I would like to start a thread of ways ideas can be adapted from the actual railroads to improve realism/operations on model railroads.  I am sure there are many, but one came to mind yesterday that has application to model railroad operations, and can perhaps start the ball rolling seeking further suggestions.

Any model railroad operation that involves switching of any type can use this.

The number one cars of switching accidents on actual railroads is blind shoves.  What is a blind shove?
It is an unprotected backup move into a track that either ends in a dead end, or has equipment already standing on it.

It happens when a switchman or conductor calls for the engineer to back the train into a track, without the ground man actually being able to observe the end of the string of cars being shoved, or not being able to observe the clear distance to the point where the movement is supposed to stop.
The fewer people working the ground, the greater the chances of this happening.

Unless your model has a very good momentum throttle, this is not such a problem for a model railroader.  As we all know, cutting power to most model locomotives stops them instantly.
It is not so easy on an actual railroad.  The engineer must allow some distance to stop, and instant stops are not always a good idea even if they could be performed (you might throw a crewmember off a car that stops too suddenly).  At least no one is going to get hurt on a model train.

How do railroads prevent this from happening?
First, there is a rule against making blind shoves.  This is common sense, but sometimes gets overlooked.
Second, there is a rule that shoving movements have to come to a stop by a set distance from the end of track or other equipment on that track.  Generally, this is three car lengths or 150 feet.

Although on a model railroad, there is generally only one set of eyes per train, these are rules that can easily be followed.  How many of us have shoved cars off the end of a track, or slammed into a cut of cars we have forgotten about on our model railroads?  Be honest now.

If we adopt this rule on our model railroads, we can have smoother and more realistic operations at no extra expense at all.  And maybe even prevent something from getting broken.

Anybody else have any real railroad rules they would like to suggest?

Les

Here are the pictures of my "Slanty Things" for the benefit of GG1onFordsDT&I.

My apologies to Mr. Bachmann for the lack of his products in this post.  If Bachmann made them, I'd buy them.

Not a "slanty", but new to me.  My son George bought me this in NIB condition.  I added weathering and lighted the front headlight.  It is a Minitrix ATSF FM H-12-44.


Here is one you've seen before, but in a fresh view.  CB&Q E5.


Here is a Milwaukee Road E6.

An off-line appearance by an ACL E6.


Here are some "slantys" you might not think of as such.  Does the long hood end sort of make you think of a GG1?


A real Rock Island slanty:




And another slanty from Milwaukee Road:


I hope that is enough slope to cut the mope!

Les

This month I received a shipment from a mail-order hobby supply house.  They were running a special deal-included with the order was a free model!  The model included was a Santa-Fe FP7 cab unit display model.  It looked to me like a Bachmann.

This was really a nice model, with a great paint job, and a closed front coupler pocket.
I had rebuilt a Bachmann F-unit chassis to power it with.

Today I removed the model from its display base, and took the chassis out of it.  When I tried to fit my Bachmann chassis under it, I found it was too short.  Experimenting with other models, the only one I found would fit was the Rapido FP9 chassis.  This would be expected, as the FP7's and 9's were the same length, 4' longer than a regular F-unit.  The Rapido chassis would have required some work to use.  I didn't use it, as it was under a unit that gets a lot of use (a D&GRW unit).

My question to the Bach-man:  Was this display loco a Bachmann product?  If so, is there going to be a run of these as powered models?  I didn't really expect much for free, but was very impressed by the appearance of this model.

Les

A few days ago, I was working with my model railroad and was thinking about my  Bachmann full-length dome lounge cars.  I have five of these, three "McKinley Explorer" cars, an ATSF car, and an AMTRAK car that I repainted in Milwaukee Road colors as a stand-in for a correct Pullman-Standard Superdome car.

These are really nice cars.  They have interior details on both levels and look great when the interiors are painted.

I took a sixth one and used parts of it, with Evergreen Plastic and a Con-Cor dining car, to produce a model of an SP 3/4 length dome lounge.

