I finally commited to re-laying my Northport layout. That section of the layout was built by a troop of boy scouts about 25 years ago, so I didn’t build it myself, but it was a gift from a modeler friend. It had some issues: various codes of track, unreliable (in their old age anyway) turnouts which were power-routing, kinks, sections of brass track, tooooo tight curves, etc.
I feel a little bad ripping it apart, but the new Northport will run much better. It will be Atlas track, built with 18 inch sectional track to ensure no radii tighter than that. The basic plan is similar to the old track. I’ll post some photos when I get the track down, but it’s basically a circle of track with a semi-circular freight house. An entrance and exit from the loop form a reverse loop on the overall layout. A spur off the circle goes off to a two-track six-car ferry. The ferry becomes a fiddle-track, simulating traffic to and from an off-layout island. Northport also serves as a terminal for an excursion route.
Hopefully I’ll get the new track down quickly, as operations have ground to a halt.
Funny how things that were state of the art 25 years ago begin to have issues after a while. I may have to bite the bullet on my built-in-1980 end of the railroad module (all hand laid, 4 spikes per tie.) While the track plan is adequate, some curves are too abrupt, tracks are too close together for some over-track structures I want to use, the code 100 rail is gross overkill for the teakettle tanks and low-capacity cars (13 tons maximum axle loading) and the rigid straight line is inappropriate to a railroad which is supposed to conform to the curves of a mountain canyon.[|(]
The old track is up, the surface is sealed and painted, and Northport Harbor seems to have a “pink tide” problem. So far, it feels great! Of course, I need to make my car ferry look more like a barge and less like a block of wood with tracks on it. I also need to make the pink foam look more like water. Anyone got any suggestions for what to put on the foam? Maybe a layer of plaster cloth and some joint compound and then paint and polyurethane? Anyway here are some photos: the old track; the prepped benchwork and harbor; and the new track plan. I may forego the runaround on the oval - it doesnt look like it will fit, and I don’t think I will need it for ops.
