OUUUUU THE END IS NEAR!!!! Thats right, the time has come for the Pittsburgh Line to fade away into N scale history. It pains me to do this, but there so many more things and upgrades that I want to include on the next layout. Over the last month or so the layout has been starting to drive me nuts. I'm an operations guy, yet I picked the points on the Pittsburgh Line because of their history, and because its a great railfan spot. Since it is a great railfan spot, I figured it would be a great place to see long trains hammer along non-stop on the layout. NOT SO. Basicly what I built was the real thing, a bottleneck. Anyone running trains on my layout has to sit in Rose Yard and wait their turn up the hill. And believe me, that turns into a LOT of waiting, and wasted operations. I also chose the part of the line that had the least amount of switching and or industry. Also I feel that I half assed the layout towards the end to "complete the loop." Only 25% of the track has road bed under it, the rest is stuck to the subroadbed and my mistake in doing this is beginning to show. Track is coming up in some areas and the track does not have a realistic profile. Other than the great grade up to Horseshoe Curve, theres not change in the profile of the land. Hidden track. I poorly designed the rest of the layout. Downtown Altoona and Horseshoe curve were done exactly to scale...And they look great. However the rest of the layout looks like it was slapped together to fit those items, and I ended up adding 30' of hidden track instead of planning and using my space wisely. This hidden track has a min radius of 13" and is driving me nuts having to keep an eye on trains going around them. Aislespace- Or should I say lack there of. I want people to visit my layout, and to come and run on it, but I didn't design it that way. Basicly I have 2 4'x4' pits and then a few 2' aisleways. Its okay for Dupes and I...but what about others who may be larger? Also the aisles were 2' in locations where there needed to be 2 crews, and made for cramped areas, or bottlenecks for people. Poor planning- I did not use the space to it full possibility. There are the pits....I could have used that space, but now it sits there empty, while other things looked crammed. KATO- Yes Kato. When I got the dealer announcement of the F40PH a month or so back, I was shocked and excited. The F40's along with the Amfleets from Bachmann ment I could focus on one of my favorite things; Commuter/Amtrak operations. I have always wanted to model the nighmare of moving Boston line trains around MBTA and NEC passenger trains in the Boston/Back Bay area. Now I can do this with only a little effort to paint the locos in MBTA. Poor trackwork- Like I said on the benchwork, I kinda half assed this in spots for some reason. Trains derail in places and it is hard just to run the layout on my own. Backdrop- I decided to add a backdrop AFTER the layout was up. This way I can do it WHILE I am doing the benchwork. Duckunder- The layout has a duck under, which I changed from one that was 2' wide to one that was 4". This still drives me nuts as people have to duck down, and does not make the layout visitor friendly. So I look forward to this, and am sad at the same time. It will come down on Tuesday, and I plan on spending all this week on bench work and getting some track down. I can not wait! The next photos you see will be of the end of the Pittsburgh Line, and the beginning of the Boston Line. Cool
We've all been at this stage. One time, or another. Once it's down, the excitement level goes up. Anticipating that new empire. Boxcab E50
Ian, Made all those mistakes--and a few more--on previous layouts. I spent a few years with "solutions" to my mistakes before realizing how fundamental the flaws were. It seems you have good ideas about planning and building the next one. Or at least the things you want to avoid. Be glad to help you avoid the "unseen" pitfalls that I've discovered--mostly access problems.
Ian, doing some railfaning in the Boston area to check out the prototype? I can show you the bridge near the TOFC yard. Let me know if you are coming down this way.
You have covered one of the things that caused me pain yet at the same time a lot of anticipation as to what will follow. I tore down the old layout due to impending retirement and necessary move, to a quieter and cheaper burg, so I can eat and run trains too. I had the four track speedway at Marshall, WA modeled before. Going for the small town, on the main, with industries to switch, and a branch line with logging as a mainstay. I will be able to indulge my infatuation with geared locos and critters, and at the same time run mainline freight and passenger through town.
Steve I may take you up on that. Its been a while since I railfanned the south end. I have been hitting up Washington Hill alot lately.
While it saddens me to hear of any layout's demise, I really appreciate the way you have outlined your reasons. It's the kind of thing that makes me . Hopfully those of us still working on our first real empire can learn from your mistakes (freeing us to make our own ).
