Bonus Room Shelf Layout

[ocalicreek]

Good to see you back at it, Galen. I don't envy you having to carry the sections up the stairs.

Keep up the good work! More track and more trains!

Thanks, Gary. The other half is 10' long and divided into two sections, so I should be able to schlep them myself although my wife is willing and able to help. My 5 year old would throw it over his shoulder and carry it single handed if he could. He is VERY excited about running Daddy's trains. Daddy is too.

Our church is having its anual rummage sale this weekend so I'll be able to clean out a bit more from our garage and make more room to work. As it is now it's a bit of a pinch so that slows down construction when I do get the time or have the energy to work on it.

There are also still a couple home repair projects to do. I feel okay working on the trains after I've accomplished a few family projects. I feel a little guilty working on the trains if there are other tasks hanging over my head, so I just alternate back and forth between project lists. Getting things accomplished in either realm feels good, but right now, having tasted a little train action, you can guess which one I'd rather be doing!


Galen

[Steve]

All Right!!!!!!
It is great to see the progress!!!!

[ocalicreek]

Thanks, Steve.

Here is a close-up of the end piece that abuts the roadbed and protects the rails. When I lay track up to the edge of the layout section I'll drive two brass flathead screws into this mdf block directly beneath the rails and solder the rail to the screws.

Well, back up a sec, I should say once the bridge section is built I'll lay track over the joint, soldering to the screws on either side of the joint. Only then will I cut the rail at the gap. Then when I need to separate the sections I know I'll have perfect alignment next time I join them (as long as the bolts are true!) Giving credit where it is due, I learned this from Carl at the Orange County Module Railroaders, where he has used it successfully for years as interior joints on his multi-section modules.

I don't plan on using any sort of alignment dowels at this time. Hunting down 'part maker's dowels' has been impossible so I'll just drill the 1/4" bolt holes carefully and bolt the sections together before laying track across the joint.

I cut a long strip of MDF in the balast profile using my jig saw set to 45 degrees. Very cool tool. The block is nailed and glued in place.

[albumimg]2772[/albumimg]

The roadbed is sound board, a pressed fiber board product much softer than homasote. If I could get homasote nearby I'd do it but this is easier to come by and so far seems to be working well. Once balast is in I think it'll be bonded just fine. I may double up the track nails on the staging tracks. Out on the visible main I will use as few track nails as possible and drill up next to the rail in order to push spikes through. It'll take a little longer but I think the results will be worth it.

I'm afraid construction adhesive will be too strong for the fiber board. The strength of the fibers is in driving something down through the layers which will grab a spike or nail. Adhesive would sit on top and possibly delaminate the fibers from the rest of the board. On the underside I've used yellow wood glue in addition to the drywall screws. In fact, I could probably remove the screws and it'd be fine but it's just as easy to leave them there and use the extra holding power. But I think the yellow glue will actually permeate the fibers better than thick construction adhesive, hence the strength of balast.

Galen

[Gary S]

The idea of soldering the rail to brass screws is a great idea. Should keep the ends of the rails from getting knocked around inadvertantly.

Luckily for me, there haven't been too many home projects going on since last winter when the building was started. But I am envious that you have a five year old who is interested in the hobby and will be sharing with you. That has to be very cool!

[ocalicreek]

Construction continues. I have finished the basic benchwork for the Pinto section of the layout. The Andrews section with the grade uphill to Pinto is nearly finished, with only the grade remaining. The ply subroadbed grade is there, but must be secured with risers.

Roadbed is down at Pinto for all three turnouts and the sidings. I have been able to use the castoff sections of roadbed from the 4x6 layout. I may not need to buy any additional The creek has been 'cut', that is, I have notched a little from a few framing members to allow a slight drop in elevation along the creekbed. More likely it will not be a gentle slide, but a series of small rapids cascading down in steps.

I'm working on an article for MRH...hopefully it'll be fine and will get published...so I may be away from the forums for a while as I work on this project and a few other around the house tasks. PLUS, Vacation Bible School is coming up next week in the evenings so I'm trying to get ahead this week on all the household stuff.

