The track is laid & bus wires run, now it's time for soldering fun.....Sorry for the Dr. Suess moment. I just got a book form the library on the Ore hauling railroads of Northern WI, MN, & MI. I really like the big wooden ore docks. That'll be on my next section that I build, which will be the 2nd one for this city.

I needed to incorporate a riser on this current section so I will have enough of a climb to bridge the other tracks on the way to the elevated ore dock. I'm also in the process of laying out some of the structures to get a feel for how the whole scene will flow.

Rippin' it up!

With a great deal of thought & comiserating, I'm rippin' the layout up & starting anew. I was so excited & inspired to see the Beer Line sectional layout at the start of this year in Model Railroader that it was a revelation in new ideas.
When I think about all the time & effort that was stuck into the layout so far it is depressing to think about tearing things apart. Yet, equally depressing for me is the thought that if in the future should we decide to move to a different house I don't want to face the thought of yet another 1/2 finished layout just being ripped apart & all the effort to be for naught. So, the new design will be a sectional w/ around the wall shelves as well. The sections will be movable. One of the most important things for me is to get some real distance for the passenger trains to travel. I wanted a sense that you were really going somewhere. The scenes that I have currently created are too deep & suck up a lot of space.
I have 1 section completed, that is the framework/benchwork. The sections will be 8' long x 32" wide. Each section will have a scene on each side so that will make the depth of the scene about 15".
Now for the scary part... I'm also going to make these sections double decked. The top section will be 24" wide x 8' long. Did I mention the sections are on wheels as well? Well they are. Not that they will be moved a lot but if they do, it should be easy to. The shelf sections will be roughly 12-18" deep. To be able to use the upper deck section I will need to have a helix. I think I will be purchasing one of those rather than torturing myself trying to build one myself. I'm also going to try to photograph the entire project. So, stay tuned & lets so how this works out.
Here are some photos; http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/NewSectionalLayout

Re-birth (part II)

I like change, it's exciting, challenging & interesting. So far I've taken out a few switches, purchased more WS risers & started on a reverse loop that will go through the town of Rahel & back to the big city (I really need to come up w/ a name for it!). I ordered a Digitrax AR1 for auto-reversing, hopefully that will be a snap to install. I made a few other purchases while at the site (http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/) for the AR1, namely a UP switching engine & decoder for it. It's a Kato engine so it should be pretty easy to install the decoder.

I know I said I had said on an earlier post that I was going w/ Santa Fe as the line of choice for my empire, but really, look at that engine! It's beautiful! I highly recommend the site for awesome deals & a tremendous selection of product, easy to navigate, what can I say, I like it.

The elevations of Rahel have changed, it's getting some new industries, more switching capabilities & an overall better layout for a passenger station. All is good, I like change! Photos attached.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/RahelExpands?authkey=Gv1sRgCJj3w4X8-7_EqQE#5321750840751221170

A re-birth (of sorts)

When I first started this layout I knew some of the things that I wanted to be a part of it. I must admit that I don't know really too much about railroad protocol, how they're designed, why they do the things they do when planning them. That has always been my Achilles heel. I get moving along, laying down a bunch of track, envisioning what the scenery will be like around it ( because that's my favorite part!) & after doing all of that & having sceniced a good portion of it do I realize that the track isn't doing so well, that the plan is flawed & it makes me want to scrap it & start over. That is very expensive! My plans before have always been about continuous running, a circuit, I've never given thought to a point to point railroad. What would this look like if it was on a map?? The fatal flaw has creeped up once again. I'm content w/ the current city & how it's turning out, but the train has gotta go somewhere. A lot of the previous trackwork is still in place & it's clogging my brain. I went to the library & got a book by John Armstrong on building railroads similar to the real ones. Real railroads don't tend to run in a circuit. Then like a light bulb it dawned on me! This is my problem. I added an upper deck to a section to add distance for a passenger train that I purchased, but I had made it part of the circuit, not a destination to get to. It pains me to think that I'll have to rip up stuff that I've already done. It took so bloody long to do it, the wasted materials.... Grrrrr! But if it doesn't work both physically & mentally what good is it. I must begin again. New ideas abound. A re-birth has begun.

I've included some overview photos of the whole area for your purusal.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/OverAllViewOfTheEmpire?authkey=Gv1sRgCPiV_K_N4vys6wE#

The Waterfront District, "a wave of change"

Things are moving along on the creation of the waterfront district. {My wife thought this was a cute photo op. of me painting the lighthouse} The track has been laid in the engine yard, it still needs to be wired, but that's not to difficult. The turn table is another story. It definitely won't be rotating automatically & I need to figure out how to wire it so it doesn't cause short circuits. As an afterthought, the turn table looks neat but is a big pain in the butt. I've been working on the light house for the entrance to the harbor. This has proved to be very time consuming, but the results look good. It's the Branch Line Trains Light House kit. There are a lot of small, fragile wood parts & while putting it together I marvel at the thought process that must have gone into it to make it so architecturally accurate looking. The rocks for the landing are pink foam board, torn & cut, secured with ground goop (Awesome stuff) then painted & highlighted.

The bottom of the bay is a ceiling tile. I sealed all around the edges w/ foam adhesive & "Paved" over the top w/ drywall patching plaster. Once it's dried I'll sand it & paint it & apply some "Magic water" stuff that I've had for about 5 years now. I bought it at trainfest but haven't gotten around to using it. It was too good a deal to pass up at the time. Stay tuned, there'll be more water front building's to come. I've put some more photos of the progress in the Building the waterfront district photo album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/CreatingTheWaterfrontDistrict?feat=directlink

To the inquiring minds that want to know, yes the lighthouse will function (light-up). Whenever I get around to buying the kit for it.

What's in a name?

I've pondered for quite some time over what to call my Railroad. It's not a prototype, it's not geographically based. The scenery is a mix of all the things I like, urban scenery, mountains, canyons, country side. There is logging, coal mining, ore mining, produce shipping, passenger service. I have settled on an era, mid 1940's to 1950's. The engines have character, as do the boxcars, the vehicles & buildings, advertising signs, & overall feel, make for a very comfortable time to model. Men wore ties & suits, women wore dresses. There was a moral compass that helped to shape things & a clear understanding of things. It's like looking at a old farmers face that has been wind burned, tired, yet strong & full of character. He doesn't need to speak a word because the story is on his face.
I've also chosen to stick w/ Santa Fe based engines, partly because I've lived in Santa Fe & really enjoyed it, I also because I love the coloring & logos. I haven't named the any of the 5 cities along the route. Those I guess also help to name the line. One name that I am going to give to the logging town is Eurydice (Pronounced "Your-Rid-A-Shay"), it's my wifes name. As for the rest, I'm open to suggestions.