My wife is wise to you Tom, the trip to LV is off! 
The bridge is done, ready to start laying track! 
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@gunrunnerjohn posted:The bridge is done, ready to start laying track!
So what are you waiting for.......
Catching my breath!
Really looking good, John. 
George
I'm imagining it with track and 100+ freight cars on it!
Looks great! I still can't believe how well that room fits your layout. 
BTW, I'm going to borrow that j-channel idea for homosote edges.
Well, the layout fits the room because the room was here first and I fit the layout into it!
The J-channel is working out well, and I really think that will keep the Homasote from flaking off. Note that you have to route a bit of clearance on the top so the J-channel fits around the Homasote and also doesn't extend above the level surface. Here's a shot of my lift-out hatch getting the J-Channel routing treatment. That allows it to slide right in. I also used a bead of the PL3 adhesive on the inside of the J-Channel so it was there for good!
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Looks great John. Can't wait to see it full of freight cars!
FWIW, In addition to Homasote edging I use the J channel as a wire trough on a knee wall in my staging room.
This is an oversize 3/4" J trough normally used for edging of exterior residential vinyl siding.
The J channel collects ten feeder drops then forwards them individually to the sub panel block toggles.
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Laid some track, all of this is straight stuff, so I just used a spacing board to space it out and screwed it down.
Now comes the fun part, doing all the flex track that curves to mate with all the switches! I'm just moving pieces on the chess board right now to see where the switches will be before I start laying track. I just use the O72 curves to make sure nothing I plan is a tighter diameter.
Tom will be happy to know that it looks like the left hand 101 switch fits better than the RH #6, so I'll probably use that in the configuration.
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That looks great John.
Thanks Don, can't wait to see some cars on those tracks!
@gunrunnerjohn posted:Thanks Don, can't wait to see some cars on those tracks!
I really enjoy watching your progress (w/Tom's help, too?) and wish I could drop in and slow you down...
I'm pretty good about slowing myself down, probably don't need any help at that!
GRJ, given the size of the yard, I hope you have started the interview process for a yard master.
Yep, my 2 year old granddaughter is going to manage the yard, should be a hoot!
@gunrunnerjohn did you plan the lift out so the Ross 4 way would fit, or a happy accident? Looking good and can't wait to see the century of cars in the yard.
Been watching but quiet. Thats quite a nice layout and you are making great progress. When I was there to pick up a C&O engine you upgraded for a friend the layout was still a dream. Best of luck with it
@gunrunnerjohn posted:Laid some track, all of this is straight stuff, so I just used a spacing board to space it out and screwed it down.
Now comes the fun part, doing all the flex track that curves to mate with all the switches! I'm just moving pieces on the chess board right now to see where the switches will be before I start laying track. I just use the O72 curves to make sure nothing I plan is a tighter diameter.
Tom will be happy to know that it looks like the left hand 101 switch fits better than the RH #6, so I'll probably use that in the configuration.
WOW John, this looks great! Can't wait to see more progress AND a wiring diagram of those switches!!
John, I like your method of yard construction. I see many yards drawn up using software. Often times a huge complex of turnouts that yield only enough track to park 2 cars on some sidings. Putting the yard tracks in place first. Then visually laying out turnouts and getting a real life view in how it’s all going to work. Nicely done.
John, when you get down to scenicing the layout. A well paced mirror with maybe a highway bridge on top would make those yard tracks continue on.
@ScoutingDad posted:@gunrunnerjohn did you plan the lift out so the Ross 4 way would fit, or a happy accident? Looking good and can't wait to see the century of cars in the yard.
Actually, my early planning had a much smaller bridge. We decided on the larger bridge, that allowed me to move the two 4-way switches way back and add a lot of capacity to the yard.
@pennsydave posted:Been watching but quiet. Thats quite a nice layout and you are making great progress. When I was there to pick up a C&O engine you upgraded for a friend the layout was still a dream. Best of luck with it
Yep, some of it is still a dream, but it's slowly coming out of the fog to be reality!
@BCianci posted:WOW John, this looks great! Can't wait to see more progress AND a wiring diagram of those switches!!
Well, the wiring diagram is not going to be inspiring, I'm using manual ground throws on all the switches. So, the only "wiring" will be ten toggles to energize the individual yard tracks. Since the yard will be "attended" while moving stuff around, I couldn't see any point in going to all the trouble to have remote switching.
@Dave_C posted:John, I like your method of yard construction. I see many yards drawn up using software. Often times a huge complex of turnouts that yield only enough track to park 2 cars on some sidings. Putting the yard tracks in place first. Then visually laying out turnouts and getting a real life view in how it’s all going to work. Nicely done.
