pictures building layout

[TBat55]

These are pcitures of my HO layout construction. It was made in removeable modules that fit thru my cellar door. I hate bare wood so everthing is painted.

Overall view (refer to Atlas' Great Eastern Trunk track plan)


Schematic (ignore the yard, due in 2006)


Open grid construction with modules bolted together


Right-hand view


Right-hand end view


Left-hand view


Removeable gorge module


Module removed


Top view


Removeable crossover module #1

Note the straight part of a turnout goes into the curved part of the other, not curved-into-curved)

Removeable crossover module #2


Module bottom view


This picture-posting gets easier the more you do it

[TBat55]

Finished gorge module

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the pictures. You're doing beautiful work. The gorge is terrifying! Great job! Your track work looks like it's free of any derailment problems.

[Anonymous]

NIce work, I like the HUGE chicken wire mountain, did you use that 'plaster cloth' stuff or another way...? (How much plaster cloth did it take?)

How about the LEDs near the switches on the control panel, what do they indicate? You've got a red one on the mainline, another between the switches, and another on the other mainline; a green LED at the frog end of each switch and another red LED opposite the control switch for the two adjoining switches.

Also it looks like you've wired it for Cab control, but isn't that a Zepher DCC

Please correct the terminology for the newbie.

Thanks
scada

[simon1966]

fantastic pictures. Thanks for showing the progress shots on the gorge section. Am I correct in asuming that all the rock formations in the gorge are simply made from the chicken wire and plaster cloth?

[TBat55]

Thanks all!
I tried using Hydrocal-soaked paper towels but it was too messy and the towels fall apart (found out too late that I should have tried blue Shop Towels). I used a lot of WS Plaster Cloth, maybe a half dozen rolls. I used a LOT of rock castings. With about 6 molds I had to rotate, cutup, and combine the castings to hide the obvious. For the gorge I put the module frame sideways on my table saw, glued and painted castings, flip/repeat twice, then stood it up for the river. Weighs about 80-100lbs.
LEDs are flush-mount from Radio Shack wired in series with the Tortoise motor power and indicate turnout direction. GREEN is the "normal route" (not necessarily straight part of turnout). RED is the "reverse" direction or the route less often used (crossover).
All the DPDT switches show my old cab control experience. They were disconnected for DCC (no power districts needed yet) and will be replaced with block occupancy signals if I ever get that far.

[TBat55]

Also, I made the huge mountain with my niece and nephew in mind. There is a big opening underneath the mountain with access from the right of the gorge. The kids can easily duck under and come up inside the mountain where there's a toggle switch connected to a bright 12V light. Spooky and fun, plus I get maintenance access.

[TBat55]

The bridge is Walther's double-track truss. The pier holding up one end of the bridge is 2 Chooch single-track cut and spliced together (they do not or did not make a double pier).

History: The single track behind the truss bridge is an earlier route going thru a blasted portal with a wood trestle and triple-girder deck bridge on a curve. As engines got heavier the now-richer railroad built a new heavy duty double track main line. The old route was abandoned and labelled by the railroad owner as "R18 - to be avoided".

[northern_blues]

Lo ve the work that you've done on the layout.

Mind if I ask a question about the basement? Looks a little like mine, fieldstone walls, etc.

What is your headroom in that room?

-Dave

[Anonymous]

Outstanding work. Thanks for the Pix. I always seem to get new ideas from other layouts.
Ken

[Anonymous]

that track looks amazing maybe you could give me a few tips as im starting my very first layout congrats on a great layout

[TBat55]

Northern_blues: My house is almost 100 years old and the stone walls had sand for mortar. I spent 2 years digging out the mortar and replacing it. Now it's dry. Oil paint and a dehumidifier too. Headroom is just low enough to be a pain in the neck plus occasional head bumps (I'm 6'). Outside this room I can stand with a few inches above - my excuse for expanding soon!

Fordute: My 2 cents are get a track layout book like Atlas' or Armstrong's and if you really need 18"Radius curves, hide them inside a tunnel. 18"R will work for a lot of engines and cars but looks funny. Also, use rail joiners for expansion and alignment, but use solder feeder wires for electrical.

[HAZMAT9]

Very nice!!!! Based on your trackplan, did you use sectional or flex? Can't tell on the shots. If sectional, have you did any test runs....wondering about derailments. Or, if you used flex, how easy/difficult was it to convert from sectional trackplan (I'm assuming that the plan was sectional) to flex? I just hope my scenery comes out that good!!! [:D]

[Anonymous]

Excellent planning and skill involved here. Your kids are very lucky. I hope they can appreciate the planning and labor involved.

[TBat55]

Hazmat9
Since my layout was based on Atlas "Great Eastern Trunk" design, I used sectional Code 83 track. Each piece has elec. feeder wires, but in the tunnel I soldered stranded wire across the rail joiners (I believe joiners should be used for expansion and alignment only). My Walthers/Shinohara #6 turnouts are not the same as the Atlas #6. The curved part is longer so I cut some off. The general oval shape ended up dumbell shape so I used flex track in the middle. Now it's ballast time.

looking the other way


a handy tripod (on a mouse pad)


collapsed

Tripod bought from http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi for $5.50!

Railroad bridge at Letchworth State Park, upstate NY