Meet the B & S (BS Line)

[Dollie's Dad]

This is the first layout I've attempted to build in almost 50 years, so I'm very rusty, and dealing with new technologies and materials that are pretty foreign to me.

This will eventually be a two-level walk-in with a helix connecting the two levels. I'm dealing with very limited space (9' X 11'), so I had to build the helix with 22" radius curve to keep the overall width of that leg to 4 feet. Everything else is 24-28" radius, so I'm limiting myself to 4-axle diesels for now.

The upper level is only built on the far wall so far. When I get most of the track laid on the lower lever, I'll build the upper level. I'm standing where the final leg will be built. Someday, I might also build a removable bridge to create a full loop on the lower level. That's a long ways off, though.

The shot of the MP15AC's is just for fun.

I'm not very thin-skinned, and I have nobody locally I can ask for opinions, so if you see me doing something terrible, please tell me. At least I'm having fun.

 

[Cjcrescent]

This is the first layout I've attempted to build in almost 50 years, so I'm very rusty, and dealing with new technologies and materials that are pretty foreign to me...


I'm not very thin-skinned, and I have nobody locally I can ask for opinions, so if you see me doing something terrible, please tell me. At least I'm having fun.

Well, OK. Your trackwork looks well laid and the helix looks great! One problem I see is you only have the name half right! It should just say "SOUTHERN"!

 

[Dollie's Dad]

Why would I want to model half a railroad?

How about Cotton Belt? is that south enough?

I am not modeling any specific road, although the vast majority of my equipment is SP and Cotton Belt, mostly 1st generation diesels. I also have a couple newer Santa Fe pieces, but nothing you'd call 'modern.'

I'm stuck in my youth, and when I was a young whipper snapper, they didn't have 4,000 hp locomotives with comfort cabs. Road switchers had high hoods on both ends (except for the Alco RS-X), and paint schemes were interesting.

 

[Cjcrescent]

The only 4000 HP engines on mine are articulateds!

On the roster I have only 6 diesels, and two of those are GM&O. The remainder is 3 Hobbytown chassis for F-3, GP-7, PA-1 and the last is a Stewart F-7, all SRR. I would love to get a few more Hobbytowns. Those engines can pull nails!

The rest of the roster, 21 total, (might be 1 or 2 I've forgotten about), is all steam!

 

[Dollie's Dad]

The only 4000 HP engines on mine are articulateds!

On the roster I have only 6 diesels, and two of those are GM&O. The remainder is 3 Hobbytown chassis for F-3, GP-7, PA-1 and the last is a Stewart F-7, all SRR. I would love to get a few more Hobbytowns. Those engines can pull nails!

The rest of the roster, 21 total, (might be 1 or 2 I've forgotten about), is all steam!

I'd love to get into steam, but I'm afraid of the maintenance issues (fat fingers, weak eyes, etc.) I used to have an old Hobbytown PA that I re-motored with a giant can motor. That thing pulled like a Clydesdale.

 

[John P]

This is a personal bugaboo, so maybe you shouldn't take it too seriously. But when I visit people's railroads, the ones where I instantly think "This won't be very interesting, let's plan on a quick look and then leave" are the ones with flat terrain, where the owner laid down big sheets of plywood to put his track on. Of course that's exactly what you need if it's a yard, but anywhere else you get a much more pleasing appearance if the scenery goes above and below the track. Even with a yard, if there's a mainline that bypasses it, it adds something if it's higher or lower. I'm not necessarily talking about mountains everywhere, but enough difference in height to show that the railroad is an almost-flat route through terrain that isn't flat. I'm not seeing signs of that in the pictures--but then it's a personal bugaboo. You have to build it the way you want it.

 

[Cjcrescent]

John,

You said it right, "You have to build it the way you want it". So don't take this as a criticism.

But right now John, and at least another year or even longer, you will see no scenery on my layout, and I don't know about DD and his plans.

Its not that I don't want, care for, or can't do scenery, its that I want ALL my track in place and totally debugged, before I even think about scenery. I have a 3 level layout, and one level still needs to be built. After that is done, and all the track is in place and is bulletproof, then I will start on scenery. It will be a top down job anyway, so any drips of paint or plaster, from a higher level, won't mess up any scenery that is already in place.

Our club layout was done by scenery masters, its looks as close to real as it could be. Trouble is, in many places, the track wasn't debugged and made bulletproof before they started on scenery! For almost 2 months, I spent every day I could, tearing up scenery in and around the track, where necessary, to make sure that there wouldn't be derailments, due to trackwork, or scenery clearance errors. It was messy nasty work, removing ballast, realigning, shimming etc. Then the "masters" had to come back and repair the scenery that was damaged, or removed. Its not something I would wish on anyone.

