The trip back east to run trains on Ken’s great layout taught me a few things and motivated me to get working on the final leg of my outer loop. Up until now I have been limited to running back and forth on a few hundred feet of track with only a wye at one end. After seeing all the rock and dirt work that Devon has been doing, I decided that I can’t let that young whipper-snapper get his layout built before me. After all, age and cunning beats youth and exuberance anytime.

The section that I need to complete runs from the patio area behind the house, around the west end of the layout, and across the south edge back to the gazebo area. It’s about 180 feet of track, not counting sidings. I call the climb around the west edge Windy Point. Here the track climbs on a 3% gradient from the front of the layout to the rear. Here is a view of the Windy Point section.

I moved the rocks onto the layout yesterday. Some of the larger ones are a couple of hundred pounds each. I used that 4 x 6 timber setting on the block wall as a big lever to get those monsters up there. Here is the view from the west edge of the layout looking downgrade. The track will run just inside of the block wall with the rocks towering above it. I also moved about three yards of dirt to fill in behind the rocks. This area will have a forest of Alberta Spruce eventually and a logging spur from the inner loop.

Here is the view along the south edge of the layout taken from about the same spot as the previous photo. The track will run near the block wall all the way to the gazebo (seen on the far left through the shrubs.) That area in the foreground is my temporary planting bed. Each fall, when Lowe’s and home Depot put all their nursery plants on sale for 50% to 75% off, I buy some and stick them in the ground to over Winter. That way I always have cheap trees to plant when needed.

I’ll keep you guys posted as I make progress on this construction. Right now, I’m shooting for the mid-June time-frame for the golden spike on the outer loop.

Bob

Nice work, looks like a wonderful layout area Bob…

We (Jane) does the same thing with plants in the fall… She fills the car at 50-75% off, and she puts in the ground to winter, then we transplant them into the layout when we work on an area…

Bob

With your desire for a logging woods theme here …I think you’re going to need a trestle, to the right of the tree and in front of the rocks.

Some blocks could be removed for a trestle … giving you a great focal point ! Right were the timber is !

Dig a small canyon and build a rock wall (you could call Devon ) a couple of feet behind were your new trestle will sit.

This could be a dry river bed/ old dried up water fall with a dry wash passing under the trestle!

This would go great with the small forest…(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Thanks Sean for the trestle idea. I already have about 30 actual feet of trestles on the outer loop where I have removed blocks from the wall and dug canyons like you suggest. These are on the eastern side of the layout. Here are a couple of them.

In the particular area of the layout I am working on now, all of the bridges will be on the inner loop (after I get the outer loop done, of course.) There will be a 36" Howe Truss bridge over one of the streams, a 48" steel girder bridge over the waterfall, and a 72" curved trestle over another stream. But who knows, trestles are like locos … you can never have too many. I might just go with your suggestion after all.

Bob

Hmmmmmm … I’m not seeing any covered bridges in your list …

Great Job Bob.

I am glad my insanity is inspiring. can wait to watch this develop, your work is always an inspiration to me.

Devon may have to pay his son and friend to help him, but my two year-old Granddaughter Amblyn works for milk and cookies. Today we removed the mulch from around the lower pond and from under the Redbud trees. This is where the climb up around Windy Point will start.

I ordered three tons of decomposed granite today so soon this area will be ready for track.

More to follow,

Bob

She is cuter also. Your a lucky grandpa

You have cookies!!!(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

That is going to be a nice spot for an expansion. Having a wall to elevate the railroad is def a great thing. Wish I had that.

Okay guys, I need some advice before I start putting down track. The decomposed granite won’t be here until next week, so I have a few days to figure this out. Let me explain that back when I started this layout in 2009, I didn’t give much though to operating it. My basic concept was two concentric loops meandering about the layout. A lot of scenery, a lot of bridges, a few passing sidings here and there, but no real plan on switching in any of the towns. Now that I’ve been to a few operating sessions at Andy’s and Ken’s and caught the bug, I want to design in some switching areas.

The first town I need to develop is Sawpit. This is the lowest point on the layout and adjacent to the lower pond. Here is an overview of the town site from the walkway above the patio leading out to the gazebo. Sawpit will go into the space between the bender board and the block wall.

The piece of bender board is fifty-five feet long and the perimeter block wall is forty-two feet long. Width varies from 22" to 60". Here is the view looking west from patio level. That black box is one of the pond skimmers and I need to have access to it for cleaning the leaf net. Just beyond the skimmer in the bump-out area I plan on putting a sawmill.

The main and a thirty-five foot passing siding will follow the block wall. I want to put a log dump track next to the pond in the foreground. Here is a view of the log dump area looking east. You can see where the existing track currently ends at the walkway.

Here is a better view of the area for the saw mill.

At the far western end of Sawpit, where the line starts climbing up around Windy Point, I want to put a small coal mine. Here is the spot for the mine.

Here is a rough first cut idea of what I think I need. I want to make the switching jobs fun and not too challenging for novice operators (like me.)

I would appreciate any and all comments or suggestions.

Bob

Bob, I think it looks great. Well thought and layed-out. Good idea to maintain easy access to the skimmer. Keep us posted.

Looks fine to me. Of course, once you start laying track you can better picture how it will look. (Oh, and BTW, welcome to the “Dark Side”…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif))

Great idea to keep the OPs off the mainline. You’ve got a basic “Timesaver” puzzle there and it should work great! Don’t put your mine at the end of the siding. Look in to allowing cars to being pushed through the mine loader and then loads be on the outbound side. You’ll need a station and/or yard office for the area. And don’t forget passengers and less than car load shipments to the freight house. Miners and mill workers usually didn’t get to ride with the bankers and drummers, so separate cars for them. The worker’s car could just sit on a siding until the end of the day or make runs to provide miners and mill workers for each shift.

Where will the coal go?

Where will the lumber go? Where do the timbers come from for the mill?

Lots of Ops to think about.

Your work is looking great!

Bob Hyman said:

Devon may have to pay his son and friend to help him, but my two year-old Granddaughter Amblyn works for milk and cookies.

I work for milk and cookies myself Bob but you would have to get me train tickets(not allowed to fly) and a Federal pardon so I can cross state lines and help you out.

RR looks good though!

Rooster you don’t need a Federal pardon, Bob lives in Oklahoma where they just take you out back and beat you for bad behavior.

Chris

Ric,

Thanks for the great inputs. I’m already starting to think about routes for various runs from the logging camps to the log dump and from the coal mines to the coke ovens. And from the coke ovens to the smelter. And the need for passenger service to get the miners and loggers to work and back. And the stations for LCL shipments. And the supporting industries. And the interchanges for ore shipments in and lumber shipments out. And … and … and … the wheels are really spinning now. Dozens of new ideas, each leading to multiple possibilities. This must be how Devon feels all the time!

Bob

Not just Devon, but he is the best example we have of that phenomenon.

I’ll second what Ric said. It can get a bit overwhelming. If you get a picture in your mind of what you want your RR to accomplish, it becomes a bit easier. It’s looking good so far.

I’m already starting to think about routes for various runs from the logging camps to the log dump and from the coal mines to the coke ovens.

That’s one of the reasons I like to run different scenarios in the JMRI program. Just to see what kind of traffic your RR can handle. Besides, it gives you something to do on those cold, wet days…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Any updates, Bob, or do you need another trip East to get your Mojo runnin?..(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)