IRB Souther Engineer Just curious, what software do you use to make your track plan drawings?
Just curious, what software do you use to make your track plan drawings?
I use Autocad 2004, plotted to PDF format, then converted into a jpg. Its graphicly intentionally kept very simple to allow for quick drawings and quick changes.
Have fun with your trains
Just curious, what sofware do you use to make your track plan drawings?
Not really repitition so much as evolution, the main pizza is unchanged, I had kept the extension when I first built the wedding cake, the upper level was the pizza and the extension, but while building the wedding cake moving the larger pizza turned out to be too heavy and unwieldy and I almost dropped it a couple times, so i dropped the extension and just kept the pizza on top. When I downsided the wedding cake I wanted to save the high trestle on the right side so that moved the pizza over about 10 inches off to the right of the bench, I needed to fill in that left section, so I looked around and found the old extension base I had from the photo above, I had to trim about an inch off of it an once modified it just dropped into place on that left side. moving the fiddle yard there just mad sense plus I can possibly reuse the 2 House Of Balsa kits, it was just common sense in the circumstances. Both are seperate pieces now, but they lock each other in place. Need to paint the wood now.
So Repition is the key to rebuilding the Pizza ??
Dave
The head is gray, hands don't work , back is weak, legs give out, eyes are gone, money go's and my wife still love's Me.
Got the base cut to size, added new 1x6 trim boards around, the Pizza is in place, because of the way the base is built I moved the fiddle yard to the side and placed it on a removable cassette. Coming together very fast, Heres the latest sketch:
I realized I've gone backwards in time, back to early on the life of this layout when I added a small addition to the side , now though its got a much better support base and alot more experience under the belt.
Pic from long ago. Come full circle it seams to be right back where I started. New pics soon as I can
The end for the "wedding cake" layout:
Months to build - Hours to dismantle. As of tonight the upper pizza has been safely set aside, all the track is up and the raised platform has been taken apart, the ballast has been the toughest stuff to get up, but its slowely coming together.
The foam has been kept aside, I will try to reuse as much of it as possible
Thanks Mick but I kinda need to get this thing onto as small a footprint as I can, I'm adjusting the plan as I go. I am going to move the fiddle track from the back of the layout to the left side as the bridge needs to shift the layout as far to the right side as possible, I'm hoping to reuse the station and the hotel on that side, we'll see.
Vic,
Just a thought, have you tried using building flats facing one side, with the tracks running through the building, but out of sight. You could put a tunnel mouth and hill at each side and pretend the railway goes off somewhere else. It might give you a place to put more buildings and change the way you hide the tracks in tunnels. I will try and draw something to better explain it if you are interested in the idea.
Mick
Chief Operating Officer
Northern Timber Company - Mt Beenak
...only this time I'll be trying to put 20 lbs into that same bag.
Vic, you are the master of putting twelve pounds in a five pound bag.
Tom Trigg
Dave, since this is a continuation of the existing portable, I'll just keep this thread going.
Vic, I enjoyed your last build log and hope to see a new log for the new micro.
Best of luck with your new build.
well...I guess anytime is good enough, PM me with your interests. I'll see anything fits them
vsmith the biggest issue facing me is the fact that there is still a sizable chunk of my roster that will never fit on the micro, so another round of sales will be coming up
the biggest issue facing me is the fact that there is still a sizable chunk of my roster that will never fit on the micro, so another round of sales will be coming up
Where are those sales going to be taking place?
I have to face a few facts… …the biggest being that my layout is once again, proving to be too large for my given circumstances. I’m really getting tired of this but between the growing need for more storage space, family issues, my new interest in Marxism (Louis Marx) and the fact that even though its mobile, my layout still literally eats ½ the garage open space…I really can’t keep the layout as it is. I think these problems have been apparent since I took up the fixed layout and began building the mobile layout. Model train layouts regardless of scale, tend to be enormous space eaters. It was the primary reason I dismantled the bigger layout, and this layout is about as small as it can get using R1 track. It’s just that now as I’m moving more things around between the house and the garage that this cannot be ignored again. I don’t want to just drop out of LS altogether, so instead I’m looking at taking down the lower 5’6” part of the mobile and doing probably what I should have done from Day 1 of dismantling the fixed layout, and that is focus 100% on the 3’ square micro layout, I never had any problems when that was all I had. I figure I can reuse 80% of the structures and 100% of the details and figures, the biggest issue facing me is the fact that there is still a sizable chunk of my roster that will never fit on the micro, so another round of sales will be coming up but I do plan to try and rebuild a couple of my favorites that wont currently fit. I seam destined to build micros. First thing to do is a complete photo documentation of the layout as is, then start test fitting structures onto the micro, get ready… I have a feeling this new layout is going to look insane before I’m finished with it. This is going to be quite a challenge…where’s the shoehorn? Here I go… again…..
I have to face a few facts…
…the biggest being that my layout is once again, proving to be too large for my given circumstances. I’m really getting tired of this but between the growing need for more storage space, family issues, my new interest in Marxism (Louis Marx) and the fact that even though its mobile, my layout still literally eats ½ the garage open space…I really can’t keep the layout as it is. I think these problems have been apparent since I took up the fixed layout and began building the mobile layout. Model train layouts regardless of scale, tend to be enormous space eaters. It was the primary reason I dismantled the bigger layout, and this layout is about as small as it can get using R1 track. It’s just that now as I’m moving more things around between the house and the garage that this cannot be ignored again. I don’t want to just drop out of LS altogether, so instead I’m looking at taking down the lower 5’6” part of the mobile and doing probably what I should have done from Day 1 of dismantling the fixed layout, and that is focus 100% on the 3’ square micro layout, I never had any problems when that was all I had. I figure I can reuse 80% of the structures and 100% of the details and figures, the biggest issue facing me is the fact that there is still a sizable chunk of my roster that will never fit on the micro, so another round of sales will be coming up but I do plan to try and rebuild a couple of my favorites that wont currently fit. I seam destined to build micros. First thing to do is a complete photo documentation of the layout as is, then start test fitting structures onto the micro, get ready… I have a feeling this new layout is going to look insane before I’m finished with it. This is going to be quite a challenge…where’s the shoehorn?
Here I go… again…..
You can see some of the scale "junk" in these pics, I have always found typical model RRs to way to clean and pristine for my tastes as almost every real railroad I ever have been to (outside of Disneyland) was always littered with junk and trash. So even though my layout is impossibly squashed and foreshorted till its almost infront of its own back, its still got more detail than alot of other layouts I've seen
Even got a short video of the layout to date:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfbM0pUP8_I
The train is a cheeser Lionel job I got on extreme sale for $30 at Big Lots, found out why as the drive was busted but it was fixable, so now I'm experimenting with seing what its potential is.
Its the little details that make this fun
http://1stclass.mylar
Homage to Petticoat Junction
I guess I can say that the scenery is done, well for now:
Again for whatever reason, this forum WILL NOT let me add more than one picture at a time without freezing up, so I get to add lots of pics one at a bloody picture time...Oh ...joy
If ya can find me a 1/24 scale box of donuts I'll pass them along to Homer ;)
Homer needs a box of doughnuts with him.
vsmith Chief Mechanic Homer is lovin his new ride (This would have much nicer to share if the darn format didnt freeze up everytime I tried inserting more than one picture at a time Sheesh! )
Chief Mechanic Homer is lovin his new ride
(This would have much nicer to share if the darn format didnt freeze up everytime I tried inserting more than one picture at a time Sheesh! )
Remember the Veterans. Past, present and future.
www.sd3r.org
Proud New Member Of The NRA
I traded e-mails with Rene, they are looking specificly for small garden layouts, with emphisis on how its integrated into the garden landscape environment, given mine resides indoors it really doesnt meet what they are looking for in the contest. She invited me to submit it to GR on its own, when its detailed to the point I find "acceptable" I will do the submission, but this is still a ways from where I want it to be for me to be satisfied with it, maybe in a couple more months
Betcha if I submit it and it would end up in MR if anywhere LOL
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