Yes I will be there
Well had a good time at the NPRHA 
national convention this week. I had the pleasure of hearing several great lectures. One was from our very own Craig Townsend. It was a great presentation on a obscure railroad that never got built. His take on why was very informative. I delivered a presentation on combining historical research an prototype modeling to accurately model obscure railroads. Seem well received and had lots of interaction.
But it did put a stop to railroad building. Today I did get a little done. I built up the corner to what will be Nine Mile Canyon which will be a deep creek ravine that will be the home to a couple of trestles. I got up some pressure treated lumber that will hold the dirt away from the fence. and got the ladder to grade in this section.
Hey there Devon Old Boy!
I hope to see some more progress photoâs soon!
I love how this is going!
I should be able to jump back into it tomorrow.
Sean McGillicuddy said:
Hey there Devon Old Boy!
I hope to see some more progress photoâs soon!
I love how this is going!
This is Devon you are talking to. Its time for him to get sidetracked and derailed on other subjects and let this project cool for a while. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Just kidding Devon, I also like seeing you (finally) making serious progress on the railroad.
Devon
Itâs Monday âŚWelllâŚ
i am thinking, what to doâŚ
redefine the signification of âDevoningâ, or congratulating you on not being Devoning anymore?
nice progress!
OK well donât you dare change the definition of âDevoningâ I finally have some recognition for something and had it named after me. It is rewarding to finally have my fretting, stewing, overthinking, and procrastination induced paralysis rewarded with a moniker.
Sean,
Sorry no pictures. I just didnât take any of my weekend progress. I did not have as rewarding a weekend as I had hoped but I did get quite a bit done. I made almost all of the ladder that will be for the free standing section of the layout. I have a couple of straight section sto make but then that portion of the aldder will be done. There will be a little bit more ladder that needs to be made for the bench section but for the most part the ladder is all built and test fit. I got the main line from where I left off in the reverse loop up to the grade section in the last picture all supported on PVC posts and the cement poured. I also got part of the âWallace Loopâ installed. I wonât finish the âWallace Loopâ until I can move in almost all of the rest of the dirt. It will be in the way. But thatâs where I am. I will try and take some pictures.
Up next I think I put the posts in for the Wallace Loop but then take the ladder back out. That way I know exactly where it goes so I can bring in rock and dirt. I can work around the posts. The dirt and rock will likely be the major push for the rest of the year. Its going to take a lot of rock work and dirt hauling to get everything up to grade. I still want to pour the footings of the rest of the bench work also. If I can get that all done before the freezing weather sets in then I can work when weather permits to install the bench. If nothing else I can make all the bents in the shop and install them come spring.
Devon, I know you know, but get extra dirt. Everything will settle over time.
David Maynard said:
Devon, I know you know, but get extra dirt. Everything will settle over time.
Yes extra dirt is a requirement. Its is the reason nothing can get built in the way. I am bringing it in through the front fence by taking a fence panel out. I figure I will need a minimum of 5 yards of fill and that is just to get things up to the level of the ladder. Not accounting for settling and mountain building. I plan to get it level and then have some âmountainsâ that will be just piles that will be used to compensate for settling. None of any of that should stop me from running the railroad as long as dirt is up to the ladder. But the next few weekends will likely be moving lots of dirt and rock.
Reading Bruceâs thread on the fire house and lighting has got me thinking. I havenât made any consideration for running low voltage wire or even the drip sprinkler line yet. This is only an issue at the reverse loop. I will need to get something int he ground as I bring up the dirt. I already figured out how to do it under the bench but thats easy. I need to run a conduit and wire for the low voltage stuff and some sprinkler pipe. I want to run it right next to the ladder that way I always know where it is to access it.
My track power wires are in the roadbed alongside the track. My building power wires are buried in dirt roads. I figure the roads will run to the buildings (eventually) anyway, and if they are buried in the roads, I will know where they are.
That makes sense but I wonât have roads for awhile. But if I run at least the feeders beside the track then I know where it is and can then run laterals as needed to the buildings. I see where your going with it but on this layout nothing will be sprawling it will all be trackside because everything is track side. . .there is only trackside. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)
OK well here is a little update and it is little. First off here is the picture of where I am.
Just to bring you up to speed on what I am calling things the reverse loop is Canyon Creek. Coming out of that the branch to the left in the photo is the Wallace Loop. The branch to the right is the Nine Mile Creek Grade. All of these places are representative of real locations in a sort of real progression. The Wallace Loop will be the east end of my roundy round loop with Canyon Creek being the west end. It will give me a small continuous loop. The Wallace loop will be a 1.5% to 2.5% grade with a 4 foot section of flat straight track. It will loop back into the Nine Mile Cr Grade about where the trash can is to return west. The Wallace loop will be the main town. The flat straight will be the station. This section will get made soon but remain uninstalled so I can get materials in and out.
The Nine Mile Cr grade will be a steady 3% climb to the house. In the corner where the wood wall is will be a creek with a trestle (the Wallace Loop will have one also). It is all installed to that mid point in the fence. from there it will be bench work.
That work is a week old. Yesterday I had to clean my shop from top to bottom. But that could be considered RR related because it is now in shape so I can work all winter long. Today I spent two hours in the dentist chair getting the prep work for a bridge. Noe its kinda gloomy and rainy so I think I will stay in the shop and build the bents for the bench work and some straight sections of ladder. I might move out as weather permits and move some dirt.
Access for people? Or do we just watch from afar?
Nice progress, Devon⌠(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Thanks David. Steve must have skipped over the entire discussion on me having to make access over the track. There will be one more set of stairs at the Wallace Loop.
As long as you can go up stairs you will have access to the entire layout. Might need some hand rails, havenât gotten that far.
Today I am hauling more rock. It is almost depressing when I realize how much dirt I need. I might be bringing in a load with my work dump truck. I need at least five yards.
I guess so. So you plan to access the track from the inside? Thatâll work.
Devon, yes its amazing how much dirt you need to do some things, and at other times, its amazing how far the dirt goes, as in , how little you actually need. Its a perception kind of thing.
Steve Featherkile said:
I guess so. So you plan to access the track from the inside? Thatâll work.
I donât have any choice. I have to access it from the inside. The space is so narrow it spans from house to fence in order just to get 8 and 10 foot diameter curves. As it ends up it will be accessed from the inside most of it from an elevated position. Some of it will require you to climb on it. But not too much.
So when you first get there you will stage your train on the patio side of the yard. then you will enter the layout and unfortunately will have to climb onto the layout to switch the 5 way to enter the operations side of the yard. this might be a big pain but I donât have a choice. Then when you run out onto the layout you will climb up one set of stairs and then down the other side to the interior of the layout. From there you will be able to operate almost everything, all but one industry.
So this weekend I unloaded a yard of dirt. I brought in another 1500#s or so of rock. I built a small wood retaining wall also. I cemented in two 1 1/4 PVC pipes that eventually will be the receiving end of a lift bridge. I started another 10-15 of wall but ran out of dirt. I wonât have pictures until after next weekend.