Lionel Train Set

I got started in model trains when my dad built our first basic loop in HO on a 4x8 sheet of plywood back in 1972. His dad had tinplate Lionel trains (many still in the family) in the 40's and 50's that my dad used to play with. My dad still has the same 4x8 sheet of plywood with almost 30 years of improvements and modifications. I hope to add a digital photo of it here soon. Meanwhile, my father-in-law bought Brandon his first train in 1997, a locomotive and cars from MTH trains. Since then, we constructed our own setup using a 6x8 platform (the largest that will fit rhrough a doorway). The photo's here are from 1999 and reflect the current state of the layout. Since the trains are so much larger, it is harder to put as much track and accessories as can be done with HO.

The Train Set

The Control Panel

Since there are so many wiring connections between the accessories and the board, I wanted to design a quick way to connect / disconnect the track. I used a 24 pair telephone cable connector (used to connected commercial telephone blocks) as my source for many wires with a single connection (48 wires connected via a single amphenol connection). Since most of the accessories use 3 or 4 wires, I used 4 wire telephone cable as the wiring source to connect the accories to the wiring blocks. I've already used the full capacity of the cable with my existing connections so I'll have to make a second as I add more accessories. Here's some shots of the wiring setup.