# yahooo table built



## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

ok finaly got my table built all free stuff from behind a lowes (there throw away scrap ) yesterday i found $30 bucks to get some foam board yeeeeeee. today i cut it to fit the table. now i got my track laid out . i still need a couple feeds (come on ebay hurry up ) but so far i like this layout. im trying to figger out how to put the feeders through the pink stuff. this is all Kato track and feeders. i know i got to put holes under the track just dont know how yet. any who thought i would post my progress. i happier than a tornado in a trailer park . dont have any glue to stick track to foam yet. im trying to deside what will be better for me as i might have to remove the track for a future move out of this crazy state im in.
i welcome any ideas .


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## 89Suburban (Jan 4, 2017)

Nice work.


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

figgered out a way to drill holes for kato wire . went to my local osh and found 1/2 id brass tube. by twisting and pushing by hand i was able to get a clean hole all the way through 2 inch foam pretty easy too. the plug stayed behind so i just pushed it out with my finger. nice an easy.
the hole on the left was from a drill bit that did not work out good.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Just curious... why such a large hole for wires? I poke mine through with a coat hanger.

Edit: never mind. I didn't see the large white connectors on the wires at first.


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

ya i didnt wanna try to remove them connectors. i probably could have poked them up threw smaller holes with the other ends 3/8ths hole . but it is what it is.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Feeders and Foam glue*



sid said:


> ok finaly got my table built all free stuff from behind a lowes (there throw away scrap ) yesterday i found $30 bucks to get some foam board yeeeeeee. today i cut it to fit the table. now i got my track laid out . i still need a couple feeds (come on ebay hurry up ) but so far i like this layout. im trying to figger out how to put the feeders through the pink stuff. this is all Kato track and feeders. i know i got to put holes under the track just dont know how yet. any who thought i would post my progress. i happier than a tornado in a trailer park . dont have any glue to stick track to foam yet. im trying to deside what will be better for me as i might have to remove the track for a future move out of this crazy state im in.
> i welcome any ideas .


Sid:

That looks like a good strong table. Is the outside frame made of metal? That's a little different than the wood commonly used, but it will work just fine. You are lucky to get all that material for free! Too bad Lowes didn't throw out some pink foam too! :laugh: Your daughter seems to be very happy with her dad's train layout. 
Latex caulk makes a good glue to hold the track to the foam, and to hold the foam to the table. It's not hard to remove if you ever have to. Just put a small dab of caulk at each end of each track section. Put some weight (bricks, books whatever) on top of the track near the ends and let the caulk set overnight. If you ever want to remove the track, just slip a putty knife under the track and work it through each dab of caulk. It will come up pretty easily.
You mentioned E-bay for feeders. Are you planning to use rail
joiners with wires soldered to them, or does Kato use some special feeders? It's easy to ad feeders any where you want by drilling a small (1/16") hole through the Kato plastic roadbed, right next to the outside of each rail. Drill down through the foam and the plywood. Slip a small wire (28ga.) through each drilled hole. Use different colors for the two rails, like red for the inside rail of the oval, and black for the outside rail. Use what ever colors you wish, or whatever colors Lowes throws out. :laugh: The important thing is to consistently use the same color for any feeders that connect to a given rail. The feeder wires can be soldered to the outside of the rails and all the red wires can connect to each other, all the black wires can too. Just don't connect any red wires to any black wires. That would cause a short circuit and shut down the layout. On a small layout, you may not need many feeders, especially if you are using DCC control. Traditional DC is a different proposition. Then you would need to divide the track into insulated sections called "blocks" and wire a pair of feeders to each of those blocks. All this assumes you will be running more than one train.
You said you "welcome any ideas." I don't know if you mean ideas directly related to the questions in your post; or general information about the hobby. The former I've just covered, the latter you can find in the pdf files below.

good luck;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:

View attachment How to better model railroad the first time. Part 1.pdf


View attachment How to build a better model railroad the first time Part 2.pdf


View attachment How to build a better model railroad Parts 3 & 4 benchwork and more track planning.pdf


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## Dudlee99 (May 6, 2018)

Off to a good start. You can't beat Free stuff.


