The saga of my ever shrinking railroad

[Anonymous]

Vic,

Since I have seen it, looking cool man, very cool!

William

[ttrigg]

Plan looks good.  Can't say as much about your counting.  Which switch did you forget to count?

[vsmith]

OK foundation is complete, utility trenches filled, framers will be here Monday.

Man, they left a mess in the yard, theres dirt everywhere. Gonna be real busy this fall just putting the yard back in order. Gotta get some of it up before we get any rain or its going to get really messy out there.

Plus side, I actually measured the area out there and found I had the stupid tree in the wrong place. Been fiddling with a new layout for the back corner and finally have a viable plan for the outside layout.

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/HOUSE-Garage%20Studio%20-Layout%20alternateXXYYZZx1.pdf

[bman36]

Hey all,

     Vic, glad to see the work is under way. I recall the Spring of  2000 very well. It all began with saying goodbye to a very sad looking 12 x 20 garage. After that came a 30 x 30 footer to replace it. The best came after. Looking at what I still had left for a yard my first dreams of a garden railway began. My wife said " A what?" The rest like thay say is history. Congradulations on a fresh start. After all is said and done it will be great. Later eh...Brian.

  

[Anonymous]

Vic, glad to see things are now getting underway! Not being familiar with CA building codes how deep does the footer need to be? Looks shallow, Ohio is minimum 36" deep. I guess I always asumed CA would have deeper footers do to earthquakes.

[vsmith]

Progress!

Footings trenched, thats SWMBO with her ferocious hellhound:

from the back corner, the left side is where the new layout goes:

Looking at the ensuing chaos that the yard is in:

Closer look at where the layout will go... about 12' x 25'

Why I had to pull up my outdoor layout

Where everything else ended up...

Should be able to pour concrete by next week, framing goes up the following week if not earlier...at least its getting there.

[vsmith]

heres where we are today...

Here a sad pic for me, all thats left of the Borracho RR today

[vsmith]

Garage is half down, roof and both patios are gone....also gone is half the benchwork.

 

I debated whether to save the benchwork but I have to admit it was originally built pretty hap-hazardly. the next incarnation will use a more professional framing using 1xs and foam base so scenery can be carved into it.

 

Heres the latest revised plan for the new layout, its a foot deeper, that will allow me to add greater depth and give it a more scenery 3D look. Theres a connector to the work studio.I also pick up a new mine siding to boot!

 

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith//GarageStudy%20Proposed%20rebuilt%20indoor%20layout.pdf

 

[vsmith]

Ok all links reactivated, updates to come...

Update #1

 

Well, its official....I'm sans layout, indoor or outdoor, all I have left is the Xmas tree circle, and its 36" dia....

Pulled up the outdoor track last evening, boxed half the structures. Will break down and box all the rest of the track tonight, and will take pics of the smoking remains of both...discovered those "outdoor" birdhouses are complete crap, at least off the shelf they are. Extremely deteriorated after a year of exposure, so next incarnation are getting heavy duty outdoor-proof treatment.

Dam, after all the years of trying to get going outside, I learn why *being* outdoors is so different from being indoors...

The Bad...

Track exposure badly oxidatized in some places due to some lawn product exposure.

Leaves are a constant ongoing battle

Small weeds left for a week become trees!

Sunlight (UV) seams to be a bigger deteriorator of outdoor items (track,buildings) than rain, or wind.

LGB manual switch actuators are complete crap after a short time due to the weiniee springs inside, will be replaced with Tenmille groundthrows next time.

and the Good....

The initial idea behind the layout building, namely a simple wood header enclosure filled with gravel and stones as a dirt cheap, stupid easy way to get started in Garden Railroading, proved sound!

I found that even with oxidation issues on the track, I only needed one power connection and after a couple loops the train ran fine the rest of the day.

And finally...
Garden railroads, of any size are relaxing, just the perfect excuse to sit outside and watching the train run has a terrific relaxing effect on everyone who see them.

So planning for the next layout begins. I will post a couple ideas I have. This one will be elevated 12-18" and will incorporate more landscaping scenic ideas. I'm thinking of either rebuilding only a few of my exterior birhouse structures into more realistic (and tougher) buildings or getting new outdoor specific building. I'm thinking a minimum of buildings on the new layout.

