Garden Railway Forum

Good old track power...... Or should that be BAD old track power . I remember those days. I went from rheostat control on five sections to radio controlled track power, then to DCC before seeing the light (partly your fault ) and going over to battery powered radio control - and haven't looked back since!

So, are you retaining the option of track power in case it's ever needed again?

Rik

ge_rik wrote: ↑Fri Aug 27, 2021 1:26 pm Good old track power...... Or should that be BAD old track power . I remember those days. I went from rheostat control on five sections to radio controlled track power, then to DCC before seeing the light (partly your fault ) and going over to battery powered radio control - and haven't looked back since!

So, are you retaining the option of track power in case it's ever needed again?

Rik

I went straight to battery R/C at the start thanks to advice from Greg.
I did have experience with DC track power in HO so was aware of the downside.
Funnily enough I have stayed with track power for my HO but added DCC but as it is indoors there a lot less hassles.
The only wiring I have is for the servo point control and its 5V power supply is a battery trickle charged off a solar panel.

GAP wrote: ↑Fri Aug 27, 2021 9:57 pm I went straight to battery R/C at the start thanks to advice from Greg.
I did have experience with DC track power in HO so was aware of the downside.
Funnily enough I have stayed with track power for my HO but added DCC but as it is indoors there a lot less hassles.
The only wiring I have is for the servo point control and its 5V power supply is a battery trickle charged off a solar panel.

I also ran dead-rail from day dot, after some years of hassle with indoor analogue HO - part of the reason I flogged it all off a few months ago.
So much better now, being able to just sweep the track with a wagon, and get straight to playing self-propelled trains when one feels like it.

Finally I have done some carpentry and the new baseboard within the train room is complete.
It is hard to photograph the whole thing so here is a montage.


I still have to replace the termite damaged walls (black in the 'right end' pic) before I can lay track as I will be crawling over that area to do the work.
But I have started trial track layouts. I'm planning on using those 'sharp' R1, 2' radius curves to have four storage sidings within the double reversing loops. I have been modifying the check rails on the turnouts to allow my 8-coupled locos to get through them. The sharp curves will all be on the sidings entries.
Here is a short video of a possible track layout and how I modified the points.

The slow progress continues.
I have made a storage 'drawer' that pulls out across the front tracks to give me lots of 'off-track' storage. The video will explain more...



I still cannot complete the track laying until the termite riddled walls are replaced and I can't do that till I get some help. But I have finalised the turnout and siding arrangement which you can see here. All the black LGB track and turnouts are screwed down and all the future track will be the aluminium bar in slotted timber which was there before. The 3 tracks at the front are for locos so I can reach and turn off the loco battery! The 2 further back tracks, where I can't easily reach, will be for rakes of wagons to be pushed into.
I'll probably move outside now to do repairs to the termite damaged building-storage cupboard under Melaleuca baseboard.
Someday I'll run trains again.

That drawer is a brilliant concept and a fantastic way to solve two problems in one.

Clever idea, Greg. Makes excellent use of what would otherwise be wasted space.

Rik

Great way to utilise what would otherwise a wasted space.
Will be a great help in making up trains.

Getting there! That drawer is ingenious.
Might it be worth fitting a piece of timber at the front of the baseboard, (either a longitudal lip or vertical sprag) in case the drawer ever rolls a little too far out?

That drawer is an inspired idea, and has got me thinking...

The final installment. After 7 months, I can finally write "Finis".
New room walls completed
All track laying is finished
All trains now stored, with plenty of spare space.
A video of the story..

Very well done, Greg. Lets just hope the termite proof timber lives up to its name, you don't want to have to do it all again in the future, I'm sure.

Great to see a train running through Termite again. In future, I suggest you take greater care in naming any stations on your railway .... I'd put a hold on that the extension to Tornado .....

Rik

Must be a huge relief to be done with that job. Very nicely organised, too.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Brilliant stuff, well done! I love the sight of all those locos lined up and ready for action... I'm inspired by (and envious of!) how organised and accessible everything is, something I must aim for one day!

Cheers,

Andrew.