This is a great photo Rick!
The only way to improve it is to have one of these on that bridge!
(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
What a great thread - thanks to all here for the contributements!
tac
OVGRS
POCRR extension
Chuck & Ken
I understand snow and cold intellectually but having lived for 68 years where we only got 2-5 inches once every 3-5 years iâm just now beginning to understand it in my bones(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Sean,
Like I said above my RR has never really been in need of a plow, something I will now have to re-think(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)
Glad you liked the bridge picture here is another one from this morning. Weatherman said everything would turn to rain overnight, got up to an additional 2 1/2 inches of fresh snow this morning(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif)
TAC,
Thanks for the compliment.
Must say I enjoyed your build thread.
Thanks everybody
Rick
You know , if you had windows facing the layout , you could run train from insideâŚ(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Rick Marty said:
Chuck & Ken
I understand snow and cold intellectually but having lived for 68 years where we only got 2-5 inches once every 3-5 years iâm just now beginning to understand it in my bones(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Quite a revelation, isnât it? When I was younger, I could not understand how people could feel things in their bones. Now I understand.
Running in the snow if fun. Beats swatting away the bugs. Ken you need a snow fence.
Shawn Viggiano said:
Ken you need a snow fence.
I have thought of that. Actually a snow-free winter would be betterâŚ(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Construction update.
Another view of the track along the fence, this section is actually mounted to the fence and will be used as a tail track to the switchback into the yards that will eventually be along the shop wall, on the left out of the picture. At the end of the track is mounted one of the most important instruments in the state of Oregon, the mandatory rain gauge, in this case being used as an end of track bumper.
The Bridge is finally installed to complete the turning wye. This 6 foot steel tubing bridge was built in 2006 for the old layout The Redwood decking has held up beautifully through the years with just a coat of oil every couple years. This location just seemed the perfect spot to re use it.
Now we are getting down and dirty, the ladder road bed is all installed and time to start the back fill. I am trying a mix of 2 parts crusher fines and one part loam hoping the moss will take over and create a stable surface. I know that there will be a lot of settling, erosion, and splattering on the fence from the rain until it does. Iâm thinking that I wonât use any additional ballast for the track just the dirt base. Weâll see how that works as time goes by; ballast can always be added at a later date. My thoughts on the dirt mixture are that the crusher fines will give me better drainage than a solid loam mixture which likes to retain waterâŚ
All the facia board is in place and the fill completed and the track is being installed. I am using the same method to fasten the track in place that I developed on the old layout. I use a screw and a fender washer between the ties just barley snugged down, this allows the track to expand a little in any direction without causing damage
Another view of completed trackage in the wye area. You can see the slope of the grades very well in this picture. I have since added an additional support leg near the joining of the wye legs as I was getting a little sag in that area, probably caused by the elevation changes there.
On this end the tables were widened from 24 inches to 30 inches to allow for the siding and room for building flats along the fence. As I said earlier this siding area is all flat, no grade, so we donât have to worry about car run away.
A close up view of some of the track work, you can see the ladder going off to the left for the future switchback leg to the town and yards that will be along the shop wall.
Thatâs enough for today, thanks for taking a look.
Rick
Thatâs coming along good. I like itâŚ(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
ballast can always be added at a later date.
Iâm finding that the ballast along the track is getting spread out from the rain. But what Iâve put down in the yard areas is staying put. So I may just use it in the yards. Iâve a bit of settling too, and need to work on that when it warms up.
Why are you securing the track, where is it going to go?
Why not just let it float ⌠washer spoils the great looking track .
Looks killer!
Track has a tendency to want to straighten out on the curves and it helps keep dirt and debris from getting under the track. I have had that happen in a few spots. And it does get bumped. I use paneling nails to secure it. Less conspicuous.
Good answer⌠never mindâŚShut up Rooster!
