Thank you, JD and Richie!
really nice to see it start coming together for you. great job!
Zak, Thank you very much! I'm glad to have made some progress this past winter!
I haven't had time to do any more since the last update. I spent some time checking over 3 engines I sold that didn't quite fit in and shipped them off. Then I went to York, where I picked up two sets at great prices. I purchased a virtually new Premier ProtoSound Western Maryland Fireball F3 A-B-A from a Forum member before York actually.
Then I got an amazing deal on a NIB Premier WM Fireball FA-2 A-B-A with an add on B unit.
Mark B,
Real nice job buddy, and I also like the deal you got on the new WM F3 A-B-A set, very cool!
Glad to see you are making some head way!
PCRR/Dave
Thank you very much, Dave!!
Mark Boyce posted:Some folks ballast before putting in the rest of the scenery, and others leave the ballast go until after the scenery. After trying both methods in HO, I found that I fit in the latter group.
I also am a big advocate of applying ballast after the basic scenery (trackside, at least) is in place. After all, that's what happens on the prototype.
Thank you Allan! You make an excellent point!!
Mark Boyce posted:Dave,
Both of those ideas have merit. No the grades aren't too steep. The real Blackwater grade was 3.4% I believe, and I tested all my engines pulling about 6 cars up 6% I believe it was with no trouble. It's back there on page 3 or 4 or 5 or somewhere.
(William and Rich may be on to something there)
Ah, who cares; I'm having fun!
Back to the plans. The passing siding with the 'extension' for lack of a better word, looks like something one may see on a tight mountain railroad. The real Blackwater had a turnout partway down at Lime Rock, but not a passing siding. I printed them both off. Call me a relic, call me what you will; I can 'see' things better on paper than the computer screen.
Here is what the yard at Thomas looked like once upon a time. We were there in August, and it is just a grassy area with the bike trail running through it like it was back in '95 or '96 the last time we were there.
Here is the switch at Lime Rock, partway down the grade.
I'm looking for that photograph I sent Dave I scanned from a magazine of a large model railroad of two lines hugging a mountain slope, the lower one being at least two tracks. I must have saved it elsewhere on my cloud drive. Anyway, that would be the view looking through the big window connecting the laundry with the train room. That vantage point is at the bottom of the drawings. Anyway, when I find it, I'll post it, because it is pretty cool.
"Call me a relic, call me what you will?" Say you're old fashioned, say you're over the hill.
Hmmm, where did that come from? 
Mike
Guitarmike posted:Mark Boyce posted:Dave,
Both of those ideas have merit. No the grades aren't too steep. The real Blackwater grade was 3.4% I believe, and I tested all my engines pulling about 6 cars up 6% I believe it was with no trouble. It's back there on page 3 or 4 or 5 or somewhere.
Back to the plans. The passing siding with the 'extension' for lack of a better word, looks like something one may see on a tight mountain railroad. The real Blackwater had a turnout partway down at Lime Rock, but not a passing siding. I printed them both off. Call me a relic, call me what you will; I can 'see' things better on paper than the computer screen.
Here is what the yard at Thomas looked like once upon a time. We were there in August, and it is just a grassy area with the bike trail running through it like it was back in '95 or '96 the last time we were there.
Here is the switch at Lime Rock, partway down the grade.
I'm looking for that photograph I sent Dave I scanned from a magazine of a large model railroad of two lines hugging a mountain slope, the lower one being at least two tracks. I must have saved it elsewhere on my cloud drive. Anyway, that would be the view looking through the big window connecting the laundry with the train room. That vantage point is at the bottom of the drawings. Anyway, when I find it, I'll post it, because it is pretty cool.
"Call me a relic, call me what you will?" Say you're old fashioned, say you're over the hill.
Hmmm, where did that come from?
Mike
We must both be old fashioned, but NOT over the hill!!
Agreed!!
That kind of railroad justs soothes my soul. 
You are both right Mike and Pat!!!
New new sets look sharp Mark.
A must confess to being one of the folks who kept Mark from continuing on his build. I can't say I'm too upset about it though
"I reminisce about the days of old
With that old time rock 'n' roll"
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Bob, I'm glad I was able to repair it, and very glad you like it! It is a handsome looking engine!
Now that the loop of track is fastened down to the table, I decided to bring my buildings down out of the attic, where I put them for safe keeping while heavy construction was going on. I arranged some of them on the lower town site along with a few operating accessories I had in a bin in the garage. I have more, and I will have an upper town. This is just to start thinking again about what will go in each town and how it may fit. The two sidings are not fastened down and can be moved to accommodate other building arrangements. It was a happy time getting a start at visualizing what it may look like. One thing I do know is that I want the operating accessories near the front so this little 61-year old boy can play with them, and the more realistic buildings and scenes in the background so the adult me can overlook the accessories and think he is up in the West Virginia mountains along the Western Maryland or Baltimore and Ohio back in the 1950s.
