The Uffington and Davis Railroad (The Uff Da Line)

[Iron Horseman]

And oh by the way.... The out and back track plan you have here is, in my opinion, the ultimate solution for a small railroad. Three thumbs up. You can get all the operation of a point-to-point, plus the rail fan effect of an infinite number of loops on the main without HAVING to stop, switch, and go back the other way. And no need for a second space wasting reversing loop.

I presume you know your yard only really has three classification tracks, because so much of it is sucked up with the locomotive escape on the arrival track (green is all wasted), and the switchback tail for the ladder bypass.

It is possible to reclaim that whole escape track for a classification operationally. First the train could just pull in and let the locomotive sit there until the yard engine works the train off of it into the yard. The yard engine could sit waiting on the ladder, the ladder bypass track, or the turntable lead. If you think the train is going to be too long and blocking one of those turnouts, you could add a switcher pocket (blue).

Second, is what I've done on my son's small yard. I use the yard ladder as the arrival track. The ladder bypass tail track becomes the locomotive escape track (pink).

So that.

1. switcher positions itself on the ladder bypass track.
2. train pulls in and through the ladder
3. switcher pulls out behind
4. switcher couples on to rear of train and pulls it back of the locomotive to clear the ladder bypass turnout.
5. road engine reverses out of the tail track onto the bypass. (changing the leads to the turntable slightly could let it go straight in. (aqua or maroon(
6. otherwise switcher starts working the train until it gets it sorted enough that the road engine can clear to the turntable track.

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Greetings all!

It has been much too long, but want you to know I am still in the hobby.

I got really bogged down winter into spring on a project to automate the turnouts for the yard and its entries. The project became 'too much' and I backed away from the Rr for a few months. But am returning now.

I did one project, though not really a layout project, is an improvement to rolling stock.

Upon entering the hobby, I just picked up a few pieces to get trains running. One was the Walthers Cupola Caboose in BNSF colors:

Wide-Vision Caboose - Ready to Run -- Burlington Northern

This Walthers Trainline HO Scale Wide-Vision Caboose is great for adding to the end of any freight train on your layout or train set. Trainline freight cars feature RP-25 metal wheels for superior performance on all kinds of track including smaller scale-sized Code 70 and larger rail. With their...

www.walthers.com

Well, that does not really fit as my era is pre-merger. So I disassembled and redid the caboose:

I disassembled and primed the body and cupola. Painted in MILW maroon. Glued in plastic for windows, weathered the trucks and wheels. Painted in some trim details and then added the decals.

Far rom perfect, but I am happy with the result. Man, working with those itsy-bitsy decals was a learning curve!!

Thanks for the view! Carry on!

Steve J

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Really need to finish up the layout. Here is my latest thoughts on the inside the loop tracks. This gives me a runaround and means to sort and move cars south without going in head first. Just seems like a bunch of track in a small space.

I do welcome all your thoughts!

All the yard tracks and two outer loops are done and work well. I enjoy running trains on the outer loops and making/breaking trains in the yard. No it is time to finish up the interior and begin scenery work.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions!

Steve J

 

[The Old Bandit]

Nice track plan IMO.

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Greetings all!

My how the time does fly. But I'm still a-kickin' as they say. I did fall away from the hobby and the forums for professional and personal reasons. I got way over my head on a track project and that burned me out.

But I am back and am excited. One big change is we have a granddaughter! Silvana Tetyana Jones has her first birthday this week. She is a peach and we get to see her often. Since October, she has stayed with us at least one day per week while my son is in school.

So I am back at the layout and getting excited for the new phase. And I hope to be more active here as well.

Here is the current and, in my opinion, final plan as I intend to begin installation of the "Inner Loop" this evening, and the new turnouts and a few other items arrive tomorrow.

Structures are not finalized, but just trial. The southern straight will be the Walthers Coal trestle.

Anyways, I am looking forward to renewing old acquaintances and making new ones.

Happy RR-ing!!

Steve J

 

[Rico]

Hey good to see you posting again, and congrats on the addition! (both family and layout… )
Adding that loop will definitely increase operations and interest!

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Well, I hit a snag. And perhaps it is a good warning/reminder to all, especially those newer to the hobby or just beginning their layout plans.

