Sýnir færslur með efnisorðinu Track plan. Sýna allar færslur
Sýnir færslur með efnisorðinu Track plan. Sýna allar færslur
fimmtudagur, 9. júlí 2015
Flipping the Yard?
I've discussed some of the frustrations I have with the main yard scene on the layout in previous posts.
Bob Sprague, who's had a number of layout designs published in MR over the years, came by a few months ago and after we reviewed the list of what was bothering me (outlined in more detail below) he prepared this drawing showing a possible solution. This drawing shows the "main peninsula" exactly as it exists. Changes to the main peninsula are off the table.
The top wall and left side walls (relative to the drawing above) basically the location of the main yard does not reflect the current state of the railroad. At this point the station "wye" scene (not actually a complete wye) is where the turntable is shown on this plan - the turntable is in the upper left hand corner.The south-end staging yard is currently on a stub-ended shelf that juts into the middle of the furnace room. This drawing shows a revision to the staging yard that wraps the line around the furnace and creates a double-ended fiddle yard on one end.The other change on this plan from what's in the basement presently is the right side of the room (relative to the drawing) - currently the north end staging yard is along that wall - I'd like to move that from the wall to another location. Pluses to the current arrangement:
1. Current arrangement represents the "prototype" orientation of White River Jct. - from the north you go through the CV yard, past the engine terminal and then arrive at the station.
Cons to the current arrangement:
1. The station in its current location is kind of hidden - the proposed plan would make the station - a signature scene - the first thing you see when you walk down the main aisle.2. The current location of the turntable is too far from the aisle to effectively work as the "hostler" and there's no room for the roundhouse - which means this section of the layout languishes simply because I can't figure out how to make it work. And frankly we never seem to use the turntable during an op session.
In essence the main issue is the station is a "curved scene" - the curve in front of the station is a longtime favorite of prototype railfans - and the same north yard is an inherently straight scene - (on the prototype it's arrow straight for a couple of miles).
Naturally, I ended up with the "straight" scene in the corner - meaning the yard has a 90-degree bend in the middle.
There is one "con" to the proposed new arrangement - actually two:
1. I'd have to scrap what I have and rebuild the thing
2. The orientation of the elements in WRJ don't match the prototype - you'd pass the station before arriving at the yard from the north - exactly the opposite of what really happens.
But, although the orientation will be reversed from the prototype the arrangement in the "new" plan has the yard and engine terminal in a "straight" part of the layout and the station in the corner.... I've been toying back and forth with these plans for several months - thought it was time to share it with the world and see what the reaction is.
Read More..
Bob Sprague, who's had a number of layout designs published in MR over the years, came by a few months ago and after we reviewed the list of what was bothering me (outlined in more detail below) he prepared this drawing showing a possible solution. This drawing shows the "main peninsula" exactly as it exists. Changes to the main peninsula are off the table.
The top wall and left side walls (relative to the drawing above) basically the location of the main yard does not reflect the current state of the railroad. At this point the station "wye" scene (not actually a complete wye) is where the turntable is shown on this plan - the turntable is in the upper left hand corner.The south-end staging yard is currently on a stub-ended shelf that juts into the middle of the furnace room. This drawing shows a revision to the staging yard that wraps the line around the furnace and creates a double-ended fiddle yard on one end.The other change on this plan from what's in the basement presently is the right side of the room (relative to the drawing) - currently the north end staging yard is along that wall - I'd like to move that from the wall to another location. Pluses to the current arrangement:
1. Current arrangement represents the "prototype" orientation of White River Jct. - from the north you go through the CV yard, past the engine terminal and then arrive at the station.
Cons to the current arrangement:
1. The station in its current location is kind of hidden - the proposed plan would make the station - a signature scene - the first thing you see when you walk down the main aisle.2. The current location of the turntable is too far from the aisle to effectively work as the "hostler" and there's no room for the roundhouse - which means this section of the layout languishes simply because I can't figure out how to make it work. And frankly we never seem to use the turntable during an op session.
In essence the main issue is the station is a "curved scene" - the curve in front of the station is a longtime favorite of prototype railfans - and the same north yard is an inherently straight scene - (on the prototype it's arrow straight for a couple of miles).
Naturally, I ended up with the "straight" scene in the corner - meaning the yard has a 90-degree bend in the middle.
