LOL, I thought Volmer had came back to make a post, until I see the original post date. 2006.........
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Lady of the Rails, I think I built the same layout as you but can't get the trackplan database to search back to the early 90's to confirm the Cripple Creek name.
Some things I did different (if I remember correctly):
Changed the gravel industry to a coal tipple and added a 2nd track under the tipple. Added a couple short lengths of track leading off the 4' side; one for expansion to staging yard (that never got built), and one hidden, to hold a loco or two (so I didn't have to keep moving locos on/off the layout. I made the cement spur go slightly under the scenery to increase the capacity of the siding.
I didn't use sectional track, wired it for one person operation (no blocks/toggles); then simply replaced the DC power pack with a NCE command station when DCC came around. This layout was started in '94 and I used it until a couple years ago; it is now in 2 pieces, leaning against my basement wall (waiting to dismantle and salvage track/turnouts).
You can see pics on my Shutterfly page, use the links in my signature (might have to cut/paste into the address bar).
It is a great layout to learn on; small enough to not get overwhelmed, lots of small areas to detail and it operates pretty well for a 4x8. I used the situation card method-made a bunch of 3x5 cards for each industry (with various car orders (zero,1,2 or 3 cars)), then used a six sided dice to see how many of those situation cards I'd pull for my op session (if I didn't like the card I pulled, I'd pick another one). Not realistic but it provided a nice random variety.
Good luck and enjoy the 15 years this layout could provide you and your family!
http://delray1967.shutterfly.com/pictures/5
SEMI Free-Mo@groups.io
Dave Vollmer My layout is based on Lou Sassi's N scale Mohawk Division. The story ran in the early 90s, and is in the Second Edition of Kalmbach's Small Railroads You Can Build.
My layout is based on Lou Sassi's N scale Mohawk Division. The story ran in the early 90s, and is in the Second Edition of Kalmbach's Small Railroads You Can Build.
If it is the one I am thinking, my plans moved the 'siding' cross-overs around for better operations. I would have moved the cross-over just before the industrial siding on the town side so a train on the outside track could reach it with out a back-up move on the inner main track, and I would have moved the crossover on the other side a little too but with out looking at the plan I can't remember which way.
Would also have tried to put another spur track on the 'rural' side to go with the small depot. Also, I had a "branch line" added at the mountain end (or another spot if better) that would run to a staging yard. That got killed quickly when I realized the room (and wife) would not be willing to give that much 'train land'.
Now that being said have also worked on and off on a shelf-type layout working with pieces of MR's club layouts dealing with MRT. This will sound like I am lying, but believe me I am not. The MRT, while not all industries rail served, is pretty much the backyard of where I grew up.
My N scale layout is sort of planned after an Atlas plan ( I believed it was called the "Scenic& Relaxed)
About the only things that are the same as the plan is the general outline of the main line, and I wound up eliminating most of the track switches due to a lack of space on the 3X6 space. Over all, it's pretty good, but the curves are very tight so I can't run the big 6-axle diesels (may be my fault, though, since it was my first real attempt at laying track).
I'm also planning on starting on an HO scale layout some time soon, based on Wolfgang Dudler's Third Street Industrial District. I don't know how that will evolve, but I'm hoping to have something that gives some good industrial switching opportunities
My Current N Scale Layout is a "hodge-podge" of three different project layouts. The main part of the layout is based on your Lou Sassi inspired Juniata Division layout but instead of a double track. the front of the layout has a passing siding with a turnout off the siding to the siding pattern you use. On the far right hand side of the layout the double track siding merges into one siding with an "s-curve" going behind the Red Wing Milling plant based on the HO Scale Red Wing Division. the extension off the layout is a Coal Mine scene based on the extension that is built off the Turtle Creek Central. I will post pics if you would like so you can see how I blended all of this together. The track plan is awesome and provides for plenty of switching and continuous running.
Can I say thank you to Texas Zepher for his comments. The reason that I replied to this post was because it was relevant to where I am now! I have only just come back into model railroading and these forums are what is helping me the most. Especially as I live where there isn't a lot of people or places that I can go to to get information and advise.
