ICG/SOU
HO & O (3-rail) trainman
I started this layout earlier this year. It's been a learning experience, with lots of mistakes and rework done. However, as of last week, I can run trains on it, and am having a lot of fun. The track laying is done except for 3 places to fix (the crossing, the north entrance to the yard, and the southeast approach to downtown).
Construction was of 2x4 for supports, leveled with t-nuts and 2" carriage bolts. Frames were constructed with 1x4, with 3/4" plywood. I went thick on the plywood since I didn't know any better. On top of the plywood is 2x 2" sheets of Dow Square Edge foam. I went thick on the foam to do a decent below grade crossing (road underpass), and a fairly deep riverbank (28 scale feet).
The layout is two levels, with HO on top, and O on bottom. The O level is roughly 29" off the floor, which is a nice height for running a train while seated. The HO level is about 54" off the floor, which leaves me about a foot clearance between the top of the O level and the bottom of the HO level's underside. Wiring and such, it's a tight fit, and something I won't recommend doing. The room is roughly 15.5'x 9.5'. The main part is U shaped, with the town side is 32" deep, the crossing side is 24" deep, and the yard side is 36" deep. The other end is 20" deep. The lift outs are three sections of 8" to 12" wide and 24" long. The lift gates (2 of them) are roughly 10" wide and 20" wide, and about 45" long. The lower level is the same, except the lift outs are 45" and 24" long. I'll post a photo essay of what I learned by building lift outs and lift gates, and mistakes I made and solutions I figured out.
The concept is of 1980's southern Mississippi, which is called the Pine Belt. The town of Campbell is fictional, and some of the elements are loosely based on different things and real places in Mississippi. The town of Campbell is located on the banks of the Leaf River, and is served by the Southern and Illinois Central Gulf. The roads have a small interchange yard. The yard, Mace Yard, was originally built by NO&NE, with a small engine facility. The engine shop was razed and the 90' turntable filled in, and the land sold after the end of steam. A small 150 ton coaling tower remains, since it is steel reinforced concrete, and is rather expensive to remove. A new engine/car shop serves both SOU and ICG, and occasionally another railroad's loco or rolling stock will get minor repairs.
Main industries served by the rail are Sanderson Farms' feed mill (serving various poultry farms), Jitney Jungle's food distribution warehouse, Dunder-Mifflin paper company, Massingill Timber Products (pulpwood and woodchips), Rogers Scrap and Salvage, MidSouth Petroleum, ALM/HMM Ltd (engine/car shop), Campbell Lumber and Building Supply, and a local team track and freight house for LCL. The Crescent still runs through twice a day, although by Amtrak and not Southern.
I'll have to do a new track diagram since things have changed, but it is essentially two loops with a crossing connecting the loops, with interchange tracks. The outer loop has a passing siding, capable of holding a train of 15 cars, two locos, and a caboose. Mace Yard has an arrival track, a departure track, a caboose track, one storage track, a run around, and a very short lead. Sanderson Farms has a small 2 track, 6 car yard, for storage of empties or full cars. I used Code 100 Atlas track, because I had a lot of it by the time I started. All turnouts are #6, one 19* crossing, and the smallest curve is about 23". The other curves vary from 23" to 29". All turnouts have Caboose Industries manual throws.
Command and control is via a Digitrax Zephyr. I have 4 UP5 panels and two DT400 throttles. I have 4 power districts with a PM42. I used 14 AWG buses (4 of them) and 18 AWG feeders, every 3 to 6 feet, depending on different things.
Since track laying took so long, I'm behind on the scenery. I have to sculpt out the rest of the terrain, as it will depict a relatively flat area, with small ravines and low hills. I'm using the terrain as view blocks in some areas, especially when the trees are added.
Now, some pictures:
Sanderson Farms feed elevator (needs weathering and a sign)
Jitney Jungle food distribution warehouse (Walther's Imperial Foods)
Future site of Rogers Scrap (will have a crane loading scrap metal in the gons)
Campbell Lumber (original building--Atlas Lumber Yard)
Rest of Campbell Lumber (Walthers Drumlin Forest) with the spur in the parking area
Loading/unloading track at MidSouth Petroleum
Freight house and team track
ALM/HMM Ltd.
The mess that is my layout (southern and eastern side)
The mess on the north and west side
The Leaf River Southern bridge (temporary)
The Leaf River ICG bridge (temporary)
The most challenging part of the construction was the lift outs. Because of having to deal with two doorways, and keep them open, I went from using just lift outs (4 of them for the HO level, and 2 for the O level) to 2 large lift outs (though they were too large, heavy and cumbersome for use and storage), to 4 lift gate bridges (HO level) to finally 2 lift gate bridges (not pictured) and 3 lift out sections (Leaf River side). The lift gates have curves on them, which are to be avoided, and I finally got them to work by adding a piece of curved sectional track since the flex track would not remain in alignment both vertically and horizontally. On the Leaf River side, I was able to build out the benchwork so that the lift out was on a straight section of track.
