lineswestfan's blog

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Labeling Wires

So yes, wires should be labeled.  But how?  

I've seen letter stickers designed for wires, but I really don't want to need a cross reference table.  It seems that a full word would be more clear and less chance for confusion.  

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First track laid

Got some tracks glued down in Lynn Junction.  Test car sees them as smooth.  Need to drop feeders now to see if an engine will move.   Peco turnouts, mix of Peco and Atlas flex track.   Two inches of pink foam on a slightly padded 34" HCD.

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First Tracks Assembled

I've finally started assembling the tracks for my Lynn Junction layout!

I say assembled because I've only soldered them together, they aren't affixed to the roadbed yet.  I wanted to get these turnouts put together as a unit to start to make sure they flowed smooth and to have something solid to build from.  As I was dry fitting the rest of the junction, these kept falling apart.  Now they won't, and I can more accurately cut the rest of the flextrack.  

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Gaps in curves without kinks?

I have a curve and I need a gap in it. I want to keep the industrial area off of the main line detection circuit.

The radius between the two turnouts is not close enough to a commercial curve, so I'm using flextrack (the radius about 16" in N scale). I tried using insulated joiners at either end, but they don't hold the curve.  Either the track pops out or there is a kink at the joint.  So I soldered the joints and now I have to cut gaps somewhere in the result.

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Tip for removing a section of pink foam

In a terrible tragedy, Lynn Junction was hit today with a missive 8.9 magnitude earthquake.  This tremblor was significant enough to change the course of Nurses Creek; it now runs north out of town, not east.  Luckily neither buildings nor trackage was damaged since neither had been placed yet.

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A Tale of Two Wires

Y'all probably know this, but I hadn't thought of this before.  Maybe it will help some new folks.

Copper wire is expensive.  But there is an alternative, CCA, or Copper Clad Aluminum, that is significantly cheaper.  On Amazon I found a 10 color set of 25' spools of 14 gauge stranded copper wire for $116, or 46 cents/foot.  I also found a 10 color set of 100' spools of 14 gauge stranded CCA wire for $53, or 5 cents/foot.

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Backdrop on a Small Layout

Need some advice here.

Current state of the build is in the photo below.  I want to put a partial length backdrop right behind the ridge.  (There may or may not be additional "wing" backdrops behind the cuts on the two ends.)

I have 12" wide hardboard so I will use hardboard. (I know there are a hundred other products I could use, but I'm going to use what I have.) 

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Couple more days of progress

Building continues.  Roadbed down.  Dug the turntable pit.  Started to carve the river bank.  Started cutting chunks for the vertical scenery.   

And, oh yeah, added 1x2's to all sides of the door to ensure that the layout area meets the minimum space needed for the NMRA Scenery AP certificate.

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Construction Begins

Home remodel done - Check.

Layout room cleared out - Eh.  Partly

Construction started - Check!

Introducing Lynn Jct. on the Lynnsport and Eastern.

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Screw It

I have essentially done nothing on my layout so far this year.  Got a great track plan that you all helpfully commented on, but it is feeling overwhelming, too much to get started.  Glad I didn't design a multideck plan!  

So.  Next steps?  


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