Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dave!
27 February 2019
The Casper roundhouse is nearly complete.
I still have to paint the roof, plug a few light leaks, install some outside lights and final install the roof. Weathering will come later, when I weather the entire engine facility all at once.
Meanwhile, here's a few photos:
That looks like a lot of empty space, doesn't it? When locos are moved back in it won't look so stark, and I wasn't planning on adding much, if any, interior detail. Then again I might have to from the looks of this picture!
I messed around with the brightness of the LED's a bit by changing the current-limiting resistor value. It's hard to tell because the phone's camera automatically adjusts the exposure, but the LEDs are pretty dim compared to most illuminated model structures I've seen. Usually model lighting is way too bright, in my opinion. With the room lights on you can't even tell the interior is lit, but with the room dark the lighting casts light through the windows onto the ground outside, without glaring, so I think it's about right.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Nice work Mark, you've been busy!
Mike.
My You Tube
Thanks Mike!
Here's my March Layout Construction Update video:
Hi Mark,
Great video! Lots of things for me to think about as I work on the roundhouse for our club.
The lighting is really well done. Not too bright. Do the large resistors generate any heat? Personally I'm inclined to go with individual SMD resistors for each LED. I think they can be disguised as junction boxes.
I have accumulated a ton of interior details, most of which will require painting. Well, it just so happens that we have a club member who is big into military figures and his painting skills are amazing! He just did a great job of painting about 200 HO scale figures for us and it only took him about two weeks. He is quite willing to have a go at all the accessories.
Your experience with the doors is very enlightening. I looked at the hinges and said to myself that they would be a PITA to assemble and I could see them being easily broken if not handled very delicately. Glued open they will be!
I hadn't given any thought to light leaks. Thanks for reminding me. I was thinking of doing the roof in two sections, both removable, but I think that getting them to sit tight at the walls will be a bit of a challenge. I am considering using shades on all of the lights so that may address the problem by preventing the light from shining upwards at the roof.
Thanks for sharing.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the thoughtful comments.
When I calculated the wattage of the resistors, best I could come up with was a bit under two watts. That's a rough approximation though, because I don't have specs on the LEDs themselves.
I bought a resistance decade box with two watt resistors, and selected 2000 ohms as giving a decent level of brightness to the string. But after buying a few 2k-ohm resistors and installing one, I decided the LEDs were too dim. I added a second resistor in parallel, then a third. That came out to be just right for brightness. I could have installed a single 660 ohm resistor instead, but that would have meant another trip to the electronics store.
I haven't cheked the heat, but I'm sure 6 watts of heat dissipation is overkill for the line (but now that you brought it up, I'm curious, so I'll check). The LEDs in the string are pre-wired in series, so that's why I went with large resistors instead of smaller ones for each LED.
Regarding details, can you list a few of the ones you've obtained? I'd like to add a few - enough so that the roundhouse looks like a working shop to a casual observer.
PruittRegarding details, can you list a few of the ones you've obtained? I'd like to add a few - enough so that the roundhouse looks like a working shop to a casual observer.
I'll have to do some research on which sources I used because I just took all of the packages to the club tonight so our painting expert can get started on them.
I know I got some excellent highly detailed floor sized machine tools from Shapeways but they are a bit pricey if you want a bunch. I also got some really nice oxyacetylene sets from them. You have to be a bit wary of the size of the torch sets. The first ones I ordered were too small to represent heavy duty industrial units. They were more the size of what a plumber would use. I went back to Shapeways just to comment about the size and they were kind enough to give me a refund and told me to keep the torches. I ordered the next size up and they are about the same size as the ones that Woodland Scenics sells in their figure sets.
Here are a couple of examples of what Shapeways offers:
https://www.shapeways.com/product/TAL5FCLTD/horizontal-slotter-machine-ho-scale-1-87?optionId=33002164&li=marketplace
https://www.shapeways.com/product/FDGEWUA22/milling-machine-ho-scale-1-87?optionId=42058135&li=marketplace
For work benches, storage shelves, tool chests, simple bench tools like vices, and simple floor tools I made a bunch out of plain old styrene.
