ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
Thanks Dave,
My dad and I usually spend just a few days here and there on the layout. Sometimes I don't get down to his house for weeks, and his job doesn't afford a lot of time for him either. But when we do get to work on it we try to make the most of the time. This past trip we went all out and installed all the under-table machine we could, I reworked some track in the middle staging area because the radii turned out to tight and my Dad worked on some wiring of the machines. This was one of the few time that we both got to work on it together. My days off and his don't coincide, so it's nice when we do get together.
Just keep at the work and It will get done. I always would rather take an extra day to get a small section of track perfect then bang out a large area with bad track work. From day one of this layout I told my Dad I wanted bullet-proof track. In the past we've had other layouts and the track wasn't as good as it should of been. This only make the train driving aspect of the hobby ANNOYING. Who wants to constantly put wheels back on the track, not me. I usually happens in the hardest to reach areas, too.
Take your time and do it right... as Mr Rogers would say.
My Dad just called me and said the golden spike was driven in on the mainlines. A ribbon was ccut, the local high school band and color guard played, The mayor spoke of great things for the future of his town and the added commerce the new railroad will bring to local businesses.
In other words he finally connected the Mainline tracks all the way around and through the upper yard. Boy am I itching to get down there and see the progress. He sent no pix yet, but I'm heading down Wednesday night until Thursday. I can't wait.
I'm back from another trip down to my Dad's. He completed the mainline loops across the upper yard area. I told him to leave the yard area for me to do, if anything is going to be bullet proof, it's gotta be the yard. As soon as You-tube releases the videos. It seems like You-tube is taking longer to release the videos now a days. It use to take only 5-10 minutes, but now it's up to an hour.
Well, here's some pix of the progress.
This is a shot of the work my Dad got done on the mainline loops before I got my hands on it . View attachment 6128
Here's a shot of the 1:1 scale printout with the turnouts in place. I used it to dot the centerlines and then played connect the dots. View attachment 6129
And finally a view of the whole area after I marked all the centers and installed some track. The caboose tracks, the yard run around and the turnouts leading into the classification tracks are down and running smooth. I figured the classification tracks can hold a minimum of 35 freight cars. View attachment 6130
Here's a view of the layout room area as of 4/12/2007. Alot more is going on from the time I started back in October. View attachment 6131
I am following your thread of the making of your(both father and sun!) layout. It is very impressive Ron!!
I did feel the exiting too as you wrote that the first trains could run continious !!( hope I wrote this correct: I mean; not point to point.. )
The "movies"on "tube"are also great!!
Thanks for sharing and showing the progress!!
OK, with this impending storm of doom that is bearing down on the whole north east coast, other than building an ARK, I also got alot of scenery done on the layout.
What do you guys think? View attachment 6184
Alright you caught me, that's a diorama I made last night... oh I mean a picture I found on the net of a bridge across the Schuylkill River.
This is another shot of the yard from a different angle. The boxcars are sitting on the 2 caboose tracks. Behind them are the classification tracks. Too the left of the cars are the east and west bound mainlines. The double cross-over is for going into the station of the future, to be located in the upper left corner of the picture. View attachment 6182
And finally a reverse view of the yard from the window side near the backdrop. I've pointed out the location of the tracks. The numbers 11,11,8 and 5 are the minimum number of cars on each track for a total of 35 boxcars equal to the yellow FGE cars in the above picture. There could be more if I have short freight in there at any time, so that should give me plenty of switching in the future. View attachment 6183
I revised the access to the branchline. My Dad mentioned that you couldn't get to it from the passenger station near the double cross-over, only from the from the yard lead near the turntable. So I did a little switcheroo, adding 2 curved turnouts and a single slip switch.
View attachment 6189
Just to the left of the turntable is the green slip switch.
I think this will add to the operational aspect of the layout.
