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Crandell's (Selector's) New Layout Progress Thread

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  • Member since
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Posted by selector on Saturday, May 26, 2012 8:37 PM

Yes, I'll take some tomorrow and post them as early as I can, Ken. 

 I bought six sheets of black poster board paper yesterday and am cutting it up and making light baffles behind my tunnel portals.  The three windows at the west end of the loft, plus the shiny green floor, will make for strong light intrusion under the open framed modules.  The light will flood the area behind my portals which will ruin the effect all of us would rather create.  So, I curve cut lengths of the board and crease the last 1/2" or so on each end to fold under for a 'foot' to be glued to the surface just behind the sidewalls of the portals.

I'll take photos tomorrow.

Crandell

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Posted by selector on Sunday, May 27, 2012 5:31 PM

Here are several images showing the black poster board light baffles/shields.

...and a shot of the frame I have built to support the top of the mountain that will lift off...I hope.

You can see two parallel lengths of inverted L-girder on risers.  The top of the mountain will be supported there, but built up over a trapezoidal frame with some plywood arcs.  I show a plywood arc fastened under and to one side of the mountain top-frame at the right, but that will be to anchor window screen for the bottom half of the mountain that will always be fixed in place.

Crandell

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Posted by steinjr on Monday, May 28, 2012 12:31 AM

 Just got a chance to catch up on forum threads after a few extra busy days. Glad to see that your wife was not hurt even worse - it is downright scary when people we love gets hurt.

 Progress on your layout looks good - hope you will get more Atlas track soon, so you can continue on the track laying.

 My regards to you and your wife, and best wishes for a speedy recovery for your wife.

 Stein

 

 

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Posted by cudaken on Monday, May 28, 2012 10:33 AM

 Thank You Crandell for the update! Are you using foam for the lift off mountain? If so, you will have no problems. 

               Ken

I hate Rust

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Posted by selector on Monday, May 28, 2012 11:33 AM

I will be using the same old ground goop, Ken.  It is heavier, but it is easier to craft convincing terrain, and it holds tree armatures well.

Stein, thanks very much for your good wishes.  We could use them.

 

Crandell

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Posted by BATMAN on Monday, May 28, 2012 12:08 PM

Looking good Crandell.

Don't forget you can also use tinfoil as a light shield. On your old layout you had some nice photo's of trains coming out of the tunnel. If you use tinfoil you may or may not get a peek of that blasted rock look when you start taking picks on the new layout. Just a Thought.

Here's what mine looked like after I hit it with the grey primer.

(Edit) Here it is in a test fit  behind my pink tunnel portal.

BrentCowboy

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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Posted by selector on Monday, May 28, 2012 3:37 PM

Good thinking, Brent.  I may alter my arrangement in time if images look goofy or unrealistic.

-Crandell

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Posted by canazar on Monday, May 28, 2012 11:40 PM

Wow, it looks great.  I just caught that diamond in the track work.   That will make for a great scene of action. Bow

 

EDIT>  not sure why it double posted....  but I still mean what I said.  Wink

Best Regards, Big John

Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona.  Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the  Kiva Valley Railway

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Posted by MudHen_462 on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 8:24 PM

Those baffles and shields look excellent, Crandell...  I'm eagerly following every step!

Bob

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Posted by Blue Flamer on Sunday, June 17, 2012 2:01 PM

IronGoat

Those baffles and shields look excellent, Crandell...  I'm eagerly following every step!

Bob

Crandell.

I just caught up with your new build and do not see any recent updates since May 25th. I do hope that there are no serious after effects from your wife's fall at work that is keeping you from your endeavours and that you are in good health.

Keep up the good work and all the best to you and your wife.

As an addition, Happy Fathers Day to all you Dads out there.Bow

Blue Flamer. 

"There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"." Dave Barry, Syndicated Columnist. "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes." Doctor Who.
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Posted by selector on Sunday, June 17, 2012 2:45 PM

Thanks, Blue Flamer.  Thankfully, the wife's episode is behind her and she has returned to work.  Unfortunately, we have other developments at our house, including me agreeing to take on another 27 students to finish an on-line university course for an instructor who was sent on training with little notice.  Between getting up to speed on that bunch, continuing to run the course I started in May, and dealing with two 'needy' houseguests, plus getting the wife healthy, I haven't spent more than maybe five hours in the loft over the past month. 

