So we are now moved into the new house. Things are pretty busy here, but I am working on my track plan details when time allows.
I will explore additional layout design related topics as time allows.
Sheldon
You are ahead of me.
.
My house renovation is at a stand still until I get some time at home to meet with window contractors and plumbers.
Keep the updates coming.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Kevin,
Thanks for the interest. I have much more to explore as this layout moves forward, looking forward to everyone's thoughts.
I guess my advantage is that I do my own windows and plumbing......and electric, etc.
ATLANTIC CENTRALI guess my advantage is that I do my own windows and plumbing......and electric, etc.
I do my own flooring, painting, framing, and of course... demolition.
I have done lots of minor plumbing, and I installed my own sprinkler system.
I do not touch wiring. I do not have the knowledge or experience for window replacement.
I need a closet flange relocated in the bathroom. Once that is done and the windows are installed, I am "clean and green" to move forward at good speed again.
Hopefully my first spike will go down in January 2020.
SeeYou190 ATLANTIC CENTRAL I guess my advantage is that I do my own windows and plumbing......and electric, etc.. I do my own flooring, painting, framing, and of course... demolition.. I have done lots of minor plumbing, and I installed my own sprinkler system. .I do not touch wiring. I do not have the knowledge or experience for window replacement.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL I guess my advantage is that I do my own windows and plumbing......and electric, etc..
I do my own flooring, painting, framing, and of course... demolition..
.I do not touch wiring. I do not have the knowledge or experience for window replacement.
Now, electrical work is a whole nother thing. I am an amateur unlicensed electrician.
Rich
Alton Junction
Same here. I can install outlets and light switches, but I call a plumber for plumbing.
Gotta install lighting, build 52 inch high table shelving to replace existing storage in the room where staging will be, and get my workbench set up in the train room.
Then I'll order homasote roadbed from Cascade Rail Supply and start the layout benchwork.
I've got unused vacation days between now and New Years, so hopefully I'll start laying track by January.
- Douglas
richhotrainNever mastered the pipe soldering so I stay away from plumbing.
I don't solder! All my plumbing is plastic.
If I need to repair a pipe that must be metal for code... I call a plumber. A plumber will also relocate the closet flange. Too much for me.
Great news, Sheldon!
I look forward to progress photos!!
When I designed and built my house I was lucky that my FIL and BIL are Master Electricians. They did the hard stuff at the panel and meter, I hooked up outlets, lights and switches. Everything besides that, I did myself. Plumbed the whole house. When my well driller came to hook up the house, I ran around checking connections! LOL! No leaks.
As Sheldon has said, sometimes being a contractor comes in handy!
Post a track plan when you can!!
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
My philosophy of design is/was "less is more". I had limited R/W and love the wide open spaces. Went for along shelf layout, single track, folded dogbone, on insulation foam with lightweight plaster scenery. Part of the layout on the narrow shelf has the appearance of a double track railroad, but is not.
I have next to no buildings at all (one barn, actually) and the rest is open country scenery, with a couple passing sidings and one spur siding.
Two boys and three cats later, the years have been a little hard on scenery. The layout needs a refresh and re-scenic...but we will move relatively soon, so I'm waiting...and just running trains. It's a layout designed for trains to keep moving.
Part of it definitely captures rural desert, very sparse, inhospitable terrain. Is it Mojave desert? or Northern Nevada? idk.
In hindsight, had I more money and ambition, I would have chosen Abo Canyon, New Mexico, especially now with the double track railroad, on two independent alignments, with multiple major bridge structures, etc. but then how would I have fit it in? Along with Cajon Pass and Tehachapi, each a most amazing piece of railroad (no disrespect to fans of Horseshoe Curve or Marias Pass).
Buildings? We don't need no stinking buildings...
SeeYou190 richhotrain Never mastered the pipe soldering so I stay away from plumbing. . I don't solder! All my plumbing is plastic. . If I need to repair a pipe that must be metal for code... I call a plumber. A plumber will also relocate the closet flange. Too much for me. . -Kevin .
richhotrain Never mastered the pipe soldering so I stay away from plumbing.
Now anyone can even do copper plumbing - can any of you say "Sharkbite!"
https://www.supplyhouse.com/SharkBite-Fittings-595000?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjvXeBRDDARIsAC38TP71N-QsYmigWOQS7LcpPPbs3mOAMC6M0BBoLDYir_fRXM_hePG1GvAaApikEALw_wcB
But seriously, I can solder copper pipe, rather well actually.
