# Why I spend hours working on the railroad



## Dave Sams

Why I spend hours and hours on the concrete floor, soldering wires under the layout.

It is 23" from the floor.











'Nuff said


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## sjm9911

Cute! Wish I made that mistake. All I get it uppy, uppy, time to build a platform.


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## The New Guy

Dave, you are the richest man in Cincinnati.

Cute girls, and good work on the layout.


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## Dave Sams

The New Guy said:


> Dave, you are the richest man in Cincinnati.
> 
> Cute girls, and good work on the layout.


You know it! They were giggling and having a lot of fun. Best yet, there are 4 other little ones.

Yes, I'm very fortunate. I don't take any of it for granted.


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## DT&I

wish we would have had kids


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## NW Class J

So beautiful and great memories being made...such a shame they can't stay that age. My boys are growing up fast.


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## rogruth

Dave,

No other reasons are needed.


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## Dave Sams

Yesterday I took the 11 month old grandson to see the layout.

It was his second time in the train room.

When the light went on, he squealed.


I have many years left!


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## NW Class J

That's great! It's so exciting to see their eyes light up when the train runs.


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## Zero Cool

I remember when my daughter was that age. Her face would light up like that too!:thumbsup: She graduates high school in June.


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## rogruth

Do her eyes still light up for the same reasons?


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## Zero Cool

Yes, but I think its because she thinks of the good times we had when she was little.


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## rogruth

That's good.


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## trains galore

Looks like a good set up there!
So why do I spend hours under it?
Because I want the trains to work and half the time they don't
That's learning


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## timlange3

Kids grow! I built my shelf layout at just below shoulder height, more like armpit level. For my boys I built a 2' x 4' carpeted stool that will not tip. Everyone was happy.


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## Dave Sams

trains galore said:


> Looks like a good set up there!
> So why do I spend hours under it?
> Because I want the trains to work and half the time they don't
> That's learning


Not really. I have over 300 lights on my 9 x 14 (or thereabouts) table. I can run 8 trains at once and have numerous "buddons" for my little ones to push. Everything works. All connections are soldered. I've never had a failure. 

I'm constantly moving, adding, improving and puttering.

A mother-in-law of one of our sons paid the ultimate complement. She said. "I don't know where to look!!


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## trains galore

Over 300 lights thats incredible.
I'm sure it works very well, I was talking about mine as it's not really finished yet half the problems aren't to do with the wiring it's to do with the art of track laying as I just started without really knowing about stuff like curve radius etchwell: meaning I'm always ripping out track or changing something
Would be awesome running trains on that layout!


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## Dave Sams

Here are the lights. 

All of the light is provided by 12v lights and LEDs.

You may not be able to count all of them as some are quite small subtle. For example, on the left, next to the Plasticville house is a Mini Cooper. It has 2 LED headlights. Some of the cars have LED headlights as well as an interior light.

The Plasticville house has 3 yellow LEDs.


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## trains galore

Wow nice work what power supply did you use to power that, you'd need a good couple of amps probably just wondering as I might need to find something better to power my lights with.


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## Dave Sams

trains galore said:


> Wow nice work what power supply did you use to power that, you'd need a good couple of amps probably just wondering as I might need to find something better to power my lights with.


I use a 150w 12v landscape transformer.

I've made up some circuits using 3a circuit breakers.


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## trains galore

Interesting
I power mine with car chargers connected to voltage regulators, problem is the regulators are getting EXTREMELY hot I am not overloading, the light circuit draws around 1.3 a and the regulator is designed to 1.5A max, I might need some better heatsinks, or remove the 12v mes bulbs which are pretty inefficient (250ma for one globe) and replace them with smaller ones (grain of wheat bulbs)
Thanks!


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## callmeIshmael2

Dave, you are indeed rich. I feel just like that, too, when my kids fuss until I take them into the train room. i've still got lots to hookup on the edge of the layout like buttons or switches for them to push and make stuff happen. I think maybe in a few years (grant me, O lord!!! - I'm 66!) I may look toward something more scale, but for now, toy trains and fun are the order of the day. That's why I like your layout and mode. 

BTW, my kids are adopted. No reason for anyone to pine for the experience when there are so many beautiful kids out there needing stable, loving homes (referring to someone's comment earlier in the post about how they wished they had kids). The challenges are commensurate with the rewards; this much I know...


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## callmeIshmael2

callmeIshmael2 said:


> Dave, you are indeed rich. I feel just like that, too, when my kids fuss until I take them into the train room. i've still got lots to hookup on the edge of the layout like buttons or switches for them to push and make stuff happen. I think maybe in a few years (grant me, O lord!!! - I'm 66!) I may look toward something more scale, but for now, toy trains and fun are the order of the day. That's why I like your layout and mode.
> 
> BTW, my kids are adopted. No reason for anyone to pine for the experience when there are so many beautiful kids out there needing stable, loving homes (referring to someone's comment earlier in the post about how they wished they had kids). The challenges are commensurate with the rewards; this much I know..."Anyone who loves trains can love kids"


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## Dave Sams

And reasons #2 and #4.

Busy pushing "buddons".









I'm a lucky guy, and I know it.


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