I wired the opposite signals to a single switch and the yellow to each other I have 3 to 4 trains running at the same time with different lines. the yellow is caution and that is a lot of traffic going on so yellow to yellow seems about right for cautious operation and switching purposes. I posted this before I believe that all of the modules boards are being run together this year and certain problems are arising . I have noticed on this site that most of these problems have been addressed before by all of you and this journey hobby etc is a learning process that comes in time and I am addressing my ongoing issues of that passage of time.
What is this flip up or flip down that you speak of. Have you a movable section to allow access to the table, or are you lifting the entire layout up against the wall to either put it away (as my cousins dind in the 1950s) or to work on the wires etcl.
Neither application isll harm the track or track alighments if you are using nails into wood or glue onto anything else. In the case of the lift gate, it is hard wired separately so that good electrical contact is maintained. You also need a device to shut down all power on that district when the gate is up.
Smashboard signals are used on railroads where there be drawbridges. In HO tis will stope the train, on the realroad it will wake up an inattentive engineer so that he will at least have time to put on his life vest if not stop the train befoe it goes over the side.
ROAR
I have a room closed off in my basement jammed end to end with this layout. I have a fold down for access to the rear for derailments etc. The layout does not hang from the ceiling but i am putting in a pair of file cabinet slides mounted on wall studs for a walk under for the gary steel mill module with quick dissconects on the wiring. I HAVE NOT SEEN TOO MANY POSTS ON THE MOST DEFINITE WAY TO ADRESS TRACK ALIGNMENT AFTER A BOARD IS CUT AND HINGED. i AM USING COMPUTER BOARD FOR CONDUCTIVITY AND THE RAILS ARE SRIPPED AND PUT ON THEM BARE. i AM THINKING LONG SCREWS ON THE TRACK SIDES ON BOTH BOARDS INSULATED WITH LIQUID TAPE TO STOP SHORTING AND TO ALIGN THE TRACKS. DOES ANYBODY HAVE A BETTER IDEA?
Hey guys 1 more thing I am putting in 3 block signals now also. I found out that instead of possibly melting the thin wired signal led,s that you can twist a wire onto them and use harbor freight expoxy to hold it and let it FULLY DRY MINIMUM 5 TO 7 DAYS. I called there manufacturer and was told the straight truth as long as you use twistable wiring on the lights for connection the expoxy will seal and hold it and conduct electricity and avoid possible burned wires.
The melting point of copper (1984 F) is 2x higher than the max temp of most soldering irons. Just solder it. You can’t melt the wires without a torch. If you melt a little insulation you can put heat shrink tubing over it. The twist and epoxy method will most likely provide a high resistance connection and your lights may vary in brightness or not work at all.
As for your flip down (go down not up), use track nails to hold your flex track and cork in place. Glue the cork with yellow wood glue if you want. This is assuming your flip down is just made out of wood. If you have foam on top use liquid nails to hold the tracks in place.
As for power, just run a length of wire for each rail leaving enough extra slack to your fold down So that the wires can reach the fold down in any position. Run the wires through a piece of over sized heat shrink tubing held in place with a wire staple (i will post photos of my fold up when I return home). Run these wires to a terminal block. The you can run the wires from the terminal block to the track.
I hear you on the conductivity idea,I am using computer board flattened to transport the electricity and the board touches the other through friction and tight confining. I am also trying to avoid as much extra wiring as possible,I have a dozen atlas 215,s already. but I need more ideas on the alignment issue. I have stripped the flex track to the rails for conductivity purposes and like i stated nails are no longer a good way to go and gluing to the computer boards will cause more resistance issues. I need a idea that has worked. I am thinking screws outside of the tracks to hold them that are much longer then the depth of all of it insulation included and then liquid tape to cut down on electrical shorts. does anybody have a better idea?
