A hole in the wall X4 - a liftout bridge (page 12)

[Russ Bellinis]

Just a little industrial scene I'm trying to lay out...

That will become an interesting industrial area. How about the massive white and light gray pipes in the foreground? Is there a special reason to be so much bigger than the usual silver pipes on the right hand in the background? Might be insulated pipes for very cold fluid?

I don't know anything about chemical plants or refineries, but logic suggests that thick heavy oils like gear lube might use larger diameter pipes than lighter products like gasoline, diesel fuel, paint thinners, and kerosene.

[TrainNut]

Absolutely. Thanks for the link Kevin. While it's a bit more expensive than the T scale track, I wish I'd of been privy to this before. Using the engine and the cars is a definite possibility though.

[TrainNut]

I don't know anything about chemical plants or refineries, but logic suggests that thick heavy oils like gear lube might use larger diameter pipes than lighter products like gasoline, diesel fuel, paint thinners, and kerosene.

I'm still waiting for new tenants to occupy the larger building on the left so as of yet, I'm not sure what will be taking place there. I can also say that there are underground pipes connecting the facility to the refinery but I'd rather use some sprue pieces to construct overhead pipes for more interest. Still learning... I almost stopped by a facility in central Phoenix the other day to see if they wouldn't give me a little tour just so I could learn a little more.

[TrainNut]

FWIW - The refinery scene consists of 6 different kits and 3, 35mm film cannisters. Nothing has been glued down yet as I keep looking at the pictures and keep finding stuff that bugs me that needs fixed. Argh, at least the hard parts done... on to the details.

[Trucklover]

That Chemical plant is sweet!! Nice work, all the tanks and piping really make that scene look awesome!!

[Steamtrains]

Quote: "The refinery scene consists of 6 different kits and 3, 35mm film cannisters. Nothing has been glued down yet as I keep looking at the pictures and keep finding stuff that bugs me that needs fixed. Argh, at least the hard parts done... on to the details."

Why is it that we see things in pictures that we don't catch when looking at the object itself..?? I know that happens to all of us....We look at a picture and say.."How did I miss that..!?!?"

That whole refinery scene is awesome...!!

[nachoman]

Why is it that we see things in pictures that we don't catch when looking at the object itself..?? I know that happens to all of us....We look at a picture and say.."How did I miss that..!?!?"

That whole refinery scene is awesome...!!

Another of those unappreciated modeling tools. A decade or more ago, few people had digital cameras. One needed to have a somewhat decent SLR camera in order to take close-up layout photos. And then it would take days to get the film developed, and when it was usually to small prints that didn't show detail that well. Now, everyone has a digital camera. Even the point and shoot ones can take decent layout photos, and they can be instantly viewed on a computer screen. I think photos have led people to demand higher levels of detail from both the things they build and the things they purchase. Before people viewed their trains only with their 20/20 (or worse ), now they can view them many times their actual size on their computer screen.

[MountainMan]

The smallish sized track is T-scale (1:450) and in N scale it measures out to 2' between rails (Nn2). My thoughts were that it would be used by a yard goat and a few utility cars for moving chemicals and yard supplies around the facility. Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to make the yard goat and accompanying cars. It might be a while before I get to that.

You may want to look at this M-track stuff from the N Scale Architect. It may not be the exact same size, but may be close:

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I have never bought anything from them, but they have some really cool looking stuff.

Good site - thanks!

[TrainNut]

Well, today I finally came to grips with the fact that I had not designed a place for my controllers anywhere on my layout and keeping them on my stool seat was not really a good long term idea.



So I ran down to my local Lowes and got some thinwall aluminum angle to build this nifty little tray.



I then butchered an opening into the fascia, notched one of the wooden members underneath and slid the tray in. You see, as the front edge of the tray drops down, the rear edge fits up inside the notch keeping the whole thing from sliding out and falling on the floor.



Finally, I dropped the two controllers into place.



Now all I've got to do is pull the tray back out to paint it to match whatever color I eventually pick for the fascia and put some trim around the edges of the hole to clean it up. Now I can move on to running bus wires and hooking up the track leads.

[Gary S]

Okay, that is one very neat idea. Great job TN. But I have to ask... that aluminum angle from HD is darned expensive, isn't it?

[nachoman]

Okay, that is one very neat idea. Great job TN. But I have to ask... that aluminum angle from HD is darned expensive, isn't it?

Depends on how much you need. You can usually find metal cheaper if 1) you are buying larger quantities 2) you are willing to drive further. There are a few metals suppliers in town, but one may be forced to buy at least a 10 foot length of something, or else pay to cut it shorter. On the other hand, I have gone to a nearby metal supply store and they have given me scraps of metal for free. But, spending the extra 5 bucks at home depot may be worth it if it save a trip to the other side of town. Nice craftsmanship on that, BTW. It definitely looks better than the wooden shelf I built for my last layout .

I really like the way that yard and city scene is coming along. Those big buildings on the backdrop and the yard on the curve look real nice. If you get a few tall structures to go between the tracks and the backdrop, it ought to blend perfectly.

[TrainNut]

Okay, that is one very neat idea. Great job TN. But I have to ask... that aluminum angle from HD is darned expensive, isn't it?

Well shoot. Gary I went to go check my receipts and I think I found a receipt for everything else I've bought in the last month except that angle. If memory serves, it was about a buck a foot and I bought an 8' piece.

[Russ Bellinis]

I don't see a pic of the drawer in the closed position. Is it easy to get your fingers in to open it? If not, a drawer pull would be easy to install on the tray.

The problem with aluminum for a big project is that you design the project by length and size of shapes, but the aluminum is sold by weight. I'm responsible for a craft program at a children's camp in the mountains here in So Cal. One of the favorite crafts for the boys at camp is pinewood derby cars and of course we have a race at the end of each week of camp. The track has to sit out in the weather, and we went through three wooden tracks in less than 10 years time. The wood just doesn't weather the snow very well, and a new track would deteriorate rapidly beginning with the first winter it was left out.

I decided to build a track out of aluminum from the profits turned by the craft program. The camp is non-profit, so profits are put back into the program. I had about $1500.00 in the craft account, so I went in to an aluminum dealer that we used at work to order the aluminum to build the new track. I ordered out the aluminum and "prayed" that I had enough money for the project. The bill came to $1100.00! That track has been up for 10 years or better and I just need to replace the steel screws that hold it all together from time to time as they rust out. I think that so far I have replaced 6 screws and nuts.

[TrainNut]

I don't see a pic of the drawer in the closed position. Is it easy to get your fingers in to open it? If not, a drawer pull would be easy to install on the tray.

It's not a drawer... fixed position. There is a 2x4 directly behind it anyways so I couldn't turn it into a drawer very easily. At least not at that location.

[P5se Camelback]

I've gotta ask ...

Looking at what you've got in that tray, are you running DC and DCC? hock: :?:

How exactly do you do that? :?: