Hmmmm.....the Playa Desnuda extension thread

bremner Mar 14, 2020

  1. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    I realized that I need to relocate the arrival track and drill track on the other side of that crossover...too close together.
    [​IMG]
    I am going to place the engine house where the Dremel is and I am thinking about putting my freight station between a spur and the drill track. (Where the Atlas station is sitting)
     
  2. VinceP

    VinceP TrainBoard Member

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    Good to see the shop has gotten the Rotary out for use.

    Ooooooops my bad thought you said rotary plow.

    Lol looking Great B.
     
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  3. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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  4. gmorider

    gmorider TrainBoard Member

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    Looks interesting. We all "live and learn". You'll get it done. Good luck. (y)
     
  5. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    This afternoon I laid the rest of the track in the interchange yard. Eager to see how it works, I grabbed 6 MTL/Kadee Southern Pacific Lines and a Great Northern wood boxcars and assembled a simple train to push and pull through the switches by hand. It was rather rewarding to see that it was working the way that I wanted it to. Next up, laying the track to the soon to be relocated freight station, followed by wiring and painting the track…
    Here are a couple of railfan pictures of the junction.
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    [​IMG]
     
  6. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    And even realistic construction debris! Awesome!
     
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  7. Many Trains

    Many Trains TrainBoard Member

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    What are you using for the roadbed the track is on?
     
  8. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    Making good progress!
     
  9. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    Well, that's the beauty of an interurban route prototype....they built it on the cheap, and the roadbed was rarely built up, heck, the West Santa Ana Branch didn't even have ballast until the Southern Pacific owned it for a decade. I am gluing it down straight to the table top.
     
  10. Many Trains

    Many Trains TrainBoard Member

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    I was kind of hoping that was the case - I have very small layout that uses Unitrack at the moment, but I have been unhappy with that and am planning to redo it with Peco. I have been tempted to try this without the traditional cork roadbed, just putting it directly down on the table top. Seeing how you are progressing, I think I'll proceed with that plan!

    The layout plan I have is not my own - it is an almost DIRECT copy of a layout by called the Patch by Keith Jordan. I think with an urban setting, it should look right at home without the roadbed. I just need to get rolling now with replacing the track!
     
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  11. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    Finally, I have finished laying the track in the yard. All of the track from for the extension has been recycled from my scrapped Pacific Coast Railway and from T.H.E.R.R. that is in Showlow, AZ after it was rebuilt with Unitrack.

    After the track was laid, I assembled a 9 car train of 40 foot boxcars and snaked it through the yard, and a 3 car train through the junction since the staging track isn’t laid yet.
    Next up on the hit parade is wiring. Joy.
    [​IMG]

    The two tracks in the yard can hold 17 40ft boxcars, not sure about the team track in front of the relocated freight station.
     
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  12. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    Thanks for the shoutout. :D

    I am happy you could use it. The box of track etc. was just taking up room and gathering dust in the shed for almost 9 years !! ;):whistle:
     
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  13. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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  14. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    I have now learned why railroads hate foamers...the electricians from Laguna de los Borrachos worked in the Washington Blvd yard this cool 80° morning (I live in the middle of the Sonoran Desert) and while wiring up the extension (all black feeders are on the rails and all red feeders are tinned), one of the electricians put their Double IPA down a little hard and that part of the yard (and the floor below) was covered in foam. These darn foamers sure make a mess. The electricians were also drinking Jameson...I really need to hire a new electrician...
     
  15. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    I started to wire up the yard today, I soldered all of the feeders and ran the main bus. I only got one set of tracks wired (the main) before I ran out of connectors.

     
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  16. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    I realize that this is not prototypical paperwork for the Pacific Electric, but this is for a model railroad, and I am using artwork from an era correct notepad
    [​IMG]
    This is in Excel, so it can be edited as needed. I also plan to draw up a SPINS (Southern Pacific Industrial Numbing System, a map of all tracks) sheet for the branch, that is why there is a SPINS column, to match up with the track number.
     
  17. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    I only have to wire up the freight station and engine house track, I have SPST switches for these, so I can store locos on them and still operate the layout. The soon to be laid staging track will be wired. I have also painted all of the track, up next is ground cover. I am really thinking about using Arizona Rock dirts and ballast in the yard, I have only used Woodland Scenics ballast, and it is a pain to work with when you glue it down.
    [​IMG]
    I have also painted the tracks with Krylon camouflage brown, and I have drawn up the SPINS for Playa Desnuda. I plane to use these as a control panel and a diagram panel.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  18. Rich_S

    Rich_S TrainBoard Member

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    I prefer real rock ballast over Woodland Scenics "clay" ballast. I always had problems with the Woodland Scenics ballast floating in the glue, even after wetting it down with wet water. That is when I switched to Smith & Son real rock Ballast and have never looked back. Unfortunately because of a few deaths in the family Smith & Son's ballast was having supply issues. That is when I tried the Arizona Rock & Mineral products and found they were every bit as good as the Smith & Son's products I'd been using. On a positive note, a nephew of Harley Smith has now taken over the operations at Smith & Son and their products are now available, they even have a Facebook page. In my opinion ARM and Smith & Son real rock ballast is the way to go for ballast and yes I still use many of the Woodland Scenics ground cover products, so please don't take my post as a slam against Woodland Scenics, that is not the intent. Also I'm not in any way associated with ARM or Smith & Son, just a happy customer.
     
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  19. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    A buddy of mine who lives in Chandler was kind enough to print out a few wig wags for me.
    https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4043395/files
    [​IMG]
    I used some really old Floquil Old Silver that is still good. About the time they were just about dry, my Great Dane walks by the table and his jowl catches one, fortunately it landed on the floor. On a side note, my 2-8-0 pulled a 23 car train! Now I need to do some more track cleaning
     
  20. SLSF Freak

    SLSF Freak Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Cool lookin' wig-wag! (y)
     
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