This led me to wonder why Bachmann has produced no more cars in this series to run with the full-length domes?  I would think there would be a market for other stainless steel passenger cars in full-length format.  Some cars that are not commonly available are diner-lounges; coach-grill cars; baggage-cafe cars; or just some additional coach/chair cars and baggage cars?  How about a full-length parlor car?

Les

Many older model locomotives did not come with directional lighting.  It is an easy project to add this, and not expensive.

Today I added this feature to four of my N-scale Life-Like E units, but the principle involved could be used on any units not so equipped.  With a little modification of wiring, it could also be used on Bachmann units without directional lighting.

I started by looking inside a Con-Cor E-7 with directional lighting.  The headlight would only light up when moving in a forward direction. This is what I wanted.  The headlight bulb usually used is a grain of wheat bulb, but I have seen grain of rice bulbs used, too.

The diode used was marked "1100".  It was a small cylindrical diode, black in color, with a silver band around one end.  I found diodes identical to these at Radio Shack.
They are described as 1N4004 diodes, part number 276-1103.  They come two in a package for $1.19 a package.

The Life-Like locomotives used a plastic frame with roughly cast lead weights, but the conversion did not require any removal of material.

I found a spare grain of wheat bulb with thin black wire leads the same diameter as the leads on the grain of wheat bulb on the loco.  The forward weight is held on by a spring clip.  Pop the clip loose and remove the weight.  Some of these weights have been thoughtfully coated with an insulating coating.  Otherwise, apply plastic insulating tape down the slot in the top the wires go into.

On the right side of the loco, cut the headlight wire off at the frame.  Cut a piece of wire from the spare bulb about three inches long, and solder it to the contact strip on the frame where the other wire was cut off.

Put a 90-degree bend in the wire lead on the diode, in the lead that comes out the end opposite the silver band.  Cut the diode lead off just beyond this bend, and trim the new wire to reach the diode, then solder the new wire to the bent wire on the diode.

Fit the weight back on, and run the headlight and wires in the insulated slot.  With the bulb in place, snap the clip back in place.

The diode must have the silver band at the end facing the headlight.  Trim the other lead on the diode to about a quarter-inch, then shorten the unattached wire from the bulb and solder it to the forward lead off the diode.

Before installing the body, test this on the track.  You haven't messed with anything in the drive train, so it should still run fine.  The headlight should come on when the chassis is moving forward, and go off when backing up.  If the opposite happens, you have installed the diode backwards.  If the headlight shines when going both directions, you have a short between the diode and the headlight.  If the light stays dark in both directions, you have a bad solder joint at one of the three places you soldered.

Why this works:  diodes are a one-way only gate for electricity.  Since direction in a DC circuit is determined by polarity, you are only letting power reach the headlight when the current flow is in the direction for forward movement.

What you will need: 

Radio Shack 1N4004 diode.

Pencil-type soldering iron and thin solder.

Small wire cutter.

Needle-nosed pliers.

X-acto knife (for stripping wire).

Small screwdriver (for popping off clip).

Electrical tape.

Short length of very light insulated wire.

I haven't tried doing this with a bi-directional hood unit, but it should be an easy conversion using two diodes.  Just remember to keep the silver band on the diode at the end facing the light bulb.

Les

I like to use pencil-type soldering irons when working on my model railroad.  But the things get in the way and take too long when they are cooling.  I've found a safe, quick way to get them to cool down so they can be safely handled or put away.

When you are done with your iron, unplug it and gently clamp the soldering tip in a bench vise.  The heavy jaws of the vise act as a wonderful heat sink, quickly drawing the heat out of the iron.  In addition, it keeps the hot iron safely out of the way.

Les

I bought an assortment of 65' N-scale combination coach-baggage cars at a good price from my local hobby shop.  Generally, a train would only have one, if any, of this type of car in its consist.

I did have a shortage of coaches and baggage/express cars.  It was easy to get the cars I needed by removing the roofs from the combines and carefully cutting the bodies of the cars in two.

Two passenger halves of a combine yield one coach.  Make the dividing cut through the center of the window on the center line of the car.  The two half-windows result in a full window.

The two baggage halves yield one full baggage/express car.  The window halves will make a single window in the center of both sides.  Perfect for a baggage/express car with an express messenger's desk and window inside.

