Decom
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Posts posted by Decom
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Ok I realise here I was not aware of a lot of things. I just assumed since when i was a kid and I have a 6*4 foot board that didn't have a frame and never had any issues like this then I wouldn't have any issues with smaller boards. I'm going to take my time to learn what to do before i do anything irreversable.
All this advice is very good, I just have a couple of questions. either linking to another post with answers to them or answering them in this post is welcome.
Use the 10mm board (odd size that, usually 9 or 12mm) as your top then bond a slab of builders insulating foam to it (get the correct stuff not polystyrene packing), fit a softwood or plywood frame round the edge, then bond on a 3mm ply bottom. This will give you a fairly lightweight but rigid board.
RAF69 what does the foam do?
Also do I need a particular strength or thickness of wooden frame? does it need to be structural?
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No matter what you use as a baseboard, it must be flat, or you are giving yourself a major headache.
Baseboards HAVE to be mounted on a rigid frame that cannot twist or sag.
From your query, I understand you intend to join two boards together, in a way that allows dismantling again. So how did you intend to fix your dowels without a frame? The ply alone isn't thick enough, unless you have some extremely thick stuff, in the region of 4cm, which will be very heavy on it's own!
I did think that having a support frame would make it easier, my initial plan was to use thin brass dowels (my board is 1 cm thick, I was going to use something less than half of that in thickness) and just be very careful not to put too much force on them.
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I bought two 4*4 foot plywood baseboards, which will sit one two lots of 2*4 foot tables. I havent put the track on yet because I wanted to sort the dowels out first, while they were left leaning against the wall they warped about an inch in the middle, and not in the direction of gravity. Someone I know said it would be because the initial water vapour left the wood because of the way they were stacked (can't really be changed). I found a way to correct it but I need to find a way to prevent this happening once i get the track on it because I will be storing it in the example same place. I could nail down some support beams but this would be a last resort as it would make them heavier (my layout is pop up / pop down) when carrying them. Does anyone have any good ideas/ experience in this area?
Also the room they are stored is mostly cool in the summer, cold in the winter but not damp.
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@chrissaf
Thank you for your reply this is very helpful, My question is still left unanswered unless I misunderstood your reply. In this diagram it would be sufficiant to link A and for the loco to run providing B is physicaly lined up. however what I am asking is that because there is uneqal distance between P (the power) and either side of B is will it run smoothly? or would it rapidly speed up/ slow down as soon as it crossed? or will I need to connect both A and B. /media/tinymce_upload/730c2fd8893cac98bec211b52b704d4c.png
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A 4 X 4 board is still pretty big for one person to move, especially if it has scenery on it. Smaller boards are my recommendation.
There wont be any perminant scenary on it. I also wont be moving it very i'l litterally just be rotating it from leaning up against the walls to on the floor/ on my table supports.
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And can you get round all three sides of each half? You cannot reach over 4 ft of board to reach a derailment, or to add decorations!
Have a practice on your dining table - line up an assortment of non-spill items along the edge, then see how far over you can reach without disturbing the objects!
I can access all sides.
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I will soon aquire enough space to finally be able to get a perminant layout. I am thinking in the short term (next 2+ years) I will use two 4*4 foot base boards and connect them together since it will need to go up and down regularly and I don't want to require two people to have to move it. I've read up a lot on methods to connect the track and I think I will simply use power clips to do so.
My question is, using a r965 (DC), would I need to connect both sides of the track? so imagine i have a single oval loop, would I need to connect both the left and right hand side or just the one? would the train slow down near the one end and then suddenly speed up if it went over the "gap" that wasn't connected? I remember having similar problems when I last had hornby (10+ years ago but this could have jsut been due to an individual controller. I will be using a different controller although the same type (r965). Also I am planning on having 2-3 loops with a couple of side branches. I hope I have explained this clearly enough, if not I will try to provide a diagram to explain.
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If the code is unknown can't you just reset it on a test track with the controller? Or don't all controls give you this opportunity.
just to clarify I did not say that, I was asking weather or not that particular controler was DCC or DC, as I was thinking about buying a set with it in. My set up is DC.
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What model is it? Some models are known to have common problems and shoul be avoided like the plague.
