Finally Got Started

[Beady]

Finally ran out of excuses and overcame my inertia. I credit my recent trip to Texas.

Anyway, this is what held me up for so long; the table and dresser were too much for me to handle alone:

Here's the space after the furniture had been moved, roughly 12' X 12':

And what I have to work with:

Here's the beginning of Phase 1. Two 2.5' × 6' tables laid side by side with another across their foot. The grass sheet is 100" ×40":

Now I start tinkering with it. The first problem will be to provide for connecting lines to Phase 2. I'm also wondering if I can fit my turntable/roundhouse into the top loop; this would free Phase 2 for, maybe, a yard.

Let's see if I can fit in a couple more photos.

Looks like I'll have to expand into the other half of the basement, something I wanted to avoid.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Beady- Looks like a great start.

 

[montanan]

A start is a start. Looks like you have enough track to triple what you already have. Keep the posts coming.

 

[Beady]

A start is a start. Looks like you have enough track to triple what you already have. Keep the posts coming.

Yeah, and that's just the double track. The wife was right, I bought a lot of track. Not only that, I just found an entire box of used single viaduct track I'd forgotten about, to add to what I already had, as well as a couple of boxes of used single track I finally got around to opening.

Did some more work on Phase 1; this time I added the connections to Phase 2:

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[Bruette]

I like it!

Well done waiting for help to move the furniture. Doing it by yourself may have side tracked your work

Please keep us posted.

 

[Beady]

Been testing the track before I go any further. As may be expected, the steamers have a problem with derailment at some of the section joins; the surprise is that my 40AX also seems to have problems. Running my finger along the rail I can feel slight bumps, but a close inspection seems to show everything is assembled correctly. The trouble seems to be confined to the double track.

One trouble spot I was able to fix was the turnout at the lower left (see earlier posts). It was a Kato #4 left, and everybody had a problem with it. I replaced it with another #4 left, but no joy. Then I tried a #6 left, but couldn't make it fit into the available space, given the lengths of the sections (a problem not faced with flex track). Then I had a brilliant flash and tried a #4 right, and everything fell into place and everyone seems happy.

Now back to the double track problem. I'm wondering if gently filing the trouble spots might work, but it's been my experience that if you bring out a hammer or file to fix a problem that shouldn't need a hammer or file, you're doing something wrong.

Hmm... Maybe I'd better take a closer look at how I've placed the piers, first. And the, there are two kinds of double track in the viaducts. The sections of track can be replaced into the viaduct sections, so maybe I'll play with that, as well.



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[logandsawman]

Now back to the double track problem. I'm wondering if gently filing the trouble spots might work, but it's been my experience that if you bring out a hammer or file to fix a problem that shouldn't need a hammer or file, you're doing something wrong.


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Agreed. I used small wooden shims, shaved from toothpicks, and slipped under the rails, on occasion. But keep in mind that is HO scale.

I enjoy following your project! Dave LASM

 

[PRR Modeler]

Beady-Could the roadbed be slightly warped?

 

[montanan]

Sounds like enough to make you pull your hair out. Are the derailments on straight or curves? From a distance, as in your photos, the track does look good, but especially with N scale the least little bump at the joints can be a problem. You may try using a straight edge where the derailments happen to help you find exactly where and sudden difference in height may be. GOOD LUCK.

 

[SunsetLimited]

Looking really good!! Just one little thing... maybe keep an eye on those S-Bends. The golden rule is to use a straight piece of track the length of your longest wagon or coach between opposite curves. In my experience with Kato Unitrack, S-Bends caused a whole lot of hurt!!

 

[goscrewyourselves]

Beady,

Your layout looks great and you obviously have a lot of track to put down still. This is a really nice project. Maybe I have misunderstood something but is your "bump problem" with the piece of sectional track as a whole or with the rails on the piece of section?

 

[Beady]

I'm moving the following text over from another thread, just to keep "plans" in a single place:

I'm now going to try to fit a turntable complex and yard into the loops on the 8. If that works, Phase 2, on a new table, will be an urban/suburban setting, and Phase 3, on another table, will be rural.

Scenery: Mine is going to be modular and representational, rather than permanent and realistic. I have bought a few kits, but most buildings are built-up. Roads and parking lots can all be purchased. I've got a whole big box of trees that are going to be glued onto bases in groups of 10 or so, so I can rearrange entire forests at will. The only thing I may try to make halfway realistically is a body of water or two.

BTW, my layout is going to be entirely fantasy. Somewhere in Phase 3 (rural) I'm planning an entire village based on vice (prostitution, gambling, etc). A real Shady Rest, as it were, and you get 1,000 points if you catch the reference. And Phase 4, if built, may well be on a different planet.


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[Beady]

Beady,

Your layout looks great and you obviously have a lot of track to put down still. This is a really nice project. Maybe I have misunderstood something but is your "bump problem" with the piece of sectional track as a whole or with the rails on the piece of section?

It seems to be confined to specific places on the double viaduct track. I doubt I'll get back to it until tomorrow.

BTW, the F4F steamer handles everything without a problem. Of course, it's the heaviest steamer I have, but that doesn't explain the problems the 40AX has, that the other diesels don't. A puzzlement.

Oddly, this is part of the reason I like sectional track; it's the problem solving, from running problems to the geometry of the layout.

SunsetLimited. Thanks for the reminder about the S turns. I'm still tinkering, but so far the double crossover section, with its inherent S turns, has been oddly trouble free. One helping factor is that my freight cars are all fairly short, with coupler shanks no shorter than Medium. OTOH, I have yet to run any passenger cars or my MTL windmill consist.


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[SunsetLimited]

Thanks for the reminder about the S turns

I found that the double crossovers aren't particularly bad as far as S-Bends go, given the turnout radius is so wide - I was more worried about where the inside single-track line comes off the main before climbing and turning to cross back over itself. My very first layout had an S-Bend on a 4% gradient using Kato Unitrack. The straight track between the two opposing curves (one 282mm and the other 315mm) was just 33mm. Nothing ever seemed to derail, but every time any train climbed or descended the S-Curve, it uncoupled itself. The frustration was unbelievable. I ended up completely restarting with a new layout...

 

[Beady]

The problem may solve itself. As soon as I solve the joint problem (see above), I'm going to adjust the crossover so it snug up to the outer curve, which will lengthen the section between the turnout and the beginning of the curve.

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