Ok, awhile back I posted some pics of my father's layout, including a video of his Aerotrain. There were some questions about the layout etc, and I just got some of the pics that he sent. He's searching through several more CD's worth of old pics to find some more for me. So without further yapping on my part:
He can't find a copy of his track plan from the software that he built it on, so here is the next best thing.
Here is a semi-aerial view. BTW, that's generations 2 & 3 in the corner.
This one is a bit higher, but not much.
Oh, he did manage to find the layout plan, see it folded in half sitting on the table? Ugh! Oh, can you say "scratch-building"? BTW, dad went to school to be an architect, go figure.
i'd be scared to even touch his control block setup lol
looks kinda intimidating imo
but wow tho, the entire layout has the ultra complex deal for it, wondering if it stopped at that?
Iruleyou05 wrote: i'd be scared to even touch his control block setup lollooks kinda intimidating imo but wow tho, the entire layout has the ultra complex deal for it, wondering if it stopped at that?
I know what you mean about the control pannel, I'd have to be continually checking to make sure I was flipping the right switch and by that point, CRASH!!!...oops. I think he said he has a kill switch for the entire layout to prevent any of that, but knowing my father he's probably got the entire thing worked out to where it will maintain itself perfectly, he's just that way. The layout building came to a halt sometime after the pics were taken because his employer moved him to another job site, so now he spends the week in Connecticut in an apartment, and the weekends at home. Unfortunately, it doesn't allow him enough time to be able work much on the layout. So for the next 2 or 4 years until his retirement it will most likely stay as it is right now. It's great to watch run though; I'll dig up the link to the video and post it here again.
Here's a video of his Aerotrain running on the layout, the train on the outside mainline is a K4-s; everything on his layout is PRR correct.
Pop's Layout with Aerotrain running
Deffintely numorous ways to run it on that setup. Too bad he doesnt have time to take it further then it is.
Still too many controls for me to screw up tho......
lol
Frank53 wrote:tubular track rocks
Yeah, Frank I knew you would like it.
Iruleyou05 wrote: Too bad he doesnt have time to take it further then it is.
Like he keeps telling me, "all in good time, all in good time." Heck, the layout spent 4 years under a plastic covering. It took him more than an hour to uncover and set the trains back up, I think I've started to rekindle the fire in him. Let's hope at least
Iruleyou05 wrote:just start mentioning anything big and new in the train world to him when you talk to him...every time, lol
For any of us that seems to work pretty well, but my father has a pretty narrow field of view when it comes to his layout and plans. What seems to work better with him is when I'm talking to him about my plans and the fun that I'm having. After I bought the Polar Express and started sending him pics and videos, that's when his came out from the plastic wrap, and its gotten him digging back through his old photos etc. So, I keep sending him new pics of the Pole Ex, and especially ones where the kids are driving it; those seem to work extra well.
At a glance it looks like he can reverse both ways in the blue section - are all the loops connected?
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Jim Fortner wrote: At a glance it looks like he can reverse both ways in the blue section - are all the loops connected?
Keep in mind that I've never seen it in person (ran away from home a long time ago ), so I'm basically going off the videos and diagrams too, but I'm pretty sure that the blue interior section does reverse both ways (using the figure 8 in the middle) and yeah, a single train has access to each of the loops and can ride on the entire layout. In the video that I posted at the bottom you can see the Aerotrain accessing most if not all of the interior section (I don't think it rides all of the blue line) and the K4s runs the outside main which can be accessed via the rail-yard.
Well, after months of searching for his original layout plan my father had all but given up, then this weekend he and my step-mother were cleaning out the basement and lo-and-behold what should he find!
It's 9x15, and based on PRR
fifedog wrote:WOW!!! Looks like the schematic for Wahington D.C.'s Union Station! MAN, is that busy! I counted 28 switches ( and I think there are a few more hidden). WOW!!!
Here's a video that shows his layout in action, its only benchwork and track right now, but you get the idea.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8438891641888438327
Here's another video, that shows his rail yard.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7292534548144886340&hl=en
That loop that the Aerotrain is on sure does give you a long run.
Thanks for sharing. Good stuff.
Its kinda strange, because I was talking to my father last night, and he said that he was going through his basement getting rid of a bunch of stuff, and I jokingly said, "Hey if you find any train stuff that ya don't want you know my address." He laughed and said, "Patience, patience." I've always pretty much known that my dad was going to split his train stuff between my brother and I in when he passes, but for some reason that never seemed to be a reality to me until last night. I told him then, "You know I think I can wait a very long time."
Oh, thanks for all the compliments on the layout, I will pass them on to my father, he will appreciate them for sure.
And as for lighting the fire under him, well he's adamant that the layout waits until he retires, which is about 2 more years. He's got a job that doesn't allow him much home time, but it seems each week that he's more and more willing to take early retirement.
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