[Abminiatures]

Hey all, my names Aaron im 14 and i joined this forum hopeing to get some advice as i am starting my new project of building a 00 guage model railway. I have built a few ( 3 about) model railways before with my dad, but this one is a little diffrent as im using flexitrack

I do a lot of miniature stuff, i play warhammer, 40k and LOTR (n lord of the rings) i make a lot of Airfix Models and of course Hornby.

 

[Doug]

Hi Abminiatures, welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you have the skills and a little experience to build a scenic layout to your own plan.

Plan it well, figure out the wiring, lay your track, test it with your trains and then add some scenery. You'll be cutting the flexitrack so find a safe way of doing that.

Have fun. It's good to see some young modellers around

 

[Abminiatures]

Thanks Doug

im hopeing that i have not started to big the last layout i build were simple overals, i hope that it wil be worth it in the end

 

[ian shep]

Hi abminiatures, welcome to the forum.
This is definately the place for sound advise & answers.
As Doug says, plan it well. After all, you do want to get maximum enjoyment
from your layout & not get bored with it.
The only thing I can add is make sure you have a sound base to lay your track on
and that the track is layed well. Nothing worse than stalling engines & derailments,
very frustrating

 

[Abminiatures]

QUOTE (shep @ 24 Nov 2008, 19:50) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi abminiatures, welcome to the forum.
This is definately the place for sound advise & answers.
As Doug says, plan it well. After all, you do want to get maximum enjoyment
from your layout & not get bored with it.
The only thing I can add is make sure you have a sound base to lay your track on
and that the track is layed well. Nothing worse than stalling engines & derailments,
very frustrating

Thanks for the advice Shep im planning to secure the track to my table in my shed i am having to extend it about 1.5 ft but it should do, i asked my dad (as he built it) and he said it will do, i can get underneath it to wire it up and put point motors on it so i think i should be okay, Hopefully

 

[Brian Considine]

Hi & welcome to MRF - nice to see some "young blood" modelling railways.

If you have any questions then please just ask away - someone here will usually have the answer.

 

[upnick]

Hi Abminiatures,

Welcome to the forum

If you need help shout ......... good luck with the layout

 

[zmil]

Hello and welcome to the Forum

I wish I was 14 again , it was about that time of life that I was enjoying my first layout
I still have all the Trains I had then( and they work like New)

Regards Zmil

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Hi Aaron, Welcome to the forums. like has been said this is a good place for advice and answers, so feel free to ask away.

I used to play Warhammer and 40K, but I prefer a nice relaxing game of Blood Bowl!!

 

[Abminiatures]

QUOTE (hairyhandedfool @ 25 Nov 2008, 07:19) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Aaron, Welcome to the forums. like has been said this is a good place for advice and answers, so feel free to ask away.

I used to play Warhammer and 40K, but I prefer a nice relaxing game of Blood Bowl!!

hhmmmmm... i have never played blood bowl is it any good?

And thanks everyone

 

[Doug]

So Abminiatures, how come you're on the forum at 10:20? Are you not at school

 

[madon37s]

Hi Aaron welcome to the forum and i'm sure you will have a great time on here. Always, Always ask a question if you do not know the answer because in my experience on this forum there is always someone that will know the answer and be more than happy to give it to you.

Just remember to take your time when laying track and i suggest on getting the Xuron track cutters for cutting the track as i feel they would be more safer for you than using a hacksaw. You should also wear some goggles of some sort as sometimes the track ends can fly off into space!!

Kind regards
Paul

 

[Chinahand]

Hi Aaron and welcome to the MRF.

Young modellers like yourself are the future of our hobby and have the added benefit of sharp eyesight and steady hands.

Take your time and don't rush on to the next stage of building your layout until you are absolutely sure everything is working properly on the stage you're at. A little extra time spent in getting the track and pointwork operating smoothly will help to avoid any frustrating running problems later on.

If you need any help or advice just ask away. We're all here to help each other.

 

[Abminiatures]

QUOTE (Doug @ 25 Nov 2008, 10:44) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>So Abminiatures, how come you're on the forum at 10:20? Are you not at school

No my schools closed for 2 days, its a teacher trainning day. i have to go in for 1 hour 2morrow to do to science miniGCSE exams

it was pure coincerdnce that out GCSE exams happened to be on a teacher training day

 

[ben1]

Hi and Welcome!
I hope you enjoy the Forum and its members!

 

[Lord Castellan Creed]

Hi, I am 13 so I am the same age ish, I have a lot of Warhammer 40K,
I have made layouts for 5 years, but have just got to DCC and all the problems that come attached
Hope the layout ends up good,
Lord Castellan Creed,

oh and three guesses from where my name comes

 

[Chinahand]

Hi there.

Just a quick bit of advice for you both regarding DCC.

Always use electrofrog points and modify them so that the frog is a separate section. There have been quite a few threads on how to do this but if you need help just ask.

Don't rely on the track connectors to give you electrical continuity. Take droppers from each section of track and connect them to your DCC Bus.

 

[Lord Castellan Creed]

I have never used Electorfrogs or droppers, what are they?

 

[Chinahand]

Assuming you are using Peco trackwork they make 2 types of points. 'Insulfrog' in which the central part of the 'V' (the frog) is made of plastic and is therefore electrically 'dead' which can cause locos to 'stall' when slow running over the points.

In 'Electrofrog points the frog is made of metal and is electrically connected to the 'stock' rails. This can, itself cause an electrical short if a wheel flange happens to touch both the frog and stock rails at the same time. The 'fix' is to cut the blades to isolate them from the frog and then bond them back to the stock rails as shown in the attached sketch. You then connect a separate supply to the frog via a polarity change switch so that the polarity of the frog changes depending on which way the point is set. I use the Seep PM1 point motors which have this frog polarity changeover built into them. If you use Peco motors then you will need an additional part which fits onto the underside of the point motor.



Regarding the 'Bus'.

In DCC the best way of wiring the layout is to run a pair of DCC power wires from your controller underneath the layout and then connect each section of track to the 'bus' by soldering dropper wires to the underside of the track and connecting them to the DCC 'Bus' wire. Depending on the size of your layout you may need to run more than one pair of 'bus' wires in which case the additional 'bus' wires should be taken off as spurs from the main 'bus'. The 'bus' wires should be 32/0.2mm wire and the droppers should preferably be 16/0.2mm though you can get away with 7/0.2mm wire for short distances (less than 300 mm)

Have a look at this Express Models web site which shows the underside of a layout with a bus installed and droppers connected to it. http://www.expressmodels.co.uk/acatalog/DC...er_Bus_Kit.html

If you need more help I suggest you post into the DCC forum. There will be lots of detailed advice given I am sure.

 

[Lord Castellan Creed]

I have been using hornby track, but I will be replacing the points as the trains stop on them a lot, some times the trains fall in the gap and stop completly.
But,
Thanks for the help