More construction - pictures included

[jmkk]

 Is it just me or is 88's avatar a picture of the Chief. April 1? If so nice one.

Jason

 

[FJ and G]

Chief, this is awesome work!!!

[Anonymous]

 Is it just me or is 88's avatar a picture of the Chief. April 1? If so nice one.

Jason

[jonadel]

Brent--

Very impressive, I like it!  Those wooden portals are certainly heavy duty.  How close are you to beginning the scenic work? 

In your 2nd pic, if a big 'ol steamer were heading into the room on the 2nd level, is there enough room for the front end to clear that styrofoam wall?

Thanks again for posting the progress pics, I really enjoy seeing building techniques!

 

 

[Anonymous]

Chief, this is awesome work!!!

I've been foolin' with you fellas for a while now. You thought I was only building a flat layout, knocking holes in walls, and all that.

[Anonymous]

Brent--

Very impressive, I like it!  Those wooden portals are certainly heavy duty.  How close are you to beginning the scenic work? 

Thanks! It certainly has been a journey and I'm learning a lot as I go along. As for scenery, I'm quite a ways from starting the scenery. I have some of it stockpiled, but I need to get the track laid, wiring done, and run some trains for a while to make sure I like everything. No sense building scenery and then find I have a dead spot in the track!

In your 2nd pic, if a big 'ol steamer were heading into the room on the 2nd level, is there enough room for the front end to clear that styrofoam wall?

Thanks again for posting the progress pics, I really enjoy seeing building techniques!

LOL! Nope. My C&O Allegheny would plow that puppy right over! The stryofoam will be trimmed down and will be flush with the plywood at that location for about 2 inches, then taper up a bit (kind of like rolling hills) nothing very high, maybe an inch at most above the plywood, then I'll add some trees and such.

This project has, for the most part, been a blast! I can't run trains on the second level yet, but it is fun to run them on the first level as I'm working above. The nice thing is, where I am now, I can park two trains on the first level in the tunnel on the far end of the layout, this protects them from falling plywood and tools, when I am working on the second level second tier I can move the trains from the second level down to the first level and park them on the opposite end of the layout (behind the yard), right now there are 4 complete trains on the layout, and one extra engine.

I really hope I can get the rest of the mock up done and have the majority of the wiring completed by Friday as I have some special guests slated to arrive on Saturday. I was going to hold off on posting these pics till SPF, but I have some additional surprises in store for them so I figured what the heck!

[dmestan]

Brent, do you have an updated track plan you can post?  I'm intersted to see how you got all of that track in there!  Also, from the original plan are those hidden storage tracks in the middle of the 2nd level?  How do can you tell when the trains have cleared the switch?

Don

[Anonymous]

Don,
Here are some updated plans:

Overall Layout:


Level 1:


Level 2:


The red yard trackage in the middle of level 2 is an underground passenger station. I'll know the train has passed the switch because I'll see the train. The only switches that are for normal operation are the two switches in the lower right corner of level 2 and the switch that enters the yard on level 1. All other switches are either sidings or reverse loops. The transition from level 1 to level 2 is a special case. In other words, if you are throwing a switch you better know what you are doing!

[Anonymous]

Some updated photos.

Overview, the new Domino Sugar Plant spur is mocked up:


Train coming out of the tunnel:


Waiting for tracks to clear:


Soon the SFSRR won't need to rely on foreign oil:


Another shot of the scratch built steel girder bridge:

[jmkk]

 Looks like some good progress. Keep it up.

Jason

[Brutus]

Very nice, Brent - I really like your layout a lot

[Anonymous]

Thanks fellas.

I have a recommendation - if you want to quote a post that contains pictures, how about deleteing the picture references? This helps those that don't have high-speed internet access to still be able to enjoy the threads.

[jefelectric]

Very nice Brent, can't wait to see the real thing.  Which reminds me, got to get busy and print out a map.

Edited:

Just printed out the map, now I know where you live, thought you were closer to Baltimore.