Talking Trains with TrainDame: Episode 1

WOW! That's All. Just WOW! 

Mark

Wow, that is scary. If it was October, I would say it was some fake horror movie. That is a nightmare indeed, and it sort of reminds me of a horror film where some nasty things spread similarly like the wires. Someone call the Pope to help with some divine intervention.

dkdkrd posted:

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

Wow, that is scary. If it was October, I would say it was some fake horror movie. That is a nightmare indeed, and it sort of reminds me of a horror film where some nasty things spread similarly like the wires. Someone call the Pope to help with some divine intervention.s

Scary, indeed.

It occurred to me that, in keeping with the season, it would be appropriate to have some fun with 'the patient' before surgery.  The other day I wandered through the seasonal aisles at our local Menards and spied a human skeleton figure.  Just the thing to place entangled in the wires!.....a great photo op for the Electrical Forum!

"Hello, 911?!  I'd like to report a missing husband!! 

Yep!....been gone for a few weeks!...or more!

Why didn't I phone earlier?  You're kidding......right?  How long have you been married, sweetie???

Last I saw him he was headed to the basement......AGAIN!!!   Yeah......Trains.....everywhere.  

Nope,  I called down there....no answer.   It's just like George himseslf....light's on, no one's there!!

OK........I'll be here.....tell the guys I just baked some chocolate chip cookies, too.  I'll put on a fresh pot of coffee!

'Bye!"

Love it! Traintastically creative

Why do I suspect that this situation is not unusual?  Before my business partner, Chris Bogus, went to work, some of the layouts at the TCA NTTM had identical wiring.  Just add some "vampire" wire connectors to make the nightmare complete!

Kirk

www.sgma.us

Definitely, positively what the underside of my layout looks like. Everything works and I know what's what, but yeah....it looks scary as ****. BigRail

That is ridiculous!!!!!          

George

And here's Mike re-wiring the layout …..

I don't see anything wrong.  Must be the switch motors! 

-Greg

Shoot...this is an easy fix.  See that dangling wire next to the shop vac, just connect it!  

Holey mackerel'..........

Looks like the handy work of Clark Griswoold, ( Christmas Vacation).  ;-)

Just maybe there are more layouts that look like this than the ones done by a PRO.

It looks a lot like mine

Brent

I thought my under bench wiring was a little "untidy".....but that is beyond belief!!!!!

Peter (Buco tragic) on the fabulous Gold Coast in sunny Queensland, Australia

Looks like my first layout!

Have Mike check the red wire.....😳.........Pat

I hope that smiling guy is a TW employee. His face says it all, "OVERTIME" ! 

What I see from this:

• No wiring routing plan. The wire was run line-of-sight. 
• Wire nuts Aargh! If the wire is too short, run another wire. Hopefully the short wire may be used somewhere else. If not, recycling barrel.
• Wire management. Segregate your circuits and label your wire.

After listening to Dorcie's interview of Mike Reagan, if the owner would pony-up for $500K for a complete rewire, I'd take the job. Materials and travel/living expenses should leave room for 15-20% profit.

 Abandon-in-place all of the wiring under the scenery (that is absolutely absurd). Penetrate the benchwork and completely rewire everything under the layout. I'm amazed that Mike got anything working in just a week. My first impression is it would be more like months.

I used to take photos of my under-layout wiring in hopes it would help me find future problems.  Never really helped.  Over time, I am sorry to say, the wires ended up looking like a mess of spider-webs glistening in the dew on a cool October morning.

I seriously color-coded every wire... until I ran out of each color...

Jon

KOOLjock1 posted:

I seriously color-coded every wire... until I ran out of each color...

Jon

Jon, 

Funny, but I must say, this is true for this train guy too

If there was ever something making the case for battery-powered, TMCC-commanded (yes), dead-rail model railroading, this photo is it.

"Dead Rail - finally taking the 'electric' out of Electric Trains!" (I decided to not count the batteries, OK?)

Probably more out there like this than we imagine! 

Believe it or not, even though the above wiring looks like a rat's nest, it's possible that the trains run fine, and have done so for a long time.

My wiring is a rat's nest too:

And everything runs, and has run, just fine for 25 years without a single short!

By the way, I don't recommend my wiring to anyone.

This reminds me of a lawyer I know whose desk looked like a disaster. But he had a very organized mind and knew where every single piece of paper was on his desk. I suspect he was so smart, with such a good memory, that he really didn't need any papers because all the information was in his very organized mind. Arnold

Holy snarled mess, Batman.  I get dizzy just looking at it.

Dennis