I have track coming from M.B. Klein's this week which will allow me to close my twinned main at the large truss bridge, and because my rails have been in place for almost two months now, including letting the framing take on some moisture by not running the dehumidier to see how that changes things, I badly want/need to run several different consists at speed to find the bad spots.  Only then, and after covering the tracks with masking tape, will I feel good about moving on with scenicking.  I want the two mountains built before long, so they are my next projects....to build them and enclose the tracks within them.  I won't be able to spend much time in the loft, if any, prior to the end of June as things stand.  July looks promising.

Crandell

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Posted by cudaken on Monday, June 18, 2012 6:25 PM

 Dang Crandell, well I understand. Bet you are wishing the old layout was up and running!  Looking forward to the next batch of pictures!

 Ken

I hate Rust

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Posted by selector on Tuesday, June 19, 2012 11:14 AM

I haven't run trains in almost a year, Ken, at this point.  I do miss it, but I don't.   The last layout was history two years ago as far as I am concerned.  So, while it is mighty lean in terms of train enjoyment these months, it gives me something to look forward to, which I am feeling, but it also keeps me intent upon continuing to build the layout, even after long intervals such as the one I am experiencing.

Crandell

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Posted by Medina1128 on Tuesday, June 26, 2012 8:19 AM

I don't know if Crandell's ever posted a link to his photobucket album, but by using the information from one of his pictures, I found one (I think).

Crandell's layout

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Posted by cudaken on Monday, July 9, 2012 5:19 PM

 You give up Crandell? Laugh Last up date was 6-19.

 Hope things are going well on the home front.

              Ken

I hate Rust

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Posted by selector on Monday, July 9, 2012 8:13 PM

Hi, Ken.  Thanks for the shout.  Big Smile   As I feared, this past month has been a real bear in terms of commitments.  I was away for my 60th birthday for a week, and have a daughter and family moving across the country in a few days.  We have been providing babysitting support for them while they deal with that task and all it involves.  I have made two trips to the dump just today to clear out our garage from a year's accumulation of stuff that can't be placed in recycling bins or in our weekly household garbage. 

I am wrapping up a large course of students whose instructors had to go away on other duties, so that doubles my on-line work that way.  This time of year, there is yard tractor work and maintenance, gardening, hose moving, etc.

I will return to the loft in the next couple of weeks.  I appreciate your interest, but...I gotta do what I gotta do.  BTW, I went to Calgary for my 60th to see my youngest and her friends, people I have known for 30 years.  They had me up on a paddle board doing stand-up paddling, and I even did two pitches of rock climbing in the Kananaskis Valley the next day.  You can see the video from my GoPro headcam here:  (Note, I have not done either activity, so both were firsts.  Some discomfort, to say the least.  This video was of my second climb.)

Turn up your volume.  The camera is HD quality, so click on the cogged wheel in the lower bar and select the highest quality from the rising menu.  The camera is inside a waterproof case, meaning the audio is poor quality and low...so do turn the volume well up to hear me gasping and groaning.  My knees were bruised and cut up, something seasoned and experienced climbers know not to allow.

The guy you see turning on the camera is my good friend Paul with whom I have run marathons and shorter races in years past. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri0HrK0XwhU&feature=relmfu

Crandell

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Posted by Blue Flamer on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 11:38 AM

Crandell.

I just watched your video of your rock climbing escapade. I only have two things to say to you about your efforts.

1) Well done.Thumbs UpThumbs UpBowBow

2) When you were being conceived and were told to get in that lineup for brains, you must have thought that they said PAINS and you told them that you didn't want any.Laugh

One question. Did S W M B O authorize the climb and if she did, you had better check to see if she has increased the payout on your life insurance policy.Smile, Wink & GrinLaugh

Blue Flamer.

