Interesting track plan, Tupper Lake & Faust Junction
- Thread starter beiland
- Start date
ctclibby
Well-Known Member
Hmmm, good question. Glass is somewhat porous but might not be enough to hold paint. You are not gonna bend or flex it and there probably is not much vibration, so it could work. Give it a test coat and see what shakes out. I guess that you could rough it up somewhat which would help or maybe remove that silver coating from the back and put paper/cardboard on the back of it with your color.
BigGRacing
Aka. Gary Russell
Is this foam board you are using here ?
It is NOT foamboard as that is not stiff enough to act as a baseplate. Its very thin alum skins on a plastic core of some type. I got it as scrap from a local sign making shop a few years ago. I got a number of different materials from their scrap pile that turned out to be VERY helpful.
While I was working on this corner of the layout (with power plant and coke plant), I decided to address another subject I have been thinking about,...
Quest for Double Track Mainlines on the Lower Deck
On one of my previous layouts I was able to make a short track connection that avoided / bypassed the a single line bridge crossing that had trains waiting their turn in line to cross. This allowed me, on occasion, to continuously run 2 different trains around the layout on their own mainlines without paying attention to them, …while I played around with switching operations in other areas of the layout. I could run these 2 trains in the same direction, OR in opposing directions.
As my track planning for this new layout evolved, I discovered that the simple dog-bone loop situation would result in my trains having to climb the helix each time rather than just circle the perimeter of the bottom deck. So the first modification I made to that design was to provide a 'connection track' that would allow the trains in run continuously around the bottom deck if so desired (without climbing the helix each time). Here is that connecting track section which I made into a single viaduct track,...
That made the inner mainline into a continuous loop if so desired.
Now,... how might I make that outer mainline into a continuous loop possibility??
Quest for Double Track Mainlines on the Lower Deck
On one of my previous layouts I was able to make a short track connection that avoided / bypassed the a single line bridge crossing that had trains waiting their turn in line to cross. This allowed me, on occasion, to continuously run 2 different trains around the layout on their own mainlines without paying attention to them, …while I played around with switching operations in other areas of the layout. I could run these 2 trains in the same direction, OR in opposing directions.
As my track planning for this new layout evolved, I discovered that the simple dog-bone loop situation would result in my trains having to climb the helix each time rather than just circle the perimeter of the bottom deck. So the first modification I made to that design was to provide a 'connection track' that would allow the trains in run continuously around the bottom deck if so desired (without climbing the helix each time). Here is that connecting track section which I made into a single viaduct track,...
That made the inner mainline into a continuous loop if so desired.
Now,... how might I make that outer mainline into a continuous loop possibility??
Quest for Double Track Mainlines on Lower Deck
How do I get that other continuous loop of mainline,...by adding another connecting section of track !! (naturally from the spaghetti bowl king...ha...ha)
I've been thinking about this possibility for quite awhile, ….as to whether or not do it. I was working on this corner of the layout and I had a number of obstructions out of the way at the moment,...so I just decided to go ahead and add this connecting track in case I should decide to use it,....add it now or forever forget it.
I had to cut another hole thru the shed's back wall, build yet another 'bridging tray' out to the helix structure, and even rearrange the power station and its electrical grid structure so the curved section of added track could be maintained at a minimum 24”radius and have a straight section of track between the S-curves of the trackage.
This connecting track is built to make the outer mainline track a continuous loop on some occasions. I imagine this outer mainline will be running most often in a clockwise rotation around the room,...while the inner mainline loop will mostly be running in a counter-clockwise direction.
It has been quite a project. I hope it proves worth it.
More photos and a report will be coming,....
How do I get that other continuous loop of mainline,...by adding another connecting section of track !! (naturally from the spaghetti bowl king...ha...ha)
I've been thinking about this possibility for quite awhile, ….as to whether or not do it. I was working on this corner of the layout and I had a number of obstructions out of the way at the moment,...so I just decided to go ahead and add this connecting track in case I should decide to use it,....add it now or forever forget it.
I had to cut another hole thru the shed's back wall, build yet another 'bridging tray' out to the helix structure, and even rearrange the power station and its electrical grid structure so the curved section of added track could be maintained at a minimum 24”radius and have a straight section of track between the S-curves of the trackage.
This connecting track is built to make the outer mainline track a continuous loop on some occasions. I imagine this outer mainline will be running most often in a clockwise rotation around the room,...while the inner mainline loop will mostly be running in a counter-clockwise direction.
It has been quite a project. I hope it proves worth it.
More photos and a report will be coming,....