There is one "con" to the proposed new arrangement - actually two:
1. I'd have to scrap what I have and rebuild the thing
2. The orientation of the elements in WRJ don't match the prototype - you'd pass the station before arriving at the yard from the north - exactly the opposite of what really happens.
But, although the orientation will be reversed from the prototype the arrangement in the "new" plan has the yard and engine terminal in a "straight" part of the layout and the station in the corner.... I've been toying back and forth with these plans for several months - thought it was time to share it with the world and see what the reaction is.
mánudagur, 20. október 2014
The Layout-At-A-Glance
Prototype: Roxbury Subdivision of Central Vermont Railway
Locale: White River Junction � Richmond, VT (not all towns modeled)
Period: September, 1954
Scale: HO (1:87.1)
Layout Size (roughly): 15 x 48 with a stub ended staging yard in the utility room
Style: Around the walls with center peninsula
Benchwork: Open grid
Roadbed: Cork, trimmed to width of ties
Track: Primarily Micro Engineering Code 70 w/#6 turnouts � with some Peco Code 83 curved turnouts
Mainline Run (approx.): 150' (north staging entrance to south staging entrance)
Maximum Grade: 0%
Minimum Radius: 32� main; 24� industrial sidings
Power & Control:Easy DCC (CVP Products) DCC, manual point-thrown turnouts
Backdrop: Handpainted on drywall (on walls) and 3/16" Masonite on center peninsula
Scenery: Combination of cardboard lattice and plaster cloth or pink foamboard in open areas with Florist foam in heavily wooded areas
_______________________________________________
As this blog closes in on 170,000 unique visits I'm amazed that so many are so interested in what I'm doing. I only hope the readers of this blog get some inspiration and ideas for their own modeling efforts - even in those cases where I provide an example of what NOT to do!
For my part I learn a little about the layout, and some things about myself, from each post I write. Reading through each line in the above offers some interesting insights hidden just behind the rather terse descriptions.
For example, when I started building this layout I thought I would handlay most of the turnouts - over time I've found I prefer using prefab track wherever possible. I have some handlaid turnouts and they work fine, but I don't relish the thought of handlaying turnouts, so I don't do it. At this point I think there's two or three handlaid turnouts on the layout - all in White River Junction.
I also find it's easy enough to transition from code 70 to code 83 that I've been happy with installing Peco code 83 turnouts where needed to match the track geometry. When I started I was hung up on having everything code 70 since it "matched" - some paint and ballast and I find I have to look for the transitions between the various rail sizes to find them.
Writing the "Scenery" description was the most telling - I use any of several scenery methods depending on the scene, the material I have on hand, and what I feel like working with at the time. I'm pretty sold on florist foam for areas that I know will be heavily forested - but otherwise it doesn't matter much whether I use plaster cloth or pink foamboard. A coat of paint and some ground texture and the results look the same.
This list was prepared strictly for the blog. At this point there's no plans to do a "layout visit" type article on the layout - the layout simply isn't far enough along and, frankly, I'm not sure it would be worthy of such publicity. My efforts on the layout tend to show up from time to time in my Getting Real column in Model Railroad Hobbyist. That seems to be enough exposure. Besides, I'm having too much fun sharing my efforts through this format.
föstudagur, 5. september 2014
Layout Design: White River Junction in a single-car garage
I came across it the other day and thought I'd post it here.
If there's one thing I'm not entirely happy about with the current layout it's the staging at the two ends of the railroad - I doubt the answer lies in the arrangement shown here, but I came across this plan the other day and thought I'd post it here in case you've ever pondered how to capture much of the action, if not all the tracks, at White River Junction. mánudagur, 4. ágúst 2014
Maine Two-Foot Adventure
In it I mentioned one of the first plans Iain Rice and I collaborated on was for an On2 theme layout. These collaborations were pre email and were done with fax machines, hand-written notes and sketches. He would have an idea for a layout theme - usually something pretty esoteric, and I'd dig up whatever photos, maps, and the like I could find. This On2 plan was one of the more unusual, at least it seemed so at the time.
Since I worked down the hall from HOn30" pioneer and Maine Two-Footer expert Bob Hayden there was no lack of prototype information and inspiration. I even owned a couple of brass On2 engines at the time, and was contemplating buying the then-new Car Shop SR 2-6-2. Those models are referenced by Iain in his note below.
