Michael, Never mind on the examples / explanation of how to use 2 turnouts back to back and create a similar effect to a double slip switch - I figured it out. Would you recommend using Marklin turnouts with the built-in mechanism or Wright turnouts thrown manually? My layout is small (3'x6') and I would not mind manually having to throw turnouts. John
I would just use the Marklins for a small layout, unless you are planning on using MTL flex, in which case the new Peter Wright's with us tie spacing is the way to go. You can use the a ground throw, or an under the table switch machine.
I've been concentrating hard on my layout. All Marklin turnouts were replaced with Wright turnouts, crossover was eliminated by using two Wright turnouts and I removed the curved turnouts and replaced them with straight ones. This evening I just finished laying the cork roadbed. I hand-cut the roadbed from 1/16" cork-rubber from Fel-Pro Gaskets (Federal-Mogul Corporation, Skokie, Illinois 60076). They make gaskets for car engines. The part number is 3018. Very easy to use. Next step is to lay the "John Cubbin sub-road bed" under the cork. I found 1/4" green foam at my local German Hagebaumärkt (like a Home Depot) that I will use for this next step. Once that is complete then I start laying track. John
It's coming along real nice John. Before you lay out the track, now is a good time to add a river, or undulate the scenery a bit. -Robert
Robert, Great suggestion! Didn't think of that as the next step but makes sense. Once I get the "John Cubbin sub-road bed" under the cork it will start to get a layered undulated look. I plan on placing a water falls "High Falls" on the left rear corner and one or two small portions of the Erie Canal in the middle and right. Not a lot of large mountains in the Rochester part of NY, but I will add some hills to break up the scenery. John
Hey John, Your name came up at NTS within the first few minutes I was there! Met some of your Z Bend associates from your days in DC! I think if you are modelling Rochester NY you should paint the board white and put up a gray background... But seriously, putting in the "under track" scenery is a good idea. Glad you went with the Wrights-I hear they are wonderful and far more prototypical. After the hassle of this past weekend with Marklin turnouts, I really can't wait to sell ALL of my Marklin track and switch over to MTL exclusively (well maybe some Wright crossovers, Marklin original crossovers 8559's and Marklin uncoupling tracks for my few pieces of Marklin rolling stock as well as my Marklin turntable...) Best, Michael
Actually, We had the pleasure of only one visit from John while he was in Carlisle. We are hoping his next assignment is in tope DC area, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone. ;-) Randy
Randy, Wish I could have gotten there more. Wonder why my name came up the first few minutes that Michael was at the NTS? Hope it was good. Not sure if were coming to DC or not after Germany. Should know by December what my future is. John
Wish I saw this earlier - so that I could add thi, any how, something I really wish I did on my first layout, which you still can do here, is put another 4-6 inches of foam under the first layer you have right now, if you can move/detach that form teh benchwork at all - so that you will have some Depth when you go to make your canal. Yeah, i know, it was "Doh!" when it hit me that I might like a little river or some land variation below grade...DOH! Hopefully your foam detaches from the benchwork so you can make this change, if it is glued you might be out of luck, but then I have yet to find a SINGLE glue that is Benny proof!! On my HO layout, I put a layer of 1/8 inch masonit on teh benchwork - i have to punch holes fo wiring, but on the upside, this means that I have more stability to support my White foam BeadBoard ("WHAT??? You can't use white bead board" says the peanut gallery...peanut gallery - styrofoam peanuts? haha!! PUNNY!!!) so i don;t put a hole trough it when I lean on it...or stand on it! This also does allow me to add that layer of foam, which I will be doing on my own layout now that it is entirely torn apart from the move to my Uncles house!! And one mroe thing - before you put down the track, Paint it all a nice brown! that styrofoam is simply Horrid to look at!!!
