Red-tailed Mountain Build Thread (my first!)

DragonDad Dec 23, 2016

  1. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    So here it is, I have been a member of TrainBoard for 5 years now, always had an interest in trains but never done a lot with it. After seeing some incredible layouts both in person and online I got the bug to do something. I had so many ideas swirling around in my head. I love the mountains and would love to do a logging layout, but that seemed ambitious for a 1st.

    So I chose a 2x4 form factor and decided to see what I could fit in it. I also love the desert and felt it would be easier to model. So I settled on a location and era, the Mojave desert around the 1930s. My layout is a freelance based on a real prototype, the Tonopah and Tidewater. My layout, Red-tailed Mountain is a mining spur serviced by the T&T

    To motivate me, I asked for a Bachman DCC 4-6-0 to be my motive power for the layout. It is era and location appropriate, and I hoped actually having the engine on my desk would motivate me to build the layout!
     

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  2. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    I shortly thereafter started the bench work. I decided an open frame with foam would give me the flexibility I wanted for landscaping and having more than one level.
     

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  3. Inkaneer

    Inkaneer TrainBoard Member

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    My experience with the Bachmann 4-6-0 is that it does not like bad track work. The front truck does not have a lot of weight to hold it on bad track and is prone to derailing. So keep your track work up to snuff and avoid any kinks, gaps, sudden changes in direction or places where one rail dips lower than the opposite rail. On the plus side, if a B'mann 4-6-0 can make it around your layout then you got good track.
     
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  4. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for that! I have not laid track yet so I will pay it special attention!
     
  5. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    I concur with the above. I added a tiny bit of lead sheet to the top of the pilot truck, which helped immensely! That ten-wheeler has become one of my most reliable locos!

    Am looking forward to watching your build!
     
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  6. Eagle2

    Eagle2 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    It is always neat to watch a layout grow. Look forward to more!
     
  7. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    i have a bit of confession, I actually started this build nearly 2 years ago! I got the basic bench work done but then life got in the way. It still does with work and 2 special needs kids, but every time I paused to work on it I enjoyed it, so I am trying hard to get some me time to continue my work. I will post the pictures I took of my progress, and will have some questions about some of the ways forward

    So here is the foam cut and stacked
     

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  8. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    So when planning a layout, even for my first build I wanted something more than a loop. I wanted elevation changes and a theme. I grew up in the desert and have been a fan of the Mohave desert railroads, I have been to Rhyolite ghost town, and thought it would be fun to model the area and era. The Tonopah and Tidewater was a real line that ran from Ludlow California to Beaty Nevada. It was built in the very early 1900's, listed as a class 2 common carrier but was built by Francis Marion Smith primarily to transport Borax. There is a quite a history to the T&T. The railroad was abandoned and torn up in 1942, the steel reclaimed for the war. However, the roadbed is still plainly visible on google earth!

    Anyway, my model is a fictional mining spur serviced by the T&T. The mainline would run across the front of the layout, the spur starts in the front of the layout and travels clockwise going through a tunnel and climbing up a wash to a plateau where the living camp will be. It then climbs again to a higher plateau where the mine ins. It then goes across the tunnel and descends down the back side of the mesa and around to the front.

    It is a lot in a small space, the radius are a little tight and grades just under 3%, but this is prototypical of a hastily constructed spur to serve a mine that may or may not produce. The 10 wheeler I chose is also prototypical of this area and era. I only plan to have it pull 3 70ton ore cars, so it should be ok.

    So here is a picture of the 2d plan
     

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  9. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    And here is the 3D starting to take shape in the foam
     

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  10. dak94dav

    dak94dav TrainBoard Member

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    Sounds like a cool layout. I saw pictures of a project railroad in MR once that was set in the late 1800s southwest. It was in HO I think. Looked really nice. I wish I knew what the name of it was, a few pics of it would be some good inspiration
     
  11. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks, I will remember that suggestion!!
     
