The original Boston Line BACK on track!

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I doubt it. I will be using fire proof material and there will be shower curtain links between the wire and the cloth.

[Rich_S]

The Dispatcher Room???      Sorry, I couldn't resist.....  The room looks great Daniel.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

In the last year, the basement has been finished, all utilities updated. This was delayed a long time as we had a new bathroom installed on the second floor and were busy drawing up plans for our house in Thailand. With Joy over there finalizing paperwork, I have some extra time on  my hands.

I was having a bug and humidity problem. After a quick trip to Lowes, I bought a dehumidifier that is hosed directly into the sump pump basin. The next three days was spent spraying EVERY square inch of the room with pesticide. For added protection I will be installing weather stripping on the hatch and utility room doors.

South leg is fully painted and finished. I need to transfer my storage containers over to the painted section so I can start painting the West leg.

I did get to unpack my library after building some bookcases from Ikea.


Pro-tip: Railroad books and magazine collections are very heavy. When putting together knock-down furniture such as this, use wood glue at all the major joints. This will permeate the particleboard and add a lot of stiffness.

Next up: painting the West end!

Oh... anyone know where I can order 4x8 sheets of styrene? I think this would be a great backing for the LED lights.

[peteski]

Looks nice (for a blank wall with a nifty shelving unit).

But judging by the location of the light switches, the unit is not very large. Either you aren't planning on having a decent amount of research materials, or maybe you are storing lots of it in electronic format and those shelves are just for the old-school printed materials. 

[conrail98]

Oh... anyone know where I can order 4x8 sheets of styrene? I think this would be a great backing for the LED lights.

Go look for any plastic dealership/supplier. The one local to us sells 4x8 sheets o 0.060" styrene for $25,

Phil

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Well this is in dire need of an update.

Joy and I have been building a house in Thailand. The project has taken most of our time and all of our money. We are currently refinancing our house and using the equity to fund the final stages of the project. During the appraisal phase, we took the opportunity to clean the house and basement. All painting is now complete except for the garage floor paint. Tomorrow I plan on patching some concrete steps before the final floor paint goes on.

At this point the room will be ready for bench work but I don't have a track plan down yet. Not sure if I could lay down the bench work and create a track plan to fit or try and plan something out. I'm very bad with track plans.

[Specter3]

Weelllll you start with posting a room drawing here with measurements.....

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Here are some overdue photos.

Fixing the last of the problem concrete.



The original steps had undercuts and gaps Still needs a finishing work, but it should be ready to paint later this week.

Current state of the basement:



Waiting to finish the steps before the epoxy floor paint goes on. Then its on to painting accents. After that, bench work!

[Specter3]

That is a really nice looking space.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I finally figured out how to draw the basic outlines of the basement.

Need help with track plans and bench work!

[MichaelWinicki]

Is it a "lone-wolf" layout or is in going to be part of an organized group?

Wide aisles are a good thing!

You're into n-scale vehicles... Maybe some urban scenes where you can show a lot of vehicles.

We do not see a lot of urban-based pikes.

Maybe a two-track main, following the walls... staging at each end.  A freight yard, a passenger yard, an engine terminal... some switching along the way... Badaboom– that would keep you busy building the thing for a long time... especially if there was urban scenery involved.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Mostly lone wolf. Urban areas are planned: the layout will start in Worcester at the P&W junction, go through Framingham and end in Boston at South Station. About 1/8 of the layout will be paralleling I90 or I290. Two TOFC terminals will be used which will be a good way to display trucks.

My problem is that I have no track plan set up. I have a rough idea on bench work, but I am not skilled enough to draw out a proper plan. I worry that this project may be too big to wing it and that it will need significant revisions while building. This is why I was hoping some of you would have track plan ideas.

[MichaelWinicki]

Mostly lone wolf. Urban areas are planned: the layout will start in Worcester at the P&W junction, go through Framingham and end in Boston at South Station. About 1/8 of the layout will be paralleling I90 or I290. Two TOFC terminals will be used which will be a good way to display trucks.

My problem is that I have no track plan set up. I have a rough idea on bench work, but I am not skilled enough to draw out a proper plan. I worry that this project may be too big to wing it and that it will need significant revisions while building. This is why I was hoping some of you would have track plan ideas.

Can you do a rough hand-drawn sketch of what you were thinking?  From that point maybe someone can take the baton and create a more refined look. 

I didn't have a refined track-plan when I started... I knew where the main was going and where the industries were going to go, but I had to change the yard design numerous times before I finalized the thing just because what I created on paper looked out of place when I started actually doing it. 

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Here is the quick sketch:

One quick correction. North and Nevins Yards should be flipped. Nevins runs parallel to the mainline.

These are my goals:
Model the dual track Conrail mainline between the P&W interchange in Worcester and South Station in Boston as faithful to the 1998 prototype as possible.
Worcester, Framingham North, Nevins and Beacon Park yards are needed as well as the South Station passenger terminal.
Return loops off the P&W interchange and Grand Junction at Beacon Park for continuous operation.
Full scale models of South Station, Fenway Park trackside complete with adjacent operating Citgo sign.
Full scale Worcester Station.


One thing I am not sure is what to do with grades. The Boston line inclines 1000' as it travels the 50+ miles to Worcester. But this is mostly after Framingham. Hills are not a big part of the scenery until you hit Worcester. Due to a sump pump enclosure near the Boston end, the layout has to start at least 51" high. I don't know if I should model the grade at all since it is so gradual and I am starting at such a height.
Stuff I would really like to include:
Westboro Yard and industries.
Loop to hidden staging from the end of North Yard.
Addition of Framingham South yard for autorack operations or at least a branch to hidden staging.
Addition of the branch to Walpole/Canton from Framingham (also hidden staging)
Addition of the Ayer Guilford/P&W branch from Worcester (hidden staging)
Interchange with Grafton & Upton in North Grafton (shouldn't be hard - its a freight house and concrete plant)

I want to keep the layout along the walls with minimal peninsulas if possible. I want a wide area to stretch out in.
Will need to add a lift out bridge to connect Boston to the rest of the layout - exterior door breaks up the south wall.
The layout is scenery first, ops second. I don't want it over crowded. It needs to bleed the prototype. Lance Mindheim's Monon, with its huge scenery-to-rail ratio is exactly what I'm looking to do.

Another idea I was thinking about is a series of small layouts set into large bookcases. Each point of interest would be modeled as its own diorama, linked with hidden trackage. Think of the model railroad version of this:


and



This would eliminate that compressed yard-next-to-yard look. It would also make lighting REALLY easy. Building additional walls and floor to ceiling bench work looks a bit daunting though. And I'm a bit terrified of all that hidden trackage it would require, unless I made the dead space between dioramas removable panels.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Expanding on this picture box idea:


Now you can see the benefits. No unrealistic curves or selective compression. Branches off the right of way, Framingham North and Framingham South can be modeled by running a loop from the mainline to a lower deck diorama. North yard would be under Nevins, along with a short runs of the Walpole/Canton, Marlboro, Saxsonville branches. But I'm not sure if two decks would ruin the picture box diorama look. Return loops would be hidden from sight as well.

As far as I can tell, this idea has never been done on a layout.