Mighty Casey is up to bat again.
He stared down the toasted motor on the panel saw, whipped out his trusty 9/16’ths and changed out the power head. It still needs fine tuning on alignment, but good enough to rip 2x4’s down and cut some plywood for the shelf top. The space has been cleared out to make way for construction and two shelf kits have been cut. Wood is all still in my car, scheduled to come inside once the sun goes behind the mountain. Day off tomorrow so progress is planned.
Jon Radder said:
Mighty Casey is up to bat again.
With that line I just had too…now back on topic.
Is it done yet?
Sean McGillicuddy said:
Is it done yet?
Not quite! I am questioning my logic in using Tapcon screws to attach the framing to the block wall. 6 of 7 holes are drilled for the first shelf. It’s about 85F in my basement and my non-hammer drill is having a tough time drilling into the 1950’s concrete block. Struggling to get the last one for this course in. I may need to re-group and move the hole a bit.
Ramset was SO much easier! But way too permanent for this application (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)
Some progress. At least all the Tapcon screws are in. This little bit of framing took me all afternoon…
Please remind me that I need a hammer drill and more than one new bit if I ever attempt this again! The angle of the shelf looks a bit exaggerated in the photo. It is a .5" rise from rear to front. The framing is cut 1 degree off of 90 to keep the joints tight. I will use steel angles to attach the mid-shelf framing to the rear frame, and a single screw through the front. And it looks like the drop from 2 passes ripping 2x4’s to 1.5 x 1.5 will work perfect for the car guides (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)
In this photo you can see the tail end of my yard at left. The track with the boxcar will become the departure track as it has a straight shot outdoors. I’m going to experiment with a home-brew re-railer where the boxcar is to make building a train from the storage shelves quicker.
Before I add the rest of the framing I’m going to color the wall black at the bottom, and white at the back of each shelf. Hope I have vinyl in stock. I really don’t want to paint.
Not quite done yet. Not wanting to take anything apart later to cover the block and close in the ceiling, I didn’t make any further progress on the actual shelves today. I put in a long day working on finishes. I made the decision that the top shelf would be pretty much useless as it would be difficult to access, so I just closed in the ceiling at that level.
I love putting vinyl on block; unfortunately I didn’t have enough white or any matte black. I opted for blue at track level, and red for the back of the mid level. Looks kind of like an odd flag at the moment…
At the left I closed the wall cavity with some white polystyrene. The ceiling treatment is aluminum framing and Gatorplast panels. Not pictured, I also cut all of the car guides and prepped all of the framing with steel angles. I’m pretty sure it will be together tomorrow.
Still needs some clean-up, but it’s functional!
Before I committed to the car spacing, I laid out a few guides on sawhorses and dropped on a few cars. As expected, using 6" maximum car width plus 1.125" between that maximum, ended up with very comfortable spacing…
So I finished attaching them using only headless pins. They can be moved in the future if needed. I finished the framing and installed the shelves. In order to fit my screwdriver above the top shelf I had to remove the ceiling treatment. I’ll get that put back in tonight or tomorrow. I wasn’t able to fit my driver in under the duct so Tuesday I’ll bring home a 90 degree drive adapter from my work toolbox.
An operational test completely emptied two sidings in my yard with a spot to spare!..
Eventually I will bend up some black aluminum trim to hide the framing, and put a plastic edge cap on the plywood. I’d like to do the same with the mainline roadbed, but first I need to lift the track and replace that horrible Life-Like grass mat that is anything but!
Wall colors don’t look to bad now in shadow (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
It was too hot to go out in the boat, which was the plan made yesterday, so I hid in the basement looking for things to do. I decided not to wait until tomorrow night for bent aluminum trim. I had enough flat black vinyl to wrap the face of the frame, and some plastic edge trim to clean up the plywood edge. A quick clean up and I was able to put things back together…
And finally a pull-back shot to show how this fits into the scheme of things…
Now I need to work on reconfiguring JMRI Operations software to take advantage of this space. Also I want to try and design and build a quick railer for the departure track.
Jon, you are indeed making use of every square inch of space.
Well done!
for next tight space…
I read somewhere in Model Railroader Magazine many years ago that 65% of what we buy, rolling stock, building kits, etc. is still in the box on the shelf in the closet. All being said, I’m trying to build my garden railway G scale with a theme and all rolling stock has to fit into it someway that was prototypical of my railroad. So far I have 40 plus cars and I model in narrow gauge, short 5-6 car trains, I think I’m over bought again. My small HOn3 Layout 4x12 I have purchased some 50 plus Blackstone cars, well over bought again, when does this insanity stop. I know we all rotate cars and engines, it’s just what we do.
trainman
when does this insanity stop.
