mononguy63 wrote: Pasadena Sub wrote:This is VERY eerie...but I made almost the same comment to my wife...spooky!Great minds think alike! Though if you're thinking like me, you might consider counseling...
Pasadena Sub wrote:This is VERY eerie...but I made almost the same comment to my wife...spooky!
Great minds think alike!
Though if you're thinking like me, you might consider counseling...
Autobus Prime wrote:Folks:If you guys have this continuous mindlink, why doesn't just one of you get the counseling so you can split the cost?(Wasn't that a Star Trek TNG episode?)
Or maybe we just need to put together a bowling team
Jamie
CLICK HERE FOR THE CSX DIXIE LINE BLOG
Hi gang, hope everyone is having another great weekend! I just wanted to post a quick update on my benchwork progress and again say thanks to the forum in general for providing guidance in getting me started off on the right foot. Jamie
Wall brackets completed:
There will be a drop-down gate on the lower level across the doorway:
Measuring for the peninsula:
Peninsula completed including front boards:
Nice work!
It's good to see a step by step pictorial with design rationale included. Very encouraging for those others about to take the plunge into a full scale layout build for the first time.
Larry
http://www.youtube.com/user/ClinchValleySD40
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52481330@N05/
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/page/1/ppuser/8745/sl/c
ClinchValleySD40 wrote:Fantastic. This is really a great thread, keep it going. The layout is looking great.
Thanks Larry! Hope to keep it going--right now I have a whole lotta wiring to do so I can get the rest of the lower level lighting in. It is unbelievable how much darker it is in that room with the unpainted (dark brown) backdrops in place. With the lights in, I should be able to patch/sand/prime/repeat the backbrops, then get the doorway bridge and helix going. Going to be a busy (and fun) rest of the year! Jamie
Again, great work!
It is inspiring to see what someone else is doing and the methods they use.
BTW, what are the blue boxes? Junction boxes, or are they related to the layout wiring/DCC?
kcole4001 wrote: BTW, what are the blue boxes? Junction boxes, or are they related to the layout wiring/DCC?
The blue boxes are just plain old electric boxes. I have run 1x3s around the bottom of the entire layout and nailed the boxes to them. I then wire them all together with dual recepticles so I will basically have one mega 120v "power strip" running around the entire layout. The whole thing just plugs into a regular wall outlet and the box closest to the doorway is fitted with a light switch so all of the layout power can be turned on/off from a single switch. I have a complete article describing how I did the lighting & elecrical on my website. The main reason I did my power distribution this way is because the light fixtures I am using are pre-wired to plug in to a regular wall outlet and I will have a lot (around 70!) of them. It gets a little tedious wiring all of those recepticles, but when complete I will have plenty of places to plug things in under the layout.
Here are a few more pics showing the "power strip":
Ahhh! We don't have the blue boxes in my area.
It looks like a very versatile setup for electrical power as long as the circuit isn't overloaded.
kcole4001 wrote: Ahhh! We don't have the blue boxes in my area. It looks like a very versatile setup for electrical power as long as the circuit isn't overloaded.
I am using low wattage CFLs and this room is on an independant 15A branch circuit, so I should be OK with regards to overloading. Should just be the CFLs and the DCC system. Jamie
That's good news!
I'll most likely be going the same route, and I haven't done any amperage calculations yet. I was originally hoping to used LED lighting, but unless something drastic changes by next year, the color or expense will make this impossible. CFLs are cheap, efficient, provide lots of light, and look good.
I need to include a couple of high efficiency silicon-filled heaters in my train room wiring, but they should fall within the given capacity I hope.
I may not place as many receptacles, but I'll probably need just as many light fixtures.
Keep those updates coming!
I finished the first section of lighting on the lower level of the layout:
I noticed there were some dark spots along the top of the backdrop, so I rotated the light fixtures downward so the bulb would be a bit below the joists (which were blocking the light from reaching the top of the backdrop in a few locations):
View from the front of the layout showing how the lights "peek" below the benchwork to allow more even light distribution. The lights are visible here but will be obscured once the fascia boards are installed:
Since I got a little burned out on sanding backdrops and wiring electrical boxes, I decided this would be a good week to do some more revision work on the CSX Dixie Line track plan. The main change is that the track plan now represents the change of the helix from a circle to an oval, and the addition of the Emerson, GA scene to the lower level. I have a detailed description of the changes on my website.
Here are the revised track plans for the three levels:
Ugh...the air conditioner in the basement died! Oh well, I am going to wait until spring to get a new one (although I can get a good deal on the end of season closeouts now). Pretty warm down there--especially with the dehumidifier going full blast--but I wandered down today and installed all of the backdrops on the upper level (technically the middle level, but this is the upper scenicked level). Oh well...here's hoping for the cooler autumn weather to arrive soon! Jamie
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I also finished all of the the 120v outlets that you can see running around the bottom of the benchwork (the blue boxes). This will in turn allow me to finish installing the lower level layout lighting.
