New setup

[FF-EMT]

new to the site and new to model railroading, this is my setup so far, if the pictures work. Any ideas




http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...0/IMG_0127.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...0/IMG_0141.jpg

[otiscnj]

What kind of control are you using? DC powerpack, or DCC? How large is your table? Can you reach to the rear easily, if things derail? Firgure 8 sometimes can be more interesting, particularly if you add more switches. Is that the steel EZ-track you're using? I've had issues with the electrical conductivity of steel rail, in the past, in that it gets a film on it that does not conduct electricity(trains won't run). I've found the gray EZ Track with the nickel silver rail to perform better.

Do you have any ideas of what you want to model? Somewhere near where you live, or somewhere you've visited, or seen in a book/video/magazine? Most people 'model what they know,' even if its 1000 miles away.

Welcome to the forums!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I see you used all Bachmann EZ-Track. So do I, the nickel silver type. I suggest you change to that, otherwise you're in for maintenance headaches later. I would put in another spur and a passing track so more than one train could run or additional cars/locos could be stored on the layout. You'd be surprised at the scenes that canbe built around a parked loco.

[FF-EMT]

I'm not really sure what power supply it is, just the standard on I suppose. As far as my table it's 4'by8' and design I'm not sure yet that's why I'm taking all ideas. I think I'm gonna go for just a small town for now. And yes its not butted right against the wall there is room to squeeze back there. I will post some more pictures today, I will take some of the power supply. See if i need a differnt one

[FF-EMT]

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...0/IMG_0156.jpg

this is the power supply i have

[jeffrey-wimberly]

OK, Bachmann 6607 standard DC power pack. I use one of those to power my turnouts. You can run two locos with that if they don't draw too much power.

[FF-EMT]

ok cool thanks for the info i dont know much about this stuff, Whats a good way to run power to my lighted buildings?

[jeffrey-wimberly]

If you want to light structures you're going to have to get another power supply first. A wall wart (transformer you plug into a wall socket) will light a few to a quite a few sepending on it's output. One that charges a cell phone will light two or three lights. One that's rated for one or more amps output will light a lot more. For lights I use those small Christmas bulbs. The way you determine how many of those to use together in series is first look at how many are in a string. Say you have a string of thirty lights on a 120 volt string. 120 divided by 30 = 4. So each bulb can take four volts. Say the output voltage of your transformer is twelve volts, well naturally that'll blow a single into the middle of last week. Say you connect four of those bulbs in series. That cluster of bulbs can take up to sixteen volts so on twelve volts they'll work OK. They'll be a little dim but they'll last longer. You don't have keep all four of them in one cluster. You can put two bulbs connected in series in one building and put the other two bulbs in another building and have the two pairs connected by one wire. The other two wires will run to your transformer.

[funnelfan]

It looks ok, but you'll probably get tired of running the train in a circle before long. Buy some more switches and add sidings and spurs. Try some switching as well. If you're using knuckle couplers, a small skewer stick can be used to uncouple cars. Stick the point of the stick between the knuckles and give it a clockwise twist to uncouple.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

For uncoupling I use a small flat tip screwdriver with a 1mm tip. Like the skewer just insert and twist.