The other hobby I'm diving back into ...

[Brumby]

Beyond this comment I'm not delving much more deeply into this thread lest I reignite THAT interest from 40 years ago too...

Oh don't be afraid! 

You are evil.   

[Brumby]

I had a modest HO gauge train setup, which started out with a Tri-ang set and grew from that.

My layout was on a 6' x 4' piece of chipboard which made it "portable".  This, and the fact I lived 4 doors down from my (primary) school meant it was a candidate for inclusion in the school's hobby display at their annual fete.  I would go home with 3 other kids and we would carry it up the street to the school.  I'd then set it up and guard it for the duration.

When not in use, it could be stood on edge, since there was no high profile scenery - and this became a problem.  As the years passed and the interest waned as other things took to the stage, the board was relegated to the garage - and one day, after a particularly nasty rain storm, water had seeped across the garage floor ... only stopped by the sponge that my train set baseboard became.  I only discovered this some time later and the resulting mess was very disheartening.  I had tacks used to secure the track to the board rusted in place and crumbling wood fibres everywhere.  The board was tossed and the track was mostly rescued - but some of it was not looking too wonderful.  Since that day, it has been packed away.  It has been well over 20 years since any of the rolling stock rolled anywhere, so I would want to check things out before running anything.

I would also need to redesign a layout.  After it's last use, I came across some bargain track at a garage sale ... that I just couldn't pass up.  It had at least 4 yard long straights plus some other pieces - and I don't know where that all ended up.  But I am also going to have to have a serious look at some of my original track.  I did a stupid thing.  Having some problems with good electrical contact with the rails, some bright spark suggested I give then a rub with some fine sandpaper.  Being young and not knowing any better ... I did.  This worked well - for a very short time, since I had removed the plating on the tracks and the tarnish I had to deal with before had been replaced with rust.  Some things we learn the hard way.


Will I ever resurrect the set?  I don't know.  My kids have never seen it run - and I'm not sure if they even know I have it ... and now there are grandchildren on the scene - but they are a bit young yet.

[Cubdriver]

Beyond this comment I'm not delving much more deeply into this thread lest I reignite THAT interest from 40 years ago too...

Oh don't be afraid! 

You are evil.   

 

Yeah, huh?  I think I have a box of rolling stock, locos and track kicking around somewhere, but it hasn't seen the light of day since the early 80s.  At present I have far too many irons in the fire to even think about excavating it.

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

And that traffic light is amazing, xrunner!  Nicely done.

-Pat

[bd139]

Indeed it is. Nice work

[daybyter]

Great traffic light!

Now you need some moving cars! (traffic...)

[xrunner]

Great traffic light!

Thank you. 

Yeah, huh?  I think I have a box of rolling stock, locos and track kicking around somewhere, but it hasn't seen the light of day since the early 80s.  At present I have far too many irons in the fire to even think about excavating it.

I'd love to see them - really. But if you have too many irons ... 

[xrunner]

I'm building a kit that replicates a fueling station. The kit does have lamp posts but of course they don't actually work. I'm going to add SMD 0603 white LEDs to the lamps. They fit nicely under the lamp. Running the wires is going to be interesting, and I'm still figuring out the best way to do that.

[xrunner]

I finally got the LED lights all done for one area. Here's a low-light shot of it.

[Brumby]

Looks great.

That's the sort of thing that makes soldering 0402 LEDs fun to do!

[Cubdriver]

Nicely done!  (Both the fabrication and the photo.)

-Pat

[SeanB]

How did you wire it. the current is low enough that just fusing some 48SWG wire into the plastic tube with solvent would work, and after a paint coat look like it is just a seam in the steel pole replica.

[xrunner]

How did you wire it. the current is low enough that just fusing some 48SWG wire into the plastic tube with solvent would work, and after a paint coat look like it is just a seam in the steel pole replica.

I used 30 AWG magnet wire. It's very hard to tell it's on the plastic especially when the lights are on.

[xrunner]

Well it's the Holiday and trains and Holiday seem to go together so here's the latest on my layout progress. 

[TassiloH]

In case you need more inspiration or ever come to northern Germany/Hamburg:
http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/

[bd139]

That place is on my bucket list 

[ChrisLX200]

Prefer my model choo-choos to be a bit bigger - one I made years ago   Runs on coal, produces lots of steam and smelly hot oil!

[bd139]

That’s a thing of beauty 

[rrinker]

 I've been a model railroad since before I was into electronics - there is a home 8mm movie of me running the trains under the Christmas tree when I was about 2 years old. Not by much though - one of my favorite 'toys' was a box full of wires, switches, and lights I would hook up and do stuff with.
 It was at least partly through my building and wiring of model railroads that I decided early on that I wanted to be an EE. The trains, and those Radio Shack x-in 1 kits.
 I am right now in the process of redoing my basement (it was finished by the previous owners - in horrible 70's paneling, some of it brick textured, some rock textured, and some wood) to begin construction of a decently sized double deck HO layout. I'll have about a 25x26 irregular area to work with - wish I had more, but everything else about this house was something I was looking for so I have to live with the garage eating up another 20x26 area that in a normal ranch style house would be part of the basement.
 In the meantime, I am designing my own turnout controllers to drive servo motors, and signal controllers that will all interface via a modified version of Bruce Chubb's CMRI system - basically a protocol for serial comm over RS-485.