tick tick tick It’s March 1st…(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
David Maynard said:
And then there is your rod-less rod locomotive…
That may never get done. I know what needs to be done and I am not sure I want to do it. The chassis has to be out of square or otherwise out of alignment. The way to fix it is a new chassis. The way I built it won’t lend itself very well to that surgery. It is shelved indefinitely until I get the gumption to tackle it again.
We’d all like to see Devon have a functional railroad, but don’t you think enough is enough? He’ll get it done when he gets it done. It was a mistake for him to make a self-imposed deadline. Cut the guy some slack! I feel sorry for him. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)
Actually, he has a very short point to point railroad at this time. Remember this picture?
Joe Zullo said:
We’d all like to see Devon have a functional railroad, but don’t you think enough is enough? He’ll get it done when he gets it done. It was a mistake for him to make a self-imposed deadline. Cut the guy some slack! I feel sorry for him. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)
Joe, since he crowned me “King Butt Modeler”, as if I don’t do anything, and he is some kind of go getter, I am going to ride him like a rented mule all the way to the bitter end. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-yell.gif)
All in fun of course. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)
Guys,
It is time for me to set the record straight, I mean no ill intent, nor offense. One, I appreciate everyone’s support. And I believe that all of what has been presented here is just that, support. People do that in different ways. Some do that by teasing and goading. Sometimes that teasing and goading starts to look like down right harassment. But I can say at no point has anyone offended me by their comments. Their comments have been taken, as I believe they were meant, to be encouragement to keep me going.
Second, people get kinda weird about post counts. This projects has taken up 42 pages. As many have noted not a lot of progress for 42 pages. But go back and look at the 42 pages of content and ask yourself why is it 42 pages? Is it because I have racked up a post count on minutia and details, or is it because of relentless goading from others and defense of actions (or lack there of) on my part. It does not personally bother me that a rolling dialogue of banter has ensued. But don’t hold me accountable for a 42 page thread of nothing. I am not the only player. So IF IT DOES bother you that this is 42 pages long then lets address why it is that long and not why its that long with no meaningful content. I am glad I am doing the articles and will do better to keep them up to date because no one will want to look through this thread to glean anything of value.
Lastely, I will say lets give it a rest. While I myself am not all that annoyed by it; more than a couple have mentioned to me in private that they feel a bit annoyed for me that I am getting such a hard time. So lets get back to the purpose of this thread. Following the progress of the build and offering suggestions and ideas on how to make this the best layout it can be.
Deal? I really do appreciate everyone here for all their support (in whatever form it takes) and for all the ideas and suggestions and help. I am not an offendable person and I like to give as good as I get. So no harm no foul on my part. But others who want to follow along are not enjoying it as much as we are.
Well said. While I have poked a little, as someone with no track inside or outside that can be close to a RR I believe you are right in asking for a small break . Maybe someone can move the beat up Devon to general discussion topic page instead. I should not have encouraged that idea someone will run with it. Look forward to spring and watching your build , good luck
David Maynard said:
Joe Zullo said:
We’d all like to see Devon have a functional railroad, but don’t you think enough is enough? He’ll get it done when he gets it done. It was a mistake for him to make a self-imposed deadline. Cut the guy some slack! I feel sorry for him. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)
Joe, since he crowned me “King Butt Modeler”, as if I don’t do anything, and he is some kind of go getter, I am going to ride him like a rented mule all the way to the bitter end. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-yell.gif)
All in fun of course. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)
It is NOT looking like “all in fun” any more. Some one reading this thread for the first time would think this is a bunch of guys harassing and bullying this poor guy, and would not want to be associated with this group. Believe me the optic of this does not look good. It must be an embarrassment to BM, and I am surprised he didn’t shut it down long ago. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif)
Devon
Could you post some current pics of the layout so we can see what you have left to do.
Sean,
I will this weekend. The snow is gone for the most part and you will be able to see where I am. Up to now it has been buried. But I think you can get the idea of where I am now. I am actually going to do it in an article but I will link that here as well. We have the train show on Sunday and I am helping set up on Saturday but I have plenty of time Friday and most of Saturday to get some pictures and finish cleaning the shop and get rolling again.
Article #4
A where we ended and where we need to go.
I was going to add this photo to the article but forgot it. This is what I had to come up with for the track that was now in the walkway. I used PVC lumber with the grain side and ripped pieces to fill in the track like a road crossing. I think this came out nice.
This area has settled about and 1" since fall. I will need to add more gravel.
Hey Devon, I think your crossing looks great, but I would be concerned that no one steps on either of the crossing while going over this area unless it’s really supported under the track. I think if someone stepped on it the aluminum track would still bend. That’s not good.
Chuck,
It is a concern. I am hoping that people will be careful enough to step over it. The idea is that it will take the occasional accidental foot fall. I don’t think the rail will be able to be bent over by stepping on it. But I am concerned a little with the whole piece being shoved down and breaking the whole mess. The track is supported by the ladder and the ladder by the dirt. So I think it will take accidental steps. Visitors will have to be warned. I might have to put a sign up as well.
Its not how I wanted it that’s for sure. But it is what it is.
Devon, i really like that crossing. I’m going to file off the serial numbers and use it on my RR.