I was actually thinking of building this plan as an MR project layout. (The reason for the "no wider than 16 foot limit" I put on Iain's plan).
As it turned out, the plan was never published and I obviously never built the layout. Although a neat plan that would make an interesting layout On2 was just a bit too exotic for an MR project layout. Today, of course, On30 offers a viable alternative with the obvious compromise in track gauge. But at the time On30, at least the Bachmann commercial models didn't exist. In fact, the idea that a major manufacturer would introduce a line of O scale RTR narrow gauge equipment was the furthest thing from anyone's mind!
Besides, Iain had a lot of other plans with far more wide-ranging appeal - some of which are hinted at in the following portions of this note.
Here's Iain's note. I've included it word-for-word, complete with all the asides and inside jokes:
To Marty McGuirk, Supreme Associate Editor, etc� etc� Model Railroader Magazine, Kalmbach Publishing World HQ
From: Iain Rice, UK.
Marty -
Here are a few sketches and ideas, as promised a while back. The main drawing is the 1/4" scale Sandy River layout, which is actually, strictly speaking, based on the Franklin & Megantic. You may be aware of the projected Franklin and Somerset extension of this, which was going to run from East Strong to New Portland, Me. They never built it (more's the pity), but I don't see why it shouldn't come to life in model form. This scheme is for Franklin Junction which, in my version of things, is where a kick-back branch cut off north up the Carrabasset and Gilman Rivers towards Lexington, where there was (of course) a huge lumber mill.
In this proposal, the main line from Strong comes in over the covered bridge (a model of the one at Phillps, Me, on the Phillips & Rangeley section), while the branch from Lexington also comes over the river slightly downstream on a sheathed trestle (a must have, ala Frary and Hayden!) The main line would carry on to New Portland behind the roundhouse, but if there's no room for any staging at this end (you said max length of 16 feet) then the story goes that the traffic to Lexington grew and grew but that from New Portland never came up to scratch. So now the section from Franklin Junction to New Portland is laid up, and trains on the busy line from East Strong to Lexington have to reverse or connect at Franklin.
As elsewhere on the SR&RL, the junction station (as at Strong, Phillips) has become the centre of operations, with the roundhouse, shops, and so forth. Excuses, excuses! I note that you have SR No.10, an outside-frame Baldwin 2-4-4 Forney, and B&SR No. 8, ditto. Well, the Franklin & Somerset would need power, so they looked about and lo! a big modern engine like No. 8 would be just the ticket. So Baldwin got the order for an identical 38-tonner. Didn't they?
Of course, the engine you really need for this layout is SR No. 16, the 2-6-0. That spent most of its time on (or, almost as much, off) the F&M section. But the 2-6-2 would be nice, so long as you don't go around curves too quick - she's awfu' wide! A pukka F&M 0-4-4T Forney would be nice, but the line seemed to rely on Sandy River power most of the time. So does the F&S, needless to say.
The control location and access to the fiddle yards is a tad unusual, although I've used the scheme successfully a time or two before. It's good for exhibitions, where you can keep on eye on the trains and the prying fingers at the same time. Hope it's of some use.
Right. The other two scribbles. The first of these is for an idea for a small try-out layout for P87 fine scale standards with a Maine coast setting�..
[Note: In this same note Iain went on to describe what became his multi-part P:87 MEC project layout, and also sent along sketches for several 4 x 8s that we ended up publishing. One of them, the Lilliput Logger, has proven to be a real favorite. ]
Best Regards,
Iain
If I was going to build this layout today I'd opt to go with On30 for the reliability/availability of the equipment and ignore the error in the track gauge. I'd also use an approach similar to the one my friend Bernie Kempinski took with his McCook's landing project - a stand alone portable layout with an integrated lighting/backdrop arrangement.
mánudagur, 29. apríl 2013
Town Track Diagrams
One of the most common questions operators ask on a layout is "Where am I?" The builder forgets that he knows where every town is in relation to every other point on the railroad, but it may not be terribly obvious to a visiting operator.
