Howdy

Spent a few hours today working on some identity graphics for the PoNY, and oh, setting up this new blog.

HH660 paint job

Got around to painting a couple of locomotives in basic Erie black. One is a Bachmann 44 tonner and the other is a Proto2000/ JJL epoxy resin body HH660. I've got a QSI revolution sound decoder and amber LEDs installed in the very compact space with a small speaker and small-ish capacitor that hangs into the cab area. The engineer and brakeman don't seem to mind much, but I need to paint it black to help make it less obvious. Decals are on their way from an eBay purchase, so the HH will be ready for a layout to operate on soon. Maybe I should work a bit on that project as well...

149th St. Progress?

I spent an afternoon cutting out the plywood top for the Erie 149th St Yard project. I have several sheets of 3/4" Baltic Birch salvaged from some display cases, and I have found several projects in which to use pieces of the pile. My intent with this project is to build it so I can easily set it up, store it, and maybe take it to the local show. My idea was to make the plywood top the substantial portion of the benchwork and add some aluminum stiffeners below to connect to a base. I would split it up into pieces to be able to transport and store more easily.

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First thing I did was print out the track plan at full size in order to use it as a template. Even though it is a small layout, it still took several plotted sheets to create one large paper layout. Between the time I printed it out and actually started cutting plywood was probably 3 months. I then matched pieces of plywood to the plot and discovered I could use three sheets of plywood patched together from what I had on hand. I sketched out my cuts to avoid having turnouts on the joints, then transferred to the plywood. I made these joint lines such that they would interlock and help make a good connection.

After about 2 hours of cutting and fitting and maneuvering the heavy plywood I was able to see how everything would go together. I transported them inside and got a feel for how it would fit in the room. I was pretty excited, and felt a good sense of progress for the day.

I let the pieces sit for a few days, then stacked them off to the side while working on something else. I moved them again , then began to question my construction ideas. These pieces, although only a few square feet each, where really heavy. So heavy I have come to think, that I am reconsidering simply using them as templates for bench work that would be made from lighter materials. I spent a little time in the local big box lumber retailer looking at what was available in Luan or thinner Baltic Birch. The Birch wasn't Baltic - it was Whitewood with fewer ply and lighter density. I would use this for structure, so I wanted the dimensional stability of thinner plys and cabinet grade material. Whitewood wouldn't do it for me. The Luan looked pretty descent and came in 4x4 sheets, but only in 1/2" and not the 1/4" I was hoping for for a toping and sub roadbed. Stymied, I've gone back to laying track on my Z scale layout in the living room. I have finally felt an advantage of having multiple projects going on at the same time. I now have some breathing room to figure out what I want to do on the 149th and get satisfaction from accomplishing something I normally wouldn't have if I were only working on one layout at a time. I'll let you know if I find any other advantages to my multi-layout building strategy.

Erie 149th Street Harlem Station

[caption id="attachment_249" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Erie's 149th Street Harlem Station in Peco HO code 75 "Streamline" track"][/caption]

A new layout to distract

So one thing you can do to avoid actually making progress on anything is to start a lot of different projects. As I am trying to figure out how construct the benchwork on my HBS layout so that it is easily disassembled to clear space in my office/guest room for other uses, I am contemplating starting on a small layout first to work out some of the issues I've identified that need attention.

Being a New York Harbor guy, I've done a lot of research on the various pocket yards around the harbor, and I've been inspired by work of David Ramos, Tim Warris and others. I also just want to get something up so I can run my trains.

I've used a free download of AnyRail software to draw up a plan of the 149th roughly as it appeared in the early 1950s. Total size is about 7'x5', and it would be a free-standing layout so there would be access all around it. I'm looking to use lightweight materials and split it into two sections for easy storage. It would feature a car float with tug, float bridge and several spots. The prototype had about one float unload and load a day, and I can imagine this would be a just right amount of operating time for a casual evening solo session. It would also be good for taking to shows and letting people try out operating.

I've made some changes since this image was created, most importantly increasing the size of the lead at the top of the plan by ooching the turnouts over to the right.

I've already got the boxcabs and S-1 that operated there for the Erie, and I have tested them out on the Peco code 75 Streamline track to much satisfaction so far. Perhaps I can get this up and running in short order to use as a test bed for establishing my construction standards for the HBS.

Great research site: Harlem 149th by Philip M. Goldstein

Other 149th Street layouts: Small Layout Scrapbook #96a (more photos) and #88, and another under way by Matthieu Lachance

Room preparations

One of my goals for the Summer was to get the layout room ready for a layout. A critical task was to rearrange some electrical outlets along one wall and patch several holes in the gypsum board.

A major roadblock was having to select a paint color. This seriously could have put me off the job for several months trying to decide, but I bit the bullet and gave myself 24 hours. Considerations included existing color of carpet, the other walls and ceiling and the fact that the fascia of the layout will probably be a dark rust color. There will also be some sort of background board as well of an undetermined height.

I chose a darkish grey-brown (Sherwin-Williams #7025 Backdrop) mainly in response to the future fascia color, but I also wanted to try to create an accent wall.

Most layout rooms have indeterminate axis and orientation, probably in order to keep the focus on the layout. They also seem to be painted lighter colors and usually a light sky blue to boot. So what am I doing choosing a dark grey-brown for the longest wall in the room?

The thinking is several fold. First, I tend to question preconceptions in order to arrive at fresh, project-appropriate responses. It is easy to just do what you've seen before, and that does usually work well enough, but I am more interested in trying for something better than standard design.

Second, I am not looking to create an indeterminate sense of place in the room itself, but rather a cohesive dialog and supporting relationship between room and layout. Since this particular wall will be at the closed end of several aisles (basically an "E" configuration) I am hoping that the darker accent wall will not only frame the layout but also will direct and hold the gaze within the layout by being a dense presence in the room.

Third, I don't want to be in a sky blue environment. My layout is not about the big skies of the American West, it is about dirty, gritty, Northeast waterfront, blue collar
railroading that is neither glamorous nor romantic.

So the painting is done and I like the color very much. Before and after photos are above and below. I'll keep evaluating as layout work progresses.

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.