This weekend I got a good start on laying track on my new layout, so in the next week or two I hope to get started on the wiring, which leads to my question. On previous layouts I have just let the wiring hang loose from the bench work. However I have grown to dislike this practice, if I have to go back under the layout and alter the wiring or add more it is just a mess.
So, how you attach your wiring to the bench work? How do you keep it organized? Or does anyone have advice in good wiring practices? For the record I am using open grind/cookie cutter bench work, also, I will be using a digitrax zepher dcc system.
as in “others see only your beauty, i see up under your skirt”? since i use a grid system with plywood on top, i drill 1/2" holes through all the cross members of the benchwork and string the wires through them.
Like Griz I too use open grid with two sets of 1/2" hole one set for the track buss and the other for a lighting buss. With terminal blocks spread through out the layout to connect lights for structures street lights, yard lights etc. In some cases it’s simply easy to hook them right to the lighting buss. Unfortunately I neglected to drill through the cross pieces of one of the new yard sections so on my to do list is get out the angle drill and make holes.You’ll see what I mean when you start drilling.
Another helpful idea I picked up from the club was to make signs or letter the under side of the layout
I used a P-Touch type label maker to identify each terminal board with a number and description.so this way when your under the layout looking for the wring for #4 your don’t have to keep going back up to get your bearings on what things are.Another helpful thing our electronics guru a retired phone company guy did was color code every circuit on the layout Track buss are tagged red/white and feeders and the same colors respectively, Lighting buss wires are green/yellow switch machine wiring is blue/white with different colored tracers on each white. He created a wiring diagram for the entire layout, so if your having an issue with lets say that #4 switch machine you look it up in the schematic and you’ll be looking for a pair of wires blue/white/red tracer and we put the dcc address of each switch machine on or next to the machine and in the book. Might sound like a bit over the top but when you start adding wiring for this that and the other thing it can get pretty confusing under there. We also put up some cheap florescent single tube work lights under the bench work in a few spots just to make life easier
You don’t want to see under my skir…uh, layout. It’s a mess of both soldered feeders and tail light bulbs plus all the Christmas stuff is stored in containers and cardboard boxes.
Thanks for the replies and ideas. The ideas I had in mind seem pretty similar to those everyone has expressed. I predrilled holes when I constructed the benchwork, that should save me some effort and some sore knuckles. Since I am primarily worried about the track bus and feeders, I think I will take doctorwayne’s advice and KISS.
Nick, I am very interested in you homemade terminal strips, specifically what are you using them for?
Sean, since I operate using DC, those two wires shown are my track feeders. I don’t use a bus wire, as all of the track is soldered together at the rail joiners. I do cut insulating gaps where necessary, though, then run a wire from a nearby live rail to an on/off switch, then to the isolated rail.
Thanks for the clarification Wayne, I wrongly assumed dcc. My layout is small, approx 5ft by 3ft, so I think my best method is a bus from the zepher system following the main and then attaching feeders as necessary, I try for a pair of feeders on each section of flex track. If I keep the wires organized and route them through the layout well, I don’t think I will have any problems.
At first I thought you were referring to those assorted boxes, cans, stack of fan-fold underlayment…
Then I realized you were asking about how I route my electricals. Since mine is something of a special case, it may or may not be helpful.
My layout is framed in classic Linn Westcott L-girder style, but the girders, joists and diagonal braces are steel stud material, as are the risers. This gives me an entire grid of ‘default’ wiring runs - I run the wires inside the studs, retained by short lengths of stud cap stock that just snap on and can be snapped off just as easily to add new wires. The only ‘exposed’ wires are those running from the studs to the several terminal blocks where I make connections, and from the terminal blocks to the rails or controlled devices. The semi-flexible joint between layout and fold-down control panel is a cable of wires coiled around a common center. (The control panel only folds down for installation, modification or troubleshooting, not for normal operation. When it moves, the wires twist rather than bend.)