More updates and less words to follow. Thanks for looking.
Construction was of 2x4 for supports, leveled with t-nuts and 2" carriage bolts. Frames were constructed with 1x4, with 3/4" plywood. I went thick on the plywood since I didn't know any better. On top of the plywood is 2x 2" sheets of Dow Square Edge foam. I went thick on the foam to do a decent below grade crossing (road underpass), and a fairly deep riverbank (28 scale feet).
The layout is two levels, with HO on top, and O on bottom. The O level is roughly 29" off the floor, which is a nice height for running a train while seated. The HO level is about 54" off the floor, which leaves me about a foot clearance between the top of the O level and the bottom of the HO level's underside. Wiring and such, it's a tight fit, and something I won't recommend doing. The room is roughly 15.5'x 9.5'. The main part is U shaped, with the town side is 32" deep, the crossing side is 24" deep, and the yard side is 36" deep. The other end is 20" deep. The lift outs are three sections of 8" to 12" wide and 24" long. The lift gates (2 of them) are roughly 10" wide and 20" wide, and about 45" long. The lower level is the same, except the lift outs are 45" and 24" long. I'll post a photo essay of what I learned by building lift outs and lift gates, and mistakes I made and solutions I figured out.
The concept is of 1980's southern Mississippi, which is called the Pine Belt. The town of Campbell is fictional, and some of the elements are loosely based on different things and real places in Mississippi. The town of Campbell is located on the banks of the Leaf River, and is served by the Southern and Illinois Central Gulf. The roads have a small interchange yard. The yard, Mace Yard, was originally built by NO&NE, with a small engine facility. The engine shop was razed and the 90' turntable filled in, and the land sold after the end of steam. A small 150 ton coaling tower remains, since it is steel reinforced concrete, and is rather expensive to remove. A new engine/car shop serves both SOU and ICG, and occasionally another railroad's loco or rolling stock will get minor repairs.
Main industries served by the rail are Sanderson Farms' feed mill (serving various poultry farms), Jitney Jungle's food distribution warehouse, Dunder-Mifflin paper company, Massingill Timber Products (pulpwood and woodchips), Rogers Scrap and Salvage, MidSouth Petroleum, ALM/HMM Ltd (engine/car shop), Campbell Lumber and Building Supply, and a local team track and freight house for LCL. The Crescent still runs through twice a day, although by Amtrak and not Southern.
I'll have to do a new track diagram since things have changed, but it is essentially two loops with a crossing connecting the loops, with interchange tracks. The outer loop has a passing siding, capable of holding a train of 15 cars, two locos, and a caboose. Mace Yard has an arrival track, a departure track, a caboose track, one storage track, a run around, and a very short lead. Sanderson Farms has a small 2 track, 6 car yard, for storage of empties or full cars. I used Code 100 Atlas track, because I had a lot of it by the time I started. All turnouts are #6, one 19* crossing, and the smallest curve is about 23". The other curves vary from 23" to 29". All turnouts have Caboose Industries manual throws.
Command and control is via a Digitrax Zephyr. I have 4 UP5 panels and two DT400 throttles. I have 4 power districts with a PM42. I used 14 AWG buses (4 of them) and 18 AWG feeders, every 3 to 6 feet, depending on different things.
Since track laying took so long, I'm behind on the scenery. I have to sculpt out the rest of the terrain, as it will depict a relatively flat area, with small ravines and low hills. I'm using the terrain as view blocks in some areas, especially when the trees are added.
Now, some pictures:
Sanderson Farms feed elevator (needs weathering and a sign)
Jitney Jungle food distribution warehouse (Walther's Imperial Foods)
Future site of Rogers Scrap (will have a crane loading scrap metal in the gons)
Campbell Lumber (original building--Atlas Lumber Yard)
Rest of Campbell Lumber (Walthers Drumlin Forest) with the spur in the parking area
Loading/unloading track at MidSouth Petroleum
Freight house and team track
ALM/HMM Ltd.
The mess that is my layout (southern and eastern side)
The mess on the north and west side
The Leaf River Southern bridge (temporary)
The Leaf River ICG bridge (temporary)
The most challenging part of the construction was the lift outs. Because of having to deal with two doorways, and keep them open, I went from using just lift outs (4 of them for the HO level, and 2 for the O level) to 2 large lift outs (though they were too large, heavy and cumbersome for use and storage), to 4 lift gate bridges (HO level) to finally 2 lift gate bridges (not pictured) and 3 lift out sections (Leaf River side). The lift gates have curves on them, which are to be avoided, and I finally got them to work by adding a piece of curved sectional track since the flex track would not remain in alignment both vertically and horizontally. On the Leaf River side, I was able to build out the benchwork so that the lift out was on a straight section of track.
More updates and less words to follow. Thanks for looking.
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