Here is the track plan with industry and road. I did not label it but, the front track extending into the lower right staging is the main. Both tracks in the grain elevator will end at the wall.
There will also be a facing point siding extending into Hughes lumber. Thanks for looking, I look forward to your thoughts.
I like it. There's a lot of track, but not the usual spaghetti bowl. What are you going to use for the grain bins? I just read a very nice article on making the seams in the Walthers kit... Grain Silo Transforamtion. MODELRAILROADING.WORDPRESS https://modelrailroading.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/grain-silo-transformation/
Hi Paul & Bill, I have that kit from Walthers now. You can see it in the pictures on the first page of this thread. I don't have the bands on it though. May go back and add them. Bill, I used the free program SCARM to do it. A bit of a learning curve (still learning!). But it makes a nice plan to work with. I'm going to go all PECO turnouts, wyes and cross-overs. Atlas code 100 for the track. I'm trying to keep the cost down as much as possible. Im looking forward to starting on it. Im buying the shelf brackets now. First to go up will be the bench work. I do not believe I will need support legs except a couple of places. The height is going to be about chest high to me. There is room under for work station and shelving to hold cars. I've been mulling over a couple of things and will be moving some stuff around a bit. I will try to post a revised plan tonight if possible. Thanks, Dale
Looks like an interesting switch job Dale, enough to keep you busy for a while. I need to figure how to use this SCARM stuff.
Hi Guys! Just a quick update on progress. I have been buying shelf brackets and have about a third of what I will need probably. The rest I will get as I progress around the room. I have scrounged some old hollow-core doors for the bench work. Those will be cut to width and I will add plugs to keep them from settling closed in the centers. The doors give me a couple of things, they are rigid over the spans I want and the wide edge allows me to attach the facia board easily. I can also attach the car card bins there as well. I have a set elevation above the floor that allows shelving underneath for cars and Locos as well as a work area. It matches up with a shelf in one of the closets that will be for staging, but is set 3" lower to allow for the Bird Creek Bridge crossing as you come through the wall. I also have started putting the shelves. I can buy premodern at WalMart that fit nicly for about 16.00 a set, I can't build them that cheap. Last, I have pretty much all the track and PECO turnouts on the way in. So we are moving ahead nicly. I have spent the time getting cars weathered up and adding the reflective stripes with tape. I'm looking forward to getting things started. I'll post some pictures soon of some of the weathered cars as well as construction photos as soon as I start hanging bench work. I believe I can salvage quite a bit from the old POCR in the process. Dale
Great news Dale, I am excited for your endeavor! Cant wait to see pictures of your progress, I also enjoy seeing you woodworking expertise, you really know what your doing. Thanks for the update.
Making headway! I have all but 2 short pieces of door to fit. This will give me almost the entire perimeter of the room. I stopped short of the walk-out attic door and will not go into the closet on that end. The metal shelf brackets are working nicly. I will add some shorter ones at intermediate points. The door edges will have a 3" piece screwed to them to give some body at the outer edges. There will be facia board covering them. I am adding a peninsula to the center of the back wall. This will allow me to have the shipping channel between it and the right wing. I can model both the east and west Gavilon Grain locations as well as move some of the switching operations to the peninsula as well. It is shaping up nicly, I hope to start putting trach mock-ups down as soon as next weekend. Planned industry: HARSCO Whse Word Industry Trees Vista Fertilizer Plant Team Track Asphalt Storege Gavilon Grain- Both Elevators I'll post more pictures soon! Dale
How high above the floor is the top of the benchwork? I was using HCDs and shelf brackets for my old layout, and will use them for the new one.
It's roughly 50" above the floor. It gives me room to have my shelving and a work station underneath. AND, it's easier to get under to do wiring and other things! I'm revising the track plan to accommodate the peninsula which will afford me a wye track going in to the grain facility and another parallel spur for 2 more switching locations. I got the sub-facia in last night so all but the peninsula is up. Tonight I will probably put in the risers for the sky boards and the view block for the SKO track. I'll probably pick up the foam board today. One of the nice things is I can run the track on a level surface and add foam for small changes in terrain around it. The trick now is to see how much stuff I can salvage from the old layout!
Making progress, the HCDs work great and I got the edging on them last night. The foam board is gluing down. The bottom of the edging is 50" off the floor and the top of the foam is 54". It will be no problem to reach the back of the layout. Added bonus, I can sit in my roll around chair to work under the layout.! I should finish the foam tomorrow night and start on the strips to hold the sky board. I'll probably build the peninsula this coming weekend.
I have all the foam glued down and will build the peninsula this weekend time permitting. Out of curiosity, those of you who used foam for the base. How did you fill the joints in the foam?
Looking good Dale, 54" is exactly my main yard elevation. I wish someone would make foam in a can, like spackling compound that you could shape then it would dry hard, that would be cool huh?.
Gonna try the foam in the can, the low expanding type. Hadn't thought about that. Was thinking MU'd and mesh tape. Thanks guys!!!!
Yessir, I am aware of the spray can foam, I am talking about foam in a can like spackling, that could be put on with a putty knife, shapeable water cleanup, with the same density as foam board. I had never heard of that type of foam in a can.
Would put the lumber yard on its own spur or move it to the other side of the team track. Would also add a gantry crane to the team track to unload "shapes" as Santa Fe called steel products like coiled steel, structural beams, etc. The crane is on rails so multiple cars can be unloaded. Or it could be a dock w/ a crane on top to unload flats & gondolas on one end. The other end could be used for boxcars. A team track can be used for both loads in & out.
Hi Andy, actually with the added peninsula the lumber yard and the team will be moved. They will be on the peninsula with Gavilon Grain west. Both will have their own spurs. That will open up the real estate some on that side. I feel I have just enough industry for a decent switching ops session without overloading the staging in and out of the layout. All the foam is glued down now and I can start on the last bench work this weekend. It's supposed to rain so I'll probably be stuck indoors (not mowing!). We are talking having 1 last ops session on the old layout to say good bye. It will at least give us a "fix" for a bit. To all of you following along and commenting, thank you for your thoughts!