I found that the washer method worked best for me in the harsh summer climate that we have in Northern California/Southern Oregon. Track will expand no matter what, if it canât go one direction it will go another. I had tried panel nails and deck screws through the ties but they restricted the expansion sideways and lengthwise so it would expand upward and pop the rail out of the ties, not a good situation. With the screw and washer between the ties the track can move in any direction without being allowed to crawl completely off the ladder bed.
The washers show so plainly in the above pictures because the track has not been ballasted yet, once ballasted they blend in surprisingly well.
I have found that âfloatingâ track means just that. As Ken said above dirt and debris work under and the track raises, after a few years the track can be an inch higher than when laid, that doesnât work for me.
The washers show so plainly in the above pictures because the track has not been ballasted yet, once ballasted they blend in surprisingly well.
But
Iâm thinking that I wonât use any additional ballast for the track just the dirt base.
So, the washers will be so plainly visible forever then?
David Maynard said:
The washers show so plainly in the above pictures because the track has not been ballasted yet, once ballasted they blend in surprisingly well.
But
Iâm thinking that I wonât use any additional ballast for the track just the dirt base.
So, the washers will be so plainly visible forever then?
No.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)
Itâs easier to fill and compact the dirt on the tables and in the ladders before the track is added, after the track is installed then the remaining dirt fill (ballast) can be added compacted and smoothed. The above pictures are before the final âballastâ work has been done. Perhaps I should have said earlier that I wouldnât be using a separate/different rock ballast instead of saying âadditionalâ ballast.
There now, that should be clear as mud(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Which the whole railroad is right now(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif)
Rick
Is it done Yet? (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Track power or no track power, the age old question. Quite a few of my locomotives and rail trucks are battery/RC but like most of us I have lots of track powered locos that I like to run. I would love to convert everything to battery/RC but we all know the expense involved with the conversions, so maybe in time we can do it. But in the mean time I am going to install for minimum track power ability, by minimum I mean things like leaving one leg of the wye out of the track power equation.
For track power connection I solder jumper wires (20 gauge copper) to the track sections at both ends then after installation these wires are soldered together leaving slack for expansion. This method works very well for me and I can just use common slide on rail joiners for track connection with no problems. As in the past I am using rail clamps at all switches and bridges for ease of removal to perform maintenance
First train on the new railroad November 11 2016, almost 2 years and 2 months to the day of the last train to run on the old Shasta Pacific. Unfortunately this was also the last dry day we had, have not been able to run trains since because of too much rain, snow, and freezing temps.
There is less than a hundred feet of track operational but it sure is great to have trains running. Here #9 with a MOW car is crossing the wye bridge heading toward (what will be) the Redding yards. Notice that the track is still not ballasted in with the fill material.
Well that brings us up to date on construction of the new Railroad. I have done a few minor things but the weather has been so bad that not much can be done outside. The table tops were covered with 7-12 inches of snow the first 22 days of January didnât much feel like messing with that.
More construction coming once the weather moderates, I have been filling my time with a model building project indoors by the heater(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif), perhaps I will post some pictures of it but pretty sure it wonât interest many people here.
Stay warm and dry.
Rick
The shay looks good on the new layout and the MOW car looks cool. Any modeling project youâve got underway, Iâm interested. Please post when you can.
Looking good Rick, just think only another month or two and all this âWhiteâ stuff will hopefully be gone and we can get back to running trains.
Chuck Inlow said:
Looking good Rick, just think only another month or two and all this âWhiteâ stuff will hopefully be gone and we can get back to running trains.
Boy isnât that the truth. I havenât been warm since November(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif) for the last few weeks it has been 25 to 29 overnight and 30 to 35 during the day with very little sunlight. I know this is not severe to you hard core cold area guys but I am a native California mountain boy, you know, 100 to 115 in the summer and 30 to 40 in the winter with hardly any snow. Spoiled you say, and your right but lets see how you cold area guys do at 110 + for 2 -3 weeks(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Well Spring is coming for all of us!!
Rick