush, and no plan of what to paint. LOL. I am already thinking of possible expansion ideas and other landscaping ideas for the track is most likely going to be messed with a lot. In fact I am fairly certain I am going to replace some of my brass staight track with SS. So that will give me some extra track to do something with. I do need to tweak my track often due to the problem you identified so I am going to take some measures to further stablize but not make perm. Again thanks for your feedback it will always be welcomed. Pj
The stakes only need to be 12-18" into the ground. They are by no means "permanent". A permanent right-of-way involves forms, rebar, and concrete. The other issue you will have, besides trains rolling off onto their sides, is those Aristo Joiners....as the track continually flexes, they will bend and fl;ex, working open at the top, and you connectivity will go away.
You bring up a question, I read some place just recently about joiners. It said that if temps get above 100 then you should use the sliders and not use the other more strong types. What are your thoughts, I am in Texas where we can get to 105-110 without much effort and run 40-50 days in a row over 100.. I think we hit 60 days a couple of years ago. Paj
BIG problem. The expansion and contraction can be really bad. Many years ago I visited a railroad three days before Christmas, freezing weather, clamped joints. One corner, elevated 3' in the air, 90 degree, double track...BOTH lines were off the benchwork. Had to loosen clamps 30' in either direction and induce gaps. ALL of mine is in regular joiners. I use exclusively aluminium rail outdoors, all of it screwed to the plates, and in winter I lay it with a 1/8" gap, which closes up in summer. If it isn't enough, you get a "sun kink"....slide the joiner back, let the rails sun past each other to straighten, cut off with a razor saw and re-assemble. The issue then becomes connectivity. Since I am only radio/battery, as in zero track power outside, I don't have the issue. I knew a guy who had track power/radio control, with wire jumpers...at his "wake" we tried to run his railroad (which had run two weeks prior to his death), and I spent about an hour and a half on my stomach with soldering iron, wire, screwdriver...when a train crossed a joint and quit, I held a screwdriver up to make the connection, when the train had passed, I soldered in a new jumper. Rule: If you can solder it, it will corrode. If it won't corrode, you cannot solder it. If you run conduit (plastic) under the plates, you can have power busses, and jumper power up to each section midway between the joints. On Aristo, you can put an eyelet on the wire, and fit under the screws that hold the rail to the ties from underneath. Dave