Rebuilding In S

Rusty,

From reading your comments on the Forum, I've concluded that you are the expert in "S" . I'm glad to see you resuming with a layout. I hope you enjoy it.

MELGAR

Congratulations Rusty! It is always exciting to see a new layout "born."

That's a lot of natural light! Looking forward to progress.

Rich

I remember reading somewhere that model railroading is fun.  Isn't it though?

Good to hear you have something to run though temporary. Maybe a lack of scenery but no lack of temporary track.

This is where I was

Ray

Go Rusty! Glad to see the rebuild progressing.

Looks great Rusty!

Your bench work looks great. Very nice layout room too.

I think S Scale is a good middle of the path scale.  Not to large and not to small.  Such a shame there isn't more available in S.

Anthony

Here's a little update.  I secure the plywood, cleaned things up and have a temporary loop down:

Curves are presently R24.  My R29's just arrived today from Portlines, so things will change a bit.  Of course, whenever Fox Valley restocks, everything changes again.

I found out why my scale stuff doesn't like the diverging route of the turnouts.  The gauge is narrow on the diverging point rails.  I'll have to check out FasTrack turnouts.

Rusty

Rebuild 2.0.

Another adventure...  The MTH R29's (excuse me R30's...) fit together very poorly.  These must have been some of the last to leave the MTH factory, I never had trouble with my earlier MTH straights or any of my SHS track.

Closer examination revealed the rails were on average 1-2mm too long for the molded roadbed on all 12 sections preventing the track from locking together.  I chucked my Dremel in a vice and ground down the ends and they fit together much better now.

Anyhow, moving up from R24 to R30 required some track reconfiguration.  I didn't want to hack up a bunch for custom lengths in case I ever want to resell the track once Fox Valley track becomes available again.

So, my passing siding got a little convoluted, but it'll do for now.  I may throw in another siding on the open end, just for grins:

I can successfully run scale stuff as long as I don't go down the diverging routes.  But, R30 is 3" less radius than I had on the old railroad, so that eliminates some of my scale equipment from running here.

I'll probably dig out some of my old buildings over the next few weeks for the lived in look.  Right now I can run DC and DCC.  I also have to dig out myZ1000 and TMCC/DCS rig so I can exercise some of my long ignored stuff.

Rusty

@Rusty Traque posted:

I found out why my scale stuff doesn't like the diverging route of the turnouts.  The gauge is narrow on the diverging point rails.  I'll have to check out FasTrack turnouts.

Rusty

I picked up a tip today that the scale wheels will go through the Lionel turnouts with no problems. 

Chuck Kemper, who posted above in this thread operates scale wheel equipment on FasTrack including turnouts. He has operating videos on his YouTube channel. Hopefully Chuck will see this and post additional information.

Thanks, I'm aware that the Lionel FasTrack turnouts will handle scale wheeled equipment.  I have the reconfigured SHS turnouts that Lionel based their design on. These are supposed to handle scale wheels.

Scale wheels will go through my SHS turnouts main route no problem, but the track gauge is narrow (per the NASG track gauge) on the point rails for the diverging routes.  That's what's causing the derailments and there is no easy fix.

As the S-Trax is only a temporary solution until Fox Valley track is available again, I made an executive decision today to live with it for now.

Besides, I have a bunch of HiRail stuff that needs exercise.

BTW, I did a little re-configuring today by flipping one turnout around to make a sorta yard on the passing track, pluss added a storage siding on the open end.

Rusty

Rusty, Nice work so far!  Thank you for sharing your progress.  The pictures and explanation are great and I think everyone benefits from seeing what you are doing.

If you don't mind, can you add a few more details about your layout's overall concept, like what you are planning for a track plan, the area or time period, planned scenery, etc.?  Also, it looks like you are using modular benchwork - what sizes are the modules and what height is the layout?  If necessary, will the layout be easily moved in the future?

Thanks!

Mike A.

Mike,

A lot of it's up in the air right now.  I'm still wrestling with the limitations of having about 1/4 less space than my old railroad.  It will be a primarily scale railroad, but I want to have is the ability to also run my HiRail/Flyer stuff when the mood strikes.

