Going Full Circle

Alright so for this post I would like to give a quick overview of how I have gotten the layout to go full circle again.

 

After all of the uncertainty that has arisen over the past couple of months with moving, I decided to bring the rest of the layout back to life.  In my previous setup, the connectors that ran from one end of the modeled layout around the room to the other were supported by angled shelf brackets that were secured to the wall studs.  This time around, I cannot do this as we may or may not be moving.  So now I had to come up with new methods.

 

I had some constraints.  First, I hate floor supports.  They and my toes do not get along.  Plus, the connectors will not see much weight.  So I wanted to avoid those as much as possible.  Second, I wanted to follow the rules of simplicity.  As few curved sections as possible, easy alignments, simple entrance/exits, that sort of thing.  Third, I had budget constraints.  Consume as little funds as possible.

This greatly limited my options but part of the fun I have with this hobby is learning new things.  So I turned to my trusty friend the internet and set out to find new possibilities and solutions.  After a few days of searching, several options presented themselves and I worked with them as best as possible.

 

To keep curved sections to a minimum, I built extensions to the exiting layout.  They are the standard 1x4 with ½” plywood fare I have been using.  I have removed the floor supports and added bracing to keep them level with the rest of the layout.  Track on top, and boom, done.

Next I took care of the long straight runs.  This got me a lot done without much invested.  The book shelf is a simple big box store setup.  It is a bit tall but it was all that was available.  I built some adjustable landing brackets and screwed them into the sides.  The boards are ½” plywood strips I had left over from the previous setup.  This whole thing took a night, including cutting work.  Very simple, even if it isn’t subtle.

 

 

After that I came to a challenge: a lightweight corner section that doesn’t require a whole lot of support.  Enter these neat modules I read about here.  They cover how to build them so I will not elaborate much.  I only have two thoughts.  1) the hot glue does a great job of holding and 2) do not use the 1/8” MDF board that I did.  Find some thin, cheap plywood and it will have a lot less saw dust and weight (I also used some Liquid Nail).  All things aside they are really a clever solution that does work.

 

 

Lastly, there is the biggest obstacle.  The lift bridge.  I really wanted to have a simpler way to get into and out of the room.  Before, I had a whole section of wood to manually lift out of the way after disconnecting and removing track.  Now I have this beauty.  More on it and its construction at a later time.

 

And there you have it.  How I built the layout back up to running capacity.  The past several weeks have seen many a train go over it after a little tweaking but it will do the job well.  Which of course means I am far too busy to blog because I am playing with my trains!

 

Random pic of the day!

 

This was actually taken today, 5/7 at Englewood Yard.  I have seen the Penn Central engine before. but this is the best perspective I have been able to get.  Very fortunate to have caught it.

Back up and running!

Man life is crazy.  So much has been going on, but fortunately some of it has been the trains.  Most importantly, the trains are back up and running again!

1989 pulls the official first train around the layout.  It is all tank cars, the most common car hauled on the SRR, part of how we got our name!

I will have more posts coming soon.  Lots to talk about!

Random picture of the day:

This the Southern Railway heritage engine by Norfolk Southern.  I caught this one outside of the Port of Houston grain terminal.  It was hidden behind an arriving grain train that sat for about ten minutes and then finally moved to reveal the prize! 

Trying Out Layout Lighting

Howdy!  Since I am down to a single module, I am using it as a test bed. 

One of those test items is a photo set.  I hope to at least be decent at taking train photos without post editing.  I have always admired photographers who can take really great photos and those who can do great Photoshop work and editing.  I am personally not interested in doing the editing work, I am not a huge fan of that sort of computer work.  I do however enjoy taking photos and getting the right one.  With that, I am going to practice taking model photos using this module.

I have tried getting good photos using my DSLR, a Canon T3i.  However, I have only gotten passable shots (at least in my opinion).  While I have a lot to work on, I have realized that one of the items that could help out is layout lighting!  I have LED bulbs in the room light fixture which put out a great white light, versus the yellowish of some bulbs.  It does a really nice job, but it doesn't provide quite enough light.  So, I built a layout lighting system.

