I've been working on my (HCD) railroad, not all the livelong day but at least in the evenings. Recently I've been pretty happy with my track plan, so I purchased some pink foam and glued it down with silicone caulk. I'm now working on contouring the foam with my desired dips and valleys and what have you, creating a pink mess with my new surform and utility knife and sanding blocks. Question! What's the best way to run wiring? It's an N-gauge layout, using Kato Unitrack. I've got six remote switches and a turn table to run wiring for. My initial thought was, once contouring has been completed, cut slots in the top of the foam for the wiring, lay down a Woodland Scenics vinyl-backed grass mat, hit it with the hairdryer and hope it hugs the contours and hides the wires. Guess I should have asked that before gluing stuff, but hey. I guess the alternative would be to drill down through the foam and through the door, then clip it along the bottom of the door?
How many wires would need to be in a slot? I am thinking about making a small slit. Easier to disguise.
A sharp knife and a deep enough slit works fine. That's what I did for my HCD. I ran the slits to the edge of the layout, then ran the wires along a channel behind the fascia. Works fine for me. Should I need to service the wiring for whatever reason, I can pull the screws and pop the fascia off for relatively easy access.
I bought a 16" long drywall drill. It is used for fishing wires through walls. Mine is 3/16". It is about the diameter of a drink straw that I push through it as a guide for the wires. I also purchased a Molex pin remover to remove pins from power and turnout plugs to feed the wires through the layout. Afterward it is simple to reinsert the pins and you still have use of the plug. Pay attention to polarity. Cutting slits should work well to. You can get the foam putty from WS and smooth over the cut with a putty knife. The foam putty is sandable when dry also. I tried the grass mat on a small test piece and was not pleased with the outcome. Too wrinkly. Also, I don't think a hair dryer will have enough heat. I used a regular heat gun, but would not choose the grass mat myself. I used a turf blend from Scenic Express for my ground cover and was very happy with the look. Hope that helps. Trey
Drill holes and run the wires down into the door's interior. Then, take a router and cut access holes, in strategic spots, (large enough do get your hand through) on the "bottom" side of the door. Not only will this hide the wiring, but it will also give you access to it in the case you ever have to service it.
Since you're using Kato switches , do you really need to have them powered ? I usually just cut off the wires and throw them by hand . But if you are going to power them I would use a long drill to drill through the door and run the wires under the door. I haven't used the WS grass mat , But I think it would be easier to just glue down ground foam over the foam after you paint it .