Paving stones next to the track will solve your problem. People tend to use them, when offered, and even if someone misses or stumbles, the stone will take most of the weight, if the stone is a RCH higher than the railhead.
You should be fine, Devon. This is all I have:
Steve,
I think those crossings were a moment of genius if I do say so. I had to cross them, there was no way around it. So I was trying to figure out how to make them so the rails wont bend over IF someone steps on them. I figured wood crossings were prototypical. But I really didn’t like the idea of putting small strips of wood on the ground. Then i was messing with the PVC trim boards and noticed the grain. Ah ha perfect. I cut strips and the spiked it to the ties. I think it is going to work just great. I do like the idea of putting stepping stones on either side.
So after helping set up the layout for the train show this weekend I came home and started work on the bench work. I needed to locate the wye. It is going in a very specific location. So the first step was to assemble the wye. The original plan was to use #6 switches but I went with #4s to cut down the size. #4s are in the rest of the yard so it is OK in my opinion to have them here as well as this is not mainline. It will make me rethink where I will use the #6’s in place of the #4s but we will be good.
So here’s the wye. Thanks to Steve for giving me the idea to use zip ties to hold it together. I have not made the purchase of rail clamps yet as that will be spendy. I will buy some as I go to fix trouble spots but for know I will be using the standard stainless rail joiners. But the zip ties hold it together now so I won’t have to assemble it later. But what this did do for me, using the #4’s was making the wye smaller. It still has 8’ diameter curves so we are withing my minimum specs. But by making it shorter it gives me nearly 12 feet between the switch in the wye and the yard. I don’t think I will be using the 5 way instead I will be using a series of #4s to branch off to the five tracks More than enough room to get that done and will be ore prototypical and make switching fun. It does mean I likely will be ordering 4 more switches from LLagas though.
In determining the bench I will be continuing the 30" wide section 16 feet more from where I left off. Perpendicular to this I will be running a 40" wide section where the leg of the wye runs tot he south. This is accessible from both sides so no reach issue. That perpendicular section will be 48" long. Thats were it meets the pathway and a lift bridge will go there at some point and on for another 3 feet. This will be more or less just a spur for switching. I might be able to put some industry there some day but that is not in the works for now. Continuing on along the house I will need to narrow the bench like I did before down to 15" wide like I did for the lower loop to accommodate the other loop which will be the “Wallace” loop. I decided to just keep it 15" wide for the rest of the way, 14’. So now with the bench work plan whittled down, I went to the shop and made big wood into little wood. Here is the pile of wood to make the rest of the bents.
Tomorrow after the train show, I will get the screw gun fired up and assemble the bents. Above and to the left in this picture you can see my pile of wood. I bought more than enough so as soon as it dries up a bit I can pour the footing and get the bench framing done in short order. In the meantime I will finish making a bit of ladder as well.
Oh dang. As I was sitting here writing this I just realized I almost made a grievous error. The east end bench work cannot be the same height as the rest. I will still be climbing as I come up to the house and along the house for a ways. I was going to lower it and then use ladder or some other method of supporting the track above the bench work. Glad I caught that now.
I do have one annoying problem that I am going to have to deal with. My neighbor loves chihuahuas. She has always had two one was OK minded its own business but the other one would bark all the time. Now she has two more and they bark like the other one. So there is this constant yapping at the fence. I am an animal guy and like dogs but this is not going to work for me. Not only will it drive me bananas but I wont be able to have anyone over to enjoy my back yard much less my trains. I will be heading next door to talk to her. We get along well so hopefully she will do something about it. If not I will start with a hose and an air horn.
Oh I was also going to mention that since I am having to narrow down the bench work for a considerable distance I will have some extra wood. On the patio on the outside of the layout I will have a staging area. The top two tracks in the yard will be for guests to build trains when they come over. This area is exterior to the layout proper. So I thought it would be nice to make a 8 foot long table using the same pile trestle design of the bench. When people come over they can use it to set their totes and loco carriers on while getting on the layout. In the off season, when no one is over to operate I can use it as a picnic table by making some benches to match.
It will make good use of my nice new large patio.
Devon,
I painted some expanded plastic trim boards and fastened them to the sides of some of my planks to hold gravel. It’s a lot warmer this week and all the plastic is wavy as it expanded twice as fast as the wood. I’m ditching the plastic and will cut trim boards from a plank.
Make your own rail clamps with 4 flat head machine screws and a steel plate. Set them far enough apart so the beveled under side of the heads pinch the rails near the tops. Dollops of paint close to your ballast color will hide them…
Remember rule #1.
The best way to deal with the Galley of peanuts is do more talk less…
a thought how long has it been since ‘they’ posted pics?
John
John so far that plastic in the crossing has seen 90 degrees and sub zero. And it looks as good as the day I installed it. I know some plastic can get crazy. But Ken has used this PVC a lot on his layout without issue. I hope it doesn’t give me trouble as I will be using a fair amount of it. We will see how it goes but It has been through one summer/winter cycle now. I hope I keep getting the results. If not I can change it.
Thanks for the warning though. Something to watch.
None of the PVC board is exposed to the sun, it’s all covered by track and dirt. The molding for the side sills is pretty thick stuff, so I haven’t noticed any changes in it.
BTW, Kevin Strong has an article in GR using this ladder method where he’s rearranging the track in Shade Gap on his layout.