PRR Panhandle 2016 Train Smoker photos

Super day!!

That is about the age I was when I first saw my uncle's American Flyer layout.  I was hooked.  Alas, they moved away soon after.  I had to wait until I was about 12 and saved my money to buy a train set.  They were too expensive for a Christmas gift, but Dad taught me a good lesson to save money for a particular goal!  

Looks like Grandma was good at helping out!

 Thank you for sharing the photos!!

That was his great grandmother helping out.  The kid was so excited he didn't want to put down the CAB-1 to eat.

Later his great grandfather told me was going to ask Santa for a layout like mine.  I think eventually he will find a train under a Christmas tree sometime, maybe soon.

I got him hooked!!! 

George

I think Santa needs to bring him a train set this year! Get him one while the interest is good. He sure did look like he was enjoying things. That's a good sign and I sure hope he says interested. My grandson brought one of his friends over a few months ago, he was 9 and the same way as your guest. He know a LOT about the real railroads too and he and I shared the same favorite RR. They were here for about 6 hours and he had a remote in his hands the entire time.

Question from another post/thread, you posted a drawing you had made with Visio, which revision do you use and is it Standard or Pro version? I have been looking for something that made drawings like yours as was easy to use for a long time. I just downloaded the other free program you mentioned, but haven't tried it yet. Thanks for any tips, advice, etc. you might have on Visio or it's free equivalent.

Also one more, in an earlier post you mentioned tearing down your layout? After all that work I sure hope you have another one planned or something. A shame to see all that planning and work go away. 

rtr12 posted:

I think Santa needs to bring him a train set this year! Get him one while the interest is good. He sure did look like he was enjoying things. That's a good sign and I sure hope he says interested. My grandson brought one of his friends over a few months ago, he was 9 and the same way as your guest. He know a LOT about the real railroads too and he and I shared the same favorite RR. They were here for about 6 hours and he had a remote in his hands the entire time.

Question from another post/thread, you posted a drawing you had made with Visio, which revision do you use and is it Standard or Pro version? I have been looking for something that made drawings like yours as was easy to use for a long time. I just downloaded the other free program you mentioned, but haven't tried it yet. Thanks for any tips, advice, etc. you might have on Visio or it's free equivalent.

Also one more, in an earlier post you mentioned tearing down your layout? After all that work I sure hope you have another one planned or something. A shame to see all that planning and work go away. 

I use Visio 2007.  I believe it's the Standard Edition.  Awhile ago, I tried Dia.  It's pretty good, but it doesn't have the number of bells and whistles you'll find in Visio, so it's a bit more work.  I know Visio is fairly pricey, but I'm an old dog and used to it.  There's always SketchUp which is 3-D and free.  You don't have to use the 3-D aspect of it.

Yes, in late January or early February the first version of the Panhandle is coming down.  Another version is in the works.  It will be bigger, better, and (hopefully) benefit from all the hard won lessons of this layout.  I posted the new layout design on this forum.  Here you go:

https://ogrforum.com/t...andle-2-0-track-plan

Hopefully that link works.  If not, just paste it into your browser.

George

Thanks, the link worked, I am going back to read the thread later this eve or tomorrow. I must have totally missed that one? I try to catch everything on here, but many threads seem to slip by somehow. I saw in your other build thread (which I follow) that you were tearing everything down, but missed whether anything was going back in. Glad you have new plans and are going to rebuild. I am kind of in the same boat, I want to expand, but can't seem to come up with a plan I like. May you have great success with v2.0. 

Thanks for the Visio info. I have looked at Visio several times, but as you say the price is kind of steep. I did try Sketch-up a year or so ago, but that seemed complicated to me, maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance? I will try Dia and see what happens. If that doesn't work maybe I will just bite the bullet and try the Visio Standard version after Christmas. I really like the drawings you can make with Visio. Others post drawings like that here too, not sure what they use, but they look similar.

I guess I really want a set up like you have with Visio, something that I already know how to use. Unfortunately, I don't know how to use any thing like that so I guess I am out of luck there. Hard for old dogs to learn new tricks.

And good luck to the little guy on getting a train set for Christmas. 

Sketchup does have a steep learning curve, particularly if you are doing 3-D drawings.  You might try just Googling "drawing packages" and see what comes up.  It's been years since I discovered Dia.  There might be others out there.

George

Thanks, I will also try the search and see what turns up. I have been using Tinycad for some wiring diagrams, not too bad, but it has it's pros and cons too. The drawings you made with Visio look much nicer though.

George,

I missed your new topic on your new layout.  Thanks for including the link.  I took a quick glance at the plan, and will comment over there.  Thanks!!

I am not familiar with those eye poking antennas.  Can you identify them for me?

@Tom Tee posted:

I am not familiar with those eye poking antennas.  Can you identify them for me?

Are you referring to the TMCC CAB-1 remote?