Great Plains switching layout build.

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Well as I cool my heels waiting for Amhurst before making any structure purchases, I decided to dive in to the final control panel since I do have all the turnouts mounted and wired.

I finished the physical construction today, and got the toggles installed. I will begin the wiring tomorrow. You can see the holes drilled for the LEDS, but I am still fiddling with how to mount them. I have those little plastic 3mm LED panel mounts, but they don't work with the 3 lead bi color LEDs I am using. I may end up just shoving them into the holes for now.
IMG_1276.jpg
 
Itsed65 said:
Well as I cool my heels waiting for Amhurst before making any structure purchases, I decided to dive in to the final control panel since I do have all the turnouts mounted and wired.

I finished the physical construction today, and got the toggles installed. I will begin the wiring tomorrow. You can see the holes drilled for the LEDS, but I am still fiddling with how to mount them. I have those little plastic 3mm LED panel mounts, but they don't work with the 3 lead bi color LEDs I am using. I may end up just shoving them into the holes for now.
View attachment 208658
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Very professional! Puts my redneck bubba stuff to shame.😁
Speaking of bubba'd stuff...double sided tape on the back of the holes, then punch a hole for the LED.
 
Itsed65 said:
Well as I cool my heels waiting for Amhurst before making any structure purchases, I decided to dive in to the final control panel since I do have all the turnouts mounted and wired.

I finished the physical construction today, and got the toggles installed. I will begin the wiring tomorrow. You can see the holes drilled for the LEDS, but I am still fiddling with how to mount them. I have those little plastic 3mm LED panel mounts, but they don't work with the 3 lead bi color LEDs I am using. I may end up just shoving them into the holes for now.
View attachment 208658
Click to expand...
That looks great!

Nicely done!
 


So now that my control panel is pretty much complete it is time to take a second look at industries Like we said in the Air Force, no plan survives the first battle, which in this case was actually putting the track down versus looking at a computer. While my turnouts are pretty much now where they are going to stay, all the "ears" are pretty much flexible still, but after staring at it for the last month or so, I have revised my industry plan a bit as follows (please forgive the horrible stitching job, I just don't want to take the time to properly do a panorama). Keep in mind I can move the track around a bit to suit the structures. The "Small Manufacturer" will probably not be rail served, but just adding to the background. There will be a backdrop eventually as well.

Industry plan2.jpg


The food warehouse structure will be around 2.5 inches deep. Either a Walthers or DP kit bash of some type, with one or two boxcars going inside the structure. Having some sort of pneumatic type hopper offloading on the second track is an option. I Picture both boxcars and gondolas or flats on the Team Track. The grain structure will be the biggest on the layout, effetely hiding the mainline (staging) track behind it. I have a small GN Depot kit on the way from the GN Historical Society that will find a place along the main hopefully. The lower right will be mostly "off layout" but a small propane dealer.
GN6 Industries.jpg


I am hoping to get inspired this weekend at the Amherst show!
 
Itsed65 said:
So now that my control panel is pretty much complete it is time to take a second look at industries Like we said in the Air Force, no plan survives the first battle, which in this case was actually putting the track down versus looking at a computer. While my turnouts are pretty much now where they are going to stay, all the "ears" are pretty much flexible still, but after staring at it for the last month or so, I have revised my industry plan a bit as follows (please forgive the horrible stitching job, I just don't want to take the time to properly do a panorama). Keep in mind I can move the track around a bit to suit the structures. The "Small Manufacturer" will probably not be rail served, but just adding to the background. There will be a backdrop eventually as well.

View attachment 209713

The food warehouse structure will be around 2.5 inches deep. Either a Walthers or DP kit bash of some type, with one or two boxcars going inside the structure. Having some sort of pneumatic type hopper offloading on the second track is an option. I Picture both boxcars and gondolas or flats on the Team Track. The grain structure will be the biggest on the layout, effetely hiding the mainline (staging) track behind it. I have a small GN Depot kit on the way from the GN Historical Society that will find a place along the main hopefully. The lower right will be mostly "off layout" but a small propane dealer.
View attachment 209715

I am hoping to get inspired this weekend at the Amherst show!
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Just a few thoughts to consider.

You don't have a sorting track. You have a lot of industries, but no where to temporarily place cars while doing other duties. The "propane spot" would be a perfect sorting track. Just rework the road way.

That's a large grain facility. If it's going to be a mill you will probably need storage tanks that will take up a lot more room. If it's a truck serviced grain elevator you're good to go. Here's a link to a lot of feed mill operations. https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/modeling-grain-elevators-and-feed-mills-12209969

Your food warehouse could very easily be a background model made from DPM stuff. I made a canning facility and a background freight depot on my current layout using their parts. My space is very limited also.

Freight Depot prior to scenery
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Cannery with corn syrup and saline tanks

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DSCN2569.JPG
 
Not much has been going on in the week since the big train show. I've. been working on a small "learning kit" from DPM, but structure building can be tricky in the winter here. I can't spray paint in my tiny train room as there is not enough ventilation, and at the moment it is in the single digits outside, ruling out even spraying in the garage. So, I'm kind of on hold on that project. I did pick up a few things at the show, including some rolling stock and a loco, as well as a few structure kits. Today I am going to get the new GP9 on the programing track.
IMG_1471.jpg
IMG_1473.jpg

Yes I am modeling the GN/BN, but I can't resist having a few Maine visitors on the layout :)
 
Not much progress on the branch due to a burst pipe to the train room a couple of weeks ago, which has been occupying my time. I was able to get a few hours this afternoon though and I am happy to report the starting of construction of my first industry. Yes it is Walthers kit, but baby steps here. Also I have narrowed down the location of my layout to a fictional BN (formally GN) branch line in North Dakota, not too far from the Grand Forks area.

