my 2’x4’ layout all code 80 track has hit a problem, after I ballasted the track and have been letting it dry my locos are grinding(it’s the ballast) but they are losing power on the far side of the layout the locos are a kato F7A and an Atlas Alco RS1 (they are in my avatar). I cleaned the track earlier but I think I may have to get some fine grit sandpaper to clean the top of the track.
in advance, thank you I will also probably thank everybody about a billion more times on top of this.
I am always amazed at just how much crap I can get off the rails after gluing and painting by just running my thumb nail along the rail. After that, a quick wipe with some Iso on a rag finishes the job. It happens to all of us so no need to panic.[:O][(-D]
Brent[C):-)]
Agree with Batman, Iso will do the job. not a fan of using abrasives to clean track.
I used Iso earlier… hmmm… what is wrong.
It is grinding because the wheels are hitting the ballast that is a little proud of the tie tops. You will have to clean the rails and ties inside of the gauge.
Even though you swept the ballast clear of the ties, the glue raised it up a bit and now the wheel flanges are hitting it. This is also why you are getting poor contact: Less of the wheel is on the rail.
How are you putting power on your tracks. If you did not solder your rail joints, than water and glue got into the rail joiners. This is best fixed by adding more feeders. (Or by soldering the joints.)
Every time you add something, you disturb something else.
ROAR
all right I’ll clean inside the rails, no I didn’t solder the tracks so I’m gonna have to get feeders but how would I set it up? can they be linked directly to the power pack?
thank you.
yes that last quote is so true I can’t do something without having to fight with everything else [:D]
ok it was running much better after cleaning the inside of the rails but now the switches hardly move so I have removed the slider that switches the tracks (all 5). now comes the part where I’m going to have to test my wings in a little modification.
nope never mind 4/5 are now working!
Well, I’m glad you got it sorted. This is one of the reasons I hate ballasting track so much.
Even if you are very careful to keep your adhesive out of your turnout parts, you should still work the points a few times as it dries, just to make sure they don’t freeze up.
As far as feeders go, the typical solution is to run a bus wire (AWG 12 or 14) under the layout, then drill small holes for smaller gauge wire (say AWG 16) up through the layout and solder these feeders to the track at roughly 6’ intervals. For a small layout, though, just soldering the rail joiners should do it.
ah thank you, unfortunately my switches have started misbehaving so I think I’ll switch over to atlas powered switches instead of manual ones. although I’m deciding whether or not if I want to glue the part… it would be better f I took a picture but I need to wait until tomorrow when the light is better.
And now you know why some of us don’t glue the ballast on and near our turnouts (switches). In fact, on some prototype RR’s, they use a little less ballast on and around turnouts for (most likely) similar reasons. I’ve seen a number of prototype turnouts with ballast 3-4 inches below the tops of the ties.
As for soldering joints - I’m soldering 16 or 18 AWG feeders to every other joint, and every other joint is unsoldered (to allow for expansion/contraction) So, I have 6’ soldered lengths, and “loose” joints every 5 feet. Let it never be said I’ll have poor conductivity, at least due to poor rail joints. Overkill? Maybe. But while someone else is pulling their hair “Why is my train slowing down?” due to bad connections, I’ll be pulling my own hair “Why is my train stalling?” due to operator error. [:$]
Brad
well great I knew I shouldn’t have ballasted after the first switch but the funny thing is is that that’s the only switch that hasn’t been disassembled or removed since ballasting [*-)]
Looking at the photo in your signature (and guessing it’s the only one you’ve uploaded so far), it appears you might have a little too much ballast, it appears to be completely covering the ends of the ties, and the spikes between the rails. Unless, of course, this was intentional for some reason. In my case, (when I get to it), my track will have ballast barely covering the roadbed. My “prototype” was an old, barely maintained branchline, they (probably) would not have spent too much time and money on a line that only saw a couple trains a week - or maybe one short train a day. My ballast won’t (or shouldn’t, at least) be flush with the tops of the ties, and the ends of the ties will be (should be) partly, if not mostly, exposed. I’m guessing yours might represent more well-maintained trackage, so in your case, the ballast should be more or less flush with the tie tops.
