Large Scale Central

J&B RR Construction Log

Track and Trestles
#161

Bruce,

Your turntable and yard look real good. We play the same game with the acorns. In fact, that is how come the guys formed "Acorn Oil Co. “Growing the fuel to power the World”. It is still a small local market, but it is growing with the higher price of fossil fuels.

I think we are at about the same growing zone. How long has the turntable been out now? Have you had it full of ice and snow? Do you cover or remove parts for the worst of Winter? Of course, if your winters have been like ours of late their has been little ice or snow and fairly quick melting. I think last year, we had one event.

#162

I’ve got the pine needle problem. They come down in a nice thick,interwoven blanket, it seems. Nothing short of dynamite gets rid of them.

#163

Pine needles are easily removed with one of the old leaf rakes…I know because I have loads of them.
I don’t envy anyone with all those acorns…pine and spuce cones are bad enough…

#164

Thanks, Ric. The turntable has only been out since the spring. I do plan to leave it out all winter, however. I just don’t have the room inside to store all this stuff. I’m hoping for some more global warming and a mild winter. :wink:

Though it hasn’t been out through a winter yet, I’m really pleased with the turntable. It works very well and looks pretty good, IMHO. :smiley:

#165

Denny Karner had his turntable installed at last weeks club meetng. It is on the ground and forgot the material he used. He said the construction was basically built like a wagon wheel. My wonder is the survival through the Winter. I’m sure we will all find out.

#166

…after at least 3 years of service; the good old “Dave Goodson Memorial Terntable” is still performing beyond expectations, here on the IPP&W…I’ve even forgotten to oil the “Lazy Susan” bearing for the past two years, and am just going out to do it now, while I think of it…

We had a second one built with Aluminium, and it was installed at Rat Portage this year.

They work well and take up little space. Without pits; we don’t have the pit to fill up with all sorts of windblown crap like pitted tables do.

…Dave is fine and living out West without any problems, but we still have memories of him due to his design of the turntables…

#167

Now that I’ve actually operated on the layout, I’m finding a few problems. The first is that my yard is too small. Well, it certainly is. I wish I had room for more tracks. But the last time I arrived with a train, I found that I couldn’t hold as many cars as I thought. On a couple of tracks, I just needed about six more inches to comfortably store another car. So, looking at my yard, I decided I could probably extend the yard a bit, hopefully helping out in operations. I bought a 2x8 and cut two sections to length.

I put some bracing underneath the platform.

Next, I put the two boards in place. This gives me about 14" of extra length.

I was also able to extend the arrival departure track - last time, I had to cut my caboose off before I entered it. While the oak tree has been a constant problem with leaves, bark, twigs, and acorns falling on the track, today it really helped. It started raining while I was doing this, but it kept me dry. So, I was able to get all the track in place. It’s a good thing I had saved a lot of my short sections.

Hopefully, this will help next time I operate.

#168

Looks good, Bruce. I’m pondering the same kind of benchwork for my main yard, and was thinking of using rolled roofing underneath it to look like ballast.

#169

I’d be interested to see how that looks. I’ve already screwed down the track, so I’d have to take it up again. But, it might be worth it.

The ballast I have seems to run off, even with the lips around the edges.

#170

Bruce,

You might try the inside 50/50 glue/water mix. I didn’t believe it would work outside, but it does. Even in the rain, by the time it is really wet, it stays in place by gravity and then it hardens in the sun again. I’ve used it in a couple of places that washed alot, but did not have foot traffic on it. If on your table it will just sit and reharden, it might work.

#171

I also see a lovely spot for an engine house…:wink:

#172

Thats a fun place to operate the yard from too…

#173

Yeah Bob, I had the same thought about the rolled roofing.

#174

Bruce, I just piicked up on this thread, and was wondering what the spacing was on your posts for the ladder method?
Your layout looks great!
Terry

#175

Terry,
Thanks for the compliment.

There’s no rhyme or reason to my spacing, though if there was, I’d have to say put a support about every 18" or so. I do have some larger gaps - I use these for crawl throughs to get to the other side of the track. I have some smaller gaps as well.

The real key is to minimize the amount of flex for the TufBoard as it is not as strong as wood might be. For ground level, the supports are probably several feet apart, as I don’t need much support there.

#176

I put in a new siding today. Occoquan has 3 sidings, but they all face in the same direction. So, this one faces the opposite direction. This will allow me to make switching a little more challenging if I so desire.

I haven’t measured it yet, but it should easily hold two cars.

Meanwhile, over in Jackson, excavations are under way for the Produce house now being built in my basement.

These two tracks were originally set up to switch passenger cars, but I decided to use them for freight, since I don’t currently have any 1:20 passenger cars. The one closer to the house will be the team track.

#177

Looking good, as always, Bruce!

#178

Bruce Chandler said:
A possible solution:

I’ve added a connection to allow for continous running, but that would not be used during an operating session. Of course this would require making a turntable, but that could be a fun project. I’ll have to contact Richard for details on his. And I have to think through the yard design - have to make sure I can reach the switches. Plus, I’m not sure what to include, other than a run around track. :wink:

Bruce, Is this still your track plan? Could you reference some of your updates to this track plan?

#179

Kewl…more work for the crews…they ain’t gonna be happy…:wink:

#180

It looks a bit more like this:

I have not updated it with the new siding. Now I need to figure out what industry I can setup on that siding. It will probably be a flat, as the holly restricts my room a bit.