This grain elevator will be one of the two larger industries on the layout served by rail. I've only jut started, but at least got some flat paint put on it and I am working on the base trying to make it look like real concrete. I also have some extra silos to be added later. I want to get the track painted and ballasted, but I am waiting on the final positioning of the team track in foreground before I get started as there is going to be some imbedded rail there.
IMG_1556.jpg


Any progress is good progress right? :D

BTW the loco is a new Atas U30B that I preordered last year sometime. I had forgotten all about it and it got delivered yesterday!
 


So my first industry is basically complete. Unfortunately it may very well be the last on this layout. I have started to have pretty severe warping on the surface causing my trackage to resemble a hump yard in some places
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If you look closely you can see the track rising and falling, and it is actually causing the cars to uncouple in some locations. Also, in the above shot you can see that the base of the grain elevator does not sit flat, even though it does on my work table.
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I tried using shims and cork to even things up a bit, but it is not working well and at this stage, I think I am better off starting over before I begin any scenery/track ballasting etc. and ruin any track so I can re use it. As I have been working on the layout I have not really felt satisfied with the way the module type construction behaved on the shelf brackets, so I think I am going to go back to the drawing board. I probably should have used 1/2 or even 3/4 inch plywood. I am definitely not going to use 1/4 inch plywood and sheet cork again. I'm leaning toward using L girder construction with 1/2 inch plywood on top of the joists, which would make for a more rigid layout I think.

I'm in no hurry, I will continue to operate my current setup for the time being as a plywood pacific, I just want to be able to salvage as many turnouts as I can. I'm actually having a lot of fun doing the switching operations, even with no visible industry. The other advantage of starting over is that now that I saw how Version 1 fit in my office/train room, I know I can easily add 2 feet in length to V2, and that is never a bad thing, as well as I can bring the width out 2 or 3 inches on the right half of the layout allowing a little more room for structures and scenery.

I have learned a ton just in the last year, and as long as I keep having fun, I will keep at it and keep on learning more.

Now I just need it to get warm enough to work in my garage again. Supposed to be down to 2 tonight 🥶
 
I like the looks of the grain elevator!

If you remove the cork, you would have plenty of strength by going with 1/2 or better yet 5/8 plywood over the top of your current setup, screwing through to your existing joists.

5/8" oriented strand board would be an all-around good choice, IMHO.

Be sure to leave a little gap if pieces but up against each other. I always leave a some small gaps between some of the rails as well.

I like the looks of your rolling stock as well!

Dave LASM
 
I'm playing around with new benchwork designs. Along with the decision to stop and start over, I completely redid the train room, which has made more space available along the wall and a possible "L" extension off to the right. Going from 9 to 11 feet will allow longer switch leads, for better operations, and widening out to 20 to 24 inches means more room for structures, but that also means I need to completely redo the benchwork., That really isn't a big deal to me, as I rather enjoy playing with power tools! I can also repurpose the current benchwork with new plywood and make it the new staging track down the right wall.

I think I am going to go with L girder this time around so I can just buy 12 foot long 1x3 lumber for the girders and knock a foot off. This of course is dependent upon finding straight wood, but luckily I have several good lumber yards around and don't have to rely on the big box pretzel wood stores. The advantage of this of course as that once the two are glued together into the L it is very resisting to warping.

I did a mock up from some stuff I had laying around.
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I was able to get a couple of sheets of very nice 1/2" Baltic Birch for the sub roadbed this time around, so that should take care of any warping issues, along with adding more cross joists than before. 1x3 joists are a bit overkill for this sized layout, and I will probably go with 1X2's to keep the benchwork at about 6" in height, once the 1/2" plywood goes on top.

Fun Times!
 
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So benchwork v2 is nearing completion. The 1/2" is much sturdier than before and it seems rock solid on top of the L girders and joists. This time warping should not be an issue!
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The new layout is 2 feet longer and 6 inches wider than previously, so I have also been playing around with track plans yet again to take advantage of the extra space. In the lower plan I am also considering running a staging track down the right wall at the back of my desk.
Fall Creek Compare.jpg

These two are close but I am still messing around with ideas. I probably won't get a ton of work done in the next few months as my other hobby of bird photography will take up most of my time in the summer, but won't stop completely.
 
Just a couple of observations for you to consider.

You're packing a lot of track in there and I think you'll find you aren't going to have a lot of space for structures, roads, associated buildings, etc. I have five #6 switches and only 4 industries in a 13'x2' space. I can push a string of cars into the sorting track and then work all the industries in about 30 minutes following prototype operations, then drive the engine back to the starting point with the empties. I don't need a runaround track.

I did change one industry. I removed the larger cannery and replaced it with a LARGE feed mill operation.

Your benchwork is really nice. 👍
 
I totally get the caution about too much track. I based these plans along the lines of The New England Industrial" on YouTube. He has managed to capture the feel of a busy industrial park and actually has even more track I believe. Anyways, I want to get everything laid out of the benchwork to see how it works width the structures I already have before I commit to anything. I am very much still in the planning stage (again) :)
 
Itsed65 said:
I totally get the caution about too much track. I based these plans along the lines of The New England Industrial" on YouTube. He has managed to capture the feel of a busy industrial park and actually has even more track I believe. Anyways, I want to get everything laid out of the benchwork to see how it works width the structures I already have before I commit to anything. I am very much still in the planning stage (again) :)
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This may help you with your planning if operations is what you want.

 
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