Santa Fe in China Basin

[arbomambo]

HOLY %&*!......
~Bruce

[mcjaco]

Really impressive. 

Anyone know where I could find plans of the Brazos Bridge?  That's kind of the signature shot for my dream layout....I need to start building now if I ever plan on finishing it!

[railnerd]

Couldn't make it to the NSE convention in Sacramento, but I did get some work done on the ATSF dock. With all the turnouts built, it was now time to focus on the "easy" track.

I've become quite fond of the FastTracks "plain old track" jig for making straight track— so it was time to try using it to make the straight section of the pier.  I started by making a simple section, then adding my longer PCB ties to the newly constructed rigid track.  I then remove the "standard" ties, I end up with what I want:



Once I had the decking in place, I cut some scribed styrene & fit the pieces between the PCB ties:




As the night drew to a close, I stood up on the chair to check my work against a prototype photo.  My dock is meant to go onto a module, so I'm purposely beefing up some of the framework underneath the deck:

[Chris333]

Ooooh   Where did you get that roller gauge? Been looking for a few for a while now...

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Holy sh!t Dave that looks great!
I know I make fun of yr "CAD-everything-including-my-list-of-things-to-CAD" slow-&-steady work habits, but I gotta say it's really paying off on this pier.
Definite signature showcase scene!

[Yeah, where did you get the roller gauge?]

[railnerd]

Ooooh   Where did you get that roller gauge? Been looking for a few for a while now...

I had a friend make them on his mill.  If I had it to do over, I would have had him mill the center out as well— very useful for laying curved track, but not as useful for turnouts as it fouls up once the points are in.

-Dave

[Philip H]

Well tell him a set of two could detail for $14.95 and no one would bat an eye.

[Nick Lorusso]

Dave that's insane. Keep it up!!!

[dnhouston]

That pier is going to be amazing when you're done.

[railnerd]

So I'm now at the point in the dock project where I need to begin painting 

Rather than screw up all the work I've created so far, I got inspired an old online article (http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/aging_wood/).

Started with a thin wash of black acrylic paint (Vallejo Model Air Black) followed by dry brushing successive coats of lighter colors (Dark Sea Grey and Deck Tan).

Following another online hint, I used some yellow ochre pigment to try to warm up the deck as a final step:



I'm looking for any advice here.  I have a lot of decking to paint, so I'll probably continue experimenting with blending the PCB and plastic together in a believable fashion 

One serendipitous result of having a shot glass full of grey wash, was that I used the remaining gray washes to create a high tide mark on the wooden piling wall:

[railnerd]

Was away from home for a bit, then came back to a very busy work week. Taking some "time off" from a project is often a good thing— it makes you appreciate hobby time even more.

Today, I had a chance to test all those painting experiments from a few weeks ago on the apron:



I'm pretty happy so far, but have a LOT more to paint.

-Dave

[jagged ben]

Looking good.  Reminds me of some weathered wood theater sets I created back in the day.

Updates to this thread always catch my eye.   

[railnerd]

Spent some time over break working on a new track plan that actually fits in the layout space that I have in the den along a 12' wide work surface.



This layout is a "yard-centric" design, as there isn't really a traditional "road job" to be had.  One operating crew will handle loading and unloading any car ferry, whereas the second crew will handle switching the local industry and interchange with the Southern Pacific Railroad.

I expect the car ferry crew will be kept busy sorting cars on and off the car ferry, following the various loading and unloading rules.

The other crew will shuffle in and out of the interchange or industrial staging, and then work the  on-layout spots: Tidewater Oil, Western Car Loading, and Pier 50.  Western Car Loading and Pier 50 have specific positions, including cars which must NOT be moved within the session.  There is also a RIP track for ATSF cars needing repair.  When the switch crew is done with their pick-ups, rail cars will either depart the yard via the car ferry, or will be set out as a single block on the SP interchange track.  To vary the session, the crews could switch roles at the halfway point of the session.

Like the prototype, the entire San Francisco Terminal Division is dark territory.  The yardmaster is in charge of controlling the flow in the session. The yardmaster is also float dispatcher.  The intensity of the session can be varied be controlling the number of car floats which are involved.

There are four "spots" for staged trains, two representing the SP interchange, and two for SF industries such as American Can Co., or even the 25th street Western Pacific yard.

Remaining open design issues include dealing with any derailments while switching Pier 50— not really happy with the reach over the ferry slip.  The ferry slip is a separate "module" from the rest of the otherwise permanent layout, and may be mounted in such a way as to swing out to allow access.  I will probably move Pier 50 trackage to be parallel to the wall.

-Dave

[Spades]

Dave/Railnerd

Love this thread.  Entrance to the den is to left 4' down? If you keep the staging and pier 50 in place and flip(mirror image) the China Basin yard the moveable ATSF Car float would would be 3' from the left wall. You would still have a 3' reach but with a smaller area.   Entering and exiting the den would require moving the car float.    About the 3' reach, it is doable depending on height. Yours and the layout.  I had a 4' tall layout. I'm 6'4" with a 36" sleeve.  32" R curve and red caboose center beams that love to stringline.  I was able to carefully reach across without damage.

Just throwing it out there.

G

[railnerd]

Dave/Railnerd

Love this thread.  Entrance to the den is to left 4' down? If you keep the staging and pier 50 in place and flip(mirror image) the China Basin yard the moveable ATSF Car float would would be 3' from the left wall. You would still have a 3' reach but with a smaller area.   Entering and exiting the den would require moving the car float.    About the 3' reach, it is doable depending on height. Yours and the layout.  I had a 4' tall layout. I'm 6'4" with a 36" sleeve.  32" R curve and red caboose center beams that love to stringline.  I was able to carefully reach across without damage.

Just throwing it out there.

G

Thanks for the ideas.

The overall room is a 12' wide by 13' deep space.  Entry is on the lower-right.  But there is a murphy bed and built-in cabinets that the household CFO insists must stay in place.  That along with a closet along the lower half of the right hand side prevents arranging the layout along the 13' dimension. That bed is also limits the length of the "drill track" on the left hand side of the room.

As far as reach goes, I've also got a typical "modelrailroaderesqe" physique (my width to height ratio is more lineman that quarterback), and I'm about 5'6 on a good day when I stand up straight... 

That said, I am making more drawings.   Last night I spent time with some full size paper mock-ups and a collection of 40' boxcars.  I had been fooling myself I could fit 12 40' cars on a single 36" run of flex track.  Turns out that is really 10 boxcars once I consider the turnout fouling points,  I had planned on using the two long tracks in the float yard to hold/accept a full 12-car cut of cars.