While I did my best to transfer the rail plans from AnyRail to the layout, some errors crept in. Because in my lates track plan (post #85), the curved TO connecting to the 15" radius fits nicely inside the other loop. Not so in real life. The existing inner loop at the. north was drawn with 19" radius curve, but I used an 18" ribbon rail. And while it looks and runs nice, losing that radius means that the planned inner loop will take a rethink. The plan now will be to put a standard TO there, either Peco or new Walthers. That will still give me about a 30 inch run-around, which should be plenty. I run mostly 40-footers on my RR with only one 50 foot boxcar.

I should mention here also that I did test my motive power for 15 inch radius curves and I have four of the switchers which will handle them no problem. The road units will never see those tight areas as they will be dropping off cars for the local runs to push into place at client industries.

The good news is that I somehow intuitively knew that was a potential problem area and so approached that run first. I'll take a picture later and illustrate. Perhaps the bigger question is: should I carefully measure the installed track and transfer those more exact measurements to AnyRail? That's a lot of work and I'm not sure I'll get much benefit rom it at this stage. I'll probably take the lazy-man's approach and deal with issues as they arise.

Cheers all!

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

The past few evenings have been spent laying the ground work for track. Test fitting, drilling for frog wires, putting on the road bed foam (my preferred choice), worrying. You know the important pre-work to make the actual work go better!!

So huge progress this afternoon when I could sneak away a tad early:

It feels good to be making progress again. I still have some time before I must needs leave for dinner - maybe I will put in the new PSXX circuit breakers I bought.

I am motivated again, and having fun. Now to make significant progress before golf weather comes to Minnesota!

Thanks for the read!
Steve

 

[santafewillie]

Love the weights!

 

[Rico]

Must be a dozen or so lighter weights somewhere too judging by the leftover corks.
Kidding, I don’t judge going by the fact there’s a corkscrew in my modelling tools…

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Must be a dozen or so lighter weights somewhere too judging by the leftover corks.
Kidding, I don’t judge going by the fact there’s a corkscrew in my modelling tools…

Yes, we have gone through some nice bottles over the years! But corks do come in handy:

1. Track cleaner - non-abrasive and they pick up the tarnish

2. I stick them on skewers:

Skewers are great for uncoupling; throwing points, etc. I find, YMMV, they are easier to handle and control with the corks giving a better grip. I also put glue on the threads of these square bent hooks and thread them into the cork. They are great for reaching in and throwing Caboose brand hand-throws, which I use a lot. I even glued a super magnet to the end of one for retrieving ferrous parts or junk.

3. The act of getting the cork (i.e. drinking the wine) is a great muse for further down the road projects!

Enjoy the weekend!

 

[NVSrr1500]

You have alot of yard for very few industries.

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

This is true.

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Greetings all, I figured an update might be due. Even with Lent, Jack has been a busy boy. I am finding that I really enjoy this aspect of the hobby: Laying track. I am also looking forward to another aspect I enjoy: wiring the track.

Here is a pic as of yestereve:

The long red circle lower left will be a Walthers 933-4093 Coal Trestle. I am thinking of incorporating some fueling piping to make this a coal, diesel and misc farm supply industry. I'm thinking the name might be, "Marvin's Carbons."

The two bright green lines are also spurs for industry spots, yet to be selected. That TO shown is an old Walthers-SHinohara #2 Wye that I got years ago at a hobby store and want to incorporate.

North or above the reversing line you can hopefully see three yellow highlighted spurs. The paper template on the left is the Walthers Icing house and platform. It may be a touch crowded for some tastes, but I think it will work well for my compacted industrial park. I will put the Walthers Golden Valley depot along one, and not sure for the other.

The track highlighted in purple is the runaround. It ended up, most unfortunately, shorter than planned at only 23 inches. Hopefully it is enough for my mythical short-line.

And finally, where the French track weights are (ahem) is a short stub where I can park the industrial switchers. I may put a loco shed there eventually, if it fits. I wanted to switch that with a Peco Electrofrog TO, but already had a new Walthers DCC friendly, so I used it. The Electrofrog would allow me to park one or both switchers and 'turn' them off by closing the points. I hope I don't miss that capability. If needed, I can always wire in a SPST toggle.

So that's where the construction project is. I am about 90% done with the build of the trestle. Now painting and weathering prior to installation. I am thinking for the berm, some of that textured rattle-can paint. I also got some hobby rocks to glue on the sides. I am dropping that spur to C70, weathered, which will go up the berm onto the trestle. I'm using Micro Engineering weathered C70 flex for that run.

Thanks for the read! Questions, tips, constructive criticism always welcome!

Steve J