I've changed this track around a few times, but this time I've got a pretty good bridge. It's all one piece. I managed to get a 6 1/2 ft piece of
plywood on the train over here in Stuttgart so I could get it home. Not an easy task.
I had the wires hooked up to the track over here last time so I kept them here. I don't have them soldered. I just folded the tabs over the wires and smashed them down with the screwdriver. I put the eyehooks in because I kept tripping over the wires.
Here's my Ninco power supplies. The German outlets are funky. The male/female thing is a sure lock. I screwed down the box to the sawhorse to keep it off the floor so I wouldn't kick the power off mid-race.
Now this is where the real low-techy stuff comes in, First of all, those things aren't alligator clips over here, they're Krokodilklemme, so make sure you know that word before you go to the big box and wander around asking where the alligator clips are while showing them a picture of an alligator clip that you printed from the Internet. After a while, one of them will actually know something about electronics and then say the word Krokodil and then you're in.
How do they work? Very well, they don't short, they never touch, and I don't really worry about bends giving me broken strands under the plastic. I like the idea of being able to just clamp onto the wires too and I like the Ninco power base for the reverse polarity. The plastic is soft and easy to bend, so I didn't have to cut the long part off. When I had the power base under the table it was a real hassle. The wires were always getting in the way and getting kicked around and I always had to store them outside of the box once I put the lid on. Now everything gets stored inside.
The plywood is another interesting story, since I had to use another word, which is flexibel. I told the guy at the saws that I needed 2 boards 281 X 28.5 cm and the board and to be flexibel (flexible). Well, this wood was as flexible as paper. I'm not a carpenter, so I don't know what it is. I'm not German, so I didn't want to talk to the guy and try to figure it out. I mean, I just wanted some plywood with some bend in it, not some real stiff stuff that I couldn't work with. But the results are really pretty cool.
I've never had a bridge with wide borders before, so I was really happy with some of the drifting I had going on half-way down the bridge's straightaway. I tried it once with the cars lined up like this and I forgot about the drift and knocked them all off.
My father in law is coming over Fri, so I'll give him first shot.
I had the wires hooked up to the track over here last time so I kept them here. I don't have them soldered. I just folded the tabs over the wires and smashed them down with the screwdriver. I put the eyehooks in because I kept tripping over the wires.
Here's my Ninco power supplies. The German outlets are funky. The male/female thing is a sure lock. I screwed down the box to the sawhorse to keep it off the floor so I wouldn't kick the power off mid-race.
Now this is where the real low-techy stuff comes in, First of all, those things aren't alligator clips over here, they're Krokodilklemme, so make sure you know that word before you go to the big box and wander around asking where the alligator clips are while showing them a picture of an alligator clip that you printed from the Internet. After a while, one of them will actually know something about electronics and then say the word Krokodil and then you're in.
How do they work? Very well, they don't short, they never touch, and I don't really worry about bends giving me broken strands under the plastic. I like the idea of being able to just clamp onto the wires too and I like the Ninco power base for the reverse polarity. The plastic is soft and easy to bend, so I didn't have to cut the long part off. When I had the power base under the table it was a real hassle. The wires were always getting in the way and getting kicked around and I always had to store them outside of the box once I put the lid on. Now everything gets stored inside.
The plywood is another interesting story, since I had to use another word, which is flexibel. I told the guy at the saws that I needed 2 boards 281 X 28.5 cm and the board and to be flexibel (flexible). Well, this wood was as flexible as paper. I'm not a carpenter, so I don't know what it is. I'm not German, so I didn't want to talk to the guy and try to figure it out. I mean, I just wanted some plywood with some bend in it, not some real stiff stuff that I couldn't work with. But the results are really pretty cool.
I've never had a bridge with wide borders before, so I was really happy with some of the drifting I had going on half-way down the bridge's straightaway. I tried it once with the cars lined up like this and I forgot about the drift and knocked them all off.
My father in law is coming over Fri, so I'll give him first shot.
