Recent content by DALDEI

I worried of this in my 'sectional' layout (http://trains.calldei.com) when I read a post that described a "solution" .. which is more a "philosophy". THat is, if you dont intend on actually removing sections very often then its totally OK to patch "cut" them out to remove them and patch over...

I've reached the stage (or perhaps slightly past it) where I need to decide on if I am to use magnetic decoupling as part of my operations or stick to manual (with those sticks). I wasnt able to really experiment well until I had some track laid and a few cars ... I've changed out all my...

Thanks for the suggestion. I have read some books on roadbed construction, and the ramp part is working fine. Also the 2nd level supports are already in place see For example you can see here the supports for the 2nd level are in place http://trains.calldei.com/?attachment_id=158 All pretty...

Thanks for both suggestions. For #1 Excellent question. My *intent* is that I really really badly want a second deck, shelf-style. And I need some way to get from the first deck to the second. I wanted to avoid a helix because it takes up a lot of room (which I dont have) and none of it is...

I've posted a few pictures on my blog http://trains.calldei.com/?p=153 I am soliciting suggestions on how to implement the risers. As you can tell what I've done wont work very well :) Its just there to help me get a feel for the dimensions. The roadbed is 2" foam with prety much nothing...

YES !!! "Who hold on there" is exactly right. Pins 2 & 3 should be totally electrically issolated. Opening up the box (once you remove the board) you can see they dont touch. But I lie not. I'm getting a current through them ! The problem I'm trying to solve ? Probably a problem that doesnt...

I looked into this more today and the problem (99%) of it is in the tortises themselves. I have soldered a connector onto the tortoise board. Taking apart the tortoise and removing the circuit board and testing it (on several tortises !) shows a "leak" across most or all of the traces in the...

How bad is a 1 Meg/Ohm "short" on DCC rail ? I'm laying track and switches and cant remove this short. I've tracked it down to 2 of my tortoises (across pins 2/3 or 6/7) ... this is a consistent occurance. I solder a connector to the tortoises and frequently get a very small short. Usually...

I still dont see this. For near 90deg crossings the gaps are nearly exactly opposite each other so when one wheel is across the gap (say on the left) the opposite wheel (on the right) is *also* on a gap. It doesnt seem to hurt any but I cant visualize how its helping either. OH OH OH I get...

But the strange thing is the guard rails are gapped at the same exact place the main/leading rails are gapped ! What good can that do ?

I just completed my first attempt at a hand-made crossing. This was done totally from scratch as there were no jigs/assembly fixtures available and also just to see if I could do it. I think my results were "barely acceptable" ... Here's an image of it almost complete...

I need to build a 75 degree crossing based on 2 24" radius curves crossing. I just need one of these. I'm getting better at switch building (built about 10 now) so I'm hopeful I can do this. I have been using FastTracks fixtures for all my switches but this is non-standard and even if they...

PowerPole problem Solved !!! (?) I've identified my 2 major problems and believe I've solved them. 1) bad solder/crimp. I was using the wrong crimp tool or none. I've ordered a tool explicitly for power-poles and it definitely has a different shape. I'm confident that with the right tool...

Often on these kinds of groups the posts are all about questions and answers. While those are the key reason for the group, I wanted to share a short story about Layout and Benchwork from yesterday. Note I am very new to this hobby so this is probably a common occurance to many but for me...

PowerPoles ... Thanks for the suggestions. Yes my soldering skills need improvment ! Getting better every day. If this was the only problem I could live with it, knowing now what I do that I need to be *extra dilligent*. In fact NO I did NOT have a clue they were bad joints. I pre-tinned...