Satifaction

[kf4jqd]

Hello All:

Yesterday, I did not realize it but my trains ran for 6 hours without derailing, uncoupling, or the locomotive smashing into something! As of September, it's been a full year working on my layout.

I remember when the cars would uncouple by themselves. To make things worst, I wasn't paying any attention and the locomotive would crash into it! I remeber the locomotive crashing into the entire train!

"Oh my God! The cars crashed to the floor!"

After spending hours cleaning ballast glued to the inside rails. Fixing bad joints in the tracks. Making sure there was good electrical contacts. (Yes the train did jerk on some areas of track). Things seem to be good.

So to those who are just starting their layout. This is the real world. Murphy Law applies to everything. Once you get the bugs worked out, you will be very satified with your work. How do you think the Master railroaders became masters?

All the best,
Andy

 

[shamus]

Hi Andy, glad you have got the BUGS out of the railroad, now enjoy it.

Shamus

NARA Member #24
http://www.badger-creek.co.uk

 

[Woodie]

running without derailment

Andy,

Yep. KNow what you mean. SOmetimes you need to spend ages on just that little bit of track that is a problem. That troublesome join on a curve, that turnout you "squeezed" in where you should not have! Good luck now you have all the bugs out. Have you tried ALL you rollingstock? FOr 6 hours????

 

[kf4jqd]

Not 100% done

Woodie:

I am not 100% done. I still have alittle problems with the passenger cars. I have some sharp curbs with they don't like to will.

Also the scenery is far from done. This weekend I will have more pictures posted on my homepage.

Andy

 

[roryglasgow]

Andy,

I've been debugging my track, too. I was partly inspired to do it because YOU were doing it! I actually changed part of the trackplan to make it more reliable (and to remove a turnout that I had just given up hope on). It was so nice to see Annie and Clarabel make it ALL THE WAY around the loop!

-Rory

 

[kf4jqd]

Rory:

I'm glad to be of help! No matter how many times you change the layout. You will still have to work the bugs out. Mine was mostly ballast stuck on the inside of the rails. I used a hobby knife to clean it out. Some track was removed. This is a never end hobby!

Andy

 

[roryglasgow]

Speaking of ballast...

I'm still fairly new to the whole landscaping thing. When I put down the ballast in the yard, I happily poured it out and sprayed Scenic Cement all over the place. It worked great! It also worked great at gluing my turnouts in place, too. The glue, plus the bits of ballast that got caught in the turnout's works were a source of...um...activity for me for a couple of hours while I cleaned them up. I learned my lesson!

-Rory

 

[kf4jqd]

Cheaper way of gluing ballast!

Rory:

Here is a cheaper way of gluing ballast. My local hobby shoppe and RR club does this.

We use 50/50 glue. Which is 50 percent Elmer's glue and 50 percent water. Plus a teaspoon of dish washing soap. After the ballast is poured onto the tracks. Spray it with water that has about 8 teaspoons of dish washing soap in it. Get it all wet! This will help the glue to sink into the ballast. Instead of rolling off! Squirt your glue mixture between the rails and long the sides. Who cares if you get it on the rails. After the glue is dry. Use a "Bright Boy" cleaning eraser to clean the rails. There you go. Now you are done.

 

[roryglasgow]

Thanks for the tip! I tried eyedropping the "glue" onto the ballast, but it DID just roll away. Next time I'll do it your way. Now I'm not dreading ballasting the rest of the track!

-Rory

 

[billk]

Rory - Shamus has on his web site a method of ballasting using wallpaper paste that looks interesting.
Bill K

 

[shamus]

Thanks Bill for the remarks, Rory, all my tracks for the last 40 years have been done with wallpaperpaste and very fine powder type ballast. How to do it is in the Academy.

Shamus

NARA Member #24
http://www.badger-creek.co.uk

 

[Drew1125]

Congrats on getting the trains up & running Andy!
Aint' it great when (to quote John Steinbeck) "...the world is spinning in a greased groove"?
(Now, if I could only grease up my photography, & computer skills!)
Have fun with those trains Andy!

 

[kf4jqd]

Thanks

Thanks everyone!

I would like to thank everyone who responded. However there is some bad news and good news! My model railroading days are numbered. Why you ask? Because Jessica and I are planning on moving to Tennessee next June. I already have alot of train stuff to haul. I'm trying to keep it to a minumun.

After that we are planing on getting married! Plus going back to college. After all of that, we will build our dream home and start a family. Oh yes, we plan on having a room for the computers, ham radios, and of course trains! I'll keep you posted!

Andy

The Rock Island man!

 

[BOBSTA]

I'm sorry your days are numbered, but i'm glad its for something so happy good luck!

 

[jimmybeersa]

Andy
Good luck in Tennessee....love that State Have a HAPPY life and keep on Railroading

( I had a layout on wheels under our double bed when I was first married,much to my new wifes disgust) amazingly I am still married to her 48 years later