Well the windows are in to close in the back porch, so that will begin this week. In the meanwhile, some actual planning paid off as I was able to tape down the tracks that are not glued down yet and then flip the whole layout on it's edge so the windows can go in. It is also gonna allow me to put some additional wiring harnesses to tuck the wiring cables in place.
Well, finally got the windows finished, main area of the now enclosed porch to TLOTH's contentment and got the layout back horizontal. I did get wiring cleaned up under the layout while vertical, which will help in the future. Now, while it was vertical, I started considering that now is the right time to make any track changes. I will be putting an Atlas turntable and roundhouse in on the layout and need to add some yard/switching/operating areas. The only definite requirement is that the turntable/roundhouse will be in the center of the layout. If the turntable goes on the left side, there would be room for a couple of switches and a small yard to the right. On the upper right area, there is also room for a couple with some industries and on the lower left area, same thing. I want to have some town scenery with a station somewhere. The main industries are Sackett Ammunition Company and the either ACME Explosives or Wolf Whiz Ale. Please give me any ideas!
Should that be.....'will not be in the center of the layout.'? A couple ideas but maybe not practical based on not to scale. Sumner
Well, a Final Rest Mattress Company would work, too! "You'll Sleep Like The Dead" Also, I am partial to ACME Anvils Co. acs_sized by Bookbear1 posted May 12, 2006 at 8:26 PM acu_sized by Bookbear1 posted May 12, 2006 at 8:30 PM
I thought about that very idea, but.....I have too many locomotives I want to have at least sitting on tracks by the roundhouse. But man, that 2nd idea looks awfully good!
Wolf Whiz Ale!! And I agree with Sumner, the second plan looks best, and you do have room at the left for a 3" extension towards the window, and a 3-4" bump out in the front to make a bit more room. Just glue foam to the side as a base and it will work well. Acme! And I was pleasantly surprised back in 90 when I went to PA and saw ACME grocery stores! Kept looking for the special items and a coyote shopping.....
Hmm, I actually could go almost 10" to a left side extension. Gonna have to get some poster board to lay out a possible plan!
Sumner and Badlands, thank you both very much for these great ideas. This is what I hoped for when I posted my question!
It's a part of the reason for these places! Now back to the fun! 10"!! That is a LOT of room for a bit of expansion, which will make it fun to see what you come up with.
I'm surprised that more people that start with a rectangular layout don't add on small sections like that where possible. Breaks up the square look and a few more inches here and there can go a long ways to making the layout look more interesting. That was a great idea. Here is a quick thought on using that additional space (of course it will need to be modified to fit the actual track being used) .... Sumner
Okay guys, thank you again. And Sumner that looks awesome. I don't think I can slope forward anymore, but it does give me hope as to what could be done with that space, leaving me wondering about the central area for a town and an industry. [hint, hint...]
Well, today was the first time in months I ran the mainline after the vertical storage and return to horizontal. The glued down sections were fine, no issues and overall the sections that had been taped down were okay. Tweaking will be needed, but I have decided that since it is Unitrack, I am going to get some more of the rerailer sections and place them around the track. And since I will be moving the turntable and roundhouse to the lower left section I may return to the original idea of the upper extension to the upper right corner as on JA's original plan. This would make the center section a smaller town and industry area, or maybe a small yard. If I don't do the yard there, it may go to the far right upper area. Ideas and observations, you guys helped me out a couple weeks ago, so HALP again!
Just an update on non-visible track work. After the lowering back down, had some spots where some of my steamers would hop the pilot trucks. Lots of watching and I found the 2 spots that were causing most of my problems and got those foxed. One spot that came loose on the rear main [longest reach of course] has been identified as a possible problem, so that will get addressed too. But, after about an hour of fiddling, my fussiest steamers are now running in a very well behaved manner. Starting with plans for a small yard in the center section. Wish me luck!
Patience and perseverance get all the little hicumups fixed up! It always amazes me just how little a flaw can make an N loco derail. Waiting on the video, by the way...
Okay, working on the layout today. gonna go screw together the new extension frame work for the West End of the layout. In the one picture you can see the template of the roundhouse area with what will be the service track closest to the edge. It will be receiving a right hand switch that will have a track going past the roundhouse area to another switch and a 2 stall building to accept either car repair or storing the railcars. The next picture is the center of the layout. For simplicity call the spur with the locomotive sitting on it number 3, as there will be another switch added to give me a total of 4 lines in my yard. The other spur will be going to a business.
Okay, the mounting of the new section was easy. Now you can see the actual footprint of the roundhouse and turntable. There will be other tracks extending from the turntable, the two engines on the template are the largest that will see this road. 9-10 tracks altogether from the turntable, not counting the feed line. The box behind the turntable is roughly the size of the two stall carshop/railcar house. Next picture shows an overview of the main Gun Creek Depot/Yard area. The last picture is the East End Spur, still trying to come up with a couple of switching options up there.
Not too exciting, but I did find 4 magnetic uncoupling sections I had already ordered. So the three existing yard tracks now have magnets. PS: If you switch the black Unitrack connectors on #4 switches with the gray ones will the #4s then power route like the #6s?
IIRC, the Kato Unitrack N scale #4 switches are user-configurable WRT power routing or not. I believe they are by default configured for power routing from the factory. Mine came with gray, conducting Unijoiners. Were yours purchased new? Perhaps the previous owner was not aware of their configurability, but wished to render them non-power-routing.
