I am finally starting to get formal (tux not required) operating sessions going on the layout. I wanted to use car cards and waybills for the car forwarding system so I printed a bunch from the Op Sig site. I also labeled all the blocks. Here is Coffeyville staging. I then built 10 car card boxes using 1/8" masonite. I still need to paint and label them for the appropriate industries I hope to start installing the shelves this weekend so that I can mount the boxes as well as have a place to set a drink other than the layout.
Wolfgang, I am definitely biting at the bit to get this started since I designed the layout for CC&WB operation from the start (8 years ago). I intend to use two man crews similar to Joe Fugate's operations so I don't need a lot of operators due to the lower traffic volume. There are a couple of guys that I know that are into operation so I can use them as temporary one man crews to work out the initial kinks (I know there will be some since this is new territory for me). Then I will need to find a few more operators to fill out the necessary crews. However, with the current traffic volume, I could run a complete op session by myself if I chose to.
Well I have installed shelves and car card boxes around the layout and painted them to match the fascia. I still need to label them but I should finish that this weekend. The far shelf is for the two RIP tracks and Greene Giant Cannery. The middle shelf is for the yard and the near shelf is for Crockett Plumbing, Ark/Oma Furniture & Appliance and the TOFC ramp.
I finished labeling the car card boxes so I can now finish filling out the car cards and waybills. Here are a couple of pics of the Van Buren area.
I just noticed that it has been almost two months since the last update to this thread. My how time flies when your having fun. Since I finished the CC&WB system, I have been running the schedules to see if there are any bugs that need correcting such as balancing traffic or overloaded spurs. I am half way through the third cycle and so far so good. I did however take a break from operating and did a little more work on the yard at Clarksville Jct. this weekend. I was able to glue the ties down for the yard tracks and turnouts and lay the rail (code 55) for the yard lead. Here are a few progress pics. West end East end Yard lead Rail size comparison front to back C83, 70, and 55 Just getting the two extra tracks operational will enhance the overall operation of the railroad until I can complete all the branch line track work and start construction of the industries. Enjoy.
Gee whiz Mopman, it's looking great! Photo #3 (yard lead) will fool the eye when you get the Pringles cans painted (???) and finish the scenery in that area. Just terrific, the foreground scenery and background look real! Now that you have "pushed the envelope" with code 55 rail, how about some code 40 on a little used siding? Am I kidding...maybe, maybe not! Keep on going, it's almost "finished".... Woodie
I feel like I am far from finished but it is getting closer. There might be room for a code 40 spur in Clarksville (when I get there). I will not be spiking it however.
Just one last shot: Here is a overview of the Clarksville Jct area from the west end looking east The turnout lower left in pic is to the yard lead.
I'm getting a little closer to finishing the yard in Clarksville Jct. The stock rails and frogs for the west end are installed and I need to start the east end this week. I'll try to post a couple of pics of this progress later. I did get a chance to do a little backdrop painting this past week despite the air conditioner dying. Hopefully I can get a new system installed this week. We've had 16 days in a row of 100 degrees or higher temps so the house is around 90 degrees inside. Here's the backdrop pic. I just wish one of these thunderheads was OVER my house instead of IN my house. The only good thing about the a/c is the train room has window units while the rest of the house is central air so at least the railroad is cool.
As promised, here is a pic of the west end of Clarksville Jct. I have the stock rails and frogs installed for two of the yard tracks. Points and guard rails will come later. I was hoping to get more done this week, but I am dealing with the a/c problem as well as getting ready for the RR club meeting tomorrow evening. Everything seems to be running fine on the RR but I need to clean up the train room a bit.
It's coming along very nicely, you will have no problems when the guys come over Thursday. When you think that you haven't done enough, just remember our friend who has been CAD-designing his layout for some years. No track down but lots of ideas. I still believe you should have a code 40 siding somewhere...I triple dog dare you! Woodie
Thanks for the thread. Nice work. I encourage anyone posting or lurking the thread to click on the links to the album. Good work!
Thanks for the coments guys. Woodie, I may put in a spur in Clarksville that is code 40. That way it is right at eye level (well for 6 footers it is). Corporaldan, I tried using foil at first (there is some mixed in) but I found that the foil lids that peal off coffee cans to be better as it is a little heavier gauge material and holds its shape. I just cut it into narrow strips then cut to a random length and bend the pieces into random shapes. I put the pieces in a coffee can and weather with diluted (30% paint to 70% thinner) rust and/or boxcar red. Shake the can to coat the scrap and let dry. I then glue the pieces to a piece of foam and "plant it in the scrap yard. Here is a pic of the painted foam before covering: and a closeup of the completed pile before installation: BTW the scrap bales are made from bite size candy bar wrappers (Krackle, Mr Goodbar, etc). With the colored side out, I just shape them into squares with my fingers. They hold their shape well. They are weathered the same as the other scrap. I hope that helps. Kitbash, thanks for the kudos.
The Mesquite club met at my house last night. We all had a good time running trains (a little) and BS'ing about trains and a multitude of other subjects (a lot). I cooked some "dogs" on the grill with some chips/dips and soft drinks so everyone had plenty to eat. I was going to take a few pics but with my hosting duties, I never got the chance. Everyone started arriving around 7pm and the next thing I knew it was quitting time around 10:30. Oh well maybe next time LOL.
The most dangerous part of the layout is soon going to disappear. There is a 10mph slow order through Spadra due to the abyss (53" drop to the floor). This past weekend I started installing the base scenery to make the trip a little safer and to get an idea of what the finished scenery will look like. Here a a couple of pics of the progress so far. Hopefully I will have the roughed in scenery done before the Plano show in January as I plan on having the layout open for the layout tours again this year.
After a month and a few days before the layout tour, I have installed the fascia around the end of the peninsula and glued in the cardboard webbing. Here are some progress photos I should be able to get the fascia along this area tonight and once the cardboard is glued in place I won't have to worry about equipment taking the fatal dive to the floor. The track work is reliable and I haven't had a problem for a couple of years but, I would feel a lot better with the "safety net" in place. Hopefully after the show, I can get plastered err...start plastering...or both!
I got the last section of fascia and the cardboard scenery base installed just in time for the layout tour. I was open for four hours and had 25 folks come by. That was a good turn out for me being I am 40 miles from the show site. I also received a bonus. A good friend of mine is changing scales and had some extra HO equipment that he didn't have room to store, so he brought about 20 pieces of rolling stock to fill in a few gaps. Fifteen of those cars were grain hoppers so I now have a unit grain train to add to the op sessions now. Here are a couple of pics of the fascia with the grain train in the siding at Spadra. The Santa Fe SD40 is a loco (Kato) I got for 20 bucks (good buy I thought). It will become MP #3000 after I remove the DB and add a few details. Now I need to get started with the plaster. I almost forgot...my friend also brought a Kato GP35 in Mop paint to help pull the grain train but I didn't have couplers install at the time I took these pics. I'll try to post a pic later.
Here are a couple of pics (not the best quality) of a pair of GP35s pulling a empty grain train westbound through Van Buren. The lead unit is Athearn and second unit is Kato. A little closer Now all I need to do is get car cards and waybills filled out for the new rolling stock.
