What do you get when you listen to the guys on this forum?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’ve been absorbing all the suggestions on this forum for many months now. As a new guy in the hobby, my layout ran OK, but always intermittent derailments. That becomes annoying – downright tedious after a while. I began to notice the following list of recurring tips on the forum to be just the opposite of what I had been doing:

• No S-curves (At least one car length of straight between opposing curves) – Especially watch for these coming out of turnouts.

• #4 and #6 turnouts are more reliable than “Snap” switches.

• No “cheating” with sectional track to force it to fit. Use flex-track to line things up the way you want.

• Work slowly and carefully. You’ll be running trains soon enough.

• Plan! (I now use XtrkCAD before I start laying track.)

• Install switches to “de-power” some sections even with DCC so that parked locos are not always sitting on hot track.

• Solder the joiners on flex-track while the track is lying straight… then curve it to fit after the solder cools… no kinks.

• Remove the ties where joiners will go on flex track. They slide back under the rails easily enough after it’s laid.

• Use plenty of power feeders to assure even power distribution and smooth running.

• Use latex caulk to apply roadbed.

• If you wind up with a problem section of track, after a few attempts at repair, it’s often best to just rip it out and relay the whole section.

So I did all that. Ripped out a large area of my layout and redid it using those suggestions. What happened?

Zero derailments.
Even with long trains.
Even at full throttle.
Even with my most temperamental cars.
Backwards.

I’m so proud.[:D]

Thanks everyone, for so freely sharing your knowledge.

2

The forum has saved my hide (and nerves) more than once. We’ve got some great members here that really know their stuff.

Happy railroading…

Tracklayer

3

Great place eh!!

I couldn’t possibly list everything I’ve learnt (learning) I love it here[swg]

Ken.

4

This is the same stuff I used to learn 30 years ago by belonging to a model railroad club. Only its faster and open 24x7.

Dave H.

5

This is what makes this forum so great - sharing what you know, learning what you don’t.
Enjoy
Paul

6

That is what it is all about!!!

Jim

7

There are no “dumb” questions, someone who has not gained the experience to “do it right” can lead to avoiding mistakes, and teach all of us something we haven’t learned yet. In addition “teaching” helps each of us the steps and skills that we need to do the task correctly further refining our skills. There may be art to modeling but there is not much mystery that a good “teacher” can not walk us through.
Just saying thank you to all who have helped me with enjoying the hobby and hoping that I may contribute something to the enjoyment of modeling for others.
Will

8

I could not have said it better! [;)]

9

Oh yes, I agree. [;)]

We have a number (hundreds) of people in the forum who are very knowledgable. When they post (speak) I read (listen). I could never afford to buy all the books that would handle all of the problems written about in this forum, yet here the advice is free. We have a great group here. God bless them all.

10

…a slimmer wallet! [(-D]

(Not always. But since I’m new to this hobby, I don’t always have all the supplies I need to do what I need to do.)

Tom

11

Absolutely!

Even those of us who have been around the hobby for many years (over 30 in my case) still learn something new almost daily here at the forum. Glad your new section is running so fine, jxtrrx!

12

I’ve learned a bunch of things over the last year that would have taken a lifetime to learn the “on the job.”

13

What do I get from reading this forum?

a) More mini projects added on my list
b) A little less green in my wallet
c) a little more green with envy looking and Fundy nothern, and Aggro’s weathers skills

14

I get the itch to head back down to the basement to work more on the layout.

I’m in the track laying stage, but more precisely the turnout laying stage. I’m laying my turnouts right now in the yard, main-to-local crossover area, as well as the local-to-A/D track area. I’ll have quite a few in a fairly short area. Having to cut down most of them to fit tight enough. After that I’ve got 13 more tortoise machines to install, and 8 hand throws. I hope to be able to run my first train by Thanksgiving!

Mark in Utah

15

What I get is intelligence (both kinds), respect, good will, experience, correction, guidance, thought-provoking questions, knowledge, history, and friendhsip. If we could just develop a pill that had all of that, or a powder to add to the drinking water, what a powerful civilization we would be.

I am very grateful for this forum; it is free to join, has reasonable rules, and binds us together in a common goal; the pursuit of the world’s greatest hobby.

Thanks for the thread, jxtrrx.

16

The knowledge here is immeasurable. I’m hooked.

17

Hmm. I suppose I am trying to keep up with the Jones here LOL

Good work! Glad you can enjoy the forums!

18

A number of years ago, when the Internet was young, people were talking about the “virtual communities” that would spring up on-line. Well, this is exactly what they meant. Our “global village” is probably no more than the size of a good-sized town, certainly not large enough to be called a city, but we have engineers and lawyers, Army and Navy, young and old, Sox and Yankees, Brits and Kiwis, and for some reason that Lake Wobegon demographic where intelligence is “above average, every single one.”

Over the last few months, I’ve gone from a questioner to an answerer. My LHS is very helpful, but when it comes to questions on foam, track laying and benchwork, this forum is my school and my Bible. Now, I find I can sometimes answer someone else’s queries about the things I’ve learned myself only weeks before. I guess this is part of what they mean by “The World’s Greatest Hobby.”

19

I agree with all that has been said so far. What I have gained the most here is reading questions and comments about things that I never thought of myself and that turned out to be useful in my particular modeling efforts. Thanks everyone!!

20

Depends on who is commenting on stuff.

With some people I get knowledge & wisdom.

With others, I get the hipwaders out [:D]

Gordon