Do not divide the roofs.  By not cutting them, they will reinforce the car body and avoid a splice line in the center of the roofs.  If you want to retain operation of the baggage doors, cut the clear plastic window material up as far as the bottom of the roof, and cut the clear pocket for the door to slide in free from the roof and reattach on the roof you are using for your baggage car.  The clear window material for the coach section can be cut free in the same way and attached to your coach roof.

If you are using the lighting system, it will work just fine in the modified cars.

I painted my modified car bodies dark green and decaled them for CB&Q and C&S cars with Microscale decals (gold lettering).  I left the roofs black.

These cars would also work well in mixed trains, especially along with an unmodified combine.  If your mixed trains carry the passenger cars behind the freight cars, or if they are pulled by freight Diesels, be sure to install a little smokestack on each car for a heating stove.

Les

I've found a quick and easy way to correct tight track gauge sometimes found in curves.
I've used it on my own N-scale railroad built with E-Z Track, but I suspect it would work on regular sectional track as well in HO.

I have a particular loco (a Kato PA-1, in this case) that would always derail on the same E-Z Track switch, but only on that one switch, and only when approaching in a trailing point direction.  This was really frustrating, because it ran OK everywhere else in either direction.  And derailments on switches usually happen in the facing point direction.

So I stopped the loco and looked at it closely before it reached the switch.  The lead axle was already derailed before it even got to the switch!  Nothing I could have done to the switch would have helped, because the problem was happening before it got there.

I had already checked the gauge of the wheels.  When I placed a track gauge on the curve preceding the curve (about three feet from it) the gauge went on very tight.  The track in the curve was too narrow.

The gauge I use is built into a MicroTrains coupler check gauge.  I hooked the gauge over the rails, and pushed it around the curve a couple times in each direction.  It was difficult to move at first, then freed up on subsequent passes.

This solved the problem completely.  The only time I have not been able to adjust track gauge this way was in a curved terminal piece.  I couldn't fit the gauge into the flangways.  I was using this to represent a road crossing, not as an electrical connector.  I replaced the piece with a section of regular E-Z Track curve, and built my own crossing atop this.

Les

A while back, someone posted here about the possibility of using a turntable with E-Z Track.  Of course, this is possible if you  substitute conventionally-supported rail between the E-Z Track and the turntable bridge.

This got me to thinking of considerations when choosing and installing a turntable.

My own model railroad uses two turntables.  These were purchased and installed in 2009, and are my only experience with turntables.

My turntables are made by Atlas.  The Bachmann turntables closely resemble these outwardly, but I do not know anything about the Bachmann tables beyond that.

Both brands are a surface mount type.  They do not require a hole in the layout, as there is no pit.  The mechanism is thin and is no taller than normal track and roadbed.  The rotating part of the turntable is completely covered over.  This is prototypical, but not typical of full-size turntables.  Fully decked turntables were used in places that received great amounts of snowfall.

The power system is contained in a small shed.  The Atlas model is powered by a large can-type motor.
In earlier model Atlas tables, power is transmitted from the motor to the drive mechanism by a rubber drive belt.  Later versions use a gear train for this.  Both my tables use the belt drive, and I have found this to be satisfactory. If you buy just the basic turntable, it will not come with a drive unit.  Instead, you get a hand crank.  Drive units are sold separately.

The table is turned by a Zurich mechanism turned by a worm.   The mechanism itself is too complicated for me to describe how it works, but what it does is convert a constant rotating force to an intermittent rotating force.  This causes the turntable bridge to stop intermittently at repeating equally-spaced positions.  Automatic indexing!

Full-size railroad turntables do not work this way.  Their movement is continuous and indexing is done by eye, with special locking devices.  Model turntables that do that require rotary switches, or a complex electric eye system to sense table position.  The Zurich mechanism is a cheap and easy way to avoid this.

Since this table uses fixed track locations, it is important that any roundhouse used with it has compatible stall spacing.  This is easily achieved by using a roundhouse marketed for use with that turntable.

