In the South

[P5se Camelback]

I just went back and reviewed the journey your layout has taken. Only by paying careful attention to the track work could one guess that what you have now is the same basic layout ...

....... simply amazing!

[faraway]

I just went back and reviewed the journey your layout has taken. Only by paying careful attention to the track work could one guess that what you have now is the same basic layout ...

....... simply amazing!

You are right. I did not change the track layout since June 2009 (That was when I had to restart all over because the entire flat was reworked). Only two stub tracks got moved by 1". I like it very much to work on a layout without having the trouble of track laying, wiring, no running trains for weeks etc. You may say my layout is under constant evolution but no revolution/rebuild from scratch
However, the need for a complete rebuild is growing every day a little bit and some morning I will wake up and it has become an urgent requirement. But in the mean time I have the benefit of working on a layout and having an operational layout at the same time.

[faraway]

Some details added and too much green left to the new building replaced by dust and concrete. The former detached parking lot became part of the industry. Looks like it is time for another fence. If I would live in Vernon or Commerce I would have a fence business




ps. I did find on one LAJ photo a palm tree somewhat similar to mine. But in general the palm tree in the LAJ area look very different. I understood they are "canary palm trees". Do you know a source to get 1:87 scale models of them?

[Gary S]

Hey Reinhard! You sure move fast. I'm still thinking of buying you an airline ticket and getting you to Houston, we'd have my train room filled with completed scenes in no time!

[faraway]

...You sure move fast. ...!

The opposite is true, I am stuck (in my head).
My next layout should be in the south, possible the present time (wanna run Genset when Atlas delivers and keep my high cube and all door box cars), none fictional but aligned as far as possible and practical on a prototype and an industrial area PLUS "some more" than switching only.

The idea in my head is the LAJ because it is a very compact switching layout PLUS UP and BNSF transfer runs. That would be more than my current layout and a good reason to tear down the current one and start it all over.
The problem is that I can not find a satisfactory way to have a compressed LAJ yard plus compressed LAJ industry on my space of 2' by 12'. So while I am stuck in the head I do some "finger training" to implement LAJ atmosphere into my current fictional layout.

Russ is planning something similar since a long time. But he is far ahead and got his plan in his head.

[Gary S]

I'm with you, Reinhard. To do full justice to the LAJ, you may need more room. Still, you should be able to get the flavor of the layout in a smaller space with reduced operational aspects.

Thinking... what's on the other side of your walls? How about cutting some holes and expanding?

[faraway]

...... what's on the other side of your walls? ...

A wild tiger named Barbara

[Gary S]

...... what's on the other side of your walls? ...

A wild tiger named Barbara

[faraway]

You may want to follow some interesting Q and A session at the west coast rail forum ( http://www.westcoastrailforums.com/forum-60.html ). Some local guys from LA and some LAJ employee help me to understand the operation and the engines used over the time. A complicated puzzle to be matched to the engines available on the market.

[faraway]

I got some P2K AT&SF GP9 in zebra scheme at a good price. After replacing most axis and installing decoders a test drive was necessary.
Now, I did also put a bunch of 40' boxcars, Santa Fe caboose and some vehicles and truck of about 1960 period on the layout.

Does it look sound or strange or can "shoe box buildings" be used on a 1960 layout? I would like to read your opinion.





ps. No, I do not intent to go permanent back to 1960. This is only a test for a possible future layout. It might be interesting to have some kind of that buildings on another than a modern layout.
Yes, I will put the year 2000 engines, cars and vehicles back on the layout within the next 30 minutes.

[shortliner]

Reinhard - on RMweb <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/">http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/</a><!-- m --> (note the site is offline till tomorrow) in the overseas modelling section someone is doing a LAJ layout in a similar space to you - you won't need to be a member to look in there when the site is back up - If I remember (memory is starting to go you know! ) I'll post a direct link

[Russ Bellinis]

Reinhard, I'm not sure completely, but I think concrete tilt up (the term we use for what you call "shoebox") buildings were first used in the late 1940's or early 1950's. If tilt up construction wasn't used that early, they would have had poured concrete walls that look very much like tilt up.

I just read about tilt up construction on Wikipedia. The first tilt ups were built in the US in 1905, but the construction method really caught on after WW2 with the development of cement mixing trucks that allowed the walls to be poured on site.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tilt_up">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tilt_up</a><!-- m -->

[faraway]

@shortliner, the side did not come up until now. I have to leave tomorrow for vacation. In any case, I will have a deeeeeeep look at it. Thanks for the pointer

@Russ, I did not mean it in a technical way. I know the technique of the buildings has been available at the end of the 60th. But does it look sound to you if you remember back? Is that the way industrial areas might have looked at that time or were brick buildings still dominating?

Just another short question, what did you do with brick building in the hot south? Did you paint them in a light/white color? I could not find older industrial photos from south Texas or California.

ps. I know, the bill board does not match the 60Th. It is far to modern.

[Russ Bellinis]

LAJ runs primarily in a small group of cities. There is Vernon, City of Commerce, Maywood, and I think Cudahy. I'm not sure about the last one, and just recently found out that they ran into Maywood. Vernon is the oldest city and has the most brick buildings. What tilt up there is in Vernon is the result of demolishing brick buildings to replace with tilt up. I think the reason is that the owner or leaser needed more space than was offered in the original brick building, and it was less expensive or easier to demolish the old and build fresh from scratch. In addition retrofitting old brick to new earthquake standards may have been more expensive than doing demolition and rebuilding.

City of Commerce was a small farming area until after WW2 when it started to be built up. The result is that I don't remember seeing any brick buildings in the City of Commerce.

As far as whether the brick was painted or otherwise treated for cooling or heating in weather extremes. Most painting of the bricks is done for esthetic reasons only. If a building houses a wholesale or retail business or offices, it was probably retrofitted with air conditioning. Brick is a very good building material for high temperature application because of it's mass. It takes a long time for the brick to heat through, or to cool off. The result is that it tends to stay cooler in summer, and warmer in winter.

[tetters]

Reinhard,

Your layout looks amazing. I love that access road with the fence and stop sign in the first and second pictures. Its details like that, that do it for me. Plus everything else is top notch!