This is a sample of one of the town schematics I'm making for each town on the layout. I'm still tweaking these - but this is the one that's mounted in front of Everett. Note the direction arrows on the "station sign" - as you look at the layout "North" is always to your right. It also shows the names of the tracks, the car capacity, and the locations and names of the various industries, along with any specific car spots within that industry. Ultimately these will also include street names for grade crossings, and trackside facilities like water towers, stations, and the like.
The various spots represent different doors or loading/unloading equipment. The waybill specifies the specific spot the customer wants the car. Makes switching much more interesting than simply shoving all the inbound cars into one track.
föstudagur, 8. mars 2013
Course Correction
As some of you might know, I'm one of several columnists who write a column called "Getting Real" for Model Railroad Hobbyist, the online model railroad magazine. My fellow columnists are Mike Rose, Jack Burgess, Nicholas Muff, and Tony Thompson. We rotate the column, so no one contributor has to come up with a column each and every month. It's also interesting to get different perspectives on the subject of prototype-based model railroading.
The March 2013 issue has a long column on the process I went through designing, building, redesigning and rebuilding my Central Vermont Winooski sub.
If you haven't seen it, check it out HERE.
Read More..
The March 2013 issue has a long column on the process I went through designing, building, redesigning and rebuilding my Central Vermont Winooski sub.
If you haven't seen it, check it out HERE.
laugardagur, 9. febrúar 2013
Updated Track Plan
Thanks to Bernie Kempinski's skills with Illustrator we're able to present this first look at the "as built" track plan for my Central Vermont. Obviously, the White River Junction and south staging portions of the drawing are not complete.
For fun, compare this to the "draft" track plan that was one of the first posts on this blog. Although some things have changed, most notably the addition of White River Junction and moving Essex from one side of the railroad to the other, the basic plan has been unchanged.
Lesson learned - Don't wait until you have the "perfect design" to begin construction. No battle plan survives contact with the enemy...and no model railroad is ever built precisely to the original drawing.
Read More..
For fun, compare this to the "draft" track plan that was one of the first posts on this blog. Although some things have changed, most notably the addition of White River Junction and moving Essex from one side of the railroad to the other, the basic plan has been unchanged.
Lesson learned - Don't wait until you have the "perfect design" to begin construction. No battle plan survives contact with the enemy...and no model railroad is ever built precisely to the original drawing.
mánudagur, 28. janúar 2013
Everett, Vermont
 |
| Everett, Vermont, looking south. The paper mill will be partially represented with a photo backdrop. I'm getting really sick of looking at pink foam! I bet you are as well! |
I also wanted to have a "destination" industry somewhere on the railroad. A destination industry is a single large complex that offers a lot of switching. I intend tos in Everett before returning to White River. I decided on a paper mill. There were paper mills on the CV, but not on the section of the railroad I'm modeling, so the industry is freelanced. Plans call for a dedicated mill turn that leaves White River yard, works the mill and industrial tracks in Everett before returning to White River. Another reason for the freelanced town is a little more pragmatic. I've collected a number of structure kits over the years - while some of them (a generic "store" for instance) are useable in any town on the layout, I wanted one place on the layout where I could readily include some of these kits. The buildings shown in these photos are for "locating" purposes only. I may or may not place them in the locations shown - in fact I welcome any suggestions on town/road building arrangements!
But you can see the basic setup- the paper mill complex in the corner; a small station; a couple of stores - represented by boxes at this point!; a freight house, and a feedmill. The feedmill is a kit from Stella Scale Models. Although not a Vermont prototype it's a very typical small town feedmill.
 |
| Williams Creek is just around the bend. The mockups in the distance are downtown White River Junction, Vt. |
sunnudagur, 26. ágúst 2012
To-do List Progress - realigning mainline
In a previous post I mentioned there were several things I wanted to get done on the railroad before moving forward with plans to start test operating sessions in the fall.
The first of these to float to the top of the To-Do list was a realignment of the mainline on the window side of the peninsula. Somehow I'd ended up with an odd little "jog" in the trackwork - it wasn't horrible but it just didn't look right.
The plan for this locale has evolved over the two year history of the layout. There will be a one or perhaps two spurs leading to older industries, things that are only switched occasionally by a wayfreight a couple of times a week. There will also be a bridge, a rock cut, and a small country store and perhaps a gas station. A very simple scene intended to place "something, but not much" between the miles of open country running.
