Hi everyone, I have been a long time lurker, having made only a few posts in the past. However, I have been working on my first layout, an L shaped industrial switching layout in HO. While the layout isn't large by any stretch, each leg measuring 8' long, with one 24" wide and the other 32" wide.
The layout is loosely based on the Lakewood Branch of Milwaukee Road's C&E Line which traversed several neighborhoods on Chicago's North Side. The branch served many industries during its day including coal dealers, breweries, meat packing plants and confectioners. Almost all I the track ran down the center of Lakewood Ave, a widened residential street.
I have already done much work on the layout, to the point where it is operational, though most of is not scenicked yet. I am running DC, code 100 track with a mix of Atlas and Peco turnouts. Rather than having 18" be my minimum turnout radius, that is actually my maximum! As space was a premiun I had to include some less than prototypical radius curves in order to fit everything. The urban setting however lends itself to tight clearances with buildings and small radius curves. I can comfortably run my Walthers FM H10-44 and 50' cars through all of the curves with no problem.
I look forward to feedback and answers to the many many questions that I am sure will pop along the way.
Thanks!
How do I delete a post? I am struggling with posting a picture and would rather not continue with this thread
Woot! I was finally able to add a photo!!!
Damon,
Sounds like a neat concept. I've always enjoyed street running and MR has carried a number of articles of different prototypes that use it. It's also a great concept for small to intermediate size layouts. Looking forward to what you're up to.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
You may have to ask one of the mods to assist with deletion.
On the other hand, as the ever helpful Bear notes, the pic posting instructions Steve posted in General Discussion as a sticky can help you fix this one through editing.
Thanks everyone, I have successfully posted a photo in the past, but for some reason I just can't get it to work. I have already spent an hour trying to get one photo up, time that should have been spent working on the layout.
I'll give it another try, then just move over to MRH I guess.
my apologies for my snarkiness
Try the alternative links usually available at most photo hosting services. Things do change, so one style that worked before may not work now. Which link it is that works depends on the host as much as MR and the names vary, so trial and error will eventually yield good results.
Oh, and posting via the pic link form button on the tool bar is your best bet for things working. Directly writing code into the body of the posting can be wonky, as the backend here is by MS and they have their own way of doing things when handling other people's code as is their practice.
Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions, I was finally able to get a picture posted, granted its kind of a lousy picture, but a picture none the less. I look forward to sharing my progress and hearing everyones thoughts and input as the layout progresses
A picture of a F-M is never really wrong
Glad you got it sorted out and will be posting more.
Progress has been slow but steady, I can usually only sneak down to the layout for about 30-60 minutes a day, if that. I have been trying to focus on getting the styrene shaped and fitted between the rails as well as the street sections. For anything other than straight sections of track I need to use a pencil and paper to take a rubbing to use as a stencil. Once the rubbing is complete I cut it out with scissors to use as a template on the sheet styrene. After scoring and snapping the sheet styrene I am usually about 75% of the way there, sometimes a little trimming, filing or sanding is necessary to get the piece to lay just right. Because I am only using 0.020" thick styrene between the rails I am able to go the full width rather than leaving a small gap for the wheel flanges.
http://vid376.photobucket.com/albums/oo210/damonnelson2332/Mobile%20Uploads/Video_zps8e7cd3b0.mp4
One of the pluses of using the sheet styrene to fill the space between the rails is that I get to completely hide the magnets that I am using for uncoupling. Since they will all be hidden I am using "landmarks" to identify where they are, in this case a manhole cover in the middle of the street marks the spot.
Looks like a lot of detailed work, but the effect is outstanding.
How do you plan to paint things? When I paint track just to weather it, I quickly wipe the rails to take it off the railhead with a block of wood wrapped in paper toweling. That would rub on the street surface here, though. I'm guessing you've not glued anything down yet?
Mike- since the street trackage is "buried" right up to almost the top of the rail I was going to leave it unpainted. The styrene is sitting about 0.020-0.030" below the top of the rail, so I can keep it clean without damaging the finished surface.
As as of now the pieces are only fit into place, nothing has been glued down yet. Once all of the pieces are cut I will scribe the expansion joints in then paint with primer. I made a few test pieces and after scribing and priming I used both black and brown ink washes to weather them.
Here is a quick sample I did of painting and weathering the concrete sections for the street trackage. This was just sheet styrene scribed then primed. Once the primer dried it was followed with black and brown ink washes. Ultimately it will be followed with weathering powders as well.