Again, because of the fixed track locations, it is easiest to build the approach track first, then adjust the position of the table so the approach track can be perfectly straight.  You do not want a curve in the track in the final engine length before the table.  The whisker tracks coming off the table also need to be straight for at least the first engine length.

You cannot run E-Z Track all the way to the bridge.  The roundhouse is designed so the stall tracks will be at the correct height.  The whisker and approach tracks will need to be made with sectional regular or flex track, with cork or foam roadbed to support it.

Both vertical and horizontal rail alignment where meeting the bridge is critical.  On my approach track, I drilled a hole between ties and used a small wood screw to adjust vertical adjustment of the approach rails.

The turntable base should be securely screwed to the layout base.  There are holes cast into the base for this purpose.  It is important the turntable base be both stable and level.

Power to the bridge should be fed to the table from the approach track.  Each of the other tracks coming off the table should be controlled independently, using their own lead wires.

Power is fed from the base to the bridge via a split-ring contact system.  This automatically reverses the polarity of the bridge tracks after they had turned 180 degrees.  I found this to be confusing at first, and bought and installed an Atlas Controller for each turntable.  I didn't need these.  Only if you do not have polarity reversing built in would you need this, but it may be handy if you choose to power your turntable drive with the same power supply you are using to power your trains.

I had some problem with the power supply running to the bridge.  Each rail on the bridge has its own sliding, spring-loaded contact that presses against the contact plates in the base.  These contacts each consist of two tiny brass cups with a spring inside.  Sometimes these can get hung up and create a dead spot.

This can be cured by replacing the springs inside the cups with stronger springs.  I substituted coupler springs from the old N-scale Rapido couplers, stretched a little.  If you disassemble the turntable, be careful!
There are a lot of tiny parts in there!

Of course, these turntables will look lots better when painted.  I painted the "cement" base parts, and weathered the wooden deck.  The little sheds can be used to establish railroad identity.  Paint them in colors that are standard for the railroad they are being used on.  Add additional details: fuel tanks, barrels, people.

My tables get a lot of use, especially the one at my Burlington roundhouse.  They can be used for turning cars as well as locos, and give a little extra action to any model railroad.

Les

A lot of us who have been in the hobby a few years wind up with several unpowered (dummy) Diesel locomotive units.  These can really "fill out" a locomotive consist, but often are troublesome in operation. 

They tend to derail easily if used as the center unit in a locomotive lash-up, with a powered unit on each end.
Also, if used as a trailing unit between a powered unit and a heavy train, they are subject to "string-lining" on curves if the tension forces through them are too high.

There are a few simple fixes that apply to all brands for these problems.

I've found that any of them will usually track better with a little extra weight.  The most versatile weights I have found are 1/4 oz. lead egg sinkers.  These are small enough to fit inside N-scale dummy locos.  You can file a flat spot on them and glue them directly to the frame.  I've found that it works best to keep the original weight in place, and attach the sinkers as close to directly above the trucks as possible.  Lacking room for that, try adding a single 1/2oz. egg sinker in the space otherwise occupied by the motor.

Of course, any consideration normally applied to a regular car applies here, too.  Check the wheels for correct gauge (a MicroTrains coupler height gauge works well for this).  Then place the gauge on a section of straight track and check coupler height.  Make sure the coupler can swing freely from side to side.  This is especially important if the dummy is a cab unit facing the train.

In the case of an unpowered unit sandwiched between powered units, the most important thing is to make sure they are running at the same speed and not fighting each other.  If the lead unit stalls, the rear unit will likely push the dummy off the track, so make sure power pickups are clean.  Here again, a little extra weight will help hold everything on the rails.

This thread refers to the Con--Cor passenger units produced by Kato.  At the time of their introduction in the late Sixties, they were state-of the art, and if properly maintained are still good units.

I didn't know whether this thread belonged in the N-scale forum, or in the "Old Timers Reminiscing" thread of the General Forum.  But since there are doubtless still a lot of these running on N-scale railroads, I'll put it here.

The chassis was originally used in the PA-1 and PB-1 models.  Later, it was lengthened and used in E units and DL 109 and 110 units.  Except for the length of he frame and driveshafts, and the style of truck sideframes, they are alike.