Tracy - Lady who loves the Rails both model size & Real Life!
Building a model railroad (which lives above my Car) in the Land Down Under, Australia.
My Railways blog about my Model Railroad adventures
steinjr Btw, Tracy (the new lady - name is on the web page she linked to) - try to start a new thread instead of responding to a thread that has been dormant for a long time.
All of my layouts have been based on a project, or magazine layout in some way shape or form. When I was in grade school I memorized all the track plans in the Atlas Track Plans for HO scale railroads. I memorized the track arrangements and the prototypical reason why they had been designed that way. Later I got 101 track plans and learned all of those. Finally I got a subscription to Model Railroader and Model Railroad Craftsman, I analyzed the track plan of every project layout as they came out. All those added to knowledge I continue to use for every layout I design. So in a word YES, all of my work has inspiration from 40 years of project layouts.
Hi Dave,
I am one of your facebook followers, and I hope you are recovering nicely from your surgery. My n-scale layout is based on the track plan for MR's Black River Jct. layout. You can see video of it on MR's user submitted videos section. Its a new york central what if layout based in the contemporary era with wide cab engines, autoracks and double stacks.
My latest layout is based on the Wisconsin & Southern Troy Branch. The WSTB is very large and I have had to condense the features I wanted into a 10ft length. The layout is built on 2x4ft modules with one turned sideways at the end. Where the ethanol plant is I am putting a shoe factory and where the animal nutrition is I am putting a tool warehouse. I have added a turntable on the same end to turn things around. The station is in the same place. On the right side there will be a generic warehouse and old electric products servicing company. I have installed a place for a park. The WSTB layout design is simply amazing. It allows you to condense or expand very easily. It also allows for a number of industries without major modification. One of the best things about the layout is it has a feeling like the Amtrak station in Ft.Worth the traffic flow kind of feels the same.
Rmax
galaxy Bad galaxy, bad bad bad...
Bad galaxy, bad bad bad...
LOL - no need to whip yourself with a wet noodle, galaxy - not one of the bigger mistakes in life :-)
Btw, Tracy (the new lady - name is on the web page she linked to) - try to start a new thread instead of responding to a thread that has been dormant for a long time. Welcome to the forums!
Grin, Stein
steinjr Old thread, resurrected by a new poster .... Stein
Old thread, resurrected by a new poster ....
Stein
Rats, Rats, and DOuble RAts!
Whip me beat me and make me write bad checks on a closed bank account!!
I usually LOOK at that so I don't get caught with my pants down and my eyeglasses off, but I missed it...I guess just seeing Dave Vollmer's name got me excited!
For shame on me...Bad galaxy, bad bad bad...
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Dave Vollmer Hi! I would like to hear from other who have based some or all of their layouts on a published plan or "project layout," either from Model Railroader or some other magazine (or an Atlas track plan). If so, what did you do the same? What did you change? How is it working out for you?
Hi! I would like to hear from other who have based some or all of their layouts on a published plan or "project layout," either from Model Railroader or some other magazine (or an Atlas track plan). If so, what did you do the same? What did you change? How is it working out for you?
GREAT to see you back Dave!!!
Hhmm...mysterious. All the pictures on your post have been "X"'d out.
When I was a child / pre-teen / teen, we had a "3 ring circus" layout based on a layout in the venrerable 101 Track plans for Sectional track in O/O27 that allowed for three trains to run on three different interchangeable loops {I assume one for me, one for my younger bronther, and on for my father but her rarely ran trains with us once it was set up.} It was two 4x8 formed in "L" shape. I modified it over time but still kept the 3 ring circus going, just altered the track layout within the 3 rings.
My current HO scale mini layout is the common loop-within-a-loop {interconnected by switches] with a 4 spur yard and a 2 spur engine servicing facility inside the center loop.
So I guess you could say I have had several layouts based on published plans, though I don't know if the 4 spur yard and 2 spur engine facility are common in the 2 interconnected loop plans...seems to me one ot two spurs are included, but not yards. SO that may be my "creative addition."