The best part: I spent nothing on it!  It is entirely made from material I had on hand, mostly scraps.  I used some of the old wall supports to hold 1x2s out over the layout, about 20" long.  Then I used some leftover caulk and secured some old foam sheet to the out boards.  This is all supported by more 1x2 that is screwed into the layout.  Then I secured some of the LED strip lighting from my passenger car project, wired it all up, = and BOOM!  Layout lighting!  I added a strip of fascia to keep it nice looking.

The support.

 

Lighting turned off.

 

Lighting turned on.

 

It doesn't look like much in these photos but in person it is a huge difference.  There are six strips of LED lighting glued to the foam.  Very simple and easy.  Which makes me happy! 

 

I plan on doing this to all future layouts.  Also, there will soon be a backdrop but that is for another day!

 

Prototype photo!

 

Here I caught a pair of the HTRA MK1500D locos out of their natural habitat, and in a prime shot location.  Too bad I was driving and didn't have the nice camera.  So I grabbed this shot with my cell phone after I slowed to a crawl.  And yes I checked for other traffic!  Tthe HTRA locos and a BNSF genset move light to the repair shop of Englewood yard.



Last Post of the Year!

One last post everyone!  I have actually gotten a good deal done lately (by my standards, of course :) ).  I hope this means that 2015 will be just as productive!

First off is all of the replacement ties are complete and installed!  All over the layout there are no more gaps so I have begun putting in the masking tape for painting the track.  Once the taping is done, the modules will be removed one at a time and the track sprayed.  This will also give me a chance to put in new legs and get the remaining wall supports out of the way.  All of this will have pictures in a future post!

Now the only reason I got all of the ties finished is because of this beautiful device:

This is the Dremel Workstation.  More info is available here, but it works like your typical drill press.  The difference is the various things a Dremel can do and be, versus drill bits.  I put in the tungsten carbide cutting tool and went to town on those plastic ties!  I removed a small channel on either end where the rails will go and then flipped the piece over and removed a small bit from the bottom to allow it to slide in easier.  This Workstation is a wonderful accessory and I highly recommend it to anyone with a mating Dremel!

The third major completion is my first detailed locomotive!

I have been working on this particular locomotive sporadically over the past three years.  It started life as an Atlas Trainman GP38-2 in CSX YN3 paint.  I stripped that off and made it the first locomotive for the Spindletop Rail Lines, the previous name of the SRR.  At the time I had the idea of doing a green and orange paint scheme as you can see.  This one is not getting sound as it has all of the weights in tact and can pull like a six-axle engine.  Along the way I added Cannon & Co radiator and dynamic fans, grab irons, lift rings, pilot details, windshield wipers, sun shades, and other details.  But I am now calling this one finished as the ditchlights are lit!  This was my first experience with SMDs and magnet wires.  I got these pre-wired as I cannot hold my hands still enough to solder my own. 

I won't lie, I had a lot of fears about using these.  They are delicate, there is only an enamel coating on the wires, and they are pricey (or so I say).  However, that does not mean they do not work perfectly!  In fact, I kick myself for being such a wuss about getting these installed.  All future engines will most likely use these over bulbs.  They look great, were much simpler to use and install, and put out a great amount of light!

Anyways, thanks for reading this year and I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and good luck in your 2015 endeavors!



Liftout Section Guide

Today, I will talk about the liftout guide I built for my layout. 

There are many options for building alignment guides for liftouts.  A quick Google search can provide tons of different options and methods, and Google Images links to several great sites that provide a step-by-step breakdown on many methods.  Some use pin and tubing systems, others rely on hinges, and some have custom alignment brackets that even transfer power to the rails on the lift out!  No matter which option meets your need best, all use the same principles and can be suited to your tastes and budget

Now, I have no need at this point for something with power routing or 0.0001" tolerances or even anything with style.  My liftout guide is essentially temporary (like the liftout sitself) until I either build another section to cross to, or we move.  Either way, I went with something about as simple as it gets and it only took a few minutes to design and build!

