Tehachapi, BC

[GaryHinshaw]

How's the manicure and clip painting looking?

Here are a few quick shots showing progress on the "upper tunnel" shell.  The first shows the sequence of steps from raw track on cork (top), to track with painted clips, to fully ballasted, but unweathered, track:



The excess ballast in the middle is typical of UP's track with concrete ties, as in this reference shot of William's Loop in northern California.  Here is a close-up of another section that I've started weathering: (still kind of a practice run since this track is inside Tunnel 16)



I'm basically happy with the overall look now.   The clips and railhead are oversize, but that doesn't really bother me.  I'm having a minor issue getting the weathering applied uniformly along the track.  I'm using weathering powders and I have to be careful not to put too much in the brush at a time, since it can easily look splotchy. 

This is all a diversion from the more pressing matter of installing more track (and recovering my CAD file). 

Cheers,
Gary

P.S. In other news, I finally ordered my DCC system from Central Hobbies, so I should be able to bring this pike into the 21st century in the next few weeks. 

edit - changed the images to ones with better color rendering.  Some new Picasa feature.   

[basementcalling]

What system did you settle on?

You have the clips and ballast down nicely. Just a little on the top please. 

Did you use ME CD55 concrete tie track everywhere or did you mix any wooden ties in someplace/

I'm thinking of using different track in my tunnels, but definitely going with the CD55 concrete tie track in visible spots on my mainline. Some locations will likely still have wooden ties, like the branch trackage and perhaps a passing siding or two, but given my freelance built date, I think most would have gone down with concrete ties to start with.

Tunnel portals by that logic should not be notched either, which is a bummer, because I like the look of that, although I guess the engineers could have made a mistake on heights that gets discovered the hard way. It wouldn't be the first time the CEO has found a measurement to be off this weekend.

Nice shot of Williams Loop. I like the highway bridge in the background. It can be a useful scene separator when the time comes and I get that far along.

Is your garage as hot as Tehachapi right now with the heat wave out west?

[GaryHinshaw]

What system did you settle on?

Digitrax Super Chief w/ duplex radio.  The best thing about getting it from Central is that it comes with Bill Dixon, their DCC guru.  (Another factor in the choice: my model railroading nearest neighbor, Mark Dance, also has Digitrax.)

Did you use ME CD55 concrete tie track everywhere or did you mix any wooden ties in someplace/

I'm thinking of using different track in my tunnels, but definitely going with the CD55 concrete tie track in visible spots on my mainline. Some locations will likely still have wooden ties, like the branch trackage and perhaps a passing siding or two, but given my freelance built date, I think most would have gone down with concrete ties to start with.

I am using concrete for the entire mainline, but wood everywhere else (including code 40 in the industrial areas).  On Tehachapi, the track in the tunnels use steel ties, but I am not doing that here because I did not want to deal with the extra track gaps - and most of the tunnels on my pike are at eye level, so the ties are barely visible.  (But don't tell Ed I took that short cut!)

Is your garage as hot as Tehachapi right now with the heat wave out west?

At our house the temps have reached the high 70s(!) - which is indeed a heat wave for Vancouver.   But, in fact, the dew point is in the mid 60s, so it is a bit uncomfortable, since we don't have AC.  But, of course, it's nothing like an east coast summer...

Cheers,
Gary

[basementcalling]

At our house the temps have reached the high 70s(!) - which is indeed a heat wave for Vancouver.   But, in fact, the dew point is in the mid 60s, so it is a bit uncomfortable, since we don't have AC.  But, of course, it's nothing like an east coast summer...

Cheers,
Gary

Steel ties. Hmmm, PC board ties? No idea why if you can paint 7,000 rail clips you can't cut gaps inside tunnels. Never know when you might have to daylight one of them, and then Edd will know your short cut. 

Are you doing code 40 turnouts for industrial areas?

Mark as a railroad neighbor. Oh my. Inspiration and motivation all in one.

I was definitely planning on wooden ties on my passing sidings and branch, and had one day where I thought code 40 track on the branch would be interesting. I did a siding on an NTRAK module in it once long ago, but have never hand made a turnout and not terribly inclined to start unless the slow boat from China for Atlas is further delayed.

East Coast summer is something everyone should experience.     I've been doing all my sawing outside to keep the dust out of the train room - Before I had a finished floor I was more barbarian about such things. Some days just going outside long enough to make one cut is enough to break a sweat, and that is in the shade under the deck.

[GaryHinshaw]

Steel ties. Hmmm, PC board ties? No idea why if you can paint 7,000 rail clips you can't cut gaps inside tunnels. Never know when you might have to daylight one of them, and then Ed will know your short cut. 

