Hi everyone just wanted to say hi as I just joined up today. I'm just starting/getting back into model railroading. When I was a kid my dad and I started on a layout, we got the track down, some landscaping and then the project just kind of lost interest. I have always been interested in the hobby and have always wanted to finish that project my dad and I started. My wife and I just bought a house last year so I figure now would be the time do to it since I have the space to put it in my house. I have attached a few pictures of the layout as it sits in my parents house. \ I'm not sure if I should change it, or leave it as it is. I'd like to have a town/factory area which I think is possible but might have to get rid of some track. I have a few other idea's as well. Let me know what you guys think. The track hasn't had a train on it in probably almost 10 years so i'm not sure what problems i'm going to run into when I fire it up. Should probably have the extinguishers close by :tb-biggrin:
JE78- Welcome to TrainBoard! I am sure you'll need to clean the tracks. There may be some rail joints which have enough oxidizing to lose connectivity. If it's been in a fairly dry place, hopefully any problems will be few. Keep us posted! Boxcab E50
Thanks I will, i'm sure once I get it in my house and all set up you'll be seeing alot of me on these forums.
Sounds good. We don't care what size layout, what scale, what level of talents. Jump in and take part. Boxcab E50
Welcome!! If you would rather try things out, not spend any money, and generally see how things run, I would just run a meter with probes all across the track system to see if there are any voltage problems with a median setting of the transformer dial. Was this ever a 'runner'? Did it work? You have what appear to be two reversing sections. What was used to reverse polarity safely? If the rails are oxidized and needing attention, try a cloth with some metal wheel polish such as Mother's, Black Magic....the stuff you get in the automotive section at Wally's. This won't be a light task, but it will be worth it if you would rather not begin a new project and have to allocate much more in the way of resources. Also, the metering process to determine if the wiring and joiners are still sound will work much more accurately if the probes are not prevented from measuring the true voltage by crud and oxidation. Just some thoughts to throw out there.
It did run but I couldn't tell you how the wiring was setup, that was all my dads area of work. I designed most of the layout, that was my job. I know it hasn't run in almost 10 years and has been a storage bench for a few years, covered with a cloth. Good thing is the room its in is a dry area so I hope there are minimal issues with the track. The wiring I think is going to have to be redone or at the least reconnected. I hope he still has a diagram or something that I can go off of but I'll have to talk to him about it. I think its going to be job getting it back running so its a good thing we have a few more months of winter here in NY.
Welcome to the boatd. Hey neat project. Also a great way to get close to your dad once again. Keep us posted on the project. You might find that some of the new technology out there will help you out and catch your attention when rewiring it.
Me and my dad are close, but one of the main reason's i'm taking it is because he wants it "out of his damn house" as he tells me every time i'm over there. He'll just be happy to have it gone but I think once its up and running again he'll appreciate it.
When my dad passed away in 95 I inherited his layout. I tried to incorporate it into what I want to build but alas unable to. I did keep some of the names and industries that he developed for his. Maybe once you do get it into your house he may want to come play with it eh?
Oh i'm sure he'll wanna check it out and have some input. As long as he pays for his input i'm ok with that lol
JE78, I, too, shall welcome you to the board! What is the size of the layout? Is the main part a 4x8 piece of plywood with a 4x4 "leg" attached to it? Just currious about that. I look forward to your progress on rehabilitating the layout.
I'm sitting here at work reading over the forums and i'm thinking a Bachmann EZ Command control center might be the way to go. I know i'm going to have to re-wire the layout and from the video i've seen the EZ center would eliminate sone if that wiring. The only downfall is that i'm going to have to upgrade to DCC locomotives since all the locomotivesI have are 15-20 years old.
*****UPDATE***** I just got back from my parents house, the track is in good condition, very little oxidizing on the track. Some of the track is nickle and some is brass. I talked to my dad, only 1 train was ran at a time on here, the balloon loop was never functional he said (even though I swear i remember it working) he said he never got the wiring completed for it but the entire track has power. The wiring as is looks pretty rough, alot of stuff disconnected so it will probably all have to be redone. My dad's pretty sure that some cleaning of the track with a wire brush and then rewiring the layout everything should work fine. So all the information what would you guys suggest as far as supplies and stuff I would need to get it going?
Hey guys, i'm thinking of getting a DCC starter kit. I'm wondering if the Bachmann DCC Command Control System is the way to go? You all know what i'm going to have it hooked up to so just wondering your suggestions. I have one on eBay i'm keeping an eye on. I will have to get a DCC ready loco as well. Would it be better to get a set like the Bachmann Digital Commander? I don't need the track but it seems like that would be a good combo to go with since it comes with 2 DCC ready loco's plus the EZ commander.
Here's the thing, wiring is a variable pain. I can tell you thst the Bachmann isn't all thatexpandable, like the major systems are. That said, it's working fine for the Model Railroader's Beer Line project layout.There's little you can do with it programming wise, but that doesn't matter if you aren't doing a lot of programminng. And if there's only one or two of you running, you won;t need more throttles. Also, one doesn't haveto have a DCC loco on a DCC system. A good DCC will recognize a DC engine and assign it a defualt number (usually 00) The Bachmann DCC engines aren't bad though, you could do worse.
Thanks, for the money I think i'm going to go with that Bachmann set for now. It will give me the DCC Command Control System, 2 DCC loco's and some track. Right now I just wanna get running. My knowledge is minimal so it will take some time for me to utilize a better DCC system. I was reccommend the Digitrax Zepher system and that just looks like way to much for me right now. I'm sure down the road I will upgrade but for now it would be overkill for my skills. My only real question is with my layout being 8x12 will I need any extra juice or will it power the entire thing?
