Large Scale Central

New pics of my layout & construction

General Discussion
#1

I just posted some new pics of my backyard railroad project, beginning with this one:

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=3009006&a=32116967&p=74595455

You can click through the rest from there, or you can go here to view the whole album:
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=3009006&a=32116967

The first two shots are photos I had submitted to the annual photo contest at Garden Railways magazine. They didn’t win, so I’m posting them now.

Next is a pic of our grand-daughters Shilo and Serenity playing with the temporary layout on the patio. This was taken when they came to visit back in June.

The next three pics show the entire layout, from east to west. I had to stand on a ladder next to the house to get these shots. The east end is nearly complete except for the lower level and of course the mines and buildings which will be added later. The mid-section features a six-foot long, curved hillside trestle. The upper and lower levels in the mid-section of the layout have not been completed yet. Construction has just begun on the west end, starting with a lower level tunnel.

The next photo is a closeup of the trestles and plate girder bridge spanning the canyon in the east end of the layout. Next is a closeup of the large curved trestle. For now, I’m using the standard sectional track on the trestles, without catwalks, just to get things up and running as quickly as possible. Eventually the trestles will get real wooden ties, handlaid rails and catwalks.

The last two pics show the lower level tunnel on the west end under construction. The walls of the tunnel are made of concrete bricks and blocks. They will be topped with cast, reinforced concrete slabs. The middle of the tunnel will be accessable via removable slabs which also serve as part of the walkway on the upper level.

#2

Wow Ray, thats looks outstanding! I really love the way its coming along. That dismal really looks at home there. I find myself wishing I can do something similar to the way you’ve formed your layout, but I’m still alot tighter on space thatn you.

How does that Buddy L work on your grades? tried it yet?

#3
Ray Dunakin said:
I just posted some new pics of my backyard railroad project,
Now THAT is a mountain railroad. Very hard work. Very nice.
#4
Victor Smith said:
Wow Ray, thats looks outstanding! I really love the way its coming along. That dismal really looks at home there. I find myself wishing I can do something similar to the way you've formed your layout, but I'm still alot tighter on space thatn you.
Thanks! The hardest and most frustrating part of this whole project is providing access to all areas of track. Between the footpaths and the tunnel access hatches, there's not a whole lot of non-vertical real estate left for the mines and buildings I want to do.
Quote:
How does that Buddy L work on your grades? tried it yet?
Well, I added a couple pounds of lead weight to the loco, and gave it a brief run back and forth on the longest continuous section of track so far. It seemed to run fine just by itself. Don't know yet if or how much it will pull though.
#5

Excellent! How did you do the rock work, did you make a foundation or undestructure to pile the rocks on or what? The shots are great.

Regards, Greg

#6
Greg Elmassian said:
Excellent! How did you do the rock work, did you make a foundation or undestructure to pile the rocks on or what?
Most places, I didn't have to do very much because the sandy native soil is so hard. It also drains well and remains solid even when wet. Generally I just carved a slight trench or depression to get the base of the rock below ground level. In some cases I put down a thin layer of small gravel which helps to hold the rocks in place.

The steep cliffs at the back of the layout are built on “steps” carved out of the hard soil. This also helps keep things stable. Where necessary, vinyl-patching concrete was used as mortar between some of the rocks. The concrete was tinted to blend with the rocks as much as possible.

The foreground mountains required some fill, using the same sandy soil dug from the hill. Fortunately it compacts well. Still, I wanted to make sure that the mountains would experience only minimal settling over time. I used large, angular rocks to provide as much internal support as possible for the rocks that would be built up on the outside of the mountain.

#7

Very nice!