Here are some examples:
Old guitar string used for the threaded rod that moves the cutting head back and forth on the milling machine on the left:
I got some nicely detailed cast metal tools too but I can't remember where. These and the Shapeways ones are great for foreground detail. The simpler scratchbuilt ones can go in the background. I'll see if I can find the source for these metal ones:
Edit: No cigar! I can't find the source. Maybe somebody else will recognize them:
Scale Structures has a lot of little detail parts like garbage cans, buckets and boxes with or without contents:
Greenway has some interesting machine tools:
http://greenway-products.com/?subcats=Y&pcode_from_q=Y&pshort=Y&pfull=Y&pname=Y&pkeywords=Y&search_performed=Y&q=tools&dispatch=products.search
Thanks for the links, Dave.
Those styrene pieces you made look great!
PruittThose styrene pieces you made look great!
Thank you! I actually get a real kick out of making them. I seem to love modelling tiny things.
9 March 2019
Yesterday my friend Walt came over and helped me build new L-girder benchwork to extend the mainline out of Casper:
The girders are lower than the ones under Casper because the hidden staging tracks for the NP will be on these tables, and they'll be 5 1/2" lower than the Casper tracks.
In the far right background of the first photo, the elevated track will lead to the Orin / Frannie interchange yard, and from the Casper yrd level the mainline will extend onto the new benchwork above the NP tracks, sand curve around towards the camera, leading to Shobon and the Wind River Canyon.
23 March 2019
I've started laying the hidden track for the NP. This photo shows the cork roadbed in place. Track (three sections) quickly followed:
I added this bit so I could continue tracklaying for the Burlington mainline out of both ends of Casper. This track is located underneath the Burlington track, so it was necessary to add it before continuing on from Casper. The white plywood laying on the benchwork is a couple of newly painted ceiling panels waiting to go up.
26 March 2019
I've begun extending the line from Casper southeast into Orin Junction. The first bit of cork roadbed is down, with track to follow in a day or two:
I've switched from extruded foam back to plywood for subroadbed. No real problems with the foam, but my comfort zone is better with plywood.
Some additional ceiling panels are now installed (that's my wife Juying in the shot):
I know the ceiling looks a bit wavy and rough in this photo, but that's because it is, to an extent. The purpose isn't to make the basement into a finished space, but to brighten the room with the white panels, and more importantly, to reduce dust on the layout that falls from the joists and subfloor above.
29 March 2019
Today I reworked the Powder River section of benchwork a bit. It came off the wall at a 75 degree angle, but as I worked in the area I realized how much empty space there was between that peninsula and Casper. I like ample aisle space, but this was too much! So I changed the angle from 75 to 85 degrees.
Here's what the area looked like in the plan before I made the changes (the grid is one foot squares):
And here it is after:
The original distance between Casper fascia and Shobon fascia (across the aisle) is about 6 1/2 feet. This would probably tend to invite folks to stand there and chat rather than go out into the lounge area. The distance after reworking is still a respectable nearly five feet - plenty of room for folks to move past each other while operating trains. Plus this small change allows a bit more room for the Boysen Reservoir and slightly longer Wind River Canyon run, just past Shobon (to the left of Shobon in the plan).
I also was not happy with the length of the sidings in Thermopolis and Worland. While I was adjusting the track plan for the Powder River area I also made some simple adjustments to the trackage through those two towns and increased the siding lengths significantly. Here's what it looked like before:
And here it is now:
This simple change (basically, eliminating the S-curves at each end of the turnaround blob between the two towns) worked wonders - Thermopolis went from 106 inches between turnouts (about 14 cars plus loco and caboose) to 148 inches (21 cars plus loco and caboose). Worland is similar, going from 106 inches to 132 inches (18 cars plus loco and caboose). Plus there's much more room for the towns and industries in this rearrangement.
It took about an hour to reset the Powder River peninsula into the new configuration. Here's how it looks now:
Before it followed the lines on the floor much more closely (see my 9 March post above). I'm glad I figured this out before getting much further along in construction of this area!
