CN Blackwater division

[tetters]

Fantastic work Glen! Looking forward to see how your new layout comes together for you.

[cnrglen]

Thanks. I fitted the last piece of the mainline puzzle in this afternoon:
   

The Drop gate. I cut it to fit the gap on Saturday out of the last of the 3/4" plywood. I figured that 3/4" would be stiffer than 1/2" and wouldn't need more reinforcement. To fit it in I first screwed it across the gap with some spare 1X2's to hold it in place while I installed the piano hinge below.

   

   

Now that it's installed I have to add a latching mechanism to keep it up and properly aligned. As it is I will probably have to shim the track that will be running across to make a near perfect alignment. 
On the cork roadbed front. I dropped by my local hobby shop after work today and they were all sold out. The owner told me he hopes to get a new shipment in next week sometime.

[cnrglen]

A bit more progress this week. I added a deadbolt to the drop gate which holds it in place at the correct alignment. That was actually easier than I thought it was going to be. As usual, I was over thinking it. It works well but I may add a second deadbolt for extra security.
This afternoon I started to layout the turnouts for the mainline:
   

these are the two turnouts for the larger city's passing siding, and the branchline to the stamp mill. 

   

And these are the turnouts for the smaller town's passing siding and the sawmill's sidings. I decided not to run the mainline as a straight line through this area. Instead I wanted it to mainly follow the layout edge and then 's' curve to meet the roadbed. I think this will add a bit of visual interest while running and gives me more space on one side of the mainline instead of cutting through the middle.
   

With the mainline figured out I needed to start to laydown the cork roadbed. I ordered some from the local hobby hop last week but when his shipment came in this Friday his supplier was sold out. He told me that it was going to take up to a month to get any new stock it. 
Then a friend called and told me someone in the local classifieds listed a bunch of track and roadbed. Long story-short, I got a whole box (25 lengths) for half of what I would have paid at the store. I had already figured out that I would need between 18-19 lengths but it doesn't hurt to have extra. 
The plan is to cork the mainline and sidings and lay the sidings and branchline directly on the plywood for contrast.
   

While I was at it, I decided to take stock of my flextrack. On the right is a pile of Atlas code 100 and the pile on the left is Peco Code 100. Turns out I have quite a bit more than I thought. I probably have enough to build 3 layouts of this size. Since I'm using all peco turnouts, I'm going to go with their flextrack as well. I'm also thinking of handlaying some of the sidings later.


   

This is how far I got with roadbed laying before it got too late and I didn't want to bother the neighbors too much. I'll continue to tack it down as the week progresses.

[cnrglen]

I did some seat of the pants engineering and came up with some ideas for my passing sidings:
   

This is the smaller town siding end with the turnout for the sawmill spur. I separated the two turnouts with a length of straight track by at least the length of an 85' passenger car. Keep in mind that I'm using peco medium turnouts on the main and passing sidings (approximately #5's) I think this should fix any problem that an 's' curve using turnouts could cause.

Now I've turned my attention to the passing siding on the other side of the layout:

   

The main line through here is a straight line so I used a string to mark the center line for roadbed laying. I had initially thought that I could put my station on the outside of the main and run the passing siding on the inside. Turns out there wasn't enough room for the station but there was room for the passing track so I'm going to swap the two around:

   

this will give me something similar to the other side.

   

This will also give my the exit from the passing siding to the stamp mill/logging branchline.

[cnrglen]

I have a couple days off so I put the first one to good use today:
   

I laid all the cork roadbed for the mainline and passing sidings.  I first laid the mainline then fitted the sidings in. It's been a long time since I did this so I went online to figure out the spacing between the tracks.  A few sites said that I could get away with 2" between track centers but I decided 2 1/2" would look a bit better and give a bit more breathing room. I checked it with some spare pieces of track and a couple cars.
   

The end of the city's siding with the stamp mill spur. before track laying I'll have to bevel/slope the roadbed to the plywood. I also placed a few turnouts loosely on the mainline to gauge where to add the yards and city sidings. Still working that out but the cork gives me a good visual reference for what I can do.


   

I also have a much better idea of what the sawmill end looks like. I also will be sloping the cork down to the plywood for the sawmill spur. I also noticed that the cork has some rough and uneven edges. I'm going to run my mini sander over them to smooth it out.


   

looking toward the future logging line. I need to get the track laid on this end before I can re-attach my HOn3 branch above it. Then I can also extend the upper line past the stamp mill and to the logging camp.


   

I'm going to add a second deadbolt to the drop gate. I need to lift one side up about 1/16" to get the perfect alignment for track.
I'm thinking of adding an enginehouse on the opposite side of the gate, but not using the turntable. a friend gave me a peco three-way turnout that I'd use instead.

[Schraddel]

Hello Glen,

it is a pleasure to see the progress of your new layout.
In my experience it is not really necessary to smoothen the irregular edges of the cork roadbed out. This will be given automatically when roadbed and tracks were ballasted. At least it is the ballast which will make a straight or not so straight edge.

