From Scratch

That's quite a nice setup you have there! Your elevated section is much nicer looking than the one I have.

My friend Dean broke both his legs in a car accident, and afterwards his doctor didn't think he'd ever walk again. Just like you, he used all his time and energy working on his train layout, and along the way he moved from a wheelchair, to a walker, and finally back onto his own two feet. I wish you the same success with your "therapy"!

Lookin' good.  Now you just have to figure how to get trains between the levels.

I love the nice clean look of your layout, BobCat.

Enjoy runnin' those trains

Bob,

It looks great! I wish I had that much room for my layout.

Wishing you all the best with your health.

Jeff

That's a pretty nice form of therapy and some nice looking work on the layout.  Keep up the good work and continued success with increasing mobility.

Looks great! 

Bob, I hope you recover soon.

Bob, There is quite a WOW! factor to both your story and your nice, crisp layout. You couldn't have asked for better rehab  therapy than model trains, and have such great results to show for your efforts!

Keep us posted! It will be nice, also, to see your daughter's handiwork when the time comes!

Also Bob

WOW! Talk about making lemonade out of lemons...  That is an amazing layout.  It appears that you have a good support crew, too.  Keep up the good work, both on the layout and your therapy.  Hopefully, you will be up on your feet and hitting train shows soon.

Tom

Looks very well done! Really interesting layout too. I've got that same GN Empire Builder set from Lionel, always liked the colors!

BobCat

Glad you are improving and that model railroading had a part.  Great track plan and layout.  Lots of train action.  I see a spot you could add a turntable and whisker tracks and maybe a round house if care about adding one now or later.

Keep us posted on your progress, personal and layout.

Charlie

Bob,

   Good luck on improving your mobility.

   If you need any layout tips, Charlie has a long running topic, everything under the sun, including a homemade turntable.

Also, thank you for your service!

Tom

Awesome!

  You’re correct gunrunnerjohn. Likely the task of getting the trains to easily get to the other level was the one that I almost got frustrated over! I think I built it 3 or 4 times to get it right. Had to discard a few pieces of wood. It turned out to be about a 5% grade and none of my equipment has a problem with it. (so far) Included here is an excerpt from a 4 minute video I made for my family. Only about a half minute long.

   I’m curious if you or anyone has looked over the schematic PDF just under the pictures. It’s kinda hidden. It has been some time since I’ve created a ladder diagram so design comments and suggestions are welcome.

   Thanks to all for your kind words and ideas. It has truly been great therapy this past year and my wife, Cathy, gets a long break from me each day!

   Choo Choo Charley, or anyone, please tell me more about where to put a turntable. I’m using a minimum of 36” curves and switches.  

Bob

That looks great Bob. Good support team as well.

Hope your health improves and you can regain full mobility.

Bob

@BobCat posted:

  You’re correct gunrunnerjohn. Likely the task of getting the trains to easily get to the other level was the one that I almost got frustrated over! I think I built it 3 or 4 times to get it right. Had to discard a few pieces of wood. It turned out to be about a 5% grade and none of my equipment has a problem with it. (so far) Included here is an excerpt from a 4 minute video I made for my family. Only about a half minute long.

You're right Bob, I totally overlooked the ramp!  I guess my eye just thought that was a long distance between the levels and I wasn't thinking you could get up there.  It looked like that train had no problem scaling the ladder.

@BobCat posted:

Choo Choo Charley, or anyone, please tell me more about where to put a turntable. I’m using a minimum of 36” curves and switches.

I used the Atlas 24" TT on my layout, it was a last minute addition.  I actually wasn't planning on a TT since I didn't think I had the room, but then I cut out a template and realized that I could fit one in after all.  It might be a good TT model for you to take a look at, it doesn't require a pit and fits in a pretty small space.  The other bonus is that it's very reasonably priced at around $300 street price.