Here's what the odd track alignment looked like when I started this morning (Apologize for the mess, I simply piled stuff out of the way:
I assembled a painted a Walthers single-track through truss bridge and started on the abutments (from styrene.) I also reworked the track alignment. It may be hard to see, but this is what the new alignment will look like. You can see the old alignment if you follow the blue lines at the end of the cork roadbed in the center of the picture. (Note: the code 100 flex is simply pinned in an approximate location at this point):
I expect I'll have to handlay the turnouts to get the track flow right. Once the abutments are complete I'll carve the riverbed and install the bridge.
Progress is good. More reports to follow.
mánudagur, 2. janúar 2012
3-d Planning
Over the last couple of weeks I've managed to find a fair amount of time to work on the layout. Although I did get a fair start at kitbashing the Cooley-Wright foundry for Waterbury, I haven't actually completed any projects in the last two weeks - and nothing is even remotely close to be being ready for photography.
Yesterday Dave Emery came by and we did some "3-D" planning and arranging of the mill stream scene. This scene, which is essentially the back half of the Waterbury peninsula, is intended to showcase several water-powered (or originally water-powered) New England mills. With Dave' help I was able to identify the key elements and get a good idea of how the scene will look. Some of the "mockups"we used were more than a bit unorthodox, including structure kit components, boxes, folded up pieces of paper, and even locomotive boxes! But even these unusual mockups served their purpose - letting us visual how the scene and each element would look. I'll try to get the new version of Illustrator loaded into the computer later and see if I can sketch up a version of the resulting plan.
Over the last couple of weeks I've studied the planned White River Junction scene. Without going into a lot of detail, while WRJ may "fit" in the space, it will never look "right" to me. I've been stressing over that scene for months - which includes full sized mockups of the key buildings. Anytime you get that stuck on a layout project it's a sure sign something just isn't right.
The solution?
The layout needs a freight yard and some sort of engine facility to execute the planned operating scheme - I also want to include a single large industry that takes a variety of freight cars. Both of these items can be found in Palmer, Mass. So, the yard will be based on the CV yard in Palmer - a small yard that is ideally suited for a model railroad. It was even used as a base for several local freights during my era - the exact same purpose I need a yard to serve on my layout. The single large industry is covered by the Spencer Wickwire Plant.
I've started mocking up the scene this morning and have found it fits much, much better than WRJ did. With WRJ I was constantly fighting the space - that's not been the case with Palmer.
For a track plan, I didn't have to look any further than my the article I co-authored with Iain Rice in own Model Railroad Planning 2000. The first Southern New England layout, featured in that issue, included a version of Palmer yard. The dimensions are almost the same!
So in a way I've come full circle!
Read More..
Yesterday Dave Emery came by and we did some "3-D" planning and arranging of the mill stream scene. This scene, which is essentially the back half of the Waterbury peninsula, is intended to showcase several water-powered (or originally water-powered) New England mills. With Dave' help I was able to identify the key elements and get a good idea of how the scene will look. Some of the "mockups"we used were more than a bit unorthodox, including structure kit components, boxes, folded up pieces of paper, and even locomotive boxes! But even these unusual mockups served their purpose - letting us visual how the scene and each element would look. I'll try to get the new version of Illustrator loaded into the computer later and see if I can sketch up a version of the resulting plan.
Over the last couple of weeks I've studied the planned White River Junction scene. Without going into a lot of detail, while WRJ may "fit" in the space, it will never look "right" to me. I've been stressing over that scene for months - which includes full sized mockups of the key buildings. Anytime you get that stuck on a layout project it's a sure sign something just isn't right.
The solution?
The layout needs a freight yard and some sort of engine facility to execute the planned operating scheme - I also want to include a single large industry that takes a variety of freight cars. Both of these items can be found in Palmer, Mass. So, the yard will be based on the CV yard in Palmer - a small yard that is ideally suited for a model railroad. It was even used as a base for several local freights during my era - the exact same purpose I need a yard to serve on my layout. The single large industry is covered by the Spencer Wickwire Plant.
I've started mocking up the scene this morning and have found it fits much, much better than WRJ did. With WRJ I was constantly fighting the space - that's not been the case with Palmer.
For a track plan, I didn't have to look any further than my the article I co-authored with Iain Rice in own Model Railroad Planning 2000. The first Southern New England layout, featured in that issue, included a version of Palmer yard. The dimensions are almost the same!
