The D&J Railroad -- From Scratch


With the summer outdoor projects demanding attention along with the weekly chores, i.e. cutting the grass, work on the D&J Railroad has slowed down significantly.
With the recent week of rain I was able to put some time into laying more track. No power is applied to the rails yet, but I can run a string of cars on each track to ensure smooth action.
The 2x4s on each side of the road bed are the foundation of a mountain that will cover this section of the track. A tunnel portal will be right about here.

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Looking down the track from this perspective will be looking into a tunnel at about this point. The 2x4s are where the end of the tunnel will be. The lower road bed is where this track passes under itself about 40' around the loop.

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Someone is cutting down a forest just to build a model railroad....:(.....JUST KIDDING! :p Some treehuggers don't want to share the wood.:confused: :)



Mike
 
Construction question - What thickness drywall did you install? A number of people here are saying I have to use 5/8s. I figure 1/2-in is plenty good enough for a basement and lighter to carry as well.
 
It depends on your state building code.
Here in WA., 5/8 sheet rock is required for a fire break....at an adjoining wall/ceiling for a garage, for instance
 
I believe the drywall is 5/8". There were only a couple selections in the 4'X8' sheets at 84 Lumber. 1/4" and 5/8".
 
railfan said:
Someone is cutting down a forest just to build a model railroad....:(.....JUST KIDDING! :p Some treehuggers don't want to share the wood.:confused: :)



Mike
Click to expand...


Yer, I wish I'd known earlier he was going to use this much plywood so that I could have bought shares in the lumber company that's supplying him:p



Can't wait to see some pics of trains running.
 
I have about a scale 1 1/2 miles of double track mainline laid and about 3 miles of cork laid down. I started running the power buss for about a mile of it last night. Soldering each flex track section as I go along. I have to run the second line as well before I can connect a power station and run a loco. I have the string of spine cars and auto carrier that I have been testing the track with. They sure look good gliding through the broad sweeping curves. It's just that the 0-5-0 motive power just doesn't do it justice.
If any of you saw the article in the July issue of Modelrailroader magazine on scenery, that is what I will be pursueing for this layout.
 
Finally, got the second buss line laid out under the roadbed and soldered to a few flex track sections. Found one of the old power supplies and picked out the DS100 Command station and wired it up to the track. It's been about 5 years or so since I actually ran the Digitrax so I had to refer to the manual on how to troubleshoot the command station. Once the command station lights were doing what they were supposed to be doing, I dialed up the 03 address to a BLI AC6000 and ran the loco up and down the mile of track that was powered. I had only soldered feeders to about 20 feet of track so I could tell the drop in voltage as the loco moved further down the line, only relying on the rail connectors for the power connections. Eventually, the AC6000 was stamering due to the weak connections.
The track is smooth. The easements into the curves are spot on. The string of spine cars flow into the curves so effortlessly. Heck, the train looks good just sitting on the track.
I'll put some pictures up later this evening.
 
This is one of the first trains to actually run on digital power on the new D&J Railroad. Each section of flex track will be linked to a power buss under the roadbed. This will provide the perfect electrical connection that is necessary for a good running layout. The white and black power buss can be seen laying to the right of the track, down on the benchwork.

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Testing the track and making adjustments. It seems that flaws in the track work are more evident with a train on it. The benchwork design makes adjustments quite easy. Here is a cut of 16 autoracks on the left most loop. The locos are on the track that has soldered leads. The tail of the train is on track that is powered only by the track connectors. The motive power is a BLI AC6000 BNSF and an Atlas GP35 SP, both MUd together. The train is on a 1% grade going uphill.

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I laid out the loco net cable, boosters, power supplies, UP5s, UR91 and UR92. I will operate them with extension cords running from one central control point to make turning the layout on or off easier. Later on, I'll tie it all together with a light switch that will turn everything on or off.
I've been putting off completing the adjustments on the right most loop that feeds the sorting yard. I have about another scale mile of track to lay before I reach one end of the yard. The track extends about a scale half mile past the yard on the loop that is under adjustment where it will join up with the first section of track that is laid. Soldering of the buss line is about two miles behind the track laying crew but is only working on one side of the double track mainline. A lot of work still to be done there.
Turnouts and crossovers are still being planned but none have been installed yet. Both types of turnouts will be #10 and will be tied to the signal system. I'm still looking at the turnout kits that can build a #12. The first ones to be installed will be for the yard leads and the crossovers to access the yard leads from the opposite track. Sidings will be planned after the mainline is up and running. Block control signal heads will be installed after the blocks are established.
 
Getting some work done on the yard. The yard will make a slight right turn and then come back together on the distant yard lead. The mainline will be on the benchwork on the right edge of this picture, where the paper towel roll is.

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The yard lead

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and the loop going into the yard. The end of the cork roadbed for the yard lead is at the bottom of the picture.

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The wiring is moving along two peninsulas to the left of this picture. I have started blocking the tracks for the coming signal system.
 

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If you put solar panels on all those plywoods...and aimed them towards that window....holy megawatts casey jones! :p:):eek:
 
Got some more wiring done to the yard lead and the right most loop of the layout. The left most track is the yard lead with a cut over to the mainline so trains coming out of the yard can get around trains coming into the yard on the track that the SD70Ace (foremost loco0 is sitting on. That section of yard lead is about 45 feet from the cut over to where it terminates further down the mainline. The other end, behind the locomotives leads to the main yard.
All three Digitrax command stations are now synced and controlling their own sections of the layout. Adding more buss line and soldering each section of track to the buss is taking some time and patience.

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With the hot weather going on here in Virginia, I have been spending a little more time in the cool of the basement getting caught up on building the D&J Railroad.

I finished installing the cut over at the first yard lead so the right most track could have access to the yard. This is about 45 feet further down the track from the previous post picture. The spine train is snaking from the yard lead across track three to track two and will be left hand running up the 1% grade to the mountain pass (yet to be named.) Each turnout is a #10 as you can see the entire 5 spine cars are in transition. The two turnouts on the mainline will be powered by Tortus machines. With these turnouts and the two in the previous post completed, I can progress with laying cork and track to complete the mainline run of the entire circuit. That will be about 1 more scale mile.

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Looking across the basement and the three peninsulas of the layout from the top left to the bottom right of the layout illustration in post 10 of this thread. The cork roadbed is almost into the far corner with just about a 1/2 mile left while the track is just up to the lift out section that crosses in front of the door opening going into the storage room. The thing standing up in the distance is a lamp system for working on the yard turnouts and wiring. The Digitrax command station in the foreground powers the center loop and over to the door way and back justpast the camera to the left. If you look, real close between the pole and the central air system to the right side of the picture, you can see a AC6000 BNSF sitting on the track. Kinda brings a bit of perspective of how large this layout is. The ceiling is 9 feet high.

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This is a little closer look at the line of cork roadbed that is in the distance in the previous photo. The yard is on the right. The double track mainline will curve to the right along the distant wall then come back toward the camera to the right side of the yard.

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Finally got the mainline laid down where it passes the freight yard.

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This is the lift out section in front of the storage room door. Note the #10 cross over just before the lift-out section. The freight yard lead track will join into the mainline on the other side of the lift-out and the crossover in the foreground will get the trains over to right hand running. The track in the foreground is concrete ties, code 83.

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