Most of my circuits run from a panel control, to the panel terminal block, to the terminal block adjacent to the track or device being controlled, then to the ‘end user.’ The terminal blocks are homemade - machine screw terminals screwed through heavy sheet styrene (acquired by dumpster diving) and anchored with nuts. Wires, as many as six on a terminal, are solid, bent around the screw, separated by washers, with a second nut on top to secure the ‘sandwich.’ That way I can disconnect wires for troubleshooting (or add wires as the system expands) without having to deal with soldered joints.
All of those terminal blocks are located just inside the fascia line, easily accessible through removable access panels and designed to be worked on by an electrician seated in a comfortable chair in th
I use 3 long terminal boards made from maple flooring strips, with alternating lines of 3 screws and 2 screws running across them to connect my control panels to whatever is required. Use maple as it doesn’t split, and is hard enough to hold screws (#6x3/4") to give you a tight connection. Each terminal bd has a number. Assign each group of 5 screws a group position number, and each screw an individual # like A thru E. So, any connection will have an address like TB2-19C or some such. My wiring and construction book is about an inch thick, but I can find out everything about a circuit: even the wire colour. Even though I try and be neat, it is still a rat’s nest under there!
The bus wires are first connected to terminal strips and then are fed through holes in the grid as previously mentioned. Feeders are connected with alligator fittings.
For all other wiring I use terminal strips. One strip for wire from the power supply and another set for the wires from above and then connect the two strips with a length of wire with spade connectors.
So far I’ve done all soldering at the work bench.
There are two reverse loops wired and I’m just finishing mt second turnout motor with LED direction indicators.
Today I bought a Sharpie to label the terminal strips and will tighten up the wires. I hang some wires using very small cup holders. That way if I want to make changes it is easy to do.
Plan ahead and get wire in the appropiate gages and colors before you start so you can have a uniform system.
Chuck, Bob and George, wow, you guys just keep giving me more to think about. I am becoming very interested in the terminal strips/blocks although I am still a bit confused. For the guys using the the strips/blocks for the bus wire, how are you splitting the bus wire? Are you running one bus out of the DCC system (I will be using a Digitrax Zephyr System, if it make a difference) to a terminal block and then running other bus wires to more “remote” blocks? Then are the track feeders connected to the remote blocks?
Do you really think that you have the stomach for that? I have a friend who held me in great esteem as a modeler but never has recovered from his attempt to trace the wiring under my layout!
With that said you want to determine the location and number of your bus wires. It is generally accepted that a set of bus wires should be within 2 feet of your track feeders.
With the average HO layout size you don’t need a block system.
With DCC you will run a positive and a negative to a terminal strip from the Didgitrax. Using the KISS principle I like to use a separate strip for each. Using a terminal jumper you can link all or some of the terminals as you choose.
That’s a good idea. I’m wiring my layout in a similar manner (in sections) and have been wondering what type of connector to use between sections. I like your idea of using the disk drive power connectors. They’re cheap and ubiquitous.
I am curious though, what did you use to do the lettering on the wood above the terminal strips?
Hi Sean. One idea of terminal blocks is to make it easier to connect multiple wires so that you can remove some if you must troubleshoot or change who connects to what. Generally, there is a maximum number of wires you can put on any one terminal, so bridging adjacent terminals is very common. For my homebrew long boards, I just use a thick strip of 1/4" brass stock with holes to accommodate the screws and mount the wires &/or lugs of the wiring above the strip, next to the screwheads. I made the brass strips long enough so I could solder the actual feedwire to a hole at the end of the strip, away from the rest of the wires. That feedwire comes from the previous terminal board or source.
DCC is a lot less complex than my DC block wiring, but I run a last heavy wire to the stretch of track involved, and solder the dropped feeders to it. (If you use black electrical tape to cover the joint, remember that it tends to unwind a bit. To stop that, just put a cheap 2-3" cable tie over the tape. (It’s cheaper than using suitcase connectors…)
I’ll never win a housekeeping award. Kevin’s great photo really puts my rat’s nest to shame. Well done!
