A rebuild is underway!....

[Saltwater Cowboy]

Well Gary, you asked for it!....











Matt

[P5se Camelback]

Boy! That was so un-pretty, it hurt my eyes to look at it ... and it made me not be able to focus very well. I must make a note to go see the Opthalmologist for a new prescription for these specs! :mrgreen:

[Saltwater Cowboy]

Update: Still in the deconstruction phase and haven't got too far due to a bunch of issues at work that have all but exhausted my feet and my brain! Me and my rod and cooler full of mullet will be hitting up the Virginia surf to see if any bluefish are along the coast in about a week and a half, so I hope to have finished tearing down one more mountain and the removal of a roundhouse and turntable are top priority. If I'm lucky, I may be able to start pulling up ballasted flex track and get the lengths soaking to loosen up the white glue bonded ballast.
My wife asked that I get detailed plans drawn up for her consideration as to space allocation. (Stage 1: Obtain wife's interest.... whew, that step is out of the way!)
I believe I will do what I've seen advised elsewhere and that is to build a model of the model. So, after I get back from my little coastal respite, I will work on that idea. That will help my better half envision better!

Matt

[P5se Camelback]

By all means, the War Department must have its review. Much as with the prototype, most model railroads must obtain Right-of-Way from the Local Government!

[Saltwater Cowboy]

She's most concerned with an area that is supposed to be a family/hangout spot. For the past 3 years it has housed an old TV, a love seat, coffee table and a bunch of odds and ends. In fact, nobody's really used it for it's purpose. (except me to catch up on news and weather while reading MR. mags) Her vision is to buy a flat screen hang on the wall TV for our living room and move our existing entertainment center down there and spruce the area up so my son can have friends over to hang out in instead of wrecking the upstairs or his bedroom! She'd also like to put a treadmill in there so my existing layout plan for the new re-build would intrude a little.

Matt

[faraway]

... Her vision is ... She'd also like to...

After 37 years of marriage I strongly recommend to understand that order and do as directed. Otherwise you might be in trouble soon
Sorry could not resist...

[P5se Camelback]

It sounds like "I just want to make an area for the family to use." (Sounds O.K., who would want to, no, dare to, say no to family?) Except the family isn't interested in that space ... the kids, they want to hang out in their bedrooms -- they close the door and it's safe from prying parental eyes. You'll spend the time and money, paint, move the entertainment center down there, get a wide screen TV, and who will be down there enjoying the new space? You! Because that's where the TV is now, and she's got all this new stuff in the redecorated living room that she's afraid will get all dirty so no one is allowed to go in the living room - you just look at it from the doorway ..." Oh, Gladys, you've done such a wonderful job in here, it's beautiful! Now, lets go out to the kitchen and sit down and talk over coffee."

But wait, there's more! There's always more! That's the problem! You compromise ... and then there's more! It's like ... "Well, he gave in pretty easy for that, now I say I want this." Marriage is a game of compromise, yes, but it seems so often that it's always the guy who has to compromise! Before you know it, the only space that's available for a layout is that narrow shelf at the back of the garage over the rack that holds the garden tools.

O.K. I've vented enough ... it's time for me to shut up now, turn this thing off and go to bed.

G'nite all!

[Gary S]

Matt, thanks for the photos of the destruction. And have fun fishing!

[Saltwater Cowboy]

It sounds like "I just want to make an area for the family to use." (Sounds O.K., who would want to, no, dare to, say no to family?) Except the family isn't interested in that space ... the kids, they want to hang out in their bedrooms -- they close the door and it's safe from prying parental eyes. You'll spend the time and money, paint, move the entertainment center down there, get a wide screen TV, and who will be down there enjoying the new space? You! Because that's where the TV is now, and she's got all this new stuff in the redecorated living room that she's afraid will get all dirty so no one is allowed to go in the living room - you just look at it from the doorway ..." Oh, Gladys, you've done such a wonderful job in here, it's beautiful! Now, lets go out to the kitchen and sit down and talk over coffee."

But wait, there's more! There's always more! That's the problem! You compromise ... and then there's more! It's like ... "Well, he gave in pretty easy for that, now I say I want this." Marriage is a game of compromise, yes, but it seems so often that it's always the guy who has to compromise! Before you know it, the only space that's available for a layout is that narrow shelf at the back of the garage over the rack that holds the garden tools.

O.K. I've vented enough ... it's time for me to shut up now, turn this thing off and go to bed.

G'nite all!

