I have been a little quiet, but have managed to get a little work done. I have now finished wiring everything and gotten the turntable working.
I took a short video tonight to show the layout and turntable operation.
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As I mentioned in my last post, all of the electrical components went missing sometime during the years the train stuff was in storage. Now of course I am sure they will show up sometime – that bag wouldn’t have been tossed, but in the meantime I found a pretty good deal on ebay for the wire I needed.
Now why not head on down to the local hobby shop and get wire there? Well for those who don’t know, I live in Jamestown, ND. The nearest hobby shop is 96 miles away at best. Also – the one place I ordered wire from had a couple of the control boxes in stock. (Though as I also mentioned, using toggle switches is a viable alternative to the original control boxes.)
As you can see in the picture, some of the wire is actual Märklin brand wire. Was this needed? Not at all. I just was able to get my hands on it for the same price as I saw non-Märklin branded wire of that size. The green wire came with the other set, but it was extra and I figure it will work in a pinch or if I want to specially denote something. Otherwise I plan on keeping with the Märklin color coding.
I was waiting for a friend over lunch break, so had a little time to start working on some of the wiring. My initial test of the power distrobution strips was sucessful. (Unhooked and powered just 1 section of track, then powered the light on a bumper section.) I still need to add a piece of wood where I am going to have my switch controls, but that shouldn’t take long. Now that I think I understand how everything is supposed to be wired – it is mostly a matter of doing it and testing as I go.
I will take more pictures of my progress – I am leaving all of the wiring quite loose as I might shift the layout some and for when I add homasote or cork under the track.
Märklin, Model trains, benchwork, electrical