So in a way I've come full circle!
miðvikudagur, 16. nóvember 2011
Hectic Fall . . .
I can't believe we're almost halfway through November. I haven't gotten much done model railroading-wise in the past month - we had two trips to Charleston, SC - one to see my youngest son (who's a senior at The Citadel) get his school ring on Parent's Weekend, the second was last weekend to attend my 25th reunion. In between I went to the MER convention in Cary, NC. The one weekend we were home was spent doing fall outdoor chores.
We have family visiting for Thanksgiving week next week - so essentially November will be over in no time. To top it all off, work has been really nuts lately.
Bernie Kempinski and I plan to visit and operate on some out of town layouts the first weekend in December - once that trip is done I think I'll stay home for a while!
The shorter days and cooler temps have me all fired up to hunker down and work on some models - but things have just been too hectic.
I have had a few odd moments to look over the "alcove" area. The current layout plans called for putting Essex Junction along the "long wall" at the entry to the layout area. But that area is not ideal since it's almost too much room for Essex Junction, and the wye would loose one of it's legs. Why not, I thought, move Essex to the alcove - leaving room for me to include White River Junction (or at least the CV-centric elements of WRJ) where I was planning to put Essex Junction?
Some early tests with mockups show this might work - here's an early sketch showing where Essex Junction would end up. (After looking at this with the full-size mockups, I think the Essex Junction trainshed would actually be better on the peninsula (across the aisle from where it shows on this diagram):
Read More..
We have family visiting for Thanksgiving week next week - so essentially November will be over in no time. To top it all off, work has been really nuts lately.
Bernie Kempinski and I plan to visit and operate on some out of town layouts the first weekend in December - once that trip is done I think I'll stay home for a while!
The shorter days and cooler temps have me all fired up to hunker down and work on some models - but things have just been too hectic.
I have had a few odd moments to look over the "alcove" area. The current layout plans called for putting Essex Junction along the "long wall" at the entry to the layout area. But that area is not ideal since it's almost too much room for Essex Junction, and the wye would loose one of it's legs. Why not, I thought, move Essex to the alcove - leaving room for me to include White River Junction (or at least the CV-centric elements of WRJ) where I was planning to put Essex Junction?
Some early tests with mockups show this might work - here's an early sketch showing where Essex Junction would end up. (After looking at this with the full-size mockups, I think the Essex Junction trainshed would actually be better on the peninsula (across the aisle from where it shows on this diagram):
þriðjudagur, 12. júlí 2011
Missed opportunities? What might have been?
When I tore out the upper deck (and frankly, most of the lower deck) on the layout last fall I seriously considered other options - some radically different than anything I've done previously. One possibility I contemplated was a East Tennessee & Western North Carolina RR layout in On30. I couldn't resist the Bachmann model of no. 11, and since I remember visiting "Tweetsie" in North Carolina with my kids when they were little - and even getting a few cab rides in no. 12 - it's always been a tempting theme for a layout.
Another possibility I hinted at in a conversation with Bernie Kempinski was an On30 layout that was patterned after the Maine Two-Footers. This certainly isn't the first time I've flirted with 2-foot modeling in 1/4" scale. Back in my MR days, the very first plan Iain Rice and I collaborated on was an On2 layout (this was the days before On30 took off) based on Phillips (o maybe Strong), Maine on the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes RR. It's never been published, but I did find the plan and have posted it here.
Bernie, always willing to be a trouble maker, and perhaps sensing a convert to O scale, quickly fired off a track plan for the layout area patterned after the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington. I'd forgotten about it until we were watching "Aerial America" on the Smithsonian Channel the other night. Basically, the series is an aerial tour of one state. the episode we saw was filmed in Maine and featured the a look at the Wiscasset waterfront.
Just for fun, and maybe to offer you some inspiration, I've included Bernie's trackplan here. The footpringt is very close to the current HO layout.
As I build my "simplified" layout - which still has several dozen turnouts and a lot of buildings I find a LOT that's appealing about the 15 or so turnouts on this layout.
But not this time - I have too much invested in the CV of the steam era to change at this point.
But I also think this will be the last CV layout - the next one (if indeed there is a next one) will likely be something very, very different.
So part of me wants to file this plan away on this blog so I can come back to it, just in case.
