Spring Has Sprung Layout Party!

Thanks guys!
Honestly, I have the space to build a double or triple decker, with Denver-Moffat Tunnel modeled in nearly no compression... But, I'd never get it finished.... And it would cost me a fortune. So... I'm sticking to my original plan of an 8x8' witht he twice around on a 2% grade, and internal helix. That one is a lot more realistic!
Plus, I now have space for my workshop, and an entertainment center for watching train vids. The rest of my stuff in storage comes June 5th....

 

Hi Everyone:
The 3-day weekend was busy! I scraped glue and indoor/outdoor carpeting off the concrete floor of our breezeway that we are winterizing...Not Fun!

In addition, I finished installing and painting the backdrop and fascia for the entire Kellar Branch, plus started laying flex track and turnouts in the industrial park at the northern third of the 1.6 scale miles of branchline. Big Fun!!!

I even managed to slap together some cardboard mock-ups of buildings. I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

I don't expect to finish the whole branchline by the Spring Has Sprung Layout Party on 6/19, but I'll probably be ready for my NMRA Open House and run sessions on the 3rd weekend in July.
Dave H.
Central Illinois
Modeling the 1970s era Peoria and Pekin Union Railway in N-Scale

 

Pictures for the Kellar Progress Report:
This first shows the north end of the Kellar Branch (the Pioneer Industrial Park) on the lower level. The upper level shelving (and most of the rest of the layout, for that matter) was built in the summer and fall immediately after we moved 3 years ago. I extended the lower level shelving into this area in the last 2 or 3 weeks.

As I'm modeling it, the Pioneer Industrial Park will see a lot more traffic than the actual industries/businesses experienced, but I've been able to selectively compress signature features of 10 businesses in that area that actually had rail service some time in the past 4 decades. (My modeler's license went into overdrive on Faber Construction/Haggerty Steel Fabrications which weren't really in this part of Peoria!)

Pipco will be on the left and Carver Lumber (on the right) with CILCO (Central Illinois Electric Co) pole yard behind Carver.


Gateway Milling, Altdorfer Foods, Peoria Tarp and Awning (the siding barely visible behind the clear plastic "tanks") and CILCO's Pole Yard in the background. (Sorry...I have no idea what part of the CILCO Pole Yard buildings is represented by that upside-down spritzer bottle!)


Pioneer Industrial Park Team Track/TOFC/LCL, Peoria Plastics (to the left beside the white chemical hopper, Klauss Radio and Electronics Warehouse (in the center), and Faber Construction/Haggerty Steel Fabrications.


Dave H.
Central Illinois
Modeling the 1970s era Peoria and Pekin Union Railway in N-Scale

 

More on the Kellar Branch Progress Report:
This last pic shows the lower deck where the Kellar Branch was originally going to end. About 6 feet of track connect this area with the Pioneer Industrial Park area (off to the left of this pic).

This area is the part I will be working on next.
Dave H.

 

Dave, you have plenty of potential on that layout. And double decked! Cool!

William, congrats!
Z scale comes to mind...........

 

Dave,
What benchwork method did you use? Looks very clean and professional! You did an awesome job.

 

Matt, Hemi, et al:
Thanks for the kind words.

Benchwork is 1x3 L-girder...mostly. The upper level has several sections where I used 1x4 L's to get a longer reach between supports so there wouldn't be so many obstructions on the lower levels. Shelving is 1/2 " OSB panels (AKA: "oriented strand board"/wafer board/chip board--NOT plywood) and 1/2" homasote (a paper product used as insulation in building but which takes RR spikes and water-based scenery extremely well). Fascia and backdrops are 1/8" hardboard/masonite painted with some green and blue "oops" tinted latex paints from one of the home improvement mega-stores.

Railheads on upper level tracks are at 65" and lower level track is 48". There are numerous benches to step up on so the functional level is about 53" for the upper shelf. The 35' x 40' track plan has 5 nod-unders (minimum = 57"). The layout is designed so you can follow your train throughout the basement--West and South are always to the left, and East and North are always to the right.

