Weekend Update 12/15/19

[diezmon]

Holy crap, I just now realized why they have those plastic plugs over the screw heads.  Probably to keep from destroying those tabs. Lol

I've done this before, but it's more work

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[Jim Starbuck]

Yes, those caps are supposed to keep the tabs from snagging. The frame castings can have some fairly rough spots though.
As I was typing the earlier post I had another thought that may work too but I haven’t tried it.
With the trucks off you may be able to pry the shell out slightly and slip a strip of .005 brass sheet between the tab and the chassis creating a nice smooth surface to slip the chassis out using the wire under the motor shaft trick.
Hope this helps.

Jim

[John]

Russ, as I posted previously, I did use dull coat.

I don't know if y'all have ever worked with this product, but the individual plants are simplistic and basically flat -



They work great as macro scenery, but I don't think they'll ever look totally realistic when viewed as individual plants. Or at least they won't on my layout. I'm already 10+ years into this thing and I really don't want to spend the rest of my ever dwindling days obsessing over corn 

-Mark

There is a lot of "Hope" to finish

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Holy crap, I just now realized why they have those plastic plugs over the screw heads.  Probably to keep from desiring those tabs. Lol

AHahahahahahahahahaha. I JUST came to that same conclusion the other day too. I'm glad I didn't toss them this time like I did many times before. The irony is that you won't realize this until it's too late and they're gone.

[diezmon]

AHahahahahahahahahaha. I JUST came to that same conclusion the other day too. I'm glad I didn't toss them this time like I did many times before. The irony is that you won't realize this until it's too late and they're gone.

Lol sad but true

[Philip H]

It’s not sexy but the first layout segment is wired with a DCC bus and an accessory bus. The plugs essentially create zones for initial troubleshooting. The tags are for keeping wiring type straight - and yes they are old bread bag tag relabeled.

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[John]

and yes they are old bread bag tag relabeled.

Great idea .. and you get an expiration date that way also

[eja]

What king of "suitcase (?)"  connectors are you using ?

[Philip H]

What king of "suitcase (?)"  connectors are you using ?

These:



https://www.lowes.com/pd/IDEAL-PowerPlug-5-Pack-Orange-Push-In-Wire-Connectors/50101792

They aren't suitcase connectors 0 they don't splice into the wire along its length.  THey are plugs that will be used to connect sections of the layout together and to connect my NCE DCC system to the layout.

[eja]

Thanks - you figured out what I was asking even if I cannot type today.   Looks like a nice, easy way to do the job.

[Philip H]

Thanks - you figured out what I was asking even if I cannot type today.   Looks like a nice, easy to do the job.

No worries. These are my answer to the oft quoted but hard to find Andersen PowerPole connectors the TTrak and FreeMoN guys all use. I’m not connecting to anyone else but me but I still wanted to be able to disconnect each section of the layout and hook it directly to the DCC system for trouble shooting. Saw these one day and they looked like a good option.

[peteski]

No worries. These are my answer to the oft quoted but hard to find Andersen PowerPole connectors the TTrak and FreeMoN guys all use.

I thought that NTRAK chose PowerPoles specifically because they were widely available.  They are commonly used in RC hobbies, and many industrial applications.

BTW, I don't think T-Trak uses PowerPoles. They use the Kato Unitrak connectors.

[jpwisc]

No worries. These are my answer to the oft quoted but hard to find Andersen PowerPole connectors the TTrak and FreeMoN guys all use. I’m not connecting to anyone else but me but I still wanted to be able to disconnect each section of the layout and hook it directly to the DCC system for trouble shooting. Saw these one day and they looked like a good option.

Powerpoles aren’t hard to find at all. Powerwerx has them in spades.
https://powerwerx.com/anderson-power-powerpole-sb-connectors

[Philip H]

Well if we are all going to be stickelers about it - there's not a hobby shop of any kind closer then 1.5 hours to me.  So if I want to run out and grab, these are readily available.  Anything requiring ordering isn't readily available.

[MK]

I thought that NTRAK chose PowerPoles specifically because they were widely available.  They are commonly used in RC hobbies, and many industrial applications.

BTW, I don't think T-Trak uses PowerPoles. They use the Kato Unitrak connectors.

True, but the main bus/spine that supply power to the Kato connectors are connected using PowerPoles.  I'm not sure if it's the T-Trak standard but every T-Trak layout I've run on uses them.  So T-Trak people use lots of PowerPoles too.