It is simply a cobbled together assembly of scrap wood pieces.  I started out with a short section of 1x4 that was leftover from building the layout frames.  I drilled two holes a few inches apart and about little bit above the bottom of the board.  Then, using a scroll saw I cut two lines at about a 45 degree angle from the top to the holes and then one across from hole to hole.  The small trapezoid that this formed was screwed to the underside of the liftout plywood section, with the the long end against the plywood.  The larger piece was secured to the end of the layout.  The locations for both were fit up a couple of times to make sure that the tracks would align properly on top.  Once the liftout and layout were mated properly, I added a piece of laminate board to the front of the larger piece.  This keeps the liftout from sliding forward off of the layout in the case of an accidental bumping (this happens far more often than you think!).  Below are some pictures.

So there you have it!  A quick, robust lifout guide!


And now for the random pic of the day:

Yes I put in two!  It is because I am super excited to see some old-school power still being used.  BNSF 1607 is an SD40-2 that is being used in the Pearland Yard lately for heavy duty switching power.  It has twice as many horses under the hood as the Gensets it is working with so I am sure it has been coming in handy moving all of the long intermodals back and forth!

Trains are running again!

I have the trains going again! 

Actually, they have been going for some time now.  To be honest, I have spent all of this time running circles and switching out the yard and completely neglected updating the blog.  It has been an absolute blast!

I have had the yard and main line operational for a while now, but due to how I arranged the trackwork they could never really interchange.  So to fix this (and satisfy the need to just have trains running un-attended) I set up the leftovers of the original layout and added some new pieces.  The new pieces are built-to-fit sections that satisfied the constraints of the area.  They were also built with leftovers and look like it so don't get your hopes up for super fancy handi-work.  The first was on the back side of the room.  I used some 1x4s to build a curved section and topped it with some 24" radius Atlas Code 82 sectional track.  Then I secured it to the layout frame and set it on an existing wall support.  Some trial and error proved it needed some extra support so I added some legs and voila!

It is in the far corner and hard to see but it is there.

 

After that I put in the long straight-away seen above, and then the corner and last straight-away seen below:

 

Next up was the most difficult part: a lift out section.  I don't mind crawling under the layout any but if I am going to be in and out without much train action then I wanted to be able to quickly removed and replace anything across the entry way.  The below contraption is what I came up with.  It has the ame section track connecting to the layout, some flextrack to follow and transitions to a spare piece of Code 100 track that connects to the EZ Track.

 

To remove it, I pull back the joiners on the layout side and pop off the EZ Track and set it out of the way.  There is also a guide piece of wood under the layout end to make sure the bridge always settles into the right spot to align with the main.  I will get a picture of that up here next time.

So there you have it!  Trains are up and running along and I haven't had any problems with this setup.  One day it may all be replaced with more actual layout but for now I have what I need :)

Now for the random picture of the post:

 

This is a slug engine, with the various info here.  Note the removed fuel tank and blanked windows.  It seems to be paired with SD40N in front as there are a lot of pictures of the two together,  I caught these on a random freight heading south on the BNSF line along Mykawa Rd in Houston on 10/15/14.

 

Main Line is Done!

Well I finally finished off the main line a few days ago!  I am happy to be done with it as this allows me to get back to the rest of the train room.  In addition I also laid the passing siding and the fifth yard track.

Below are some pictures of the progress.

Here you can see the fifth yard track on the left of the shot as SRR GP39-2 #1989 idles with a short local on the main.

Here is a better view of the yard side.  To the conductor's side of SRR 1989 is where the lead to the plastic pellet plant will be. 

 

The new yard track on the left is blocked off electrically from the rest of the layout.  I plan on having this become a programming track in the future once I learn the electronics behind using three way switches.  That way it can also be a regular track if needed. 

