Holy cow, that's a ton of power! Sweet! Nice progress so far. I have given up with permanent installation until I retire. Too many moves! I see a removable section for door access--how you line up the track, and get electrical connectivity?
For this layout the available locomotive fleet is way overkill . Most of the motive power was actually purchased to call my attic layout home but that project was postponed March 2011 to a unspecified date. I don't think the attic layout will start any sooner than 2017 and who knows....maybe within the next five to ten years we may be move as well. We were considering a move earlier this year but financial sense and a poor housing market means we are statying for at least five years. My plan for the removable section is to glue all of the track in, wire it up and then use a dremel to cut the track. Alignment will be secured by the barrel bolts installed under the removable shelf. Electrical connections plan is not finalized but I am thinking of a male/female plug soltion or using an RCA male / female plug solution that I have seen others use. Track was laid yesterday so this is all very fresh. I will post updates as they occur.
I need more locos I am not addicted.....really. My Minnesota Commercial roster: 1. Atlas Alco C424 - DCC no Sound 2. Atlas Alco C424 - DCC no Sound 3. Atlas GE B23-7 - DCC and Sound 4. Atlas GE B23-7 - DCC and Sound 5. Atlas GE B23-7 - DCC and Sound 6. Proto2K Alco RS-27 - DCC and Sound 7. Proto2K Alco RS-27 - DCC and Sound Two of the B23-7 locos are destined for the attic layout and will represent MNNR transfers to BNSF and CP....someday. The following locos are dedicated to the MNNR layout for transfers to the MNNR (Minnesota Commercial) and will call the basement layout home. 1. Soo Line Atlas GP38-2 - DCC no Sound - CP transfer 2. Soo Line Atlas GP38-2 - DCC no Sound - CP transfer 3. BNSF Atlas GP38 - DCC with Sound - BNSF Transfer 4. BN Atlas GP38 - DCC no Sound - BNSF Transfer 5. BN Broadway Limited - SD40-2 - DCC with Sound - BNSF Heavy Transfer (Coal) 6. BN Broadway Limited - SD40-2 - DCC with Sound - BNSF Heavy Transfer (Coal) 7. UP GP15-1 - Pending DCC with Sound install - UP Transfer Much of my remaining fleet will do Cameos on the layout until the attic layout is operational in the future. May assign a couple more locos for CP and UP. Would also like to have a couple of TCW locos but as it stands now, I have five custom painted TCW (Twin Cities and Western) locos and will likely need these for the attic layout. Although, I am planning a complete redesign of the attic layout plan (planning to plan...yeah I was in the military too long). My loco roster as of today sits at 118 locomotives with two Broadway Limited AC6000 (CP) locos going up for sale soon (keep a lookout here on Trainboard). So I will reduce the roster to 116. See, I am reasonable. But, I also need a Amtrak loco or two to pull a small Amtrak train for basement layout....so I could be back up to 118 in the near future
I also forgot to state that on a somewhat rotating basis, some of my BN fleet will rotate to and from the NMMR (North Metro Model Railroad club in Coon Rapids, MN) club layout in the future starting in 2012. So that will eat into my roster a bit as well.
I managed to fix the rail joint issue (again) and everything is running smooth on the layout. I still have a two spurs to complete and then the rough install of the trackwork will be complete. Next on the to do list: 1. Rough in structures to make sure everything fits as desired and make adjustments if and where needed. 2. Install track feeders around the layout. 3. Connect the track feeders to the DCC bus. 4. Test trackwork again. 5. Rough in (sharpie pen) where protected grade crossings will be located (4 planned) 6. Rough install photosensors for protected grade crossings (install and secure into roadbed...might be tricky with Unitrak) 7. Test trackwork again 8. Glue track to layout base 9. Test trackwork again 10. Complete sructures and install on layout. 11. Start scenery I should have the above list done by tomorrow morning......or perhaps a few months from now. Progress Photos: This track has been adjusted to allow more clearance from the wall
Quick update, all track has been roughed in and installed the first track power lead (many more to go). I discovered that my original planned location for the LPG Gas and Supply Dealer would not work as the radius on the thigh curves in this area of the layout did not play nice with my LPG cars. Since I have a significant number of LPG tank cars, something had to be done. So I moved the Central Gas & Supply to where Lube-Tech was to be located, moved Sicken Tire to where Central Gas & Supply was located. . NEWS FLASH! The removable lift out section will not used on this layout plan and will stay bolted in to act as duckunder. The reason for this was some of the unitrak joints came danger close to the benchork joints. Had I used flex track instead of sectional track this problem could have been avoided. So with more real estate, I extended the siding that used to be Sicken Tire and will add at least Hardwood Furniture factory kit.
