Here is the layout I have been working on this weekend for my two grandsons (Gavin and Ryan).
It will sit on top of the existing wooden train table.
They already have locomotives with sound and many pieces of rolling stock.
I plan on using 2 MRC Tech 6's so they can access the sound and run on DC.
Hope you enjoy.









Mike

Im still going over my trackplan details, and cant get it nailed down, Ive seen some nice layouts drawn up on software but dont care to drop the cash on one, and was wondering if anybody has ever seen or used a free program. Also out of curiousity, Ive changed my space from the lsat time I asked for help, and was wondering if anybody would care to try drawing something up for me to help me along.

One of the forums members awhile back mentioned the smiley 'train' is running backwards

<-- since this guy is running backwards I edited the gif and made it run forward

So Im still trying to figure out my new trackplan, but im having an issue with the track being within a few inches from the backdrop, leaving no room to blend the egde of table and backdrop. I know a good trick is to attach wall sections directly to the backdrop but I dont want a building all the way around my layout. My question is have any of you ran into this dillema? Im sure somebody has and Id like to know what other ways I can go about hiding the sharp angle between backdrop and layout. Pictures would be great too.

We review the Bachmann 55n3 4-4-0 at:

http://www.55n3.org/locomotives/4-4-0_review/



"There is no Scale, there is only what an object measures"

Thank you if you visit
Harold

Hi Guys --

Just thought this one might make a starting point for some more discussions on operating a small switching layout (the one below is just 8 feet long in N scale, without separate staging). Plan and start of discussion is something I wrote up for a fellow model railroader as a one-on-one private communication. Anyone have comments or suggestions for other things my friend might want to do to get some interesting ops sessions for one person on his layout ?

Quote: Here is a sketch that is worked up a little more - still based on Jonathan Jones "Mid-Atlantic and Western".



Some of the changes : have taken shelf depth in from 15" to 12" - would look better to have it a little deeper, but it should work with 12" shelf depth too.

Have added a big industry (Industry A) with three car spotting locations in the center of the layout. One car spot for arriving tank cars of chemicals at the farm left of the lowermost spur, then one or two cars of other arriving stuff next to that, and one or two car spot for stuff to be shipped out by rail on the other spur.

Layout now has yard space for a maximum of 15 cars, plus room for 4-5 cars on the interchange track at the bottom.

A total of 12 industry spots (3 cars spots for elevator, 5 car spots for Industry A, 2 car spots for Industry B and 2 car spots on the transload (team) track.

Central runaround is long enough to run around a cut of 8 or 9 cars.

What we have here is an urban industrial district with it's own little support yard that supports 3 on-line customers plus a few off-line customers (served by the transload track in the lower right hand corner).

The yard is serviced by a switch crew from the city terminal railroad (which is jointly owned by the class 1's that serve the city). The yard also servers as an interchange point between the terminal line and a shortline serving an industrial park on the outskirts of the city.


A typical operating session will consists e.g. of the following moves:

It is morning. The yard is pretty empty - no more than 4-5 cars there, tops. A transfer run of 7-8 cars arrives from the class 1 on on the upper (westbound) main (we postulate that the class 1 has a yard somewhere off to the east - ie right).

The class 1 engine cuts off, moves over to the eastbound (lower) main using the crossover and departs eastbound for it's yard again (ie - it drives behind industry B and stops at the end of the track there, not to be seen again for quite a while).

Local switcher crew comes out from the switcher pocket in the yard. Moves up using the eastbound main, and crosses over to the westbound main, to the right of the cars dropped off by the transfer run. Grabs the first four cars and pulls eastwards before backing them into the yard, then goes back and grabs the rest of the cars and backs those also into the yard.

Next switcher starts pulling outbound cars from industries.

One interesting touch here is to say e.g. that it takes 2 days to empty a car at e.g. industry B, and that one new car loaded car will be arriving every day.

Spotting instructions for industry B says that the full car should always be spotted at the innermost car spot on the track. So a typical spotting sequence for industry B would be:

Pull empty car and half empty car from industry B
Spot full car at industry B, with half empty car on "top" of it (ie closer to switch)
Take empty car back to yard.