First things first....this is a wonderful lay-out. I read all nine pages and was wishing for a total track lay-out print so I could trace the tracks. I went back to post #1 and found what I was looking for. I love the continuous track lay-out design. Keep up the good work and continue posting pictures and movies.
Second...I have XTrakCad and am currently working on a coffee table design. I printed out the 2'x4' design and wanted to know how you transfer the center line to the plywood? I have seen a small wooden handled tool that I think would be perfect for this. It has a metal wheel that has spikes all the way around that would poke holes down the center line. You should be able to follow that up with a black marker for a row of little holes.
Third...I was looking at your 1:1 print-outs and noticed you had white spaces between the track end from sheet to sheet. I cut mine off on a paper cutter so the ends matched perfectly. Otherwise you will end up with a half inch added space per sheet. This will add up fast on a large lay-out....or am I wrong? This is my first time using the program and first time printing out a design.
Ok stupid question for you. How did you get it to print off all the sections on individual sheets perfectly in 1:1?? I haven't tried that yet and as I'm going to be laying track soon I was wondering how you did this.
Ok stupid question for you. How did you get it to print off all the sections on individual sheets perfectly in 1:1?? I haven't tried that yet and as I'm going to be laying track soon I was wondering how you did this.
You have to select the scale that you want to print from the print menu. A 1 equals 1:1. The lay-out will then be divided up into rectangles (sheets of paper) You then click on the lay-out for what sections (pages) you want to print. Say you only want to print the track out and not the empty sheets in the middle. Then you would go around the lay-out and click on just sheets with track on them. You can also print a grind and ruler so it is easier to align.
First things first....this is a wonderful lay-out. I read all nine pages and was wishing for a total track lay-out print so I could trace the tracks. I went back to post #1 and found what I was looking for. I love the continuous track lay-out design. Keep up the good work and continue posting pictures and movies.
Second...I have XTrakCad and am currently working on a coffee table design. I printed out the 2'x4' design and wanted to know how you transfer the center line to the plywood? I have seen a small wooden handled tool that I think would be perfect for this. It has a metal wheel that has spikes all the way around that would poke holes down the center line. You should be able to follow that up with a black marker for a row of little holes.
It's a very simple solution. Get a new Sharpie marker and dot the centers, but hold it there longer than just a split second. More like 2 seconds and the ink transfers to the plywood. Then just play connect the dots and use a straight edge for the long runs. Also, mark the ends of the turnouts to make it easy to locate when you lift the paper up.
Third...I was looking at your 1:1 print-outs and noticed you had white spaces between the track end from sheet to sheet. I cut mine off on a paper cutter so the ends matched perfectly. Otherwise you will end up with a half inch added space per sheet. This will add up fast on a large lay-out....or am I wrong? This is my first time using the program and first time printing out a design.
I forget when I print it out if I check "ignore page margins" or uncheck it. But that 1/2" strip is not offset but just blank. If you line up the corners of the paper the plan will be lined up dead on.
After looking at the revise to the Branchline, my Dad said why don't you just put 2 curved turnout end to end and eliminate the slip switch. Well... Duh! I was so excited I got the slip switch to work that I didn't see the forest through the trees.
Back from another trip from the basements empire.
A quick list of things done:
1. My Dad started to cut out the road bed on the branchline that is on the very upper level of the layout. Here's some pix of the 2 ends of the branchline where it connects to the mainline.
2. He also set up some temporary switch controls for the left side of the layout. I will build proper control panels with momentary push buttons for the turnouts with a schematic of the regions of the layout.
3. I put in more of the yard tracks before fixing some of the glitches my Dad had in the track work. You can see the passenger station on the right side of the picture. Here is the progress of the yard.
Branchline beginnings The half circle piece of plywood will be the first industry you come to after leaving the yard from the roundhouse side. Another short and sweet videos.
Thanks CSX. I'm starting to get up there in years.
I wish I could show all of you in person the progress of the layout, but this forum will have to do.
)
