Portable North American logging layout - DCC

On30 Smokie Ridge and Falling Water
Portable North American logging layout - DCC

OK so now I have a name I have been clearing some space so I can get started. How can my workshop be so small? My workshop has a floor area of 216 square feet and all I need is 20 of them for the layout - so why have I spent all weekend trying to make space? :???:

Anyway, I have managed to get it up in one piece across my workbench but it is not ideal. I will sort out the joining system and then I will need to find somewhere else to work on the track laying…



Then I can get to work on this lot…



I have been buying stock for the past few years, I have one loco fitted with a DCC sound decoder so the other will need upgrading in time, first they will all need to be worked on to give them that 'in-service' look. I'll get a few boxes down and show you what's there during the week.

But first, I need a track plan - any ideas?

Ralph ;-)

Here we go, here we go, here we go….

Looking forward to seeing what's in the boxes!

Track plan?

See I f you can find some prototype arrangements that you like and then modify to fit your space.

For me it must have a run around… But that is just me.

Cheers

Marty

Ralph. google this
on30 logging track plans

lots of links, etc

You probably have seen this before, but well worth a look… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhPBUCB3M_k  Not so much a track plan but an awesome piece of modelling !

On another note, at a model railway exhibition I attended last year I spoke with the chap who built Smugglers Cove (http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=10084&forum_id=65 scroll down) and he told me how he made the trees on this On30 layout. This goes the same for his other logging layouts, such as Boggy Creek, (http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=10307&forum_id=65 scroll down). The foliage on the trees were made from Asparagus Fern leaf, pickled in a jar of radiator fluid. This removed all traces of water in the flesh of the leaves and steam. He then took these and attached to a trunk whittled to shape out of balsa wood. The trunk and foliage was then painted to suit.

Cheers, Gary.

Firstly Ralph, forget the layout -can I come and play in your workshop !!! :shock::shock::shock:  That's some joiner's tool box you have on the wall.  I have very similar tools but mine are a sort of brown colour and piled up on a bench …………….:lol::lol:

Secondly, open the boxes please …………………….:chicken:chicken:chicken

And Gary, I'm fascinated by the pickled asparagus fern - "radiator fluid" over here is mainly water ………….:hmm

Thanks for all the links and suggestions. I Googled track plans - thanks :shock: and yes, I agree Marty,  there must be a run-around loop.

Gary, There are some very good layout out there. I have seen some of them at Expong, which is held not far from where we live. I love the larger scale especially the scope for detailed buildings and structures.

Peter you can come and play in the workshop if you like, but I warn you, you have to go inside sometimes - there is no 'Facilities' in the workshop - something that will be remedied in the new 'premises' .

Oh, and those boxes? They are all open. I just left the cellophane on the lids to keep them clean…



Ralph ;-)

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

And Gary, I'm fascinated by the pickled asparagus fern - "radiator fluid" over here is mainly water ………….:hmm

Apologies, I really should of said 'radiator coolant', instead of fluid. Just something we need in our radiators during summer down under !

Cheers, Gary.

[user=878]Gary[/user] wrote:

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

And Gary, I'm fascinated by the pickled asparagus fern - "radiator fluid" over here is mainly water ………….:hmm

Apologies, I really should of said 'radiator coolant', instead of fluid. Just something we need in our radiators during summer down under !

Cheers, Gary.

I Googled "radiator coolant" and it appears to be anti-freeze. I did not know that it not only lowered the freezing point but raised the boiling point of the water. It is mainly ethylene glycol.

"Because of its high boiling point and affinity for water, ethylene glycol is a useful desiccant" according to Wikipidea.

Asparagus Fern is a common name applied to several plants but I think what we are talking about here must be Plumosa Nanus see: http://www.gardenista.com/products/asparagus-fern-plumosa-nanus .

Not sure if it is called Asparagus Fern here in the UK as Asparagus densiflorus 'Sprengeri' (a totally different plant) is what is commonly referred to as Asparagus Fern and there are probably others.

The internet is a wonderful thing - I learnt something else today :cool:

Ralph ;-)

Hi Ralph.

By choosing  the Bachman Spectrum Range you can't possibly go, wrong highest quality, stunning performance - the best.

However, you asked for any ideas and all I can suggest Ralph is that whetever theme you decide on, do go for a full run around and that way you can just sit back and watch those wonderfull Backmann Shays and Baldwins trundle around at the head of a heavy ol' loggin' train - wonderfull stuff!

Anyway Ralph I've took the liberty of putting up a few pictures of a Bachmann American Mining layout with the odd logger seen coming out of the curve where the track disappears along the back under the 'mountains' only to energe again through the workings at the other end. 

Best regards.

Allan.































black crosses edited out Sol



 

Hi Allan!

Wow! That is food for thought… I was going to have fiddle yards at each end but I was thinking about wrapping them around the back to make staging easier - all I need to do is make one of the lines continuous…

Hmmm… Thanks! I will get the pencil out :hmm

Ralph :thumbs

[user=386]Fishplate42[/user] wrote:

Hi Allan!

Wow! That is food for thought… I was going to have fiddle yards at each end but I was thinking about wrapping them around the back to make staging easier - all I need to do is make one of the lines continuous…

Hmmm… Thanks! I will get the pencil out :hmm

Ralph :thumbs

Hi Ralph.

Re Fiddle Yards, all I ever did was to keep made up trains in the sidings and always on view (why pay out all that money for trains that are standing out of sight in a fiddle yard?!)  then when I want a change, I run one in, and one out, and if you have more locos than trains, then change the locos now and then, or even double head them - ever seen two Baldwins taking on a grade ? - awesome!

