| FamilyGardenTrains https://familygardentrains.com/forums/ |
|
| RR Design and lighting tips for an indoor LGB RR https://familygardentrains.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=66 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | paulrace [ Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:57 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RR Design and lighting tips for an indoor LGB RR |
A reader writes: [There seems to be . . . . ] Very little meaningful info on lighting indoor LGB style layouts. Also very little info on constructing table/supports for LGB style indoor layouts with accompanying ailse and or access areas. I need input from someone who has already gone thru this. My proposed train room is 18 x 15 feet. I would be interested in hearing from anyone. thanks in advance. --------Our Reply----------------------- Regarding questions of lighting and table construction. Most indoor LGB users use the same kind of wiring and table construction as, say, indoor O scale railroaders. Lighting on indoor railroads tends to use 18volt AC current. Most power supplies built for model railroads have terminals that will produce that voltage for lighting and accessories. Here's the one twist to this - Garden railroaders tend to use 12volt lighting outdoors, because most garden lighting sets use that voltage, and it makes lighting your outdoor railroad fairly cost-effective. So occasionally you'll come across a garden railroader that started outside and got used to 12-volt so that's what he uses inside. But LGB owners who started out inside almost always use 18 volt lighting, and you'll discover a bunch of books on model railroad wiring that apply. Regarding table construction, the larger the curves you can fit onto your railroad, the better the trains can look and run. And that will determine where you have access holes, aisles, etc. If you're planning on using the 4'-diameter curves, you can design your tables so that you never have to reach farther than about 30". On the other hand, if you use 6' or 8' curves, you may want to consider using drawbridges or some other way to access your railroad inside the curves. By the way O GAUGE trains have smaller curves than Large Scale trains, so you can't really trust track layouts and construction methods designed for them. American Flyer S scale trains used 48"-diameter curves, so if you came across any old AF track or table plans, and you're planning on using 48"-diameter curves, you may find that helpful. O SCALE trains are much larger than O Gauge trains, and usually run on a minimum of 8' curves, so if you come across any materials relating specifically to building O Scale railroads, that may be more like what you need. Alternatively, you could get one of the popular books on benchwork and try to make certain you're only using the ideas that work for big trains. Here's one example: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089024 ... ZDMU4FEETB Best of luck, please e-mail me with other questions or suggestions as they come up, Paul Race www.BigIndoorTrains.com |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://phpbb.com/ |
|