Electrical work, I've wired factories, shopping centers, sky scrapers and pumping stations - houses are pretty easy.
But a man should know his limits.......
It's been a crazy week here, we just got a new grand daughter Monday.
But I will havesome more discussion topics here soon. And when the track plan is far enough along, I will get it scanned and post it.
Sorry no web site of my own, and no time/interest in doing so. And the track plan is being drawn the old fashioned way, graphite on mylar.....
More soon,
PRR8259 My philosophy of design is/was "less is more". I had limited R/W and love the wide open spaces. Went for along shelf layout, single track, folded dogbone, on insulation foam with lightweight plaster scenery. Part of the layout on the narrow shelf has the appearance of a double track railroad, but is not. I have next to no buildings at all (one barn, actually) and the rest is open country scenery, with a couple passing sidings and one spur siding. Two boys and three cats later, the years have been a little hard on scenery. The layout needs a refresh and re-scenic...but we will move relatively soon, so I'm waiting...and just running trains. It's a layout designed for trains to keep moving. Part of it definitely captures rural desert, very sparse, inhospitable terrain. Is it Mojave desert? or Northern Nevada? idk. In hindsight, had I more money and ambition, I would have chosen Abo Canyon, New Mexico, especially now with the double track railroad, on two independent alignments, with multiple major bridge structures, etc. but then how would I have fit it in? Along with Cajon Pass and Tehachapi, each a most amazing piece of railroad (no disrespect to fans of Horseshoe Curve or Marias Pass). Buildings? We don't need no stinking buildings...
John, you will see when I publish the track plan how my layout will be large but simple.
It will however involve enough track to support lots of operation, and stage lots of trains.
And, to each their own, western scenery does nothing for me. I've been out west just a few times, it was interesting, but I find the lush green east must more beautiful.
So that's what I model.
I'm not sure from your comments if you read the earlier part of this thread or not?
I like action and long trains, I like operation and display running, I like switching and passenger trains.
The goal of the layout is to do all of that.......
ATLANTIC CENTRAL And the track plan is being drawn the old fashioned way, graphite on mylar.....
And the track plan is being drawn the old fashioned way, graphite on mylar.....
First, pull a piece of burnt stick from the campfire. Then go chop down a mylar tree.
Nope. Not me. Not anymore. Electrons! Photons! Yeah!!!!!
Though I do confess that ink on vellum is impressive as all git-out. I had a fantasy of doing an ink tracing over a GN R-2 erection drawing. Even got the drawing.
Smart-assedness aside, I AM looking forward to the layout drawing. Your wants and needs for layouts are very close to mine, and I want to see how you develop them.
Ed
7j43k ATLANTIC CENTRAL And the track plan is being drawn the old fashioned way, graphite on mylar..... First, pull a piece of burnt stick from the campfire. Then go chop down a mylar tree. Nope. Not me. Not anymore. Electrons! Photons! Yeah!!!!! Though I do confess that ink on vellum is impressive as all git-out. I had a fantasy of doing an ink tracing over a GN R-2 erection drawing. Even got the drawing. Smart-assedness aside, I AM looking forward to the layout drawing. Your wants and needs for layouts are very close to mine, and I want to see how you develop them. Ed
Ed,
Back in the day, as a draftsman in an engineering office, I did lots of ink on linen. We did work for the WSSC (Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission) and they required it for record copies of all their drawings.
We also inked most of our lettering with the Leroy system......
CADD is fine, I learned it years ago, but never wanted to spend the money for a full scale setup here in the home office.
And in my work as a residential dsigner, it has few advantages and the big disadvantage of actually taking longer for simple projects.
The bigger and more complex the project, the more effective CADD is at saving time, no question. But I can draw a typical residential floor plan before most CADD operators can plot the major lines.....
And I have no patience for learning propriatary sofeware like the various track planning offerings......by the time I would learn that, I could draw four track plans by hand.....
Sheldon--
I read the original post but not the several posts in between...
For the record, I was one of the very last civil engineers in Pennsylvania to come out of college and learn to do plans the traditional way: pencil survey data reduction ie plotting (often by high school interns), then checked and traced in ink, and yes, my nickname was "Leroy" because I did ok with the Leroy pen set.
Also: I was also one of the very first to have Inroads design software thrown at me with the "here it is, learn it, use it" statement.
