The New Beginnings

While there is still some fine tuning to be done, I've 're-constructed' my layout.  Well, the benchwork is back in place after being modified.

I cut six inches off the back of the yard table and the same off the back of the two main oval sections; I also added five and a half inches to the yard portion but really cut the total length of this run short by half an inch to allow for better door clearance.

The real big footprint adjustment was in cutting the south wall of the room table short seven feet, really six feet and eleven inches but that's just a quibble.  Gone is just under three feet of the 'bubble' and all of the old port and the back extension for the staging yard.

That all may seem a drastic reduction in available modeling space.  But it is a great improvement in versatility of room use.  And, more importantly, it is an easy reach to almost all of the surface, even for my wife who is a foot shorter than I am.

You will note in the photos below that the base height is lowered as well - a change appreciated by the lady of the house - that will allow more of the backdrop to show through.  It is well to keep in mind that the backdrop was painted for the original layout construction, ten years ago now.  That layout and the last never got to the track laying stage.  This one certainly will and sooner rather than later if not immediately.  Still have other duties and activities.

I repainted all visible surfaces to ease laying out the new track arrangement - more on that below.  I also stained the four paired legs to make a better visual presentation.  All of this was done over the course of the last two days.

I will give a written word description of the new track plan and try to match as best I can with the photographs.  Like the benchwork, the track plan will get a little, though very little.  Most of the changes will come from translating to a drawing to full size.  Though with as many drawings as I've translated from paper to actual table top, I don't expect too many adjustments.  Always a few.

 Above shows the basic cut prior to repainting.

 Same from the other end where you can see the add.

 This is the perspective you'd see from within the room - well, if you were the back wall of the closet maybe.

 Here I've added a building, a piece of track, and a caboose to give a perspective of the size available relative to actual N scale items.

 A closer shot.

 And a much closer view.

 And another longer angle.

 The point of these shots to give you a perspective for imaging what you might do in this space.  Not what I am going to do, maybe, but imagination is as much a part of model railroading as any other.

 One more close shot from another angle but you are probably already peaking at the next shot.

 The above shows a general overview of the room.

 This is where the yard will be except for the far corner which will be the farming and farm industry area.

 This is the area where there will be a mining area inside the L shaped oval, behind it will be the logging area, the end on the right will be a river canyon, and the left most portion will be the beginning of the seaport.

 The above left will be the farm town, the right side will be the company town, lower - in elevation - will be an industrial area, and in front of that will the seaport.

 Another overview with the same items for perspective.

 And another closer shot.

And a last comment about that white space between the table and the backdrop.  It will disappear because there will be higher terrain in back than in front.  Though I will be challenged along the back of the yard since space is tight there.  But that is part of the fun.  Maybe a more detailed description of the new track plan in a future post.

That's all for now.

Update!

Wow, not since January have I made an entry here.  Well, I'm getting much closer to putting the layout back up.  Decided to reduce the layout's size a bit after realizing one thing: never build more layout than it will take to bring satisfaction.  And that has lead to a redraw.  Don't have time just now to give all the details but I just realized I've had a highly significant breakthrough.  Every track plan I've drawn in the past always left me feeling disappointed on two fronts.  One was not having everything I wanted in the layout to the degree desired.  I doubt any of us ever cross that barrier.  The other front, however, I've overcome in a big way.  Normally, after designing a plan, I can go back to the plans I have from others, published plans, and realize mine isn't "as good."  I have designed some good ones, there is one at the Placer County Fair Grounds in Roseville, somewhat modified over the years by others but retaining my core, that has entertained a lot of people, club members and the general public.  But always there has been that nagging sense of "inferiority."  This time, not meaning to be arrogant here, I've designed a layout track plan that works so well I can't go back to those published plans anymore because they don't achieve what I have.  I still enjoy those plans, six hundred or so, but I just "know" this one doesn't need further inspiration.  It does need some final tweaking, but the core is solid and isn't going anywhere!  Of course, a lot of knowledge and inspiration did come from quite a few of those many published plans.  But it is pretty cool to be able to say I don't need to go back to go forward.  So, hooray for me.  Time to get back to work.

Post Window Replacement Design Revisions

Okay, all but one of the windows have now been replaced - manufacturer error, should be taken care of in a week or two - and I've been putting thought to a redesign of the layout room.  The room serves a variety of purposes: the layout, of course, also a painting and modeling table for both train related and military miniature work; a writing area; and storage for all of those interests.  In order to make all of those activities blend with the least "space conflict", I've been thinking and tinkering.  And I've come up with a plan, in the rough at this point, that I think will let me get everything I want, perhaps not at the level I'd like but a layout is always about making compromises.  This post will only focus on a new track plan.

Like an earlier post, I will follow the layout around the room.  The one element about the plan that may cause additional changes is that it isn't possible to follow a train without 'dashing' around a peninsula so keep that in mind as you follow along with my descriptions.

Walking in the south facing door, the first element encountered is an 18" wide space along the northern wall - to your immediate left.  This will be a yard area, freight and passenger, with flats behind the yard for some industrial switching.  At the far end of this is a 2' deep area on the east wall that will be the engine service area and, hopefully, Bald Twin's Locomotive Works (appears workable at this stage).  Coming out of the yard, the main line follows along the east wall and ducks into a tunnel and makes a ninety degree turn onto the central peninsula, 32" wide.  The mainline connects into a peanut shaped oval on this 8' long peninsula, measured from the east wall.  Traveling around the oval, just before you reach the turn out from the yard there is another turn out that leads back to the other side of the oval and acts makes the oval double as a reversing loop - east end.  On the north side of the oval is a passing siding to allow opposing trains to pass.  Inside this oval and east of the return track will be logging and a stamp mill with a mine up above - above the mill and above the track in the tunnel below.  On the western end of the oval, but inside it as well, will be the farming area - farm town, farm industries, and farms.  On the north side of the peninsula and outside of the oval will be bit of the Klamath River in a "canyon" below track level.  On the south side and outside of the oval will be a spur track to a log dump for a mill pond - but I don't plan to build the sawmill itself.  Now back on the peanut oval and just pass where the track from the yard connects into it, there is another turnout that runs off towards the east and south and then makes a large 180 degree turn into a seaport and behind the seaport will be an area for staging trains.

 If that is all a bit confusing, imagine walking into the room and stopping at the end of the peninsula on your left.  Now turn left so you are looking down the length of the peninsula.  In front of you will be the farming area and beyond it the logging area and beyond that the mining area.  If you lean to the right and the 27" wide aisle you can see the river canyon on that side of the peninsula and across the aisle is the yard with the portion of the layout with the engine facility at the far end of that aisle.  If you lean to the right you will see the mill pond and its spur track.  Across the 34" aisle on that side is the seaport with the staging yard behind it, partly 2' deep and at the end a small part only 1' deep.  At the end of this right side aisle is an 18" deep extension of the seaport.

One thing that comes to mind is that I can add in a wye off of the lead to the staging yard and the place where the main makes its ninety degree turn from the "big" yard onto the peninsula; this requires some adjustment to keep a turnout out of a tunnel.  Doing so makes it easier and quicker to turn trains in the staging yard.  If I build the wye (probable), I will put a stock resting area inside it.

A couple of good elements to this redesign is all the turnouts will be within very easy reach of the edge of the layout, perhaps all of them less the 12" - that is very good.  And it can all be dead level trackage which might not seem very good but it makes for easier building, easier maintenance, and more reliable operation.  And careful construction of the scenery can give a very good impression of elevation variation.

Now, let's take a ride on a caboose hop from the yard.  We climb on board and our engine pulls out and makes a right hand turn behind the engine servicing area, turn table, and roundhouse.  Then we enter a tunnel and make another right hand turn and come out of the tunnel and connect into the oval and travel along the farming area and make a half circle to go back the other direction, if need be we'll take the passing siding before entering another tunnel that completes a half circle and brings us to the turnout to reverse direction - which we take.  We cross to the other side of the oval and half to go through the half circle at the end of the peninsula and could go back to the yard.  Instead, we take the branch to the right and make the large half circle turn into the seaport.

If I've explained it well, you'll realize this layout can operate as point-to-point, out and back, or continuous running on the peanut shaped oval.  Still a fair amount of tinkering to do to make sure it will work.  But the reason I decided to post this description is because the layout as conceived as something really important going for it - the elegance of simplicity.

Stay tuned.

By the way, the requested photo of the clock requires digging out the camera from all the piles of stuff still to put away after getting the windows installed.  Rather disruptive.

And, hey, the Niners are going to the Super Bowl!  The Har-bro Bowl.