Hey Guys, It’s been a little while since my last post and although not much major work has been done, running trains and fine tuning track and wiring has continued. I’ve been having a blast running trains from my phone, and with WiThrottleLite on my Ipad I can have one train running the loop and do some switching from my phone. In the interest of having more DCC locomotives I picked up a Bachman GN NW2 for a great price and having my daughter pick it up on Vancouver Island next weekend so no shipping charges! So for a total of $80 Canadian , or about $55.25 US I scored a virtually new DCC switcher, got love Marketplace when you find a deal…bargained down to $80 from his asking price.. Thanks for tuning in!, Brent
Hey Guys, It's been a while, life seems to get in the way of trains....or is it the other way around? I was finally able to get the plywood in for the yard at Fruitvale and yes still laying out track and buildings before I commit to the track and structure plan...
Hi Guys, I had some time to get the roadbed and track installed, slightly different layout than the post above. Now it's time to plan roads, building placements and scenery blocks...
That's a really nice layout, with a great balance of scenic running and switching multiple industries!
Thanks Andy, I spent an enjoyable hour last night breaking apart and building up a few trains, I'm glad I put that passing / runaround track in... for the most part things ran great, the only hang ups were generally operator error. The Bachmann NW2 is a great runner, much better over the Peco insulfrog switches on the rest of the layout than the BLI SW7. This most recent section is mostly Peco electrofrogs and everything runs better over those... now to build a timetable or fill in some car routing cards I printed at work and plan some operating sessions, I've got a few buddies at work that are interested... I've still got the staging yard extension to complete as well, the frame work is there but no roadbed or track yet...then that should be it for track... Brent
I love this layout. I’m planning something similar so it’s nice to see yours coming together so well. It’s going to look so nice with scenery!! I need to start getting some buildings made so I can refine my plan as you have done. The twice around makes great use in a small space. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Emphasis mine. I believe the technical term for that is "low operator pressure," a common affliction with no known treatment.
Thanks for the positive feedback guys. Timothy I would recommend starting with the layout then buy/ kit-bash or scratch build buildings to suit. Many of the buildings I've bought over the years won't or can't be used in the areas I have available, not a big loss as most were picked up used from a long closed LHS... And Andy, low operator pressure, is a good term, it was a lot more fun than running trains in circles and I didn't need to follow a timetable or reference a pile of car cards. I think the first thing I might try is the colored label dots dispatching system, easy to learn and zero paperwork...and I bought label dots on sale! Brent
Whether watching trains orbit, picking up and dropping off railcars and assembling/breaking down trains in the yard, at your own pace, or just working on the layout or latest model, is a good time to me! And if the model is a 5'8" blonde, then it's prolly time to wake up.
I have a 6x3 table I’ve been messing around with unitrak on for a couple of years. Intentions are to set up a larger table in the basement by the end of the year to start making something I’ll add scenery too. For now I have a few kits, station, freight house, engine house and now a couple of factory buildings etc. I want to build and set them on mock areas to see what I’ll be comfortable reaching around and over and perhaps adjust my design based on that. Plus I’m feeling bad for not building the kits that have been sitting packed away for a bit now. I have my eyes on more but I’ll take your advice and quit while I’m ahead for a while Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Welcome aboard Timothy! 6'x3' in is a good size for a small layout in N scale, and Unitrack is hard to beat. 36"x80" (interior hollow core slab door) is even better, but reach to the back side is a stretch, unless you can easily move the layout out away from the wall to get back behind it.
OR UNLESS..... You put the layout on casters and can easily pull it away from the wall! I would have loved to have an around the room layout but I went with something portable /movable as my wife and I will most likely downsize in the next few years and I didn't want to tear this thing apart...
My Railroad Lives! Even though work on the model railroad has recently stalled due to a local cork roadbed shortage, the prototype lives on... Some online research had led to a link for a cab ride Video on this ex GN / BN line from the Atco Lumber Mill in Fruitvale BC down towards the US Border at Waneta BC. The chop nose torpedo tube GP9 is an ex GTW locomotive.... https://www.bigdoer.com/48064/other-fun/nelson-and-fort-sheppard-in-under-a-minute/ Check it out, it'll only take a minute.... there will be many trees in my future... Thanks for stopping by! Brent
Hi Guys, It’s been quite a while since I last posted but happy to report some progress has occurred! Over the last week I was able to get the sub-roadbed, cork and track down on the staging yard extension. I was going to leave it as staging only but decided to widen it by about 4” to leave a central strip for buildings and industries to go between what are the extreme North and South boundaries of the layout. The extreme outer tracks on both sides represent the interchange trackage with the CP at Nelson on the northbound or curved side and the connection to Spokane on the southbound , straight side. The inside tracks on either side are industrial sidings to generate more traffic in the layout…one strips of buildings to represent two towns about 80 miles apart…two towns for the price of one! Thanks for stopping by, Brent