Apologies for the late reply, I ended up buying it and it all worked fine. However I am likely to buy similar products (britannia class locomotives) in the future as I absolutely love that particular kind so I would like to hear your advice.
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Hi I'd first off like to say thanks for all your replies in previous posts and all the information given. It's been really helpful to me. I apologise if I havent replied to them because i've been quite ill lately and had quite bad brain fog, most is well now though and i am recovering.
To my question: I am buying a second hand locomotive in a few days. The price is very low (but not too good to be true low) and the seller seems to have kept it in very good condition, plus he seems to know his stuff. Also his reasons for selling it at good quality and low price make sense. We arranged for me to collect it and that I could see it run to make sure it works. So what I'm wondering is, is there anything I should keep an eye out for? obviously for the price it's at I'm willing to take a certain level of risk but obviously if I know what to look out for then I can minimise that risk. Everything also seems good with the seller as he has good reviews and has been answering my questions accurately and quikly, but again If there are any tell tale signs that the product is faulty that would be helpful to know.
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I've noticed many brand new locomotives of similar types vary wildly in price. I can see that some of the price goes towards the asthetic of the train, some on how new the design is, however does any of it go towards quality and longevity of the motor? I'm on a bit of a budget so I am personally fine missing out on a bit of asthetic and going for an older design for a much lower price but if it means it will break quiker/ have trouble with it then that might change things. If there are any other differences that i havent considered (very much a newbie here) then I would also be interested in knowing that too.
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I'll let the DCC guys answer your questions relating to the track - basically it should be fine, but DO NOT leave analogue locos on a live track.
Older track is probably steel, which whilst it helped the old magnadhesion, it rusts, and nobody likes it any more - all prefer nickel silver track produced today.
If you have an R8250 coming, it's great with a little 0-4-0 tank engine, like Percy for example, but little else - it will soon have a thermal shutdown. This is temporary, but will definitely happen with older locomotives, which will draw more current than the modern ones do.
There's probably an average of 2 threads per month solely related to the wheezy R8250 power supply / controller - I suggest you search these out - possibly easier via Google.
Hope that answers some of your questions.
BTW - A BIG WELCOME to the forum - it's generally very friendly, depending on where we are with snow and Brexit!!
Al.
Hi thanks for your reply! I have a few questions about what you said.
What do you mean by "do not leave analogue Locos on live track"?
Also my track is oldest 2005, probably got it a few years after (I bought all my stuff new), I thought that the nickel/silver track started being used in the 90s? I'm assuming then my track should be fine although I'm not expert so do correct me if I'm wrong.
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I've done my best to research these but i have yet to have my questions answered so I thought here would be the best place. I used to have quite a substantial hornby train set about ten years ago and still have some left over (regretably in my teenage years I sold it) and thought i'd get back into it and i have enough track and Locos to just spruce it up by buying a single train set. I would like to use analog since my current equiptment is analog, this is where my questions come in.
The only power clips/ track I have is power track at the moment, I can't tell if it's digital or analog. Common sense tells me that it is analog since I only bought analog train sets but my memory isn't too good. I heard using digital eqiptment on analog trains can be bad. However I'm not sure if that applys to power track. If it were digital would it potentially damage my ten year old analog Locos?
My second question is, is the "Standard Model Train Controller (R8250) with mains power supply" analog or Digital? it will come in the train set I'm buying. While the train will be DCC ready, can I use ten year old analog Locos on that remote?
track spacing to prevent buckling
in General Discussion
Posted
I've seen on this forum that the recomended amount to leave space between track when it's fixed down is approximately 1.5 mm, if this spacing is made for say The single straight (R600). Would i need to make spacing even larger for the longest straight piece (R603)? if so how would i account for this? I'd imagine if I just multiplied the 1.5 mm by the amount it was larger the gap would be too big for locos to use. Or is the 1.5 mm already very generous and it's enough space for the larger pieces?
the room it will be stored in isn't like a loft where it will get huge variations in temperature throughout the year because it's surrounded by heated and cooled rooms, but it hasent got heating or cooling for itself. so it's kind of half way between loft conditions and normal room conditions.