I'd almost be tempted to take the other unit, and redo it in the later, black/orange scheme! Gotta get it repaired and running first! Like the multi stripe scheme as well.
Picked up a second RS-3, in just about perfect shape! But oh boy, it’s gonna be fun swapping to RC/Sound!! Original unit has Revolution and Sound already, and the matching rats nest of wiring! Latest unit, has 1 board, and 4 plugs. 2 for power pick up, and 2 for motors. Will have to get comparison photos later. Dialysis wiped me out pretty good today! think I finally managed to get track in back sorted out. Switches installed, tracks lining up better. Just need to cut a couple pieces to fit, and I can continue working towards the front. Have a crossover that has to be dealt with next. Because the switches aren’t level, locomotives snag on frog and jerk across! And try to see if I can get siding working! Then, I just need to finish leveling out where Mom pulled plants and about 3 buckets worth of weeds! Need to smooth out sub grade, add ballast and level track! And hope I can get it finished in 10 days! Railroad club tour July 18/19. Hope that visitors will understand, if I’m not done, why! That any simple project right now, just about kills me! Something like ballasting track wears me out fast! Clamping track?? I can sweat a waterfall, trying to get clamps in place, much less held so I can tighten the screws! Work for 5-10 minutes, take a 10 minute break to catch breath, repeat.
What kind of rail clamps are you using? Dumb question: are you clamping each joint, or just problem children joints? I know so little about G scale. They do look a bit fiddly, to install in a gritty place.
Back is done! Finished up earlier. Now, the next step is to do a few test runs. Still need to ballast and level a crossover, which is my biggest issue right now. Locomotives get hung up on the frogs currently. Once leveled, they should run fine! Now, all I gotta do, is finish some work in front. Just need to level track where Mom pulled plants/weeds. And where things settled by itself! Should be about ready for railroad club layout tour next weekend. If things can be used temporarily, I’ll be happy!
I'm using the Split Jaw clamps. Regular, insulated and Over Joiner. Clamped most joints. Used the micro screws and joiners in other areas. And the Over Joiner clamps in other spots, where I didn't have joiner screws. My tools for working! 7/64 ball end allen wrench 7/64 T handle wrench Allen set, to get into a few of the tighter spaces, to loosen or tighten screws. 5/64 driver, included with Aristo and USA switches. A 5/64 screw, for screwing rail joiners together! A real challenge! A 7/64 screw, used to hold the halves of rail clamps together. Aristo rail joiner. USA the same, but have a small lip on one end. Can't remove them, on switches! Black insulated joiner. Comes as set of 4 with USA switches. Yellow insulated Joiner. LGB, pack of 4. Standard Split Jaw clamp Split Jaw insulated clamp Split Jaw Over Joiner clamp. Same as standard clamp, only designed to fit over a rail joiner instead. Therefore the larger size!
Neat stuff. I found a page about building these garden railroads and it certainly is fascinating, if expensive. https://familygardentrains.com/
Think much can be eliminated, depending on what method you use to connect tracks. Hate to see what's necessary, if you decided to hand lay track instead!
Got any of those fancy schmancy machines to level the track, distribute/tamp the ballast, and all that or does your railroad still require hard hand labor to do it? Doug
Doug, All hands on deck!! My railroad can’t afford all that high tech gadgetry!! Still feel that making the crew(s) do it all by hand is still the best!
Spent a little over an hour tonight, doing more track work, out front. Managed about 10 feet of track leveling/ballasting. Was sweating a waterfall by the time I finished!! Something that relatively simple, just about kills me! Had to sit for 10 minutes, to let heart rate slow down!! If I feel decent enough, after dialysis tomorrow, I’m gonna try to get a little more work done. Not sure how much more I’m gonna manage before the weekend gets here! if I can level crossover in back, I’ll be happy! Gotta make a quick test, to see if anything gets hung up going through switches. And maybe wire a couple switches into track power, so I can use them at least temporarily. Photos and/or video from weekend, if all goes well.
