Steve is correct, the parts list for the track is accurate. I believe that the parts list might have been in the March issue, as it dealt with track, wiring, etc. Of course, that's the one issue I cannot find at this moment. You can always order a copy if you don't have it. The key is figuring out all of the modifications Popp made, and they are not trivial. You do end up learning a lot and making some mistakes, but I guess that's part of the fun, as long as the mistake(s) is not too expensive. I'll be happy to try and answer any questions, as I've just recently starting putting down track and and am in the process of finishing up. I can at least tell you what worked for me, though that's not a guarantee it will work for you, but it should. Good luck.
Peco has templates on their website. I am not sure about the others. The answer to your implicit question really depends on how faithful to the track layout you are going to be. Model railroader has a track list (including turnouts) in either the Jan or Feb 2012 issue. If you are modeling the track plan they used faithfully you can use the turnouts specified with one to two exceptions. If so, and you don't have the issue I can post a parts list and discuss any areas where you may have problems. It seems the issue some of us had is that David used Peco, Walther's and Atlas turnouts with modifications to a large percentage of them. This caused some problems where he didn't fully describe whether they needed to be modified and if so, how. The upside of what he did, is I learn't a lot more about different brands and track laying techniques than I would have otherwise. And you are right.... At around $25 a turnout , you want confidence they will fit before you buy them. I ended up trashing two in total. One Peco because it just wasn't going to fit and one Atlas because a rail sprung on me after I had modified it.
Cheers,
Steve
Thanks everyone for welcoming me to the forum, I will post pictures hopefully this weekend, I have all the material except for the legs, and I'm going to pick that up Friday, so I should have the benchwork completed Sat hopefully. My big question is the turnouts are awfully expensive, and it seems everyone's layout is just a little different, and have used several different pieces, is there anywhere maybe on the web, or manufacture websites that might have templates or something, so I can get an idea of what turnouts I need without buying a bunch and guessing?
Thanks in advance for any help given.
Robert
@Steve,
I had the same experience with both the Atlas 22" turnouts, and also had to cut ties off.
Also had the same experience with the two Peco code 100's, so I used one Peco on the left side, then pieced that gap in with the same thing: a section of ME flex track. For the yard side switch I used a Walthers switch. My other code 100 switch is up on top where I extended the siding by the mountain instead of using the girder bridge. The two Peco's for me as well just didn't line up, nor were they going to....
Steve,
a) Too funny. I did the same thing, well pretty close. I used two 1/3 18" curved sections of Atlas track and then an Atlas Custom Line # 4 in place of the Peco and whatever else was used for the MR project.
b) I used a 1/3 22" curved piece of sectional track between the Atlas switch for the spur and the mainline curved Peco. As stated in the article, I used a 1 1/4" piece of straight sectional track between the curved Peco's. Finally, on the branch line I used a 1/3 22" and a full 22" curved piece of sectional track connected to the curved Peco and then went with 18" curved sections after that. Took me a while to work that one out, but the mainline and branch came out the other side of the tunnel in closer proximity to each other than otherwise would have been the case. Not that it matters, but from everything I looked at, it seemed they were closer than further apart. I hope that makes sense.
c) I ended up damaging one. What are you going to do. I do prefer the Peco switches. Much sturdier, more realistic to my eye, though pricey.
I still have to complete the track on the elevated portion of the plan. I did modify the spur on the lower branch line to accommodate two businesses instead of a mine, as I am trying to loosely adapt the plan to the Georgia Northeastern Railroad. I must say I took my time and I think that was smart. I put down track and rearranged at least 20 or 30 times, then drew it up on an 8 x 4 piece of brown paper from Home Depot and then redrew it on the 4 x 8 plywood. Even then I was off on the road bed. What are you going to do. Easy enough to fix, but annoying.
Regards,
David
Another post also mentioned having to modify the 22" Atlas switches, which I had to do as well. I think that poster said they only modified one of the switches for the staging yard. I ended up trimming both.
It was late last night when I posted so I didn't give the full picture... I did indeed modify both 22" Atlas turnouts. From memory I had to cut a couple of ties off each to get the correct radii with the same yardstick concept that wazoo12345 used. The other two main areas were:
a) I could never get the Peco #5 to fit the inner most yard track so ended up replacing that with a 2" curved piece of atlas sectional track and a snap switch (same as rest of yard)
b) The code 100 curved peco switches were just never going to line up. My solution was to replace the sectional track leading into these with short sections of microengineering flex track. Wazoo, I would be interested in your solution for this (maybe for the future) as when I encountered it, I couldn't get help at that time and may not have solved it in the most elegant way.
c) I cut the Atlas snap switches as specified and everything went well, except... When you do this be careful how you handle them near both the frog and switch> they are somewhat fragile once you trim them.
Cheers
Robert, Thanks for the compliments! I agree 100% with Steve above. I also, with the exception of a module for a train club, I really hadn't built a layout either. My Father basically did all of the hard work on an L-shaped layout when I was 14. Looking forward to photos from both yourself and JRob.....
On my layout front, old man winter has once again been playing a little havoc with work. Have managed to get almost all the mainline around the backside ballasted. Have a few more items needed that are back-ordered, so this is delaying me a bit as well. Hope to post some photos soon.....
I have been enjoying the postings and pictures and building of the layouts for a great while and just recently reread the entire thread and made a few posts. Great work, and I have enjoyed your efforts at both building and posting. After planning on a free-lanced version of the Virginian and trying to work out a track plan for a spare room I think I have finally met with success, and will begin building soon.
Thanks for all of your inspiration.
Rob
oldline1
Depending on the time period, kudzu was not as wide spread as it is today. The Virginian was merged into the N&W in 1959, and if you look at photos of the time period I do not believe you will find any of the stuff in the area. The one type of vine I remember from the early 60's that was common were wild grape vines but they always seemed to be smaller and much more contained than the Kudzu which seems to take over everything.
