Too Much of a Good Thing?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Maybe.

Daddy screwed up figuring dimensions, leading to a 45 inch by eight foot layout, instead of the planned 4 by 8. Not a problem, everything fit, the track tweaking got most of my remaining hair but eventually all the gremlins got chased out, the foam put in place and rough carved, a few trees and building markers, everything was coming together very nicely.

The layout is a folded dogbone, one reversing loop on the second story above the other, with a two track main passing in front of the cab, upper loop partially visible to the operator’s right with mining spurs in the center, a town with a few spurs to the left, inside the climbing two track mainline, but “isolated” from the mainline by the grade.

I prefer old time steam, but the kids like diesels, and I guess I do too, since I went out and bought some really nice ones. I’ m not real big on re-railing, and pulling all the old time steam and replacing them with diesels before each visit takes most of a work day by the time you test every train for proper railing and coupling, etc. Then after the visit, there’s a big part of another day swapping the diesels for the old time steamers again.

Add it all up and I got the bright idea to reclaim my lost three iches with a pair of 8 foot straightaways, tied to the mainline in both directions with about $120 worth of turnouts. The project went smoothly, and there is a lot to be said for the results. This particular railroad was really three small branchlines which all came together in one town, where another railroad connected them with the outside world. I now have available connections for each of the additional roads at some time in the future when I have more room.

I also have a credible interchange yard, which is the heart of operations for this road, and a heck of a lot of switching real eatate, right in front of the operator, for making up trains, moving cars around, parking trains temporarily etc.

Finally, I now have a place to put

2

And welcome to the world of Model Rail Roading!

Quaint and Big Time Ops is a hard mix sometimes but put in a few streams, trees and other rural addities and you may get your feeling back.

Fergie

3

Jeffers_mz:

You might want to invest in a few sections of rerailer track. They look like railroad tracks with plankings at grade crossings, like this: http://www.internettrains.com/150-844.html

You roll your rolling stock over a piece of rerailer track, and it will seat the wheels properly on the tracks for you. You DON’T have to spend half the day just railing your rolling stock! [:D]

Hope this helps!

4

Long Island Tom, use to be there wasn’t room for any re-railers, but there is now.

Thanks for reminding me. That’ll save some time, whether the new track stays or not.

Fergmeister, I’m thinking about scenicking a three inch by 1/2 inch by eight foot piece of plywood. When I need room to maneuver, off it comes, but when I want remote wilderness, look, disappearing track! Sometimes you get to have your cake and eat it too.

5

Holy Cow! Well, give it a try. This is one aggressive scenario.

6

The Rix ReRailers take a lot of effort out of re-railing equipment. Just slide it down the ramp, and onto the rails. Instant result, and no frustration with fiddling with wheels. I’ve made two of my own for On2. Works great.

-Ed

7

Yes, I think a look into re-railing options is in order, even if I keep the new track. Funny how a non-problem morphs into a big problem slowly and because it happens gradually, obvious solutions don’t even register.

I’m starting to enjoy the new interchange now, even though it isn’t wired up yet, just getting second hand power from the outer mainline. More space to work with, and easy options for connecting additional modules. I’m seriously considering adding ten feet to the pole barn I’m putting up this season (pole barn in appearance only, foundation issues forced me to abandon beam and post in favor of standard stick framing), making it 30 by 60 instead of 30 by 50. That would give me a twelve by fifteen foot train room and a few extra feet for other uses.

I’d have enough room to make seperate modules for Durango, Red Mountain and Animas Forks, allowing us to model the Silverton Northern, Silverton, Gladstone and Northerly, and the Silverton branch of the Denver and Rio Grande, maybe even with room for the branch into Cunningham Gulch. If the room is oriented with foresight, the leftover space could eventually even see the Rio Grande Southern, assuming that other space requirements don’t eat up more floorspace than allocated so far.

Now that I think about it, why cry about lost wilderness when you can add additional modules with all the virgin San Juan forest you want?

8

yes to much of a good thing is a good thing. welcome

jeff the pic looks nice

9

Thanks, Waltersrails. I have an individual approach to photography, shoot one bazillion pictures, and maybe one or two will come out ok.

I like the new track a lot better since the Atlas switch motors were replaced with Caboose Hobbies manual throws. In fact, a part of me wants to hurry up and ballast it just to see how it looks. Fortunately, that part of me is balanced by the part that wants to build all the pine trees right now, and the part that wants to build all the structures right now, and the dark horse contender, the part of me that wants to get the foam details finished and start laying plaster, which is what I really ought to be concentrating on now.

Then there’s the part that wants to run trains, and seeing how my locos and rolling stock are still in the pictured arrangement, I think that’s my next step. Fortunately the mind can envision quite a bit of scenery and detail even when it’s months away in reality.

There’s a hundred and twenty pine tree armatures stuck in foam in the shop, awaiting brown paint, but loco placement affects operations, which have to come first in a responsible businessman/railroad owner.

To the cab, gentlemen, fire 'em up!

:wink:

10

It sounds like the real world. There’s a sense of lost innocence there. Once Upon a Time, there was the Little Train that Could, and then along came the big railroad companies, and it all changed…

There is a beauty to each phase of railroading in this world. I think you’ve found one of the seams between old and new. Savor the moment. For the real world, it’s gone forever, but on your layout you can hold on as long as you’d like.

11

That’s an interesting take, Mr. B. You describe exactly what I was attempting to describe in the post that started this thread.

What’s strange though, is that in reality, the mountains won, the railroads lost, and nature has now reclaimed most all that man built. You stumble across an old boiler now and then, and the old grade can still be seen from time to time, but the weather and avalanches and scrap hunters have taken all the rest.

Also strange is that in reality, my five track “yard” was dwarfed by the tangle-o-track the interchange really had. Of course, they had a bit more mountain to offset their civilization and technology than my square footage for the layout will allow.

This is extremely rugged country, my main interest is a valley that most likely no humans have ever fully penetrated. I was turned back in 2000 by an unexpected gate onto private property. I could have gone in on foot, and later did, but my buddy’s ten year’s older and was already feeling the altitude to the point where strapping a pack on him would have been unwise.

On 9/12/2001, I turned back again. I hauled 105 pounds of rope and food over a 12k pass, but had to stash a ten pound rope and some other gear the second day because I just couldn’t handle the weight at that altitude for a second straight day. Down at 10k, there’s a 200 to 400 foot rappel that has to be done going in and coming back out. I was two days into a six day food supply, a day for the rap in, a day to jug out, and two days back to my truck was cutting it too close for a solo adventure, and besides, would have made the rappel worthless, leaving no time to explore the valley floor. I have kids now, and can’t pu***he edge as hard as I did when I was younger.

In 2003 I turned back a third time, not because of obstacles, but because the view from an adjacent ridgeline showed me that any climbing in the valley would be subject a hailstorm of loose and continually raining rock. On that same trip though, I ga