As some of you may remember, I am building a 2’8" x 6’10" N scale layout, and I have realised I don’t know what to do for the track power. It is on a peice of 1/2" ply, with the track on cork roadbed, and only a short section elevated. the total overhaed claerance from tabletop to the coffee table overhead is 5".
Thanks,
Matthew
Maybe I could cut a trough in the cork roadbed, and put the wires through there?
Matthew
Without knowing a bit more about the layout, (like can you turn this on it’s side to get access underneath the plywood?), my offhand suggestion is to solder the feeder wires to the bottom of some rail joiners (on your workbench, before using them to connect the track), then drill holes through the cork and the plywood at the locations of the rail joiners, and run the feeder wires down through the plywood. Under the plywood, connect the feeder wires to main power wires from your power pack.
Obviously the more power feeds you have the more reliable the operation. But for a small layout like yours you can get away with just a few.
Just an idea, but that’s what I did.
Regards
Ed
I can’t get the wires under the plywood, and therin lies my quandry. My dad said I could just connect 1 feeder, but that doesn’t seem like a good idea at all. Forget I mentioned it.
Matthew
why can’t you remove the plywood sheet from under the table? is it part of the table? you should have several feeders connecting the rails to the power pack. if you can’t run wires underneath the board i would run them around the outside on top of the board and disguise them with scenery material.
There is simply nowhere to put them under the sheet. The base is basically a box with 1x3 cross peices, with the trainboard restng on the 1x3s and secured with screws. I do not think that I could drill into the 1x3s at this point, but if left with no other option, I think this is what I’ll have to. The scenery in most places will not be high enough to disguise wires, due to the 4" headroom. Yes, I mean inches, and I canott change that.
Matthew
I have a similar table and frame for my 3 rail O27 (but no coffee table on top). To route the wires underneath, I drilled 1/4 in holes through the frame members and ran the wires through the holes in the frames, and then up through the plywood. This kept the wires from getting caught or pinched when the table was moved.
On a Christmas 3 rail O27, which was 1/4 in plywood on top of 1.5 in foam, I just ran the wire into bundles under the track on top of the plywood. Used green and brown wire, and called it good for a toy train layout. You could just put the wire bundles on the inside of the cork roadbed from the table edge, which would hide it to some extent.
Don’t give up - you’ll come up with a workable solution. I’ve seen many a “scale” layout with surface mounted switch machines - you really don’t see them after a few minutes.
Fred Wright
I guess I’m still hampered by not understanding clearly the construction. But having said that, I still think you can run the wires under the plywood as long as you can temporarily tip the table/layout on it’s side for wiring access.
“The base is basically a box with 1x3 cross peices, with the trainboard restng on the 1x3s and secured with screws. I do not think that I could drill into the 1x3s at this point.”
I guess I’m not clear why, is it an access problem?
My small layout is a hollow core wood door that sits on a dining room table. In order to be able to run wiring under the door I had to put some 1x2’s under it to lift it a bit off the table. The wires are run against the door and held in place by wire staples. Where I had to cross the 1x2’s I simply drilled a 1/4" hole through them and ran the wires.
I have several blocks and have 1 feeder to each block. Not necessarily the best, but it works for now. If you don’t have separate blocks you can get away with one set of feeders, but every additional set that you can install will help with improved electrical supply (instead of depending completely on rail joiners.)
Okay, worst case scenario: you can’t drill into the layout. In that case you may have to simply run a pair of feeder wires from the edge to the nearest track, and solder the feeders to the outside of the rails. Hide the wires by either putting them in a very shallow groove cut into the wood, or camouflage them with a bit of ground cover (or both).
Regards
Ed
Sorry I can’t be more descriptive, I tried to draw a picture, but paint crashed on me.
Your layout is under a coffee table???
I take it you have a ‘clearance’ problem. if you can’t get under the layout to wire it, you will need a method of pulling your layout out to work on it. How about wheels?
Wiring the bottom side: Use multiple wire ‘Ribbon’ wire. Staple it. Atlas sell’s it - as do Electronic Supply stores (in roll’s).
1x3’s? How about 1X2’s? Cheap.
Wiring may be one thing you need help with. It may take 4 hands to turn the table & get underneath the plywood. There are several methods to string wire under the layout.
Feeder wires are soldered to some of the rail joiners you use. The number of feeders can depend on the blocks of your layout where you want to isolate a train. A rule of thumb is to do a drop for about every 3ft of track. The sections of track you want to turn off go thru an electrical switch.
The feeders are connected to wire strung underneath the plywood. You can use tape type connectors used to route computer power cable. Other devices screw into the plywood.
I suggest you go to your LHS and find a book on wiring your layout. The shop should be able to answer any questions you have. This is one area you want to get it right the first time and be safe.
Sort of, it IS a coffee table. The inside has a sheet of plywood for the railway.
It’s quite a quandry I have gotten myself into… wish I could have anither idea…
Matthew