 

Here is the other leg of the layout.  This is where the loco facility and local SRR field office will be located.  Coming from the left of the shot, the first turnout is to the siding then the second is the lead into the yard.  Back on the main are two #6s that will lead to as of yet undecided industries.

Lastly is a shot back towards the room entry of the yard.  The run-a-round track that is pictured can hold four 50' cars or three 60' cars as long as they are spotted correctly.

 

From here I am going to begin setting up temporary supports around the walls again so that I can get trains going in a loop.  I haven't decided whether or not to build more actual layout or not.  Too many variables in life right now.  Fortunately there are plenty of other things to do to this current part of the plan.  Starting with the supports and (unfortunately) cleaning up the train room.  It is a downright mess!

 

Finally, the random picture of the day: some fancy loads on bulkhead flats waiting to go South out of the BNSF Pearland yard.



Main Line has Begun Work

Work crews finally began construction of the main line! 

After months of planning, changing, analyzing, and more planning, the main line work has begun.  I have gotten the first straight away and about half of the big curve laid down, both roadbed and track. 

The above picture show the main on the right and the yard on the left, with only the straight part of the main line. 

The turnouts are Atlas #6, one for the passing siding (left hand) and one to go to future industries.  All mainline and industrial track will be code 83, mostly all Atlas product.  I used code 100 in the yard for reliability purposes.  Depending on this layouts success, I will most likely use code 83 for all future setups.

Here you can see the beginning of the curve.

Now you may be wondering "why is he making such a big deal about this curve?  It is just a curve."  You are mostly correct.  However, this is my FIRST flextrack curve.  The only curves I have laid before this were sectional.  So this is actually a big deal to me, and kind of scary since it has to align with a specific radius to make the plan work.  So go me for taking a new step!

So how did I go about making this curve?  Well, being an engineer by profession, I used my smarts (que laughter).  I built a radius tool and cobbled some supports together.  The tool is made using two nails, a screw, a pencil, and some leftover, small trim wood.  I nailed the pieces of trim together to be longer than the radius I needed (>42").  Then I drilled out a hole in one end and taped in a pencil.  On the other end I put the screw through the board at exactly 42" from the pencil tip.  Then I laid the board seen below on a shelf unit to act as a pivot point support.  Then I simply pushed the screw down in the board and ran the pencil between the straight lines guiding the main.  It worked like a charm.

Pencil end - being used

Pivot point support

Pivot point screw

Securing nails - watch out that they don't catch you.  They are pointy.

The pencil end.  What a quality taping job...

Now I need to finish the curve off.  I am following the recommended practices of connecting a soldering track as you go around the curve to keep a smooth connection point.  I will post again once that gets done.

And to finish things off, I want to start a new thing of ending posts with some proto shots I take on whims.  To start it off, below is PTRA 9609 crossing E Loop 610.  I got the shot while my wife was driving 70MPH so I am glad it came out as well as it did.  The unit is an MK1500D rebuild, and was hauling empty flats and gons from a pipe yard on 6/29/2014.

 

Until next time!

Making it modular

I have been slowly working on the layout these past months.  The biggest roadblock has been deciding the future of the layout.  We may be moving into a smaller house soon so I have been trying to figure out the best way to divide the layout into movable sections.  More on that other stuff later.

I had always planned on the layout being modular, as my wife and I's plan for our current living situation seems to be so fluid.  I built the frames individually, made track plans based the frame lengths, etc.  However, I went full bore on laying out the decking plywood and the track.  This turned out badly (read: stupidly) as cutting through track with standard cutting implements has proven ...difficult.  Most saw blades are too rough (too few Teeth Per Inch) and would tear the track up or separate it from the plywood.  So to make the layout "modular" I had to improvise ("as usual" he said disdainfully).