The indoor layout will require even more planning so nothing yet on that, other than I plan to incorporate a foam base under the tracks to allow for scenery to be more 3D.
2 early studies :

This one is the simpliest, following the last outdoor layout plan:
http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith//HOUSE-Garage%20Studio%20-Layout%20alternate%201.pdf

This one is a little bigger:
http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith//HOUSE-Garage%20Studio%20-Layout%20alternate%202.pdf

 

Update #2

 

Well its happening, the guys are here and after helping me clear out the last of the junk, its being torn down...

 

Here are the pics of the abandoned right of way, tis' a sad site for me...

 

Just so you can get idea of what we had ...before demo

 

and some of the reason why we'd have to do this anyway....

Rather nasty splits in the main roof framing[:0]

 

We definetly have too much JUNK

 

[vsmith]

Ok all links reactivated, updates to come...

[ttrigg]

Good to hear that she has granted ground to the GRR.

[vsmith]

I like to get things out in the open, so at dinner I discussed it with her. Indeed she said she wants a small sitting area/patio of some sort outside the studio, so I'll have to see what will work over there. I can fit something similar in size to my current outdoor layout without any difficulty, but I'm going to do a raised planter layout instead of a ground level layout. That and I want additional landscaping/scenery so I'll need to make it a bit bigger than that. We'll see what I can cook up.

So the current plan is....rebuild a raised outdoor layout simliar to my current one at the back of my property, and rebuild the indoor branch to the last incarnation plan. I'll use the larger engines on the outdoor layout and the smaller ones one the indoor, but I'm sure there'll be alot of mixing....

At least I know where I stand, now i can make concrete plans

[ttrigg]

Vic;

Keep us posted on the new garage. As far as the wife goes, after the construction is finished send her off on a "vacation" and throw the tracks on the ground while she is gone! When she gets back the deed will have been done and your real-estate claim will hold. (Unless she is a "claim jumper" like my wife.)

[vsmith]

Garage demo begins next week

Plans are in the city, should get a permit by end of next week

All my track and interior buildings are boxed and in storage, all the trains are currently stored in my hobby room, much to my wifes chagrin!

I will likely have to pull up the entire outdoor line due to the proposed electrical line routing to the new garage going right undernieth it....it will get boxed this weekend.

Looks like I'll be stuck being a workbench large scaler for a while till all the comotion is done....even though my wife doesnt want we working in the shop now that we've moved the bed to the adjacent room till our bedroom is re-modeled, thats still 2 or 3 weeks away!

I wont be able to know exactly how much real estate I'll have for the next incarnation of my RR till the dust settles and I see what area I have left. I know where and how big I want to build it (outside next to the studio) But I dont know how the ongoing turf war its going to shake down. Theres a chance the area I want might get wife-jacked into patio space off the studio room, if that happens I'll be forced back into the garage for my main focus. But I refuse to not have an outdoor layout, even if it ends up being very small left over space inside to wife-jacked patio area.

[Train 284]

Any new updates Vic?

[ttrigg]

Vic

Got the same birdhouse (and its twin gazebo). Use them as ticketbooths for my carousel.

[vsmith]

Realized I needed to add some pics as the thread never showed how the outdoor branch ended up looking...these were also posted on Capt C's "May 16th" post...


around the eastern loop


Snafu Junction, check out the white birdhouse, thats less than 6 months old!


Approaching Tincan Juntion

Its less than a year old and already many of the birdhouses are showing a lot of weather damage.

[Train 284]

Vic, sounds like a great plan!Can't wait for pictures!

[Anonymous]

Vic, Sounds great! Even if your outdoors only you at least have the climate for it.

Check with TOC, he being a Llagas dealer, and they have the Tenmile ground throws[;)] [e-mail]

[vsmith]

Update: I got some real estate for a permanent outdoor line!

After the new garage is built I will be adding a large planter area at the rear corner of the garage next to the property line, I'll have roughly a 10' x 30' are to work with, far bigger than my current temporary outdoor layout!

After some planning over on the "John Allen" thread on the Planning Forum I developed this plan, which will be the next incarnation of the Borracho RR.