Right now I'm leaning towards updating from the 50's/60's to 60's/70's.  I've been studying on adapting Tony Koester's  O Scale Wingate modules to my space.  It's my current thinking, subject to change.

The track will most likely remain at ground level, with some small undulations here and there.  And trees, as many as I can fit logically.  Basically, typical Midwestern scenery.

The overall railroad is 6'x12'.  Total there's six 2'x4' modules and two 2'x2' modules.  Top of the plywood is 42".

Rusty

Rebuild 2.1

Got some more ambition and reconfigured the track again.  I wanted to get rid of the goofy R24 s-curve and make the track arrangement less clumsy.

Now, the arrangement looks more like the previously mentioned Wingate plan, adapted to my available space.

As the narrow track gauge on the diverging point rails prevents me from running scale at the moment, I dug out by two early version (non-toggle points) SHS turnouts to make a small yard.

This helps me get a better feel for what my final vision is tuning out to be.  Of course, assuming I can get Fox Valley track in the future, all the track geometry goes out the window, but I'll be able to get a more prototypical look.

I also plan on digging out some of my structures to get better feel for how thing will work out scenery-wise.

But for now, it's time to run some trains.

Rusty

I got my TMCC/DCS stuff hooked up and took some time to play yesterday.  It was B&O day on the new Great Plywood Glacier:

Rusty

Very nice Rusty!  Good to see you back playing with trains!  I look forward to your progress on the layout.

It's great to see your trains running again, Rusty. I liked the fact that you used the word "play" to describe the operation. That is the point we too often forget about our hobby, and it's especially important this time of year.

Hey Rusty,

Was curious how you did the legs on your "modules".   Is it just 3/4" ply screwed through the 3/4" fascia?   Any reenforcement?

I've been digging for ideas - planning to build modules - especially after the build-in-place layout I attempted previously ended in full tear out and destruction.  

I like this overall plan from this video - but wish the legs were more moveable.

@Jacobpaul81 posted:

Hey Rusty,

Was curious how you did the legs on your "modules".   Is it just 3/4" ply screwed through the 3/4" fascia?   Any reenforcement?

I've been digging for ideas - planning to build modules - especially after the build-in-place layout I attempted previously ended in full tear out and destruction.

The modules are from Model Railroad Benchwork.   Everything is pre-drilled and secured together with the supplied pocket screws.  I then pre-assembled the legs using the framework as a guide. I was able to put everything together on my bench in the vise.

The only part not pre-drilled is where the legs fit into the frame, I had to lay out the location for mounting the screws.  A light penciled in square may be seen in some of the photos:

The "pads" are post caps I got from Menards to better protect the carpeting in the room.

I had everything pre-assembled, stained and ready to go...

The nice thing is it's sort of self supporting so one man can get everything lined up, clamped and verified with a speed square.  Then the legs are screwed with four screws on from the inside, again with the supplied screws.  Not shown is a fifth screw I decided to add just as I was adding the plywood:

Then it was a matter of bolting everything together.  MRB supplied carriage bolts, I decided to use hex bolts and washers instead so I could have a socket wrench on both sides to tighten things together:

The legs are only on the corner 2'x4' modules.  The whole thing is pretty solid without any additional bracing.

Rusty

Rusty--I've been to the Model Railroad Benchwork website a few times and wondered if perhaps you were a customer; thank you for confirming that.  Seems as though you are pleased with MRB's product?

Rusty,

Thanks for the information and detailed shots.  Gives me a very good idea of how I could DIY this. I appreciate it! 

Jake

@Juniatabilt posted:

Rusty--I've been to the Model Railroad Benchwork website a few times and wondered if perhaps you were a customer; thank you for confirming that.  Seems as though you are pleased with MRB's product?

Yes, I am.  He even caught a mistake I made on my order form and called to correct it.

It's really a personal preference as to which benchwork company to go with, I felt MRB suited my needs the best.

***Additional info***  The modules normaly have bolt and wiring holes on all four sides.  I was able to request that the outside perimeter pieces not be drilled out so I could have a more finished look on the outside.

Rusty