Now that the dust has settled after the London exhibition last month, I am now looking to realign some of the track and move several of the turnouts to improve operation at the West end of the layout.
I also intend to reinstall the cassette fiddle yard behind the backscene to create a junction going north, halfway between the East and West yards.
The modification will involve ripping up most of the trackage in the photos below, other than the siding with the freight cars on.
Looking West
Looking East
I have already purchased the new turnouts and flexi track, although the speed and cost of this little enterprise depends on me lifting most of the existing turnouts in one piece.
To be continued...
Jon
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I've just uploaded some video showing some of the affected area of track - watch out for the clips titled 'Looking East' and Looking West'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4u2x6csSuk
Jon,
Great stuff. The videos were awsome!! The only thing that I can see that you MIGHT want to change wold be the crossover in the next to the last photo. The one that the NYC passenger train is crossing between the road and tower in the video. The rest of the track looks really good. I really like the way the loco sways going through the turnouts and trackwork. That looks real!!
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Yer killin me bro. The track you're proposing to rip out is miles better than any of my existing trackwork. I applaud your standards, but here in the Estatas Unidos, we have lots more frost and ice than you do in England. Hence the road bed is often less than perfect, especially around Chicago near the great lakes where the wind whistles right through your very body in the winter. It is often scary watching the rolling stock in the museum yards here in Danbury lurching back and forth on our less than perfect trackage with subsided ties and loose spikes. I doubt the active lines are as bad, but I've seen a lot of less than perfect track out this way in daily use. Just a thought.
On the video, it may be unintentional, but the reflections off the windows of the buildings really add to the realism of the scene. My . Cheers, J.R.
Terrific, Jon! ..... Great layout! Great models! Great photography!
Thanks for sharing all of it in the MR Forum!
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Current and proposed track plans for the West Yard
The modifications are intended to keep as much of the switching away from the main running line to keep things moving.
The work has commenced
Now to get the new track arrangement sorted out.
Looks like you're modeling the Chessie System, now!
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
The destruction continued for a while longer - the heavy engineering plant and the scrap yard bore the brunt of the heavy-duty damage and a number of trees were felled and several buildings were demolished.
That about wraps up the demolition for now. Now to start on some reconstruction.
After sanding the cork bed reasonably flat, I started cutting the track to suit and laying it loosely in position. This allows me to find any uneven or troublesome spots before actually fixing the trackwork down.
It also allows me to mark the positions where I need to drill holes for the turnout motors and where to drill the holes for the brass screws at the board joints.
More to follow as I progress.
What track and turnouts are you using there Jon?
Steve_F wrote: What track and turnouts are you using there Jon?
Peco code 75, Steve. I fancy experimenting with some of Peco's code 83 flexi track and swapping over the code 83 ties with the code 75 ones to get code 75 track with US outline ties, but I'm not sure yet if the rail profile of the code 75 will be too sloppy in the code 83 ties.
Work has been progressing steadily and I now have some track down. Any under-track magnets have been fitted and brass screws have been installed where the track crosses a sectional board joint.
The rail is soldered to these screws prior to cutting the rails with a Dremel cutting disc. This, added to the brass locating dowels in the board ends, ensures perfect track alignment, each time the layout is erected.
The track layout at the West end is now pretty much complete
The next job is to re-attach the turnout motors and wire connections to the control bus, before starting on the ballasting.
Work has also progressed eastwards to the junction and beyond. The track is just pinned loosely at the moment while I iron out some small kinks.
The trackwork is almost complete now, except for the foundation trestles in the fuel depot and a couple of magnets that still need burying. The next step is to solder and cut the rails at the board joints, fix the bus connecting wires to the rails and reattach the turnout motors.
Then I'll be ready to ballast.
I don't want to stop your post dead in the water, but I wanted you to see this. I was thinking of you when I scanned it. Photo by me.
April 1987, McCook, IL on a southbound Proviso transfer going into IHB's Argo Yard.
Neutrino wrote: I don't want to stop your post dead in the water, but I wanted you to see this. I was thinking of you when I scanned it. Photo by me.
