Golden Spike Layout - Update 5-29-10

After a few weeks of plotting and planning, I decided to simply grab the bull by the horns and jump in. No pain, no glory. Went for a very simplified modular design, simple uprights made of 1x2" Poplar (Good grained lumber, a bit more expensive than common pine, but at least you know you're getting something straight!) Uprights support standard 12" wide hollow core closet doors. Whole thing designed to be quick and easy to set-up and maintain, and is designed to straddle the bookcases in the train room. All in all, it's a fairly flimsy design, but like many things, once you put it all together, it becomes very self supporting.

The overall design is perfect for smaller scales (at least to my mind). Using this in O scale is a bit of a stretch, but for my purposes, typical one-two car interurban trains, 40-50 ft long cars, it'll work fine. Would be great for ON30 as well. Even the lightweight nature of things could be bolstered by simply adding more uprights and bracing, these doors are pretty sturdy really, I don't see much chance of flex/sag in them unless you're putting some big O scale steam engines on it with some substantial weight.

This is the basic design, 1x2" uprights, with more 1x2" cross pieces. One at each end (doors are typically 68-70" long), door simply sits on top of the crosspieces as seen below. All of this can be fastened together as loosely or tightly as desired. The design show here, with the support legs to the inside and outside, which leaves a gap along the back, is intentional. It will leave room for a drop in, combination spacer/backdrop.

Here you can see how the door/table top sits on top of the uprights.

All in all, including going to Menard's for lumber and supplies, what you see here was constructed in less than 2 hours. It's a small room, a standard 10x10" bedroom which actually has a bit of it cut-off due to an offset door. Just enough for a small point-to-point operation, just enough to run the rust off the wheels. Think of it as a nicely detailed (eventually) test track or an operating diorama.

And now, the tour (like any other like-minded modeler, once you have that bare benchwork, you start throwing track on it to see what things will look like) This is all temporary, a little salve to run a train back and forth and reward myself, as well as a template of sorts to see what will fit, and how. Waiting for the shipment of vinyl roadbed to arrive, I'm pretty satisfied with the layout of things, and once the roadbed is here, I can lay the track and start detailing this thing.

Starting just inside the door of the train room. This station is here for mock-up purposes only, it will be replaced with a semi-scaled down, scratchbuilt version of the Elgin & Belvidere's station/substation that used to be in Union, IL.

One of my fleet of early 1960's Ken Kidder Fox River cars at the ready.

Same spot, viewed from the other way. The station will have a short team track, LCL loading platform for LCL, milk, newspaper shipments. Typical midwest interurban stuff. A pair of Clouser North Shore cars (on shop trucks) occupy the siding at present.

First corner, the track will run under a steam road overpass (something to hide the corner effect), and run into "town", this will be just the proverbial wide spot in the road kind of thing, couple of storefronts, gas station, a blink of the eye, and you missed it.

Out of town, down the back wall, about to turn again for the next corner.

Into the corner, and the final leg

(at present, we're going to have a simple U-Shape)

Not sure what's going to cover this corner yet (a gas works like there used to be in Aurora is a strong possibility) Also want to work a small stream or culvert somewhere in this general area, either just before or just after the corner. Track flows into the last leg, and will end at a double sided, high platform station (This will be patterned after the CTA's 50th Ave station at IRM.)

The Rich Yoder GE 45-tonner (soon to be lettered for AE&FRE #5) with a couple of Atlas freight cars stands at the ready, and a mock-up of an IT freight trailer on the other track.

PS - These are all Jason's Brass Poles, another "expedient" to get things up and running ASAP.

More to come,, just waiting on that damn roadbed !

Let's do a quick checklist, where do we stand with Golden Spike requirements ??

Layout needs to be at least 8 square feet.

CHECK - Current configuration is approx. 23 square feet

Layout needs to display six units of rolling stock

CHECK - This is the easiest part, I have WAY TOO much stuff.

Layout needs to display 5 structures.

This one is in progress, plotting and planning exact structures here, but the ideas are in place

Three types of trackage (special work) are required

CHECK - Three turnouts in place, will also include a crossing, and possibly a gauntlet track on the steam road overpass.

Track needs to be properly ballasted, raised roadbed, etc

Also in progress, basic trackplan in place, waiting on the roadbed to get this underway

Layout must be wired so two trains can be operated simulataneously.

In progress, plan will be simple DC, block control

Layout must have one additional electrical feature, signals, powered turnout, lighted building, etc

Small interuban like this would not have signaling, turnouts will be either push rod or ground throws (still considering this one), so we'll go with lighted structures, streetlights in town and yard lights at the stations. In planning/progress.

All in all, not a bad start.

Golden Spike layout - Update of sorts

The "Golden Spike" layout has been terminated. After all the back and forth with our new O Scale Modular group, I've decided to build a small "executive" sized layout. Also modular in style to allow for removal if need be. Basic around the room, almost a shelf type thing, 12-18 inches wide at max. Just enough to run a car or two.

Had to thing a bit about the setting. Finally reconciled myself to the thought that modeling anything prototypical in such a small setting would only be frustrating and unfulfilling as too many compromises would need to be made. So, just decided on a simple, generic, Midwest, single track line interurban. Start with a point to point thing, around the walls, 7.5' up one wall, 10.5' across the next, down 8-9' on the next side, then later decide what to do with the fourth wall (should I simply loop the thing for continual running ?

