The Lehigh and Hudson River coming to life!

[wm3798]

I get it... the typical problem of the multi million dollar project getting held up by a $3.99 part...

Lee

[asciibaron]

I get it... the typical problem of the multi million dollar project getting held up by a $3.99 part...

i just haven't had a chance to get over to Ollie's this week.  and i still need to move/purge a bunch of crap.

[sizemore]

I get it... the typical problem of the multi million dollar project getting held up by a $3.99 part...

Lee

Sounds like NASA.

[sizemore]

I get it... the typical problem of the multi million dollar project getting held up by a $3.99 part...

i just haven't had a chance to get over to Ollie's this week.  and i still need to move/purge a bunch of crap.

Sounds like NASA too!  ;D

[Philip H]

I get it... the typical problem of the multi million dollar project getting held up by a $3.99 part...

i just haven't had a chance to get over to Ollie's this week.  and i still need to move/purge a bunch of crap.

I'm not sure we need all the intimate details of your "work plan," but if there's interesting/useful modelling stuff in that purging, I'm sure your friends here will help you out!

[asciibaron]

I'm not sure we need all the intimate details of your "work plan," but if there's interesting/useful modelling stuff in that purging, I'm sure your friends here will help you out!

hehe - no, mostly baby crap and some misc. junk.  all the train stuff is neatly organized under the layout, next to the beer fridge.

[seusscaboose]

testing the upper and lower track heights - the front track will come out of staging and climb 7" in nearly 18 feet.  it will be a constant grade with a 4.5 foot passing siding at mid grade, roughly where these shots were taken.  the upper track drops down 3" from Warwick and levels off for about 6 feet and then drops down the remaining 4" to the staging yard.

so 216 inches to go 7 inches up...  that puts you in the 3.5 to 4% range right?  in terms of incline...  going up should be interesting... going down should be easy...  but then again.. that's what she said.  :

[asciibaron]

inches to go 7 inches up...  that puts you in the 3.5 to 4% range right?  in terms of incline...  going up should be interesting... going down should be easy...  but then again.. that's what she said.  :

rise over run yields about a 3.25% grade using your numbers.

actually, the grades will not be constant.  the visible grades will be in the 2.5 to 3.0% range.  i'm not sweating them yet.  typical road power is two units rated at a minimum total of 3000hp and heavy tonnage gets three units with a rated minimum of 4500hp.  most trains will have an Alco RS-3 and Alco C-420.  the heavy ones get an RS3 between two C-420's.

the run thru Reading coal has plenty of power, typically a GP35 and two GP30's.

[wm3798]

You mentioned the problem of the opposing grades looking stupid in your other thread...  I have a plan... But it will take some serious negotiating skills on your part, and perhaps a total re-work of the track plan...

If I recall correctly, your layout is in an alcove adjacent to the basement family room, separated by a wall.  I also remember you saying that Mrs. Ascii demands furniture quality benchwork so as not to detract from the family room environment...  Here's my evil scheme...

Take one of the offending grades and run it on a narrow, very nicely finished furniture grade shelf, on the Family Room side of the wall, poke a hole in the drywall to complete the path to the lower (or upper) deck back in the alcove...  This gives you an extra scene, maybe a place for that steel bridge you were pining for, that places a nice diorama in the Family Room, and a functional  transition for the grade change.  Disguise the hole in the wall with appropriate scenery, (the non-existent L&HR tunnel for instance... people in the family room will want bridges and tunnels) and you're set.  The F.R. diorama can be where you put all your crowd pleaser bullshit scenery, like naked people swimming, flickering camp fires and all that N trak stuff (you won't have to look at it while you're running trains in the alcove) and it will make it more interesting for wifey poo.

My 1989 vintage Laurel Valley was designed as such.  The "business" side of the layout was concealed in the laundry room on the left, where it could be closed off from Laura's daycare urchlings, while the family room side was the scenic bridges and tunnels extravaganza.  Properly executed and lit, you could have a nice piece of art hanging on the wall there...


When she eventually throws you out of the house, the drywall can be easily patched by any 8 year old.  Now go negotiate for another small land grant.  The shelf need be no wider than a 1x8, and attached to the wall with simple shelf brackets (or better yet, sit atop a functional book shelf...)

Go for it!

Lee

[asciibaron]

ive made some progress between taking care of the yard, running some errands, and going for a family bike ride.

here's the completed framing for the layout.  i spent about an hour coming up with a plan for the opposing grades that does not require them to cross.  not only do i like it, my wife thinks it will help hide the messy looking layout.


messy benchwork and too much crap to clean up - the area in the near corner will be G tower with the LHR curving away from the PRR Bel-Del line and climbing up grade toward Warwick (where the R/C car is parked).


the upper grade is the line heading east (downgrade from Warwick) toward Maybrook.  the lower grade is the line from Hudson yard climbing up toward Warwick.  the plan is to have a backdrop between the two grades with lights at the top so no holes will need to be made in the ceiling for track lighting.  it's a decent solution to visually separate the grades and allows me to complete a portion of the line keeping my wife happy.  these are not the actual grades.

and of course


SAFETY FIRST

[pfs]

.....


messy benchwork and too much crap to clean up -....

...

Lowes has 18 gallon tubs 2 for $7.00, just picked up 18.

You can never have enough storage.

[wm3798]

So basically the same solution I suggested, only with a new backdrop instead of the existing wall...  Very clever, Mr. Bond...

Lee

[tom mann]

wow, that is a lot of crap.  how can you work on the layout?

[asciibaron]

wow, that is a lot of crap.  how can you work on the layout?

exactly.

[sizemore]

wow, that is a lot of crap.  how can you work on the layout?

exactly.

And he said he cleaned the place up before he installed the layout.

I see the remnants of a Tamiya Blackfoot (one of the greatest R/C legacies of all time!).

The S.