Thanks for your sentiments Bil! I'm sure that happens more than most of care to admit, but in my case... Not that drastic! Anyhoo, I do like the idea she has for the "rec" or "family room" or whatever you want to call it. And if nobody ends up using it, heck, I will! We are a family of three; myself, my wife and my 12 year old son, so I don't have 500 opinions going on like others with big families would have. I'm not sure about the 3rd "peninsula" in my track plan doodle yet; that will depend on actually how much intrusion into that space would be esthetically pleasing in the end. Someone following a train around the layout needs not to fall over a couch or coffee table in the process. So, we will see!

Matt

[P5se Camelback]

I apologize for getting carried away about men always giving in to the wants of their wives. It just seems so often that guys give in to avoid upseting their wives by suggesting something other than what she wants, and then they complain amonst themselves that they never get what they want. As a divorcee who now observes the rest of the world going around ... I was "just sayin'."

So .... I'm building a model railroad in one half of my living room ... because I can. :mrgreen:

[jglfan]

Hi Matt, I just took a quick look at your plan, you mentioned the yard is about 10' long, and I think I see on your drawing the yard going from 1 to 5 tracks. When drawing a plan on graph paper, allow 1' for each turnout in the ladder. The first turnout, yielding the second track, will need 1' (at each end) 3rd track, another foot. This is a simple rule of thumb I use when doing quick sketches, to prevent me from thinking I can fit in more than I really can. So, to go from 1 track to 5, you will need 4' at each end. With 10', that means tracks 4 & 5 will be 2' long, with the use of a simple ladder. I don't think that is what you were hoping for.

I agree with Ralph regarding staging. You mentioned not liking the hidden track, so this thought may not appeal to you. You mentioned long sidings to appear as double track. Would you like double track? I think I also see you have a spot on the left blob where on track passes over another. You've got plenty of length to drop 7" upon leaving the yard to when you return to it. 7" is plenty of room to rerail and clean track. Instead of the track which returns to the yard and runs along the back wall and then goes a round the turnback curve and enters the yard, you could have it run 7" below the yard, and have several staging tracks up front, where you can reach. If you are interested but can't quite see what I'm trying to say, I'll post a crude drawing. But I don't know if this will appeal to you at all.

[Russ Bellinis]

Keep in mind that just because a yard is double ended doesn't mean that all tracks need to be double ended. You could double end the first three tracks and make #4 & 5 single ended tracks giving more room to them. The other method of increasing the size of the yard in the same space is to use a compound ladder where the first turnout is a "Y" switch (takes up less length than a regular switch with one straight & one diverging route) and the routes off of the "Y" switch split into to more tracks. In fact if you used three "Y" switches at each end, you would probably cut the length of the ladders by 1/2.

[Saltwater Cowboy]

Thanks for the ideas Gary and Russ! I certainly would like to "see" exactly what you fine designers mean! It's certainly easier to visualize with a pic reference even if it is crude! My track plans are never ever really anything more than establishing where in proximity main lines will be along with in what spots or areas key features like yards and engine facilities will be. I don't have scenic elements set in stone yet and they will certainly have an effect on where rails will end up in the final plans. Staging yes: Has to be incorporated somehow. Even if only enough to have 2 trains made up and ready to head out. Am I interested in yours and everyone else's ideas on what you would do? Heck yeah!!! :mrgreen:
Thanks guys,

Matt

[Gary S]

But what about the fish!?

[Saltwater Cowboy]

OK Gary! We'll turn this into a 1 post "fishing forum" for a second! Ocean temp around 74 degrees. Folks are catching loads of flounder in bays and inlets. I fished the surf and hit into a bunch of kingfish each day. Here's two tales and unlike most fish stories these are true! Fishing around dark on Friday. Caught two kingfish keepers but released em; got to BSing with a passerby and as we watched the ocean, in the first set of breakers we saw 3 dorsal fins circling directly in front of us. Bout 20 yards away. Not dolphins. Watching the movement most certainly sharks of some variety. Probably duskies or sand tigers as that's what most guys who target sharks at night end up with. All the years I've been doing this and that was the first time I saw something like that. They run around the 4 to 6 foot range normally. The other tale was from last Sunday afternoon as a guy who was wetting his line down beach from me hit into a critter that bent his rod double. I dropped my rod to go help and this guy fought this thing for almost an hour and it took us northwards up the beach almost 1/4 mile! Towards the end of the battle, without ever breaking clear of the water we saw a ray that must have been at least 5 feet wing tip to wing tip. It sunk down and took this guy's line almost the entire way off the reel, No way to bring it in during low tide and up the drop off. Had to cut it loose. But what a spectacle! There must have been 75 to 100 people watching this struggle.
So....thats the end of the stories! And the end of this post!
Thanks for the interest and good night!

Matt