  12. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    The next step was to decide how to do the inclines. I do not trust myself to carve smooth straight inclines out of foam, so I ordered a set of 3% starter inclines from Woodland Scenics. The computer program showed around 2.5-2.7% for most of my grades, but the inclines only come in whole numbers. 2% would be too long for the layout. 3% it is. My train is going to be fairly short so I am not too concerned about the engine making it.

    The ramps are 24" long and raise 3/4 inch. I needed each grade to go up 1". This ended up being a bit of a puzzle. I had 4 grades that rose or fell 1 inch each, at 3% that would be 32". I had 6 inclines 24" long that rose 3/4" For the extra length I cut the beginning 8" and end 8" off the extra inclines, and placed a extra segment at either the beginning or end of each of the 4 grades. This meant I had to add height to each of the 4 inclines to reach 1". I ended up cutting and stacking craft foam sheets under parts of the inclines for the extra 1/4 inch.

    Here are the inclines in place
     

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  13. Jeepy84

    Jeepy84 TrainBoard Member

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    San Juan Central?

    Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
     
  14. dak94dav

    dak94dav TrainBoard Member

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    Hmmm, that may be it.
     
  15. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    Ok, next step is to add the basic land forms to the layout as well as fill in the inclines. So I am one of those people who will research something to the point of inaction. I will read so much and realize there are so many different ways of doing something that I can't decide and will read some more. Anyway, to form the mass of the land forms I am using left over chunks of foam sheet stacked, gaps filled, and then carved. Aleene's tacky glue is great for gluing blocks of foam together. It is also good for my other hobby, speaker repair. I have also read latex caulk is good for this too.

    Next I had to choose a fill and sculptable material. I ordered a bag of sculptamold but did not want to waste it on filling space, I would rather use it on the exterior surfaces. I had read about drywall mud, spackling and light weight spackling. I picked up a container of DAP Fast N Final from HD. I LOVE THIS STUFF!! I have used it occasionally for wall patching but it is perfect in this application. It has a very smooth fine texture, spreads very easily but holds it's shape, has very little shrinkage, remains slightly flexible so it doesn't crack. Best of all, it is ready to use out of the tub! No measuring or mixing hoping you got all the little chunks. I may not even bother with the sculptamold!

    When put on very thick such as filling in the gaps it takes a long time to dry. So over the course of a couple sessions I filled in the in inclines and put a smooth top coat where the road bed will go. I also built up a hill with a gully in one back corner, and added the first part of the mountain in the center.

    I also had to decide how to address the overpass of the tunnel on the front left of the layout. In order for the entire layout to work, it has to curve as it goes across. Bridges are straight, and I am not sure I want to tackle a custom trestle, there is not much room for that anyway. I decided I would place a piece of sheet metal over it, and build up the hillside around it to disguise the fact the overpass is directly on top. Don't have a pic of that yet, I need to cut the sheet metal to shape.

    Here is a photo of the layout with some land forms in place, the inclines filled in. Also a detail of the hill in the back left of the layout.
     

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  16. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    So I am approaching a question I would like some opinions on. I picked up a oops can of paint in kind of a reddish tan brown to act as a base coat for the layout. Would it be better to lay roadbed before or after painting the base coat? Roadbed is going to be black foam glued down probably with latex caulk. Track is going to be Atlas Code 55 (mostly flex). I also have a couple different sands that will cover much of the layout. I am going to experiment with some scraps how to apply the paint / sand. More pictures to come! Thanks!
     
  17. BALOU LINE

    BALOU LINE TrainBoard Member

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    I don't think it really matters, but I tend towards roadbed first. One less layer for potential failure of otherwise perfect track work.
     
  18. spiffy trains

    spiffy trains TrainBoard Member

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    Looks great. What is the outer dimensions? thanks for sharing looking forward to more info and photos.
     
  19. DragonDad

    DragonDad TrainBoard Member

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    It is 2ft x 4ft :)
     
  20. in2tech

    in2tech TrainBoard Member

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    As a fellow 2' x 4' model railroader I am enjoying this thread very much. Keep up the great work. Your attention to detail already is amazing.
     

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