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Looking really good, Mark. It's nice to see how the layout is going to look.
Your progress is starting to show, Mark. Good job so far. 
I looked at this on my phone last night. Didn't do it justice. Looks good Mark.
Bob
Thank you, Dave, Pat, and Bob! Yes it seems like it is really a layout now! :-)
looks GREAT Mark
Thank you, Brian!!
Looking good, Mark. I love the blend of operating accessories and model structures. Keep up the good work!
It is fun keeping up with the various projects posted on the forum, especially when my little layout is stored at the moment. It’s nice living vicariously through you and others until we have more time to get our table up and going.
Keep posting, even the small victories, because it’s really enjoyable for me (and I’m sure others) who do not have any trains up and running at the moment.
Thank you, JD! I too know the feeling of not having a layout, but enjoying watching others here on this Forum build and operate their layouts. I had no layout when I joined this Forum 6 years ago, and actually hadn't had one for quite some time, but wanted another layout as I had when I wasn't so busy. It is great encouragement for me that you appreciate just the little things I accomplish. I appreciate the same of others.
Looks good, Mark.
Is that a sawmill up front ?
Yes, it is an American Flyer by Lionel 3/64 scale that I got NIB from a Forum member. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I think it looks good on a small O Gauge layout. And it takes up less space than the Lionel O Gauge one I bought.
Looking good Mark! One day I hope to be where you are now! As you seen I have enough stuff! The funny thing is I had 4 more boxes I didn't even open!
mike g. posted:Looking good Mark! One day I hope to be where you are now! As you seen I have enough stuff! The funny thing is I had 4 more boxes I didn't even open!
Thank you, Mike! I hope to see you this far along soon!! I have enough too. I have some larger items that I am thinking won’t look good on a small layout. We will see!
STOP THE PRESSES! STOP THE PRESSES!
Major development came up over the weekend!! As we are cleaning out stuff left over from when our two daughters lived with us, my wife asked me if I wanted to build the layout in the family room adjacent to the "train room". This encompasses the area the Ceiling Central Railroad is in plus a slightly larger space on the other side of the duct work bulkhead. All along I wondered why we needed three sitting rooms, the living room, sun room directly above the train room and the front half of the family room; but I never once spoke up. The furniture in the family room consists of a rocking love seat and single chair her parents discarded to us about 15 years ago, a small dresser with a television on it, and a folding table she uses for jigsaw puzzles. She says it is too cold to sit down there in the winter, which is true.
So, I am waiting for it to be brought up again as we finish cleaning out, but as you may guess, it makes me think I will put a hold on layout construction; not that I have much time for it this time of year anyway.
The room is 12 feet wide at it's widest, the part farthest from the train room. After 12 feet, it narrows to about 10 1/2 feet for the rest of the way. It is 24 feet long. Now, the one caveat is that I have to keep a walkway open all along that 10 1/2 feet wide section because here are four doors along it, two on the end. So the workable width at the front is 12 feet, then it would be about 7 1/2 feet width until I get to the end, where the exterior door only leaves 5 feet. This is a quick diagram of the room. I still have a lot of measurements to do. I still want the same theme. I'll need to rewrite an updated list of features wanted, but basically it will still be a loop to loop design with a town at each end and a long steady climb up the mountain.
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GREAT NEWS MARK !!!
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Mark Boyce posted:So, I am waiting for it to be brought up again as we finish cleaning out,
Mark my man. This is no time to be timid. Oportunity strikes but once. You should suggest that you take this room and the porch as well. It will make a nice staging area. Be firm but polite. Maybe after taking her out to dinner. No sense pushing too hard.
You must be living a good, clean life!! Sounds like things are about to expand layout wise and that looks like a pretty good space for a layout too. Hope you get things all worked out for the new space.
I am with Pat !!! GO FOR IT Mark !!!!
Mark, I had a 500 sq ft bonus room above the garage, heated and cooled. I dragged my feet a little and the next thing I knew my wife and her sister decided that was too nice for trains! I'm now just finishing up the basement for my layout, no danger of her taking that area. Whats the saying? He who hesitates, loses.
Good luck, Steve
Excellent news, Mark. I agree with Pat - draw up a sketch plan and take her to dinner and show her the plan. Then buy a couple pieces of lumber and lay them down on the floor to claim your territory. Can't back out after that !!
1: yep, a nice dinner... 
2: show her the new layout plan...
3: then claim your new territory !!!
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LOL to all! Brian, Richie, Pat, Steve, RTR12, I agree with all of you!
Brian, that track plan sure looks familiar! LOL. That is a good start! 1, 2, 3!
The trouble with extending from the existing train room is that the only section the two rooms have in common is the narrow door between the exterior door and the laundry door. It just won’t work.
But, I can leave the shelf I just built and make it into a workshop and storage room! I would like that because my workshop now consists of a folding table in the train room and a bunch of tool boxes laying around!
