Lansdowne Ave. Industrial Lead

[TinGoat]

@TinGoat- Ok, now you're starting to scare me! Small world, I guess.

Do you know if it was rail served? The one I'm doing is freelanced, based on info from Lance Mindheim. It just uses ICI's name. It would be neat to have an actual prototype for it, though.

Yes, once upon a time the Benjamin Moore Warehouse was Rail Served. I'm not sure if it was the long spur up Cawthra Avenue from Canadian Pacific or a shorter siding off of Canadian National.

I've taken a Google Map and made some notes on it:
   

The West Toronto Junction is were 4 railways came together in the late 1800's.

Credit Valley Railway from the West, which turned south to Queen's Warf on Lake Ontario
Ontario & Quebec [owned by Canadian Pacific] from the east
Toronto Grey & Bruce [North/South]
Grand Trunk [North/South]

There were a lot of industries in the area, from the Paint Factory [Benjamin Moore] to Heintzman Piano and Cambell Milling [Cereal Factory]
Not to mention the Soap Factory and Canada Cycle & Motor Co. Ltd....

Explore Old Time Trains: West Toronto and Lambton.

[Canadian Shortliner]

@ TinGoat- Thanks for the links, lots of interesting info!

Well, this layout is already starting to become a nightmare and it's just barely started!

It started when I was testing some ways to make the two problem turnouts work. I got them to work by temporarily wiring the outside rails to the frog, however, to permanently fix the problem I had to remove pretty much all of the track from the layout to either add the feeders or replace the turnouts (good thing I used white glue this time!). I had two other #7 righthand turnouts I could use to replace them, so I decided to test those out before adding feeders to the problem turnouts, however the locomotive only ran a short distance before it stopped and I heard a click in the power pack. I decided to test the power pack on the layout, and as soon as I switched it back on, the locomotive took off at full speed and flew off the end of the layout, taking my entire rolling stock "collection" with it (fortunately only 3 boxcars) hock: . Luckily, all that was broken on the boxcars were the couplers, one axle, and the end steps on some of them, all of which I planned on replacing anyway. The locomotive still works, but the front is bent and will need the snowplow, coupler cut levers, and part of the walkway repaired .

Anyways, now I have no power pack, no useable freightcars, and almost no track on the layout. Don't worry though, I not discouraged. I was thinking of changing the trackplan a bit anyway, and I have plenty of extra power packs. It's kind of funny now that I think about it.

I've also learned an important lesson- add track bumpers before running trains!

[faraway]

The good news is you had all the tough luck of the next years in only one day. That ensures a trouble free building of the layout in the next years! Good luck

[ocalicreek]

I've also learned an important lesson- add track bumpers before running trains!

Did you also learn something about planning ahead? :o

Pictures, please.

Galen

[Canadian Shortliner]

@faraway- Let's hope so!

@ocalicreek- Yep, I've learned that lesson many times on previous layouts as well. In fact, as I was placing the loco on the track, I was thinking to myself "Maybe I should add some bumpers in case it goes off the edge", guess I should have listened to myself :oops: . Lickily damage has been kept to a minimal so far.

Here's some pictures of the prgress I made. I thought I had a picture of the completed trackwork, but I can't find it, so here's the mockup version which looks almost the same as the completed version. Sorry for the poor lighting and pictures, I need to work on my photography skills.





Here's what I have now that some of the track was removed (thankfully the white glue didn't do any damage to the track or foam like the caulking did on the old layout). I added a temporary shelf for the power pack. Once I decide whether I'll go with DC or DCC I'll make a permanent one. I have a Digitrax Zephyr, IR throttle, and decoder, but I may sell it as it will be overkill for my small layout (I originally bought it for my old 8x12) and I could use the money elsewhere.



Here are the slightly damaged freightcars (The L&N boxcar doesn't fit my era and will be made into a shed)...



and here's the slightly damaged Atlas GP38-2. Nothing that isn't repairable. I have a BLMA snowplow and cut levers, MT couplers, and a Gold Medal Models diesel detailing set that I want to add eventually, which will replace the damaged parts.



That's all there really is to show for now.

[tetters]

That looks very promising so far. I like the track arrangement.

I don't the the Zepher is overkill for your layout. I'd say its just perfect for it. I wouldn't be so quick to sell it.

[Canadian Shortliner]

Hello Everyone.

Well, it's been a while since my last post! If you're wondering what happened, I had decided to switch to HO because I thought it would be more suited to what I wanted to do, and ended up buying an Athearn GP40 at a trainshow. I made that decision on a whim a loco without orderthough, since I decided only a few days before the show to switch scales, as it would be the only chance I would have to get a loco without ordering online. I soon realized that was a bit of a mistake though, because I decided to stay with N scale when I found HO scale to be a bit big for what I wanted. Fortunately I should be able sell the loco and recover the cost though, since I didn't run it off the table this time .

Anyways, today I got back to work on the layout. I made some slight changes to the trackplan, such as replacing the team track and the Korex plant with a scrap yard/team track (which one it is depends on how I feel that operating session) and added a section of street running. Other than a few other minor tweaks it's basically the same the same.



In addition, I've found the solution to the turnout problems. Like BR60103 said, the polarity has to change with the points, so I'm going to make a switch that will do that. Currently I'm working on designing a manual switch machine using some parts I've found around the house. As soon as it's finished I'll be able to finish the trackwork and have some pictures up. I'm finished my exams for first semester in Grade 11, and I don't start semester 2 until Thursday, so I'll have plenty of time. Oh, and my power pack mysteriously started working again after leaving it for a week :mrgreen:.

Finally, I also made the decision to sell my DCC system and IR throttle, along with a few other things I bought a few years ago but never used or opened. I figure that the stuff I could buy (rolling stock, scratchbuilding supplies, etc.) with the extra funds from selling the DCC stuff would benefit the layout more than having DCC would. DC will do what I want just find

[Brakie]

Can I assume these are the Atlas turnouts with the big cast frog and the eyes at the side for the screws? It does matter where you feed from as the polarity has to change with the points. I'm not sure how Atlas arranged this to begin with (the ones I remember were dead).

David,I think Jason is using C55 if so there will be no "big cast frogs"..C55 is the top end N Scale track.