So I fill a rather unique niche in the working world: I have a lot of experience with using the cadd software to design things, and most other people my age or even slightly older are managers who are only capable of doing redline markups. I can get into the cadd files and do all kinds of things they don't always appreciate or understand the value of.
Not sure that I have the .pdf of my track plan...I changed jobs too many times since we built it. I'll look...
Of course I'll take a look at Sheldon's plan when I have the chance to do so.
Best Regards--
John
P.S. Sheldon is absolutely correct: the design software has inherent setup time involved for any project. It is almost not worth it at all for small projects. We can draw cross sections at 25' intervals and then import from the cross sections to a design surface for those little jobs. It is much faster than using the high fallutin' Inroads 3D modeling process. I work with engineers who don't want to do it the "old school" way like that, anymore, but it saves time and money.
If you are HDR (the big time engineering firm that actually did the new track alignments in Abo Canyon, New Mexico, if I recall correctly) and you are designing a project like that: big challenges to clear existing track alignment and keep it in service during construction, many alignment alternatives, very steep terrain, significant environmental and right-of-way concerns (neighboring landowners) that IS when the high fallutin' 3D modeling software is absolutely essential. It saves monumental amounts of time.
In the model railroad world, most of my friends drew rough sketches on paper, and then just started building and test fitting one step at a time. I'm not sure the model railroad design software is that essential for the average layout.
PRR8259 Sheldon-- I read the original post but not the several posts in between... For the record, I was one of the very last civil engineers in Pennsylvania to come out of college and learn to do plans the traditional way: pencil survey data reduction ie plotting (often by high school interns), then checked and traced in ink, and yes, my nickname was "Leroy" because I did ok with the Leroy pen set. Also: I was also one of the very first to have Inroads design software thrown at me with the "here it is, learn it, use it" statement. So I fill a rather unique niche in the working world: I have a lot of experience with using the cadd software to design things, and most other people my age or even slightly older are managers who are only capable of doing redline markups. I can get into the cadd files and do all kinds of things they don't always appreciate or understand. They are managers, I'm a project engineer "beneath" them...now my firm is outsourcing to india...
So I fill a rather unique niche in the working world: I have a lot of experience with using the cadd software to design things, and most other people my age or even slightly older are managers who are only capable of doing redline markups. I can get into the cadd files and do all kinds of things they don't always appreciate or understand. They are managers, I'm a project engineer "beneath" them...now my firm is outsourcing to india...
John,
Despite any talents at a desk or a drawing table, by the time I was 23, I was a project manger for a medium sized commercial/industrial electrical contractor.
Then my father offered me a chance to be in business for myself - that spoiled me - I sold MATCO TOOLS for seven years. I did not get rich, but I learned a whole lot.....
So most of my life I have been self employed. And when I have worked for others, it has always been relatively small companies, and I seldom stayed more than about 3 years.
My resume has more different job descriptions in 40 some years than any 5 people you could find.
One time I went on a job interview at a car dealership to be the shop foreman/service dispatcher - I had never done that job, but I sold them on the idea that I could do it, and I got the job, and did very well.
Construction - plumbing, refrigeration, electrical, carpentry - in the field and in the office, car business, retail, mobile tool business, home inspector, residential designer, historic restoration consultant, property manager - it's a long list.
My secret - I was never afraid to quit a job and try something else.
Now, people get on a list to have me and my small team work on their houses.....
I don't think they can out source the restoration of this to India:
And I have fun almost every day at work.
This past week I have been restoring the leaded glass side lites and transom on an 1863 mansion.
Doughless Same here. I can install outlets and light switches, but I call a plumber for plumbing.
"want it done right - do it yourself" at least in my case always proved true. i suppose such thing as responsible professionals does happen in nanture, but so far i have quite a bad luck (i only know of HVAC guy)
we purchased our abandoned for 4 years home from bank. Bank hired plumber to fix the leaks from burst frozen pipes. what can i say, it takes baker to properly bake bread, it takes computer software developer to properly instal plumbing. i have no good words for that "professional", as i ended up removing at least 25% of drywalls to get to the supossedly fixed leaks. it was madening task, i was exploring posibilities to sue that dude for damages, but couldn't locate.
my point - soldering pipes is not a rocket science. practice for a bit and you will have an edge on any plumber if only for one reason - unlike hired plumber you actually CARE to do a good job.
