I see R/S stuff in the background!!! Nice Chris Craft and a few sailboats. Since you are from NYC, do you sail/run them in the Central Park model boat pond? I hang out there with my tugboat to do rescue work.
Hi MK, Yep, that is R/S stuff in the background. Our office used to be 4 blocks from the Central Park pond. I tried years ago to get storage space in the boathouse but there is a very long waiting list (Marshall of AHC used to be at that pond. You'd remember him, he would operate a remote controlled lighthouse on the ponds edge. He was afraid of the water, but he couldn't resist the possiblity of making an R/S sale to someone.) The layout and boats (one plane) are in Upstate NY. I once brought my Barrelback chris craft boat to the Central Park pond only to have it attacked by a swan. I wished your tugboat was there that day to do rescue, because believe me, you don't want to walk in that water!
Oops, R/S = R/C -> fat fingers! I've been going to that pond for over 15 years, my first boat was made using some wood pieces and chopsticks to make a free sailing "sailboat". Although I've never walked into the water I have seen many trying to retrieve a sunken boat. The best I've seen was on one cold day in November someone showed up with a $2000, 10 foot U-Boat. it dived but never came up. Let's just say the guy was pretty cold.
Hi, Iam also abig fan of fast modern trains, my permament layout is still on Atlas Freeware so I am always looking for any ideas. Love your layout which track is it?. I am a big fan of Kato.
Welcome to Trainboard, MrPlatts. If you have some questions about your track plan, consider starting a thread. Trainboard has many knowledgeable members who would love to post on your thread. If you have some pictures or expertise in the modern "go-fasties" (or pics of the Chunnel trains?), there are certainly TB members who would love to learn more about them from you...consider starting a blog. Nice to have you aboard!
Dave & mrplatts, Your timing couldn't be better, my wife & I are leaving tomorrow for Upstate, NY where the layout is. I have finished laying down 90% of the track (I'm using atlas flex track and peco switches) I still have to put track down for the yard but needed to purchase more switches (I liked your suggestion for the yard Dave and that was a major change in the plan) So since I couldn't finish the yard I started wiring for DCC. Unfortunately I forgot to pack the camera on our last trip so that is way you haven't seen any progress. Mrplatts, Welcome to trainboard, there is a wealth of knowledge here and I hope you enjoy it. When I posted my plan other members saw potential problems I didn't anticipate. Dave made a suggestion to change my original plan for the yard because it would take too long for trains to get onto the main line. If you do have pixs of the modern trains I'd love to see them, we never get to see the Chunnel or Bullet trains in the United States plus it's helpful when you want to in design a modern layout. Dirk posted a pix of one of the Tokyo tracks on the 1st page of this post and it really helped, because it refreshed my memory. It was so complexed their track system. In a week I will be posting new pix of the layout.
Quick question, when I ran out of switches for the yard, I remembered I had a bunch of Atlas #4 switch from my first layout stored away, could I have used the #4's to finish the yard? Since I'm running passenger trains would that be a problem in the tight radius or would it have mattered?
Bernard: Folks will probably post pros and cons to this possibility...Personal taste will play a big part, but I'd suggest #6s at least in the yard, both for appearance and for greater reliability as you move in and out of the yard. I noticed you added a lot of crossovers...that means you'll have lots more S-curves, so the bigger the better. (But no S-curves would be best, IMO.:teeth
Okay, I was wrong the switches I had from an earlier layout were Atlas #6's not #4's. Progress on the layout: I've finished putting down all the track and have completed all the wiring for DCC. Here are some photos of the yard empty and with bullet trains. The Center photo is of the middle of the layout were the main station will be. More photos to follow.
WOW! That's some yard! How wide is the table? Will you have trouble reaching the middle tracks? Great work!
Hi MK How is Jersey? The yard is 4' wide but I have no problems reaching the center of the layout. Before I started my wife said I could have the whole middle of the basement but not the walls (we have storage racks mounted to the walls) so the layout is in the middle with acess all around. I was originally thinking of 3' in width but the max. radius I needed for the bullet trains is 22" with a min. of 17.5". I used a lot of leftover Atlas switches but what a difference in Peco switches (and about double the price) at first I had a lot of problems alining the Altas switches for smooth operation and it took some time. All the switches on the main lines are Peco. Thanks for the compliment. I'll be posting more photos.
Bernard, Jersey is cold!!! And they're predicting 4-6 inches of snow for tomorrow. One thing good is I can work from home which allows me to surf Trainboard while I'm working. Both my layouts are mostly made up of left over Atlases (manual) too but when I needed a few new switches I went ahead and bought more instead of getting the Pecos. Something about matching them.... Should have gotten the Pecos, though pricey!!!
MK You brought up a good point: do the Atlas switches match the Peco's? There are a couple of switches I would like to change in the yard but I'm afraid if I try to replace them they won't match. Here are some more pixs of the 2 Mt I'm building: One is looking inside the big mountain in the west/north part of the layout and the other is the smaller mountain on the west/south. (Opposite side of the yard which is in the east/south) Good luck with the weather tomorrow you're lucky you can work from home, I have to travel into the NYC.
Bernard, The Atlas manual switches don't match the Pecos at all. They have the ugly big ol' switch thingy that juts out. Here's my (flawed?) logic. If I have, say, two Pecos on the layout then they will make the rest of the Atlases look lame so.....I kept buying Atlas manual switches. Oh well, there's always the next layout. LOL! BTW, what kind of green foam is that? Is that the stuff the florist use? Aren't they kind of weak and dent easily? -Mike
MK, I got the green isolation foam board at the closest local lumber yard Upstate, I was surprised that they didn't have pink or blue but they assured me it was isolation foam and it is. (I must be the only person with green foam board.) Since then I've found another lumber yard that I like better who does sell blue & pink foam boards. (His prices & quality I find are better, I wished I had found him earlier) Mike--What size is the Altas Standard switch that they package? It doesn't say on the package, is it a 4,5, or 6? I know what you're talking about with the Atlas switches, can they cause headaches. Dave had an idea that to think of scenes and/or stories on your layout: how about a store call the "Brittany Spears' Hair Salon" or a playground called the "Vince Lombardi's Survival Camp for Pre-Schoolers"?
LOL!!!! I like the Brittany Spears' Hair Salon or lack thereof! The Atlas standard manual is a #4 I believe. Since my layout is small, that's all that I use. I believe Peco has an equivalent, their smallest but most people don't use them. Worse comes worse when they become problematic I can just remove the dummy side switch appendage and hook up a Caboose Industries ground throw. I will have to ballast a bit more though to hide the lack of ties where the dummy switch used to sit.
You are not the only one! I found my green foam in the Dallas area at an insulation supply company. The railroad is a much farther along now. I need to get some current pics up on railimages.
Bernard: The pics look great! I have all Atlas turnouts on my layout, mostly the 2750 and 2751 the ones without any switch machine). These match the 19 inch radius curve exactly through the curved part of the turnout. The angle of the diverging track is (I believe) 15 degrees. (My logic on this is: If you put 6 curved turnout branches connected in an arc, you should make one quarter of a circle (90 degrees divided by 6 = 15 degrees).)
It's good to know I'm not the only "green foamer" out there. To quote Kermit the Frog, "It isn't easy being green." (especially when everyone on trainboard talks about cutting their pink or blue foam, you kind of feel left out of the loop.) By the way Mike, I like you layout, please post some recent pixs. Thanks Dave, it's always good to get positive feedback, it makes you feel that you're doing something right. On page 30 of the April MR there is an article on installing tortoise switch machines in 2" foam, does anybody have any thoughts on this proceedure? Okay here are more pix of the layout.
