NorthWest Trunk Lines - The voyage continues!

Absolutely fabulous!





Peter

Fantastic, Can't wait to see the mainline video run.

bill D

Congratulations Dave, Ted, and all the rest - a truly wonderful project!
Dave, it would appear that you have used 2" pink foam over plywood? I've done that with our home layout and also on the modular tables with Scaletrax. The noise level is quite high as if the foam actually amplifies the sound. Do you have the same there?
A home I originally had carpet foam under the (in my case) blue foam which was surprisingly loud. Then I reversed the placement with the foam direct to the plywood and the carpet foam on top with cork roadbed. Much better. At the club we just have the 2" foam on 1/4"Luann plywood which is awfully loud!

Hi guys,

Again, thank you very much for all the compliments. One of the reasons I enjoy posting about the NWTL here is that there are so many who appreciate seeing it come together. I hope some of you can find aspects of the NWTL that inspire your own modeling efforts.

quote:

An interesting side story involving the famous "Gold Spike": For the grand opening of the California State Railroad Museum, during May 1981, the California State Highway Patrol transported the REAL Gold Spike from Stanford University to the California State Railroad Museum in the TRUNK OF A CHP PATROL CAR! Some of us from the 4449 crew, which arrived at the Museum about a week early for the big grand opening bash, where present when the CHP car drove into the grounds. The plain wood box was removed from the car trunk and carried into the new museum, to be placed in a thick glass viewing case, in order for for the public to see it. Upon questioning, the CHP officer allowed that the reason he was late; he had stopped for lunch enroute to Sacremento, WITH THE GOLD SPIKE IN THE TRUNK OF HIS CAR!

Some of us had the chance to "see it up close & personal" prior to the spike being placed in its viewing case. I sure wish I had had my camera with me!

Ten years later, for the 10th anniversary of the CSRM, the Gold Spike was transported from Stanford University in a BIG armored truck with a complete CHP escort. Upon arrival at the CSRM, an armed guard escorted "the wood box" into the building and ABSOLUTELY NO ONE WAS ALLOWED EVEN CLOSE! Someone finally understood the value & history of what was in "the box"!!!!

WOW! Cool story Jack. That must have been something to get to handle such an important piece of history.

I'm glad the powers that be in California now treat the spike with the consideration it deserves. Of course, the funny thing is the spike might have been safer from theft driving around in the trunk of the patrol car. Anonymity is a great security force. I remember hearing that the Hollywood jeweler, Harry Winston, use to deliver all his shipments (millions of dollars worth over the years) in plain brown packages via US Mail parcel post. He even shipped the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian parcel post. He never lost a single shipment.

quote:

Thanks for the recommendation, Dave! I will have to pick up a copy.
I've already read this one, and it was quite detailed:
Nothing Like It In the World, The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad

Thank you springoflife. I will have to check out the book. The link I posted is to an on-line only article. As far as I know there is no print edition. It also focuses on just the events of the May 10th, 1869.

quote:

Dave you should consider writing a book about all you did to create the NWTL.

Popsrr, I have been considering that since the early days of the NWTL. I'm thinking of a coffee table style book with lots of photos and maybe a companion DVD. I've taken over 15,000 photos along the way and the Woodshire film crew has done videos of our operating sessions. If anyone hasn't see those videos here's a link: Woodshire Films - NorthWest Trunk Lines

quote:

I love the pictures of the layout, However the journey you made along both sides of the border(US/CA) a couple of years baCK was a favorite of mine. I liked all the work it took to figure out when to be a the face wall of the tunnel to get the pictures without shadows. Also loved the comments you made to the lady on the trip about the snakes and she laided down on the tressel to try and avoid them. I think you also had a very long hike in the darkness to just get to the place.

Wow, good memory Popsrr. Faith and I had a lot of fun on those trips and the trek out to Eagle Nest Tunnel was certainly a highlight. Again, for those who missed it, Faith and I got up at 4am in Helena, drove an hour on two lane highway, another half hour on dirt roads, and then hiked 6 miles just to get this picture.



That view, with the rock face in full sunlight, can only be seen for about 90 minutes each morning for about six weeks around the summer solstice. And yes, it is rattle snake country. You don't want to do a lot of walking, let alone lay down, in the grass.

quote:

Fantastic, Can't wait to see the mainline video run.

