Gibbon, Cozad & Western - "The 100th Meridian Line"

[rodsup9000]

6 taps? Hmm... not that I know of in the 221 lever tap line. Wago has a 6-tap in their 773 push-in line that Menards carries (for #14-18), but Menards doesn't carry any of the 221 models, they have the older 222 "lever nut" I mentioned. However, the 222 model is rated for #12 thru #28 (!!!), so if you were seriously mixing wire sizes you'd probably want the earlier type.

 Oh crap!!!  Jumped too soon before looking at them in the link.

 

[MK]

Thanks Mike, these are cool! I'll give them a try; hate the WWII era terminal strips or euros😬
What kind of "gray tape" do you use to mount them? Needs to stay put, right?
Great stuff one learns here!
Otto

https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Scotch-1-in-x-1-66-yds-Permanent-Double-Sided-Outdoor-Mounting-Tape-411DC-SF/100575385

If you look at the edges of the tape when you're at the store, the foam is gray in color.

[C855B]

"Gray tape" may also refer to 3M VHB (Very High Bond) tape. Pretty costly (like $50+ per roll, IIRC), but it's also the most powerful stuff out there. Auto manufacturers use it to attach trim to body panels and other assembly.

That $50 roll is a big roll. We talked about using it as self-adhesive roadbed several years ago, you pointed out (correctly) that once you stuck the track down there was no chance of correction or realignment, you got what you got. I strongly suspect the "Scotch outdoor" gray tape is VHB in small-quantity consumer packaging. I used to go through a lot of it on various projects and sometimes had to supplement my stash from the DIY store (vs. auto parts wholesaler). I couldn't tell any difference.

One key in using it - it takes about a day to develop a full bond. If you put any sort of lateral or twisting load on it too soon it will at least move, and let go under a strong load. If you look at the photo of my panel you'll notice that on the bottom towards the left there is a 3-tap Wago connected to the white #12 bus wire that is slightly out of alignment. That was straight when I put it together and didn't wait to hook it up, so the twisting load from the big wire tweaked the tape.

[nuno81291]

That grey outdoor double sided tape is the bees knees. Used it for 15+ years for mounting pedals on pedalboards and can pick up a 20+lb board by any individual pedal. Use them for mounting wiring tie points and they are bomb proof.

[Cajonpassfan]

Great info, guys!
I've been using something called Gorilla tape to mount servos (flat side up) but it never occurred to me it could be used to simplify wiring too...and of course, I didn't know about the Wago's.
Gotta love the Railwire!
Otto

[DKS]

I mounted a small Plexiglas sign to a brick wall with it once. A few years later I needed to take the sign down--and some of the brick came off with the sign.

[diezmon]

That grey outdoor double sided tape is the bees knees. Used it for 15+ years for mounting pedals on pedalboards and can pick up a 20+lb board by any individual pedal. Use them for mounting wiring tie points and they are bomb proof.

I'll have to try this.  My pedals are zip-tied through holes in my board.  But they slide around a bit...
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[C855B]

That grey outdoor double sided tape is the bees knees. Used it for 15+ years for mounting pedals on pedalboards and can pick up a 20+lb board by any individual pedal. Use them for mounting wiring tie points and they are bomb proof.

I'll have to try this.  My pedals are zip-tied through holes in my board.  But they slide around a bit...

Oh. OK, that clarifies it. This is a "pedalboard" to me, and I was mystified how you'd use an adhesive on it:



 

[peteski]

I have seen multiple versions of the gray 3M double sided tape. Not sure if the actual material is all the same (and just the packaging is different) , or are these actually different tapes.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It all makes sense now.

Especially the reason for the dedicated building!

She's not my type, but I ABSOLUTELY get it.

[C855B]

Thank you, Ed! Yes, this is railroading turned up to '11'. Now dial the clock back 50 years, and the power is going to be DDs, U50s, GTEL8500s plus a dog's breakfast of you-name-it 2nd-generation goodness. While it was fully triple-tracked only in the '70s, that project was mostly a matter of joining the unusual center sidings characteristic of the line. Even back then there was rarely a moment where there wasn't yet another headlight on the horizon.

I haven't been to Kearney (CAR-knee and not KEAR-knee!) in over six years, so haven't experienced that fixed automatic horn yet. Awful.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Thank you, Ed! Yes, this is railroading turned up to '11'. Now dial the clock back 50 years, and the power is going to be DDs, U50s, GTEL8500s plus a dog's breakfast of you-name-it 2nd-generation goodness. While it was fully triple-tracked only in the '70s, that project was mostly a matter of joining the unusual center sidings characteristic of the line. Even back then there was rarely a moment where there wasn't yet another headlight on the horizon.

I haven't been to Kearney (CAR-knee and not KEAR-knee!) in over six years, so haven't experienced that fixed automatic horn yet. Awful.

Oh man, that must've been intense. I always assumed that stuff only ran west of North Platte, but I guess I was wrong!
It's very much a different animal than what I'm used to here on the East Coast.

[mcjaco]

My buddy modeled his boyhood home of Kearney in HO.  It was literally just the town, with a seven track staging yard to help push the 100+ trains through town in one ops session.  It kept the dispatcher very busy!

[C855B]

... I always assumed that stuff only ran west of North Platte, ...

Actually sort of the opposite! Here's a publicity shot from Council Bluffs, the pre-Borg east end of the railroad:



Would it surprise you this is my wallpaper? Didn't think so.

The DDs ran everywhere, while the GEs and Alcos were a little temperamental and tended to stay in the eastern quadrangle - Council Bluffs, Kansas City, Cheyenne and Denver - where they were close to their three major shops. Turbines were mostly North Platte to SLC but as seen in the background, they were not strangers in CB. This picture was in 1964, so, sadly, the Alco cab units in the background are in a dead line "awaiting disposition", off the roster in '65.

The Kearney Sub is 90% of the reason I model UP. I fell in love with this bit of railroad in 1967 on the return leg of a cross-country family vacation. The DDs especially got my attention, but memory is cloudy on whether I saw any Hueys (U50s) or a stray C855 in the dash west on US30. I have mentioned here before the OMG-I-can't-believe-this sighting of the RBBBC "red train" down in the valley around Green River being pulled by a GTEL. Right place, right time... no camera.

[C855B]

Minor update.

Ballasting was started and then aborted once the first couple of feet were glued down. I looked at the reference photo I was using for the area, and realized the "Union Pacific" I had from Arizona Rock & Mineral was nothing close to the ballast color in my pics. I don't know exactly where on UP's system the medium reddish-tan color is or was used, but in further photo research it was not in any locations I was modeling. Well, crap. This put a big kink in further progress since the plan was to get ballast down before constructing scenery since there were access issues once the geoforms were in place. So an order went off to AR&M for their UP/WP "bold gray", and it finally arrived this past week.

Electronics have been finished for one of the major junctions and it is now possible to throw a couple of turnouts to run something on the full dogbone continuously without further intervention. Takes roughly 15 minutes for a full lap.

Have barely touched the building kits now accumulating on their own table. Nothing likely to happen on or around the layout this week as I get domestic tasks squared-away in anticipation of downtime after cataract surgery next Monday. The lifting and bending restrictions during recovery could be a good time to ballast or do more wiring. I might make headway on building kits, but the airbrush will be off-limits for a while, so brush painting only.