John, when you get down to scenicing the layout. A well paced mirror with maybe a highway bridge on top would make those yard tracks continue on.
Well, I'm glad I did draw it with software (actually a few times), as that allowed me to think about alternatives. As I said before, the narrow bridge from the main platform was a bottleneck that was really shrinking the effective track space. Once we went with an expansion of the main layout surface and a much wider bridge, it really opened up the possibility of moving the switches back to give much more yard space.
This is where I started, you can see how much of the main yard space I wasted. I also realized later that I could have ten tracks instead of nine. Initially, I had started out thinking of having eight tracks.
Moving the switches back onto the bridge and main table really gave me a lot more space. The escape switches are just an extra, they don't directly affect the capacity of the yard.
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@gunrunnerjohn posted:I'm pretty good about slowing myself down, probably don't need any help at that!
Truer words, never spoken !
It's looking great, John! The exercise of fiddling with the software design certainly has paid dividends.
Got all the track laid on the main layout platform, and all the near bridge links added. Four sidings are complete, and I have to complete the remaining six. I cut all those tracks so I could test the bridge operation and make sure everything lined up again. I've never had ten tracks coming across a lift bridge section, it's gonna' be dense!
I can see it all now, dozens of cars with a place to park! 
Since there's no roadbed under the freight yard and leads, I still have to come up with a graduated pad that goes from 1/4" to level in about two feet, still thinking what I'll do there. I'll just slide this under the track as it leaves the first switch in the foreground.
The one track did get a bit close to the edge, but I don't see it as a real problem. In order to maintain at least O72 curves all the way, I had to compromise on my spacing from the edge. Probably should have filled in a bit more of the curve when we were adding the main bench extension.
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John:
You probably already know this - one thing I learned with Ross turnouts is always drop power/ground on each end of the turnout no matter how close they are to each other.
Joe
It’s looking very impressive John. Do you have a spot picked out for a tower or yard office?
GRJ wrote “I still have to come up with a graduated pad that goes from 1/4" to level in about two feet, still thinking what I'll do there”
Would beveled pink board,(insulation),work? I’ve done that with hot knife and rasp.
Depending on the length, I use a cedar shake which is already tapered and vary in thickness.
A slight transition support can be achieved by filling in the properly suspended decline with ballast and soak it with diluted glue. Very common fix.
I used a pack of wood shims that I had laying around. Worked great.
I'm considering the ceder shakes, but they're only about a foot long, at least the ones I have, and they start out at 3/8" thick. I'm not ready to ballast it yet Tom. I was considering graduated shims, that may be what I end up with. I want the grade from 1/4" down to be about two feet which is roughly a 1% grade. That shouldn't affect anything moving through there.
I considered the pile of blue foam I have, but that would likely be messy. I also have some 1/8" basswood handy, that might be easy to work and create the ramp.
John.......it looks MAGNIFICENT!!!!
Peter
John- Home Depot sells a pack of shims that are about 1" wide. They are ideal for shimming doors. Take two and slide them under perpendicular to the track until you get the desired thickness. Add as many as you want to give the track proper support. Once it's ballasted you will never see them.
@Putnam Division posted:John.......it looks MAGNIFICENT!!!!
Thanks, it certainly fills a hole that my original design lacked, that being a decent amount of yard space!
@RSJB18 posted:John- Home Depot sells a pack of shims that are about 1" wide. They are ideal for shimming doors. Take two and slide them under perpendicular to the track until you get the desired thickness. Add as many as you want to give the track proper support. Once it's ballasted you will never see them.
I've seen those, that's certainly an option. Still considering how I can get clever and do it with materials on hand. 
John , it's looking great !
Alex
Thanks Alex, how's your layout coming? Are you still in limbo and thinking about moving again?
Looks great John, I see where that outer track is right on the edge of the layout top. I know its ok as you guys on the east cost like to live a little on the wild side!
I am sure if you asked Tom Tee he would have something just laying around his shop. I have never met a wood worker that doesnt have scraps laying around for that just in case moment!
@mike g. posted:Looks great John, I see where that outer track is right on the edge of the layout top. I know its ok as you guys on the east cost like to live a little on the wild side!
Yep, since it's a yard track and it'll be slow speed operation with anything going down that line, I figured I'd shoot the dice. In order to keep the curves at O72 or larger on all the tracks, that's where the track ended up. I could have done even more ripping up to move it a little, but I decided it wasn't worth the trouble.
