Just now physically getting started with designing a new layout but have been thinking about it for quite some time. I've taken a bunch of the track that I have laying around and laid it out on the floor to get an idea of how it might go together. Here are a few pics. Feedback is appreciated.
The space I am working with is apx 12' x 9'6". It could be a little bit bigger, but I want the layout to be manageable.
The main line is kind of an out and back with a loop at each end. half will be elevated. Hopefully you can follow the upper line as it heads over the bridge. I would like a continuous design for the main line and I suppose this is sort of there.
I haven't figured out the required grades yet.
Also, I would like to be able to run at least 2 two trains at once and think I've achieved that.
I tried it, and it did allow considerably faster lap times around my test loop, but since I don't really see the need for high speed passes, I don't see a great amount of utility.
I have found some free time over the holidays to continue layout work. I think it is coming along pretty good. Most of the track is secure and trains seem to be running pretty good throughout both loops. Unfortunately the only two problem spots seem to be the automatic switches on the outer loops. Periodically the trains will stop and short the system out??? Anyway, here are a few pics of the progress (sorry for the poor quality as they were off my phone).
OK. Jan 2013 + 1 year and I'm back. Here's a few new photos of progress over the last year. The track plan is fairly solid; just a little tweaking on the top. We've started working on some and planning areas for cities and buildings. As you can see, we had to create an "upper level" for the, what is for now the 'X-mas town. I got carried away with track and had to make room for buildings :laugh:
After our trip out to Yosemite this past summer we thought about the trees on the train set. If we designed a sequoia to actual O scale I'm pretty sure the tree would be over 8 feet tall making it go through the ceiling! The 'mini' x-mas tree isn't a bad compromise for some temporary fun.
Before closing in the tunnel, I'd like to run some LEDs in the tunnel; maybe just one light every 6 inches or so. I have some 3 color LEDs that I've been playing around with and think they will work. I'm just now trying to figure out how to run 5 or 6 of them at the same time, power them and provide an on/off switch.
I'm really only concerned with the red light (As I write this I'm wondering if blue or green would be better?) I'm planning to us the multi-colored LEDs just because that is what I have. Two of the leads will just be unused. The lights use about 20mA and are 2 volts each so as I string them together the voltage adds up. I have a 12V 600mA AC/DC adapter that I was thinking of using to power them.
Hi, nice layout:thumbsup:
I'd consider just getting some red leds, those bi colour ones aren't always that cheap
I'd wire them in paralell, just put a resistor in to limit the current or make a little voltage regulator circuit to drop the voltage down to 3v,
(By the way this isn't my diagram )
I don't see any reason to wire them in parallel, with that supply you sketched out, the transistor is dissipating 27 watts if you actually get 3 amps out of the supply! That's a lot of wasted power for no good reason.
Five or six Red LED's in series will be much more efficient and work just as well. Each LED drops about 1.5-1.7 volts, and if you have 12VDC available, perhaps a nice little CL2 20ma constant current regulator would be a nice choice for current limiting.
True actually, it'd get pretty hot
So wire them in series I guess, as long as you have a resistor or enough of them that you won't burn them out
I wired all mine in paralell on my layout, but I guess only because if one of them dies it won't take out the whole circuit seeing as they are bulbs.
I don't think you need to worry about that with leds though?
Good luck
Thanks trains galore. I'm working on trying to understand the circuit you provided. I plan to dig into it sometime soon when I've got a free evening (just finishing up classes for the semester right now and that's taking me out). I picked up a pack of 50 of the multi-colored LEDs from Amazon for less than $5 and was playing around with them with the kids. Pretty neat stuff and maybe I'll just get some red ones for the project when the time is right.
As far as strategy I was thinking of running strings of 5 or so in series in different places around the setup and being operational with a switch. All the series strings would be run in parallel from some power supply. That's the basis of my thinking and now its the details to work out...
What voltage is your power supply, if you plan on having lots of lights it's a good idea to have a seperate supply otherwise it may affect running of the trains if you run it from the controller
I agree on breaking it up into circuits, wire them in groups in series, then connect the loops all together in paralell. If you put 8 leds in series you can power it with 12v, standard supply
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