4th Subdivision: Planning for Power Districts

In my last post, I mentioned a number of decisions to be made before installing Nooksack, the first TOMA section. I have made a number of those decisions, but I felt the need to make some long range plans as I started prepping the two modules that will be the core of Nooksack. During last Thursday's modeling night, I shared the plan seen above with the attendees, with my initial questions/plans for power districts. The consensus was clear that with a railroad of this size, one booster will be fine, and four power districts and an auto reverser for the turntable should be quite adequate. In my attic layout in Meadville, I had two power districts, using NCE EB1 circuit breakers. I plan on continuing with the EB1 circuit breakers, but I will plan either physical or terminal space for adding two as I set up the "command center" of the railroad. 

Proposed Power District Plan:

1. Nooksack: Carnation Plant to Interchanges
2. Ferndale Jct. Fiddle Yard and Staging
3. Chikamin
4. Port Gullick and Curtis
5. Auto-Reverser at Chikamin turntable

Prepping Nooksack Modules and Planning Ahead:

The intention in planning ahead is to minimize the work under the modules moving forward. So, with the small creek and trestle scene that is attached to Nooksack up on sawhorses, I have started preparing it for installation. I found some bolts for attaching it to the main Nooksack module. I will next screw on some Euro-style double terminals for the DCC bus into and away from this module. I also need to install a terminal for the control toggle for the Tortoise switch motor. Knowing that a separate DCC bus for the future Chikamin circuit breaker and for the Chikamin Turntable reverser will later be traveling through here, I could at the minimum pre-drill appropriate holes. 

Basement Prep for Nooksack: Part Two

 

In my last post, I spoke of getting my gumption up to spend time to get some painting accomplished in the area of the basement where I intend to locate the Nooksack TOMA section. Well, over the last week, mainly the last couple of days, I did just that. The upper part is my "sky" color and the lower part is SW "Andiron," my fascia color. I still need to install an L girder along the stud wall to rest the back of the Nooksack section on. My plan is to mount the L girder at 46" so that the benchwork top is at 50" at one point along this stud wall, and then to level the L girder (and rest of the railroad) to that point. 

I intend to explore some trial and error with the existing ten-foot benchwork section before permanently mounting it:

• Will I use legs or a cantilever support off of the stud wall, similar to what I saw my friend, Brad White, do on the Brocton Corner of his new railroad?
• Will the existing shelf on the stud wall be accessible enough to use for the command station and related electronics once the benchwork is in place?
• What about backdrop height and valance placement? 
• What will my final plan for lighting be? 
• Will I consider some kind of drop ceiling over the railroad in this area?

In addition to the Nooksack area, I also painted the south wall of the basement. The first step was to mask off the area behind the steam pipe, covered with rust and foam overspray, and to paint it with a Rustoleum "High Heat" rattle can. Although it could have used a second coat, I called the first coat good enough. It took several days to dry, and despite my opening a basement window and firing up a fan, the spray paint solvents made their way upstairs. 

After the spray-painted pipe across the wall dried, I went ahead and painted the entire eastern wall and the upper portion of the Nooksack area with my sky blue color. The spray foam is tricky to paint as it has a dramatically varied texture. Spraying would probably be the best technique, but I am not set up with equipment for that. I found a small (three or five inch) roller to work the best, with an occasional poke with a brush into deeper divots. I tried a standard roller with a deep pile in another part of the basement, but with the irregular surface of the foamed stone foundation, the smaller roller is able to better travel  through the bumps and valleys.  

The guys are coming this week to try to feed a new power line from the new breaker box in the basement out to the garage and to finish plumbing in the new "laundry area" in my previous workshop. Once they are done, I will need to clean up and organize, before deciding how to approach painting the basement floor. We will see whether the next post continues along these lines or whether I follow the breadcrumbs back to structure building for Nooksack. 