The frame design is a little different than most split-frame designs.  It is made of three milled metal pieces, with a molded plastic separator between the one-piece upper frame, and the split, insulated lower frame.  The open-frame motor rides inside the upper frame, with motor brush contacts that pass outside the plastic separator to contact each half of the lower frame.

Like all split-frame arrangements, it is tricky to reassemble, but not as much as most are.

Last night, I took apart and tuned up a UP E-7 that had been a sluggish performer since I bought it new in the mid- 1980"s.  Now it runs as fast and smooth as my Life-Like UP E-7.  In fact, I can run them as a pair on my DC-only railroad.  Tonight I did the same with a pair of 30 year-old UP PA-1's.

After removing the body shell (watch out for the fuel tank, it will come free when you pry off the body) you will find the main frame is held together by four screws that pass vertically through the upper frame, separator, and into the lower frame halves.  Two of these screws pass through plastic insulating tubes-don't forget where these go!

Take these four screws out and everything will come apart except for the truck assemblies.  Those are held together by four screws each the come up through the bottom of the truck.  Eack truck is held between the lower frame halves by little ears (like on a Bachmann).  When the lower frame halves separate, the trucks will fall loose.

The upper frame will remain attached to one of the lower halves by a headlight wire containing a diode.  This wire is screwed to the lower frame half.  You don't have to disconnect it if you are careful how you handle the parts.

Gently spread the motor brush contact strips and the plastic separator will come free.  Note their is a ridge molded on the lower side of the plastic piece.  This serves to locate and separate the lower frame halves.

You will see what looks like a flywheel on the end of each driveshaft.  These are not flywheels, they are actually hollow drums with gear teeth on the inside that engage pinion gears on each end of the motor shaft.
After thirty years of use, I figured it wouldn't hurt to carefully oil the motor shaft bearings.  The key here is to not over-oil, or the oil may migrate onto the commutator and brushes.  I oiled it with WD40.  I sprayed some into an old pill bottle, and dipped a number 11 X-Acto Knife blade into the oil, and touched the blade to the motor shaft on the outside of the motor frame.

The drive shafts are supported by brass (Oillite?) bearings in plastic pillow blocks.  They locate on little ridges in the upper frame.  I did not oil these, but made sure they were clean.

On these old units, often problem is caused by fiber buildup on the brass worms.  Holding these carefully to keep the parts in place on the shaft, I cleaned each brass worm using a new brass brush chucked in a variable-speed Dremel Moto-Tool.  Use the lowest speed possible, and wipe away the loosened fuzz with a rag or paper towel.  You can then lightly grease the worms with LaBelle 106 Teflon grease.

The trucks get crudded up in use.  Take out the four bolts and they will come apart.  The center and outer axles are powered on each truck, and all wheels pick up power.  The wheels are insulated by using plastic axles running in brass bearings.  With the trucks off, you can clean the wheels with the Dremel brush before you disassemble them.

The axle gears are powered by a worm gear that rotates on a fixed shaft molded into one half of the truck frame.  Pull this gear off and clean it up (by hand only).

There will be at least one copper contact piece on each trucks that wipes the backs of the drive wheels.  These eventually wear out and can cause drag.  It is not needed to transmit power if the metal components are kept clean.

These units use a system that goes back to Lionel F-3's.  The pilot and front coupler are attached to the truck, not the body.  This does not look so good on curves, but it does keep the coupler lined up with the one on the following car.  Micro-Trains makes a conversion for these, but I used a regular Micro-Trains coupler with the adapter (the little metal box) installed in the stock coupler pocket.  On one of my PA's. I had to grind away part of the top of this pocket to get correct coupler height.  This pocket is held in place by the truck sideframe piece pressing against the pilot from below, so this can be a handful to reassemble, probably the hardest part of the job.

These are well-made, durable locomotives.  They can be adapted to DCC by milling a clearance atop the frame.  I expect mine to run another 30 years, although I don't expect to last that long personally.

Les

Probably the most common problem encountered with N-scale rolling stock is out-of-gauge wheel sets.  This is most often encountered on older pieces which were frequently out of gauge even when new.