I might actually go with PC ties (or maybe just file off the fake wood grain on some wood flex track) for Tunnel 2, which will be very prominent on the lower level peninsula.  On the layout it will be very easy to look right through it, like in this shot of the similar Tunnel 1.  This shot shows the transition to steel ties fairly well outside of Tunnel 14.

Are you doing code 40 turnouts for industrial areas?

Well, I have the parts for code 40 turnouts.  I'm not going to commit to code 40 spurs until I successfully build  one though.  That day is coming...

Mark as a railroad neighbor. Oh my. Inspiration and motivation all in one.

Indeed!

I was definitely planning on wooden ties on my passing sidings and branch, and had one day where I thought code 40 track on the branch would be interesting. I did a siding on an NTRAK module in it once long ago, but have never hand made a turnout and not terribly inclined to start unless the slow boat from China for Atlas is further delayed.

I'm only committing to hand-laying the turnouts in the visible portions.   My staging tracks will probably use Atlas, if they're available.  I enjoy the work, but I'm too slow to hand-lay 100 turnouts.

East Coast summer is something everyone should experience.     I've been doing all my sawing outside to keep the dust out of the train room - Before I had a finished floor I was more barbarian about such things. Some days just going outside long enough to make one cut is enough to break a sweat, and that is in the shade under the deck.

I spent 30 years on the east coast, 20 in DC, and if I never have to live through another summer there I'll be happy (there was a lot about the area that I did like though).  It really sapped the life out of me, and in the last few years, temps in the 90s and dew points in the 70s could occur anytime between April and October.   

[basementcalling]

I spent 30 years on the east coast, 20 in DC, and if I never have to live through another summer there I'll be happy (there was a lot about the area that I did like though).  It really sapped the life out of me, and in the last few years, temps in the 90s and dew points in the 70s could occur anytime between April and October.   

Heck, then we were practically neighbors. I'm south of DC by 40 miles and 1 to 3 hours depending on traffic.    Last summer was pretty brutal - especially a year ago - but we've gotten off easy the last couple weeks. I am sure we will pay for it soon.

Been in Virginia 31 years now. Would love to get back out west to sightsee, but I spent 3 years in Germany as a kid in the marine climate and you couldn't pay me enough even in Kato locos to live in that zone ever again, but the fog and clouds can make for some dramatic backgrounds on a model railroad.

[svedblen]

Re: Ballast on top of the ties - I have changed my mind  I must admit this is looking not only plausible, but outright good!

[LKOrailroad]

Is the ballasting just a test? If not, isn't it risky to ballast before other scenery work? I suppose there are no hard and fast rules but generally ballast comes much later in the process.

[robert3985]

Code 40.  Surprisingly, Code 40 trackage is a lot easier than Code 55 or Code 70, especially the turnouts.  My Park City Branch is entirely hand-laid Code 40 with every fifth tie being a PCB tie...the rest are basswood, and I have had near zero problems with any of it.  The turnouts are easier to build because there's so much less metal to remove, and bending parts is a lot easier too.

The reason I went with hand-laid track on the branch instead of Railcraft Code 40 Flex was because when I laid it, I was part of a modular group, and some of the boys didn't have Lo-Pros yet, and they won't run on Railcraft or ME code 40 flex...but they run just fine on rails that are secured by solder to PCB ties.

However, the lack-o-spikehead details has always bothered me, so I'm considering snipping the centers out of Andy's N-scale Code 40 tieplates and gluing them to the sides of the rail foot (four pieces on every stinking tie!).  I think I'll try a small section before going all out on this project to see if it's worth the effort.

On my U.P. center sidings, I'm using my hoarded Railcraft code 40 flex (which has finer spikeheads than new ME flex) as well as on the industrial siding at Devil's Slide for the Ideal Concrete Plant since the Superintendent (me) doesn't allow pizza cutters on the road.  I like the spikehead details on the old Railcraft flex a lot.

Gary, let me get this straight...I get the impression from previous posts that you're using proto:87 (HO) frogs for your N-scale turnouts?  I just got done attempting to find Andy's cast P87 frogs, but all I found were the "new" chemically milled kit ones.  For some reason I had the impression you were using the cast versions, rather than the etched versions???  Does Andy even carry the cast frogs any more, 'cause I can't find 'em on his site?

I've used the N-scale etched kits, and I find it's a LOT quicker for me to make my own than fiddle around with the kits, plus, the railheads on the kits are narrower than the railheads on my Railcraft rail...so, although they work okay, I don't like the look as well as the hassle of soldering them together.  I haven't tried the heat gun method yet and I machined my own assembly jig and use my resistance soldering station...which sounds like it should work okay, but in actuality isn't entirely satisfactory.