My wife was looking at what I already built and realized I won’t even have room to turn around in that room if we have grandchildren some day who will come to run Pap Pap’s trains! LOL
Mark, if I understood what you said, I picture the new space looking something like this. I see I missed the door in the upper right though.
Anyway, the way I have it, it looks like a 90x252 space with a 54x108 add-on in the upper left. Is this close? I also added a set of tracks with O54 curves (not shown) to the file just to get an idea of what the space will hold.
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Mark Boyce posted:STOP THE PRESSES! STOP THE PRESSES!
Major development came up over the weekend!! As we are cleaning out stuff left over from when our two daughters lived with us, my wife asked me if I wanted to build the layout in the family room adjacent to the "train room". This encompasses the area the Ceiling Central Railroad is in plus a slightly larger space on the other side of the duct work bulkhead. All along I wondered why we needed three sitting rooms, the living room, sun room directly above the train room and the front half of the family room; but I never once spoke up. The furniture in the family room consists of a rocking love seat and single chair her parents discarded to us about 15 years ago, a small dresser with a television on it, and a folding table she uses for jigsaw puzzles. She says it is too cold to sit down there in the winter, which is true.
So, I am waiting for it to be brought up again as we finish cleaning out, but as you may guess, it makes me think I will put a hold on layout construction; not that I have much time for it this time of year anyway.
The room is 12 feet wide at it's widest, the part farthest from the train room. After 12 feet, it narrows to about 10 1/2 feet for the rest of the way. It is 24 feet long. Now, the one caveat is that I have to keep a walkway open all along that 10 1/2 feet wide section because here are four doors along it, two on the end. So the workable width at the front is 12 feet, then it would be about 7 1/2 feet width until I get to the end, where the exterior door only leaves 5 feet. This is a quick diagram of the room. I still have a lot of measurements to do. I still want the same theme. I'll need to rewrite an updated list of features wanted, but basically it will still be a loop to loop design with a town at each end and a long steady climb up the mountain.
CONGRATULATIONS Mark! Sounds like you are back to square 1 with all the additional space. I'm very glad for you. Instead of going round and round consider a point to point setup. You can have a "continuous option" on each "end" if you want to let one run hands free occasionally. SUPER great of your wife to recognize your passion and allow you more area. :-)
DoubleDAZ posted:Mark, if I understood what you said, I picture the new space looking something like this. I see I missed the door in the upper right though.
Anyway, the way I have it, it looks like a 90x252 space with a 54x108 add-on in the upper left. Is this close? I also added a set of tracks with O54 curves (not shown) to the file just to get an idea of what the space will hold.
Dave, That was close. Actually, I can use the lower 5 feet that you have labeled 36" Walkway. Like this.
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John C. posted:Mark Boyce posted:STOP THE PRESSES! STOP THE PRESSES!
Major development came up over the weekend!! As we are cleaning out stuff left over from when our two daughters lived with us, my wife asked me if I wanted to build the layout in the family room adjacent to the "train room". This encompasses the area the Ceiling Central Railroad is in plus a slightly larger space on the other side of the duct work bulkhead. All along I wondered why we needed three sitting rooms, the living room, sun room directly above the train room and the front half of the family room; but I never once spoke up. The furniture in the family room consists of a rocking love seat and single chair her parents discarded to us about 15 years ago, a small dresser with a television on it, and a folding table she uses for jigsaw puzzles. She says it is too cold to sit down there in the winter, which is true.
So, I am waiting for it to be brought up again as we finish cleaning out, but as you may guess, it makes me think I will put a hold on layout construction; not that I have much time for it this time of year anyway.
The room is 12 feet wide at it's widest, the part farthest from the train room. After 12 feet, it narrows to about 10 1/2 feet for the rest of the way. It is 24 feet long. Now, the one caveat is that I have to keep a walkway open all along that 10 1/2 feet wide section because here are four doors along it, two on the end. So the workable width at the front is 12 feet, then it would be about 7 1/2 feet width until I get to the end, where the exterior door only leaves 5 feet. This is a quick diagram of the room. I still have a lot of measurements to do. I still want the same theme. I'll need to rewrite an updated list of features wanted, but basically it will still be a loop to loop design with a town at each end and a long steady climb up the mountain.
CONGRATULATIONS Mark! Sounds like you are back to square 1 with all the additional space. I'm very glad for you. Instead of going round and round consider a point to point setup. You can have a "continuous option" on each "end" if you want to let one run hands free occasionally. SUPER great of your wife to recognize your passion and allow you more area. :-)
John, Thank you!! I am going to consider just what you said. Maybe I could fit in a wye at each end for turning engines and then have the continuous option as well.
My wife of 33 years has always supported my hobby. She likes to help by finding scenic items to add, sometimes funny ones, and sometimes ones I wouldn't pick, but I never discourage her.