"There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"." Dave Barry, Syndicated Columnist. "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes." Doctor Who.
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Posted by selector on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 6:03 PM

Thanks, Blue Flamer.   I think the whole bunch ganged up on me to teach me a good lesson, and that is that if you think you're too old to do something, you're probably right.  With some good will, though, friends and relatives can disabuse you of such notions.  My wife was in on it right up to her neck.  LOL!

Crandell

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Posted by bogp40 on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 11:27 PM

Crandell, quite a video of that climb. Must hand it to you you did rather well. Some fantastic scenery. Thought you were getting some "up close" ideas for rock castings/ carving on the layout!

Does bring back some fond memories of some climbs years ago. Don't think I have the endurance/ stamina to attempt that now even though I'm still in quite fit. You only have a year on me.  Kudos to you..

Modeling B&O- Chessie  Bob K.  www.ssmrc.org

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Posted by BATMAN on Saturday, July 14, 2012 6:48 PM

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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Posted by sakel on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 5:14 PM

bump

Samuel A. Kelly

I can draw pictures with my keyboard!

-------- ( It's a worm)

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Posted by Blue Flamer on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 5:15 PM

selector

Thanks, Blue Flamer.   I think the whole bunch ganged up on me to teach me a good lesson, and that is that if you think you're too old to do something, you're probably right.  With some good will, though, friends and relatives can disabuse you of such notions.  My wife was in on it right up to her neck.  LOL!

Crandell

Crandell.

There is an old saying that goes, "If you think that you can do something or you can't do something, you are probably right".  In my case, I know that I could not do what you did. The reason being that when you get demoted from carving the Holiday Buzzards by your kids because you can only hold the carving knife between your thumb and forefinger of your right hand, you know that you have a problem. Now, my son-in-law and my grandaughter's fiance do the hacking while I can only sit and watch.

Again, congrats. on your climb.

Blue Flamer. 

"There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"." Dave Barry, Syndicated Columnist. "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes." Doctor Who.
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Posted by selector on Thursday, August 2, 2012 1:08 AM

It has been a busy summer so far, but I finally managed to lay the last three lengths of rails to close my looped twinned mains, and I am now looking for trouble spots.  I had some niggling fears that my hardest-working locomotive, my NYC Niagara, would not be able to tow two BLI reefers and six Walthers heavyweights up my steepest grade.  Happily, I needn't have worried....YAY!!!

Unfortunately, I have also entered my trouble-shooting stage and there isn't a better locomotive and consist to find all the spots.  I had to solder two joiners I had forgotten about to get continuity past a Peco turnout, and I found a low outside rail on a curve leading to my custom handlaid curved #9 turnout that I recycled from the last layout.  The BLI Niagara's first driver on the inside rail kept slipping inside the rails because the outer flange was losing contact with the outer rail's head.  It will dry over night after wetting the ballast over a 9" length of track and tamping more ballast under the outer tie ends for more height.  I'll resume high speed testing tomorrow to see where the other trouble spots are.  So far, though, I'd give myself a B+ on track laying.  When I can get the NYC consist around both mains at limited speed, I'll switch to other large engines, notably the Lionel Challenger and the Sunset Selkirk 2-10-4.  I already know the BLI Pennsy J1 will go around as I tested that about 7 weeks ago.

When this phase is done, probably over the next week and a bit, I can unlax and think about backdrop and scenery.  Right now it's all fuzzy.

Crandell

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Posted by cudaken on Thursday, August 2, 2012 5:56 PM

 Thank you for the up date Crandell

 Trouble shooting the rails, boy I am in that boat right now. Bang Head My new Santa Fe F7's are picking everything thing in sight!

 Ken

I hate Rust

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Posted by slow train Ed on Friday, August 24, 2012 10:49 AM

ok It's been 2 weeks sence anything said so I gona ask.Did you get the trouble spots fixed and if possible can we get an updated picture ???

alow trian Ed

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Posted by selector on Friday, August 24, 2012 12:07 PM

I haven't added anything inside of about two months.  Too busy with seasonal stuff, and it is hot in the loft, although not stupid hot...thank goodness.

