Long Island Rail Road-Oyster Bay Branch

Some shots of my ballasting efforts. Tedious, but necessary for the end result... I have about ten more

feet of double track mains, then on to the yard!

Update 1/4/16.

I finally finished ballasting the mains! In the last picture, I needed to move the siding slightly to accommodate the future scenery. Now it's on to the yard...

Thanks for looking,

Andy

Nice job!!!!

Is that the AtlasO signal you are using?

Hi Stewart,

Those are from Terry Christopher at Custom Signals. Luckily, I got in under the wire and was able to work with him. They look good and work even better.

Andy

I thought Custom Signal was going out of business  due unable to full Signal orders  

I have had ordered many Signal from him over the Years.

But their is good news.Integrated Signals Systems.com

I think you're right John. Last I heard, Terry was looking to sell the business. Not sure if that went through or not. Thanks for the link to Integrated Signal Systems.

Andy

Looks great I also like the signals it is going to look great when your finished

Mike

Thanks Mike...

I'm starting to ballast the yard. Before I do that, I want to raise the ground up, being that yard tracks are typically more at ground level than not. I'm cutting and fitting 3/16" foam core to raise the ground up. This helps minimize the amount of ballast needed, and gives me the look I want. After the foam core is in place I'll paint it earth brown as I did with the Homasote on the rest of the layout, then apply ballast. Because yard ballast is grimier than the mains, I will leave it black, unlike the brown wash I gave the mains when I glued it down. Thanks for looking. In progress...

Andy

Andy

Coming along nicely and progressing quickly 

Mike

Great job!

Peter

Thanks guys, lots of progress due to being on vacation Mike!! It'll slow down when I get back to work 

Andy

That's how it always is, same here in this house hahahaha

Mike

More foam board installed in the yard. If I can get some decent time in tomorrow, I should finish the installation. We'll see.

Andy

How long is that ? 

Hi John,

The yard is about twenty-seven feet from one end to the other. The picture makes it seem much bigger. 

Andy

I finished installing the foam board in the yard. Thanks for looking.

Andy

You never answer my question. How long is your layout ?

Hi John,

I actually did answer your question on 1/8 at 3:18pm. See above. The yard is twenty-seven feet long. If you look at the track plan on the first page you will see the layout is twenty-one feet by thirty-two feet.

Andy

Great : My Layout  is three loops .Each side has Switches cross over to each tracks on each side of my Layout.  My yard is seven spears tracks for the lay up subway service after rush hour is completed from a hard days work..

My layout is 24"long  x 8'Wide. My layout is all about MTH Subways NYC. The Home Signal in the Picture is My Design.   Sold on Integrated Signal Systems.com 

Sounds great John. The signal looks good too.

Andy

Really impressive work!

Thanks James. I installed the foam in the yard and painted it brown so the white wouldn't show through the black ballast. I started ballasting the straights first with a rough amount. I'll brush in some more to get the look I want. The turnouts are next, and require a little more care.

Andy

Andy

Great progress. Would love to visit sometime. BTW we have an open house on Saturday/Sunday of Superbowl Weekend, stop by we have progressed a lot

Steve

Andy,

    Congrats on a real nice engineering job, I especially like the wall incline section, very impressive, have fun building and please post more pictures as you continue your construction.  Great layout, simply fantastic!

PCRR/Dave

Andy 

Great progress, getting things done nice

Mike

Thanks Steve, you are welcome to see the layout anytime. I'd like to stop by at the open house. Thank you Dave, glad you like the layout, I'll keep posting pictures. Thanks Mike, I appreciate that.

Andy

Amazing!!

I have lots of questions.

Right now its about Homasote, then it will be about laying down tracks, then wiring ( DCS and Legacy).

Thanks John, I'd be happy to help in any way I can. I'm enjoying your build thread too. 

Andy

I've started ballasting the yard. I have eleven switches, and some good stretches of track, so this will take a little longer. Unlike the mains, I now have to consider the placement of the station, REA building, freight house, etc. So I'll guess as best as I can on the placement of the structures, and I'm sure I'll need to make adjustments as I go. I'm going to leave the yard ballast black to show the grimy condition of the yard during the end of the steam era, and will add some extra weathering to the area afterwards. 

Andy

Impressive work Andy!  Looks great!

  Sic 'em, Andy.  Nice work.

That my friend is a lot of ballast!! Looks great

Mike