Large Scale Central

Building the CR&N Deadline:July 2017

Devon, so are you going to show us pictures of the first train running on that track? Aw, come on, as hard as you are working on the railroad (laugh when you read that) you should be running a test train on the first leg of the railroad by now.

David Maynard said:

Devon, so are you going to show us pictures of the first train running on that track? Aw, come on, as hard as you are working on the railroad (laugh when you read that) you should be running a test train on the first leg of the railroad by now.

I have a well overthought constantly evolving plane for this

i like this typo. it is so “in character”.

Devon Sinsley said:

David Maynard said:

Devon, so are you going to show us pictures of the first train running on that track? Aw, come on, as hard as you are working on the railroad (laugh when you read that) you should be running a test train on the first leg of the railroad by now.

I have a well overthought constantly evolving plane for this

Image result for worthless without pictures

Now this is an overthought plane…

David Maynard said:

Dan, yes, you may have. But my point is, we have seen no CR&N trackage, for now 27 pages. My rebutt-all thread is still only 6 pages long, and there is more railroading in my 6 pages then in Devon’s 27 pages. But, Devon is getting closer. He is looking to build an 11 way switch, with some kind of remote control, self alignment feature and indicator targets, with lights for night running no less. So there is still hope we will see some railroad building before page 35.

More? C’mon Devon, you have overcome inertia and actually started laying rail, you can’t stop now! Winter is right around the corner.

Ken Brunt said:

Chuck Inlow said:

Yes I can back up Devon’s story with a couple of pictures of him and his train running on my layout at Saturday’s club meeting. The first one shows his custom train carrier and the second is his USA trains, Northern Pacific GP-9 and freight train. Enjoy.

I have one of those except the wife thinks it’s for carrying clothes out to the clothes line…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Devon, you look familiar for some reason. just saying we might have a thing or 2 in common . it must be the fact we both cook. and have a SLIGHT tinge of gray in the facial hair

We do look quite a bit alike don’t we Pete.

Well on the actual track laying. I have had a bit of a snafu. My switches are somewhere traveling the country. I was supposed to have them by now. But I am trying to find them. Once I have them I will lay the track in the yard. Until then no track is going down. Bench work begins tomorrow.

Well the switches arrived. So this weekend I will either lay all the track in the yard or start my bench work for the 5 way and the wye section. I finished my homework for this week. I have Sat and Sunday to work on the layout. The county fair is in town that will interrupt Sat evening but The rest of the time is RR time. Another bonus is that I had over 24 hours of overtime in the last week and that will all show up on my paycheck next Friday. OT money is mostly play money. So I will be placing a large order for rail clamps and buying a whole ton of lumber. Maybe even enough to complete the project. We will see. But the next pictures should show some actual work progress. Maybe even track progress.

One thing I am trying to decide is where to locate the 5 way. I had a plan to put it right at the nose of the yard cabinet but doing that will cause me to have to converge the spurs rather quickly and not utilizing all the yard space. Now I am thinking of shifting it away a bit and making the most of my beautiful yard.

Edited:

I went out and just laid the two #4 turnouts and the #4 Wye (Well depends on how you define it. Its made with a #2 frog and is equivalent to #4 turnouts) and laid out some track. What I came up with is the 5 way switch will need to be about a foot or two away from the nose of the cabinet. That’s alright I can live with that. By doing that I get the longest straight runs on the yard spurs. I was curious how spacing would work out. Its wider than originally planned. So the 4 tracks that will be the yard are 8 inches on center. The two staging tracks on the opposite side will be 8 inches on center. The two engine house tracks will be 6 inches on center to each other and 10 inches on center to the adjacent tracks (yard and staging). This will allow room for the sides of the engine house and loading docks. I am pretty happy with the overall look. The two outer most tracks will have a short tight bend (roughly 6’ diameter) but only for about 8". I ran my longest car through it and it is just fine. Anything longer can run down the inner tracks which will be straighter.

I have to admit this is motivating me to want to jump on laying track, just seeing it there. I also will have to layout the Wye and figure out how big it will be. It will be made up of 2 #6s and a #6 wye. Ultimately no sharper that 8’ diameter curves on the curved sections but I know I will need to ease into those. This will be just laying it all out on my grass. and cutting and bending. Once thats together I will be able to get its foot print and make its bench work.

