Dear All,

If he is the same Nigel as on this board (N&W fan), he has not posted here since the end of 2012. 

If you are keeping score, he has 31 patents issued to his name...

He was incredibly knowledgable and helpful here, in addition to being a terrific modeler. 

Don't know if the e-mail addy in his profile is current or not...  

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Doug,

You asked: "Is it possible to continue using the 18" rather than the 22" curves"

Yes, if you have a little extra room to the outside for the "Out of Round".

Half-Straight expansion lesson: (Previously posted.)



Your case of 22"R and 18"R  calls for a 4" half-straight x 2  (=8") straight, however,

a 9" straight will work but cause a tight fit along the fence on the long edge. 

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Nice job, Len.

I thought Doug might have been thinking about a 1 controller layout, not 2. 

I had the top 18"R-30 degree track on the right lobe of your inner figure-8 replaced with a 30 degree crossing.

The other 2 legs of that crossing were connected to a single 22"R outside oval, using fitters as needed. 

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Hi, Doug.

The current follows this path: (Broken loop)

Out one controller terminal to one rail, through the loco, back out to the other rail and then back to the return terminal on the controller.

If it is a connected track loop, the current from one controller terminal will split and go both directions (on one rail) away from

the "terminal re-railer" towards the loco. 

The return current coming back from the loco will go both directions away from the loco (on the other rail)

and meet up at the "terminal re-railer" then on to the return terminal on the controller. 

For broken loop troubleshooting on a Figure-8, disconnect the First and Third legs of the crossing.

Troubleshoot track in both directions away from the "terminal re-railer" connection point. 

When done, re-connect the First and Third legs, then disconnect Second and Fourth legs. 

Again, troubleshoot track in both directions away from the "terminal re-railer" connection point. 

When done, re-connect the Second and Fourth legs. 

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Doug,

I think I know what you want to accomplish.

It uses two 30 degree crossings, 90 degrees from each other.

In AnyRail, it looks like it will just squeak onto a 4 x 8 sheet.

Joe

Electrons sneak around the oval in the other direction.

To troubleshoot ornery track joints, disconnect the track joint to the left of the terminal track and send your loco around to the right. 

When the loco stops, the pair of joints you just passed over has 1 or 2 dirty or loose rail joiners.

Sometimes, a careful and gentle squeeze of a pliers will tighten up the outer half of a joiner.

Sometimes, it is the captured end of the joiner that is loose, and is next to impossible to tighten up.

You will have to replace it.  (See NarrowMinded's video.)

Once one or both rail joiners are fixed, continue on with your loco finding other bad joints til they are all fixed.

Re-connect the joint to the left of the terminal track and disconnect the joint to the right, then send your loco around to the left, repeating the process.

This is mainly to troubleshoot that first joint to the left, as all the others should be repaired in the first process to the right.

Re-connect the joint to the right when finished.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

2G,

Are you sure each rail is correctly positioned in the next piece's rail joiner,

or is it possible the rail has slid over and is riding on top of the rail joiner?

If they are together properly, the top of the joint should be smooth. 

Can you post close-up photos of the offending joint?

Thanks.

Joe Satnik

TD51,

If you want a contiuous loop around all 4 walls, you will have to figure out how to get the shelf around the room's door,

and how to get your self into the center of the room. (e.g. duck-under, lift bridge, swing bridge, shelf above door.)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Shelf+Layouts+for+Model+Railroads&FORM=IRBPRS&=0#a

Hope this helps.

Joe Satnik

Dear All,

I assume N scale E-Z Track is built similar to HO.

HO E-Z Track is manufactured with joiners that are held captive by plastic molded "spikes" in the first tie.

The spikes fit in notches in the joiners, which replacement joiners do not have.  

See my reply in the link below, 3rd post down, which has a link to Narrow-Minded's post

with a video showing how to  pull off an old, loose, dirty (non-conductive) original notched joiner.  

This process is destructive to (shaves off) the plastic molded "spikes" on the tie,

but allows replacement with a new, tight joiner.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,27088.0.html

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Edit: grammar  

Roger,

Well, of course !

(Why else are we here?)

Louder Cheers.

Joe

2012 thread.

Dear Dad,

You may have to trim or file the roadbed of the attaching tracks to fit next to one another.

The roadbed may be scored underneath to help with that. 

Anyone else have experience with the #4 s?

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Dear All,

NMRA standards are "Right Hand Rule" for (Old School) DC locomotives.

If Mini-You are standing in front of the locomotive with your back to it's nose,

and you put plus (+) voltage on the rail under your mini-right hand, the locomotive should run Mini-You over. 

NMRA says it more eloquently:  "Locomotives move so that the positive rail is on the right."

If it moves the opposite, swap the two wires connected to the motor (brushes), just as HP has done.

Hope this helps. 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik   

Does the headlight go out completely when you are trying to reverse it?

 

Dear Tom,

It seems to work for me. 

Do you have Adobe Reader installed on your computer?

If so, does it need to be updated?

Hope this helps.

Joe