Read More..
Another possibility I hinted at in a conversation with Bernie Kempinski was an On30 layout that was patterned after the Maine Two-Footers. This certainly isn't the first time I've flirted with 2-foot modeling in 1/4" scale. Back in my MR days, the very first plan Iain Rice and I collaborated on was an On2 layout (this was the days before On30 took off) based on Phillips (o maybe Strong), Maine on the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes RR. It's never been published, but I did find the plan and have posted it here.
Bernie, always willing to be a trouble maker, and perhaps sensing a convert to O scale, quickly fired off a track plan for the layout area patterned after the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington. I'd forgotten about it until we were watching "Aerial America" on the Smithsonian Channel the other night. Basically, the series is an aerial tour of one state. the episode we saw was filmed in Maine and featured the a look at the Wiscasset waterfront.
Just for fun, and maybe to offer you some inspiration, I've included Bernie's trackplan here. The footpringt is very close to the current HO layout.
As I build my "simplified" layout - which still has several dozen turnouts and a lot of buildings I find a LOT that's appealing about the 15 or so turnouts on this layout.
But not this time - I have too much invested in the CV of the steam era to change at this point.
But I also think this will be the last CV layout - the next one (if indeed there is a next one) will likely be something very, very different.
So part of me wants to file this plan away on this blog so I can come back to it, just in case.
sunnudagur, 9. janúar 2011
From deconstruction to Construction
I've managed to round a corner of sorts. By the end of last week I'd finished all the "tear out" work and actually started to put things back together. Although I originally planned tosave a lot of existing trackwork, in the end it made more sense to simply scrape the track up and put it aside to reuse later.
Here are a few views showing how things looked in the layout room before Thanksgiving, and how they look today.
The peninsula lobe has been removed, and the peninsula benchwork now connects to the around the wall benchwork.
This had been the location of the Williams Creek bridge crossing scene - located on
the upper deck. The bridge, piers, and abutments will be reused, but the scene itself didn't make it:
As of today, here's what the view down the aisle is - the upper deck is gone, and the lower level track will be raised about 5" (when I install the new subroadbed):
The helix, at the "front door" to the layout area is gone, replaced by the framework for a new, wider peninsula (with aisles on both sides).
The benchwork that looks like it's "floating in air along the far wall is the former upper level staging yard. It's still there since frankly, it keeps it out of the way. The plan is to remove it, spin it 180-degrees, and reuse it as the new south end staging yard. It will end up along the same wall it is now, only about 20" lower and slightly to the right of its current position. Once the staging yard is moved, I'm going to install new backdrops down the center peninsula.
sunnudagur, 2. janúar 2011
Original SNE track plan
I never drew a complete track plan for the original layout, and frankly don't want to spend time doing one now. But the following will show how the layout fit the space. Please note that the around-the-walls area, including Thames Street and Montville were "single deck" - the
peninsula was actually a double-deck section.
I got as far as getting all the benchwork, most of the track (a few sidings remained to be added) and even some initial scenery in place before work came to a screeching halt summer. I knew something was bugging me about the layout, but could never figure out what it was.
At this point I'm busy rearranging the benchwork. I initially thought some of the track could be kept in place, but that was rapidly becoming an issue - so I ended up scrapping the entire layout down to the rough benchwork.
Once the layout room is presentable enough for pictures, I'll post some photos of the new, hopefully improved layout!
fimmtudagur, 23. desember 2010
Track plan
After some real frustration with my under construction Southern New England Railway layout, I decided to make some significant changes to not only the theme of the layout and the layout itself. For a little more detail on some of those changes see my Southern New England Railway blog post, here.
Currently, the basement looks like a bomb hit it - demo and/or reconstruction of model railroads is never pretty to look at, but I'm hopeful that like a Phoenix the new railroad will arise from the ashes "new and improved."
Seems appropriate to kick off this new blog with a look at the design for the revised layout. The footprint is similar in some ways to the existing layout, although there's no helix, and the peninsula connects to the around the wall portion of the layout at the opposite end of the room, relative to the former arrangement.
Here's a track plan showing the planned new layout arrangement. Note: This plan doesn't show all the details of every structure, siding, etc . . . and, I've deliberately left some "Towns" undetermined since I need to do some more research to narrow down the field.
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