Basement Prep for Nooksack

Well, I really need to knuckle down and spend more than 15 minutes or an hour at a time prepping a section of the basement for the Nooksack TOMA section to move into place. The new grounded outlets are installed and live. We have a new dehumidifier, and the basement tends to be quite comfortable on the hot days. It may be a mistake, but I am approaching the basement prep in a similar manner to TOMA: one section at a time. This section needs me to get on the ball. It is a mistake to continue to leave the sprayed in foam insulation unpainted, as UV degrades the unpainted foam. I just need to get my gumption up and spend a few days painting!

New Workbench Location: Part Two

Although I haven't unpacked some of the railroad boxes from last year's move, the new workbench location is well under way and inspiring more organization to come. The work order with the electric company  is set for this week, and our crew arrives tomorrow to continue work on upgrading our home's electrical system. After that is completed I can install lighting for the workbench and begin prepping another corner of the basement for the Nooksack sections (first TOMA section).

The "cave" under the basement stairs and landing also needs some additional light source. Since my last post, I installed some shelves and started organizing it as a storage area. I purchased some plastic bins/totes that slide under the stairs and installed a shelf for my tool boxes. One box has evolved to hold electrical and track laying specific tools while the other contained scenery tools over the last few years. I still need to determine whether I will use the bay provided by the cave to hold a larger or smaller rolling cart as I have both options at hand.

While I am fairly deep into the rabbit hole of researching and designing the structure for the Curtis Cannery industry for Nooksack, based on the Kale Cannery of Everson Washington, I suspect that my next post will involve the room preparation for Nooksack to move into place. 

New Workbench Location

In my last post I mentioned that I had started work on the new location of my model railroad workshop, and I have completed some first steps including setting up my workbench. The photo above shows the status as of now.

I had initially set up my modeling workshop in an alcove off the main basement, which is now becoming the laundry and general household work area. I chose a space next to the basement stairs as the new location. I believe that this space will not impinge too much into the aisle along the future town of Chikamin, and the "cave" under the stairs and landing provide some space for storage of modeling materials. 

The first steps I took included painting the sprayed on foam insulation on the wall and the dingy basement "trim" with my sky blue latex paint. Our contractor has run a new circuit through the basement for the railroad, but we are waiting for the new service entrance and 200 amp breaker box installation to connect the circuit. One can see the new outlet by the workbench in the initial photo. Until the service call by the power company is finally scheduled I will still be working with extension cords strung across the floor. 

With the pegboard mounted and my Ikea workbench/desk set up I have a place to work finalized. With the shelves under the landing edge cleaned up and painted (top left on initial photo) I have started some shelving for modeling supplies. 

The next steps: 

• Add some shelving and tote storage under the stairs 
• Install shelving along the wall under the landing 
• Figure out where I can best add my small parts bins
• Consider adding a rolling cart/work-table to the "cave"
• Extend the blue wall painting to the initial TOMA location
• Tackle painting the floor

Nooksack: Planning For Operations with TOMA

 

The main difference with the TOMA approach is that one section is built to completion and operated before adding additional modules (actually sections). While planning ahead for the later, larger model railroad with the potential for operations sessions with multiple operators, I also need to intentionally plan for the initial one-town model railroad. While I intend Nooksack to ultimately be one of several modeled towns on the 4th Subdivision, initially it will be the main focus by itself, with some staging on each end. Hopefully without going too far into the weeds in this post, I will discuss four interrelated approaches to operations planning for the TOMA based, first phase town of Nooksack that I have been considering. These include advice for planning for engagement and fun on a small layout from Byron Henderson, making choices from the many train forwarding and car forwarding approaches, and combining research and scenery planning with operations planning by making industry choices.