Regards
Anton.
agrasyuk Doughless Same here. I can install outlets and light switches, but I call a plumber for plumbing. "want it done right - do it yourself" at least in my case always proved true. i suppose such thing as responsible professionals does happen in nanture, but so far i have quite a bad luck (i only know of HVAC guy) we purchased our abandoned for 4 years home from bank. Bank hired plumber to fix the leaks from burst frozen pipes. what can i say, it takes baker to properly bake bread, it takes computer software developer to properly instal plumbing. i have no good words for that "professional", as i ended up removing at least 25% of drywalls to get to the supossedly fixed leaks. it was madening task, i was exploring posibilities to sue that dude for damages, but couldn't locate. my point - soldering pipes is not a rocket science. practice for a bit and you will have an edge on any plumber if only for one reason - unlike hired plumber you actually CARE to do a good job.
As a construction professional myself, l will say this.
You get what you pay for. If you hire the cheapest guy...........
Banks with foreclosures hire the cheapest guy.........
Also, as a real estate investor myself, I NEVER want sellers to fix stuff, they too are motovated to hire the cheapest guy and do the minimum to get by.
ATLANTIC CENTRALAs a construction professional myself, l will say this. You get what you pay for.
As a customer of construction professionals, I've found I've had to modify this advice. You don't always get what you pay for, but you never get what you don't pay for.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Also, as a real estate investor myself, I NEVER want sellers to fix stuff, they too are motovated to hire the cheapest guy and do the minimum to get by. Sheldon
Agree 100%.
When I was looking for a house and the ad said or the real estate agent said anything along the lines of "Finished basement", or "New paint and carpet throughout" . . . no thanks, pass. I wanted to see what the bare naked unadorned space looked like.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
carl425 ATLANTIC CENTRAL As a construction professional myself, l will say this. You get what you pay for. As a customer of construction professionals, I've found I've had to modify this advice. You don't always get what you pay for, but you never get what you don't pay for.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL As a construction professional myself, l will say this. You get what you pay for.
There are bad apples in every industry...
agrasyuk i was exploring posibilities to sue that dude for damages, but couldn't locate.
You are supposed to sue the bank. The bank sold you a defective product. You have proof, because you made careful documentation of the problem and what you were forced to do to fix it. I presume you can find the bank.
I was going to sue a bank. Had my lawyer start working. They settled for all the money I was asking for. Right away. GOOD lawyer!
...you will have an edge on any plumber if only for one reason - unlike hired plumber you actually CARE to do a good job.
I guess you and I travel in different circles. I prefer mine:
I actually know people who take pride in their work. They CARE to do a good job. Even when they are working for someone else.
Also, CARING to do a good job doesn't mean you will do a good job. Knowing what you are doing also is quite helpful. Or so I've observed.
I did a small bit of home repair for a bank. What I found is that they just wanted someone they could trust to make the problem go away. And not come back. The pay was actually quite good. And they didn't constantly question me about what I was doing.
Maybe after you sue the bank for damages they might revise their hire-the-cheapest-guy approach. Because he won't be the cheapest, after you're done.
OK, so we have had a lot going on, moving, getting the old house ready to sell, family stuff, and I have been busy at work, which has been made more complex by an exceptionaly high amount of rainfall this whole past year.
But despite all that, work on the new track plan is coming along.
Again, the concept is already well established and not changing. I am simply finding the best way to fit it into the new space.
It quickly evolved to only two choices of benchwork configuration, one allows a slightly larger freight yard, one has much better "people flow" regarding the aisle ways.
The people flow won, the freight yard will still be 10 tracks and about 20' long.
With any luck, I will post a preliminary version of the track plan in about a week.
How many operators do you anticipate needing to make the layout work?
ATLANTIC CENTRALBut despite all that, work on the new track plan is coming along.
Hi Sheldon,
Glad to hear that you are making progress. Your yard sounds impressive even if you have reduced the size a bit. I am a strong believer in having comfortable aisles. When I did the club's track plan I made sure there was plenty of aisle space and we are glad we did it. There is only one spot where people have to move to allow another person to get past. Of course, that's always where everybody stands!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
SeeYou190 How many operators do you anticipate needing to make the layout work? . -Kevin .
The layout will support a crew of about 10 for full blown operating sessions. Operations will be adaptable to smaller available crew sizes.
Full blown operations will include a dispatcher and yard master.
BUT, it will also be easy to operate by just one person.
The double track mainline will have cutoffs that convert it into four separate display loops.