Stay tuned Bill.

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Dave, it would appear that you have used 2" pink foam over plywood? I've done that with our home layout and also on the modular tables with Scaletrax. The noise level is quite high as if the foam actually amplifies the sound. Do you have the same there?
A home I originally had carpet foam under the (in my case) blue foam which was surprisingly loud. Then I reversed the placement with the foam direct to the plywood and the carpet foam on top with cork roadbed. Much better. At the club we just have the 2" foam on 1/4"Luann plywood which is awfully loud!

Hi Sam,

No, we are not laying the track over the foam. The layout is built with a mixture of cookie cutter and spline benchwork. In most of the area around the gold spike it's spline. Like this...



If you look carefully at some of the photos around "Promontory" you'll see the spline running into the sceniced area.



The foam is cut to fill the area between the plywood decking and the spline. Todd really likes using the foam to carve the base of the terrain. He then adds plaster rock molds, hydrocal, and True Scene Modeling Fibre. The spline construction is naturally quiet and the foam surrounding the spline just deadens the sound even more. The problem with building on sheet foam on a single layer of plywood is that the structure is quite flexible (low natural frequency). That flexibility allows the structure to vibrate and transmit sound just like a paper speaker cone. The trick is to make your benchwork VERY rigid (high natural frequency) and minimize the surface area attached to the track. One of the best construction methods I've found for modules is to use 1/4" luan plywood top AND bottom on 2" foam. Putting the ply on both sides makes a composite structure similar to the floors in Boeing aircraft. It's strong enough that I can walk on it (that's saying something ) but it's still pretty light weight. We used a little of this construction method for the On3 narrow gauge section that surround a chimney foundation on the NWTL. It's dead quiet.

So, Dave, is this your model of where the UP and CP built tracks parallel to each other to gain the extra bucks per mile and because no one had told them where to meet the tracks?

Great photos, btw.

quote:

Originally posted by SteveF:

So, Dave, is this your model of where the UP and CP built tracks parallel to each other to gain the extra bucks per mile and because no one had told them where to meet the tracks?

Some thing like that.

Hi all,

Our friends at the Woodshire Railroad were gracious enough to record the "Gold Spike" ceremony on the NorthWest Trunk Lines. After much editing they have put together a highlight reel of the evening. Thanks guys for the video.

I hope all of you who have been following our progress enjoy the video. Unlike earlier NWTL videos this one gives little more of a behind the scenes look at parts of the layout.

Awesome video... incredible layout. Someone needs to put together a complete layout tour.

quote:

Someone needs to put together a complete layout tour.

Jim Barret seemed enthusiastic about doing something along those lines.

Hi all,

Last week several members of my crew and I had the opportunity to visit Promontory Summit in Utah. It gave us the fun of "recreating" the NWTL's GREAT EVENT at the place that inspired the festivities.





For those who have never been to Promontory, I highly recommend the trip. It's a bit out of the way, but if you're a rail fan it's worth every miles. The site is run by the National Parks Service. Besides a visitors Center they maintain and operate reproductions of the CP Jupiter and UP #119 locomotives.





One detail was a little off the day we visited. The flag flying atop the telegraph pole had only 20 stars (in use 1818-1819) rather than the 37 star flag used in 1869.



One of the other prime features of the historic site is the driving tour that allows you to drive several miles of the original CP roadbed. Along this stretch the CP and UP built parallel roadbeds until Congress set the final union point at Promontory Summit.



Along the route there are several points of interest marked gold spike signs. One such location is "Chinese Arch." This naturally occurring stone arch was once along the shoreline of Lake Bonneville. Today it offers a tremendous view of the Great Basin.

Hi all,

We had another "Great Event" at the NorthWest Trunk lines this past Monday. We had our annual Christmas Party. It's the one time that (nearly) all of us involved in the project are able to get together with our families and friends and see the layout at the same time. As the project has grown so has the group of wonderful people who have made it happen. This year we had 45 people in attendance.



From all of us to all of you on the forum we wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year!

Dave any new pictue up dates?

quote:

Originally posted by Popsrr:
Dave any new pictue up dates?

Especially the ladies????

