Before I was just jealous that you had space to even have a layout. Now I'm officially jealous since you have space to actually run trains. T
Still gandy dancing in the Oakville yard - here's the completed throat: The ladders are coming along nicely as well. Hopefully by next weekend you'll see a lot of track where all those lines are!
You know, I don't believe I ever mentioned it - the staging yard switches are custom #8s by Rob de Rebel, but the Oakville yard is Atlas Code 55. The throat uses #10, and the rest #7. Machines are Tortoises. And I will say I am very happy with the way they install and look and work. Just wish I didn't have to paint them to match the ME....
Thanks Jim. I remembered the staging was a custom one but couldn't remember or find what others you were using.
That looks great! I am going to have to start a new thread soon soliciting the secret recipe for working with ME flextrack. I am used to working with Atlas and I can't seem to get the feel for making the ME flex work. But I know it works because yours looks great! Jamie
Jamie, I think the secret is patience. And a small screwdriver. The track kind of "snaps" as you flex it - doesn't slide smoothly (probably because of the weathering) but kind of jitters into the new position. You can help this along by running the blade of a screwdriver along the top outside of the ties - hardly any pressure, but it will relieve the stress and let the track acclimate itself to the new curve, and will smooth out the curve. I've begun using a 24 inch Ribbonrail gage to ensure my straight track really is. N Scale Supply has them, and the Ribbonrail also comes in various curve radii. I don't do this on the curves because I really don't have any constant radius curves - they all transition. But it works really well for straight. It's just a metal bar that fits tightly between the rails - and not at all expensive. And let's not forget the old Mark I Eyeball. And candidly, I have several spots on curves that are going to be re-tweaked before ballasting - I just don't like the way I got the curvature down. But on balance, I love the ME track - most especially the concrete tie stuff. Joinerless trackwork is simply great.
Looks great Jim, can't wait to see a video of the trains barreling through! Love the scenery, great job, great concept, lets see more! Rob
Yabbut, Rob, trains simply don't "barrel" between Bakersfield and Mojave except for a couple miles between Bfield and Caliente... This layout, folks, is the time of my life! I'm havin' a blast!
Last shots from Oakville for a while - first vacation and then some serious honey-dos. Although the yard may look finished in these shots, east of the wall need 24 sticks of track and two switches yet. This shot looks west... And this shot looks east. It was nice to be able to do some switching with something other than the 0-5-0!
WowJ Jim, pretty huge for my standards! Great trackwork, and yes it's great to be able to switch again. What's your average train lenght?
Denny, I guess around 50 cars or so. I was running a merchandiser of 80 and a rack train of 45. The staging yard will easily hold its' target of six 100 car trains, I could probably go to 125 but would never get them up the hill! 50 or thereabouts "feels" about right, and I don't have to worry too much about train dynamics like I do with a longer one. Running an 80 car train gives one an appreciation of how an engineer needs to concentrate when running the real thing. You do NOT just instantly stop or you'll have cars all over the ROW - and this is running at prototypically slow speeds. You must notch up the speed VERY slowly or you'll pull the train in two if going uphill.
Jim, man, wow, that yard is nice! I bet it's a little tedious running that 45 car rack train. I run just 20 and I'm sweatin' it! Racks have their own behavior on grades. Layout looks super -Mike
Vacation and honeydos are over and it's back to Oakville! Trackwork is essentially finished, so it's on to scenery. These shots show the main room trackage with landforms finally visible: Now, soon as some houseguests depart, plaster time!
Amazing! Very ncie work so far. Monster trains are fun sending upgrade. With Helpers! I had the opportunity to operate on Grant-sar's Southern Alberta Rail, and it was a blast running trains. Not only was the layout silky smoooth to operate, the motive power was just as smooth. It was a fine balance with throttle, and braking, and Grant & I sent a heavy train to Peigan Loop, and onwards over Crowsnest Pass. Lots of concentration! I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Jim, Superb work as always! Also, if you grow tired of model railroading, looks like you have a good future as a master basket weaver down south BTW, will you have to anything special to protect the backdrops when doing the scenery? Are they safe if they get wet? Jamie
Nope. They didn't use Epson ink They are more delicate than you would think - I played around with some scrap to inform myself so I wouldn't mess something up when working with the stuff. You don't wanna touch it with ANYTHING or it will smudge. Rubber cement will peel off when dry, but anything else is likely to smear the ink or remove it completely. IMO this is a result of the ink, not the backing, which is superb.
Oakville is down for a while in order to get more scenery done. Here the first plaster has been applied to the main room area: I've been worrying about how I was going to weather my Atlas switches to match the ME Code 55 Weathered. I'm happy to report what I consider to be complete success. In this shot, the ladder on the left is untouched, and the right ladder has had Neolube 2 applied. You can see some small sections of the ME track between the switches. And this is one of those situations where it looks better to the eye than to the camera. The Neolube goes on easily and will come off the tops of the rails with emery paper or a Bright Boy - if you want to - it's conductive, so you could just let it wear off. But it just beats the heck out of paint! You can get it at Micro-Mark...a bit more expensive than paint but well worth it IMO!