Brad
yeah it was representing a fictional part of SP&S pre merge and BN post 1979 merger. I was using a brush to clean the ballast of the ties but I don’t think it worked very well, so I may have go over and clean each tie off.
what’s then name of the company you’re modeling?
thank you.
Well, LION was looking at your pictures… You have way too much ballast on your tracks. Normally there is no ballast on the ties or above the tie line.
Here are some pictures of my ballasting:
You will see that there is no ballast above the ties, and none against the rails. It just so happens that none of my ballast is glued down. and if you look closely, you will see that is really sifted cat litter and not scale ballast at all. You see no switches here, but there is no ballast at all at the switch points.
All of my rail joiners are soldered, the tracks are painted before ballasting, I then scrape the paint off of the rail-heads. Use a small paint brush to brush the ballast away from the tracks and off of the ties.
Good Luck!
What did you use to glue the ballast? White Glue? That is good, you can wet it down again and then bursh it down off of the ties and ways from the rails. Otherwise… live and learn. I did not get it right the first time either.
ROAR
that looks nice!
yes I used a diluted glue after easing surface tension with 91% Iso. I cleared out some of the ballast and voila! the layout lives again. I’ll rewet it and clear some of the ballast then I have to clean my track the dust from sanding down the smooth it is pretty messy. On the soldering part… Um… I kinda don’t own one nor do I really know to use one. [:$]
Thank you very much!
Well then, you need to buy a soldering iron and learn how to use it, even if you do not solder rail joiners. After all, there are disadvantages to that, but as you go along and want to wire switches, controls, signals, switch motors and more, you will be glad that you have it.
Some things that you need to know about soldering, and some “extra tips” from the LION.
a soldering iron is HOT. It will burn things that it touches so always be careful with it.
HEAT the WORK, not the solder. Apply the iron to the wire or rail and heat that, then apply the solder to the work and let the work melt the solder.
Wires and joints to be soldered should be clean. That is what “they” say, and while it is true, the LION is not all that careful about this and guess what, the solder will still melt and hold things in place. The thing you do not know is how well it is making an electrical connection. You make a good connection first, and then you solder it together.
STOP and LOOK at the soldering iron before you pick it up. Do not just reach for it.
If you drop the iron, do not try to catch it: You may grab the wrong end. Just jump out of the way, you can fix it later.
Adjust your eyeglasses BEFORE you pick up the soldering iron.
Always unplug the iron when you are done with it.
It really is easy, just take some time to get to know the tool and it will be something that you will use all of the time.
And be sure to keep your work bench free of clutter.
ROAR
Weller 25 or 40 watt iron is a great learning tool – you can pick them up at Radio Shack for about $20 (or $40 if you want a variable - output one with a holding station. I have this one and it’s quite nice).
These are small enough to do most electronics work (e.g. installing a decoder), and yet hefty enough to do bigger things as well (e.g. soldering rail).
Tim Warris (designer of the Fast Tracks templates) has a lot of how-tos for soldering rail – mostly it’s of the “rail to PC Board ties” variety, but the methods hold for other things. (with the exception that he uses acid flux; whereas for stuff you cannot clean easily such as electronics or in-place rails, you’ll want to use rosin flux).
I painted mine after assembly using a dupli color flat black rattle can. Laquer thinner on an old piece of cork roadbed removed all paint from rail heads. Weather as desired before of after planting on the layout.
I’m guessing going by your layout size that it’s an N-scale layout. If you’re going to be replacing turnouts that are gummed out, you might consider switching to Kato Unitrack so you don’t have to worry about ballasting unless you want to add some additional ballast along the sides of the ballast integrated with the track.
Oh thank you guys I’ll look into it paydays on friday and I have a spare foam board I’d like to make a layout on. plus on my current one I’m working on I’d like to have signals and all of this other stuff. but that can be post “temporary completion” additions.
Nah, if there’s one thing I know it’s doing it the hard way first.[:D].
