The saga of my ever shrinking railroad

[Anonymous]

I am sending over to Graypower and he has offered to put photos up of an idea of my area 3 which is similar in size 7.2 m X 3 m (23' 7" X 9' 10") and i am utilising a double dogsbone straight out of "Garden railroading the hobby". It will have 65 m track (not too shabby) and pass over itself several times and be interlinked with the rest of my layout. It will have a climbing ramp and level circle as well as a deviathon and 4 m long viaduct, 2 m tunnel and several cliffs and a crossover track all of which I will do with as few switches as I can. But I must have 5 in the long run, to get into it to get out to area 4 to get into the reversing loop etc and to get from area 2 and 1.

I have not done all this in theory, I have hust worked my way through with a vague idea of what i hoped to achieve and it has changed dramatically along the way, for practical reasons.

photos and layout coming soon and you will see clearly how i am able to transfer plans on paper to a layout in the dirt.


Regards


ian

[Anonymous]

Cool [tup] Looking Great!

[vsmith]

I am going to use this thread as a progress log so I can keep track of changes and milestones.

Progress has been sloooow! too danged Hot and too busy with other house projects.

Updates:

Track:

I changed the plan yet again, this time flipping the brewery siding from the right side of the layout to the left side so that its closer to the access aisle. This frees up the back corner for town and scenery. I am thinking of adding a partial portable back drop over by where it is next to the new workbench area, removable, only up for visitors or photos, down most of the time. I have also reduced the total # of building on the layout and my eliminate even more. i am finding that "Less is More" in terms of clutter and visual perception of the layout. Need to replace last two AC switches to LGB.

Structures:

Repainting and adding corr metal roof to the coal tower.
Repainted the Yard Office, need to weather the corrigated metal roof.
House of Balsa station completed and placed.
HofB Saloon and Hotel will need small extensions built to the back sides to complete the structures.
Rebuilding LGB water tower into something more realistic
Completed some new facade buildings based on Piko cheepie structures.
Modifying recently aquired Korber Elmers Station for use as main RR station as the Piko Clear Creek I got proved too big fot the downsized layout. New station works much better.

Trains:

Recently completed kitbash of MDC hustler with two Mack hoods into a centercab, photos to follow in the MLS Modelmaking forum, also the kitbash of the Mack I got the hoods from into a M.A.C. inspired "flatbed" railcar.

Kitbash moving along nicely of LGB short island passenger car into railbus. Need NWSL Magic Carpet power drive and need to build operators seat and controls.

Thats enough for now, more to follow as progress continues.[8D]

[Anonymous]

Hey Vic, I understand the slow progress due to the heat thing. I finally brought all my precut boxcar parts into my home office for assembly in the AC. To make my garage/shop hotter and more humid I have yet to relocate the clothes dryer vent outside, the previous owner's [%-)][D)]located it there.

[vsmith]

Updated layout plan



not the greatest photo, sorry. Click on it and a bigger version pops up.[;)]

I have flipped the brewery and siding closer to the access aisle so I can operate couplers, I have also added sidings at the front and a mining siding at the right side mostly because I had the switches and wanted to maximize the operation of the layout.

I have also reduced the number of buildings to a bare minimum on the town. i wanted some open space between the fore buildings. On the yard side I added a turntable and a roundhouse facade, this is so I can turn engines around. All the track has been revised, i still have to build the turntable out of a lazy susan, winter is coming and when the days get shorter! Project building time![8D]

[bman36]

Hey Vic,
Reminds me of my early HO days. [:D] I had a 4x8 layout in my bedrooom as a kid. I was forever trying to pack more action into that space. You sure have a lot going on in that area! This is good. So I take it the roundhouse will only serve as a backdrop to the turntable? Ever thought of going out the wall to just along the outside? Then you would have an indoor / outdoor line without ever touching the ground. [;)][;)][;)] Build a planter on the outside wall so the missus can see how nice a train looks running outside with the vegetation. You never know where that could lead! Later eh...Brian.

[vsmith]

Hey Brain,

I'm trying thru subversivly subliminal messaging to get her to go to a Garden RR open house out here in a couple of weeks, but she's a hard sell. I still think if she saw one up close she'd come around, but the way our yard space is laying out it doesnt look good for a GR at the Smith residence.

[bman36]

Vic,
I know the feeling. My wife was not terribly crazy of a train layout in our yard. Once she saw a few on our holidays she was gung ho. After we got home she was standing in the middle of our garden sizing things up. She enjoys the gardening end of it most. She commented on our choice of shrubs so far and started talking about changes for next year. If you can get your wife around other ladies in the hobby it will do wonders. All the best! Later eh...Brian.

[tangerine-jack]

Ever thought about an inter-urban theme? Trolleys don't take up much room and you could have as little as one stretch of track with a few buildings to set the scene. Much better than trying to cram too much into too little space and not having it look right. Way better than nothing. Also gives a good excuse to buy stuff you will need later. Just a thought.

[Anonymous]

Hey Vic I like it, however based on your past posts somewhere you mentioned you use link & pin couplers. I think I would switch to kadees with the magnetic uncouplers for me to get the most fun out this layout. Then you can sit out there with a shot glass waiting on a fresh batch out of tequilla plant switching out cars and locos.[:D]

[vsmith]

Posting a couple of links over to a bunch of photos I posted over on MLS for a bunch of new Critter projects and a new station I've been doing lately.

Critter-mania:
http://www.mylargescale.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25661

New Station:
http://www.mylargescale.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25659

Hope these links work. I love modeling more than running , and the critter photos show what my tastes in engines run towards. Later Vic.

