24 hours and a fresh mind (thanks to Andrew) to hash out the operational side of things came up with two further options for the Coon Rapids portion; Version 2 with the turnouts to the cannery and elevator transposed to provide greater capacity - Should a rural area really use a crossing? Maybe not. Let's revert to the first idea and move the structures closer to the turnouts. But now there may be a shortage of room for excess cars, and then there are empties for, and loads from, Bayard to figure into the equation. Let's move the second siding from the feed mill closer to the main and make it a single-ended storage/staging track for excess cars and those being put together to head back towards Manilla Yard and points west - Train1's point of access to the cannery for uncoupling is well taken as it will be a reach over or around, so an uncoupling magnet hidden in an access raod crossing may need to be added. Thoughts? Anyway, tonight I'm going to lay in the roadbed for the main and passing siding and possibly join Templeton to Coon Rapids.
Nice job, Jeff! I'm no bridge engineer but I think they certainly look robust enough but whether there are enough of them I can't say.
Nice progress everyone and keep the updates coming. Gats, would that be Coon Rapids Minnesota? (Coon Creek) Your road name of choice fits the locale
Matt, it's Coon Rapids IA. But if I make it generic enough it can be in western MN in Soo/TCW areas, or GN/BN.
Comments on Coon Rapids Switching Gary: Won't you have problems reaching around the feed mill to switch cars or uncouple? Just wondering. I do like the track design. Very quick thoughts...Is there enough switching lead for the cement track? You could run the team track parallel to the feed mill track to get more room. Part of the switching will have to be done on the main. I consider that just prototypical. I like v. 3. Eight turnouts in both schematics. I do like the whole switching area design.
Hi guys! Great to see all the progress, makes it easy to keep workin'! Update #4. Got the facia on: Streets installed and painted. They're still wet, once I weather them it'll tone down: Started on the backdrop: Other side of the penninsula looks like this(LOL): Keep it going! Terry
Jeff, I use " for sale " signs from the local big box. The larger ones are pretty thick styrene(for roads, buildings, etc.). The smaller,yellow ones are what I use for between the rails.I made this elevator out of the same stuff( you can guess where I swiped the design!) TERRY
Terry - I actually bought a plastic sign so I could use the plastic as the floor in a building, but I never thought of using the same stuff for roads. Thanks. I'll bet your Junior Engineer enjoys your layout! - Jeff
Flash, there may well be a problem with uncoupling at the cannery but that could well be resolved with the use of an uncoupling magnet on that track. The team track will be long enough for a four-axle loco and three 2-bay hoppers, about 450mm/18" long overall. Anything that needs to use the team track for unloading can either be placed on the storage road or on the feed mill lead if access to the batching plant is required. The storage siding will be the get-out-of-jail card if I get too tied up!
I just purchased a 15" x 19" plastic "For Sale by Owner" sign from the local ACE Hardware for about $3 to use for roads. Way cheaper than the sheet styrene in the hobby shops. Jamie
Gary Feed mill looks great. I am planning on putting one on the "expanded" layout. Do you have images from construction.
got sidetracked a bit because I'm having frog troubles.. (another thread) I managed to get some buildings glued down and roof details started. I added some metal-tape clotheline items tried something new on this one.. scotch tape for rooffing.. I left it long on the sides and when the roof is put it, it goes up the walls like the real thing. plus some warehouse work.. boarding up windows.
Week #3 Progress Report Started applying strips of 2" wide masking tape to the cardboard web--the Joe Fugate method. This step is not absolutely necessary, but it helps you visualize the final hill profiles and allows any changes to be made quite easily before the plaster gets added: Continued the masking tape over the cardboard web around the turnback curve. I have also started drawing the treelines and distant hill profiles onto the backdrop using prototype photos as a guide: Finally finished roughing in the terrain around the I-75 underpass. The profile of the highway shoulders and median have been carved into a layer of 3/4" blue extruded foam. Some black construction paper is being used as a temporary road: Jamie
Over the past two nights, I've moved beyond the lighthouse, painted the terrain and laid some of the track on the "west" side of the layout. Lighting is poor and I was in a hurry, so the pictures aren't great...
v3 it is! I have started laying track and have the Bayard end of the main and passing in as well as the turnouts to the elevator and cannery, and to the team track/feed mill. The curve on the west end of town has been drawn in and allowance made for the east end of Templeton to use a #7 RH rather than a curved turnout. So I should be able to connect the two areas together in a few nights and have the powered turnouts operational from the PowerCab. Photos to follow...
Fiddletown Progress report, The yard is 1400mm, nearly 5' long. All tracks are wired. This fiddle yard can operate. Now comes some basic scenery. Even a fiddle yard looks with ballast better. Wolfgang
Some pics of what I did last weekend: The road was too narrow by the auto dealer and the auto dealer lot was too low compared to the height of the road, so last weekend I used spackling to build it up. The sidewalk on the left of the road marks how far from the backdrop the road has to be to fit in the hubcap house, white apartment, and Narramore Garage. For this section of Adams Street, this weekend I hope to: a. smooth out and paint a base coat on the road and the auto dealer lot b. put in some grass and trees around the mock-up buildings on the left and the auto dealer on the right c. add groundfoam and lichen to the foamboard background tree flats against the backdrop. Last weekend I also did some preliminary work on the Adams Street Viaduct where it passes over the CNW and BN tracks. This weekend, I'll have to adjust the elevation and width of the foam which will support the foamboard road at either end of the bridge. For the guardrails on the bridge, I split an I-beam down the middle to create 2 T-shaped pieces, which I'll mount upside-down on top of another I beam to represent the guardrail. I plan to glue I-beams on the outside edges of the foamboard. I'll probably use Rix highway bridge piers to support the middle of the bridge.
