Starting New O-Scale Layout

What are PC turnouts?  

You were doing so well until you put that caboose with the lobster claw on the track.

Ed

I think your layout looks great. That plan is an oldie for sure (From the 101 plans book).

FWIW ..I think you're off to a great start. 🙂

Mark in Oregon

@Ed Kelly posted:

What are PC turnouts?  

You were doing so well until you put that caboose with the lobster claw on the track.

Ed

PC turnouts are made with 11 ties to hold the entire turnout in gage. So, it is essentially pre-assembled. The ties are made of Printed Circuit board material (hence, PC) and spaced throughout the turnout to keep it in gage while wood ties are spiked. Some folks remove the PC ties after the wood ties are in place. I have replaced a few with wood. For me, it makes laying turnouts much easier as I don't need to be concerned about keeping perfect tracj gage.

@Ed Kelly posted:

What are PC turnouts?  

You were doing so well until you put that caboose with the lobster claw on the track.

Ed

Yes, I know the caboose doesn't really fit here. But, I had it laying around and just put it on the track for effect. I just bought a brass Pennsy cabin car caboose that needs to be painted. It's a 2-rail car with the proper coupler.

Thanks for the comments.

@Ed Kelly posted:

What are PC turnouts?  

You were doing so well until you put that caboose with the lobster claw on the track.

Ed

I wonder if we can cut the guy some slack? This is beautiful work, which not many are capable of, and should be called out as such.

He was just joking.  Ed can tell that this guy is going to be a true O Scaler just by looking at the track and ballast.  Stunning!

Right...

Looks great!  What did you use for ballast?

@Tim Mc posted:

Looks great!  What did you use for ballast?

@Tim Mc posted:

Looks great!  What did you use for ballast?

@Tim Mc posted:

Looks great!  What did you use for ballast?

I used Arizona Rock and Mineral UP Grey Blend. It comes in O scale size and HO scale size. I use 90% O scale and 10% HO scale. But, it comes a little too bright for me. So, I mix about 3 parts light brown with one part black acrylic paint and add to about 3-4 ounces of water, white glue and a drop of dish soap. Then, use an eye dropper to dispense over the ballast. It tones down the look and makes the ballast look dirty. It took a lot of experimenting on a sample piece of track to get there.

Actually, my post above is a little misleading. The paint is mixed in a 3 parts brown to 1 part black ratio. However, it is only about 1/4 teaspoon of brown to the 3-4 ounces of water mixture. This mix is intended to be a light wash over the ballast. It's easy to overdo it.

Looks good, can't wait to see more!

You may find this helpful. "How we Layout Ties for Hand Laid Track at The Detroit Model Railroad Club".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU78pCmnqTU

Gary

Good show! I think the track work is absolutely spot on!
Malcolm

@trainroomgary posted:

You may find this helpful. "How we Layout Ties for Hand Laid Track at The Detroit Model Railroad Club".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU78pCmnqTU

Gary

Great video. Thanks for sharing. Some very useful tips.

I like the look of your work.   The trackwork is very nice.    However, I am curious as to how  you intend to operate it when you get the track in and scenery.    Is it to be a diorama or do you you have a plan to operate it?

As I see it the trackplan has 2 major drawbacks:    First there is no run-around track to enable switching sidings in either direction, unless of course you just set the cars on either side of the loco to begin with.   Second there does not seem to be a provision for a fiddle yard, or staging or place to move cars on and off the layout to feed the visible parts.

Bob2, You get it.  Skyhookdepot doesn't.  

When humor is gone, we are all in trouble.

One important thing and this is no joke.  Just because you think the rails are held in gauge by soldered straps, does not mean they are in gauge.  Check the gauge as you are spiking.

Ed

i agree with Ed.  I did a my previous layout with Earl Eshelman Switches, does that date me.   they were soldered together too, and supposed to be in gauge - many were not.     I had to check them as I laid them.    They were well made however.

@prrjim posted:

I like the look of your work.   The trackwork is very nice.    However, I am curious as to how  you intend to operate it when you get the track in and scenery.    Is it to be a diorama or do you you have a plan to operate it?

As I see it the trackplan has 2 major drawbacks:    First there is no run-around track to enable switching sidings in either direction, unless of course you just set the cars on either side of the loco to begin with.   Second there does not seem to be a provision for a fiddle yard, or staging or place to move cars on and off the layout to feed the visible parts.

