Nice work George. I will be looking for a trailer next year to redo my layout. I’m retiring in December of this year and moving to Nevada. I found a small place with a Modular Home on it and I will not have room for a layout inside. I will have a lot of space to put a trailer on and don’t have to worry about any rules about it like I do in CA. I don’t know yet what I will end up with, but I’ll be referring back to this thread for ideas for sure.
I don't know if i will ever live in anything but the rv. Maybe but never know. But may keep the rv for the layout. and a Bigger Layout!! hummm!!
THERR RV came close to being used for one of the main reason for building a mobile layout. We rent and never know when we could be forced to move. Our landlord passed away 3 months ago. We werent sure of our renters status...as a new lease was due the first of this month. Thankfully the lease was renewed for another year...whew !!! Unless I win the lottery and can buy a house with a 'trainroom'...I dont think I will regret having it mobile. THERR RV has propane heat...a rooftop AC...a power converter... 2 swivel seats up front...and a motor that runs.
Have Layout, Will Travel. (with apologies to Paladin, aka Richard Boone.) Sorry for the double post. The initial post returned "Data Base Error, Please Try Again". So I did
Gave my aching back a day to recover. Hopefully I can get all those wires soldered onto the switch panel tomorrow. As far as I care or can foresee...this is the last 'Major' project to do on the layout.....woooooooohoooo
S U C C E S S !!! The top rows of switches are wired into the ready tracks off the turntable...and they all work great !! All thats left to do is wire in the entrance tracks to the East and West ladders of the yard. I also have to wire in the 'Service' area track off the ladder to a switch on the panel. The yard ladders and Service track will be wired off 3 of the bottom row of switches on the panel. After its all done I will remount it in the opening and put the doors and drop down panels back on the cabinets and have a few cups of coffee and a couple of smokes and watch some trains run around for awhile...to celebrate !!!!
Thnxs Johnny.... Sorry I skipped past your post earlier My son works at a gold mine in the middle of Nevada...he likes it there. Sometimes...an 'external' layout building or mobile 'layout room' is the only answer. If any of what I did in THE RV will be of help when you build in a trailer...use any ideas ya can....
You are never finished even when you think or have determined your finished. A layout is never done. Have fun with the wires you'll appreciate them once you get around to playing with your toy trains. lol
Soooooooooooo...Now that my switch panel is all wired in and working as planned..it was track cleaning time. For years I used alcohol on a rag and wiped down the rails. On occasion I've had to use Napa 400 A Silicon Carbide 1300 Premium autobody waterproof paper to get the heavy stuff off the rails. I would put a small piece of the sandpaper on the rails and use my index finger to slide it down the rails. I knew the sandpaper was putting minute scratches on the rails...but it sure cleaned em nicely. This time around...I remembered reading somewhere about using a 'stainless steel washer' to polish the rails... http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jM7cum8XL._SL500_AA300_.jpg I went to Ace Hardware and picked up a couple of stainless steel washers. I am as opened minded as the next guy but was still leary. I used the alcohol and a rag on all the track on the layout first. Then I rubbed the stainless steel washer up and down all the rails and turnouts. I have no idea how this washer trick works...I just know the rails are shinier now then when I bought them !! The trains and cars seem to love the polished surface ! Curious to know; Does anyone really know...does the stainless knock the ridges off the peaks of the minute scratches...or...does the stainless fill in the valley of the scratches ? I even took a jewelers file to a rail on a scrap piece of Unitrack. Rubbing the stainless steel washer over that same area brought the rail back to an unbelievable shine..and the scratches from the file...were gone !!! If you know how it all works...please chime in. Enquiring minds want to know. I am hoping the polished rails will help the track stay cleaner longer. Time will tell.
Some folks call this "gleaming". What you did was to burnish the rails. The washer is harder than the rail and you essentially wore away some of the sandpaper scratching. Without those scratches, tracks should stay cleaner, longer, as there are much fewer places for dirt to accumulate.
Isn't it the same reason prototype rails remain shiny when in use. You have thousands of steel wheels rolling over them every day. No "gunk" on real rails. The problem for model railroading is that most rolling stock, and many locomotives, are just too light to effect burnishing on our tiny rails. And thus "gunk". They would need to simulate tons of pressure at the wheel footprint to have the same effect as the prototype.
I still have a ways to go. The 'boxes' are Lego blocks that scale out to 3'x3'x3'. The 'tubes' are made from 12 gauge household wire bent 90 degress. I still want to put in a regular coiled up gardenhose ( I have a plan for that ). Have to paint the 'tubes' and will make a 'rack' to hang the ladder on the right. Going to try and make an emergency wash stand with sink and a shower head. No....I have no idea what the tanks hold...LOL
Wow neat and it's been a little bit since I looked in on this Thread. Quite nice and I must agree that our Layouts are never done. Between technology advancements and our own desires for better; never done.