I seem to have gotten my track woes sorted out.  I had a superelevation to flat transition in front of one of my handlaid #8 turnouts that gave my new BLI Class A trouble going in one direction...away from the points.  I softened the ballast and got the high rail down a bit.  Seems to have worked.  All other areas work fine for all locos I have tested (Class A, Allegheny, Niagara, J, J1, and Fairbanks Morse Trainmaster).  My biggest dreads all along have been my liftout bridge at the sliding door entrance (with new sliding screen door) and the handlaid custom two-way turnout, particularly with Northerns and long passenger cars.  I seem to have made a reliable turnout because I haven't had a single derailment there.  The liftout is a bit iffy at times with continuity, and I'm not sure it is due to the jumpers/engineering under the #6 W/S double crossover or my copper feeder wire contacts wrapped around small wood screws that are the bridge shoes.  The meter shows good continuity, but my engines stall sometimes.  Not sure what to make of that.  As far as the engineering of the liftout, itself, I'd say it works very well, and the continuity tests seem to bear me out.  I have to back out or screw in one screw sometimes to get the rail heights to match, but it isn't onerous or complicated.

I am nearing the end of the hot season, and my schedule will return to the point where I can begin to figure out how to commence the scenery applications, and where to start it.  As I change things substantially, or improve them, I will begin to post more reports and photos.  Not long now...

Crandell

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Posted by bogp40 on Friday, August 24, 2012 2:22 PM

Crandell, you may have the continuity on the liftout, but have you checked track voltage  once connected. I feel from back when you were figuring out the contact plate that you could end up w/ troubles there. Expansion/ contraction of the wood of the bridge and the receiving "craddle" could be where the problem lies. You may need to look into another method of contacts. How about fabricating something similar to the blade and contact that is used for circuit breakers within an electrical panel. The 2 springy contact blades of the breaker press onto the panel bus blade. This could be fabbed from bronze contacts on the bridge  to press over a brass blade mounted on the base. The sprinyness of the bronze contacts won't be affected by any movement of the benchwork or liftout. This is still better than the real pain of plugs.

Modeling B&O- Chessie  Bob K.  www.ssmrc.org

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Posted by MudHen_462 on Friday, August 24, 2012 3:03 PM

I continue to be amazed by your progress and results.... it's really looking great, Crandell. ( 'Like the rest of the folks, I enjoy peeking "over the fence" at all the construction going on... ).

Bob

 

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Posted by selector on Friday, August 24, 2012 9:42 PM

Bob K., it is worthy of consideration.  Currently I have two bared 22 gauge wire ends wrapped around each screw and protruding down low enough that when the screw head acts as the bridge 'shoe', those wires should do the same as the brass wipers/blades.  So far, continuity checks bear that out.  It is just that the odd engine seems to dislike what it is getting from the rails.   When they stall, I immediately carefully and lightly check the voltage, and the voltage is correct.  So, I am inclined to think that my design and execution are sufficient for the moment, but that something about the double crossover or the condition of the rails, themselves, is the problem. (Or the engine and its wipers/cleanliness...) I continue to work on that until I am convinced that the rail cleanliness and jumpers provided by Walthers/Shinohara are not the concerns I think they are.

IOW, when I run out of patience, yes, I'll resort to another method of pickup.  Laugh

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Posted by selector on Friday, August 24, 2012 9:52 PM

IronGoat

I continue to be amazed by your progress and results.... it's really looking great, Crandell. ( 'Like the rest of the folks, I enjoy peeking "over the fence" at all the construction going on... ).

Bob

 

Thank-you, Sir. Big Smile  I have to admit to being in a bit of a funk lately, and probably largely due to seaonal impositions of various sorts, and for the reasons I alluded to earlier on about 'house-guests' and their problems.  I don't have magic fingers and can't make things change or disappear like I felt I could when I was much younger and full of hubris.  I am a bit wiser, and a bit more modest about my abilities...or maybe realistic is a better word.  LOL!!  Whatever the cause, I have lost my mojo.  I expect to recover it when the light changes to indicate winter is coming and I run out of things to occupy my time that are in the yard and garden....or upstairs.

Crandell

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