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith//Outdoor%20layout%20study%20CURRENT%204-27-06.pdf

It's a mix of 4' and 6.5' dia curves using a folded dogbone (my favorite plan) and R1 switches. Yes.... I know I should use larger, but all my stuff is currently R1 compatable shorties and unless something so absolutly amazingly cool that I absolutlel have to have it comes on the market , or I win a biggun' at the BTS raffle this June, I see no major new purchases in the future. Besides I'm having too much fun building my own stuff!

Now this current layout will cannibalis all of my current layouts (in and outdoor) track and switches. Which is no biggie as it would otherwise go into storage for the duration. I dont know If I'll be able to justify rebuilding the interior layout. (I'm thinking of a simpler switching layout, maybe a portable ?) Now I need to find some proper power control switches to wire it for blocks *before* I build it and find a source of Tenmille manual switch throws.

More updates as they come.

[Anonymous]

VSMITH
You need to build it 3 times as big and a second story on it , good luck with your project
OH boy more room for trains. BEN[tup][2c]

[vsmith]

Well time for an update here, as of last weekend we rented a storage unit to clear out the garage. So over the next few weeks I'll be clearing out the garage of everything and reluctantly that includes the indoor branch of the Borracho RR. I'll be dismantling the benchwork once the stuff stored under it is packed away. It's not yet determined when and how long it will take to build the new garage as we have to dismantle the old one before they can start. Hopefully by mid-summer I'll be able to start rebuilding. Already considering a few changes I want to make when I reinstall it. So till then I'll have to be content with the smaller outdoor branch.

One real positive is that winter is nearly over (still getting rain this weekend) and the time has shifted, it will now be getting lighter and warmer in the evenings and begin to enjoy being outside after work.

[vsmith]

Brian

If you look at the drawing link above, the garage would be in the upper left corner, we are going to rebuild against the back wall of the yard well away from the layout. But once the garage is finished, the outdorr line will come up as the house extension will be almost up to where the tracks currently are. I have space for another "permanent" outdoor loop between where the garage will be and where the house will end up.

Dave

I have that book too, it's on the Mt Tamapalis RR in San Francisco. The Mt Lowe RR was in Pasadena, right above where I live, and is chronicled in the book "Mt Lowe, the Railway in the Clouds"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870950754/qid=1134579969/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-9872484-5196965?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

They were both very similar RRs from the same time period, The difference being Mt Lowe had an incline and electric trolleys, where Mt Tam had steam Shay's and "Gravity Cars" on the way down, that had to be fun! I wish BOTH had managed to survive till today, cause I know I'd be a volunteer motorman on the Mt Lowe anyday they could use me!

I know the Library of Congress film archive has old Edison films of the Mt Tam Shays in action on their website.

[FJ and G]

Vic,

Glad to hear things are going along good. Your signature photos remind me of a book I purchased from Howell-North Publishing back in the 1960s called "Crookedest RR in the world." It was about that RR.

I once drove up that mt back in 1979, but didn't see any remains of the line.

[bman36]

Vic,
Is your current outdoor layout along the garage? If so demolition and reconstruction can be havoc. You might want to wait until the garage is done so the guy on the Bobcat doesn't run it over! Later eh...Brian.

[vsmith]

Matt

If your asking about the outdoor loop, I just extended the existing straight sections a bit and added the 1/2 dogbone into an area I was going to pave, but what the hey? I might as well use it for track as the only person who steps there is the dog.

If you were asking about the eventual reinstallation, same plan but deeper in depth so I can do more effective scenery. Right now everything is jambed up against the backdrop.

We'll see, I'll be pulling up some track inside this weekend[:(]

[Tom The Brat]

I think you'll have to change the title of your thread to:

"The Saga of my Suddenly Expanding Railroad."

[Anonymous]

Dare I ask, I do. Will the current track plan change or just be built with longer straights/runs inbetween the current configuratuion?

[vsmith]

With any luck and some clear weather lets see how much of this I can get done before New Years. Should go fast if I can keep SWMBAWS (She-Who-Must-Be-Accompanied-While-Shopping) at bay.

The "expanded" outdoor Fubar & Snafu branch line of the Borracho RR.

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith//Outdoor%20Layout-2-Expansion%20Plan.pdf

The current tiny layout is shown on the right side. Still small, but at least its still there. To be built to the same low quality standards the citizens of Borracho have come to expect

[Tom The Brat]

Progress must be made!