Excellent photo Jerry, very useful. Thanks
This is turning into an excellent tutorial. I have been struggling with the rail alignment on my swing bridge and your idea of using brass screws is outstanding. Do you do anything special to ensure the screws are all at the same height or do you just check visually before soldering the rail to the screws ? Keep up the great work and thank you for sharing. J.R.
jon grant wrote:
Jon, your "demolished" tracks are one of the best models I've ever seen of abandoned right-of-way.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasley wrote:Jon, your "demolished" tracks are one of the best models I've ever seen of abandoned right-of-way.
That was the same thought that I had when looking over the demo shots. The modeling is so good that even the demo work looks realistic!
WOW ! Excellent photos & video - you did good!!!!
I was born/raised in Chicago, and lived about 3 blocks from the C&NW "raceway" from age 4 to 14. I spent many a day trackside, and can relate to your layout quite well. Ha, all you need is some black smoke, soot, & cinders and I would have been "home"!
Thanks for sharing,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
mobilman44 wrote: ...you did good!!!!I was born/raised in Chicago...and can relate to your layout quite well. Ha, all you need is some black smoke, soot, & cinders and I would have been "home"!
...you did good!!!!
I was born/raised in Chicago...and can relate to your layout quite well. Ha, all you need is some black smoke, soot, & cinders and I would have been "home"!
Thanks Mobilman, glad to know I'm on the right 'track', never having been to the US, let alone Chicago. I hope to dirty up the layout some more when I get this latest reworking done.
Over the past few days I have managed to get all the rails soldered and cut, where they pass over section/module breaks.
I have also rewired the new sections into the layout and reconnected the turnout motors - easily done when you can turn the layout on its side.
Finally, I had the first train running over the layout last night to test out all the wiring.
Now to get some ballasting done.
I started putting the ballast down last night. There is still some tidying up to do with a small soft brush around the turnouts before I can spray on the IPA and add the glue with an eyedropper.
GMTRacing wrote: Jon, This is turning into an excellent tutorial. I have been struggling with the rail alignment on my swing bridge and your idea of using brass screws is outstanding. Do you do anything special to ensure the screws are all at the same height or do you just check visually before soldering the rail to the screws ? Keep up the great work and thank you for sharing. J.R.
Check the height with a tie as you screw the screws down, they should be equal in height to the tie.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
The ballast is now glued down (with WS scenic glue and an eye-dropper, after spraying with Servisol- IPA)
I then spray-painted both the ballast and the track with a brown/grey mix, after which I drybrushed the ties with 'tie brown'.
Now to paint the rail edges.
GMTRacing wrote: Jon, Do you do anything special to ensure the screws are all at the same height or do you just check visually before soldering the rail to the screws ?
Do you do anything special to ensure the screws are all at the same height or do you just check visually before soldering the rail to the screws ?
JR,
I made a simple jig to check that the height of the screws was correct for the underside of the rail.
It is nothing more than a 4inch length of track with 4 sleepers/ties missing from the centre. I rub it over the screws with the ties resting firmly on the roadbed to see if any screw heads catch on the rail. If they do, I screw them in another quarter turn, then repeat.
It also shows up any screw heads that are too low, as using solder to bridge the gap creates a weaker jount.
jon grant wrote: GMTRacing wrote: Jon, Do you do anything special to ensure the screws are all at the same height or do you just check visually before soldering the rail to the screws ?JR, I made a simple jig to check that the height of the screws was correct for the underside of the rail.It is nothing more than a 4inch length of track with 4 sleepers/ties missing from the centre. I rub it over the screws with the ties resting firmly on the roadbed to see if any screw heads catch on the rail. If they do, I screw them in another quarter turn, then repeat. It also shows up any screw heads that are too low, as using solder to bridge the gap creates a weaker jount.Jon
Thanks for sharing, the light just went on for me!
I've started repairing the scenery that was ripped up in the track realignment and am progressing slowly(for me). I'll be doing some before-and-after photos when the work in done, so be patient.
First up is the area near the scrap yard. It now includes a Bar Mills house and a rainwater run-off and the area will be heavily overgrown.
Next up is the area that had been a grade crossing, with the taxicab garage. The crossing has gone and the area is due to be a car salvage/repair lot.
I intended to build trestles for the tank car track but time was against me, so I plumped for industrial arches to carry the track.
The tanks themselves have all been repainted black and will be repositioned once the arches have been repainted.
More to come....................