I know Randy could tell me the gentleman's name-the one who was sitting operating a small but very detailed 2 line layout that would be to the left side wall if I was facing the Tri-State Z Scalers from the back of the hall (right hand side wall if facing from the enterance to the hall); he had mentioned John having sold, I think, some of his trains to him or getting some for him and that John was missed. That's how your name came up. He was ex-Military and Beltway Defense contractor. Hopefully John, you'll get a nice cush job in the DC area but outside the 5-sided building! Michael
Michael, John, That would have been Bill Marsh (retired Navy Captain) who was supervising our "hands on" track for kids to run trains on. The power pack we were using came from John (see John, we put it to good use ;-). The track is MTL Micro Track in an expanded loop (bought by me, not donated unfortunately) and the train was a Swiss steam set that Marklin donated to the module group at NTS last year. Bill and I were talking about expanding the idea with a few resin structures or something like that since he observed some of the kids using their imaginations and making pretend "station stops" and that sort of thing. This is the kind of seed we are trying to plant for the future. I would post a photo, but Bill is very camera shy. ;-) This simple loop of track is always one of the biggest hits at our train shows. We need to put up a "Please Touch" sign as a welcome change from the usual (even on the rest of our module display) "Don't Touch" message. Randy
Track plan Hi John, This trainboard message system just doesn't work well for me. But I finally managed to get in to post something. When I look over your track plan, my guess is that you operate the inner loop in a clockwise fashion. In order to switch the little siding at the bottom of the loop you must use the passing siding at the top so that you can get your cars in front of your locomotive. Or you can simply park the car in front of the turnout , run your locomotive around the loop and push the car into the siding. It just won't look too prototypical. But, this is model railroading. If you run your train from the inner loop to the outer loop you will have no facing sidings on the outside loop so that it is possible to switch the two sidings at the top without any problem. You can also run a train in the inner loop at the same time without any interference between the two trains. Providing, of course, that you have two train controllers to provide independent control of each train and you have installed the necessary gaps. If your first train is short it can slide into the passing siding at the bottom of the outside loop. Then, if your second train is facing in the same direction as your first, you can even have your second train go out to the outer loop and run around while the first train sits on the siding. But then, what is the plan to get both, or one of the trains, back into the inner loop. Do you plan to back the train in reverse in order to get it back into the inner loop? This would not look too sophisticated. In order to make your track plan a little more versatile you may consider a second crossover that will allow a train operating clockwise on the outer track to enter the inner loop without having to back up. No need for a "double crossover" that is more work than needed. Just a second crossover, somewhere along the track, to allow this other operation will do. Have you operated any trains on this "test" set up? It could help you to organize your tracks to facilitate operations and to work out any electrical problems before you get too far along. There is a huge difference between running trains around in circles and to try to operate even a simple switching move. I guess that you are planning on doing some switching moves because you have so many sidings. If you are not doing any switching moves you can save a lot of money by reducing the number of turnouts required on your layout. Instead of short siding, add long passing sidings so that you can park different trains instead of having to manhandle your cars each time that you want to operate different equipment. Each turnout, besides being costly will require some kind of manual or electrical operating control. The Marklin manual turnouts are the simplest because all that you need to do is to flick them into place with your finger. You will still need some kind of electrical control to provide for parking an engine while other trains/engines are operating on other parts of your layout. If you operate with more than one locomotive sitting on your layout you will need to have gaps and electrical switches to isolate parts of your track. One of those model railroad "How To" books will give you all the information that you might need to know. All the model buying, building, planning, and dreaming should end up with your trains operating on tracks. If you build tracks and your trains do not operate on them why bother? Operating your trains before you fully commit your self to your track plan will save you a lot of frustration. This is after 50 years of watching others build, only to later abandon, huge layouts spending countless hours and lots and lots of money. That is why I am into building modules. Modules allow you to change things as your knowledge of model railroading grows. I hope that I am not telling you what you already know. Don't take my words as being the last word. Others out there must be much more knowledgeable then I. If you are operating DCC, all suggestions except to test run trains on your temporary layout, will be totally out the window. DCC operations are not within my scope of understanding. The best that I can do is to spell DCC. Bill H El Toro, ca
Bill, Wow for a guy that had trouble getting a message on to TrainBoard.com you sure made up for it! Thanks for the fantastic advice. I will definitely take it to heart. I have not operated any trains on this set up yet. But that is next. Electricity is not my forte in model railroading so I'll approach it the same way I did parachuting (which scared the ---- out of me) and just jump right out, or should I say jump right in. Yes I am planning on doing some simple switching. I'll be using Micron Arts manual switch machines attached to Wrights turnouts. I'm looking forward to getting the track laid and electricity running. And of course the problems that come with it. John
So this week I finished laying the sub-roadbed and last night I finished pinning the track to the sub-roadbed to trace it. With that done I started to cut out some scenery from the foam. Tonight I cut out the Genesee Falls area (upper left in the photo) and also started cutting out the Erie Canal (upper and lower right in the photo). After that is done then I will start to lay down my cork roadbed. I am really excited about this because I just receive two rolls of self-adhesive backed 1/16" cork from Rockler Woodworking and Hardware, http://www.rockler.com/ Part # 22830. It comes in 12" x 24" rolls and REALLY sticks to the foam. Cut, peal and stick! What a time saver! I can't wait to get the cork roadbed laid. John Bartolotto
John, I like your yard. I dont see too many yards on layouts. I find yards are left out because they take too much space. That is too bad. I find yard extremely useful, because I am lazy, so I dont like to remove and add cars. I also find yards very useful in switching operations.
Yes I like it too John, I like the rolling scenery and the river cuts through the foam. It's going to be great!
John, the layout looks great! Glad to hear you are a skydiver! Money has been tight so I haven't jumped in a while, but man it is a rush! You are right, you just have to jump into it...