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

traction ya the table is steel square tube , it was a box shape but i cut it up so i could have a table an the wood inbetween was free as well. thats my grand daughter in the photo , she loves papas stuff. I pretty much raised her from the time she was born she is my world. i have some metal machines that she really like to play with. i teach her every thing just as if she was a boy. she is a pretty smart kid. she can turn steel on my lathe pretty good. of coarse im always right there just in case. she love to help with the trains too. i let her do what ever she ask to do. 
yes im using terminal unijoiners for the rails they work good. i tried to run the trains with out them but soon found out i need them every where the turn outs run power when there turned to that rail and only that rail. so i put them every where. no more problem. i think im going to leave it like this for a long while while i think about the rest of the layout (buildings ect ) my grand daughter likes to place the buildings for now so i let her play . I wish i could have gotten the pink foam for free too but thats was not gunna happen,. i did get a discount from home depot on it though $28 bucks it was $34 i find if your extremely nice to the girls they tend to give a discount hahahahahah wink wink. 
yes i said welcome any and all ideas. i need all the help i can get. even though i have a great helper who is the boss at times hahahahaha ive read every one of them links you posted probably three or four times . i read a lot of stuff. my first lil layout i did pretty fast , all the track (flex track laid and all that good stuff . but with this one im taking my time . i dont really know what i want on this one yet. still reading and looking at many many pics of every bodys layouts ect. 
Dudlee99 you bet free is a very good price . just a lil bit of labor to get it to what you want . but thats all right with me.


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## Spence (Oct 15, 2015)

Very nice start to the layout.


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

thanks got all the feeders in now . i need some 3 way connectors now to hook them up. dont know where im going to put the turn out switches yet either im thinking right in the middle of the layout , but not sure yet. maybe blend them into the layout some how ie big building thingy of some sort.
got any ideas for those?


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## Panther (Oct 5, 2015)

Use that piece of foam to plug the other hole.

Dan


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

hi Dan i didnt think about pluging the holes . i got a bunch of plugs too. im gunna wait till i get all the unijoiners in place then get the trains running for a while before i plug holes. i might have to move this whole thing pretty soon. as im house hunting too.


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

ok i elevated the track on the back stretch right now about 3/4 inch from bottom or the bed. what could i build around that beside's a river bed stream ect ?
i think i could go to one inch or 1.5 inches. im just playing with it for now with lil blocks of some kinda plasticity foamy stuff i got from the dollor store , cut the in half inch wide parts and stacked them to raise the track. its pretty smooth up and down.


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## 89Suburban (Jan 4, 2017)

I like it, I do the same thing with mine.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Control panel? More info if you want it.*



sid said:


> thanks got all the feeders in now . i need some 3 way connectors now to hook them up. dont know where im going to put the turn out switches yet either im thinking right in the middle of the layout , but not sure yet. maybe blend them into the layout some how ie big building thingy of some sort.
> got any ideas for those?


sid;

The usual location for turnout control switches would be on a control panel at the edge of the layout. You may need to add more wire length to the Kato cables to do that.If you're using DC control for your trains, and you want to be able to operate more than one, you will need such a panel to hold the toggle switches that control power distribution to the block sections of your track. If you're using DCC, those toggle switches won't be necessary. 
If you liked the files I sent, there are more of those, and lots more info from other members, in our "Beginner's Q&A section. The first dark print post called "Help a new modeler to get started, contains my other pdf file links; and more from others; including a recommendation for a good book on model railroading. The 2nd, and 3rd dark print posts have lots of good info on building a layout and electricity. 

happy reading;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

i was gunna put it right in the middle but have decided to cut out a section on the edge and in stall the kato switches there in the foam. needs a lil more work but i think i like this location. I found an isue with kato track. if you move the track much you must go around and push down on the connections (where the track connects to one another ) it seems that when moved it pulls the steel connectors up out of the plastic dokickies and then you got a rail thats higher than the rest. i found out by running my engine around and it kept derailing and stalling . but i got all the switches installed , have not tested yet. im debating weather or not to cut all the feeders and solder them into one feeder wire or just use the Kato 3 way connectors. Boy this power cab sure is touchy one lil thing and it shorts right out then blinky blinky. had a problem with the cross over , but i uped the dc voltage and that got solved pretty dang quick. i didnt think ahead of time to paint the pink foam so now ive got to do that before i get to far along. but i want to finish up the switch area first. off for more reading and looking at photos for now. Thanks for the imput traction and more reading studying ect. oh ya i took out the elevation track its back to flat for now. i cant decide on what to do. with that area
oh and Im DCC now i like it very much.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

