Here are a couple of pictures of my newest practice layout. Inner loops are run by the Marklin controllers and the outer one Rokuhan for now and NCE DCC after Christmas.
I surprised myself with how demanding trains can be. Figuring out how to run power through the transfers was a bit of work. The R039/40’s required track isolators, they will be DC the R078 on the outer DCC loop required screwing in a CB to switch it to non power routing to use with DCC.
Why did you have to add isolators to the R039/40s? They are power routing by default. I don't have any on mine including the double crossover and have no problems. EDIT: Sorry, never mind.
Well they are power routing by default and that works fine for the four parking lanes in the center of the layout. But the paired turnouts that allow trains to transition from the inner track to the middle track need to be isolated to keep the two Marklin controllers separate. Power routing or non power routing will short the two controllers right? Anyway it works. I have to set the two Marklin controllers to the same speed and direction to make the trains power through the isolated track.
View attachment 209954 Here are more pictures with trains on it and all of the Archistories buildings I’ve built. It’s a hodgepodge for practice not a real scene, that’s the next level.
I just wanted to get some pics out there because I’m on the forum a lot and I figure it’s about time I posted some pictures of my little “empire”. Thank you everyone who has helped out and answered my questions or shown me the way of Z. Mostly I’ve built a lot of buildings which I love doing. And a lot of time spent getting older 5 pole Marklin’s running well. A lot of those have upgraded lighting as well. I’ve obviously gone nuts collecting trains too. And playing with controllers a lot. Those old Marklins just seem to do a good job with all of my loco’s. It’s been a lot of fun so far!
Excellent job. It is great to see some of the Archistories kits built out. It's like their whole catalog. I have built a couple and have thought of getting more. Good to see what they look like. You've done a great job with them. The layout looks fantastic and I can tell you are having fun. That is what is all about. Thanks for sharing it with us. That is a nice layout. Good job. Jim
Thanks Jim! I am really indebted to you especially. I devoured all those old Marklin magazines and catalog's you gave me when I first started. Thank you again for that. It was cool seeing your buildings too. I aspire to that level of realism. The Archistories kits are amazingly precise. If something doesn't fit right it is because you are doing it wrong. Everything fits perfectly and the surfaces are so detailed. Internal partitions and doors are modeled so the light stays in whatever room is lit. I have built them all with a German brand of white glue, Ponal, thinned with water to the desired consistency and applied with a paint brush. I just take the glue a drop at a time and introduce the water with the fine paintbrush. It dries so fast it is like using superglue. The most difficult things to do are the half timbered surfaces like the farmhouse or the steel structure and brick surfaces like the train shed. You are laying a fine paper lattice down. I need to find a better way to do those as the lattice warps when they get wet from the glue and stick instantly when laid down. I can do it but it's a bit nerve wracking. And stairs with handrails are finicky, you have to be patient with those as there is no rigidity until they are done.
My pleasure. Grateful to know they went to a good home. I prefer the model making side of the hobby. Lots I don't know about running trains but I have collected. I like the Archistories kits, too. They have raised the bar for paper kits. They make a superior product and are really easy to build. Can you get the Ponal glue in the states? Sounds perfect for the small parts like stairs, fire escapes, etc...I usually leave out the lattice on the European-style kits and just make it look like stucco. I have the signal tower by them. They have just released some houses with interchangeable parts to form different shaped homes. Good idea. They seem to be committed to the hobby. We should all support them. Jim
I got the Ponal glue (and a lot of other stuff) from Frank at https://www.zscalehobo.com/archistories/ponal.html
I hate to throw a monkey wrench into an otherwise smooth running machine, but it seems top me that your expensive double crossover should go between two of the loops instead of the engine house track at the front of the layout. The reason I say that is you said you would be going DCC after Christmas, and it would be really fun to switch from the outer loop to inner loop and back with 2 trains running in opposite directions. It just seems like you could get more use from that double crossover that way.
Thanks for a great idea, trains running in opposite directions on DCC can be the next level! I still plan to run my European (Marklin) stuff DC on the two inner tracks and American (AZL/MTL) stuff DCC on the outer. If I knew what I know now I would have made a longer layout board. The 24" width is enough for 270r but 48" is not long enough to do things I would like to do. A 2x 5 practice layout would be more useful. One of the main reasons I wanted to try the R039/R040 turnouts to transition between the inner loops is because the R078 double crossover did not work well for me on my first practice layout (essentially just the two inner loops shown) I had lots of trouble with trains derailing through it. Mostly with the Marklin loco's and lighter or longer cars. It was pretty frustrating. So far the R039/R040 turnouts seem more reliable. So just testing the reliability of one versus the other was a big reason I swapped out the tracks. But one fine day I will have my DCC trains passing in opposite directions.
I took a lot of little videos trying to figure it out. I don’t know how others have faired with this double crossover. Never figured out how to post them due to an “invalid file extension”. My loco’s with traction tires, good pickup, and average length heavier cars didn’t have a problem with it.