I can give you 2 answers from my experience.
have a flood that trashes the whole house. If you have to empty every closet, it will be painfully obvious how much “stuff” you have.
move to a condo as you get older. These dwellings have limited closet space, no garage, and no spare rooms.
Sean McGillicuddy said:
for next tight space…
It’s not DeWalt, but I have that exact tool. It lives at work in my toolbox there. It’s home this weekend to put in the few screws I couldn’t get with the full size drill.
John Lenheiser said:
I read somewhere in Model Railroader Magazine many years ago that 65% of what we buy, rolling stock, building kits, etc. is still in the box on the shelf in the closet. All being said, I’m trying to build my garden railway G scale with a theme and all rolling stock has to fit into it someway that was prototypical of my railroad. So far I have 40 plus cars and I model in narrow gauge, short 5-6 car trains, I think I’m over bought again. My small HOn3 Layout 4x12 I have purchased some 50 plus Blackstone cars, well over bought again, when does this insanity stop. I know we all rotate cars and engines, it’s just what we do.
trainman
It’s a lofty goal to restrict yourself to only what you need. For the operations I have set up I was woefully short of cars so I’ve been buying when I can get a good deal; usually used. My railroad is both indoor and outdoor. If I include the outdoor track, there is room for everything, and enough open space for cars to move. No cars are left outside. When I want to run the indoor division only, there isn’t enough open space to get anything to move. The software I use to generate switch lists must see a place to put a car before it picks it. It won’t take into account car-for-car exchanges. So I was in a log jam with room indoors for any additional track. This shelving unit basically gives me an additional 600 scale feet of active track indoors. The software will not know that a 5 finger crane will need to switch cars out to the arrival/departure track.
Pete Thornton said:
when does this insanity stop.
I can give you 2 answers from my experience.
have a flood that trashes the whole house. If you have to empty every closet, it will be painfully obvious how much “stuff” you have.
move to a condo as you get older. These dwellings have limited closet space, no garage, and no spare rooms.
I am just beginning to think about the down-size. Our situation recently changed to where we might be able to retire in the next few years. I asked Marilyn where she wanted to go and she said Class A (RV). Then I asked her if she was really going to be able to let go of all her antiques, crafts & stuff. I know I will have a big problem letting go of the RR. In reality I don’t think it’s wise to plan on 100% full time RV. You need a base somewhere. I think Ric has it pretty much figured out. I’ll be watching real estate in Rockhill Furnace and other locales along the tracks 
Jon said - “In reality I don’t think it’s wise to plan on 100% full time RV. You need a base somewhere. I think Ric has it pretty much figured out. I’ll be watching real estate in Rockhill Furnace and other locales along the tracks :D”
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Visited EBT with Ken last week when we were together. As we drove the area, 20 years ago came back to the memory of thoughts of retiring in those hills. Really like that part of Pennsylvania. Reflecting back and looking forward, think a homebase near family makes it easier on everyone.(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
We have a 23.5 ft. Oliver Travel Trailer and after two weeks in it I’m ready to come back home to our home where all my stuff is, I can’t be without my stuff, at least at this point in my life. I talk with campers all the time and living in a Class A, or large 5th wheel full time and they really enjoy it, but at around the two year period they are ready to bailout of it and have a place to enjoy that gives them that home base feeling. I just need a condo with a 6 car garage, a 50x50 garden space for the railroad, and a covered parkway for our travel trailer. I wonder if they allow you to run your table saw in a condo. As we get older a comfortable place to live is most important and living in a home for me is probably the best answer, local friends and family, doctors, church, and the most important is being on a UPS route to get those eBay and Amazon buys.
trainman
John said - “We have a 23.5 ft. Oliver Travel Trailer and after two weeks in it I’m ready to come back home to our home where all my stuff is, I can’t be without my stuff, at least at this point in my life.”
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John, totally understand. Longest, we been gone from home is about 3 months. Longest we’ve been home since 2015 is also about 10 weeks for the start of this “self -isolation” virus.
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I’ve always thought, “you can do almost anything”. “You just can’t do everything”
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Hope you can slide in to that grave, yelling “what a ride”.(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
I asked Marilyn where she wanted to go and she said Class A (RV). Then I asked her if she was really going to be able to let go of all her antiques, crafts & stuff. I know I will have a big problem letting go of the RR. In reality I don’t think it’s wise to plan on 100% full time RV.
One of my RR buddies used to travel in his Class A between Durango, Phoenix, and Florida. The Riverbend Motorcoach Resort (https://www.riverbendflorida.com/)
has a large pad with cabana and parking for 2 cars, a grill, and a golf cart. Even better, the large clubhouse has a sunken area out front that floods in summer, when no-one is there. The Riverbend & Southern RR has a concrete track bed, and every year they get out the track (all labelled/numbered,) and the buildings and start running trains.
