What to do/where to start

So, I am inching ever-closer to the commit point where I actually start building on my layout. I'm in progress of making space, and the plan for clearing obstacles looks like it is going to work. I'm adding shelves and reconfiguring things for storage below the layout. Just need some time to finish it, and maybe an idea of what I am really going to do in order to motivate me to finish this stage of preparations. Other things that need to be considered are lighting and actual construction methods for the benchwork. But that will come later. What I need to decide is what/where I am going to start.

Where I am at the moment:

[caption id="attachment_170" align="alignnone" width="601" caption="Version 2.0 includes the Hoboken Shore Railroad, and the Weehawken and Croxton Yards of the Erie Railroad with a small version of the Dial-A-Yard concept. This lays out the industries in order on the HBS."][/caption]

Option 1: Start on the big layout (room-encompassing) of the Hoboken Shore Railroad (HBS) with Erie Croxton Yard as seen in the version 2.0 plan above.

This would be a large project. The most disruption, the most money, the most effort... Major sub project would be figuring out how to deal with my "real work" area, which consists of computer, drafting table, table space and file and flat file cabinets. The tables/desks and layout above them would need to be configured somehow so that it is comfortable to do both at the appropriate time. I've been thinking in this direction for about 4 years, so there is really good background, momentum and interest for me. In research, I am getting into finding building plans and photographs of a lot of the industries along these lines. I could really closely model all the major buildings. In fact, I just started modeling the Dept. of Agriculture Quarantine Building in 3DS Max (just for practice using the software). The next thing to do for this option is to lay out the track in the yards especially, to make sure I can actually do what I am hoping to do. In the architecture biz, we call this moving into a DD set - Design Development. This is where the concepts come into contact with practical considerations and I have to make things 'work'.

Option 2: A larger Dial-A-Yard with New York Harbor pocket yards that would be about 5' x 7'. Possibly including Erie 28th St, Erie 149th, DL&W Harlem Terminal, and one or two others...then build the HBS later in a slightly smaller version.

I'm really interested in the Dial-A-Yard concept. I have 9 foot ceilings, so I could get 4 or 5 yards stacked in one 5' x 7' area. The engineering of a mechanized lift system would be a challenge (fun), but it would delay the start (and playing with) any sort of layout. An alternative is to build this just outside the room in the hall. That would be a tough sell to the brass hat, but is worth looking into the feasibility both space-wise and R.O.W. wise.

Option 3: A room full of yards connected by car float carts.

OK, I just thought about this for the first time thanks to David Ramos' post on the Rail Marine Yahoo! Group. It made me take another look at his layout plan, and the multiple yards/multiple railroads started me off thinking how amazing it would be to have a dozen yards from around NY Harbor all in one room. Four or 5 car float carts and one staging area to feed them. A pure, cohesive concept for a layout that would be innovative and interesting to operate (as long as one likes small yard switching). The downside is that it would be all one type of operating. Version 2.0 has the advantage that it includes a large a large yard, smaller yard, and branch line industrial switching. That fact could sway me. I will need to poll my potential operating crew for reaction to this idea. It may be that all those yards would be boring? It is worth drawing it up. As you can tell by the lengthy discussion of this option, I am intrigued by this idea.

I let you know what happens next.

Remotored Roundhouse Boxcab breaking in on New Test Track

A re-motored Roundhouse boxcab

A comparison of the out-of-the-box configuration (lower) and remotored and weighted chassis from Ron LaFever (upper).

Activity on the New Test Track

Last week I created a test track loop to break-in locomotives. I used some code 83 weathered Micro Engineering flex track on top of a door/worktable. I quickly made a note at how difficult it was to work with the rail joiners straight out of the pouch, so I started to pry the openings up a little with the tip of a file so that they would go on the rail more easily. I then soldered the joints between the four pieces and set my re-motored GE-IR boxcab off in circles. I sent this little guy off to Ron LaFever to be remotored (exchanged, actually, for another rebuilt chassis), and the results were very good. Very nice work. The only problem that remains is the noise of the gearing, which is a result of the design, but hopefully the break-in will help with that. In the meantime, I have the radio turned up pretty high to cover up (some) of the noise.

28th Street Yard Initial Sketch

An initial sketch for the Erie 28th Street Yard

I can get the Terminal Stores Warehouse and the 28th Street Yard in a 5'x8' area, to include the float bridge, elevated road and street track of the NYC and Lehigh Valley, I would need an additional 4' in length. hmmm.(Vince Lee and David Ramos are also building versions of the 28th Street Yards.)

Of course, the idea is to stack several yards from around New York Harbor on top of each other (see my article in LDJ no.38 about the Dial-a-Yard concept) , so how the other yards shake out will determine what the overall benchwork size will be. Height of building will be a severe limiter, also, as the Terminal Warehouse is several stories tall. Other New York Harbor yards desired are the DL&W Harlem Transfer Terminal, Erie's 149th Street, maybe the CNJ Bronx Terminal (which Tim Warris is building also),  and either the B.E.D.T. or the Jay Street Connecting RR. There are a lot of yards to choose from around the harbor, so this is by no means a final list!

References: Vincent Lee and Thomas Flagg, Erie R.R. 28th St. Freight Terminal, The Diamond, vol. 18, no.4. pp 4-15.

-Riley

New HBS Banner

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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="I made a quick banner this evening to help advertise the model railroad "][/caption]

Hoboken Shore [model] Railroad banner

I took a few moments to create a banner for the railroad for use in forum signatures. I just wanted to get something out there to start building an identity for the railroad. Ironically, it took a similar form of the later GE 44 tonners paint scheme for #700 and #701 that used yellow lettering over green field. Totally done by accident, but I had just looked at my photo collection that includes images of these locomotives. Careful what you look at - it is going to influence you.

Hand drawn HBS plan revisited

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="499" caption="The first shot at a plan for the Hoboken Shore Railroad might be the best!"][/caption]

My First Attempt at a Plan

So I revisited my original plan for my Hoboken Shore Railroad, and I believe I may like it the best. After doing an article on the RO-RO staging device in LDJ38, I very much like the idea that it can act as the connection to Croxton Yard and provide all the Erie Railroad traffic to and from Weehawken Yard. Six foot long trains are plenty long enough for the amount of room I can dedicate to the yard.

I also like the way the track plan mimics many of the twists and turns that the prototype took. The HBS yard has the same curved track as the real railroad that lead around the waterfront to the service yard and Seatrain docks.

I am becoming enamored with the idea of having the Bethlehem Steel facility almost completely modeled on the large bump-out. I have found photos at the Historic American Builds online site that detail a few of the buildings which would make scratchbuilding much easier.

Every spot is accounted for in this plan for the entire railroad, which is one of the things that got me interested in the railroad to begin with. It also has provision for that Dial-A-Yard idea that would allow me to have several other yards.

What to do next

I'll need to work into the plan my office and a guest bed or two somehow. The bench work will be need to be high (50"+) so I can fit desks and beds below. There will probably be bookshelves below, but there is also an opportunity to have a couple of shelves at the ceiling line because of the 9' ceilings. This could provide the foundation for valence and lighting, too.

To progress the plan, I'll start on a SketchUp! model soon. I'm inspired by the work of Alan Cooper, whom I saw a few photos of his SketchUp! work on his own layout from the last convention. Since space is critical, and some innovative solutions will be called upon to solve specific space issues, I don't have any problem spending a good deal of time working up a detailed vitual model first. I might also make a physical model to double-check what kind of clearances and access I will have to the additional functions in the room.

I will post progress on these plan developments...

Original web postings on the LDSIG web site.