What did you do on your layout today?

Larry - That's great.  Finding friends in this hobby definitely increases the enjoyment for most of us.  And when they can help solve problems, it is even more special.

 

Art

After letting my stone mill sit on the bench for a couple of weeks, as I mulled over what kind of flume to build for it, I was emailing some photos out from a recent

trip to the Smokies, and there was that mill just east of Cherokee, on the west

slope of the Smokies, with a rustic flume on a log trestle. The mill in Cade's

Cove is TOO rustic.  So now I will have to quit goofing off and get back to work.

I spent a couple hours cleaning up and moving the rest of those old buildings away from the next section of the upper deck. The way is now clear for Patrick tomorrow.

Another wave of the magician's magic wand?

Yup, it took about 7 swishes to make it all disappear.

I built a table and bought some track, all with the help of my lil conductor! Can't wait to get the ball rolling!

looks like a very good start

 

I can't believe how much she looks like our oldest daughter when she was that age.  My wife even bought her a pink railroader's hat.  Now she is 23.

 

I agree you are off to a good start.

Today, I posted a YouTube video in my LCJ&I Lines series. In it, I try my hand at building a "coal breaker" building from a kit. It pretends to supply coal to two parallel spurs on my layout. The kit is KP4814, by K&P Brick & Building Co., York, PA. It is my first attempt at a kit this detailed.

Bob I have watched all your video's waiting to see the new layout come together.

 

First a correction to my last posting.  There is a mill on the EAST slope of the Smokies, WEST of Chrokee, N.C.  That mill has a log flume.  I could find a lot of

dowel at Lowe's that I could put in a gem tumbler and rough up, but a search at

Home Depot solved the problem with "bamboo plant stakes", which I will cut into

logs.  If I need another log structure such as a mining cabin, or somebody out there

has a kid who needs to build a frontier fort for a class project????............

Bob:

 

Thank you for posting the video. I really like the stair template. It was simple but elegant. Also, the gray chalk weathering on the building roof was instructive. The end result was great.

Patrick was over yesterday, and for a change I had a "to do" list ready in advance. By the end of the day we had 7 of the 8 items crossed off. The first couple just involved moving materials around in the garage.

Now that the track is is figured out, it was easy to relocate the opening in the backdrop.


Patrick then filled in the 10" strip of plywood and fiberboard along the backdrop.


Next week we will fill, sand and paint the backdrop so track laying can continue.


Fiberboard was added to the hill.


We started putting in the supports for the upper industrial area.


I still need to finish carving the roadbed profile.


This 3 track crossover with a double slip will be the highlight of this section of track.


This will complete a huge reverse loop, by connecting back into Park Junction.


Jon will be here tomorrow. The plan is to start an electrical retrofit project to improve the original hidden yard, by removing a bunch of the detectors and adding stopping blocks.

 

Patrick will be back Tuesday.

Today I got my first piece of Fastrack a 072 wye switch.  I took it apart to check it out.  Also I determined I could modify the track pieces to adapt to tubular track.

 

Thinking about redoing the entire layout with a multilevel shelf plan.  This switch is key to making the 072 corkscrew work.

 

worked on the opposite side of the layout this time. put in 2 tunnel portals and plastered the mountain. .

Okay...I began to build the flume support towers out of the bamboo garden stakes,

and that is slow going.  That stuff is hard on the surface but has a pithy center and

is prone to cracking, when sawing the "Lincoln Log" notches on the "logs".  It is more realistic in appearance than plain dowel.  I am using a circular blade chucked in a drill,

but this little model vise I have on my work table is not doing the job, and I also need

something like a powered razor saw, since the bamboo surface is so hard.

Maybe a dremel with a saw blade or cut off wheel

worked on the mountain and finished it up. I think might do some more trees.

 

 

Jon was over yesterday, and we got started on an electrical re-work project in the old hidden yard that I've been wanting to do for a while now.

Originally, the plan was to have one detection circuit for every 3' section of Gargraves. There is a 16 section yard lead where the trains enter, then five, 39 section yard tracks where the trains are stored. The idea was, through the magic of a computer, each train's length would be measured, by how many sections of the lead it occupied, and the yard tracks would be packed accordingly.

This was a really cool theory, which still had yet to be implemented. Until, one day, a rogue locomotive went on the rampage, and caused me to rethink the whole concept.

The new plan was to have dedicated stopping sections, 5 per track, one every 8 sections, for a total of 25. This will limit train lengths, but that isn't really such a bad thing. I don't like running multiple locomotives on a train, and there are grades to contend with. So this seems like a good fit, and it will prevent accidents.

Here's the panel that will serve as the temporary control for the yard. The turnout controls have been active for a while now. The two diagonal rows of toggles on the right are now active.



Eventually, relays and the computer will replace the panel completely.

Tonight I just did some running. I gave "Baby Hudson" C&O #305 some run time on the lower level, moving freight right along. After the first loop, I turned on the smoke unit. Three cheers for Alex M!   Hip-Hip-HOORAY!

 

Expanded the layout a little added a 58X36 leg off the side. pulled out my mothers old x-mas houses plan has been to make a area for them on the layout. she passed away in 95 and I think it's a shame to only have them out at x-mas time. She use to have a whole scene setup with mirrors as a ice rink street lights and all. so pulled them out looking for a place for them. where ever I put them I will need to do a snowy area. ran some trains for the grand daughter her Thomas my Berk Jr and the PRR mth train. had some fun. other than putting the screw gun through my finger. ouch. in the photo the table looks like it is leaning but it is level.