It works just fine. I can Consist one train inthe inner "yard", then send it out to the outter loop for Highball, then assemble a second train in the yard...and Highball it on the inner loop. The only thing is it really does "foul the main" on the inner loop when I assemble the trains! Then I can deconsist the trains one by one and send the engines back to the engine house/service facility for service. Nice littel set up in a 3.5 foot by 5.1 foot HO scale layout!!!
Enjoy your day and hope to see more of you Dave!!
Hoople I am building the HO scale project railroad that the staff of MR did in 91-92 The cripple creek central.
I am in the process of starting to build the Cripple Creek Central. I started it in Mid Oct.2011. I wanted to do this layout as it looked like a well laid out track plan that would allow our family to be able to do the parts of the model railroad that we each enjoy. I like building structures and putting them into their settings, my Husband likes running trains and is looking forward to building some box cars for the layout and our kids at the moment just like to see the trains running. Mind you our son likes putting his nose into everything trains.
We needed to make our slightly different to the book as we are using PECO track as it is what is easily available where we are. So we didn't even have a list of track that was needed. We know how many points we will eventually need but that was where we started. We now have most of the track and we will buy more as we start to work through the projects in the book.
I am looking forward to the process and I have started a blog to document our progress. It is at http://ladyoftherail.wordpress.com, hope you may come by for a visit sometime.
Tracy
My HO transition era layout is based on a several features I wanted in a model railroad.
1) I wanted to have at least one train run unattended on the main, while I was doing yard switching. This makes one aware to not foul the main and make certain switches are reset after use by the second train.
2) I also wanted to be able to shift cars from one manufacturing plant to another, again while an unattended train was running on the endless main.
3) I also wanted another train to use the main with the unattended train running on it, either going the same direction as the first train or to travel a short distance in the opposite direction.
I achieved all my objectives with my current layout. I can easily operate three trains and or switchers concurrently with my 18 month old DCC layout.
The PH&C is in one of their 'how to' layout books..'Popular Railroads you can Build' - starts on page 44.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
wiking2-your RR plan comes from the same book as my orginal. now its heavily modefied. I was considering building the one you did but opted not to. Tim
Cannoli wrote:Great looking pics of your layout Dave, you are much further along than I am. :)
Great looking pics of your layout Dave, you are much further along than I am. :)
My trackplan was inspired by #32 from 101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders which I then modified to better fit my needs. It has worked out great so far!
Modeling the fictional B&M Dowe, NH branch in the early 50's.
Yes - I started with the track plan for the "HO Railroad That Grows," and modified it considerably, increasing the radius on the principal loop to 24" and the minimum radius on the flyover reversing loop to 22". I then took the plan for the "Switchman's Nightmare" from Linn Westcott's "101 Track Plans" and added it on the same side of the layout as the lower reverse loop, with the yard lead connected to the main loop between the two switches for the reverse loop. This increased the size from 4'x8' to 5.5'x10', and allowed me to use #6 switches throughout, with one exception (I added a small yard inside the reverse loop, with a pair of #4s). I pitched the recommended order and built and wired the entire thing at once, leaving the scenery for later; wired it for dual-cab control with 23 separate electrical blocks. As how-to books go, that has to be one of the best-written manuals I've ever come across: I wired the whole thing, from start to finish, with the book open in front of me and it worked perfectly when I threw the first switch. I was in a bit of a hurry (I wanted to get it working before the baby arrived), and it was not a terribly time-consuming project; I went from first cut to dual-cab operations in about a month.
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
VERY nice lookig layout Dave,,, definately makes me look at Nscale again...... and I like the plan very much too, it would give me something to actually see to completion while I decide w.t.h I am doing with the rest of my life. In answer, no I've never done a project layout, but I think you may have just inspired me.
Have fun & be safeKarl.
Early on I built, a few layouts from Atlas Plan books; SImplicity and Great Plains (track laid and badly sceniced); the Waterlevel Western (a move intervened and I never finished laying track); and Grade Crossing Deluxe (track laid, but I moved again before I could finish the scenery.)
