My new HO Railroad

Good day all.
I would like to share with the world the progress on my latest HO Railroad. After tearing down my previous 20' x 48' Railroad which was located in the basement of my former home, I have embarked on the building of an even better Railroad.
The Railroad is located in a 21' x 29' building I had built just for the Railroad. The building features an 8' suspended ceiling, fluorescent lighting, 100 amp electrical service, 4 tubular skylites, air conditioning, heat and dehumidification. Small screened vent windows which will be located under the Railroad will provide ventilation and 2 ceiling fans provide air circulation. I curved the wall corners using tempered hardboard screwed to the drywall. The concrete floor will be tiled once the Railroad is nearly finished.

The double-decked Railroad will be constructed of steel studs. This is the first time I have used these elements in construction and I must say I am very pleased with their sturdiness and ease of assembly. The around the wall design features 2 - 24' peninsulas coming off the east and west walls. Scene divider walls on the peninsulas will be 74" high. The tracks will cross the one door via a single track hinged bridge for each level. The levels will be connected to each other by way of a helix to be built outside the building in a weatherproof box on the west wall.

The Railroad will be freelanced and heavily based on the western US roads. Digitrax wireless DCC will be the mode of control. As I operate alone, the Railroad will be set for continuous running with a single track mainline with passing sidings. A large double-ended yard will be located on the long south wall.

Photos of my meager progress can be found at

http://photos.yahoo.com/KPKOREN

KEN

 

Ken. First, Welcome to TrainBoard. Took a quick look at your pictures and enjoyed them all, even your mug shot. That is going to be quite a layout when finished. But, if you are like the rest of us we are never finished. There are always some alteration that has to be done to make things better. If you have any questions, there are a bunch of people on here and between them they know it all.

 

whoa!

 

Although I don't use steel in my benchwork Ido use it for all my walls. I'd never go back to wood after using it. it's a little more expensive than wood but it's all perfect unlike wood which is warped and knotted.

The bench work looks great! and It looks to me like you've accouplised a lot. The unsupported steel does scare me though, especially on the loops. The steal isn't designed to be used structually and I'm affraid that when you get all the scenery on top of there it might bend, flex or generally be unstable. I'd might a few pieces of wood into the end loops. Also be careful with water the steel will rust, I recently removed a wall adn discovered a bit of deteriation although not enough to cause any structural problems. Paining it now while you have the chance might be a good idea just to give you some peice of mind.

 

WOW! I am impressed and thankful for all the replies already. You guys ARE the best. I appreciate the comments and suggestions. To answer some questions---

Frisco-- with regards to costs of the steel studs, a 120" steel stud cost me $1.41--92" wood studs are heavily advertised around here for $1.99!! A no-brainer decision there.

Boxcab and Colonel--this is where I am embarressed, I do not have a definite trackplan drawn already. I have CadRail and have had it for almost 2 years, The benchwork drawings on the Yahoo site were made with it. I have many ideas as to what will go where and just have to get my act together and get them drawn. The benchwork was drawn and built to the 28" minimum radius I want.

Paul--I too worried about the unsupported loops. I want to have no supports between the 2 levels if at all possible. Unseen in the pictures of the loop are 3 steel studs running under the loop from the outer edge of the loop and back to the scene divider wall.

Keeping with the low maintenance and lightweight properties of the Railroad, the benchwork will be covered with layers of 2" extruded foam insulation. This is another medium I have not utilized before. Over the foam will be Hydrocal. (On my former layout, we mixed the Hydrocal in an old blender with excellent results)
The aisles are minimum 3 feet wide with 2 pinch points of 2 feet at the loops. The track height will be around 58" for the upper level, around 39" for the lower. There will be grades on both but nothing extraordinary. The upper level will be 12" deep except at the loops. the lower no more than 24" deep.
Again thanks for the comments.

KEN

 

Ken, with an outstanding empire like that, a RR tycoon like yourself will not be operating by yourself very long. Be prepared for long lines, and make sure you have plenty of drool buckets.

 

Ken - nice solution to the 'blob' problem. I don't remember seeing a design with the little twists at the end of the penisulas. Where did you get the idea?

 

Black Cloud--when I am ready to order track from Standard Hobby Supply, I will ask them if the have drool buckets

Yank--Forgive me, but my Austrailianese is not too good. I am not sure of the "blobs" you speak of. If you are referring to the balloon curves at the end of the peninsulas, I originally wanted 3 peninsulas. The track curves dictated how much minimum room I would need for each balloon. There was no room for 3 peninsulas AND 3' aisles. Deciding on 2 peninsulas, I just kept the curves going past 180 degrees so that the depth of the levels would be 24" or less. I don't know if that makes sense. The idea for the curves just came to me.

