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.
Technorati Tags: Märklin, Benchwork, Model Trains, Youtube
Here is a short vid I took of my current Märklin demo. A rather short vid, but I had managed to get some more of the wiring done and things working for a test. So rather excited and thought I would share this.
[tags]Märklin, Model Trains, Model Railroad, Youtube[/tags
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
Well I have a couple of comics for everyone today. These I think display well my current temperment as I get back into the hobby. (Experiancing quite a bit of excitement as I do!)
Walt – Toy Train Overdose
First Eight Strips
Hope those brought a smile to your face! Now I have to get back to work and stop reading the Märklin forums/groups.
Technorati Tags: Märklin, Marklin, Model Trains, Comics, Model Railroader
Well I haven’t made any progress since building the table. Picking up the train stuff over Christmas break.
One of the best finds I have made is another yahoo group. MarklinBandG. Anyone interesting in Marklin trains – I highly recommend this group. I asked one question – trying to catch up on the change from analog track to the new digital sytem and had multiple answers within a few hours.
As I posted to the group, partly going Marklin because that is what we have, but also biased towards Marklin HO as that is what I remember as a kid. I still remember picking out a train in a Marklin store in Germany.
Anywho – best bet at this point is going to be taking an inventory and comparing model numbers with the group to determin what works with what. (Since I have been out of the loop for 15 years and am playing catchup.)
Technorati Tags: Marklin, Model Trains, yahoo groups
I have been participating in an online group, HOrailroading, on yahoo and have learned some great things on this topic. First of all – the benchwork is the most important part to me right now. Depending on how I build it, the size and shape, is going to dictate where and how I lay track to a point.
One of the guys on the group sent this link, on “Building Model Railroad Benchwork.“ It is an excellent primer (or recap) for a rookie like me. I am covering various things in that article that I vaguely remember by Dad doing growing up, but never really concerned myself with the why.
Past the actual wood base, I have been trying to figure out what else I should know before construction starts. We actually had a very interesting discussion this morning via the group on what goes inbetween the track and the plywood. I hadn’t considered this, but realized the importance of considering this pretty quickly. The noise reduction could be important, but the vibration dampening even more so. (I am assuming that over the long term, vibrations could impact track joints, wiring, scenery, etc.)
Two suggestions came in, with a few variations on them as well. The first being corkboard and the second being homasote. (Some types of foam were suggested as well, but the corkboard and homasote rung a bell with me.) Since I will be building with Märklin track, and it already has a bed, heigth could become an issue with something too think. It was also suggested that cork (or foam/homasote) under the mainline and branch lines, but not under yard/siding works just as well. When I start developing the layout I am going to have to look into that. That sounds like it would be a nice cost saving measure with little to no impact in noice/vibration levels. Height being the one issue I haven’t figured out yet.
The discussion is actually still going, but already I have learned some things, and discovered areas that I should keep in mind as I learn more and work on developing my own railroad.
Technorati Tags: Märklin, Model Railroading, Hobby Trains, Benchwork