I am not a doctor, but I do have a daughter that has asthma so I am familiar with the condition. One recommendation I would make is for you to wear the dust mask when sanding anything as all items that are sanded produce fine dust that becomes air-borne, also consider some type of appropriate protection when spray painting.
The dust issue has been brought to the forefront by a great many wood workers who have found that saw dust is a real respiratory problem when one is exposed to it over time. In your case I would err on the side of caution, since common dust masks are cheap and provide quite a bit of protection and are not that uncomfortable to wear.
Getting the track right has been, in my opinion, the hardest thing so far. Building the benchwork was straight forward.I am close to laying all of my track. I agree with another post, watch the videos over and over and freeze frame to figure out exactly which pieces of sectional track are required. The article on laying track provides a lot of detail, but they don't provide you with all of the details, so it can be confusing. Using a yard stick to draw the main line and branch curves on either end seemed to work well, right up to the point where the Peco curved switches came in, along with the 22" radius Atlas switches on either end of the main line, and suddenly my cork road bed was off slightly, as the switches messed up the alignment of the curves, i.e., the Peco curved switches are not at an 18" or 22" radius. This is not an issue if you use flex track, but using the Atlas Snap track, well let's say it wasn't quite a snap. The good news is that I finally worked it all out and I'd be happy to provide you with the adjustments I had to make to get it all to work. If you go with Flex track for the curves, then no worries. I used the Snap track and soldered it all. I love to solder. Another post also mentioned having to modify the 22" Atlas switches, which I had to do as well. I think that poster said they only modified one of the switches for the staging yard. I ended up trimming both. Well, best of luck.
Robert, I'd also like to welcome you to this Virginian build thread. Like Steve, this was also my first real attempt at building a model railroad layout. Take your time and you can do as well or better. I look forward to seeing your pictures.
My Layout Pics
Hi Robert,
Welcome to the build. I'm not sure about the other guys but this is the first layout I have built myself. I had a layout that was mostly built by my father back in the late 60's , early 70's. so don't sell yourself short. The videos were very helpful in the beginning figuring out how to proceed. If you have never done this before and you use the track plan as stated with the track they specified there are quite a few tricks that they glossed over in both the magazine and the videos. Someone who is familiar with laying track would figure it out easily. I downloaded the videos and spent countless hours in freeze frame till I got it. A simple example is the turnout to the staging track needs to be cut to fit. So, if you ever get to the point where you are staring at the layout trying to figure out what to do, help is here. All in all, it's a great little layout to learn the hobby.
I have been watching this Virginian forum with great enthusiasim, and have just begun to do my benchwork today, I have never built a model railroad, so my work will not be at the level you three men have acomplished, as they all look great, but I'm going to try my hand at it anyway. I will post pictures as I progress so as to get input, and tips from all of you.
Thanks for your time,
No, not today John......
Hi Airborne 101
Fido not playing with the laundry today??
regards John
Several more photos of recent progress. Front of ridgeline completely finished with puffball trees. Plastruct vertical tank kit finished and installed along with some piping next to Walther's oil loading platform. Pump house from their diesel fuel facility will sit to left of tanks. More photos soon....
One more fairly recent overhead shot:
Thanks Steve! Have got a little ways to go yet. Still have to finish the trees on the mountain and ridgeline, plus finish some ballasting, and finally, build the truck dump area.......
Looking good Airborne. Seems you are close to being finished. I finished the mine last night. Now I have two company houses to complete before I finish off the back area.
A bit out of focus, but a low-level view of the almost completed Hitop area, save for an electric utility pole line and a few more vehicles:
"Chemical" unloading platform built and installed. This is where MR used their "backdrop" building:
Wash day at one of the company houses, Hitop, WVa:
Two locals have moved their chess game outside in the shade of the general store, Hitop, WVa:
More individual trees and some miners added. Coarse ground cover used on slope behind trees to try to simulate kudzu:
Puffballs installed on either side of dirt road leading into Hitop and mine area:
More photos of recent progress follow.....
First is a photo of the final tunnel portal in front installed and filled in with puffball trees:
Roger, After hunting around on Google, I found some threads that recommended using black quilting poly fiber. It looks a lot cheaper than the Micromark poly fiber anyway (and is most likely the same stuff). It does look like Micromark has discontinued the back stuff. You can also get the black from Accurail, but they sell it in small quantities. Some people have tried standard pillow poly fiber (comes in white) and either painted it or dyed it black with varying degrees of success.
Heres a link I found to the quilting stuff, so you can see what you get.
http://store.virginiaquilter.com/stores_app/Browse_dept_items.asp?Store_id=890&Page_id=17&categ_id=265&parent_ids=0,4&name=Midnight+Dream+-+Select
@Steve: thanks for the info and link! I had planned to buy the cheaper GrassTech model, but I may be able to simply borrow one from a friend who has the deluxe model, as GrassTech is about 2 miles from where I live, and the owner is a sponsor of our rr club here.
@Roger: You're welcome...:)
I have used almost a full bag of the black poly fiber, so I would also guess two would suffice. MR however I believe listed they used 4 bags, so that's what I purchased. So, if you can't find any black at MicroMark, I probably could sell you my extra two bags, or at least one bag, as I still have quite a few trees to do. I like the black as well, as it gives more "depth" to the puffball....
How many packages of MicroMark polyester did you use?
I have currently used about 1 1/4 of the 12oz packages so 2 should be sufficient. However when I look at Micromarks website I no longer see the black Poly Fiber. The part number is 84907. Since this is supposed to be a lot better than the green you may have to call them and see if they still stock it.