And do similar things for the other industries - you could e.g. say that for the elevator, it takes 30 fast minutes to unload a grain hopper, it unloads six grain cars every sessios, and every day you start with three inbound loaded grain hoppers left in the yard by the afternoon shift yesterday, and three new inbound cars coming with the transfer run from the class 1.

So every 30 game minutes you pop over to the elevator and pull the string of 3 car forward one car. When all three cars that started spotted at the elevator has been unloaded, you pull the three empty hoppers, and leave them temporarily on the westbound main, west (left) of the crossover, while you grab three inbound loaded grain cars from the yard and spot them at the elevator. And so the cycle continues.

The transload track (team track) has room for two cars. Here you can spot pretty much anything - including boxcars, flatcars, tank cars, hoppers - it is easy to imagine that a truck will arrive at the concrete apron next to the track and unload the car in some way - using a crane, fork lift, vacum hose attachment or some such thing - allows you to make quite a few different trucks and sets of unloading equipment.

It is also possible to use the transload track to spot more boxcars for Industry B - the Industry could be unloading cars on spur 1 (closest to the industry) first, and then go through the boxcars on spur 1 to reach boxcars on spur 2 (just putting a small iron "bridge plate" between the doors of the boxcars. Also creates interesting spottin - since it means that totally full cars should be left on outermost track, partly empty cars should be respotted to track closest to building.

Lots of opertunities to create some interesting switching with such a small switching layout, and lots of opertunity to do some interesting detailing of things like overpasses, tracks, cars, large industrial buildings (with all the cool vents and pipes and whatever on the roof).

Edit: btw - looking at the track plan, again, I would have said that it would have been more logical if the eastbound main (or eastbound "running track" in this case) had been the top one, with the westbound being the bottom one.

Then industry tracks branching off from both running track would be trailing tracks, the way the railroads generally try to arrange things.

But in this case, if trains had arrived on the westbound (lower) track, and the class 1 engine were supposed to drive off towards the hidden staging behind industry B on the eastbound (upper) track, then that would interfere with switching operations in two ways later.

1) The incoming cut of cars would be on the lower main, blocking the exit from the yard - so either the yard switcher would have had to wait in a siding somewhere along the top of the layout, to pop out and grab the inbound cars after the class 1 engine had departed, or the class 1 engine would have had to push the inbound cut into the yard. Not a biggie - just adds a bit of operating interest


2) But worse - the class 1 engine, while in staging, would be taking up space we really need (at the right end of the uppermost running track), instead of space we have to spare (at the right end of the lowermost main).

Still - you could always claim that you only have one main/running track (the lower), and that the uppermost track is a long siding or some such thing.

Smile,
Stein

Here are the newest additions to the GERN Texas Division fleet.

I am including a poll because I am desiring some feedback on the weathering. Constructive criticism wanted! I think I tend to go overboard sometimes, just want to hear from the rest of you. Please be honest as this will help me to do a better job in the future. Thanks!



5653 and 5650


5655 and 5652

Did some groundwork/landscaping around the foundation of a new structure for my layout... used only materials that were found naturally in my backyard!

No special tools required, just a wheelbarrow, shovels, and a sledge hammer to tamp everything down. Oh... my wife did help me. It only took two days of backbreaking work.

I figured it was okay to post this here in scenery since it does say "all scales."

Here are a couple of pics:





And here is a "before" pic showing what a mess is was after the foundation was poured.



Not sure when I will get started on framing the structure, but I will keep everyone posted on my progress.

Product Review of Several
‘Cornerstone’ Structures
By
Eric Halpin

As the Algoma and Rideau is expanding and numerous structures are required for this new industrial area, I present several general comments for the members information:

1. Coke Gas Plant: this structure has quite a boxy shape measuring about 10” by 6” by 7” excluding the associated tank vessel components which measure 8” by 6” by 8”. Extra large front and side windows are designed into the wall assemblies permitting see through viewing. As I don’t like the looks of an empty see through structure it was necessary to perform some internal detailing (pipes, boiler and vessels). What is somewhat unusual about this kit was that it included an internal wall which was NOT needed for structural integrity. This wall is detailed as a brick wall with two man-doors on either side. Also it came with four detailed steel girder roof trusses which cannot even be seen to be appreciated! A nice assortment of tanks, vessels and piping come as an addition to the main structure.
Overall the kit is a nice addition to the A&R layout as a chemical plant of some sort. Its architecture is slightly gothic in style but it can fit well into any industrial zone up to about 1960 or so.

