NKP-ish

[seusscaboose]

question.

is this:


suppose to be the Wheeling's Klein Yard?  (it makes sense if it is)

(pic from July 2016 NKP Calendar verified as near Klein yard in Bellevue.

[nickelplate759]

How did I miss this thread?
...

I am guessing you are now at the track laying stage? LOL

    .  Actually, this past week I've been laying cork roadbed.  Track is next.

[nickelplate759]

Progress - cork roadbed going down for the past couple of weeks.  Should start on track in another week or so.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[nickelplate759]

I've found that the 2" foam isn't quite as uniform as one might hope. In particular, my sheets have a dip roughly in the center of the board running the long way.  You can see the effect of that here on the cork roadbed - I didn't realize the dip was present until the roadbed was down.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
I used a straight board to show the dip - white space above the cork.

Now that I know it's there I can deal with it before I lay my track.

[davefoxx]

I had the same problem on my new layout.  I pulled the cork roadbed up in the bad areas and filled the dips with lightweight spackling.  Once dry, it just took a little sanding to ensure the area was flat.  I also found some "peaks" that had to be sanded down.  In cases of minor peaks, I just sanded the cork, but I had a few that required some significant grinding before the cork could go down.  I didn't have this problem with the 2" foam I used on the Seaboard Central 2.0 five years ago.  I don't know if that was luck or if the product quality has decreased since then.

DFF

[nickelplate759]

Well, today I tried to solder feeders (AWG 22) to track (code 55).  I failed.  I could use some advice.    I can't heat the rail enough to tin it without the ties melting first.   

I'm thinking maybe my soldering iron is too wimpy?  I'm using a Weller SPG40, cranked all the way up.  It's a 40 watt iron. It's what I've used for wiring DCC decoders without problems, but the wires etc. are finer in decoder work.


Or maybe a different tip would help?

[soo]

40W should be plenty..
Make sure the rail is clean..wire brush...either by hand or insert into dremel..just use low speed and STAY AWAY from the ties. The iron has to be properly prepped also..clean the tip..the tin the tip with some flux and solder. A clean tip will transfer the heat alot quicker than a dirty/corroded one.

Or..you could turn the track upside down...cut the webbing out between the ties..move ties away from joint...proceed with soldering. Once done..clean finished joint..push ties back together...and presto..you have a hidden feeder.

Or..lol....just takes practice

I am wyatt and I approve this message.

[nickelplate759]

Thanks, I'm gonna practice.  I've dedicated a piece of flex track to scrap for practice and will see if I can't get good at it.  Also, I'm going to try a chisel tip instead of the small tip I use for DCC wiring.

[davefoxx]

What Wyatt said.  I have a 40W iron that I have used for more than 20 years.  I use a chisel tip on it.  Not only have I used it on Code 55 rail, but I'm even using it on Code 83 rail.  The key is a hot clean iron.  If you've got that, you should be able to melt the solder long before the ties have a chance to distort.

DFF

[garethashenden]

I usually tin the wire and then stick it to the rail without tinning the rail. If the rail is clean and the iron hot it should work.

[soo]

I prep everything.
Clean and tinned iron...check
Clean and tinned rail.....check
Wire stripped and tinned..check

With those steps it takes about 2 seconds to make a solder joint for me.

The iron I use is a WP25 by Weller with a conical tip. I plug that into a Weller WLC100, I use the station so I can adjust the iron for different types of work
That station came with a 40w iron...did not like it. So I swapped it out for my 25w iron.
http://www.weller-toolsus.com/weller-wp25-professional-iron-25w.html

If I am not mistaken it is the ST7 tip.
I love the smell of flux in the morning...

It smells like model railroading!!!
Once more I am Wyatt and I approve this message.

Good luck,,we're all counting on you!!

[nickelplate759]

Success!

With the encouragement received here I tried again, but this time I carefully looked over my equipment. It turned out that the soldering iron tip (conical) was not tightly seated in the iron.   

I fixed that, and now I can solder track no problem.  Thanks all!

[davefoxx]

It turned out that the soldering iron tip (conical) was not tightly seated in the iron. 

Well, there's your problem.  Haha!  Been there.  I dropped my soldering iron last week, and the tip is now bent.  It's still working, but I need to make some repairs.

DFF

[nickelplate759]

Tortoises are (slowly) proliferating.  The sideways one on the right doesn't quite work the way I want it to - although I used 0.032" wire, it's not stiff enough to throw the turnout on the other side of the 2" blue foam.  I'm going to try slipping some 1/16" tubing over the vertical part of the wire to stiffen it up.

[LIRR]

I had a similar problem on my previous n-scale layout using 1/2" Homasote roadbed (directly on 3/4 plywood subroadbed). it wasn't consistent thickness and I had dips in many locations where I had to shim it.  on my under construction HO railroad, I am using cork roadbed on 1/2" Homasote on the 3/4 plywood subroadbed. I still notice a few dips, but it's not nearly as significant a problem as with n-scale.