very very nice work there on the electrical side of the house. Looks like that you have that mastered. love the play by play as well.
Jamie, I am really enjoying your layout. Still making it through all the posts. I had a question about your spline roadbed in the turnouts. Can you explain how you transition from main to the siding with the individual splines? From this picture from your site, it looks like you may take a few splines off of the main and add splines to both sides of the sidding. If so, you must be adding splines back into the main. Could you give me more detail on this. And while I am at it, how many 1/8 inch splines do you use? Thanks, Michael
Looks great as always Jamie. I would have never found out about Tomar signals if it wasn't for you! They are exactly what I was looking for!
Thanks for the comments! Once again I have been spending more time at work on the layout than I have updating this thread, so once again a long time has elapsed since my last update. Look for new updates coming soon (real soon). Hey, no problem even if it is criticism. I have numerous single track mainlines within a few miles of mmy house, both CSX and NS. The ballast profiles of the mainlines near my house have no shoulder at all. In fact, I did some "on site" research right before I ballasted this track. I found that the ballast began sloping downwards towards ground level right at the ends of the ties. In fact, the ballast actually starts sloping down just inside the ends of the ties; I tried to reproduce this effect on my layout just because I like they way it looks. On the actual CSX line I am modeling, there are many sections with about a 12" shoulder but also many where there is no shoulder and the ballast slopes down right away. I may try a shoulder on other sections of the layout. The photo that you reference above is actually a bit of a special case because I added this house track after the spline roadbed for the siding had been completed for quite some time. So I sort of "grafted on" the spline roadbed for the house track by gluing the first (center) spline to the outside of the siding spline roadbed, then just improvised as I added more splines. Normally, I will just place the first (center) spline in place then start gluing the second spline to the first. When I reach a turnout, the second spline follows the diverging route and becomes the center spline for that track. I use three 3/16" splines on all of my roadbed for a total width of 15/16". I was originally planning on using 1/8" splines, but that would require seven or eight splines to get the similar width when using just five 3/16" splines. Saves a lot of cutting & gluing time. Thanks! I love the Tomar signals; glad I don't have to scratchbuild. I will be doing some touchup painting on these signals to match the CSX prototype look. They paint everything above the bottom platform black, including the mast, platforms and ladders. I think this will make the Tomar signals look even better. Jamie
What we could get done if we didnt have to work! (But then, we wouldnt have the money to model!) Enjoying the progress.....looking great as usual!
Looking great Jamie, the signals look great. One question can you change elevations with spline roadbed. Thanks.. JSL
Yes, you can change elevations with spline roadbed (although I don't on my layout). In fact, with spline roadbed, you get natural easements both horizontally and vertically. All you need to do is just calculate the elevation at each riser and set the riser height accordingly. The splines will then flow vertically through the elevation changes just as smoothly as they do horizontally around curves. For a good reference on this with a lot of photos, check out Charlie Comstock's HO Scale Bear Creek & South Jackson website: http://s145079212.onlinehome.us/rr/howto/splines/index.shtml Jamie
At the far south end of the layout where the tracks exit the helix from staging, Allatoona Road crosses the mainline at grade. I am modeling this grade crossing complete with working flashers and bell. I have already divided the mainline into three separate detection blocks so the crossing signals can be activated by approaching trains in a prototypical fashion. Before any crossing flashers or adjacent scenery can be considered, the road must be installed. Allatoona Road is a two-lane asphalt road. I am using sheet plastic to model this road. Like I did with the I-75 highways (see eralier posts), I am using inexpensive FOR SALE signs as the source for my sheet plastic. To lay out the road, I used a black Sharpie marker to draw the edges of the road right on the surface of the layout: I then laid sheets of paper over the layout and traced the road pattern. I then used the paper pattern to cut out the road sections from the plastic sign. I painted the roadway sections with Model Master dark aircraft gray and applied the striping using Microscale decals. I used decals for the stripes since decals can be made to follow the curves of the roadway. Here is one completed section of road; I am awaiting additional decal stripes so I can finish the second section: The dark gray band at the edge of the striped section of road represents fresh asphalt paving around the actual grade crossing. I used Loctite Power Grab construction adhesive to glue the first roadway section to the layout. Not sure why we have so many jars of gravy in the pantry, but they made good weights to hold the road in place while the adhesive dried: The first completed roadway section in place: The shoulders of the road will be built up using Sculptamold and scenery materials to blend the road into the rest of the layout. Once the road is in place, I can begin adding actual scenery materials (ground cover, turf, grass, bushes and trees) to this end of the layout. Jamie
Jamie, Thanks for the respones. I've already finished my spline. I ended up using the outer spline (of 7 splines) as my siding center spline. I think using the second spline as you did would have given it a more finished look. As you said, mine look more grafted on. It should not make a difference once cork, track, etc. are laid. I'll probably try it your way next time. Thanks, Michael
Take a look at this page: http://model-trains-video.com/d-video-scenery.php I believe the cardboard strips scenery method is demonstrated in Part 4. BTW I have all of those videos and they are great. Can be downloaded for $1.99 each. Jamie
Soooooooooooo....is this place in the road gonna be called... "Gravy Junction" or "Gravy Crossing" Just curious...hehehehehe? :tb-cool::tb-tongue: .
I was looking at the track and wondering if the main and siding are level? It's seem to me that the concrete track main looks better if the trains are uneven instead of both trains side on the same even. Love to see your layout. Anthony G.
