ok so last year the wife surprised me with loads of train track for xmas sadly its life like power loc. so i have a standard oval set up with some turn outs and i have a problem, the layout is on a 4.5x6.5 board and 2 whole dies are up against walls due to limited space so part of the board is in a corner. now on to the problem
the turnouts i use are electrical and powered by the transformer/power pack that powers the track and the wire thats attached to the turnout is not long enough to reach accross the room. normally i would just use a manual turnout but since i cant reach the turnout due to the corner wall im at a loss on how to solve this issue heres a pic of the turnout so any idea on how i can switch the turnout via the computer controlled gadget it comes with with out haveing to relocate my entire setup as im kinda stuck with it in the location its already in due to limited space in our appartment
any ideas on how to solve this issue heres a link with more info on the turnout
The standard way to get this cut the cable you have, seperate the ends to expose the individual wires, and solder in lengthe of wire. Pay attention to colour coding so that you don’t cross anything, and use electrical tape to insulate each joint.
I woudest getting a book on model railroad wiring,andmaking rie ith som local moel railroaders.
Electrical tape? I thought that stuff went the way of corded wall phones. [swg] I insulate ALL of my soldered electrical wires with heat shrink. It forms itself to the wire, and doesn’t turn into a gooey, sticky mess over time.
Corded wall phones may be out of used because many are paying way too much for Verizon bundles (not me!) or have cell phones (me). Some of us are still old school when it comes to layouts. Not all electrical tape is a gooey sticky mess - maybe bad quality tape. I don’t like laying track with adhesives either but use Atlas track nails or spikes. Goodness it has saved me a lot of trouble and money in having to remove glued down track with many revisions or other episodes of having to lift track back up.
Yes electrical tape is still used, not for covering wires perminantly but to secure wire nuts sometimes or extra protection for wires and a lot of other things like temporary of live wires when working live (not recomended or allowed but often done).
Those are twin coil switches. There are dcc decoders specfically for this. But as everyone suggest extending the wires by splicing them if your best bet. I would use a somewhat hravy gause wire (smaller #s are thicker)…i would use no thinner then 16 as coil current is high.
Btw…heat shrink tubing and liquid electricsl tape are at lowes and home depot. But if you dont have a soldiering iron wire nuts secured with electtical tape works.
One great thing about the hobby is you get to learn how to do new things. At some point, you’re going to need to learn at least how to strip the insulation off of two wires and twist them together, and eventually how to solder the joint and insulate it.
For the time being, I’m not sure about the specific brand you’re using, but I know at least one other company with a similar product, Kato Unitrack, has extensions you can buy to make the wires longer without any stripping or soldering. It just plugs in to the existing wire/plug connection. You could check the manufacturer website to see if they have that or not.
heres a link with more info on the turnout