Reglued switches in the control panel that keep falling out.  Then ran some trains!

 

 

It always seems like each new month brings a slow start. I think it's caused by big pushes at the end of the previous month and the slight burnout that follows.

I filled in the missing pieces of fiberboard, and busted out the chalk line to mark the first leg of the new section.

I'm back on track detail, but was only able to get a couple sections down. I'm holding back on purpose, until Patrick can finish painting the backdrop tomorrow.


I have the switches all laid out for the crossover, yard entrance and east ladder. The lead will be at the west end.


This yard's name is Shoreham. It is the CP's Twin Cities intermodal facility, and has been totally been reinvented since its Soo Line days.

 

Patrick will be here in the morning. Time to rock and roll!!!

Two day report. Yesterday I got the last open section filled with pink board. Today I got it covered in plaster wrap. After dinner I'll start where I left off plastering again  Paul.

Elliot - As always, I love to see your progress.  Your updates are very inspirational to me, keep them coming.

 

Art

No photos this time...

I got a screaming deal on a DCC system from a local hobby shop last weekend. I model in On30, so I needed that.

Bench work was supposed to be started before now, but issues at the office and with my 1944 Jeep sidetracked me for a short time. Construction on the benchwork should start before the end of the month, shouldn't take more than a weekend as the layout will be in a 11X10 room (my link below shows a track plan). Once I get the bench work done, track laid and the DCC all wired up and running, the rest show go relatively quick as I have most of the structures already done and from then on out, I won't need any help (I'm worthless when it comes to electrical stuff) so I should be able to plug along. I've decided this is the year of the layout, so most of my normal commitments with other hobbies have been put aside this summer to at least get the basic layout built so trains can run.

Thank you Art. Your wish is my command.

Here's today's:

Let's caption this picture: "In order to bake a cake, you have to break a few eggs". What a mess, but it's a happy mess.


Patrick and I hung the curved section at the far end, then Patrick kicked it into high gear, and filled the seams and screw heads, primed and painted the whole 32'.


The paint is all done, but between it still being wet and all the shadows, it looks funny.


While Patrick was doing all that, I was working on final wiring in the new hidden yard. I started to move the trains into the finished space.


One of these days we are going to have a huge unpacking party.

Elliot

Between you and Jhainer I'm starting to think you guys are working in the train rooms 80 hours a week.

 

I wish I could even halfway keep up with you two.

Larry

Actually Larry, I've been keeping track of my hours since the first of the year. Last month I put in 90, so that's a little over 20 per week.

 

I may be crazy, but I'm not that crazy.

maybe close to that but I work from home. I worked on it today a little tied both levels together. got some stuff in the mail today tho .

Doug, you are doing some spectacular model building, and that always takes a lot of time. It is all the detail work that makes you feel like you aren't getting anywhere.

 

Layout construction goes fast, and I cheat. Patrick puts in 24 hours per month. Matt and Jon about 10 hours each.

 

For you this is still a hobby, for me it is something a little different. It is more of a challenge and a constructive way to pass time. I don't have a job, and haven't had a paycheck in almost 20 years.

 

There is another motivating factor for me, and that is my health. I'm hanging in there for now, but I really want to get this thing done, while I can still enjoy it.

 

Your 20 hours per month sounds a lot more normal, than what I put in.

 

 

the first and last pic above would look pretty good inside that gorgeous roundhouse of yours

 

If you look closely at the RH pictures, you will see those same inspection platforms inside. I've bought 6 or 7 sets of those from Dave at CLW for our RH and the diesel service building  

Finalizing switching layout track plan.  Implemented a run around using flexible MTH Scale Trax.  Should have plans finalized within the week.

Last night while making adjustments in the track plan I noticed a small black spot on the ceiling.  I touched it, it was wet and my finger went right threw it.  I discovered a over head pipe had a very small leak.  I cut a six inch hole in the ceiling and cut out the leaking joint and spliced in a new piece.  CPVC is so easy to work with.  I let it set for three hours and tested it.  I didn't see any wet spots or pick up any on a paper towel, so I cut a round patch and started to repair the hole.  Just a minor setback.  I'm glad I found it now while the track is still loose and no scenery has been installed.

I tried the cutoff wheel in the Dremel as suggested above, but that did not seem to

speed the process up, (over a Zona saw) however using a drill press vise to hold the "logs" has made notching them go faster. I just need to add 2 more "logs" to the top and I will have one seven inch tower (of two needed) done...whee....in other words,

nothing worth reporting..I do hope to post a picture of the protoype flume towers

along with the mill model when done. 

I started to work last week on the small down town passenger train area and a rural area. Making streets sidewalks and striping.   Engineering on the fly. Slow but staying busy.

Your RH just keeps getting better.  Looks incredible!

Thank you. LED #80 installed....thats it for the lighting. Not one failure or replacement needed. Now it needs details inside so I can attach the roof.

ran trains today did a mu of all 3 UP 's that was cool. the only things that don't work on the new engine is sound board is MIA and the rear light is also MIA. but in this configuration it isn't needed. also found I had a weird power issue turned out to be a switch. made a gasket for the smoke unit on the sd40t-2 for the funnel to body no more smoke inside the engine coming out the windows.. all in all a pretty good day workin on the railroad.