Newer cars usually avoid this problem by use of a plastic spacer on the axle, or by molding the entire wheel set as a solid piece of plastic.  However, there is an easy and quick way to correct it.

To do this fix, you'll need an accurate way to measure back-to-back wheel spacing.  I use a MicroTrains coupler adjustment gauge.  Other tools exist for this purpose, such as a stainless steel rule with spacing marked.  You can even make your own gauge if you have an accurate wheel set to use as a guide.  Cut two narrow notches in a straightedge at the correct spacing for the wheel flanges to fit into.  As this tool will not be taking any strain, you could even use stiff plastic sheet.

Begin by fitting the gauge against the wheel sets while they are still on the car.  You will quickly be able to identify any that are out of gauge.  While you may find some that are too wide, most of the time any that are wrong will be too narrow.  If you find any out of spec, take a second check 180 degrees from where the first check was made.  A deviation from the first measurement would indicate a bent axle or wheel.

Remove the problem wheel set from the truck.  Since virtually all N-scale trucks are made of a slightly flexible plastic, you can gently spread the frame with a thin-bladed screwdriver between the wheel and the side frame, and the wheel set should pop right out.

Next, identify which wheel is the insulated one.  It will have a black plastic center.  Some cars have both wheels insulated.  The insulated wheel will be the one to adjust.

Grasp the axle with a needle-nosed pliers.  Take a regular slip-joint pliers and adjust it so the jaws don't close completely.  With this pliers, gently hold the insulated wheel (so you don't damage the flange).  Slowly pull the wheel toward the end of the axle until the wheel checks true with your gauge.  If you pull too hard and the wheel comes off, don't worry.  It can be put back on easily.  Check the gauge spacing at two points 180 degrees apart to be sure everything is still straight.  If the gauge is too wide, gently push on the face of the wheel.

This works on both freight and passenger cars.  Cars such as Atlas use a thin metal axle, Bachmann uses a thicker axle, but they both can be adjusted the same way.

If you wish, you can ensure the wheels stay as adjusted by putting a small drop of glue on the back side of the wheel where the insulation meets the axle.

Tools you will need:
Wheel gauge (purchased or home made).
Needle-nosed pliers.
Slip-joint pliers.
Small thin-bladed screwdriver.
Optional: glue (I use Superglue Gel).

Les

It's getting close to Christmas, and, hopefully, there will be lots of newcomers to our hobby.  I was thinking it might be helpful to present a list of tools that are necessary to build and maintain a model railroad.  While this list is aimed at N-scale, most of the items will apply to other scales as well.

I'll divide this into train maintenance tools and layout building tools.

For mechanical maintenance of the trains:

Two good sets of miniature screwdrivers, one each of flat-blade and Phillips.

A medium-duty hobby knife (X-acto is a good brand), with an assortment of blades.  A good sharpening stone can extend the life of the blades.

A small needle-nose pliers and a slip-joint pliers.

Fine sandpaper, 400 grit or finer.

A Microtrains coupler gauge.  This is a little device that can be used to set coupler heights, trip pin clearance, wheel spacing, and to check track gauge.

A stainless steel scale rule.

Pointy small tweezers.

Assortment of straight pins and flat toothpicks.

An extra powerpack (like from an old trainset) and a foot or so of straight track.  A pair of lead wires for the powerpack.

A small makeup brush for dusting.

Plastic cement and/or gap filling superglue.

Lubricants:
Light plastic-compatible oil.  Light plastic compatible grease (LaBell 106 or equivalent).  WD-40 (use sparingly, never directly from spray nozzel!).

Two other items are needed in any railroad shop for railroads of any scale (including full-size):
A variable speed hand-held motor tool (Dremel or equivalent) with assortment of drills, cutters, cutoff discs, sander drums, and wire wheels.  Safety glasses!
A small bench vise.

A soldering iron is very handy.  Use rosin-core solder and have a stand for it.

Model railroad building tools:

All of the above, plus:

A good wood saw.  Doesn't need to be a power saw, a good crosscut will do.  Plywood can be cut dimensionally at the lumber yard.