So, just because there maybe no scenery on a layout, it doesn't mean the RR isn't worth visiting.

 

[Cjcrescent]

I'd love to get into steam, but I'm afraid of the maintenance issues (fat fingers, weak eyes, etc.) I used to have an old Hobbytown PA that I re-motored with a giant can motor. That thing pulled like a Clydesdale.

As I got older, I decided that I needed to severely cut down my roster into something that the maintenance wouldn't become a burden. So I went from approx 125-150 locos, mostly steam, to about 30 being the max I believe that I could handle. If as time goes by, if I need to, I will cut down more. All in all, I believe that I would keep just the brass steamers, and the Hobbytowns.

These are substantial well thought out, and powerful loco kits. Pound for pound, (literally), I have found these to be the smoothest running diesel chassis's made. Because they are kits, much of the quality of running comes from the skill of the builder. These machines can , depending on motor, gear mesh etc, have a noise level that could be considered a deteriment by some modelers, but, to me that doesn't matter when you got 100-200 cars behind a single unit, and its not even straining.

 

[wheeler1963]

This is a personal bugaboo, so maybe you shouldn't take it too seriously. But when I visit people's railroads, the ones where I instantly think "This won't be very interesting, let's plan on a quick look and then leave" are the ones with flat terrain, where the owner laid down big sheets of plywood to put his track on. Of course that's exactly what you need if it's a yard, but anywhere else you get a much more pleasing appearance if the scenery goes above and below the track. Even with a yard, if there's a mainline that bypasses it, it adds something if it's higher or lower. I'm not necessarily talking about mountains everywhere, but enough difference in height to show that the railroad is an almost-flat route through terrain that isn't flat. I'm not seeing signs of that in the pictures--but then it's a personal bugaboo. You have to build it the way you want it.

John, then are the few of us that model areas of the US that are totally flat. Have you even driven through central Illinois?? You can see all of the way to tomorrow!!!

 

[funnelfan]

One thing you're going to wish you had done is put up a backdrop, prehaps up to about 12" above the top deck. So you can put building flats and other stuff against it. Also that short run-around won't be very useful, you'd be better off to lengthen it out about to about 10 cars or more. Other than that, not too many things will be a problem. One thing with the helix being as sharp and steep as it is, you'll want to make sure all your coupler heights are right on, or you're going to have problems. Buy a Kadee coupler height gauge to keep your rolling stock in check. The helix will limit you to a train length about the size of one turn on the helix before string-lining becomes a issue.

Anyways the modern plastic steam engines are a lot better running than anything from earlier eras. Most any engine from Bachmann Spectrum, Athearn , MTH, and Broadway Limited will run great, but the prices may be a bit scary. The Spectrum can be found cheap, like a 2-8-0 for $70-90 if you look around. The 2-8-0 or the dockside would work good on your layout, but they won't haul much up that helix.

 

[Outback]

John, then are the few of us that model areas of the US that are totally flat. Have you even driven through central Illinois?? You can see all of the way to tomorrow!!!

Ditto for the Canadian Prairies. Though in reality the praries arent completely flat, the elevations are less noticable than what most modellers are used to seeing or building.


In contrast to John's personal bugaboo - mine is the reverse. I am not much interested in mountainous scenerey or deep cut rock gorges. It seems everyone does that. Rolling prairie is much more pleasing to my eyes and offers just as much interest if modelled with attention to detail and some creative scenicking.

 

[Dollie's Dad]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I appreciate the opinions.

Regarding John P.'s comment about changes in elevation, I do agree. Sadly, when dealing with limited space, some compromise is necessary. I will use the top turn of the helix to create some change of elevation and visual interest. There will be some 'topography on the upper level, too. Most of this layout is of necessity dedicated to yards and staging tracks, and will therefore be flat. There just isn't much room for anything else. I also wanted to avoid the 'spaghetti-bowl approach to designing the layout in a limited space, and I'm getting too old for duck-unders, so a walk-in design was pretty much a necessity. As it is, I will have at least 3 distinct switching and/or industrial areas.

I really wish I could have built this in our 3-car garage. I could have designed some nice long tangents, big yards, a double-track mainline, and decidedly gentler grades, but that would involve air-conditioning the garage, and that's an expense I can't consider, especially during the summer days when the temperatures here hit 115 and above.

Some of this I'm designing 'on the fly,' so I only have a very vague idea of what I'm going to do in some areas. The upper level at the far end is probably the biggest challenge, and I'll figure it out when I figure it out.

I'm already resigned to the fact that I'll never be able to run long trains, but I knew that starting out. That will just have to wait till I build my next layout in another 50 years.