[Anonymous]

Vic, as always love the pics! brought a few over here for easier viewing. I like the antlers on the Falk[:D]

[bman36]

Hey Vic,
Neat stuff. Thanks for posting them Matt. I like to see the other end of the spectrum where everything is kept compact. Great job! Later eh...Brian.

[vsmith]

Thanks guys, Matt thanks for reposting them, sometimes my home computer is as slow as molasas in January and it takes too long to repost photos from MLS storage site. Heres one I didnt post with that bunch, my first LS purchase. An LGB TOYTRAIN Porter repainted, detailed, and weathered. It now looks like a real 8-10 ton Porter from the 1890's, it even has a complete backhead.
[:D]

[bman36]

Hey Vic,
Just goes to show what a little paint and a lot of detail can do to any loco. Great job. Later eh...Brian.

[Anonymous]

Vic, I like the fact this one is weathered, It looks great! Any plans on weathering the others? Let me know and I'll post links to photo's in the future, I have broadband and a pretty fast computer[:)]

[Anonymous]

matt
I like your little engines and station , one day i will learn to post pictures, i hope. ben

[Anonymous]

Looking great Matt and Vic! Keep up the awsome work......[:)]

[Anonymous]

HEY GUYS! The pics are of what VIC BUILT! I just post them here from MLS to make easier for everyone to view. I only wish I had a locomotive as nice as theseor one period ![:(]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bluebonnet - 71

Looking great Matt and Vic! Keep up the awsome work......[:)]

Looking great Matt and Vic! Keep up the awsome work......[:)]

[Anonymous]

Victor, you like the same sort of stuff that I do. Below is a video clip of my Lehmann Porter in action:



http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/BillC/Porter_Harmonica.wmv

Regards,
Bill C.
South Jersey

[vsmith]

Bill thanks for the clip.

I dig these little engine types, just wish we had more steam prototypes to choose from in LS. Looks like to get some of the engines I want I'll have to scratch them.

PS been following the Bachmann pre-release controversy of their new Vulcan engine? The threads on MLS and the Bachmann Website have been real interesting. Mostly negative. Makes me wonder just how the heck they are choosing their products.

[Anonymous]

Victor, I've been following every last word on MLS and the B'mann sites to the point where I'm about to suffer a Vulcan mind meld.

Personally I was hoping for a largescale version of the T-boiler Shay like the On30 guys have. That would have fit in more with my theme. Such a locomotive would have made a lot of people happy.

Regards,
Bill C.
South Jersey

[vsmith]

Finally got the revised cork bed glued down, the last of the new track layout screwed down, and everything wired up. I let the track get real oxidized though, now I need to find a better way to clean it. My Aristo track cleaner car is pretty worthless with all the sidings. Maybe a can of Brasso and a rag would be better.

At last, 3 years after starting in the garden, 18 months after going to the garage, 4 months after cutting up 50% of the previous larger layout , the trackwork of the New Downsized Glorified Lionel Like Shrunken Head Micro-Layout that Carl Arendt would be proud of a layout, is DONE!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Vic, More than ever I I understand your plite of the ever shrinking RR, building these boxcars in my home office has taken up a lot of space! Then I clean and start working on them again and it creeps off of the fold up work table I have and onto the officail "work " desk. Your perserverence in this scale now amazes me even more!

[vsmith]

Thanks Matt

Here's a PDF file of the Final layout, a couple of track pieces still need to be added but for all intents and purposes, I'm done with the trackwork. Maybe when I replace the last remaining Aristocraft switch I'll have a small "Golden Spike" (Brass Nail) ceremony. Finishing last night was more of a relieve to be done with it. Already been thru the "Wow I did it" phase with the last larger layout. Just glad to have this part completed and ready to move onto the next phase, finally, something different![8)]

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/GarageStudyDOWNSIZE6%20Model.pdf

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

Thanks Matt

Here's a PDF file of the Final layout, a couple of track pieces still need to be added but for all intents and purposes, I'm done with the trackwork. Maybe when I replace the last remaining Aristocraft switch I'll have a small "Golden Spike" (Brass Nail) ceremony. Finishing last night was more of a relieve to be done with it. Already been thru the "Wow I did it" phase with the last larger layout. Just glad to have this part completed and ready to move onto the next phase, finally, something different![8)]

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/GarageStudyDOWNSIZE6%20Model.pdf

Vic,

You can mean you are finished! A rail lineis never finished. You need to continue "fighting the good fight!" Never give up hope, one day you will have an outdoor layout that will know the socks off of all who view it.

Until then, I am still planning to name a curve of my layout after you and other parts after a few of the, to borrow one of the the more British/Aussie words, blokes.

In Corpus Christi, Texas there is a radio station which is benefited by a station manager named John Gifford who is originally from England. Between he and this forum I have actually, at first unconciously, been using more British English (English English?), ah, yes... Britanicspeak (to coin a new word) in my regualar speak.

[Anonymous]

Vic, Did you get the turntable in? And if so what did you end up doing?

[vsmith]

Matt

The turntable spur is one of the unfinished parts mostly because the roundhouse needs to be built around the turntable and Visa Versa. So I'm holding until I'm ready to start the roundhouse facade. I am going to use a 10" Lazy Susan from OSH and will build a wooden platform on top of and a second one around the exterior so it will be invisible. It already has a 12" track section cut to fit it. I'll post a log on that project but its still a little in the future. Next on the layout (After some vigorous track cleaning) is the foam mountains and the painted backdrop. Not to wild about the mess that comes with that [xx(]

Capt C I dont know about a curve? if so I hope that curve is the worst one on your layout that claims alot of derailed trains, hehehe, its the Gomez Addams in me. Call it "Poor Vics Curve" better yet how about a saloon called "Poor Vic's"[;)]

[grandpopswalt]

Vic,

Great job! What CAD program did you use to generate the PDFdrawing you posted?

Walt