Route Rock, and Ice Puck, and any one else near by:
I am hosting the CIRGRS Meeting on July 15, please feel free to show up, and play! MY layout is set up for batt, but is capable of other operations... let me know
Eric
OK all I am finally getting around to fixing my website, but to do so I had to reload the whole thing -I know, I know I am a whiner..... I just rebuilt my website to hold more current photos, I finally bought a program to resize my pics to create more room (the hold up), but also should help them load faster for you dial up people. unfortunately it is now full once again, but it is current!!!!!! FinallyI also reorganized the photos to make it flow better, but it did cause some to be out of order of actual completion.
Oh, there are now photos that prove I have ran trains (and in daylight too, since most of my running tends to happen after dark)
Yes we are on time but this is yesterdays train
OK mopar, where is your G layout???? HMMMM, ok so I have a lot more done in my back yard than is posted....
(fyi mopar is helping me build my layout....., I just dont hold it against him what kind of truck he drives)
I guess I should share what I have been upto, I promise soon....
Eric where are the updates? It has been almost 2 months the people are waiting!! It's not like you have been busy with getting the basement ready to build a staging yard,working on freight cars,pouring more concrete for the yard lead and industrial areas.
Doug
Modeling the Norfolk Southern in HO and the Rock Island in G.
Rocket man,
1st of all anything dealing with my layout isnt off subject and any posts, question or otherwise are welcome.
The layout is set in the late '70's as I have memories of the end. The track and such is hopefully up to '50's standards as constant derailments are bothersome (typical of the late '70's RI ) There is a little '50's stuff as well as I love the paint schemes from that era. I still havent come to a complete answer for era bashing, but then again it is my backyard -lol. The hopefully soon revamp of my web page will give better explaination, etc of my layout and its goals.....
Matt,
stay tuned for a soon to be released major upgrade of the website, with much more advancement in my back yard !!!!
Thanks all for your encouragement and sugestions, keep it coming.
Mainline is DONE! -as in all track is now in on the mainline. It took about 8 hours to complete (with several breaks). As stated before all but up by the house (and thru the patio) is all double track, and the track with the wye in it is counted as a secondary single track main. The wye only needs about 15 minutes more worth of work and it will be done (I need to cut rail, too noisy after 10pm). The main line was completed at about 9:55 pm, then I ran trains with my friend Doug (who spent the day ballasting track, semi-prototypically using an open hopper). It was a blast to finally run 2 trains at once in oposite directions.
Total track laid to date is about 420 feet long give or take a foot or two. Not bad in an area that is 70'x~50') with most of that area taken up by flower beds/grass/pond.
Of course much work yet to be done: walkways to replace/reset (and their associated walkway lights), yard lead to create, leads to the future industrial areas, lead to the basement window staging area, fill next to much of the new concrete, then ballasting the newly laid track, all which must be done in the next couple weeks.
Well my guestament was about dead on as I just finished pouring the rest of the mainline and it took just shy of 70 bags to finish. Now I need to build forms and pour the leads to the switching areas and the yard lead( shouldnt take more than 20-30 bags total).
The actual switching areas and the yard are not gonna be poured in concrete as they very well may be changed in the future/ allow for water drainage from rain as they will occupy a fairly large area next to trees/buildings. The yard lead concrete pour will include the mult. switch platforms, and the industrial areas leads, but the industrial switches will sit on concrete blocks for stablity, instead of a complete concrete platform. Hopefully the mainline will be complete (track and ballast) and all the remaining planned concrete poured with in 2 weeks!!!!! Finishing the yard/ industrial areas will take much longer as alot of switches will need to be purchased and lots of buildings made (will be next year till all track for that is in, and who knows how long for the buildings).
I should mention that the switching area behind the pond will be a little bit of a problem (and is excluded from above statements) and will require a future (next year????) concrete pour as a bridge is required across the stream end, it will be close to the main behind the pond, but only accessable from the bridge accross the pond. A problem yet to be looked into (serious grade problem- drop of about 1.5 feet from one side of the pond to the other- maybe a large gravel/dirt back fill???)
I hope to also have a redesigned website with the next month, to explain what I have done and what I plan to do, but done much better than how my site is now.
Ambitious yes, can I do it when I said I would, we'll see....
Hi all, I attempted to update my website, but I ran out of room after 3 pics, ( I have about 10 more to add). I will have to do a major revamp of my website to make this work, thankfully I have 2 friends with web site knowledge to help me out, but it will take time. Hopefully the end result will look much better. I started looking at what I could remove to make room, and realized how much of my original plan has changed! I need to correct my plan on the site to show what I have done, but that hasnt happened yet because of the space limit, but for a brief expaination... the main loop around the yard (other than by the house/thru the patio is now all planned to be double track) the area on the map called flower garden has a wye in it.
As far as what has been completed, all forms for mainline are built, all but behind the pond & and about 10' to the North of the pond and about 6' to the South have been poured. What is left to be poured will take lots of concrete as most of it is about 6-12" deep and 10.5" wide. To do the math a 60lb bag of concrete is 0.5 cubic ft of concrete.... I think I have about 70 bags left to pour to finish the mainline. To explain how much concrete this has taken to date, the entire line has taken about 160 60' bags of concrete, or not counting water I have poured just shy of 5 tons of concrete. In my own sick humor I must smile thinking about who ever buys this house next and decides to tear out my layout! . I have never been accused of doing things the easy way, If I plan to do it I want it done the "right" way so it will last!
Dave thanks for the tip, I'll look into it.
I got about 1/3 of what is left to be poured done last weekend, and the next 1/3 forms set. just looking for a large chuck of non rain time to pour it. (couldnt do it Thursday as storms were predicted, and boy was the forcaster right, VERY hard rain, but my drains thru the concrete worked nicely -no standing water, but I had 2 mamoth scale trees down blocking the curent main in a couple spots (read acctually approx 3" or so branches which were 25' long or so). Thankfully little damage, just some cleanup work to do. With any luck I should have my mainline complete this month, as the last set of forms should go very quickly as I have definately come up the learning curve on how to do this. FYI I have fould the best forms to be 1/4" plywood, sturdy, yet bends to the curves nicely. I still use the masonite to fill in dips under the recycled forms to get to forms down to ground level. Site to be updated later....
If anyone is interested (& lives close enough for picking them up) in my used forms and stakes once I am done with them let me know as once the main is in I wont have much need for most of it. I will still have quite a bit left to build (my industrial areas and the yard, but I plan to put them on packed ballast, for better water contol -as they will take up 3 fairly large spots- and being able to change them easier if I dont like how they turn out.)
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