Lutz

[FiatFan]

I was thinking along the same lines as Lutz. The irregularities might look a little more realistic unless you're going for a meticulously groomed mainline. Just my 2 cents.

Tom

[cnrglen]

Well I didn't run the sander down the roadbed except to level out a few places on the top. Instead I started to lay track:
   

I started with the 24" radius end. I'm using all peco flex track that takes a bit of work to get it around corners but it will curve nicely if you are patient with it.  Unlike Atlas track there isn't one track that slides easily so I did solder the joints in the curve.

   
Before
I'm using recycled Peco turnouts both salvaged off my previous layout and given to me from another modeler who  switched his entire layout to code 83. I had to refurbish the turnouts a bit due to insulating cuts made into them when my friend's layout was converted to DCC. I had to do something similar when I converted my former layout as well.

   

After. I had to cut the ties back a bit and add new track nail holes in them all.  They are still pretty much intact, just a bit shorter.

   

And now that the one curve is in, and checked with both a rail car and an NMRA gauge. I was able to re-install the HOn3 section above it. Now All I need to add is the joining piece between the stamp mill and the narrow gauge.

[cnrglen]

I made some decent progress over the past week. 

   

I laid quite a bit of track, starting with the drop gate.

   

I had to add a second deadbolt lock to the one side to get just a bit better alignment. After that I ran a couple cars across with no problems. 

   

After that I laid the track down the passing siding, through the 30" radius curve on the other end and through the other turnouts. I've continued to solder the track together around the curves to make sure the rails stay together while curving the flextrack. I haven't laid the other straight mainline track yet as I'm not sure where I'm going to put the turnouts to go into the yard/ industrial sidings/ enginehouse quite yet.
   

I also cut and installed the upper benchwork that bridges the stamp mill to the logging area. This is the last piece of major benchwork if you don't include the future sawmill addition. 

   

I did take some time off tracklaying to build a shelf under the benchwork that will hold my NCE command station and power supply. I'm also been using a 7/8" hole saw to drill wiring holes in the benchwork cross members. On my last layout I zip-tied, taped and used various methods for holding my wiring up. This time I want it to look a bit more organized and neater and I think it's better to drill these holes now that later when I'm farther along with wiring.

[BR60103]

Glen: My wiring suggestion for drop gate safety.
Feed the north rail from the east side and continue it to the west side a couple of feet beyond.
Feed the south rail from the west side and over onto the east. use a 4 pin plug where the gap opens. Undo this plug when you open the gate. That should give you a dead section each side of the opening.
With that turnout right beside the gate you may need a bit extra thinking -- maybe a dead section in both outer rails of the turnout fed from the far side and the inner rails fed from the turnout/frog.

[cnrglen]

Thanks for the suggestion. Wiring really isn't my forte so I'm enlisting a friend to help with that part of the project. I'll run your idea past him and we'll see what we can do. Another solution would be to kill the power to the entire layout if the gate is opened since the layout isn't really workable with it down.

[cnrglen]

I Completed a loop around the layout yesterday.  If I had wired it I would be running trains already. Instead I started to clean up the larger city section and sort out where to place the track going to the future enginehouse, yard and industrial area.

   

I'm going with a pair of turnouts off the main, with a crossing so the tracks have plenty of room to swing over to the other side. I placed my station near the drop gate, just before the first turnout.  I figure I can put the three-way switch on the drop gate, and have the enginehouse on the other side. My city will be behind the station and crossing with an industrial/ yard on the opposite end.

   

I plan to make a harbour edge scene at the opposite end from the station, with the yard and industrial area between it and the main. I hope to have a larger yard with more car storage this way than with the old layout.

[cnrglen]

I spent the last couple days figuring out the layouts of the two yards/secondary tracks.

   

Yesterday I figured out the placement of the two turnouts and the 25 degree crossing. I also started to layout the last of the cork roadbed. I decided the best thing was to run the cork through the crossing and then taper it down to the plywood after. That way the crossing would stay level.

   

Speaking of tapering the roadbed. I did some research and found an old thread on another forum about the subject. Our own Dr. Wayne had suggested in that thread to use #25 sandpaper wrapped around a wood block the taper the roadbed down. The coarsest I could find was #60 but the effect was the same. About 5 minutes and the roadbed had a nice slope to the plywood. I used my mini sander to do any cleanup needed. I also did the same for the branch to the future sawmill on the other side. 

   

I then laid out the turnouts for the yard by the small town. I ran some roadbed about 8-9" out from the main. When it's glue dries I'll taper it down just like the other two. I'm hoping for a three track yard, with an extra track going to a small industry. It would be nice to slip a short run around track in as well. I'll see what kind of space I have.

   

Since I finished figuring out the track layout, I finished laying the track on the main. I also started to lay the track going up the stamp mill branch.

   

I laid what I hope was the last of the cork roadbed at the 25 degree crossing. I laid the cork about 9" past the crossing so I can taper it down when the glue dries. The track nails are just there to hold the cork down as the glue dries.

[doctorwayne]

Your layout's coming together nicely, Glen.

Wayne

[Tyson Rayles]

Looking good Glen!