Atlas O 24" TurnTable

Great job BobCat, and Trainguy Ken, good luck with your friend Dean, Trains are a great Therapy, both Physically and Mentally. I had a life-threatening septis infection 8 years ago. Lost and brought me back twice, 7 surgeries on my right leg, 2 weeks in ICU on the Ventulator. I wasn't expected to survive, it permanently disabled me. Still working on my layout, temporary stopped due to needing to keep up the house and care for my wife who had 2 surgeries on her arm 3 weeks ago, and in a sling that comes off tomorrow, then starts PT in a week. Once she's doing better I'll be able to get back to trying to finish up the track and accessories wiring. Until I was able to actually be strong enough doing PT to cut wood and build the layout framing I did a lot of reading about layout building and drawing up layout ideas to keep my brain active, since my lungs and brain were also affected by the infection, they had to heal too. By the Grace of God I'm still here 8 years later and I'm not going to waste one day of getting a second chance. Someday this layout will have trains running. Two tracks, independent of each other, on a 4'x12' with a 2' deep x 4' wide L layout, conventional, powered by 2 MTH Z-1000 Transformers.

@BobCat....AMAZING! Your health is getting better, your layour looks awesome and you get to do it with your sons! Doesn't get much better in my opinion. Thanks for sharing and keep us updated. We all can learn from each other on here! An many of us use trains for "therapy" as well! You're not alone.

Mike

  That’s interesting gunrunnerjohn. I like that setup shown in the picture. Can the Atlas 24”TT be controlled with the Cab2 and LCS equipment? Stop turning on a desired track position? Maybe I could install it on the Elevated track. That would be a neat challenge…

  Looks like I’d need at least a 32” radius available. That leaves out the lower level unless I sacrifice some of what I’ve built. Humm..

   Hang in there Gary P. It is much better to be involved in something/anything to keep the depression away. I have never been able to just sit around. Too much life to live, even having to deal with setbacks!

Inspiring personal story and layout!! Looking forward to future updates on your health and, of course, the layout. 

  Someday I will forget how I wired this beast! There sure is a bunch of wires under the table that seem to go everywhere. So, hopefully I’ll still be able to cipher this schematic.

Comments or suggestions about it or how to improve the design are welcomed.

Bob

Whoops, this one is a jpg

Wow, nice!!  Do you happen to have a .pdf of the track plan, as well?  Great job, thanks for sharing!

Incredible layout and use of space! Inspiring story, looking forward to your continued progress!

Ted, can't figure out how to get a PDF but here are some JPG's.

I started using a design program after I figured out that it is much easier to move pieces around in the computer than on the table! Gaps in tracks because I either don't fully understand the program or I "fudged" on the layout and the program can't compensate. After actual assembly I went back into the program and closely corrected it to reflect the actual pieces and counts.

Hope this helps.

Hello folks!

Afraid I’ve reached a physical recovery plateau. Looks like I’ll remain in or very close by a wheelchair.

Anyway, I’ve changed and added much to the layout since February. I don’t know whether to hate or give much thanks to “Choo Choo Charlie for suggesting a turntable! The “bug” bit me hard. And thanks to gunrunnerjohn for pointing me to the Atlas turntable. It took me months to get it right. I’ve included some photos. I had it all done and realized I’d put it in backwards! The orientation had the back side of the roundhouse to my operating station. I couldn’t see trains entering/exiting the house. So I took another 2 weeks putting it like it is now. Talk about failure to plan ahead… So, make that a thanks to Choo Choo Charlie.

Couldn’t find a kit or pre-made roundhouse to fit my situation so I built one. First time building something from scratch. That was really a challenge.

I decided that instead of having a spiral siding at the other end I’d make a spiral rise to the upper level. Worked out great.

The T Table is controlled by an Arduino Uno. It very accurately stops the rails lined up every time. A friend of mine did all the programming but it took the two of us to figure it out. That was a fun part of the project.

I used 18volt LED strips to illuminate the inside of the roundhouse. I have a Lionel type  V, 4 pot transformer I’d saved for table lighting. And the very first time I turned the lights on they ALL burnt out. I didn’t know that the V put out 25volts! (It’s not a good thing when you let the smoke out!) Had to replace the 9 strips! And in one of my previous lives I was an electrician. Oh well.

I think the layout is now complete except, I’m thinking of taking the spiral up another level or two then back down to what is now the upper level. Then build a mountain in and around it. But NOT right now.

Using one sensor track I’m able to run a course that includes all the lower thru tracks, the spiral up and down, and the upper track both all the way around and then a figure 8, and finally down to start all over. All without touching any control after starting it. That was both a challenge and a reward. Two 10.5 ft. straightaways and two level changes mixes things up quite a bit. I do like driving at night too.

I need to start a little landscaping now. Definitely don’t have an aptitude or originality for that.

I do enjoy operating the equipment and using my imagination.

Just a few pictures.

Very nice work!