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my present day lower deck
That left lower corner is going to be Balt city scene built using flats,...and note that is the Bromo tower. Over on the left wall there will be a image of Mt Royal train station. And the viaducts are representative of the infamous Thomas viaduct
and of course steel was a a big part of Balt's history,...Sparrows Point
I know, I've heard it over and over again,...10 lbs of stuff in a 5 lb bag. Its been a challenge to design and get radi big enough for long steamers, AND actual switching operations.
I'm sure glad this hurricane is going to avoid my completing this layout. Hope to have trains running on all levels, and at least buildings set in place by Thanksgiving or Christmas at the latest.
BTW, this new 'connection track' has worked out really well. I am able to run trains on both of these mainline tracks on the bottom deck simultaneously. At this moment I am still using just plain DC power, so both trains need to run at the same speed, and in the same direction around the room.
DCC operation will change that.
DCC operation will change that.
My Christmas gift to myself,...
I'm finally able to sit back and run some trains on my layout, instead of just working on it,....and 3 trains simultaneously with only DC at the moment.
Its really quite relaxing. I do have to adjust the multiple DC transformers so that the trains can enter and leave their reversing sections, and power districts in a smooth manner, but once I get them 'compatible' I can leave the throttles unattended. There are periods of time when 2 dbl sets of locos are in the same power district that things slow down just a bit.
I'm finally able to sit back and run some trains on my layout, instead of just working on it,....and 3 trains simultaneously with only DC at the moment.
Its really quite relaxing. I do have to adjust the multiple DC transformers so that the trains can enter and leave their reversing sections, and power districts in a smooth manner, but once I get them 'compatible' I can leave the throttles unattended. There are periods of time when 2 dbl sets of locos are in the same power district that things slow down just a bit.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
Like the TT, is it a Heljan ?
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately your photo's don't appear on the forum.WOW, a version under construction
a reply from a gentleman who built (is building) this layout,...(submitted on another forum)
Railandsail...I started building this track plan during the first Bush administration and expect to "finish" it in two or three more presidential administrations.
Attached are some photos and comments, but I have to apologize in advance that I can not reply to any follow-up comments for at least 10 days. Dianna (my wife) and I just married off our daughter a day, and tomorrow Dianna and I are going on a 10 day get-away. I saw your post and thought I should say something,so.....
I started with a 2 car garage, now I have a one car garage.
At the bottom of this photo you can see my staging area, access to it is from the left (out of image) by adding an extra turnout from the "helix". I refer to the "helix" as a spiral vortex, but I'll go along with helix for now.
This is the view from the left of the helix, I removed the bridge from the track plan, thus straightening out the track and added the extra turnout to the staging area.
Looking down the track from the other side of previous photo
These two trains are going intrail of each other, that is they are traveling the same direction about 10-15 feet apart. To this day I can not tell at a glance if a train is northbound or southbound. The picture also shows the vertical scenery which someone else pointed out earlier.....Its getting late, I'm beat. I'll sign off, but to let you know, I'm very happy with the design (I did make a few changes) and plan on continuing to work on it. I'll be back in 10 days.
Best Regards
Oakland Dan
That layout in those photos was not mine,..but rather a gentleman up in Jacksonville. I was inspired by the narrowness of that room that he fit that HO layout in,...something like 10 feet wide if I remember correctly.
Not sure of the brand of his TT.
That layout has been taken down when the gentleman sold his home.
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The forum that I posted those photos made a big change a couple of years ago in the software running their forum. As a result a lot of those original photos got their 'addresses' changed,..so as to not appear correctly on this forum,...ahh, the internet and its ever changing software.
Likely you can view all those old photos over on that other forum,..under the same subject title.
https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/interesting-track-plan-tupper-lake-faust-junction-12208132?&trail=25
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https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/interesting-track-plan-tupper-lake-faust-junction-12208132?pid=1331225702
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My Latest Photos,.....Dec 24, 2022
and finally with my estate purchased water front scene in its place,...
...the saw mill...
the car float with cars destined for military installation down on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia ...
....the swing down 3 bridges structure
to be continued,...
and finally with my estate purchased water front scene in its place,...
...the saw mill...
the car float with cars destined for military installation down on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia ...
....the swing down 3 bridges structure
to be continued,...
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container yard Calif
container yard Balt
helium plant (needs lot of work to include horizontal loading tubes, and some more modern container car carried tanks, and kitbashed cooling tower, etc,....
That's all for now,...having some fun fantasizing and runninga few trains for my 'open house'
santafewillie
Same Ol' Buzzard
Brian - Some great scenes there. But I see in some pictures that you don't have some areas covered in track! Just kidding of course.
Just kidding of course.I'm currently trying to eliminate all these DC powerpacks and get my NCE dcc system up and running. Been having a few problems trying to sort out any potential shorts before hooking up my central power board,..
power district/zone boards on the left, and reverser/zone boards on the right