Ill be up early tomorrow (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)

Devon Sinsley said:

Well the switches arrived. So this weekend I will either lay all the track in the yard or start my bench work for the 5 way and the wye section.

Uh huh.

But the next pictures should show some actual work progress. Maybe even track progress.

Don’t threaten me.

Lay out the track and see how it fits, remember our trains are wide on the track.

Is it done yet?

John

Devon Sinsley said:
We do look quite a bit alike don’t we Pete.

I knew there was a reason I follow what your doing so close… not stalker close, but watch what you post, but not being creepy about it.Northern brother!

.

And?

OK well I got the track in the yard laid. I had about enough time to take a couple pics and shoot a short video then I had to run to the fair.

I am happy with it even if it has some pretty poor track arrangement. Some pretty tight curves and S-curves to get everything lined up. You will see from the pictures and video. But I ran the GP9 and a car through it and it will work. Its not perfect but it will function like I want. I wish someone here would have told me that what I have on paper and what translates outside won’t necessarily be the same.

Well there is track and I am running trains (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif). Up next is the start of the bench work for the wye. The wife will paint the rest of the house then I will write a new article.

Devon Sinsley said:

I wish someone here would have told me that what I have on paper and what translates outside won’t necessarily be the same.

C’mon Marine, everybody knows no plan survives after the first shot is fired.

By page 3 I was on CIP no. 99…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Devon Sinsley said:

I wish someone here would have told me that what I have on paper and what translates outside won’t necessarily be the same.

I believe that you were told. Oh well, better to learn that now, then when the real building begins. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)

Congratulations on getting this far, now the infection should take hold. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

And, it took you long enough. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)

Didn’t I just tell you to lay the track out and see it?

I’d cut the legs that center wye back to the solid tie, then you can remove those unsightly S bends coming out of it.

John

Thats not a bad idea John. I will ponder that I was thinking there is some way to ease that but didn’t know how.

Now on to the bench work

Devon Sinsley said:
Thats not a bad idea John. I will ponder that I was thinking there is some way to ease that but didn’t know how. Now on to the bench work

I did that to a Stainless Wye so my car barn leads could be close. It’s your switch now…

John

Well With John’s suggestion of trimming that wye down and having messed with the bench work and placing the 5 way on the bench where it will go I realize I will have to mess with the yard track geometry to get it to line up well with the switch. So I will be modifying the yard, a small step backward.

But for today’s progress. I started the bench work. Now I haven’t really revealed what my plan was, but now you get to see what was up my sleeve. I really like Ken’s approach but when I saw this layout I fell in love with the trestle look. So I am going to take my own approach an adapt both styles. Since my bents are short, 30", I decided to do them pile style as opposed to the more traditional trestle bent. I used cherry tone landscape logs, pressure treated 2X4s, and 1X3 PVC boards. I poured 12X30X2 pads for the bents to rest on. What is not in place yet is the guard rail which will be 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 cedar. I will cover all this will the same sun shade cloth. Track base will either be 1X4 PVC like in the yard or in places I will use ladder to gain elevation. I think this will be very sharp looking bench work.

The bench will be the length of the house, under the wye, one the big passing siding and a section near my fence. The rest will be ladder. I placed the 5 way switch in it approximate position.

The wife should have the painting done by tomorrow. I kinda jumped the gun and she will have to work around the section of bench. I took off the PVC to make it easier. The whole bench will be 3" away from the house. I should note that I intend to make all the bench next to the house 30" for reach. When I can reach it from both sides I will make it up to 60" wide depending on fit and clearance for walking around it. The weird narrowing of the bench in the pictures is because I have to make room for the 8’ diameter reversing loop. Remember the area is only about 12.5’ wide. This arrangement allows for the reversing loop to be 6" off my fence and also give me 29-30" walkway between the loop and the bench. All walks I am trying to maintain at least 30".

Edited: I just realized I forgot to say that I will tie the bents together at the bottom with some sort of cedar board, probably 1X 2. I am waiting until the painting is done. My wife asked me what I was going to do under the bench. I figured I would do a rock border following the contour. and then gravel the walks and bark the rest. She came up with the idea to make the area under the trestle a dry creek bed. Good idea since that’s what trestles often do. Low maintenance and will look good. But that won’t happen until next year or ???