Large Scale Central

Border complete - Ready to start expansion

Track and Trestles
#1

Well, it took about three weeks longer than I expected, but the block border marking my southern lot line is finally complete. The border will allow the addition of a up-and-over reverse loop without worrying about the neighbors lawn mower. Here’s a few pictures taken today after spreading some topsoil and removing a dirt pile left over from several springs worth of clean-up in Deep Cut. View from the street looking across the neighbors yard [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Border-1-1024.JPG]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] From the top of Deep Cut - my house on the right [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Border-2-1024.JPG]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Another view from the top of Deep Cut [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Border-4-1024.JPG]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] From neighbor’s yard back toward Deep Cut and the street [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Border-3-1024.JPG]

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Looking at the bottom picture, a new LH #6 will be installed just above the one in the picture. From there the track will cross the far leg of the Wye with a 90 degree diamond then curve right crossing Deep Cut on a girder bridge just in front of the rock pile. From there, the track will curve back toward the camera and join the main though a RH #6 just above the first one. I’m planning on using the trim plank ladder method to support this track. This will be the first time I’ve tried it. I’m undecided if I’ll use ladder to support the switches, or pour new concrete pads. I’m leaning toward concrete since the existing switches are all on concrete pads. I’ve been planning this expansion for about two years, so it feels good to be finally starting.

#2

Big expansion coming to the CVSRwy. Great pictures and explanation of what you are planning to do. Nice to see that SPRING has truely come to the northeast. The “Deep Cut” seems to be weathering well?

#3
Ric Golding said:
[i][/i] The "Deep Cut" seems to be weathering well?
Naysayers be dammed - YES! I did have to caution the neighborhood kids yesterday not to stand too close to the edge. It's about 8 inches wider below the sod. I've removed probably a yard or more of dirt that has fallen off the sides over the years, but that hour or so of maintenance each year sure beats the labor to slope the sides or line them with rock.

Someday, when I have lots of time, I’ll build a short dead-end tunnel from the root to the end of track from concrete block or big black corrugated pipe. Then I’ll use your scenario that only a few cars can back into the old main-line tunnel due to a rock fall. I’ll put some kind of marker before the portal marking the depth - stop the train before entering the portal while noting where the marker lines up with the train. This to keep me from crashing into the end while backing in blind. The balance of the cut will be easy to line with rock. I’ve already done that with about 24 inches of each side at the entrance.

#4

That looks nice, Jon. What are you using for the border? It looks too uniform to be stone…

For your Deep Cut, perhaps some nice cribbing would be easier?

#5

It’s real stone. Belgium Block salvaged from my driveway when the guys putting in a new septic system for the previous owner ripped it all out.

For Deep Cut - I’ve thought of cribbing. It would look nice where the cut isn’t more than 30 scale feet or so, but beyond that I think it would look odd. At the end-of-track the cut is about 3 feet deep. Rock is free and fast, but some cribbing may just get mixed in.

Question for you …

Why did you use PT 2x2’s as the spacers on the Tuf Board roadbed, rather than the same composite material? Sturdier, easier, cheaper??? I stopped by Homely Depot today and priced out the Tuf Board. Something like $4.70 for the 1 1/2" x 8’ - Kind of pricey but a lot less work than concrete. Works out to about $1.30 or so per foot of roadbed including the PT.

#6
Jon Radder said:
It's real stone. Belgium Block salvaged from my driveway when the guys putting in a new septic system for the previous owner ripped it all out.

For Deep Cut - I’ve thought of cribbing. It would look nice where the cut isn’t more than 30 scale feet or so, but beyond that I think it would look odd. At the end-of-track the cut is about 3 feet deep. Rock is free and fast, but some cribbing may just get mixed in.

Question for you …

Why did you use PT 2x2’s as the spacers on the Tuf Board roadbed, rather than the same composite material? Sturdier, easier, cheaper??? I stopped by Homely Depot today and priced out the Tuf Board. Something like $4.70 for the 1 1/2" x 8’ - Kind of pricey but a lot less work than concrete. Works out to about $1.30 or so per foot of roadbed including the PT.


Neat! I wish you had saved some block for me though. :wink:

I didn’t realize Deep Cut was THAT big. Maybe it’s time to cover it and make it a tunnel. :wink:

Why did I used PT 2x2 as spacers? I guess I liked the idea of the screws going into wood instead of composite. And, they were cheap. Plus I could use longer pieces as supports, since everything would be the same size. I’m not sure if some composite would be strong enough where the track is 3 feet above the ground. The wood is easier to put multiple holes in…for when I screwed up.

#7
Bruce Chandler said:
Neat! I wish you had saved some block for me though. ;)
I think I have three left that size at the top of the driveway. There's still a whole pile of smaller ones, 15+ lbs. each. Shall I UPS them to you collect ???
Bruce Chandler said:
Why did I used PT 2x2 as spacers? I guess I liked the idea of the screws going into wood instead of composite. And, they were cheap. Plus I could use longer pieces as supports, since everything would be the same size. I'm not sure if some composite would be strong enough where the track is 3 feet above the ground. The wood is easier to put multiple holes in...for when I screwed up.
Good answer. The best reason is that the support posts will fit without question. Screw retention is a good one too. composites don't fare well with over-torqued screws. They used to call me "Mr. one turn past shear" when I worked in auto mechanics as a kid. I'd be throwing away a lot of composite spacers.