2. Engine House Machine Shop: this structure has a nice low rectangular shape with an offset boiler building and stack. It measures 13” by 8” by 5” plus stack. It is designed as a drive through rail facility with embedded floor slots for the rail. The form is complemented by unusually fine window details. This structure is a great addition on the A&R as a rolling stock repair facility. This sharp looking building would fit very well into almost any time period up to the present.

3. Prairie Star Milling: Now this is a somewhat challenging plastic kit for several reasons. If you like installing windows this kit is the one for you. I count 97 windows of assorted sizes plus numerous door assemblies! Whew, that was a job getting them in place. The structure measures about 13” by 9” by 10” plus stack. It has a unique shape and is unusual and valued for that reason alone. Plus the plastic is a creamy colored brick which is a nice change from the more common red brick. Unfortunately, the structures support base was formed in two parts which are thinner than normal. The box is large enough to handle a one piece base so why it was split in two is unknown. This design only makes the base somewhat flimsy. Plus it was slightly twisted so that the stack would have had a slight lean to it!! To add to the complications, the main sloped roof assembly was so badly twisted on the sprue that I had to send for another one from Walthers! This structure really can support track on either side of it due to loading doors being installed on each main side. Thus it will fit nicely in between tracks on the A&R. The instructions and exploded views could have been somewhat bigger especially for the first few assembly points. Also, it is important to take care which clear plastic window is being installed on the frames as some of these windows require specific clearances with wall components. This detail was not clearly highlighted in the instructions!
Have you ever found extra parts in a kit? Well this kit of mine had had about 24 window frames, 12 window glasses, 5 loading doors, 2 man doors, 2 wall units, 4 wall cornices, 8 loading roof brackets EXTRA!!! As a special bonus, a base unit for the sugar beet unloading plant was included. This kit has been designed to attach to the Prairie Star Elevator kit and a conveyor system is included. A conveyor opening is thus formed in one wall which is a bit of a pain if you are not going to use the structure as a grain milling factory. Final use on the A&R has not yet been determined but regardless it will be a handsome structre. By the way, I had a call from Walthers and they opened up several other kits and the roofs were also twisted.


Several other structures that I have recently built for friends layouts are as follows:

1. Centennial Milling Inc: This is a background kit and is made with components from the Red Wing Milling Co structure. This is an easy kit to assemble BUT I encountered the front wall being bent by 3/16”. This made it difficult to properly square up the corners and roof. Plus the three cyclone dust collectors had halves which would NOT line up properly being off-set by about 1/16”. Much filing was needed to make these sections fit reasonably together. I had earlier completed the Red Wing kit without issue so what the heck is happening here? Are background kits seconds??

2. Passenger Car Wash: This is NOT a kit to start if you are having one of those ‘all thumbs’ type days! Many small parts require real patience during assembly. I did find an error in the instructions in that a needed wire which you cut ,was stated to be 38mm long. In fact it should be cut 40mm. By the time you reliaze this error it is difficult to undo. Regardless, it is a nice detail assembly which fits well into any yard area. I can remember working around these wash racks in the late 1950s.

3. Oil Storage Tank #1015: I don’t really know where to begin with comments on this ‘Plastruct’ kit. I will start by saying the kit is basically terrible. The instructions are almost hand drawn and poorly done at that; verbal instructions or suggestions for scribing on a round cylinder were totally absent; parts were included that had no apparent use in the kit and some components appeared to have been cut by crude scissors. When you consider the nicely detailed oil/storage tank sets from other companies, it is perplexing that this company would make such a low level assembly. Avoid this kit.