this is a follow up on my own post. I need to know from anybody if they have extended wiring from signals of all types and if it has been sucessful. I was told by mrc to tie the wires together and then crimp then and it is very hard to find wires that thin and crimp butt conectors to crimp them toghether with. I was wondering if someone has experienced a better way to extend the wires. I cannot conceive how all of the wires together can allow proper operation when they are individual now. I also have not found thin enough wires or the proper connectors for them at menards home depot lowes or ace hardware so does anybody have a better idea? i think the wires are 34 gauge and they will not work in 22 gauge butt connectors they are just 2 thin.
this particular part of this post is being closed now if nothing else comes up of course. i read on anothers post that the screw idea i posted has worked which is flat head screws around the tracks and through the computer board i suggested earlier. I will still suggest that anybody should use some sort of rubber product to cut down electrical shorts on the screws . I would not like a voltage drop or short anywhere on my layout. I STILL NEED MY POST ABOUT SIGNAL WIRING ANSWERED EXTENDING THOSE WIRES CAN BE DAUNTING THERE ARE NO WIRES AROUND THAT SMALL ANY IDEAS?
Sorry, I find it hard to understand what you are asking.
But here’s a possible answer to what I think you are asking. To extend the wires, I might try using a small piece of copper-clad Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for each wire. Solder a larger-gauge wire to the piece of PCB first, then tin the fine wire from the signal with solder and solder it quickly to the PCB. You will need to do this separately for each wire – don’t combine them or you will create short circuits (unless you know exactly what you are doing and soem of them are to be tied together). And finally secure the chunks of PC board under the layout with hot glue.
I appreciate the solder idea but I still ned to know if someone sells around 32 gauge wires or butt connectors. I use oateys solder and it does not seem to hold to good and sometimes it splits,this is liquid oateys by the way. I have used solid solder in the past and found it to be more work after as in filing and butt conectors do work better in some situations. This is from experience i am talking and solder does melt copper i can attest to that and solid solder causes this situation hence the use of oateys liquid solder. The continual heat needed for the solid solder to flow causes the copper to melt before it flows usaully.
That would be odd and suggests a problem with technique. Billions of electronic devices in the world have components soldered onto copper-clad boards with heat.
As noted earlier …
63/37 solder (used for electronics) melting point: 361° F
Lead-free solder is a little higher: 430-460° F
Copper melting point: 1,984° F
I guess that we should inform the plumber’s union to stop sweat soldering copper pipes before they melt all of them.[:D][}:)]
Joe
that could be my soldering issue right there to heavy of a metal to solder with. I am still asking though who sells around 32 gauge wires and connectors any ideas? I used liquid oateys for most of my soldering areas and have had decent sucess with some breakage. I before model railroading never soldered before so real world experience was not in my grasp.
I am just joining this discussion to ask a question. I want to add an HO loop track to my Disney Christmas Village that is on a narrow (24") board at one end (the other end is 48" wide). Can I buy sectional HO curved track with an 11 inch or shorter radius ? If not, can I easily bend flex track to make an approximate 180 degree turn on an 11 inch radius ? If so, what would be the best (easiest to install correctly) flex track to buy ?
I just installed a Bachman HO Holiday Special Trolley with point to point operation using Backman’s HO E-Z Auto Reversing Track System. We like that trolley system so much that I wanted to add a continuous loop track to the 9 foot long village. If push comes to shove on the short radius curve, I will use another trolley on the loop if I cannot use a regular HO locomotive. But, I wouldalso like to run some Disney HO trains on that loop if I could.
- I found smaller 18-22 gauge connectors at menards that were smaller in diameter then the others and will be hidden by bushes for the signals. 2.thank you for the advice about the flex track.3 I am using wooden dolls for the track alignment on my flip down edges and computer board for conductivity after drilling. 4. i put in 22 hrs of work this week and wire tied mini wire looms and used plastic wire looms around them and they are thouroughly marked. I am also using a 205 atlas connector to manually control the signals.
OK here goes. 32 AWG wire is available at TCS –
http://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Products/Supplies/Wire/Wire.htm
I buy my micro connectors off eBay in 40 pin strips and cut them to size with my Atlas Track Saw.
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2015/01/january-17-2015-micro-connectors.html