If you've got a link to a previous post of yours that 'splains your method and thoughts, I'd appreciate it, plus a photo or two of your frogs.

Thanks in advance!

[GaryHinshaw]

Is the ballasting just a test? If not, isn't it risky to ballast before other scenery work? I suppose there are no hard and fast rules but generally ballast comes much later in the process.

Risky? Not really.  Stupid?  Maybe!    This is in fact the finished ballast.  I thought about order of operations quite a lot and decided that ballasting before scenery was no more risky than track before scenery: in either case, I'll tape over the track when the messy steps follow later on.  Also, in my prototype (this shot, for example), the sub-roadbed is almost featureless dirt for several feet on either side of the ballast (in some cases serving as an access road), so it will be quite simple to blend the scenery to the ballast as a final step.  The advantage of doing the clip painting and ballasting now is that I have easy access to the track; I can rest my elbows on the benchwork while I work; I can clamp a mag light to the benchwork for better visibility; I can reach both sides of the ballast with a brush for shaping, etc.  So it ended up being an easy decision for me.  I may eventually regret it though.

[GaryHinshaw]

Robert, if I used the term cast frog, then I misspoke; I am, in fact using the chemically milled ones.  Further, I ordered the assembled ones for ~$3 extra to save the hassle you describe.    I agree that the railhead is a bit narrower than the ME rail, but for me the convenience of these frogs outweighs the slight mismatch in profile.   Here's an old, crappy shot that compares a home made frog on the left to a proto:87 frog on the right; the profile mismatch is not that apparent here (and please pardon the glue and solder residue):



I have some more shots of the frog preparation in this thread.

I've used the N-scale etched kits, and I find it's a LOT quicker for me to make my own than fiddle around with the kits,

Just to be clear, are you referring to the frogs or the throw-bars here?

Lennart, glad you like it!  Once I figured out the right brush strokes, it was pretty easy to get something resembling the right look.  Here's an angle I like even better, except for the lousy depth of field:



-gfh

[pastoolio]

Wow Gary, I get away from model rring for a while and you go a build a layout! Just read through this whole thread, and dang, just as all your rolling stock pics impress me, so does your layout. Keep it up!

Mike

[robert3985]

Gary, Thanks for the response.  After I wrote my questions, I thought "I bet he buys them pre-assembled".   

The "kit" I am referring to is just the frog kit.  I really like the added details on the inside of the frog structure in the etched kits and I'm representing that same detail by tinning brass strips of the appropriate width (about five mils less than the distance between rail webs), cutting them to the correct length and soldering them to the tops of the rail foot using my resistance soldering station and the tweezers.  I do that on either side, and they overlap on the narrow end, which is virtually invisible after painting, ballasting and weathering.

I haven't tried the frog-bolt details yet, but I'll be doing that this week with my Emory Center Siding turnouts just to see if they can be seen.

I also ballast before the scenery is in, and I don't have a problem with it.  It really helps to hold down my track.  I don't consider my track to be "socked down" until it's ballasted.

If I feel I need to represent that the ballast was there after the subroadbed, then I just sprinkle a little onto the subroadbed after it's "socked".  Easy. And, if I'm carving plaster or doing something else extra messy, blue masking tape goes over it.

I put the final weathering touches on after the basic rocks and dirt are in, but before the foliage.  Airbrushing with nearby foliage has a tendency to blow the leaves off.

[GaryHinshaw]

Gary, Thanks for the response.  After I wrote my questions, I thought "I bet he buys them pre-assembled". 

The "kit" I am referring to is just the frog kit.

Time is money!

I haven't tried the frog-bolt details yet, but I'll be doing that this week with my Emory Center Siding turnouts just to see if they can be seen.

I tried them and couldn't see them....  No more for me, but I'm not quite as discerning as you. 

Mike, welcome back!!  What have you been up to?  I hope you've been bitten by the bug and will be showing off a rebuilt pike and some newly detailed diesels here soon.  You have been missed.

Cheers,
Gary

[GaryHinshaw]

Is the ballasting just a test? If not, isn't it risky to ballast before other scenery work? I suppose there are no hard and fast rules but generally ballast comes much later in the process.

There is one other risk to ballasting early that I've thought about and didn't mention earlier: it will be more difficult to change the track plan downstream if I decide I don't like something.  If that does occur, I'm pretty sure I would excavate back down to the plywood subroadbed (or more, if necessary). Then I would have lost the time spent ballasting.  To mitigate the risk of downstream changes, I have tried to follow the prototype schematic, and I have been operating trains as I go (even before gluing track down) to make sure that things function smoothly.  But no guarantees about the best laid plans...