Sunday, December 11, 2011

Running Trains

Well this weekend has been busy.  And, in a word, satisfying.  I actually have track down and running trains.  Admittedly not all the way around - but they are running.

I begain laying track using the plan and as usual fo rme, it gradually diverted into something that was similar but workable.  I found out that the yard layout didn't quite fit.  So I did some adjustment and viola - working yard.  Laid out the other parts and got it down to where I had most of the track in place and I could see how it would be functioning.

So today, I went back to fill in some spots and actually hooked up my NCE Power Cab.  With relatively easy steps I had power on the track and a running locomotive.  For all of two sections.  Then quiet.  Seems that I had forgotten my lessens of the table.  Always use two track joiners,  otherwise you run out of signal and power.

So I spent a little bit of time fixing thd missing joiners.  Using my locomotive as a sort of inch-by-inch failure indicator.  When the train stopped moving I looked for a gap.  Worked like a charm.

This afternoon I tried to make up a train and function per my plan.  Found out that I could not even get a four car train hooked up and out to the main track.  It was too long and blocked the turnouts.  So I thought and ended up pulling track and relaying a section so that I had a forward moving outlet from the yard to the outside track.  This will let me get a "full size" train out of the yard and onto the moving track.  We'll see how it works out.

I still have about 4 feet of gaps that need to be filled - but I'm much closer than I was yesterday.  Now I can run about 85% of one track without a glitch.

That is great progress!

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