Pictures when I take some...

Galen

[P5se Camelback]

Ahhhhh! VBS! You take me back, Galen! Lucky for me, although I had to go, it was only across my front lawn.

On the other hand, I had to behave ... or I'd be sent to see my father! 8-) hock:

[ocalicreek]

Luckily for me, there haven't been too many home projects going on since last winter when the building was started. But I am envious that you have a five year old who is interested in the hobby and will be sharing with you. That has to be very cool!

Yes, it's very cool indeed. The 5 year old (almost six hock: where did the time go?) is Andrew, whose N scale layout can be seen elsewhere on this forum. The littler one is almost 2 and loves the Gorre & Daphetid video before bedtime almost as much as his older brother did at that age. Too funny.

VBS went very well and now I'm getting back in the swing of a regular routine. Thursday night would be train night except that my lovely wife scheduled a Sunday School curriculum meeting for that night . I won't complain as she willingly has taken on the task of SS coordinator and is very good at what she does.

Household stuff included shifting 4 yards of pea gravel across the back yard to the kiddo's playhouse area. The previous owner had used wood chips which we didn't like so they became mulch for the hedge. They were a pain to clean up when they got out of the play area and literally a pain as the kiddos got splinters if they weren't wearing shoes. The chickens like to dig in them and so they're still a pain to clean up occasionally. The pea gravel is much better. Looks neater and is easier to maintain.

Work continues on the article this week, then next week hopefully I can finish off that bridge and the grade section of the roadbed. Once that's installed I can add the connecting section along the wall between the two main layout sections. I'm looking forward to that since I will be able to run trains out of staging, up to Pinto, do some switching, and return.

Galen

[P5se Camelback]

CHicKeNs???

[ocalicreek]

Yep, two of them, a Rhode Island Red and a Barred Plymouth Rock. My eggs have NOT been recalled due to Salmonella! They're backyard birds that are almost more pets than farm animals. Since we live in the suburbs we don't have a rooster, although I'd love to! Then we could keep the girls around for eggs and fry the fellers when they're old enough. But then again I'd also like to have enough land for a small 'hobby farm', wind power for off-grid energy, etc.

Oh, and last year, when everyone else was worrying about E. Coli in their lettuce, I just went out back and cut some for dinner, no worries.

But this is the sort of stuff for my Garden Blog (which is overdue for an update)! Work continues on the article, and I'm itching to get it done so that I can keep going with the trackwork. Gotta get that bridge painted too...

Galen

[ocalicreek]

Hooray! Trains run at Pinto! Well, okay, they aren't going that far. IN fact the track beyond the first turnout isn't permanent yet but all the sidings are in place. And while it may look like the death star is only half completed, now, witness the destructive power of my fully functioning battle station, er, I mean I got trains running. And a fascia.

I hope you can read the text on this picture:

[albumimg]2949[/albumimg]

The red lines indicate the edges of the road through town. The train, headed by a Bach. Spectrum 3-truck shay is about to leave town. Having left a box car load of hardwood lumber at the Furniture Factory and picked up a reefer full of cherries from the Produce Co-op, the crew coupled on to the combine/drovers caboose waiting at the station and is pumping up the air.

'Spots' in Pinto include (from l to r) a livestock pen on the left-most siding, a produce co-op for local growers and the Pinto Freight house on the next siding, the Pinto passenger depot located next to the drover's caboose in the photo, and pickle salting vats and a small family furniture factory on the right-most siding. I'm still undecided on the pickle vats and furniture factory, but leaning strongly that way unless something else catches my interest more than these. A feed n seed may replace the pickle vats.

Track is Micro-Engineering code 83 weathered track. I love the way it looks but am beginning to really dislike working with it...it's a pain to bend and make the rails & ties shift where you want them to go. Too stiff. I guess I'm used to Atlas. The turnouts are Atlas Custom line. I tried something new this time around and layed the track using adhesive caulk. I am very pleased with how it works and will probably pull up the staging tracks and re-lay them using that method. This fibre board doesn't hold spikes as well as homasote or other more dense material.