Pics to follow later this weekend.

Golden Spike Project - 15 days in

Two weeks and a day into the project.

The "benchwork" is complete, as described before, a simple false bottomed box to be filled with pink foam insulation

In what is typical for me, I've jumped back and forth from replicating the original article and building the Payless Mine layout, or doing something similarily "mine-oriented", to doing a logging operation, based on the general layout/ideal of the article. After a lot of back and forth and making mock-ups and all, I've ultimately decided to do the logging idea, basing the size and trackplan on the article. Track will extend at both ends for possible, probable, likely (?) expansion.

Here is my Christmas Day efforts, pieced in pink foam, with a creekbed cut through and the basic track layout. Simple HO scale flextrack, with every other tie removed. Trying to make this as simple and basic as possible, the idea that ANYONE can do something similar, no special materials, tools, etc, just a little space and a desire to try it all.

The "West End", the Bachmann gas mechanical is about the perfect size for this, although I have a couple of similarily small, 4 wheel, short wheel base Milwaukee locomotives in mind as well.

The curve in the center is some of my usual smart-ass efforts, one of the "suggestions" for track for the Gold Spike is a crossing, which of course would be of zero use here, so I added one anyways, conceptually this is the camp foreman's office and a speeder or small railbus pulls up to the office with new employees.







The "East End" of things.

An overall look at the full 6 foot length of things. Planning a small, portable sawmill in the center of the "V" here at the east end, loaded disconnects on one side, flats with cut lumber on the other

Golden Spike - The "Benchwork"

So, here we are, 24ish hours into the Golden Spike project.

Actually starting to come together in my mind as I start to make some definitive decisions about the who/how/where/why/what of it all.

First part is the benchwork. This won't be traditional benchwork as we normally view it.

The concept here is basically a box which will sit on a standard 6 foot long folding table.

Easy to accomodate, small enough to fit in most cars, and the standard 6 foot folding table, (a) ungodly common at your average railroad show, and (b) short enough that most of the kids can get an up-close and personal look. And if the little monsters can't keep their fingers to themselves, we can boost the whole thing up 1-2-3 feet by putting milk crates or some such at the corners.

So, starting with the box.

6 foot long x 18 inches wide. Standard 1x4"

A "lip" of 1x1" stock inside, the top of the 1x1" an inch down from the top of the 1x4"

A 1/4" plywood sheet on top of those "lip" pieces, creating a false bottomed box, that is approx, 3/4" deep, with approx 3 inches of "under" for all the wiring and what have you.

On top of the 1/4" plywood we'll start with 1 inch pink foam insulation and build up from there for elevation(s).

This is the rough drawing of the box concept.

FYI, for those playing along at home...

1. Get a damn life !

2. No, seriously,, my junk isn't that interesting !

3. The concept is based on an article by Richard White, "The ON30 Payless Mine Company" featured in the Sept/Oct 1996 issue of the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette. Hopefully, we'll do it justice, should be able to figure this out,, I've only thought about the article and building a reasonable facsimile for 14+ years !

Golden Spike Project

I have not had an operating layout for quite some time. I beleive I've mentioned it somewhere here in the past, given my interest in larger scaled models and living in townhouses, I've been forced to choose between work area or a layout, and the workroom always wins.

With my more recent activities within our local NMRA chapter, the itch to have somewhere to run trains has become more pronounced of late. I'm developing a plan where I have offered to repaint the entire house next spring, in exchange for taking our spare bedroom/mini-office and converting that to a full office with an around the walls shelf type O scale layout. I suspect the Mrs may have gotten the better of the deal here, but as long as everyone has what they want, good deal.

Anyways, all of that is a bit down the road, and the need to re-sharpen those layout skills makes sense before committing to a bigger layout. With that in mind, I noticed in one of the more recent NMRA newsletters mention of the Golden Spike Award.

In essence, the Golden Spike Award is designed to promote building and completing a layout, with some specific modeling prerequisites.

The qualifications for the Award are as follows :
Rolling Stock (Motive power/cars) Display six (6) units of rolling stock, scratchbuilt, craftsman, or detailed commercial kit

Model Railroad Setting (Structures & Scenery) Construct a minimum 8 square feet of layout, and construct five (5) structures, again scratchbuilt, craftsman, or detailed commercial kit

Engineering (Civil & Electrical) Three (3) types of trackage required (turnout, crossing, etc) All must be properly ballasted and installed on proper roadbed. All installed trackage must be properly wired so that two trains can be operated simultaneously. Provide one additional electric feature such as powered turnout, signaling, turnout indicator, lighted building, etc

Seems very doable, and I have set for myself a goal of designing and building and (hopefully) accomplishing this award, within one year (12/10/2010). What I have in mind at present is a small (6 foot x 18" inch) ON30 layout. The concept will be based at least for the start on an older Narrow Gauge Gazette article. (more on that later)

So,,, I'll hit Publish Post and start the clock ticking,,, as if I didn't have enough other projects


Did I mention back-dating 4 Ken Kidder brass Shaker Hts 300 series cars back to original AE&FRE 300 series, including details, custom paint and decals,, that's my Christmas project !

More to come