Progress Report - More Bridge Work

This morning, I spray bombed the Walthers Double Track Truss bridge.  It looks pretty good.  Now, for some rust.

I also attended the World's Greatest Hobby Show.  I haven't been to a show in probably ten years.  This was the biggest by far.  The Sipping & Switching Society of NC had an incredibly large modular layout  We saw quite a few long trains travers that railroad.  The radius on on some of the curves had be 12 feet or more.  It was crazy!  I watched them back up a 125 car sand train into the yard.  No derailments!  

This bridge was super long!

This is the kind of Legos I like!

Love the street running!

The lines painted on this road were exceptional!

Speaking of donuts....

I saw this on a display layout and managed to find one at the show.  I can't wait to add to the layout.

More great street running!

Progress Report - Bridge Complete - Benchwork Begins

This evening, I completed construction of the Walthers Double Track Truss bridge.  Tomorrow, I will paint it.

I had a brief window of opportunity to work on benchwork.  I cut the lumber for one of the 2x8 sections.  I hope to start assembly tomorrow.

Layout Design - Part II

I had numerous suggestions of creating an out to move traffic offline.  I looked at the plan and see three feasible solutions.

1. Extend the ICG mainline out to the left (on the bottom drawing).  This would cross the return loop at a 90 degree angle.
2. Extend out the unknown railroad (on the top drawing).
3. (most preferred) Extend the ICG mainline (on the bottom drawing) and add a left turnout for return loop.  I could then add a drop leaf staging yard to the right like I did on my old Rock Island layout.

Also, I inquired about construction two 8ft x 2ft sections vs four 4ft x 2ft sections.  Feedback was definitely go with 8ft x 2ft sections.  That will help speed up construction.

Also, regarding the large grain elevator.  When researching a few months back, I came across this elevator on Rod Warren's layout.  I would like to recreate it as close as possible.  I believe I have all the kit components required to construct it now.  

I did some measuring tonight.  11.5 feet total length won't work for the room.  Plus, it's really long.  I believe I can do everything I want in 10 feet.  So, I will construct the layout as a total 4ft x 10ft built in three section (2x8, 2x8, 2x4).  The overall layout plan will stay the same.

Layout Design Update

So, I have finally come up with a plan for a layout.  This layout will be nowhere near the size of any layout built recently.  My motto for this year is reduce.  I'm tired of having a house full of crap.  Time to purge and only keep the good stuff in life.

With this plan, I had a few objectives.

1. Build the layout so it can be moved easily.
2. Continuous running for when I simply want to come home after a hard day and run a train for a while.
3. Switching layout to tickle my fancy when I do want to get more involved with operations.
4. Interchanges.  

I created this design basically utilizing four 2x4 foot sections for the main part of the layout and then two 4'x18" end cap sections for the half turns.  There will be a 6" short scene divider between the two halves.  I will use hex bolts to secure the sections together.  I will be connecting the wiring using PowerPole Connections.  Reference my blog post from the old layout for more details.

I had been thinking a lot regarding the track design, but hadn't really put thought to paper yet.  Today, I did that.  I believe this will work.  The only concern I have is there is a lot going on in the middle of the two horizontal halves.  There would be a joint here.  One solution is to construct two 2x8 sections and then have the end caps for the turns.  I would suppose a 2x8 section would be easy enough to move.  It's not like I'm having to move this every day.  It will stay assembled for the most part and only be moved if we physically moved from our house or if I chose to setup in the garage vs. the bonus room.  Anyone had experience with 2x8 foot sections? Thoughts?

Here is my basic track plan I sketched out.  

The layout is a basic loop.  I drew the flip side reversed vertically as I didn't want to be flipping the paper around when I was planning all this out.  It would allow for continuous running, some switching opportunities, interchange, and highlight the few industries that I really want to model.  This is so much smaller than what I have done in the past.  It goes back to the days of a teenager in my parent's garage as far as size.  I'm shooting for quality over quantity.  Still model something nice, but manageable and something I can get some enjoyment out of it.

Thoughts on the plan?

Progress Report 01.09.18

Progress?  What's that?

A little bit of progress tonight. MOJO Tower is ready for placement. The Walthers double track truss bridge kit has been started. Need to add details to the top, paint, add bridge track and guard rails.

New Interlocking Tower for the layout

Named MOJO for now, but may change to MO Tower.

Walthers Double Track Truss Bridge.  My daughter and I worked on assembling tonight.  We got about halfway through.  Next, top detail, paint, bridge track, guard rails.