IMHO those changes work wonders. Well done!
PruittThis would probably tend to invite folks to stand there and chat rather than go out into the lounge area.
That comment is interesting. Our club's layout has a squeeze point between the west end of the peninsula and the main yard on the west wall. Guess where everybody decides to stand!?! Of course! They stand exactly where nobody can get past them! We have considered several deterrents, one of which is positively 'barb'aric, i.e. gluing tacks pointy end up along the top of the fascia so people have nothing to lean on (get it? Barbs? Sorry, bad joke - couldn't resist.).
Keep up the good work!
Re "I was not happy with the length of the sidings":
Have you considered using turnouts on the curved sections adjacent the tangents to further increase your siding length? This also can eliminate the S-curves at the siding entries. The percentage gain is considerable, especially when considering the clearance zones.
JimW
3 April 2019
Dave, if I ever visit your club I'll be real careful to watch where I'm putting my elbows!
Jim, thanks for the suggestion. I did look at placing turnouts as you suggested, and have done that at one spot in Casper, where the AD track merges with the main at the beginning of the curve towards Powder River. But as my train lengths are planned for 15-19 cars, Worland and Thermopolis are now sized appropriately.
I got the first sections of track laid for the run from Casper to Powder River and Shobon:
I also uploaded my latest construction update video to Youtube:
While the layout is coming along nicely, the photos here highlight why I am taking the time and effort to finish the basement before I start building the layout, as badly as I want to start layout building. It makes a big difference having floor to ceiling finished walls for the room environment and appearance. Unfinished room is a major distraction, unless it can be hidden with close-up views. Of course the down side is the cost and time it takes to put in walls for a finished look.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
A finished train room would be really nice, but as my basement is prone to getting an inch or so of water every couple of years during a really rainy spell, I'm not going to spend extra money I don't have to finish it. Ceiling panels are for dust control, and I'll put some rubber mats on the floor for comfort standing (and cement dust control, though the floor was painted at one time).
The 2X4's on the floor that support the backdrop studs are pressure treated to resist the occasional water incursion. For temperature comfort I my place some pink foam sheets loosely behind the layout along the walls, but since even moisture-resistant drywall doesn't stand up well when sitting in water, finished walls are not going to happen.
The layout will have curtains around the bottom of the benchwork at some point (several years from now), and I'm thinking of putting up some panels above the backdrop to the ceiling. All together that should hide most of the unfinished part of the basement, but that's about as far as I'm going to go, since I can't afford to add a proper french drain, which is the only way to really prevent future water incursions.
Great video! Great idea for doing superelevation too!! It just so happens that someone just donated about six rolls of 1/4" masking tape to the club. The track is only nailed in place so I don't think that installing the masking tape would be too bad a job.
I have a small amount of water that comes into my basement every year in the late winter. It only happens once or twice and only lasts for a few hours, and only when the ground is still frozen and we have a heavy rain. Fortunately there is very little water and the leak is within 3 ft of the floor drain so the water doesn't cause any problems other than being a nuisance. Like you say, the cost to fix the problem properly would be horrendous. I have sealed the basement walls but the leak persists.
Thanks Dave! The superelevation idea came from an article written around 20 years ago by Paul Dolkos. The staggered ends make for a nice gentle ramp into the superelevation. Best part is, it's easy to do! That's a key element for me.
16 April 2019
The past couple of weeks I've been working quite a bit on the ceiling, adding new white panels and an LED fixture, and preparing for more white panels as soon as I can get them painted (I have to buy them first - that's tomorrow):
I've also added one more L-Girder support section to the end of the Powder River peninsula:
I got shot down on the superelevation idea. Too much work now that the track is in place. Oh well.
hon30critterI got shot down on the superelevation idea. Too much work now that the track is in place. Oh well.
You mean the mantra of your club isn't "Let's tear it out and re-do it!"?
I'm about to build some L-girder benchwork myself and am curious to know why you chose to deviate from Westcott's design in your construction.