The main yard connects directly to an industrial belt line without entering, crossing or fouling the mainline. This allows several operators to conduct switching operations and yard operations without disturbing mainline trains.
There will be hidden staging for at least 26 trains, possibly more.
So even a sole operator could put two trains on display (the four train display mode does partly tie up the yard) and then work the industries by himself.
Mainline trains can operate with a dispatcher or without the dispatcher via wireless throttles and local tower controls.
hon30critter ATLANTIC CENTRAL But despite all that, work on the new track plan is coming along. Hi Sheldon, Glad to hear that you are making progress. Your yard sounds impressive even if you have reduced the size a bit. I am a strong believer in having comfortable aisles. When I did the club's track plan I made sure there was plenty of aisle space and we are glad we did it. There is only one spot where people have to move to allow another person to get past. Of course, that's always where everybody stands! Dave
ATLANTIC CENTRAL But despite all that, work on the new track plan is coming along.
Thanks Dave. The current plan for the yard will support the average train size, largest trains will have to be doubled in and out but the yard leads will easily support that.
About a third of the staging tracks should support trains larger than the yard.
Freight train lenghts to be in the 30 to 50 car range.
Two passenger train staging yards will support trains in the 12 to 15 range.
ATLANTIC CENTRALThe layout will support a crew of about 10 for full blown operating sessions. BUT, it will also be easy to operate by just one person.
That is interesting. My layout is planned to be easy for one operator to run, and also only one for a full blown operating session.
It is just for me.
Sheldon,
The layout sounds impressive! I'm sure that you and a lot of other people will get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
Sheldon,Designing layouts is fun, isn't it? Especially with experience.
With your passenger ops, are you going to be doing terminal switching with them, or just running them as unit trains?At my club, we kind of do both...it just depends on who is running the passenger terminal at the time. When it's an experienced hand, they put the incoming trains away (coach yard, sleeper track, commissary, baggage/express) along with the power, and then dig out and make up new trains. If it's an inexperienced operator, they'll attempt to turn the incoming trains around or just leave 'em for the next operator to turn. We're on a fast clock at the club.
On my old home layout, I did a turn-based passenger ops where the passenger operator ran a dozen trains in order. The first four trains were pre-staged, and each end of my layout had a number of stored cars. After the first four trains, the operator had to make up the 5th train using some of the cars from the 2nd & 4th trains plus one or two of the stored cars. The 6th train had to use cars from the 1st, 3rd, and 5th trains. And so on.
And all this was completely prototypical as the New Haven used various pieces of equipment multiple times a day. In fact, I used a NH consist book and a timetable to plan it all. In real life, what was sent West on the "Merchants Limited" came back East later that night on the "Commander", etc.
But no clocks. On my layout, it took as long as it took. Some of the guys at my club who were also operators on my layout want me to do the same thing at the club...but man, that'd be a lot of work. I'd have to move everyone else's passenger equipment out of the terminals and bring in my own fleet of equipment...then put it all back when we're done. Not sure I want to do that, but it was fun to operate like that.
I say all this because there aren't too many passenger operators. And by that, I mean folks that switch around passenger trains and not simply use them as fast unit trains that zip from one end of the layout to the other, getting in the way of freight trains. I was just curious which operation type you favored.
Paul,
There will be indepth passenger operations.
There will be a small coach yard and service facilities.
The passenger station will be a thru station able to handle 3-4 trains without fouling the mainline.
Some trains will terminate/originate here, others will just swap cars, get power changes, etc, some will just make a stop.
There will also be commuter service to several nearby stations with doodle bugs and RDC's. The doodle bugs will run in pairs back to back. And the west bound commuter run can be run with steam as its last station stop is on a wye.
In addition to ATLANTIC CENTRAL trains, C&O, B&O and WM passenger trains will use the station via several interchange connections (some of which are the same direct cutoffs to the staging that create the four loop display mode).
I have a lot of passenger cars, about 200 or so. Counting the station tracks, I am hoping to stage at least 12 passenger trains, and most will be in the 10-15 car range.
Passenger power is mostly diesel, PA's, E units, FP's, but we still have some Mountains and Pacifics pulling lesser trains and mail runs, and a few 10 wheelers for that commuter when needed.
I have no fixed opinion on fast clocks, I have done a fair amount of both. That choice will evolve if and when a crew evolves. I know lots of people around here in the hobby, but I have not had time to stay active in the local round robin.
This move is part of a big life change for us that will allow me time for modeling, so I will see who is interested when the time comes.