Gotta go re-read your post and get familiar with the method.

#8

Well, with a power driver, it’s easy to put a deck screw a bit far into the Tuf Board. Still, I think you’ll like the PT stuff. Of course, I never tried pvc pipe, so what do I know?

Let me know if you have any questions. Telephone might be a better way to handle some of this.

#9

Jon, if you want to see some of the spline Tuf Board roadbed up close and personal, I’m only a few hours northeast.

#10

Thanks for the invite Bob. Don’t know when I might be able to make that trip as the wife has my weekends pretty much planned out for the next month or so. She wants to reclaim the backyard that has become similar to a Deliverance special :smiley:

Funny, I drove right through Littleton last summer on my way to Lowell for a work trip. Had time to kill on the way home and didn’t even know I was passing your town. I ended up hanging out in Palmer at the Steaming Tender hoping to see some action, but alas, it was a quiet afternoon.

#11

Hah! If you went up 495 (probably did) you passed within about 3/4 mile of my house!

#12

Dang - Wish I’d known. Kind of slow at work this morning, so fooling with RR-Track, I’ve updated the plan. Unfortunately the existing track (the Wye) can’t be drawn exactly in RR-Track because it’s all hand bent curves, but I think this is close. I took the 90 degree crossing out to the layout and found that if I try and cross where the Wye leg is straight I will wind up with a curve sharper than my minimum spec in order to get back to the main. There is a joint in the middle of the curved section where I think I can get away with the short straight of the crossing. I thought of building my own diamond, but in SS it’s kind of a pain. Heres the very rough plan. I drew it with some sectional track, but will custom bend everything from 5 foot lengths. Only the loop is new.

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/LoopV3.JPG)

#13

And it’s not bothering that tree? I see you left the root crossing the cut.

#14

Before I dug the wife said “no problem if you kill the tree - I don’t like them”. I cut through a number of roots, some required a saws-all, but left that big one. 4+ years and the tree is still healthy.

#15

Boy, I really like that track plan. Truely, a complete industry turn with trackage to the “Deep Cut”, but a very nice tourist turn to watch the action and yet stay out of the way.

#16

A wye AND a reverse loop…

#17

The loop will be used for continuous running. I have another at the other end of track indoors. I’ll fit them both with a spring switch at the entrance. When operating, the loop may not be used as a loop, but will represent two industries. And then there’s Ric’s scenario where the tourist train takes the loop to get a high vantage point, then parks to watch the freights switch through the Wye. Interesting idea that I hadn’t thought of.

I stopped at Homely Depot during lunch & grabbed 4 8’ lengths of Tuff Board and a few 2x2 balusters. I’m going to experiment tonight with just the material connected together into a 32 Ft length to get a feel for how the loop track might flow. Need to find the table saw under all of Matthew’s auto repair parts :o

#18

After work tonight I started to see how this is going to lay out. To my surprise 32 feet didn’t go very far, so I’ll need to pick up some more tomorrow. I did get a good feel for where the track will go from the switch to the crossing and the beginning of the loop. I want to lengthen this test to see how the curve will lay out across the bridge. Here’s what I have so far… Looking back toward the crossing and the switch from the top of the loop [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Expand01-1024.jpg]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Expand01-640.jpg)

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] The crossing and the LH switch [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Expand02-1024.jpg]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Expand02-640.jpg)

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] The crossing close up [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Expand03-1024.jpg]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Expand03-640.jpg)

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] The LH switch close up [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Expand04-1024.jpg]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Expand04-640.jpg)

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Looking toward the crossing and the loop to the bridge over Deep Cut [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Expand05-1024.jpg]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Expand05-640.jpg)

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Higher angle looking toward the crossing and the loop [url=lsc.cvsry.com/Expand06-1024.jpg]

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Expand06-640.jpg)

[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] Like Bruce has said, it’s very easy to get nice looking curves with this stuff. I’m really happy with how this is going to look. I need to check the radius of the curves as soon as I can get the loop extended across the bridge. It looks like the crossing will not go where I expected, but the curve of Wye leg is shallow enough here I think I can cut in the 90 degree crossing in without too much trouble.

#19

Jon,
Unless you are going to custom build the crossing, I think I would put the crossing in first and then build to it from both sides. Thos things have a tendency to not lay exactly as you think they will. I do know that you can trim the rail of the crossing to get a better match up or transition, but the tolerance is pretty slim. Looks great!

#20

Thanks Ric. That will be the tricky part. The leg of the Wye will need to be pulled up in order to get the new roadbed in place, so it will likely be the track that gets tweaked to line up with the crossing. That’s also logical since its now a curve that will need to incorporate a short straight section. On the 90 degree there is little margin for error / adjustment . The connecting rails are less than 2 inches long.

I had initially planned to build my own custom diamond, but in stainless it just looked like too much work. So I’ll make the stock 90 degree fit.