Up next...soldering joints and fine-tuning trackwork. Then I may work my way down hill on the next layout segment, or I may paint & weather this track. We'll see. I'm ready to get back to the Shifter project anytime and I've got some rolling stock pulled out that needs upgrading with metal wheels, kadee couplers and weathering. But my folks are coming to visit and the kids birthdays are coming up, plus the Fall schedule at work is coming online again...we'll see what happens.

Anyway, enjoy the update!

Galen

[Gary S]

Galen, thanks for the update. Looking good. I don't remember if you said earlier, but are you using DCC? And what about turn-out control?

[ocalicreek]

I am using DCC, yes. I've got an MRC Prodigy Express system. For now I'm just running off the MRC DC throttle shown in the photo since most of my engines are without decoders. I'd love to drop a Soundtraxx decoder in that Shay...but the budget won't allow right now since I'm saving for the next leg of layout construction...which may be material for a backdrop...we'll see. I have the lumber, roadbed and track to connect this side with the staging side along the wall beneath the narrow window, but I have not decided exactly how I want to do the backdrop and that may influence the length of the connecting benchwork segment.

As for turnout control, well, you'll just have to wait and see. I have written and submitted an article about this so I don't want to give anything away in case it is published.

All the structures mentioned in this photo will be kitbashed or scratchbuilt. Fortunately I have stashed away enough suitable kits & kit 'fodder' to launch into these without much expense. I have a B&O P2K Mather stock car as well as a Gorre & Daphetid MDC stock car to build, as well as rebuilding a couple pickle cars - one Athearn and one Bachmann, so plenty to do there if I feel like working on rolling stock. Suffice it to say there's enough here to keep me busy while the spending cash builds up before the next round of purchasing for the layout itself.

Scenery is still a ways away, but I may paint track once the next layout segment is completed. This is a busy week at work and next week will not be any different as I'm taking the following week off while family visits. Gotta double up some tasks now so they won't be waiting for me after vacation time. Suffice it to say it may be October before I get anything significant finished and worth sharing again. We'll see. Thanks for checking in!

Galen

[tetters]

Very neat Galen.

[ocalicreek]

Okay so October has come and almost gone here on da wess cose and I had mentioned I'd be getting to more work on the layout by now. Actually I have and so here's a small update. Monthly hobby spending cash went to purchase furring strips and 1/8" hardboard (smooth one side - cheaper that way) for the backdrop. A fellow modeler with a table saw was kind enough to help me rip the 4x8 sheets into 2x8 sheets. Next I need to measure, cut and assemble them into backdrop sections.

A bit of operating, just switching various cars into the sidings as if the industries I mentioned above were there, has shown me I don't like the schematic I'd drawn in the photo, for a few reasons. One is the passenger depot. Typically a passenger train up to Pinto will just be a drover's caboose or combine stuck onto a freight, mixed train fashion, or a passenger car on a milk & mail train. Even so I don't like that I can only fit one car, and a short one at that, in front of the station.

I have an idea for a new configuration in my head that eliminates the grade crossing through town as well as the two industries along the rearmost siding. Deciding what would fit back there wasn't working out and I really wanted more town structures - non rail served buildings - in the scene. PLUS, if Pinto is to be a place for interchange with the Big Tujunga Lumber Company, I needed more space for those cars. So eliminating the rear industries solves that problem.

Losing the industries is no biggie since I'm just trading them for a different traffic stream (more lumber loads & BTLC traffic) and I'm gaining a better opportunity for modeling part of the actual township of Pinto in 3D, not just on the backdrop. I really want to try forcing the perspective here, like Earl Smallshaw does on his Mystic Mines layout. See the clinic video on that topic over ath the Model Railroad Hobbyist site.

So if I had a copy of the original picture on my current computer I'd sketch off a revised city plan right quick but I don't so not tonight...later. Sorry no pics on this post. I'll have more when I get the backdrop up or the city plan sketched, whichever comes first.

Galen

[Gary S]

So will you be rearranging the tracks? Funny how we can always find something to do different! I'm looking forward to seeing the forced perspective take shape.