Modified Central Midland - Test Run


Another Change????

Had a graduation party for my son a few weeks back. As I was showing guest the layout and running the trains all look well......except. I looked at the trains going around and I saw a "Boring spot" in the the route the trains where taking. So here I go again. I will be posting pictures of what I am modifying again. I had to add 7 more inches to the back of the layout and 13 " to the total width of the layout. ( My wife and kids were in Florida while I was doing this) :) I now have used up every available space in my room. My wife said are you done now?? ( I can't really answer that. ) I have redirected the Mainlines and I think now it makes you "LOOK" for the trains. Still at a minimum of 22 degrees ( like to be better ). I like the Central Midland but it needs to be modified for a more realistic operation. What I have accomplished is a yard that you can enter and exit from both ends of the layout, 2 main lines, a lot of hidden track and better scenery possibilities. This 12 X10 layout is now 23" wide and 10 ' 7" deep on both ends. ( Like a big " U") You can walk around 3 sides and I have the whole layout on furniture slides so I can access the back if I need too. Just over 10 months since I have done this layout and I have a lot of modifications already. Just shows what you can do with a little imagination.

I will post pictures soon.
 
what make is the gas turbine just bought a lionel ho and it runs and sounds great only thing missing are two small wires that go from tender to loco for back up lights
 
Sorry for the late answer but it is a MTH . My 2 wires have to fix because it derailed and pulled them out.
 
Okay As promised here are some pictures. As always you can go to my photo bucket account and view all.


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This pix shows the redesign of the over/under. I directed to the back of the layout and now it gets " lost " and makes a broader more interesting route.

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This pix shows how I had to add 2 more feet to the layout. I had to add 7 inches to the layout in back ( Going the length of the room ) Also shows the new entrance/ exit to the yard . ( have to use a reverse module though , darn)

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You can still see in this photo the old mainline route. I had the other 2 bridges here. Look at the past photos and you can see the clutter.

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Here you can see the sweeping turn now. The grades are a lot less and I can now pull passenger sets with minimal problems. Smallest radius is 22 degrees. I wish it was better but it works well. Number 6 turnouts on mainline except going into yard on both ends , number 4.

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I posted these thumbnails so that you can go to Photobucket and look at all. also you can visit my Gallery page posted under my name to see them. Now I have to go back to test running.
 
After hooking up my auto reverse module I notice that the trains do not go back on the mainline the right direction after leaving the yard. ( think about this... Auto Reverser, Eric :mad: ) After further review I figured out that if I change the tracks on the far end of the layout where I used to have a " Y" coming into the yard as the plan calls for then I would eliminate that issue and would not have to use auto - reversers. I just wasted $100.00 on Auto -Reversers that I did not need. Another bonehead move and guess what , another redesign. Dang I love this hobby . :confused:

That is what e-bay is for.

I think when I get this all done I will finally have what I want and I can start working on the scenery this winter .

I glad this is my only mistake I made on this layout!!! ( This week that is...)
 
not sure what was your issue (what do you mean not the right way?) but it seems you taking on quite a complex project so i guess there ought to be some stumbles and changes along the way.
 
When it leaves the yard it goes back to the mainline the opposite way it was going. The original design was complicated and I made it more complicated.
 
Y track formation

When it leaves the yard it goes back to the mainline the opposite way it was going. The original design was complicated and I made it more complicated.
I believe you are referring to the 'double Y' trackage that connects the freight yard to the mainlines. You can see them in the original plans HERE.

'Y' trackage allowed a steam engine (they don't like to run in reverse for long stretches) to turn around when a turntable was not available.
 
not sure what was your issue (what do you mean not the right way?) but it seems you taking on quite a complex project so i guess there ought to be some stumbles and changes along the way.

I wanted to show you what I meant by not coming out of the yard the right way.
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In the above picture you will notice the 2 tracks coming into the yard. This is the updated version. Notice you can see the cork where I had them coming into the yard before. In the original version of this plan you have a "y" coming into the yard and the yard had a "dead end" . You have to back out of the yard. I took the "Y" out and made it one set of tracks in and a set of tracks out at the far end of the layout. The picture is a little fuzzy but look at the far end and you can see the exit.

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Until I made this new change when I had the old route into the yard it created a reversing situation. Now that I redirected the entrance I have no more reversing situation. I can now enter the yard form either end of the layout or exit the yard from either side of the layout and the trains will continue their current route and direction. Hope that makes sense because it confused the crap out of me. :confused: here is another picture of the old route.

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If I would have thought of this in the first place I would not have wasted $120.00 on reversing modules. These are the lessons we learn.
 
Yep that is what i am going to do. Thanks for the comment on the layout I hope to post some more pictures when I clean up some of the mess from building.
 
Hate to say it but I am so ready for winter so that I can get some time back working on my railroad. I am going to spend this Sunday finishing up some loose ends on the wiring. I got a few things done this summer but it has been a busy summer and was hard to work on it.

Wayne if you are still out there , how is your Central Midland coming along?

I will post some pictures again maybe this weekend.
 
Hate to say it but I am so ready for winter so that I can get some time back working on my railroad. I am going to spend this Sunday finishing up some loose ends on the wiring. I got a few things done this summer but it has been a busy summer and was hard to work on it.

Wayne if you are still out there , how is your Central Midland coming along?

I will post some pictures again maybe this weekend.

Eric, I have come to a stand still on the Central. Family issues have diverted my attention. I do continue to scour shows and the bay for W&LE equipment I like. Hopefully when the snow blows I'll get back to work on it. I see that you continue to plug away also.
Wayne
 
Good to hear from you. Hopefully everything is ok and you get some time to get back to it. I have not had the time that I wanted but this winter should give me more time. It has been a year since I built this layout and as much as I like the character of it , it has frustrated me with some of the tighter turns and big grades. I like running passenger sets but the tighter turns present some challenges. Even though I have a minimum radius of 22 degrees it still makes it a challenge to operate passenger cars. As for the grades, I have them down to the steepest grade is at 3.25 percent. I have discovered BullFrog Snot for the wheels and after learning the trick of putting that on the wheels it has really helped. Since I collect trains any hope of a dedicated year or railroad is out the window, I like them all. So the railroad is dubbed " The Any Era Railroad" .

I hope to be working on a little this weekend. A little more test running and track adjustment and I hope I can start doing the scenery again.
 



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