Thank you for the nice comments. This is intended to be a trial on my part to see if I want to expand further into 2-rail. I didn't want to commit to a large layout until I had some exeperience with 2-rail. So, this will initially be a shelf railroad. What you see in the photos is the first of three sections. One 4' section will be added at each end of the current section making the total shelf about 15' long. Each of the three tracks will be extended onto these 4' sections. If I'm satisfied with the outcome I will then decide whether to to make this the first phase of a larger layout. I'm thinking perhaps an around the room type of setup with two mainlines. This would provide some operating opportunities. Additional staging areas could be added elsewhere on a larger layout. If I decide not to expand to a full size layout, then it may remain a shelf or I could give it to someone else to enjoy.

On a final note, the scenery plan is for a 1940s industrial area behind the tracks using background buildings. A portion of this area will be elevated to provide some visual interest. In the forground, I see a train station and some other buildings that are yet to be decided.

@Ed Kelly posted:

Bob2, You get it.  Skyhookdepot doesn't.  

When humor is gone, we are all in trouble.

One important thing and this is no joke.  Just because you think the rails are held in gauge by soldered straps, does not mean they are in gauge.  Check the gauge as you are spiking.

Ed

I took the comment as humor. No harm, no foul.

Yes, I just noticed last night that one small section of track is slightly out of gage. You're right. Need to constantly check gage as the rail is spiked.

Thanks for the heads-up.

NICE WORK !!!!!

I did not  understand that the sketch was not the whole shelf.    A 15 ft shelf should provide plenty of room for an industrial switching layout.    Does the rest of the plan include a run-around.    And you could stage  on one of the planned "main" tracks.   either just the cars, or cars and loco.    And do a one for one swap for cars setting at the industry spots.   Say you have 5 cars sitting at 5 industry spots on the layout - 3 boxcars, 1 gondola, and a hopper car.    Then you have 5 of the same type cars in the inbound track.    The operation is to replace the cars at each spot with a corresponding car from inbound track and end up with the cars from the spots back on the inbound track as outbounds.     that might take a half an hour running at slow switching speeds.  

@prrjim posted:

I did not  understand that the sketch was not the whole shelf.    A 15 ft shelf should provide plenty of room for an industrial switching layout.    Does the rest of the plan include a run-around.    And you could stage  on one of the planned "main" tracks.   either just the cars, or cars and loco.    And do a one for one swap for cars setting at the industry spots.   Say you have 5 cars sitting at 5 industry spots on the layout - 3 boxcars, 1 gondola, and a hopper car.    Then you have 5 of the same type cars in the inbound track.    The operation is to replace the cars at each spot with a corresponding car from inbound track and end up with the cars from the spots back on the inbound track as outbounds.     that might take a half an hour running at slow switching speeds.  

To be honest, I haven't thought through the operations side of the layout. But, you propose some interesting ideas.

I imagine that the rest of the plan would include a run-around.

I like it! Nicely done. Are the switches #6?

Thank you. The switches are #8s.

Nice clean well executed work!

As Ed says, the #8's are an excellent choice, especially for a cross over with #8 frogs.

Good decision to go with the #8's.  You will not regret it.

Ed

What everyone else has said - a great start, looks good!!

Phenomenal work Ralph! I love it! It looks very realistic. I really like how you weathered the rail. How did you do that?

@Hudson J1eposted:

Phenomenal work Ralph! I love it! It looks very realistic. I really like how you weathered the rail. How did you do that?

Thank you for the comment. Yes, the rail. It's a two step process. I start with a can of spray Rustoleum Earth Brown Camoflauge and coat the rails before they are laid on the ties. Nothing special here. Just give the rails a good coating and let dry.

Next, using Badger Rust color (water based) lightly spray the rail with an airbrush. Mix with a hefty amount of water, say, 40%. This will cause the paint to slightly bead up on the surface giving it that somewhat spotty look you see on rusting metal.

It will at first look really orange but in a few minutes when dry will turn darker. Spray at a slight angle from the top so you get some coverage on the foot of the rail. I see a lot of track where the rust flows off the rail onto the tie plates and ties. This is common up here in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Don't make it too uniform. Have some areas that are more heavily rusted and others less so. I tend to make the turnouts heavier.

After the rail is spiked, I very lightly touch each tie plate with some rust colored chalk. Again, mix it up and make some more rusty than others. In some cases I'll spread some of the rust chalk part way over the ties. Consider using different colors of rust chalk to mix it up. The photo below gives another angle of the track. The camera is picking up the rust color somewhat brighter than what is actually seen.

That's it!

I love the detail of your track work , it looks so realistic.

@harley rider posted:

I love the detail of your track work , it looks so realistic.

Thank you!