The Rock Island Backyard DSM, IA Division (My layout plan, & now construction )

[Anonymous]

Mainline is DONE! -as in all track is now in on the mainline. It took about 8 hours to complete (with several breaks). As stated before all but up by the house (and thru the patio) is all double track, and the track with the wye in it is counted as a secondary single track main.  The wye only needs about 15 minutes more worth of work and it will be done (I need to cut rail, too noisy after 10pm).  The main line was completed at about 9:55 pm, then I ran trains with my friend Doug (who spent the day ballasting track, semi-prototypically using an open hopper).  It was a blast to finally run 2 trains at once in oposite directions. 

   Total track laid to date is about 420 feet long give or take a foot or two.  Not bad in an area that is 70'x~50')  with most of that area taken up by flower beds/grass/pond.

  Of course much work yet to be done: walkways to replace/reset (and their associated walkway lights), yard lead to create, leads to the future industrial areas, lead to the basement window staging area, fill next to much of the new concrete, then ballasting the newly laid track, all which must be done in the next couple weeks.   

[Rocket Man]

This is a little off from the construction of your layout, but I'm curious what era(s) of the C.R.I.P. you are going to feature?

[Anonymous]

Eric, wonderful pictures and progress! Been a while since I have visited your site.

[Anonymous]

Rocket man,

1st of all anything dealing with my layout isnt off subject   and any posts, question or otherwise are welcome.

The layout is set in the late '70's as I have memories of the end.  The track and such is hopefully up to '50's standards as constant derailments are bothersome (typical of the late '70's RI ) There is a little '50's stuff as well as I love the paint schemes from that era. I still havent come to a complete answer for era bashing, but then again it is my backyard  -lol. The hopefully soon revamp of my web page will give better explaination, etc of my layout and its goals.....

Matt,

stay tuned for a soon to be released major upgrade of the website, with much more advancement in my back yard !!!!

Thanks all for your encouragement and sugestions, keep it coming.

Eric

[moparrailfan]

Eric where are the updates? It has been almost 2 months the people are waiting!! It's not like you have been busy with getting the basement ready to build a staging yard,working on freight cars,pouring more concrete for the yard lead and industrial areas.

Doug

Modeling the Norfolk Southern in HO and the Rock Island in G.

[Anonymous]

OK mopar, where is your G layout???? HMMMM, ok so I have a lot more done in my back yard than is posted....   

(fyi mopar is helping me build my layout....., I just dont hold it against him what kind of truck he drives)

I guess I should share what I have been upto, I promise soon....

[route_rock]

 Looking good so far my friend! Been busy with the RR and the House so someday I hope to get on track ( HA HA good pun) Keep the pics coming.

[Anonymous]

OK all I am finally getting around to fixing my website, but to do so I had to reload the whole thing -I know, I know I am a whiner..... I just rebuilt my website to hold more current photos, I finally bought a program to resize my pics to create more room (the hold up), but also should help them load faster for you dial up people.  unfortunately it is now full once again, but it is current!!!!!! Finally
I also reorganized the photos to make it flow better, but it did cause some to be out of order of actual completion.

Oh, there are now photos that prove I have ran trains (and in daylight too, since most of my running tends to happen after dark)

[Anonymous]

Hello all,
To begin with the website still has not changed as that will require a major rework and elimination of photos I am not quite ready to do yet.
I thought I would give a verbal update.
To begin with, I have changed a good part of the goal of the layout, some of this was done last year, forgive me if I duplicate.
The map on my site is now way out of date! I just realized how much I have changed it in the last year!
Done last year: Along the right side of the map there was a 3rd line installed which went thru the middle of the flower beds and a wye was installed with the line that is just below the pond on the map. The outer mainline is all double track except up by the house (the shorter single track lines at the top of the map are double track).
Now planned:
It now is RI with both CNW and NW interchanges and both of the other RR have some switching to do. If I can come up with an easy way to draw this out and post it I will.....
If you are familiar with Des Moines, IA, I am focusing near Shortline yard.
I am going to incorperate E18th yard for the NW and its grain elevator and the Armstrong tire plant both NW & RI served. This is going in right behind the garage where previously Shortline yard was going (original map said stoage/switching). The CNW is taking the track shown to go across the pond, before the pond will be a small interchange yard. Past the pond will be the ADM plant which both the CNW and RI served (on the map shown to be switching).
In the top left of the map the last 1' or so of the garden will become shortline yard and a track will curve up the left fence to Armstrong tire at a right angle to the area served by NW (up by the garage).

For now the actual progress to the RR has been planting scale plants next to parts of the line for the forseeable future, as well as ballast(see below).

AS far as the stability of my concrete roadbed: no issues the 1st winter, hard as a rock, with no movement- only track problems is spelled d-o-g, and so far all of those are fixable!

As far as ballast: Since I am going with a slightly (ie above grould level about 6-12") raised roadbed, all prevous ballast work has disapeared more or less, as the dog has moved it all. I decided to attempt concrete ballast, I am now mixing Porter with my ballast 1:2 to see if it will keep my ballast in place. I am talking about on the slope away from the concrete roadbed to ground level. MY test site is now about 1 month old and has held up better than the plain ballast did last summer. I am sure frost heaves will play havoc in a years time, as it has no rebar, but I doubt it could be worse than the dog/weather did in 2 months late last summer. -Next spring will tell what I think.

[Anonymous]

Route Rock, and Ice Puck, and any one else near by:

I am hosting the CIRGRS Meeting on July 15, please feel free to show up, and play!  MY layout is set up for batt, but is capable of other operations...  let me know

Eric

[icepuck]

I'll bring my LGB Snoopy and 0-4-0 UP loco.