As promised, a thread to document progress on my layout. Electricians were here to swap out my Federal Pacific breaker box, install LED lighting, and additional outlets. Bye bye dungeon. The "studio" room was eliminated as mentioned earlier. On the "list", remove nails from the 2×4's. I'll re-use them building the layout. Many of the coaxial cables in the overhead have been removed, they were remnants from the previous owners. Trying to decide whether or not to go with flex track or sections. The loose "period" is the 1950's, however everything from decapods to GP38-2s may be seen on the layout, even more should I acquire them, so sectional track would be correct, but I like the benefits of flex track.
Remember the seven P's. Prior, Proper, Planning, Prevents, Piss, Poor, Performance. Good Luck with the layout! John
Moving right along. Thanks for sharing. Wish I'd known those 7 P's previously, John. I'm living with the last 3 of them as a result on my little slice o' railroad empire. Best Regards,
Ok, while technically not part of the layout, it is somewhat related. As part of the "self-serving/honey-do" concurrent list, I have painted the "library" room which holds my accumulating Frisco and M&NA/A&O technical/historical materials. I've also spent time repairing/maintaining my '68 F100 daily driver, preaching a message at my aunt's funeral, preparing to perform a musical piece co-written with my daughter for this Easter weekend in Cincinnati. My plate is full. Lol.
Get that "infra-structure" in good condition, keep good relations with the folks at home and always be prepared to demonstrate the skills developed in the principal effort can produce collateral benefits.
Needed a little "pick me up", so I laid out parts of the "Ft Smith Sub" section of the Meteor for inspirational purposes. Ken W. I have installed the interiors in the two cars I purchased from you, hard to see, but you can barely thru the windows. There is still more to do, (coupler swaps, details, etc...). On the new home to do list, I have painted the breakfast nook and main hallway. On baby watch for grand child #5 from our son's family and received the happy news that our daughter is expecting too. They've wanted children for several years.
Looking good Craig. Dont know how I managed to miss this thread. Looks like you are off to a great start. You try to plan for the best and hope for success, some of the most rewarding things of this has been trying to figure a way out of my design flaws and mistakes. The hardest part was picking up that first board cutting it and getting started. the rest will take care of itself. Flex track has been a good thing for me, a lot less joints to have those problems with, but that is just me. What radius curves are you considering?
Haven't actually gotten to that stage. It will be basically this layout, with a loop for continuous running, though I will likely have to change the direction of the curves as they head out of town due to space restrictions.
Good start. You're lucky to have a clear area to work around. Why did you place the outlets so high up? I am using ME code 83 for the mainline and so far so good. But then, I'm somewhat of a throwback and still hand-spike everything down. It's a lot easier to make corrections than using caulk/camper tape/whatever. Keep us posted on your progress.
I placed the outlets high as a personal preference, much of my career has had them (workbenches) and its easier on my back. Not everyone's cup of tea. In the image, the circles indicate where the mainline "loops" will be. Their directions may have to change. Top is north. There is a better image of the Seligman track diagram, but I haven't found it in yet.
Here we go. The southernmost switch was extended further south on the prototype than this diagram, I will too. The yard is over 3500 ft with the main portion being 2904 ft. I have about 2300 ft available, so some selective compression is in order. I hope to have a staging area off of the run thru loop too. I would like to build it in sections (as opposed to official "modules") that could possibly be moved.
Nice work Craig. Keep it up. Good to see the red & silver lightweights again. They sat in boxes, or on a station siding, most of the time I had them. Congratulations on your family "expansions". Always great news! We just had son Kurt, daughter-in-law Jennifer and our three granddaughters , Addison (almost 10), Lauren (7) and Regan (4), down to Naples for eight days. We had a ball, and I now have about a ton of shells they collected! Ken
Craig, nice job on your layout and congratulations on your upcoming grandchild!!! Edit: What scale do you model? Joe
Looks like plans continuing to gel, Craig. Congrats on the new arrivals in your family - sounds like they could make for a nice-sized operating session crew as they grow up. Best Regards,
Grandchild #5 (our son's) is on track for a scheduled induction likely late next week. Sadly, our daughter experienced a miscarriage over the weekend and confirmed yesterday. Hearts are heavy this week. My wife and I experienced this with our 2nd child, so we can share with them from our experience. Prayers appreciated from those so inclined. On a positive note I've been reviewing videos of model rr bench/ table building and am encouraged to believe primary bench building can commence soon.