My favorite though, was the Southside Connecting switching layout. I incorporated this one in to a larger layout, that I acutally finished.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Actually, I've done almost nothing but.
My first HO layout was the 4x6 Simplicity and Great Plains from Atlas as a teenager. Track was laid exactly as per plan. Was demolished before starting scenery for assisting my father with a bigger layout, an enlarged modification of the Atlas Grand Trunk Western.
First layout when I got out on my own was a start of a 4x8 loop-to-loop that appeared in MR in 1967? (not "layout that grows", this had town and oval connection on upper level, lower reversing loop tunneled underneath for most part) The article contained suggestions to start with an oval and gradually grow it to the final plan. That suited me, as this was my first attempt at hand-laying track. Gradual was good. Set my era for 1920s. Before I got to scenery stage, a move forced me to cut the table to 4x6. My big lesson from that layout is that small track plans with reversing loops in the main line usning conventional DC (no DCC back then) are not particularly fun to operate because of the constant attention to toggle switches - with a 4x8 loop-to-loop being about the worst.
Next was my version of the 1957 MR project railroad, the 4x6 Tidewater Central. The plan is overly simple, so I added spurs, a turntable, and then a branch on a steep grade to pass over the main and continue on an extension (never built the extension). Cookie-cuttered the track and used dyed plaster on fiberglass window screen for scenery shell. I set the layout in coastal Oregon, and called it the Picture Gorge and Western. As I laid the track, I wanted to follow Ben King's "living history" of a layout. The layout would start in 1877 (this was in 1977) and advance the era continously, remaining 100 years behind the actual date. Due to scarcity of money, knowledge of eras, and especially time (with the coming of kids) the "living history" could not be maintained, and layout was broken up in the 1982 move. However, I would still like to redo my plan (staying put at 1900), but blown up to 5x8. This would serve as the harbor terminus for the standard gauge in my latest scheme.
The MR 1966 project layout - the Sierra Pintada - has always been intriguing. I would like to incorporate a version of it as a terminus of my narrow gauge line and the interchange with the standard gauge in my grand plan. However, the plan has serious access problems if set against the walls in a corner as intended. I may try to use it for inspiration in my final plan - the narrow gauge wye and the transfer yard being the features to capture.
The Portage Hill extension of the famous PH&C project would become the other standard gauge terminus and interchange with the SP in the Willamette Valley in my grand plan. Nice compact yard and terminal for a turn-of-the-century short line. However, in light of my expanding knowledge of how a yard works or is supposed to work from this forum, I am going to review the plan for revisions to better suit operations.
Finally, my version of the Gum Stump and Snowshoe (MR, Sept '63) will be the port terminal of the narrow gauge line (this will be the first section of my grand plan to be built). I am expanding the plan from 1x6 to 2x8 to provide for reasonable slopes between elevations, and of course, changing it to narrow gauge. The lower terminal will be sized to provide a full-size Inglenook puzzle should I be in the mood. The 2 inner lower terminal tracks will terminate at a small turntable (because I like turntables!) and to provide a runaround so the layout can be run with one lokey when desired (I stole the latter idea from somebody else, just don't remember who to give credit). The outer lower terminal track will be on a dock for the cargo transfer to the last of the coastal schooner trade.
There are lots of other plans I like, and would love to incorporate portions of. But I have come to realize that is very important to limit the scope of my grand plan due to $$ and more importantly, time. So I have narrowed it down to the 4 key sections, the remainder will just be main line linking these sections in my yet-to-be acquired large train room. If space, time, and $$ (and additonal operators) eventually permit, I can always add some intermediate towns.
Probably just babble to most, but it's my story.
Fred W
dxr8007nz wrote: Is that 4 x 8 feet ? I like your layout look great
Is that 4 x 8 feet ?
I like your layout look great
Thanks. Nope, it's built on a 36" wide by 80" long (so, 3' x 6'8") hollow-core interior door.
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.