Triang Trains

It has been fun (not) to get this far and yes it is far worse than a mad womans breakfast dropped from the 10th floor balcony but it is what it is.
As suggested my next pan is to test both power supplies first as I don't know why it needs 2 of them and confirm which is driving the lights and then if the other the tracks. There are 3 wires I have put tape on that I am guessing go to the missing resistor to control speed on track 1 and maybe 2 as well. Then there is thewires hanging down with a pair of alligator clips, light bulb and maybe a diode. This is where power should enter to go to the track. Even thinking about it my eyes go crossed and ache. There is some eye strain happening toget results but I will do my best. If worse comes to worse I will bypass his power to the 4 tracks and simply wire all 4 tracks up in series and get it working. Sounds simple, ha ha ha. I just need to be better prepared mentally before attacking.

Cobbadog, you are a brave man, with your stationery engines mowers and now model trains. I have more than enough trouble restoring my trucks and cars. I think my current truck will have to be the last one I do, as I am becoming less flexible with old age. I was 29 years old for many years until one day I woke up and I was 75. That was a couple of years ago now. I have a lot of trouble getting down to the floor to work on the brakes and clean/paint under the chassis. Still, getting old is better than the alternative.
I cannot understand anything about that electrickery stuff.

No good wiring it in series

You would need all 4 tracks going the whole time and they would all be at 1/4 power

Need to hook them up in parallel to get the result your chasing

Well at least thats what this dumb ass sparky would do

Paul

Thanks guys for the ongoing comments. Yes Paul parallel is correct, my mistake.
Morris, dont forget to add to the list a David Brown Cropmaster tractor that occasionally gives me a test, a Liner Roughrider dumpy truck and Lorry the Hino. Lorry goes in for his health check next week (rego inspection) but this year onwards he will be going over to Club H plates. It is getting too expensive to have him sit for at least 10 months of the year in the yard to justify him being on full NSW rego.

Cobba I know stuff all about model trains half of stuff all about electrical but if it was me I’d cut all the engineers stuff out (they have a habit of making things over complicated to make us mere mortals think we’re stupid) and start wiring up from the tracks back then the points then the village lights ect duno that’s just a thought

Cheers Bluey

Yeah Bluey I was thginking about doing just that. But first I want to see what I can get to work, why it works and then take one of two approaches. Make little signs reminding me of what operates what or start a fresh with new controls then sell it off as a going concern.
I agree intellecs can way over complicate things at times. Glad I'm not smart!

Well as time allows I have been plodding away at this project to get things working again, if possible. All lighting in the houses on on the platform work as do the track lights being able to change from red to green and back again. Then the turn outs are mostly powered but they are all broken and beyond repair only can be replaced but one does work properly. I am not going to replace all the other electric motors, this is the job for the new owner.
After a lot of thought and a little planning the plan to power the tracks has been done. I disconnected all the original wires and made them safe under the table and ran all new wires in parallel so that all 4 tracks are live and going the same direction. Even did a continuity test and found about 6 bad joints on the track so they got soldered again and now that has passed the beep test.
I found a good 14.5v connection point and ran new wires from there to where the new control knob will be fitted. Tomorrow I will be off to the electronic store to find a suitable rotary switch to become a variable speed controller.

Also another toy arrived for my original layout which should fit with the theme and here too.

1. Loading on the hinges does not change with the brace in any position.
2. With the brace in compression and tightly fitted within the frame it does not even need to be secured to stop sagging.
Imagine the gate is sagging and think what happens to the length of each diagonal.
For those with time, build a small gate but only use a single pin (screw or nail) at the corners. Test the an unsecured brace in each position.

Brad, I am guessing you are talking about the cross brace on the door I made for the shed.Bluey, I am about to take the side cutters to all that crap. Bought a resistor switch suitable to use as a power control today and did a test on it with the multi meter and it will work. Connected the 240v power to the layout which then powers up the 14.5v to everything. I connected the new track power wires to a good 14.5v power supply and it cut the breaker after about 4 seconds. Not sure yet but think that the power to the electric turnouts is the culprit as nbo other power goes to the track. But then that power should not go to the track either. So next attempt will be removing one at a time all bits that are not relevant. I do love a challenge.On the upside the new toy below arrived yesterday and will need painting and assembling soon as I get this train set out of the house and sold.

This is what arrived yesterday. Needs paint and assembling but not until I have the train set sold and out the door.Image not loading up. Claims "fail to write write to desk" and I dont know why. It is a simple jpeg image like all my others.Just tried again but came up with a lengthy story