G'day

KEN

 

Hey Ken, Without being to nosey, where about in La Grange Park are you. I was born and raised in Lyons just down the road from you, still have family there. Moved up to Wis. in '85. You really have a good start there with a lot of potential, and by the looks of it you got a pretty good handle on what your doing without to much help!

 

Welcome to our family here on the TrainBoard Ken! We are certainly glad to have another large layout going together. You could probably clue us in to some of your shortcuts, as you go along, that would also be useful to those who are building smaller layouts. That would be a much appreciated help, especially to the younger members.

A couple of suggestions:

Perhaps it would prove helpful to lay the tile floor at this point, while you can reach the area easily. The tile will allow you to lay on a mechanic's "creeper" to perform under deck wiring, because the casters will roll better on tile than bare concrete. I found that small parts, nails, screws, and wire terminals are more easily found on tile too.

Second, if you feel the need for firmer support under those return loops on the peninsulas, a flat piece of 18 or 20 ga. sheet metal (3-1/2" wide) can be fastened to the ends of each metal stringer with small angles and pop rivits. That spreads the load out amoung all the ends, adding stiffness. One long piece become quite stiff standing on edge and supported at each stud end, and easier to bend than wood.

Passing thought: That metal frame work can also serve as an electrical ground, saving you some wire where it would be convenient.

 

That's OK - neither is mine. I grew up in Rockford IL - been living here for 5 years.

"blob" is a term that John Armstrong used to like to use. and yes - it's the big return loops.

I had a thought. You could help to support the 'blobs' by making the lower level shallow - move the backdrop to the middle of the lower level. Then the upper and lower levels are supported in the middle. You loose the depth on the lower level but to be frank, generally the back of a lower level scene is hard to see anyway. Just a thought.

 

Alkcnw--our home is located on the east side of the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad tracks. The mainline runs behind my backyard fence!! Unknown to the sellers of this house, one of the reasons my significant other and I bought it was because the tracks WERE there. About 1-1/2 years ago, I built an obeservation tower/workshop behind my model railroad building. The tower is called CP KOREN. I have an old web page located at

http://members.directvinternet.com/ccbbbb1114/index.html

The unfortunate part is that the tracks immediately behind the tower are the interchange yard tracks with the BNSF tripletrack mainline located 3 blocks south. Most times, there is rolling stock parked there blocking my view of the IHB mainline. Thanks again for the kind words.

KEN

 

Very cool tower, Ken! I bet you're the only one on the line with a fence that opens up to the tracks! You seem to be a man who not only dreams big, but fulfills those dreams. That's inspiring.

 

Yep, I know the area well. Used to love to get stuck by a train or two on the IHB line at 47th st. and East Ave. Sometimes you could sit there for over an hour!

 

Very cool location, like the tower, that coal train derailment looked a little close for comfort though!
I visited Blue Island crossing & Dolton back in 2000 and I did enjoy watching the IHB, they have some very cool switcher/slug combo's.

Ref the layout, which bits of the west are you planning to model? What sort of scenery are you thinking of?
I guess you could model two different parts of the west on the two decks as they are not scenically connected, like maybe a desert on one and a forest on another, or that sort of thing.
Were you thinking of dedicating any of the layout to staging, or were you thinking of having "live" yards?

It looks like the basis for a great layout! Keep us posted on your progress.

 

Pete--I am also one of the few who cuts down the vegetation behind the fence so I CAN see the tracks. The tower is cool except in the summer--you would know about hot living in Vegas. Thanks for the comments.

Alkcnw--47th and East still gets tied up. I try to avoid it if at all possible.

Martyn--Good day to you from across the pond. The derailment didn't worry me. C'mon, what kind of damage could 100 tons of coal do?? I too like Blue Island for the variety of power, most of which also passes behind the tower. Their slug combos are a kitbashers dream. The scenery will be mostly Rocky Mountanish on the upper level. The lower will be mostly urban and midwesterny. I will have active yards, 1 big one on the lower, 2 smaller on the upper. I dislike hidden staging yards with a passion. I dislike hidden trackage PERIOD! The helix will be enough hidden trackage for me. Thanx for the kind words.

KEN