I have eight Kato Turnouts and the respective controls. In my opinion I would use some Kato Three Way adapters and the factory connected connectors. That way you can always reuse or sell them in the future. Also, your layout is looking very good.:thumbsup:


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

hummm good point on resale part Thanks Fred. I need more parts . amazing how this thing always needs more parts hahahahha


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

well now she is up and running. still need a couple parts , 3 way connector so i can run the last inside lines iner and outer tracks run perfectly. 1 problem ive found is the knuckle couplers do not like backing up , it always derails the first car backing up on either the kato switcher or the green engine i forgot what it is. but other than that they run great a quick lil video of the green engine pulling 14 or 15 cars... well i thought i was gunna post a short video it wont let me so no video . RATS hwell:


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Videos & coupler problem*



sid said:


> well now she is up and running. still need a couple parts , 3 way connector so i can run the last inside lines iner and outer tracks run perfectly. 1 problem ive found is the knuckle couplers do not like backing up , it always derails the first car backing up on either the kato switcher or the green engine i forgot what it is. but other than that they run great a quick lil video of the green engine pulling 14 or 15 cars... well i thought i was gunna post a short video it wont let me so no video . RATS hwell:


sid;

A video can't be directly posted on the forum. Instead videos are posted on You-tube, and a link to that video is posted as part of your message on the forum.

The coupler/backing up problem sounds like the coupler on the locomotive may be pushing the coupler of the first car sideways.

This happens for several reasons. Check your layout for the following things.

1) Is the locomotive coupler mounted on the body of the loco?

2) Are the couplers of the cars mounted on the trucks, instead of the bodies, of the cars?

3) Are the curves of your track tight radius curves? 
(Anything under 12" radius could be considered a tight curve.)

Here's what may be happening.

1 A body-mounted coupler on the locomotive, swings pretty far outward, when the loco passes through a tight curve.

2 The truck-mounted coupler of the first car is pushed outward by the locomotive's body-mounted coupler.

3 The whole front truck of the car coupled to the locomotive is then also pushed outward, by it's own coupler. 

4 This outward pressure causes the wheels of that car's front truck to derail.

It is much more reliable to use either all body-mounted, or all truck-mounted, couplers, rather than a mixture of the two types.
Which type will work better depends on the curve radius of the track.

In General, experienced modelers prefer body-mounted couplers. They not only look more realistic, but also are better for backing up, as they transmit the pushing force of the locomotive through the frame of the car, and not to the wheels.

However, on a railroad with tight curves, truck-mounted couplers actually work better, because they tend to keep the couplers closer to the center of the track than body-mounted couplers would, on the same tight curves.


Of course all this is guesswork on my part, since I haven't seen your layout.

good luck;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

ah ok got it about he videos...
the derailing is exactly because of the coupler mouted on the body of the loco. all the locos are body mounted. but all my rolling stock is truck mounted. if i cnage them to body mount then i have to shim every one of them so they would match the locos. i dont wanna do that. so im go to not be backing them up i quess. for the life of me i cant figger our these people wont make things work when they know thats a problem. either body mount every thing or none at all including locos . ive already modified 2 cars to work with knuckle couplers . i just dont like them . there hard to work with there very unrealiable. but the rapido ones just plain work no ifs and or buts. ill try to mod the cars for body mounts just the ones that hook up to the locos as im not gunna change every dang car. id rather mod the locos if that can be done. my turns are not sharp turns at all . what ever kato v6 curves are all track is kato. this derailment only happen on the locos an car right behind loco . none of the other cars derail there all rapido couplers . i really like them much better. they just work


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