Barks

I had a quick try at putting some staples into the sleepers and soldering to then on some test track. It seems to be impossible to solder the track to the staples, and I made a complete mess of the solder, and the sleepers. I thought I'd give up on that approach until I went to try and solder something else and realised that the soldering iron tip wouldn't tin the solder no matter what I tried. A quick trip to the local electronics store and a new soldering iron tip later made me think that I need to give it another try with the new tip. So I've purchased some cheap second hand track and will try again. I will say that despite the dodgy initial soldering job, the first attempt at soldering to the staples seems to have pretty good strength after a week or so. Photos to come if the next attempt is not too embarrassing. The Peco 3rd rail chairs and code 60 rail are supposedly on their way but I don't have a reliable ETA or tracking so may be a soon, or a while before I can check that out. Cheers, Barks

Hi Timmy, Really impressed with how complete your layout looks! Appreciate the photos as well. It's hard to believe it's N gauge with the detail you have. I'll be happy to get my 00 layout looking that detailed! Your layout actually reminds me a bit of a small Pacific National/Qube loco shed that's on the trainline I catch when visiting Sydney. The track layout and buildings are different but the idea of a small loco yard on the side of a mainline is there. Coordinates are: -33.842239, 151.026053 Thanks for sharing! Barks

I was thinking the same thing. The test I've done so far is using an insulfrog point and that worked fine without modifications. I was surprised at how much space I could get away with between the centre rail and the switch.

Thanks for the great suggestions everyone! I've found some Peco conductor chairs and code 60 rail which I'm ordering to test. Hopefully they'll be strong enough. I like the look of what Garry Hall has done so I'll have a look at his videos. MikeCW, those staples are an interesting idea too. I'll have to give that a try. Lots of testing coming up!

G'day all, New member from Western Australia here and first post. A few years back I was passed down a Hornby Dublo 3 rail collection of locomotives, passenger and freight cars, and track with controllers. After sitting in the boxes for a few years, I decided to get them setup and running. The first attempt at creating a layout was going reasonably for a while - the locos were working and I could get one of the controllers working (using a modern 15V AC power supply). Alas, I made the silly mistake of thinking I could keep a 13ft x 6ft layout in the dining room and quickly used up the patience of the better half. As such, it was packed up and put into storage until more room could be made in the house. In the interim, I decided to make a 4ft x 2ft N scale layout to learn how to model. That layout is almost finished (just road markings, people, cars and one industry to do) and so my mind has turned back to the Hornby Dublo rolling stock. With the space we have in our current house, and the brief experience trying to do a larger layout, I've decided a switching layout is the best option for the time being. I note that Dublo layouts are typically oval layouts with some small yards spread around but the overall size doesn't really fit my available space. After playing around with some layout plans on SCARM with the Dublo 3-rail set track, I've realised that the set track is not quite what I want to use for a switching layout. As such, after some searching online for H0 or 00 3 rail flextrack that doesn't turn up much information, I've started testing out some methods for adding a 3rd rail to the Peco flex-track. Early signs are showing some potential but more testing and research is probably needed. The biggest area on uncertainty is the strength of the connections after continued use, as my first try for soldering pins saw some failures after only a couple of cycles of locomotives running. Below link is a short video of a quick test for those interested. https://youtu.be/ukDrTBupaZo Assuming I can settle on a method for attaching the 3rd rail that works, I have planned an 8ft x 2ft switching layout that's modelled on a wagon maintenance yard (with light locomotive servicing). Attached is the draft track plan for anyone interested. Anyway, that's my spiel for today. Thanks for reading this far and I'm sure I'll have a look through the forums and hopefully contribute something to the group. Cheers, Barks