The biggest difficulty is cutting through the decking where track is already laid.  The best way I found was to cut the track was with a razor saw over where the modules meet.  Then I used a small drill bit and drilled through the plywood between and around the ties as much as possible.  The plywood was cut using regular hand and powered saws (the easiest part).  To finish it off, I used a hack saw blade to cut the plywood that was still connected beneath the track.  I would have used the razor saw but the blade is not deep enough to cut the track and plywood together.  I angled the hack saw blade in the existing cuts and slowly leveled it out as I cut upward.  It took awhile but it eventually worked.

 

 

So now that the layout is cut up, I can work on finishing the yard.  It works well right now but needs some tweaking.

For my final thought of the day: be sure that if you make your layout modular, you cut the decking before laying track.

Some Pictures for the Last Post

Alright y'all, are some pictures as I promised.

First is a shot of the layout construction progress. 

Aside from the messiness of the room, you can see how it is coming along.  About half of the decking of 15/32" plywood is attached and about 75% of the support frames are built.  I only have one more to go!

Due to space constraints I have scaled back the layout some.  It will now have three walls of layout and the fourth wall will be a connector for continuous running and where the work table will go.  However I do have a decent plan still.  The yard ladder has been built (it can be seen about halfway down the right side decking) and should be installed tonight if I can stay awake.

This is the re-motor project I am working on for the tunnel motor.  She didn't play well with my Genesis SD45-2 so I decided to put a Genesis motor in here.  The internet says that the Genesis motor fits RTR locos.  What they didn't say was that it takes some work...  More on that in a separate post.

And lastly, I randomly caught the Illinois Terminal heritage locomotive.  She unexpectedly passed me leading a train from the Texas City Terminal and by the time I caught up to her for a picture, this was the best I could do.  But I swear it is her!  Zoom in on the cab numbers!

And lastly, a shiny new BNSF Gevo near my work.

Now I am off to recover for an op session tomorrow on the Almeda Terminal & Gulf layout!

Workin' on the Railroad

Specifically my model railroad.

I have been making slow progress, but progress all the same.

I don't have any new pictures for this update yet.  I may put them in another later post.  Sorry.

Layout: work is progressing steadily.  I have all of the turnouts I need now so track will be laid in earnest once the layout is fully built.  One frame and the remaining decking to go!  Currently about half way on the decking.

Paint Scheme: a new Texas-themed scheme should be getting applied to a new loco shell next week.  I hope it comes out as cool as I imagine it as.

Prodigy: my trusty DCC system up and burned out on me a few months back.  MRC got her fixed up and returned so the engines can move a little at least

Yard: the yard ladder should be secured and powered by the weekend!  Once the ladder is tested and operational, I will lay the yard tracks and put out some rolling stock.

Until then, have a good time everyone!

Construction Continues

They say that no good plan survives contact with the enemy.  I find this to be true in many cases, particularly mine.  I have had good results using the shelf brackets of the previous posts on earlier layouts, but those were mostly a loop of Bachmann track on 1X4 boards around the walls.  The layout I am building though uses two foot wide frames and as a result the brackets are flexing too much.  I tried everything I could think of to reinforce them, but alas, nothing worked to my liking.

After a week of deciding, I chose to build the layout with legs.  I had originally decided against this but it really is the simplest way to go.  So, I am removing the shelf supports and using the wood planks to make the table legs.  The modules are resting on these legs and a piece of wood that is screwed into the walls at my level line around the room.  The nice part is that all of the support pieces are at the same places as the brackets were, so the frames are the same size.

Now for the pictures:

 



The wall supports

The modules on their legs and supports

This is the first two modules installed

 

The frames are made out of 1X4s and decking screws.  I really like these screws because they use a #2 square head instead of a Phillips.  That means a whole lot less stripping.  The legs are the leftover bracket decks, same for the wall supports.  The frames are held to each other using 1" screws until I can procure some bolts and washers for a permanent fix. 

 

Next is the plywood to make the decking!  Then it will be time to move on to the next half of the room.