Byron Henderson discusses "enjoyable operations on smaller layouts" in a blog post from 2019. I recommend reading his full post, but I will list what I consider some main takeaways. A central idea is to include "diversity in roles" by including the opportunity to both classify and spot/pull cars in a small railroad. Another idea includes planning for "variety" by including the notion of more cars than needed and changing waybills after the 4th cycle. Incorporating prototypical challenge rather than difficult switching puzzles by considering needs at different times of year, including sure spots, and applying railroad rules are all considerations. In reviewing Henderson's ideas I concluded that my TOMA staging on at least one side should incorporate the possibility of classification even if it expands the initial scope somewhat. 

Operations planning, even with a one-town or fun-for-one approach, breaks into two interrelated parts: micro or car forwarding and macro or train forwarding including train types, control, and communication. For car forwarding I plan to start with car cards and waybills. I wrote about this in a blog post describing how I used car cards and waybills on my earlier attic version of the 4th Subdivision; while that post described using different locations than the new railroad, the system is the same. In another post from that same series in 2019, I wrote about using switch lists. I intend to continue to use switch lists as a key part of my car forwarding approach. While the conductor will continue to use switch lists, whether the car cards and waybills continue to be part of the conductor's job or whether I will somehow have an agent job as the new 4th Subdivision expands and develops is unclear. In either event, car cards, waybills, and switch lists will be the focus of car forwarding on the 4th Subdivision in Nooksack and as the railroad grows over time. Train forwarding with the one-town initial TOMA approach is less clear in my mind. On my earlier attic version, all of the modeled railroad was within yard limits. In my newer version, that will not be the case. While not really prototype based, my 4th Subdivision will follow some prototypical guidelines as to the time period (1954) and GN practices on branchlines. I plan to start very simply with a sequence system and running one train at a time. As the railroad grows, I am guessing that I will ultimately implement some sort of dispatching potentially utilizing a timetable and train order system.   A process of further evaluation and research will be needed as the train forwarding system evolves with the railroad. 

I have started another process of evaluation and research as I have started planning the industries for Nooksack. I intend whatever I select to be appropriate for the setting (1954 Pacific Northwest) and for both the initial stand alone Nooksack and the evolving larger railroad. I have nascent construction notes and prototype research underway for the industries: an agricultural cannery, a logging supply company, a fuel oil dealer, and a team track. Returning to my initial goal of not going too far into the weeds with this post, I will leave the development of these industries as prototype, operations, and scenic linchpins to later posts along with updates to the slow progress on the layout space and new workbench location.

Real Life, Real Estate Deals, and the Railroad

Real life, including a family gathering in Maine and my involvement in my wife's gardening plans, along with some upcoming renovations on our home have led to a bit of a slow down in progress on my railroad. Perhaps a modeling slow down is to be expected in the summer season!

At the end of May and first week of June, we had a lovely visit to Mid-Coast Maine, where my wife's family rents a house for a week most summers. Our bedroom faced the east and as seen in the opening photo, we had some beautiful sunrises. No railroad visits this time, but on our last trip to Maine in 2018 we visited the WW&F which is a great little railroad (part tourist railroad and part railroad museum). This trip we had some good food, visits to the Maine Botanical Gardens, and stops in some historical sites in Massachusetts on the way home. 

When we moved into our home last fall, we had a lawn service do the mowing, and besides planting some perennials in a fenced area we didn't do much in the way of gardening. My wife and I are planning on transitioning the lawn into more of a mixture of other gardens: pollinator, native, and vegetable. This summer, we cancelled the lawn service and bought a battery powered mower to keep things civilized during the transition. Mowing, planning, and planting all take time and energy that otherwise might be spent on the railroad. 

We have planned from the beginning of our move to do some sort of kitchen remodel. The first step is to move the washer and dryer, now in an alcove of the kitchen, to the basement. To accomplish this, the space that I have taken over for my modeling workbench and storage was traded to become part of the laundry. Contractors are coming next week to plumb and wire the new set up, and my workbench is still in place. I think I know where the workbench will go, but the new location is not prepared. Time to repack my work area! 

While work directly on the railroad is on hiatus, planning and replacing the workshop in a new space, layout room prep, and operations planning will continue.