Advice on wiring a small N gauge layout

[bill badger]

I'm building a small N gauge layout for my son's 4th birthday; he loves playing with the trains on my small test track oval and is getting very good at controlling hem. Granddad has bought him Duck (an old 'Farish Pannier' that actually runs pretty well) and a box of Troublesome Trucks. I'm using one of the simple Peco set-track layouts (double track with inner sidings; 1m by 0.65m board).

 

The only track I've laid properly since the 1980s is hand-built to OO-SF using plastic chairs and ply sleepers with each individual section of track getting its own dropper. Can anyone advise what degree of wiring is required for such a small layout in Code 80 set-track with plastic frogs on turnouts. Is the simple approach shown in the Peco book sufficient i.e. one feed to each circuit plus at the end of sidings, or is relying on the metal joiners to transmit the current a bad idea? I don't want to cause disappointment through poor running, but don't want to go overboard and solder droppers to each piece of track if its not really necessary.

 

Sorry for the 'newbie' question but I was sitting at the workbench last night thinking 'I'm not sure what I'm doing here!"

[Spitfire2865]

I never understood the hesitation to do a job to the best of ones ability.

Why not solder droppers to every length of rail? It takes mere minutes and guarantees continuous current. And, as you are experienced, knowing where best to add droppers is easy.

A few years ago, I built an N gauge layout and elected to have one dropper per circuit, and it always gave me trouble. I ended up ripping the track up and storing the baseboard for multiple reasons.

A year ago, I built a 4mm folding micro layout and have droppers on every piece of rail. Absolutely no issue, even over the folding joint.

 

So if you can do it, why not overdo it and cover all your bases, just incase.

[bill badger]

So if you can do it, why not overdo it and cover all your bases, just incase.

 

Thanks for the comments - I think your last bit is the key. This is my first time using N gauge RTP track and I found it very fiddly even after quite a bit of practice, such that the prospect of doing 60-odd droppers seemed a bit daunting. If the general opinion is that its is worth doing and will make a noticeable difference in running quality, I shall consider myself chastened and will persevere.

 

On my trials with building N2 points this job was much easier as there's more space between the sleepers (which also won't melt if you use copper-clad), or you can solder wire to the base of the track sections before building the turnout! I think going with hand built track might be overdoing it a bit for a 4 year old's first layout though

[Karhedron]

I have had enough trouble with connectivity to agree that relying on fishplates for conductivity is likely to lead to disappointment. If you don't want to solder a separate dropper to each rail then consider soldering a slim wire across the join on the outside of each rail.

 

Alternatively, if you don't fancy soldering to rails, use these pre-wired fishplates from Peco and wire them to main wires under the board (rather pricey but an option).

 

http://www.hattons.co.uk/62347/Peco_Products_PL_82_Power_feed_joiners_Code_55_80_x4_pairs_/StockDetail.aspx

[Chris M]

I've only had an N gauge layout since 2014 so my experience is quite short. I rely on the rail joiners for conductivity and so far I haven't had any issues.

[bill badger]

Thanks chaps. Doing a bit more practicing tonight and have concluded that the wire I'm using is too thick (16/0.2) and better suited to 4mm. I wonder if thinner solid core would be better.

[Dagworth]

Thanks chaps. Doing a bit more practicing tonight and have concluded that the wire I'm using is too thick (16/0.2) and better suited to 4mm. I wonder if thinner solid core would be better.

thinner multistrand would be better, 7/0.2 is probably about right

 

Andi

[bill badger]

Thanks. I'll give some of that a try.

[BR60103]

For droppers, I would go for something like telephone cable -- very small solid core. It's called 22 gauge over here. A very short length through the baseboard then solder to something a bit heavier. Should be OK for N.

One engine in steam or will there be more?

[bill badger]

It'll just be one for the moment, as I only have a single DC controller available for it suitable for little hands. Having another think last night and I would like to future proof a little bit should we want to have two controllers (will isolate the two main line tracks and switch for the crossovers as required) or even go to DCC.

 

Your comment on the very thin solid wire is interesting - I was inspecting the set-track points to look for the best dropper location and notice the very think wire linking under the frog and crossing. If that thin a gauge is suitable, it should make soldering that much easier. 

 

There's an electronic components shop fairly near home so I'm going to pop in this afternoon to see what they have; I also want some new, good quality, flux cored lead solder as I'm not sure the stuff I have (sourced from ebay) and which claims to be that, is actually much good. I was struggling to tin the rail last night and that is the main issue I've got now.

[bill badger]

Just an update on where I got to with this:

 

Went for some telephone-style solid core in the end and it's worked well. Tried the various solders I had in the box (reportedly lead and flux cored in some cases) but these just didn't work when tinning the rails. The only way I can get the tinning solder to take, and thus the joint to make quickly and securely, is to use some extra flux - a tiny dab of DCC Concepts No Clean does the job. Also making sure to fibre brush and clean with alcohol as best I can. Its fiddly but at least it's working now.

 

After some trials I am cutting the four webs on either side of a sleeper, sliding it across to give a bit more iron-room and soldering the wire across the rails in one of the gaps, attacking the joint from between the sleepers on the other side. Done 10 pieces like this, including 2 turnouts and it seems to be working well.

 

Time will tell if the telephone wire is up to the job, but its the same gauge as the link wires under the Peco points, so I don't think I'll have too many issues.

[BR60103]

The telephone wire should be adequate for short runs as long as you don't load too many powered units into the block. I'll admit to using long runs on my OO railway as there was a lot of redundant wire when we moved offices. If you want to see smaller, look at the pickup wires inside your locomotives.

[bill badger]

Thanks for the reassurance. Its only a small play layout for my son, which is only ever likely to have 2 things running on separate isolated sections, so all should be well.

 

First piece of track went down last night.