I don't mean to critique your design. I just want to understand your choices since I'm getting ready to build my peninsula benchwork (the rest is attached to the walls so I used simple grid construction) and I'm always looking for new and improved ideas.
BTW, I love your monthly video updates. They are very well done. Please keep them coming.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
PruittYou mean the mantra of your club isn't "Let's tear it out and re-do it!"?
Not yet anyhow. I'm sure that once all the ballast and scenery is in place we will decide to do it!
Hi Carl,
Thanks for the nice comments!
1. I've never really had a need for the longitudinal sway braces. The benchwork is very stable without them. The 2X3's I use do contribute to the stiffness of the legs. If I had the layout on casters I would probably use them, but since there isn't any intentional force applied longitudinally, so far they don't seem necessary.
2. The X braces on the legs lock them into a specific orientation with respect to each other. This is a special case of a "four bar linkage" as it's known to Mechanical Engineers (though I only dealt with them once or twice during my entire ME career). Adding the block in the middle of the X fully constrains the legs from moving relative to each other, so the connection at the joist is not necessary.
3. The joists are made from 3/4" red oak plywood cut into 3" wide strips. That means screwing up from the L-Girder into the joist would be going into a just a few plies, in a direction where the screw's holding power is lowest (kinda similar to going into end grain on dimensional lumber). The plywood has two faces and four "ends," compared to four faces and two ends in dimensional lumber. So I basically build a grid to put on top of the L-Girder. I could use 2X2's to attach the joist to the L-Girder, but to be honest that hadn't occured until I read your question. I may try that. 2X2's are already used for corners and joists on the grids, so that would reduce cost a bit.I did think about just going with the plywood grid and forgetting about the L-Girders, but even 3/4" plywood is somewhat more flexible along the wide face than dimensional lumber, so I want that underlying stiffness. Overkill probably, but it does make for solid benchwork.
Thanks for sharing your thinking - particularly on the four bar linkage. I'm not sure I understand exactly how a linkage (which to me implies movement) applies to something rigid but I had to google it and enjoyed learning about it. I thought it was about creating triangles.
PruittI could use 2X2's to attach the joist to the L-Girder
These are only $32 per 100 (pretty cheap) and might work well for attaching joists to girders.
You said you like overkill, how about something with "hurricane" in the name?
Following along with Mark's build, those diagonals (X braces) also act as "sway braces", and make a rigid "box" out of the bench section.
Diagonals in the long direction would complete that "box" effect, but once the bench is in place, and fastened together, the complete bench work "system" will prevent any sway, in the long direction.
If each section was a stand-alone table, then diagonals the long way would be needed.
I like those hurricane clips, looks nice and simple.
I'll go back to watching
carl425 Thanks for sharing your thinking - particularly on the four bar linkage. I'm not sure I understand exactly how a linkage (which to me implies movement) applies to something rigid but I had to google it and enjoyed learning about it. I thought it was about creating triangles. Pruitt I could use 2X2's to attach the joist to the L-Girder These are only $32 per 100 (pretty cheap) and might work well for attaching joists to girders. You said you like overkill, how about something with "hurricane" in the name?
Pruitt I could use 2X2's to attach the joist to the L-Girder
Rich
Alton Junction
carl425These are only $32 per 100 (pretty cheap) and might work well for attaching joists to girders.
That's not a bad idea, Carl, but the shortest drywall screws I've found are 1 1/8". Since the plywood is only 3/4" thick, that would leave the point sticking out the backside of the joist about 1/4". My fingers are very good at finding splinters, too-long screws and such, so I think I'll stick with the 2X2's. Screw tips should be very safely embedded in those...
21 April 2019
Roadbed is down for the Casper end of the Orin / Frannie Interchange yard:
Some track will go down over the next few days, but I need to build more turnouts to continue much farther. Also, right now I'm spending more time installing ceiling panels and LED lights, and extending the benchwork beyond Shobon on the peninsula.
3 May 2019
This month's edition of my layout update video is now on Youtube: