Starting Over Part Three: Rationale For a Small, Initial Layout

 

Unpacking and setting up the workbench has begun

Having started unpacking my model railroad materials and setting up my modeling work area in the basement, I am itching to build something before Version 2 of the 4th Subdivision is designed. In chatting with more experienced model railroaders and reading some of the design experts, one of the recommended first steps in planning a model railroad is to evaluate one's interests and visions by answering a number of questions. By initially building a small shelf railroad I will gain some more practice and experience which may help me answer some of those questions, build some additional skills, and get myself back into active modeling while I plan and prep for the larger model railroad. 

Likely spot in the basement for a "shelf" layout

Lance Mindheim suggests that "modelers in 'waiting mode' build a small, simple practice layout on a wood plank" in his article, "All You Need to Know, in Four Square Feet" in the August 2020 Model Railroader. He explores a similar approach to "mobilize folks to get something up on the wall" in his December 18, 2012 blog post. In the MR article he stresses skill building, calling the practice plank the "board of education." Having moved before my last railroad was completed, scenery and structure building are two skill areas that I need to experience more fully. Also, I may explore a different approach to operations by possibly incorporating an Inglenook Sidings puzzle. 

Starting Over Part Two: Location

One of the decisions that must be made in conjunction with, if not directly impacting, other decisions is the location of the model railroad. I have three options and started the process by analyzing the pros and cons of each. 

Our Garage

Pros:

• One half of the two car garage is available. 

Cons:

• Interior is not finished
• Electrical needs to be updated
• No heat or insulation
• Where will the woodshop go if the model railroad is located here?
• Access in winter or other inclement weather is problematic  

Current Thinking: Woodshop in the garage, not the model railroad.

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The Basement

Pros:

• Stairs into the middle of the basement
• Direct access from outside or from the inside
• Headroom is fine for me, even with steam pipes and ductwork
• Lots of room, including space for workbench and storage
• Cool in the summer, heat from boiler and steam pipes in winter

Cons:

• It is a basement, not really finished
• Not totally dry, "french drain" around walls, with sump
• So, edge will be wet/damp
• Musty; dehumidifier needs to run continuously in summer
• Needs painting/finishing
• Only one exit
• Shares with utilities (well, hot water heater, boiler)
• Will share with laundry in near future

Current Thinking: The basement is the most likely choice, but island rather than around the walls approach to layout design will be necessary.

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One of the Attic Rooms

Pros:

• Finished space
• Electrical outlets and lights
• Easy access with wide stairs
• Radiators in two attic rooms, so heat in winter
• Shelves already there for model railroad magazines

Cons:

• Wallpaper torn, stained, and wrinkled;  needs work
• Hot in summer
• Smaller rooms and cut up spaces
• Visitors would have to troop through entire house

Current Thinking: I will be storing my collection of model railroad magazines in the attic. If I end up with just a compact layout or a gallery of layouts, the attic may still be in the running as a possible location. 

Existing Shelves for Magazines

Starting Over Part One: Decisions, Decisions

As we are starting to settle in to our 1930 colonial revival home in the Poconos, I am starting over with Version 2 of the 4th Subdivision of the Cascade Division of the Great Northern. While I have made a few decisions, I still have quite a few more to make to move forward with planning/designing the new railroad.  

Tobyhanna Station

While a lot of railroad history exists near here, suggesting a switch to a different theme, I am definitely staying with my Great Northern and Pacific Northwest theme. On a basic level, I have invested a fair amount in research and equipment. Both time and money are scarce enough resources that I am not prepared to totally start over. On a more esoteric level, I have emotional and aesthetic investments and interests in that modeling theme. My planning will continue to be based on a freelanced 4th Subdivision.

Moving forward, I will need to contemplate a series of decisions in conjunction with initial planning. While I don't want to be bogged down with layout room preparations or paralysis by analysis, I don't want to start slapping things together willy-nilly either. 

Decisions to Make: 

• Strategic Planning: What are my interests and vision for the railroad?
• Location of the layout: Where will the railroad be built (attic, basement, garage)? What about the work area and storage?
• Size of the layout: This will be based somewhat on the answers to the questions above. If I decide that I want a small initial section that can be completed in a reasonable amount of time, will it be a TOMA section or a separate one, not intended to later be part of the larger railroad?

As I attempt to make these decisions, I expect that this blog will be the workplace for working out the questions and answers or pros and cons. 

Lessons Learned

With packing and planning for our move, my thoughts have turned to lessons learned from the 4th Subdivision built in the attic of our current house. I think that I have learned a lot and improved my skillset as a model railroader through working on this model railroad and through my friendships with others in Division 12. With the upcoming move, I will have a chance to start over reflecting on what worked well, what I would do differently, and how I see myself now as a model railroader. 

One initial and central thought is to be more aware of the space in which the layout will be built from the beginning. Many times I found myself putting off working on the railroad because the attic was too hot or cold. As I started joining groups of other railroaders and forming friendships, I learned that I might be less of a lone wolf than I initially thought. Having visitors or holding open houses and small operations sessions are definite possibilities (as we hopefully move out of our pandemic situation), so I need to consider the comfort of the space in which I will be working as well as allowing space for others to join me right from the beginning. As my wife and I search for our new home, space for the railroad is one of our "must haves." 

Whether it is already finished or finishing the space will be a first task, the railroad space will need to be comfortable. Heating and  cooling the train room will be a major consideration. Headspace, moisture, lighting, access to electrical outlets, dust prevention, aesthetic considerations, and having sufficient space available will all factor in. While I don't want focusing exclusively on improving the train environment  to prevent me from starting the railroad in a reasonable amount of time, I don't want to repeat the same mistakes I have made in the past. Theoretically I learned from the attic layout that not having suitable HVAC or more than one outlet were hard to rectify after the railroad construction was well under way. 

Coved corner and 24" radius with easement

When we are far enough along with the move that I can turn to planning the railroad in a new space, I will be starting with a foundation of what worked well operationally and aesthetically with my current attic railroad. The setting and type of operations will be very similar. The aisle way of 44" worked out well. Even with bill boxes, control panels, and throttle holders attached to the fascia, a clear 36" was maintained in the main "U" shaped section. (The too-tight section at the top of the stairs to the attic broke that minimum even after a rebuild.) Having coved corners in the bottom of the "U" made for backdrops that did create the illusion of distance and disguise the corner. The shadowbox look with fascia and valance that I was aiming for helped mitigate the sloped ceiling of the attic; keeping a museum/theatre approach is my intention. My trackwork and electrical minimum standards worked pretty well. Powering the frogs and soldering the feeders under the rails led to attractive and trouble free running. The minimum standards of 24" radius curves and #6 switches for the mainline and #5 for spurs will be maintained, although broader curves do look more authentic. 

Existing scenic divide situation to be avoided

When I added a scenic divide, first to staging and then into Green Rock as seen in the photo, several situations occurred that I do not want to accept in any new plans. First, aesthetically, coved corners are a must. The seam in the sky at a ninety degree corner should not be allowed in future plans. Secondly, no empty space exists between two operationally active scenes with this situation. To switch cars in Green Rock, they have to break through the wall and operate in Willow Junction, which is supposedly miles away. In my current thinking, I need a new standard of at least a train length of distance between active switching locations, as well as between a scenic divide and active switching. Another change from my current standards will be to at least consider enlarging the train length from five cars to seven or eight. 

Continuing to be cognizant of what was successful and what didn't work as well in my initial attic layout when I begin planning for "Version 2" of the 4th Subdivision of the Cascade Division of the Great Northern will hopefully lead to it being more enjoyable to work on and operate either by myself or with a small group of fellow enthusiasts. 

Not Really Moving Forward: Just Moving

When I started this blog, my wife and I had just moved from Seattle back to Meadville, my hometown and the town where we met attending Allegheny College in the 1970s. Part of the rationale for moving from the west coast was to be closer to my wife's family. One consequence of living through the COVID-19 pandemic this past year has been realizing that we are still too far from her family. With minimal stops, it is a six-hour drive each way across Pennsylvania to visit them in Western New Jersey. While flying from the west coast was more complicated, it still remains a multiple day excursion to visit with them. 

In recently chatting on email with one of my model railroading friends, I noted that I seem stuck between first planning phases of moving to be closer and making progress on the current 4th Subdivision layout in our house here in Meadville, without much progress on either.

Without further analysis of my struggles with inertia, let me discuss what I have been learning about moving with a model railroad. Two resources have been very helpful in focusing on the railroad in planning the move. Brooks Stover's article in the August 2020 NMRA Magazine, "Downsizing Does Not Mean Settling," gives advice on packing for a move, as does one written by William Lyders, "Moving: Dismantling A Layout Then Getting It Up and Operating Quickly" found in the NMRA Members Only Section: https://www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/sr202004-movingalayout.pdf.

For packing model railroad materials, building an inventory is an associated task important for the move as well as future insurance or estate purposes. Stover suggests that various small containers including zip lock bags help organize the small bits. He also suggests labeling the boxes on top and on front. 

Here are the first couple of boxes. I included a box number, brief description, and whether the contents are already on the "box list" and "inventory" on the labels. I also left room on each label for more information as we get closer to the move. Once we know where we are moving, I will include information about a more specific location where the box should end up at our new house. The box list is a general list of all boxes as we pack, including the rest of the household items. The inventory is specific to the model railroad. 

I started building the inventory list from an existing template in Excel  for household insurance inventory documentation. I included tabs for item or description, make or model, serial or model number, and estimated current replacement value. Box #1 includes unbuilt structure kits, and I was amazed to see the replacement value of just that one box creep up to over $450.00. While I do not have model railroad insurance at this point, building the inventory as I pack will be the first step of that process. 

Just last week, during the weekly modeling Zoom meeting associated with my NMRA division, I put together the box/trays from A-Line that I bought years ago. My thinking is that finished rolling stock will go in that carrier. I will be able to remove the rolling stock from the layout and safely store them. Scenery materials will be next, as I remove trees from the railroad, I can also pack all the other scenery supplies I have collected over the years.  I also will be packing the rest of my unbuilt rolling stock and structure kits before I start dismantling the railroad or packing my work area. I am sure that my wife would love to see me dispose of all my railroad magazines rather than lug them to a new house, but I am not sure I am ready for that step. I still prefer re-reading the dead tree versions to the electronic versions available in archives. We will see how this situation resolves itself!

Lyders' article, referenced above, talks about tearing down the model railroad one month before closing. I will be scheduling it sooner than that. Otherwise, his advice seems very applicable.  He suggests cutting the existing railroad into movable sections. As my original U-shaped benchwork consists of separate benchwork sections bolted together, that should be relatively easy with only trackwork and some first layers of scenery to be actually cut. Otherwise it is more of an unbolting and disconnecting the wiring process. Lyders notes that scenery takes a beating in a move, but I had not gotten far with scenery beyond some first layers. He also suggests cutting track back from the edge, to help prevent the track snagging and tearing larger sections loose. While I plan on reusing the segments, I am not sure they will go back

together exactly as they were, so cutting the track back from the edges seems prudent. Again following his precedent, where I have electronic components mounted together on plywood, I will keep the keep the circuit boards and other electronics mounted on the plywood panels and pack the panels. 

While I have made the decision that further progress on the 4th Subdivision does not make sense with the impending move, I may still finish a few projects that are currently in midstream before dismantling my work bench. My doodlebug and a steam locomotive are both partially apart with the intention of installing improved sound decoders. I may want to finish those installations while I have the support of fellow Division 12 members with more decoder knowledge to provide moral support. Disentangling myself from all the roles I have taken on with Division 12 is a whole other issue, not really relevant to this blog. 

At this point, my intension is to be sure to have appropriate model railroad space at our new home, wherever that may end up being. I also intend to keep a similar scheme for the new railroad, so this blog will continue to be where I document and share the planning, construction, and operation of a small (or medium sized) model railroad. 

Moving Forward With Green Rock -- Another Update

Again, while I haven't been posting frequently, work has been steadily moving on at Green Rock and the end of the branch turntable. The Division 12 Thursday modeling night Zoom sessions have really helped me with progress. (Note to self: scheduled modeling time is a good thing.) At the end of December I wrote up a "to-do" list for Green Rock, and I have been able to check off a majority of those items. 

After my last post here and before writing the to-do list, I did, in fact, finish laying the track. One obstacle was that the thickness of the ties and the rim of the turntable pit were not the same. I used a crescent shaped bit of styrene left over from another project to form a ramp up to the lip of the pit. If I haven't mentioned it before, by this time the pit and other turntable parts have been sprayed with rattle can primer and first layers of acrylic paint. Also, as seen in the photo, I have applied some ground goop around the pit and roadbed. At any rate, after installing the track, soldering the joints, and double checking that all the track had adequate electrical connections, I went ahead with the next step -- painting the track.

With such a small area, I tried to save the time masking and cleaning the airbrush by hand painting the track. It turns out that approach is not a time saver! First I tried using the Testors "Enamel Paint Marker" seen in the photo. It didn't cover well, even with two coats. I had cleaned off the flux from soldering; perhaps cleaning all the rails with isopropyl alcohol would have helped, but I doubt it. So I tried brush painting the rails with rail brown acrylics after the enamel had dried. Even with multiple coats, I still had what I called "sparkle." Tiny dots of unpainted rail next to the spike heads reflected light and "sparkled." I applied yet another brushed on coat to the visible rail sides, ameliorating but not solving the issue. I also brush painted the ties with a wet on wet mix of rail brown and light gray before calling it good enough.  

Continuing with the good enough approach, I added some 3D scenery around the "light at the end of the tunnel" entrance to the Green Rock module, using the crumpled newspaper, masking tape, and plaster gauze technique I have described elsewhere. After that all dried I added Sculptamold, and after that dried I painted it with my standard brown earth latex paint. I also cut a piece of 1/8" hardboard to fit as backdrop behind Green Rock. I gave it a first layer of background paint blending the blue into white towards the bottom. At a later point I might decide that it is not good enough and add additional details. I did paint in some initial tree shapes around the hole through the scene divider. At that point it was time to focus on the turntable itself.  

The Walthers turntable kit had some problems, but by troubleshooting them and accepting hand operation, I was able to barely hit my good enough standard. The DCC and track power did end up working just fine. I had a PSRev auto reverser on hand that I have owned for maybe fifteen years. I cut and painted a piece of scrap plywood to mount across the legs of the Green Rock module. While my soldering skills are not great, I was able to attach short 14 gauge wire to the appropriate holes in the PSRev board. I then attached the circuit board with #6 screws using short lengths of plastic tubing as set-offs. I also attached some Euro- style terminal strips to the plywood for the incoming DCC bus and the outgoing wires to the phono plug I intended to use for connection to the turntable bridge. Luckily, this part of the turntable build has been working fine!

Otherwise, the turntable has been a bit of a disappointment. First of all, after buying it, I read some reviews. ( I know, that is not the proper order.) While some of the built-up Walthers turntables work well, the kits had terrible reviews, particularly in terms of operation. I guess one does get what they pay for.  I am not going to document the build of this model, but I will admit that with some careful painting, it looks pretty good. It could use some more weathering. Mechanically though, it has been a real struggle. Between the reviews and my test fitting, I early on decided to go with the manual approach rather than trying to use the motor. The bridge originally would not spin at all in the pit, despite my seemingly accurate construction carefully following the directions. I ended up using my orbital sander to sand down the ends of the bridge. It spun, but not smoothly as it still hung up in a few places. Then, in first actual trials with rolling stock, one end of the bridge would tip side-to-side causing the locomotive to derail. I tried attaching a small carved wooden block as an extra support next to the wheel on that side. After experimenting with using a dab of Labelle grease, it is approaching good enough status, but I fear I will need to keep experimenting with kludgy fixes.  

 

Moving Forward with Green Rock -- November Update

 While it is true that I haven't been posting about moving forward with the East Staging module transitioning into Green Rock, I have been working on it fairly steadily. 

The first step I took after drawing up a plan and cut list for the benchwork for the addition was to move to the basement where some of my power tools are set up for working on our kitchen. I used my miter-saw to cut pieces of 1" X 3" pine to length. Since I purchased an air compressor and nail-guns for installing bead board in the house, I have found it to also be very handy for gluing and nailing model railroad benchwork. It is noisier, but much easier than hammering finish nails by myself. It even goes faster than gluing and screwing. 

After assembling the framework, I  laid out the 1/2"plywood for the top. After marking it, I went ahead and cut the two pieces out with my jigsaw. I didn't want to attach it yet, as I felt the need to test the framework grid in place with the original staging yard. So, with Renee's help, I moved the addition up to the attic and set it up on a workbench with the staging module. It seemed like it was working, so I went ahead and screwed the new benchwork frame onto the original module. I still resisted attaching the plywood to the frame until I had the final track plan marked and the hole cut for the turntable. 

After selecting the center of the turntable opening, I made a simple beam compass with a paint stick and a brad as the center point trammel and a pencil held against the end of the paint stick to draw the circle for the opening. The instructions for the turntable kit gave me the diameter and I divided that in half for the trammel point brad. Before cutting the circle out, I drew the center lines of the tracks (and cork roadbed) on the plywood. I made sure to keep the center line straight for a few inches past the opening for the turntable and the curve to not exceed my minimum of 24" radius. 

With the plywood circle cut out I finally glued and nailed the plywood to the grid frame. After the glue had a chance to dry, my next step was to glue cork roadbed down following the center lines I had established for the three tracks leading to the turntable opening. Saving some money now and probably adding headaches later, I went ahead and configured the other two tracks using the two turnouts I had on hand, an older Atlas right hand and a Peco Insulfrog. As the rails later overlap the lip of the turntable pit, I also fit cork around the pit opening. The photo to the right shows the extension with the cork glued down and the turntable pit temporarily in place. 

Since then I have clamped the module in place, started work on the turntable, laid the track, started some scenery, and started thinking about how this will impact my operations plans. Hopefully I will update this blog more frequently and catch up with the modeling!