A variable-speed electric drill and assortment of bits.

Flat blade and Phillips screwdrivers.

Tape measure or yardstick.

T-square.

Spirit level.

Soldering gun.

White glue (like Elmer's Glue-All).

Small wire cutters.

Small fine-toothed razor saw (X-acto or Zona).

Very handy:

C-clamps.
Multimeter.

I've probably overlooked a few things, but that should get you started.

Les

How do I post in the Photo Gallery?

Les

Here are a couple ideas I have found valuable for when you are down on the floor, working with the wiring below your model railroad.

First, lighting is always a problem.  I have even seen large model railroads with their own lighting systems installed underneath them.

Problem is, with a lamp down there with you, it can get pretty hot.  And then there is the problem of one's own shadow getting in the way of the light.

The solution is to use one of the "headlights" sold in outdoor sports equipment departments in stores.  These have high-intensity battery-powered lights attached to an elastic headband.  The light shines in the direction you are looking, and because it is attached to your head, you stay out of its way.

Another problem is never having the right tool with you once you are down there.  I take a small plastic tray that microwaveable food comes in, and carry my tools around down there in it.

Another thing that I have found to be very helpful:  take a pen with you that can write upside down.  When you run a wire up through a hole in the layout, or when you mount a barrier strip (see my previous post "Wiring Tips"), write what it is for on the underside of your benchwork.  It saves a lot of time when you have to track down a problem.

Les

Although my model railroad is N-scale, I hit upon an idea that will work for any scale layout.

It is a fairly large railroad for N-scale with 40 power switches, about the same number of blocks, two turntables, and a large passenger terminal and three small yards.  Most of my wiring is for the switches.  Track wiring is minimized by the use of "common rail".

I have a double track mainline.  Beneath the layout, a wire bus line follows the route of the mainlines above.  Frequent feeder wires jump off this bus to connect to the common rail side of the circuit.  To simplify this wiring, I used "suitcase connectors" to connect the jumpers to the bus.  These are marketed by 3M under the "Scotchlok" brand.  They are also available at auto supply stores.  NAPA sells their own clones of these.  These will work on wires of 18 gauge or slightly smaller, but they should be stranded core wire.  The connector is placed over the bus wire, the jumper wire is inserted (be sure you use the right hole!) and the connector is squeezed shut with a pliers.  A slotted blade inside the connector pierces the insulation on both wires and makes the connection.  Once these are in place, they cannot be removed.  This eliminates the need for distribution terminals for half the rails, in effect "hard wiring" them to the control system.

The other rail is gapped, and each gapped segment (power block) is wired to a DPDT switch in the form of an Atlas Selector.  Each Selector contains four DPDT switches.
So, each gapped rail in common rail wiring requires its own feeder and DPDT switch.

Each power turnout requires three wires: a wire each for each direction, and a common return.  Since the control wires for the powered switches are too short for a big railroad, I cut each three wire cable in two in the middle, and attached the wires to a terminal strip (sold at Radio Shack as a "barrier strip").  Of course, you will need a "barrier strip" for each end of the cable you cut.  These are available in a variety of lengths.
The other end of the three wire cable is attached to the switch controllers as usual.

The same can be done for the power wires running to the gapped rails.  I fastened the barrier strips to the underside and legs of the layout with wood screws.  An electric drill is very valuable for this!

All the wires were attached to the barrier strips by stripping the insulation away at the ends, and wrapping the wires around the screws on the barrier strip.  The wires are attached to the Atlas switch panels and switch controllers the same way.  When I returned after a two-year job assignment, I had a lot of trouble with poor power supply to the switch machines and open circuits to both the switch motors and track.  I was able to trace almost all the trouble to poor wire connections at the barrier strips and electrical panels.
Especially difficult were the very delicate wires used on the switch machines.  After you strip away the insulation, there isn't much wire left!

I found the solution at the local Radio Shack.  This little town doesn't have a hobby shop, but it does have a Radio Shack!  They sell a product called "Telephone Spade Lugs", part number 6403070.  These aren't what I call spades, they are more like little two-tined forks.  The package is labelled for 26-22 gauge wire, but I have used them successfully on up to 18 gauge wire.