Turns out, I was not able to run to the back over the weekend. Thought I had insulated gap issues in back. Flipped toggle switch in front, for reverse loop, and I get a dead short! Toggle switch in back works fine! So, I gotta pull the front switch apart, and hope I can find out what happened. If all else, I’ll just have to order a new weatherproof toggle switch. Otherwise, everything seemed to run pretty good, despite the 2 years of neglected maintenance!
Since club display, I’ve started pulling a few things up, and started replacing switches! However, it’s gonna require a fair amount of redesign of both loops. But, it should make things a little more interesting, and maybe operate a little better! The extra work is required, is because the USA switches are NOT the same as the Aristo Craft switches! The lengths and turn out angles are a little bit different! Nice thing is, most of the railroad will remain the same. Photos tomorrow maybe! Too dark to get anything tonight.
Is there a difference in price or availability, between the two brands? Just curious how you ended up with a mixture...
Well, my GP40’s has issues with derailing on the Aristo switches. Before I made minor mods, GP40’s would pick the points. Ended up filing notches into both stock rails, so points would seat just inside the railhead. Fixed the detail issues. But, the Aristo Pullman passenger car, with the 3 axle trucks, still picks the frog of Aristo switches. But, because trucks are rather long, and stiff, they derail almost anywhere Unless your track was perfectly level! The USA switches are all brass, not like the Aristo, which had plastic frogs and guard rails. However, the USA switches are about twice the price of Aristo, but readily available. With Aristo Craft no longer in business, good luck finding Aristo anything!! Unless you want to pay the price on eBay!! The Aristo switches were also manual control. The USA are remote, or manual. They even come with lighted switch controls, as well as lighted signals on switch machines! They’re also 6 inches longer, at 24 inches, to the 18 inch Aristo switches.
Finally, photos as promised! Looking towards the Patio Switch. This is the next section to be realigned as needed. Looking from Sidewalk Switch, towards inner loop.Rock removed a bit later. Looking at Sidewalk Switch, with rock removed! And tracks temporarily laid out. To see what works best. In this case, it looks like a 3 foot straight ffrom switch, abd a 2 foot straight, between curves. 8 foot Diametr curve on bottom. 10 foot Diameter curve laid on top. Will probably go with 10 foot curves. For those wondering, switches were named, for location. Sidewalk switch named, because it's right next to the corner of the sidewalk. Patio switch, since it's right next to the patio. South switch, since it's the southern most switch on the railroad! North/South Wye switches, since they're the north and south end of the wye! Some may not get it, but makes perfect sense to me!! Next step is to start working on tracks at Patio Switch. Will need to order the tracks I need for inner loop. Also need to do something about bridge, which has been removed. It's 4 foot long, sagging in the middle, and no longer fits! Thinking of cutting current bridge in 2, creating 2 shorter, 2 foot bridges. Or using it as template, and building a 2 foot span. Also have 4 GMM girder bridges I can use. Maybe 2 to lower left track, 1 on inner loop, upper middle. Pipe buried there! And maybe a couple of trestles for the lower tracks! Weather was nice, not too hot! Managed this, this afternoon, including a few rest breaks and dinner. Shade from tree and very light breeze really helped! Wasn't sucking air nearly as much as I have in the past, doing work easier than this!
Your switch names make sense to me, and railroaders probably nickname switches for their location on the 12"=1' railroad, too. Nice photos! I like the broader curves.
Keeps the same basic rack layout. The remainder of the inner track, is 8 foot. Going larger, would actually interfere with outer track! Checked it once, when I changed inside track! Should still run the same as before. Might look a bit better, on the larger curve. Makes operations a little interesting though!! If I run the SD70MAC, then I HAVE to run on 10 foot curves. Anything tighter, and the first car behind locomotive WILL derail! Should be interesting, at some point!