How do you glue down Gargraves track?

After a few weeks of testing (ie., running trains around and around), I decided that it is time to glue down the track.  I am using the Woodland Scenics tacky glue.  It was a big pain, since I need to pull the track up about an inch or so (with the feeder wires attached), paint the glue on the underside of the ties, and then push it down and weight it down, all before the glue dries.  I could only do about 5 feet at a time.   How do you keep the track  down?  You weigh it down with an MTH Allegheny, of course.  And then any heavy object you can find.  Eventually, I figured out that it works better to apply the glue to the roadbed.  I have already covered all the ways NOT to do it, so it is going smoothly now.

Then I got to the crossover . . .
So, this was a pain, lifting up the crossover (with 4 tracks attached).  Of course, both center rail power pickups pop out (remember all my failed attempts to feed the center rails?).   Well, this was not going to work.  So, out comes the soldering iron.  Yeah, right!!  Did you know that the blackened center rail is the only metal in the universe that solder will not stick to?  Back to the drawing room.  Finally the solution comes to me:  Drill a hole through the vertical part of the rail, loop a copper wire through, and solder it to itself.  Success!!  And the solder even stuck to the drilled bare metal.

I fed the switch machine wires down through the table to wire them up, and then remembered that I don’t yet have a control panel.  So, that will be the next project while I am waiting for each section of glue to dry.  Fortunately, I have a borrowed Z-4000 to properly size the control panel.  I am going to try to keep the panel size down to somewhere less than half the size of the layout . . .

A Large Distraction

I found this Lionel Large Scale Gold Rush Special at a thrift store in DC.  It was bubble-wrapped together with a loop of track.  I wasn't even sure what it was at first, but, hey, it was only 20 bucks.  Turns out it was a nice "little" train.  It needed a few plastic parts which I have ordered from Brasseur Electric Trains.   





I did get down to the basement tonight, but I was distracted by the Lionel G-scale 0-6-0.  I have been trying to get it to run smoothly.   Instead of smooth motion, it goes thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack.  The idler gears wobble all over the place and one of the drivers was not squared.   I did a lot of unsuccessful tweaking, then I took out the idler gears and just had it drive using the drive rods.  More thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack.  Now I am out of ideas, so I put the idler gears back in place and reassembled it.  Success!  No more thwack!  Not sure how I fixed it, but I think that one of the idler gears must have been offset by one tooth.


So, now I have a fine running, fine looking "around the Christmas tree" narrow gauge train.

Women look at things differently

Planning for a "Hindenburg"

Layout was on hold for a little, but started on it again this AM.  I got out the MTH Passenger station and fit it plus one of the 2 covered platforms trackside (based on John's suggestion of shortening one track to a stub ending at the station).   It will work great unless there is a runaway locomotive, in which case the slaughter in the station will rival the Hindenburg disaster “Oh, the humanity . . .”

Gomez Addams would be proud.

Maiden Run

This was the maiden run on the mainline.  Here is the link:

Maiden Run

I have since put in the roadbed and most of the track on the locomotive servicing and passenger sidings.  Got the MTH passenger station fitting in nicely.  All I have left is the 2 industrial sidings in the center of the layout.  Then it will be scenery time.  Actually, then it will be time to get out John’s big articulated Allegheny, and hook up the z4000 and command control and just watch trains go ‘round and ‘round.

MTH Sinclair Gas Station

I just bought this MTH Sinclair Gas Station from a collection.  I have been looking on the 'bay for a while.  Now I just need to figure out where to put in on the layout.  These MTH buildings are big . . .

Doing things the hard way

I am still trying to figure out a reliable way to run a separate center rail power feed to each turnout in a crossover from one main to the other.  I want them isolated for running conventional control independently.  So far, I have tried wedging a wire into the gap in the bottom of the rail (not secure enough), soldering to the black rail (solder sticks to everything but the rail),  Bending track pins 90 degrees and soldering to them (see picture, but left too much of a rail gap, kind of a rail pothole, and then I broke the solder joint trying to install the turnout), and finally, wedging in a spade lug into the underside of the rail (required a little "plastic" surgery on the turnout, holding together for now).  If the spade does not seem secure, I will revisit soldering, this time using flux.

So, once again, I am finding a way to make things more complicated.  Kind of a model railroad masochist . . .