Jaime, I'm jealous.. Three levels and all that linear footage all for n scale? I'm excited to see the progress as you go. I wish I could get the wife to let me expand my layout to half that size for my HO layout. Keep up the good work. Before you know it, it'll be cooler out and you'll be in there all the time.
You should still consider getting a new AC now while they are on sale. You already know you're gonna need one. How many pieces of rolling stock could you get with the savings?
Good luck,
Mike
MPRR wrote: How many pieces of rolling stock could you get with the savings?
You make a convincing argument! Thanks for the layout comments as well. Jamie
Since the last update I have been spending a lot of time with a tray of drywall mud and a 6" finishing knife. Alas, all of the joints and screw heads have been covered and sanded and the backdrop--all 150 linear feet of it--is finally ready for primer and paint. And speaking of backdrops, previously I was thinking of doing a simple blue sky fading to a lighter blue at the horizon. However, since I recently read the new MR book on how to paint backdrops, I think I am going to take a stab at painting some things like clouds and land forms. At least I have lots of leftover Masonite scraps to practice on
Here are a couple of pics showing the backdrops with the joints and screws filled and sanded. If you look closely in the second pic you'll see where I (finally!) installed some padding on the underside of the benchwork across the doorway. No more head injuries!
After a long layoff due to several end-of-year project deadlines at work, layout construction has (finally!) resumed on the N-scale CSX Dixie Line layout. Thanks to everyone for helping me get my daily dose of model railroading via the forums! After we opened presents on Christmas morning, I headed into the train room where I managed to get the final six lighting fixtures installed on the lower level. In this photo, the new lights are to the immediate left, and you can see the two sheets of 4x4' plywood that are scheduled to become the base of the helix in the next few days: Jamie
JamieIf you clean off any burrs before glueing and screwing with a good carpenters glue my feeling is that you could hang your own weight from one of the brackets. IMHO Build one and try it.
Lee
Carpenter for 50 years.
yankee flyer JamieIf you clean off any burrs before glueing and screwing with a good carpenters glue my feeling is that you could hang your own weight from one of the brackets. IMHO Build one and try it. Lee Carpenter for 50 years.
Lee, You are crediting me with too much upper body strength if you think I could pull that off!
On New Years Day, I framed out the helix base that is located at the end of the peninsula and allows trains to transition between the three (evantual!) levels of the layout.
Finished the helix base today by covering the outside with 1/8" tempered hardboard. Eventually, the helix base will be primed and painted using the same dark tan color used on the walls of the layout room. In the second photo, you can see the blended light/dark sky colors on the lower level backdrop to the left; this will be overpainted with the solid light sky blue used on the rest of the backdrops that I think just looks better. Jamie
Over the last few days, I installed the fascia on the front boards between the lower two levels of the CSX Dixie Line layout. The fascia is made of 5" wide strips of 1/8" tempered hardboard fastened to the front boards with drywall screws and finishing washers. I used vinyl paneling molding between all vertical seams to yield a nice, clean look. When completed, the fascia will be primed and painted to match the color of the room walls. The following two photos show the dramatic improvement from installing the fascia. The two photos show the helix base taken from basically the same angle, but the first was taken before installation of the fascia and the second was taken afterwards. Notice how much more "pleasant" everything looks with the lights blocked out by the fascia: Before: After:
BTW, I also see I failed to mention that I have switched back to a circular helix instead of an oval, as you can tell by the pictures. The oval and a larger circle (the latter was actually built and torn down!) simply consumed too much aisle sapce in the room.
Yep, you've begun the transition! Those definately look like support brackets to me.
Jamie,
Thanks for the CFL lighting idea! Fairly cheap and almost no heat.
I completed the dropdown gate across the doorway on the lower level of the layout:
Also overpainted the section of two-tone blue backdrop with a solid light blue sky color that looks much better to me:
Now it's time to start thinking about the "T" word. Jamie
Grandtheft007 Hi Jamie. Your Layout room looks awesome. I'm jealous. Floyd
Floyd, Thanks for the compliment...always very much appreciated and motivational!
I put down some spare sheets of 3/4" blue foam to experiment with some track arrangements. I will be using Masonite spline roadbed to support my track, so the blue foam is really a sandbox used to finalize track positions. These two pics show the temporary track placement from the helix to the south end of the Emerson passing siding, the southern most visible section of the layout.
A single 1/8" Masonite spline held in place with finishing nails pushed into the foam was used to locate the track center line:
The Atlas code 55 track is held temporarily in place using craft T-pins:
The track locations will soon be transferred from the foam to the benchwork so the spline raodbed can be constructed.
I continued laying out track, moving to the north end of the Emerson passing siding. There is a short spur here (named Emerson House Track) where cars get setout from southbound trains that have been alerted by the defect detector in Cartersville. The following view looks south from the town of Emerson towards the US 41 overpass. The mainline is to the left, the passing siding in the middle and the house track to the right: Looking north from the same spot you can see the turnout for the north end of the Emerson siding: Here is a look at the latest lower level track plan including the updated track layout in Emerson: Jamie