There are 4 helixes to get to the lower levels. I was very unhappy with a double track helix I built for a previous layout. It was the traditional "stacked" helix...each loop the same radius as the one positioned directly above or below to form a cylinder. To avoid the problems of construction, maintenance, and operations I encountered on that earlier helix, I developed a genuine "spiral" helix with a constantly increasing radius starting at about 16" at the bottom but expanding 1.5 inches each loop as it rises to the top loop which has a 24" to 28" radius (depending on which helix you're looking at). My spiral helix looks like a large bowl rather than a cylinder. Maximum grade is 2%. Since all helix supports are underneath (resting on an OSB panel mounted on the L-girder stringers), there are no obstructions to laying, soldering, repairing, replacing, or cleaning track. I can comfortably enter and stand in the helix to work on it. Since the bottom of the lower level L-girders and fascia boards all clear the floor by at least 42", I can do a duck-under into a helix without challenging my back too much (at least, at this stage of my life), and it is also very easy to scoot underneath on my wheeled dentist's stool.

My original plan was to have the main (upper) level be a fully scenic-ed, faithful representation of the railroads around Peoria and Pekin Illinois. Staging on the lower level was to be primarily unscenic-ed or lightly scenic-ed yards scattered along mainlines that snaked throughout the basement on the lower levels. Each yard represented a city where foreign RRs originated traffic that terminated in the Peoria area (mostly at the big P&PU yard in East Peoria). By carefully locating the staging yard/city at a point in the basement far away from where the train entered the (scenic-ed) Peoria area, trains might travel 2 scale miles before entering the scenic-ed area, and then they could travel that far through the scenery to get to their destination. Very satisfying.

The prototype P&PU had 20 miles of track, and the P&PU in N-Scale has about 8 scale miles (not counting the helixes which are 55 to 70 feet long). Totalling up the distance traveled from staging/cities to final destinations on the layout gives 14+ scale miles of foreign RR "mainlines"--a layout total of 22+ scale miles of mainline.

Because some of my modeler friends have trouble negotiating the step-up benches due to health problems (1 stroke, 1 cerebral palsy, 2 over 80yrs old, 1 arthritic) or (in the case of some pre-teens) just being too short, I decided to add more industries and scenery on the lower levels. The Kellar Branch has always been planned for the lower level, but I've extended it another 20 feet and altered the track configurations there and in other staging areas so trains can originate, terminate, and serve scenic-ed industries all on the lower level benchwork.
Dave H.

 

Guys, your progress is coming along great! Keep it coming!
My progress ground to a halt--moved into a new house, all my gear got delivered yesterday, and now I can hardly find anything! I can still work on the Z layout, if I can find the trees for it..

 

Kellar Branch Update June 6:
Track and roadbed have been installed on the to-be-scenic-ed portion of the Kellar Branch. Wiring and bulletproofing track still need to be done.
The helix track is next after that.

Industries between Pioneer Industrial Park and the Kellar Branch Helix.


Sheridan Lumber

Department of Transportation, Offices and materials yard

VOP's Dining Car Restaurant (My wife and I go to the prototype, Vonochen's Old Place, on special occasions. When seated at a table in the building, you can watch an LGB train loop around the room on a shelf near the ceiling. The dining cars are faithfully refurbished, except for a handicapped access ramp instead of a step into the cars. Old Style dining elegance...difficult to get a reservation in the dining cars.
Pabst Brewery in Peoria Heights. When they were still in business, Pabst had a half dozen plants in the greater Peoria area. This one was one of the busier plants. I'm also modeling the Grits mill by the Rock Island yard where the Kellar Branch originates. On my layout, the the upper entrance to the Kellar Helix is hidden behind the Grits mill.
Dave H.

 

Additional pics of Kellar Branch Progress:

Sand and gravel siding near Glen Oak Park

The exit through the backdrop to the Kellar Branch Helix is located beside the No Name Mfg building.
Hopefully, the opening will be obscured after I've put up trees.
Dave H.

 

Kellar Branch Update:
All track in the Kellar helix has been laid, and the Branch line is now tied in to the Rock Island near the RI Yard. 55 feet of #12 Bus wire has been run and connected to a block on my PM42. This weekend I'll drop feeders, solder some joiners on the helix, and (probably early next week) bullet proof the track, clean the track, and take pics of the first official run of the RI Kellar Job for posting here.
Dave H.
Modeling the 1970s era Peoria and Pekin Union Railway in N-Scale