This second pic from the other side shows the main viewing area by the driveway, and in the background there are sheds. In total, I think they have 6 sheds. 2 are for storage of the buildings and track, 2 for storing train cars in ‘cartridges’ that are a standard size, and 1 workshop and a paint shop.
No track power, so all battery or r/c steam. Most of them use D&RGW power [my pal from Durango is also the President of the club.] You can see how they build viaducts and similar features to be waterproof.
Jon - my pal’s wife does lots of craft-y stuff, like quilting. She has a ‘sewing room’ in the Durango house. They spend about 3 months in Florida.
Getting this back on track after I derailed it myself (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)Now that the fiddle yard is complete, and before I update JMRI, I think it might be time to re-visit the overall plan for freight movement on the railroad. I never gave much thought to which industry originates commodities and which industries consume those commodities, but as I add more specific industries like Chandler Water (an originator of water tankers) and Brunt Coal (a consumer of coal hoppers) I think it may be time to have an overall plan. This post is not so much to ask for advice, but to organize my thoughts. I am, however, happy to hear your comments or suggestions. So to start, here is a list of industries that exist on the railroad with notes on the products / car types handled. I will begin with the Outdoor Division which never operates without originating or terminating indoors. The indoor division should be able to be run independent of the outdoor for winter and inclement weather ops.
Outdoor Division
Northville (End of N. wye tail)
Northville Foods - A food distribution center - Accepts reefers, boxcars and water tanks. Room for 2 cars max.
Indian Hill
Walk Landing Trans-Load - a freight transfer station - Accepts box cars, flat cars & gondolas. Room for 5 cars max, but only one at transfer dock.
Old Engine House - undefined industry - currently accepts flats, oil tanks, gondolas and coal hoppers. Room for 8 cars on two tracks.
Indoor Division
Honey Grove
Honey Grove Yard - This is a planned consolidation of Kistler and Tyrone yards plus the new “fiddle” capacity. The existing yards were set up as spurs with a capacity of 8 full size cars and 4 short cars (R1 territory). The new fiddle" shelving adds about 15 more full size cars of capacity for a total capacity of 23+4. All car types are accepted, but only short cars on the R1 tracks.
Nook
Nook Trans-Load - a freight transfer station - Accepts box cars, flat cars & gondolas. Room for 5 cars max.
Willow Hill
Passenger Station - accepts oil tanks (for fuel) - capacity 1 car.
LCL Dock - accepts boxcars or reefers - capacity 1 car.
Coal Dock - accepts coal hoppers - capacity 1 car.
McCown Freight Forwarding - Freight warehouse - accepts box cars, flats, gondolas and reefers - capacity 3 cars (door specific spots)
Russell Poultry - Processing plant - accepts boxcars & reefers at Spot 1 and water tanks at Spot 2 - capacity 2 cars (specific spots)
Golding Square Box - box factory - accepts boxcars, flat cars and gondolas - capacity 5 cars
South Willow Hill
Chandler Quality Water - water well head - accepts water tank on Tk 1 and coal hoppers on Tk 2 - capacity 3 cars max (2 2-bay hoppers or 1 3-bay).
Swill Tank - not currently an industry - room for 1 car - usually where engine is staged.
West Willow Hill
Brunt Coal - Retail Coal Dealer - accepts coal hoppers - capacity 1 3-bay or 2-2bay steel or wood. Probable expansion for 1 more 3 bay.
McGillicuddy Supply - undefined distribution center - accepts boxcars - capacity 4 cars max.
In summary, the only comodities that I have given much though to are water and coal. Water originates at Chandler and is consumed by Russell and Northville. Coal has no specific origin, but is consumed by Willow Hill, Chandler, and Brunt. The undefined industry at the Old Engine House could be a coal originator or consumer. There is no coal mine on-line. I have also not done anything in JMRI with schedules, specific loads, or return-when empty - things I really need to learn about going forward.
Until I had the issue of no room to move, JMRI would move cars around at most industries. Some, like Golding, saw very rare movements. My goal is to tweak JMRI so that I get movement at nearly every industry that a train services. I have quite a few routes and trains built, but in reality I run either indoor only or indoor outdoor/outdoor. Indoor/outdoor would be Eastbound, Westbound or a turn. Indoor is Northbound, Southbound or a turn. When things were moving well, an indoor turn would generate enough traffic to keep me busy for several hours. Since I usually run alone I only run one train at a time, but I’d like to plan on capability of opposing North/East bound and West/Southbound trains.
These are my schematics, not fully current, but close.
Indoor - Yards & Nook (Willow Hill section obsolete)
Indoor Willow Hill
And Outdoor…
That’s enough for now. As I let all this boil around in my head for a day or so I’ll update as needed.
