Resource for Beginners

[sfarner]

Hello- I was just wondering if there was a good book or other resource for beginners to this hobby.  I have a Bachman HO set, but don't know the first thing about how to diagnose problems.  Right now my locomotives all run quite sluggish, like they start and stop and don't go that fast.  I don't know if something is defective or whether I'm supposed to add a power source to the track etc. 

Some of my track pieces have power cords coming out of them but I don't know what I'm supposed to do with them.  I also am looking for directions on how to maintain the locos (lubrication, etc.)  Can anyone point me in the right direction?  Thanks!
 

[jbrock27]

My recommendation: Maintaining & Repairing Your Scale Model Trains (Model Railroader) Paperback
by Jim Volhard (Author)

A very good book to have/start with.  Best of luck and welcome aboard!

[Hunt]

For HO scale:
Locomotive maintenance --
Click Here to view Bachmann video

However, I suggest a different method for cleaning locomotive wheels.

There are different schools of thought about cleaning wheels the following is one of them.

* Locomotive wheels *
Cut a Handi Wipes^® reusable disposable cloth, lint free cloth, high quality kitchen paper towel or the like in four inch strips, do not use any kitchen paper towel that easily loses its fibers. Place one strip across the track and soak the part over each rail with Isopropyl Alcohol. Place one truck of a diesel locomotive on the wet cloth and the other truck on the track. Hold the locomotive with one hand and slowly turn up the power pack throttle to spin the wheels. When these wheels are clean, turn the locomotive around and do the other truck. Spin as many wheels as you can at a time for steam locomotive. If wheels very dirty use "Goo Gone" (not recommended for use on rubber traction tires) all-purpose cleaner in place of the alcohol and gauze pad in place of the cloth. After wheels are clean then spin wheels on dry clean cloth to remove the cleaner residue. If you are using DCC make an extra effort to remove the cleaner residue. Finish with very, very small amount of conductive contact lube on each metal driving wheel tread and electric pick-up rub points.



A good general resource of info for the beginner is Model Railroader Click Here

[Hunt]

... Some of my track pieces have power cords coming out of them but I don't know what I'm supposed to do with them.  ...  

If the track piece is a Bachmann turnout with three-wire green cable attached,
Click Here for instructions.

Bachmann Remote Turnout - Left

[jbrock27]

The book I mentioned contains the method recommended by Hunt for cleaning the loco wheels, among many other good tips and pieces of information.

[sfarner]

Thanks everyone, that helps.  I am wondering if I have a bad piece of track given the trains run "spotty" and sluggish.  Is that possible or is the current either "on or off?"  Seems like the circuit could easily be interrupted by one piece of track was not quite connected....is there a way to test the current going to each piece, some sort of meter or something? 

Also, how do I know if my layout needs a second power source?  I'm assuming the cords I refer to are to hook up accessories, not just add power.  Or, does the layout need to be quite large before I need to worry about that?

Again, apologies if this is too basic for this forum, just trying to nail down some basics.  Thanks!

Steve

[jbrock27]

You are welcome.
One section of track can do that if the rail joiners are not carrying current from one section to the other.  Loose or crudded up joiners can cause this.  A simple device is a continuity tester (also in the book I referenced) putting 1 end of the probe on the "good" section of track and the other on the "dead" section to test.  The other device, more useful for a lot of things, to test the track for dead spots, is a multi meter.

The number of places you need to have current delivered to your track depends on the size of the layout.  Bigger= more places to have "feeders" to the track.  With a smaller one, 2 or 3 may be enough.  Rule of thumb, if you find sluggish areas of track that are not due to dirty track or poor joiners, it may be due to drop in current over distance, solved by adding a feeder to the effected area.  With DCC I have read and am told, lots more feeders are needed for the same area of track that would not require as many when running DC.

[Doneldon]

sfarmer-

You can test for dead sections of track with a 12-volt bulb. Touch the base to one rail and use a short wire to complete the circuit between the side of the bulb and the other rail. You can even solder a wire to the side of the bulb so you don't have to look for a wire the next time you need to do a check.

It's not common that you'll have a single dead section because it has connections on both ends, but it can happen. I feed power often enough that the power never needs to cross more than one rail to rail joint. That may sound like a lot of feeders but that's not necessarily true. In long sections using three-foot flex track I only have to use a feeder every 12 feet. I put a tiny dab of conductive grease in every rail joiner which both seals the metal from oxidation while enhancing the conductivity.

I'm not certain how you are using the term power source, but I think you probably mean "wire to the tracks." As jbrock mentioned, the number or frequency of feeder wires varies depending on a lot of things. If you meant "electrical source from the wall plug," well, NEVER connect more than one source to a length of track. This does not mean you can't have other power sources on your layout, things like lights, turnout controls and the like, only that you must not feed power to the track from more than one source.
                                                                                                                                                                                -- D

[jbrock27]

Hunt, do you know if Goo Gone will work better for cleaning brass wheels, than Denatured Alcohol will?
I have had good luck cleaning track and nickel silver wheels with Denatured Alcohol but not the same success when using it to clean brass wheels. 
Thank you.

[CNE Runner]

A often overlooked resource (for just about anything) is YouTube. There are informational videos on just about any facet of model railroading. Do keep in mind that the viewer needs to be aware...some of the videos are poorly done - whilst others are superb. I seem to remember a Bachmann video that details how to properly lubricate Bachmann locomotives.

Regards,
Ray