Recently got a chance to visit the geographical location that I’ll be modelling (mid Vancouver Island, BC). Here’s a few scenes I’d like to try not to screw up:
and…
Both of these are the Englishman River at various points. Add a Shay on a worn trestle and you’ve got what I’m after.
And the layout is moving forward, albeit slower than I’d like. Ganders:
The Racetrack (an extended helix). This should eventually be five levels.
The benchwork for the mill/yard level, completed, somewhere under all the constructy-junk. I will say I’m happy with the progress; a year ago this was two grungy rooms with nothing train related at all. Thanks to all who have helped (and continue to) along the way. Trains!!
Wow, those photos are breathtaking, I have one question concerning your heating system, is there enought access to the heater to repair or if in the future it needs to be replaced without disrupting your layout?
Those are really beautiful scenes, If I could start all over again with a layout, It would be a logging one… Love the mountains… The best of luck in Your endeavor… Is it possible to have a lift out by the furnace???
You may have a Racetrack, but it’s not a race. You’ve accomplished a lot in a year, and from the looks of it, it’s something you can be rightly proud of.
For a comparative benchmark, Phase 1 of my layout was a 5x12 foot table in HO, and it took my 5 years. That’s one month per square foot. As I progressed, I found that the less I hurried, the more I enjoyed it.
Ouch, maybe that was my problem in building my current layout. I probably averaged one day per square foot. That led to much faulty track work. Less is more.
I know of a guy who built a whole section of his layout right in front of his furnace. He cleverly made it like a gate that swings out and opens enough to service the furnace. He is now in the process of writing an article on how it was done in MRR. I have seen it first hand, and it is very clever.
Yup, Crandell would be pretty close. I believe he’s in Victoria, which is about a two hour drive from where the first two pics were taken (just outside Parksville, BC)
Having anything near the furnace concerns me, for obvious reasons, but there was really nothing else for it. The furnace panels are accessible from inside the racetrack (with three shedding hairbags in the house the furnace filter is only good for three months or so) and the furnace itself is less than ten years old; God willing I won’t have to replace it anytime soon. My real concern is the hidden section; the closest track has only about three inches clearance from that ductwork on the right of the third photo. It seems like a recipe for expansion/contraction problems. Time will tell, I suppose.
And thanks for the attaboys, fellas. I do appreciate it.
[(-D]Yeah, may as well go have a nap while the Three Spot heads for staging, right?
The only truly hidden section is behind the furnace, about 20" long. The rest is accessible from either end of the furnace. Or did you mean the staging level?
I know my enjoyment of a layout is less when I spend almost as much time bent over or on my knees peering into the “subway” (no offense LION) navigating the bowels of the layout.
Looks really good. I love that saw…I need me one of those. I got a Makita circular saw for my layout and home. Its fantastic. I wish I had a Makita Jig Saw too…
I originally planned to do streamline passenger service on a layout considerably larger than this (Maumee Route kind of size; what hubris I had then…) and west end staging was built accordingly. Switching to logging in the 20’s means I don’t need fifteen-foot-long staging tracks anymore, but a few of them were built before the change. The good points of that are that there’s way more staging track than I’ll ever need, all the turnouts are within inches of the front fascia, and it’s all at about 38" height. Very workable.
On the bright side with Shays pulling trains, you can dump a train into the helix and with those long staging tracks, just forget about it until next week’s op session it will have made it through staging and be back up at the operating level.
Sounds like staging will not be an issue for your layout.
If you guys are trying to figure out what to get me for Christmas this year, how about a double compound sliding miter table saw? That would be a dream come true.
[(-D] Only problem with having one of them, Rich. Means the wife asks me to build decks and do trimwork and pulls out “well, what else did you buy the saw for?” when I start whining. Dang it, if only I didn’t need that thing for benchwork I could foist it off on someone else. Maybe some fellow railfan who’s modelling Chicago in HO…
and…
Both of these are the Englishman River at various points. Add a Shay on a worn trestle and you’ve got what I’m after.
The Racetrack (an extended helix). This should eventually be five levels.
The benchwork for the mill/yard level, completed, somewhere under all the constructy-junk. I will say I’m happy with the progress; a year ago this was two grungy rooms with nothing train related at all. Thanks to all who have helped (and continue to) along the way. Trains!!