Hi all,

Now that the forum has permanent threads I thought I'd "hijack" the Great Event thread from last year.  I changed the thread title from "GREAT EVENT - NorthWest Trunk Lines" to "Northwest Trunk Lines - The voyage continues."  From now on I'll post NWTL updates here.

In the months since the Christmas Party we have been able to work on a lot of detail projects that had been by-passed in order to make the layout presentable for several events around the holidays.  Much of the work isn't very photogenic.  We have been steadily improving our iPad control panels and computer control system.





I've posted the above photos on several other threads.  However, what's not clear in the photos is that we have now integrated audio and lighting and track power controls into the same system.  When Peter (the layout owner) comes down stairs to run trains he can now press a single button on a lighting control pad and turn on track power around the entire layout.  Another button on the same control pad can be pressed and held to bring up the lights.  The lighting now works on a time basis.  Press and hold the button and the "time of day" changes 1 hour every 2 seconds.  When you let go of the button the lights stop at that time of day.  It sounds simple enough, and it is pretty slick, but it took over 35,000 lines of computer code to make it work.  One really neat feature we barely got up and running in December was ambient location sounds.  Peter made contact with a sound editor who is also a railroad buff.  He has been building audio mixes for each location around the room.  Initially these effects had to be turned on at each location manually.  Now we have them integrated into the automation system.  You can start and stop all the sounds from the computer, any iPad, or a DCS remote.

Originally posted by Popsrr:
Dave any new pictue up dates?

 

Originally poster by Hot Water:

Especially the ladies????

Fabulous! Thanks, Dave.

 

 

Peter

Thanks for the update.

 

This makes me want to take another trip to the Pacific Northwest.

Thanks Peter.

 

Pat, you and Jean are welcome to pay us a visit any time.  The layout has certainly changed a LOT since you were here in 2010.  See if you can drag Bear and Jophie with you.

Thanks Dave this update shows what an amazing layout like this can do for the hobby and spreading the word about trains in general. Well done!!!!

 Dave, looks great! Hope you can make multiple layouts like this so I can order one.

 PS. Don't feed Jen to the wolfs here! 

WOW Dave!  What an amazing tribute!

Hi all,

We had some fun this week editing video taken over the summer.  Kat Hazelton, sister of longtime crew member David Hazelton, is studying film and television production at Chapman University in Southern California.  We put Kat's talents to good use and thought we would share the results with you.

This first video is quite long, but it's an often requested view of the layout that helps answer a common question...  Just how big is this thing?   As the title suggests, it's one complete lap around the single track mainline.



This second video has nothing to do with the layout, other than the fact that the crew and I are all in it.  We had the distinct privilege to go for a ride in Peter Hambling's Douglas A-26 Invader, aka Sexy Sue.  As seen earlier in this thread, Peter is the owner of the NWTL.  He is also an avid aviation buff with a long family history in both commercial and military aviation.  Sexy Sue was converted from a two engine WWII bomber into an executive aircraft in the early 1950's.  Hope you don't mind me sharing with you an event that was pretty special for myself and the NWTL crew.

Dave:

 

Those were great. The layout is HUGE. I spotted several custom hand-laid ScaleTrax turnouts and at least one custom crossing. Excellent work.

I spotted several custom hand-laid ScaleTrax turnouts and at least one custom crossing.

 

Good eye Matt.  There are 10 hand laid curved switches on the layout.  All were made with ScaleTrax rail and Ross frogs following Ross #6 or #8 curved switch patterns.  Dave made the points and I did all the rest of the work on the switches.  Dave designed and built the crossing in the Spokane yard.  He also hand laid the On30 and On3 dual gauge track including 0/0n3 dual gauge switches on the Leadville wye.  I was proud of myself after making the curved switches but Dave blew me away when he laid the crossing and dual gauge.  The is some very unique trackwork in several places on the layout.

 

And for something else unique take a look to the left of the screen from 2:45 to 3:05.  The crew of the 0-8-0 has real work to do. 

 

Thanks Matt!  As Ted mentioned, I kind of got carried away with the custom track work.  I posted fairly extensively above about the O/On30 dual gauge in Owenyo.  Following on that I decided to build O/On3 dual gauge in our HIGHLY compressed representation of Leadville, CO.  O/On3 is much more difficult than O/On30 because the "center" rails ends up farther off center.  We have to restrict both the motive power and cabooses (because of differences in pick-up rollers) to a hand full of equipment that has been tested to run on the off-center center rail.  It's also the only part of the layout with less than O-72 3-rail curves.  The curves in the wye are roughly O-42.

 

 

Compared to the Leadville Wye, Owenyo was a piece of cake.  Owenyo has two custom crossings with no moving parts.  Leadville has four dual gauge switches, two hand laid On3 narrow gauge switches, and an On3 crossover that shifts the On3 from sharing one outside rail to the other in the middle of the wye.  I'm glad I did it just to prove I could, but I NEVER intend to do it again.  All totaled it took about five weeks of work to lay the track in Leadville.

 

We've run both O and On3 equipment through all the track work, but never at the same time.  Right now the NWTL's Precision Scale On3 Climax is still a DC locomotive.  Leadville is now wired and connected to AC track power with DCS.  I recently purchased one of MTH's new HO GP-35's with Protosound 3E+, which is designed for Marklin HO 3-rail AC operation.  We'll be cannibalizing the GP-35's electronics to convert the On3 Climax to AC operation on DCS.  Once that's done we'll be able to operate O and On3 engines simultaneously in Leadville without any toggling between power sources.

Hi folks,

 

I posted some side by side location comparison photos over on the WPF thread and figured I should add them and a few more over here.

 

 

SILVER BOW CANYON, MT

 

 

[img]http://i155.photobucket.com/al...20Lines/DSC_6089.jpg[/img

 

PALISADES CANYON, NV

 

 

 

ROYAL GORGE, CO

 

 

 

 

OWENYO, CA

 

 

 

 

ST. PAUL PASS, MT

 

 

 

 

LOMBARD, MT

 

 

 

 

CASTLE GATE, UT

 

 

 

 

SKYKOMISH, WA

 

 

 

Hi all,

 

We've been doing some "wiring" on the NWTL lately and I thought it was time for new post.

 

Washington State is blessed with an abundance of hydroelectric power, much of which comes from the Bonneville Power Administration's dams on the Columbia River.  The only unfortunate aspect is that the dams are east of the Cascade Mountains and most of the power is used on the west side of the range in Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, and the surrounding communities.  Just like the railroads, the BPA was forced to cross some of steepest slopes in North America.  Since the 1930's when the dams were built on the Columbia, the railroad lines across Stevens Pass (Great Northern), Snoqualmie Pass (Milwaukee Road), and Stampede Pass (Northern Pacific) have been closely paralleled by high tension towers flowing BPA power.

 

One of the scenes on the NWTL depicts Skykomish Washington, along the GN's route over Stevens Pass.  In our representation the viewer is essentially standing in the Skykomish River looking south into the town.

 

 

 

In an effort to help "sell" the location we've added a string of five high tension towers on the opposite side of the viewing aisle.  Three of the towers are an MTH set, which has recently been produced for the first time in many years.  You can distinguish these towers by the single insulators for each wire.  This type of insulator is common on towers that are in a straight line with both adjacent towers.  The other two towers are 30+ year old brass models imported by House of Duddy.  These towers feature double insulators, which are commonly used where the transmission lines change direction.  All the towers were painted flat gray to match oxidized zinc galvanized steel and the insulators were paint with reddish brown high gloss to match brown glazed ceramic insulators.

 

 

 

 

For transmission wires we chose to use .5mm elastic beading filament, which is very close in O scale to the diameter of 1/0 cable.  The filament is readily available at craft stores at very reasonable prices.  The elastic filament is far more durable in this application than actual wire or string.  When (not if) you snag a line, it will stretch to over six times its relaxed length without breaking.  Once we pulled the cables through the insulators and set the slack a dot of CA glue keeps the lines from getting out of adjustment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, we're pretty pleased with the results.

 

 

 

There must be some area that needed to be redone? I'd buy the old one for my cellar!!

Absolutely gorgeous Dave. Kind of makes me wish I needed some for my layout. Hasn't even been a week, and it looks like you guys got a lot done.

 

Dave...absolutely breathtaking and another great story!!!

 

Alan