These things come in a package of 24, price works out to about 10 cents a lug.  If you attach these to the wires (you crimp them on with a crimping tool or long-nosed pliers, you don't need to solder), you can have a nice, positive connection to the barrier strips.  It gives a very neat solution to poor wire connections.  The only drawback is the lugs are too big to pull up through the holes drilled through the layout for the switch machine wires.  If I have to remove a switch from the layout, those three lugs will have to be cut off to pull the wires up.

A bigger problem came when attaching the lugs to the Atlas electrical gear.  The forks are just a little too wide to fit the terminals on the Atlas equipment.  I could not find smaller ones, however, it was easy to modify the Radio Shack lugs.  I clamped them in my bench vise and, one at a time, narrowed the forks by trimming off a little material from each tine with a Dremel Moto Tool.  Use the drum sander attachment with coarse sandpaper.  The narrowed tine can be compared with one of the Atlas "bridging connectors" that are used to gang the Atlas panels.  If the milling leaves a sharp edge, a couple wipes with 400-grit sandpaper will smooth it right off.

I am in the middle of this project.  I still have several hundred to install  (but only about 60 more to modify, the rest can be used "as is".

Les

My N-scale model railroad is built using E-Z Track and switches.  In order to build the railroad I wanted in the space available, I used E-Z track 11 1/4" curves on all my mainline trackage and some secondary trackage.

Being a passenger-oriented operation, I like to run passenger Diesels and full-length passenger cars.  I also like to run some passenger trains that are rather long, up to nine or ten cars.

I use MT couplers, and also a variety of the knuckle types that will mate with them.  MT makes a coupler gauge tool that I have found to be indispensable.  It can be used to set coupler height, track gauge, wheel gauge, and trip pin clearance.

With N-scale passenger cab units, the industry practice at this time is to attach the coupler to the body at the front end of the unit.  The rear coupler is generally attached to the truck.  On the cabless booster units, both couplers are attached to the trucks.

The problem comes when a train is heavy enough to require more than one locomotive unit.  If you run a powered cab followed by a booster, no problem.  All couplers that mate with each other will be mounted on the swiveling tracks.  Thus, they all describe the same arc when making a turn.

But, if you run two long passenger units ( 6-axle) back-to-back, then the nose coupler on the trailing unit (which is body-mounted) mates with the truck-mounted coupler on the first passenger car.  The locomotive coupler will trace a wider arc than the car coupler, leading to a possible derailment.

However, I've discovered that shorter, 4-axle passenger units do not share this problem.  Apparently, the shortness of the unit will allow it to pull a passenger train around these curves by the body-mounted nose coupler.

If you power your passenger train with two cab units, back to back, making the trailing unit a four-axle cab will solve the problem.  So would using a single cab unit, with or without a booster unit.

Back in the seventies, Con-Cor addressed this problem on their E-unit and PA cab units by using the solution used by Lionel tinplate trains.  The coupler was attached to the front truck.  So was the pilot.
This worked, but resulted in the pilots only lining up with the body work when on straight track.

Still subject to experiment:  using two six-axle cab units back to back, with a heavily weighted 40' or 50' express refrigerator car as the first car.  This should have the same geometry as a body-mounted F-unit coupler hooked to a truck-mounted passenger car coupler.

Anybody want to share their own experiences with this phenomenon?

Les

Here is a question for Mr. Bach-Man.

I have 2 older Bachmann locomotives that are inoperable due to the same problem.  The nylon gear on the drive axle has split.  It is the white gear that I have read has a tendency to fail.

These particular units are a TGV locomotive, and a 2-6-2.  Both are, as well as I can remember, from the early 1980's.  The TGV is from a set my wife got me for Christmas around 1982, so I'd like to be able to run it again.

I see in the N-scale parts listing are a 2-gear set for the 2-6-2.  I have a current production 2-6-2 that doesn't use the white gear.  Will this replacement gear set fit the old 2-6-2?  Will it also fit the TGV?

If not, are there any replacements for the "white gear"?

Les