The Quanah Acme & Pacific RY HO

gjslsffan Aug 28, 2015

  1. Colonel

    Colonel Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    On my layout sound is turned down to a reasonable level and it does add realism however in your situation with 5 locos on the lead it may become too much. Do you have full operations where you switch industries etc? I am currently developing operating rules for my layout that operators will use when switching.
     
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  2. montanan

    montanan TrainBoard Member

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    I don't know how I missed this posting. This is one nice layout. Well done.

    I can understand you hesitation about converting to DCC. Besides being a lone operator and almost never running more than one locomotive at a time, the thought of converting just 30 some locomotives turns me off.

    I have model railroad friends in Missouri that I visit on a regular basis who have layouts as large as yours, plus a larger club layout and I can see the advantages of using DCC. I have attended operating sessions where we have had more than 20 trains running on the main line alone. I have no plans at all to convert my home layout though.

    The videos were great. They sure give a great overall idea of the layout. Have you thought of posting a "cab View" video??
     
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  3. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Yes we can operated a hump job, a trimmer job, 3-4 locals, once in a while a hostler too, but we rarely have enough people for all that. I am thinking the locals may be my next video task.
     
  4. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Thank You.
    Glad you found the thread. Part of my hesitation to DCC is the fact I cant even run the remote control of my TV sometimes.
    And yessir here is a cab ride for you.

     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2015
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  5. montanan

    montanan TrainBoard Member

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    tHANKS FOR THE RIDE.




    Thanks for the ride. Loved the scenery and the changes in elevations. I think a cab ride is my favorite type of model railroad videos. It really gives a great perspective of a layout. WELL DONE.

    For me being a lone operator and my layout being a point to point layout, built mainly for switching, I really don't NEED DCC . I have no other model railroaders in my area that I know of that are interested in HO scale and DC works just fine for me.
     
  6. Colonel

    Colonel Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well I was able to watch this video on my commute to work this morning, once again an awesome video and I did spot a few Volkswagens along the route
     
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  7. dalebaker

    dalebaker TrainBoard Member

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    Fantastic videos Tom! Thank you for posting them!
     
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  8. Colonel

    Colonel Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Tom is it fair to say it takes approx 17 minutes for a train to run the length of your layout?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  9. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    No, not really Paul I didn't even show about 1/2 of the main line and cut so much of the other out it is hard to say. to be honest I have never really timed it. But know its longer than 17 min. What I need to do is go with a 50-55 car East bound out of the main yard, go around the MT once, then thru the reverse loop on the Main track, then go West bound once around, come into the main yard, up the branch and around that reverse loop and back to where we started. That may be interesting to see how long that would take. We try to stick to MT1 for WB traffic and MT2 for EB traffic. That way a guy would not be on the same track for very much of the whole trip. I got a friend with a really good video camera I might see if he will film the event for us. That away I dont have to do everything, it is a real pain to record video, and run the train, miss a lot of opportunities I believe.

    Also the Hooterville Local stops and works various places along the both main tracks, so once in a while a train has to wait for them to get done with their work done too. That would be a good subject for a video as well maybe. I have not done the industrial switching justice on any of the videos I have recorded.

    Probably the busiest most challenging local is the Hindsight Industrial RR switch job, it has 30-35 cars. Typically works the entire op session 2-3 hrs and sometimes does not get finished. A lot of running around cars to spot, and there is just a lot of it to do. Lets see, it has PMS "plastic media systems" Hindsight cold storage, Vicki's (my Wife's name) Metal & recycling, Rocky MTN Pipe Co., Wagoneer Equipment Co, Star Transportation, Mohr oil, Safety Clean oil recycling, the Willis grain elevator, Up the branch to the saw mill once in a while.
     
  10. montanan

    montanan TrainBoard Member

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    Watched some of your other videos. Enjoyed them. Although I have a fairly good size room for my layout, I built it as a point to point, mainly for switching. I can see how a switching session can take quite a bit of time. To leave more room for industries, my main line passed through the layout only once. This limits the length of the main line, but allows for a lot more switching. Each town purposely had a switching problem built into it to make things a bit more interesting.

    I'll bring a train "onstage" from hidden staging tracks into one of the two yards, sort the cars out, and have a local freight train with about 14 cars average to make drops and pick ups. It can easily take me sometimes over three hours to make a complete run.

    Keep the video coming. GREAT WORK.
     
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  11. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Thank You. The Hindsight Industrial RR (HIRR) and its switching is clear of the main tracks and on the Branch. So they usually have unrestricted movement. Unless that Dastardly Yard Mast tells him to get in the clear for a freight going up to or into a staging yard. I think that if I live long enough to build another It may be a single track with long sidings and a point to point of sorts. All in all I have almost 13 boxes of 100, 3ft sections of track laid on the MRR. The original plan was to go modern, thats where the concrete ties came from, plus I got just a SMOKING buy on them. The switches mostly are Shinohara but some Peco too, all #8's on the MT no smaller than a #6 on the MRR with the exception of a curved switch in Vicki's Metal Recycling. A good friend was going all code 83 and gave me a good buy on several dozen Shinohara switches. This project would not have been as good had it not been for the generosity and helpfulness of other people, for materials and much advise.
     
  12. montanan

    montanan TrainBoard Member

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    I did notice the concrete ties right off. With a good deal on the track, I can see you made the choice.

    Years back, in the late 70's, I had a large N scale layout with over 11 scale mikes of track, but with the quality of the locomotives back then, I ripped it out and moved on to HO scale. One thing that really bugged me was the over sized rail in N scale and when I started the HO layout, I was handlaying code 70 because it looked so much better. Unfortunately my Kadee spike gun crapped out (for the 6th time) and was beyond repair. I finished the layout with Shinohara flex track and turnouts. I find them to be excellent turnouts. I haven't had any issues with them at all.

    All main line turnouts are number 6 with some number 4's in industrial areas. Although I would like to run large articulated locomotives, my railroad is a short line/branch line and I purposely limited locomotive size by installing 90' turntables. Mikes are the largest steamers I run, but prefer consolidations. Diesels are mostly smaller ones, with the majority of the fleet being Atlas first generation Alcos. My layout is a freelance railroad set right where I live in southwestern Montana. There were very few Alcos out here, but the nice part about freelancing is that you can do what you want.

    I grew up with relatives working on both the Northern Pacific and the Milwaukee Road, and as a kid, I spent countless hours riding in the cabs of steam, diesel and electric locomotives. Trying to model even part of a subdivision of either railroad wasn't an option with the room I have available, so in my freelance world, I interchange with both railroads giving me the opportunity to have power from both railroads show up on my layout.

    I love the long sweeping curves on your layout and the obvious change of elevations. I tried to have as broad a radius as possible, but had to settle for a 32 inch minimum radius, although most curves are broader.
     
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  13. Colonel

    Colonel Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    This is a great thread and some good discussions really enjoy the udates
     
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  14. friscobob

    friscobob Staff Member

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    The fun part begins when you start building HO scale mesquite............. ;)
     
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  15. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Still trying to figure out how to do just that Bob. Any ideas out there on how to make HO scale mesquite trees?
     
  16. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Here is a short video I made up today, of a MofW train Been working on.
    Thanks for stopping by,

     
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  17. FriscoCharlie

    FriscoCharlie Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Yes!
     
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  18. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Nice! What was that partial tank car I saw?
     
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  19. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Yes it is. Made it to match some photos of same.
     
  20. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Do you have a still picture of it?
     

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