Cheers.

Allan.

[user=1427]allan downes[/user] wrote:

Hi Ralph.

Re Fiddle Yards, all I ever did was to keep made up trains in the sidings and always on view (why pay out all that money for trains that are standing out of sight in a fiddle yard?!)  then when I want a change, I run one in, and one out, and if you have more locos than trains, then change the locos now and then, or even double head them - ever seen two Baldwins taking on a grade ? - awesome!

Cheers.

Allan.

I take your point (sorry about the pun) but I like to build layouts with minimal rack and some shunting (or should I say switching) action, usually involving small locos/and trains. Your original suggestion will allow me to run nice long trains straight through…

… best of both worlds for me!

Ralph :thumbs

You could always go "G" Scale………………:roll::roll:

Here's a shot of my "G" Scale Bachmann Shay taking in the sunshine - one day I might do something outside but I'll need to get it through planning first :

Blimey :shock: That's huge!

I moved from OO9 to On30 so I could what I am doing… Your eyesight must be really bad :mrgreen:

Great looking model!

Ralph ;-)

[user=386]Fishplate42[/user] wrote:

Asparagus Fern is a common name applied to several plants but I think what we are talking about here must be Plumosa Nanus see: http://www.gardenista.com/products/asparagus-fern-plumosa-nanus .

The link you provided above for Plumosa nanus, is the plant used for creating pine foliage, using the individual leaflettes taken from the main stem of the plant.

Cheers, Gary.

Hi Gary,

Thanks for confirming that. I will have a look over the weekend (off the Skegness for the big Meccano do!) and see if I can find a plant - got to have a go at the anti-freeze thing!

Experimenting is as much fun as modelling - sometimes!

Ralph ;-)

London to Skeggie - wow :shock::shock:  This must be THE big Meccano do Ralph ………..:roll::roll:

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

London to Skeggie - wow :shock::shock:  This must be THE big Meccano do Ralph ………..:roll::roll:

You may laugh but Skegnes hosts the premier event of the Meccano year. People travel from all over the world to attend and the evenings usually end up in The New Park Club sampling the local brew at prices from the 70s! Crack of dawn will find me walking the sea front before a Full English…

Great time will be had by all!

Back to the trains next week :thumbs

Ralph ;-)

Well, we have been back from Skegness for a week and have actually got going on the layout again.

Today's progress…

The baseboards are sitting on horses (saw horses that is) in the  garden ready to have the strengtheners glued in place. It was just too  hot today by the time I got out there - had some work to do first .  I'll do that tomorrow morning while the sun is still in the park… So  it was inside, out of the sun, and a chance to think about the track. I  have decided to go with ME code 82 flexi-track and hand lay the points.






The  ME flexible track (centre, in the picture above) looks just right. the  top stuff is SMP OO code 80, and the bottom is Peco code 100  Streamline.ME do make points to match but at a price and I am stick with  their geometry.  No big deal, I have been making my own track for  decades. Here is a P4 (18.83 gauge) three way point I build more than 30  years ago. I didn't actually use it at the time, as I built a better  one. This was my first attempt at a 3-way. I don't know why I keep it, I  was going to use it in a fiddle yard, just never got around to it…  





The  hardest part of building a point is getting the geometry correct. Over  the years I have used many different printed template. In the old days,  modelling in P4, I just used the Studiolith plans and later,  Exacto-scale and more recently C&L. Today with the internet and  track building template programs, like Templot, I can generate my own.  The problem with Templot is that it does not cater for On30, so I have  been using the OO settings which works fine for the rails but the  sleeper spacing is all wrong. Fast Tracks' downloadable On30 templates  are not what I want either so a combination of each will be the answer,  me thinks.





OK,  so far so good. I'll dig out my jigs and the other stuff I have been  using for years and get on with it. Then It hit me this is code 82 FLAT  BOTTOM rail!! All my jigs are intended for code 80 BULL HEAD rail, the  foot on FB rail is much wider than the head. With BH rail the is little  difference in width. So what? I hear you say. The problem is my jigs are  designed to accept BH rail either upside down or the right way up to  file and bend the rail for left or right hand components. You can't do  that with FB - Grrr!





My  crossing 'V' filing jig is not going to help with the filing and  bending so I will have to give this a bit of a rethink, maybe a linisher  with a fine grit band will do the job or maybe it is back to doing it  by eye… Hmmmm…





Never  mind I will cross that bridge when I get to it. Now for the next  challenge. Spikes! never laid spiked track before - this should be fun -  have you seen the size of the spikes - even in this scale they are  tidily! I think the old Opivisor will be pressed into use here. I have  acquired a pair of spike insertion pliers, which should help and the  crucial parts will be solders to rivets and a cosmetic spike added  after. So supplies have arrived from my friend in the US - Micro-Mark.  So once I have finalised the track plan, track laying can begin.





In  the meantime the stock list has expanded by one loco and three coaches.  A friend of mine offered me a unused set of Thomas Kinkade's Christmas  Express, at a price I could not say no to. now all I have to do is strip  it down and get to all the decals with the ol' Wet 'n' Dry, before  repainting it in something more fitting the logging scene. I will have  to attack the coaches with the trusty razor saw - and see what we get…





…more tomorrow.


Ralph

All very exciting stuff Ralph and that "Christmas train" looks a real gem. :thumbs

It will be interesting watching the points being made.  I'm always impressed by hand made track.  Unfortunately, even if I had the skill to make it, I know I wouldn't have the patience - it's so much easier to open a box …………….:oops::oops::oops: