A Little Background...

I have exhibited my existing layout, a freelanced Soo Line switching layout, at train shows for several years now.  And it has proven to me that a small 2-rail O scale switching layout designed for one-person, 30 to 60-minute operating sessions can be incredibly satisfying.  Unfortunately, I do not have space in my apartment to leave the Soo Line layout set up permanently.  As a result, the train shows are the only time I get to run the layout.

I had a 3-rail O gauge shelf layout that ran around the perimeter of the second bedroom.  Although the layout was finished, it had some issues that prevented me from enjoying it completely: the trains were too loud due to the lack of any sound deadening material in its construction, and it cut off access to the bedroom’s window.  So it sat unused until recently, when I had to dismantle it to make way for some repair work that needed to be done.

Instead of replacing the 3-rail layout, I have decided to build an “L” shaped, 2-rail switching layout using parts of the old layout’s benchwork and a supply of 2-rail track that I have on hand.

I came across the C&E Lakewood line thanks to the Internet.  Here are some photos of the line…

Milwaukee Road loco heads south on Lakewood Avenue.  Photo by John Smatlak from Flickr.

Switching Peerless Candy Co.  Photo by John Smatlak from Flickr.

Entering street trackage/crossing Wrightwood Ave.  Photo by John Smatlak from Flickr.

Switching Finkl Steel.  Photo by Tom Burke from Flickr.

Peerless Candy Company siding.  Photo by Tom Burke from ChicagoSwitching.com.

The line was mostly street running.  It originally was double-tracked and ran from the north end of Kingsbury Street (along the north branch of the Chicago River) north and northeast through Chicago’s Near North and Northside to Buena Yard (adjacent to Graceland Cemetery) where it interchanged freight with the Northwest Elevated Railroad (one of the four private rapid transit companies that evolved into today’s “L”.  The Northwest Elevated operated freight trains north to serve industries along their line using a pair of steeplecab locomotives; the last freight train ran on the “L” in the early ‘70s).

Gradually the Lakewood Branch was cut back further and further south as industries along the line closed.  By the early 2000s (the era I intend to model), only two customers were left: Peerless Candy and Finkl Steel; and the line ended at the intersection of Lakewood Avenue and Diversey Parkway.

Peerless Candy closed in 2007.  And Finkl Steel relocated to the Southside in 2016.  Today there’s nothing left except abandoned tracks in the middle of the street.

Thanks,
Damin.

Testing Out My Ideas

Here’s a sketch of my initial thoughts to what the trackplan will look like…

The new layout will be an 11 foot by 9 foot “L”.  The horizontal leg will represent the south end of the line at Kingsbury Street.  The vertical leg will be north end of the line along Lakewood Avenue.  Space permitting, I’d like to include a block of residential buildings along Lakewood in the middle of the layout to capture the look of the neighborhood.  For added operational interest, I may reactivate the siding for the Wonder Bread Bakery (even though that customer closed in the 1980s).

Here I’ve started mocking up the layout.  The benchwork is recycled from my previous 3-rail O gauge layout and will be covered with 2” rigid foam (like my Soo Line layout).  The section in the front, right will be the Kingsbury section, with the visible staging yard in the foreground, and the siding for Finkl Steel in the back corner to the right.  The other section (the one with the train on it) will be the Lakewood section.  As you can see in the picture, it is too short fill the available space.  I will close the gap by slicing it together with the other piece of benchwork that is leaning against the table.

Here is a close-up of the Lakewood section.  The locomotive and covered hoppers were posed to determine the length needed for the switching lead at the Peerless Candy Co. siding.  The tracks were paved over at Diversey, leaving barely enough track for a locomotive and two cars to clear the switch.  One of the articles that I read online about the Lakewood Branch said that it was not unheard of for the engineer to pull the locomotive past the end of the rails (and have one truck on the pavement) in order to get a cut of cars into and out of the siding!

Here's a mock-up of the Finkl Steel siding.  The facility itself is much too large to even attempt to model on a layout this size.  Instead, I intend to suggest the industry by having a fence, with a gate, and the buildings on the backdrop.

The orientation of the track arrangement here is reversed compared to the prototype; with the mainline curving off to the left and the siding veering off the right.  Also, the passing siding on the prototype is several blocks further north.  Whereas on the layout the only place that I could fit it was in the corner.  As a result, there are two turnouts here instead of just one.

Observant readers will note that the turnouts I'm using the old Atlas/Roco turnouts from the '70s.  I'm using them for two reasons: first they have the short length and sharp curves that I need to shoe-horn everything in.  And second, I have plenty of them on hand and want to use them up!  Their trainset-like appearance will be mitigated by the fact that I plan to make modifications to them; and that they'll eventually be buried in pavement.

For the visible staging track at the end of the layout, I plan to use a removable cassette that will span the distance across the doorway to the room.  The cassette will be supported by 1x2 blocks mounted on the end of the layout and on the far wall.  The wall-mounted one will be painted white to make it less obtrusive.

Here, I have extended my tape measure out to my expected train length to see things should fit.  So far, so good.  In fact, I may consider sliding over the turnout for Finkl Steel to provide an additional car spot!

Thanks,
Damin.

Interesting

I am looking forward to seeing the Milwaukee Road running down the street soon. 

I like Street Running

Looks like you have a great layout going.  Great subject, street running, not too big or complex.  

I am going to follow along.

Mike Lee

This is going to be good.I

This is going to be good.

I see you're using John Smatlak's Flickr photos. I model New England but I find his photos the most interesting of all, and I refer to them frequently. So much interest in the structures and general grime.

Now I'm liking the look of Tom Burke's as well!

MIke

Oh,Wow! another minimum space

Oh,Wow! another minimum space O gauge layout from Damin - I see possibilities in HO for me!

Nice layout

great start -- please keep posting

Great concept and track plan! I'm planning something similar and will start building in the new year. Please say more about benchwork, sub roadbed and unwanted noise.

Sounds Great

This should be fun to watch it come alive. How wide is your bench work?

Jack

Excellent idea and project!

Excellent idea and project!

I like small O scale layouts.

A switch is a switch is a switch

Once those turnouts are mounted in concrete they will blend in fine'..Looking like a cool project coming up'..have fun and good luck building'...it'.  Looking forward to seeing your cement work on this..

Great layout!

Nice and unique. Look forward

Nice and unique. Look forward to your posts.

Thanks and Today's Pleasant Surprise

Thank you all for your words of encouragement.

I'll talk about the benchwork in more detail in my next update (which I hope to have complete in a couple of days).  But first, I wanted to point out a neat little discovery that I came across today.

The Devil, they say, is in the details.  And often times those of us in O scale need to scrounge around to find suitable details (figures, vehicles, etc.) that are "just right" for the type of scene we are trying to recreate.

In my case, one of those "just right" details is your basic white commercial vehicle.  Sure, you can get trucks in all colors of the rainbow emblazoned with the logos and billboards of all sorts of brandnames.  However many of the vehicles that you'll see on the road today are basic white with minimal, if any, labeling.  I can't tell you how many times I found a model truck and said to myself, "I wish they'd have just made it in white."  Well not anymore!

Today, I picked up an assortment of 1:48 scale trucks (from Menards of all places).  I got a couple that I thought I could use as is, and a couple more that I figured that I could strip and repaint them into a more typical appearance.  One of the models I planned to strip and repaint was a white delivery truck decorated for Jack Links (a brand of dried meat snacks).  Here is the picture off of the Menards website...

But when I got it home, I discovered that all of the Jack Links markings were not printed, but instead were stickers!  Not only that, but many of them had were already starting to peel off!  So after a couple minutes, I had "undecorated" the model.

Now this model is nice enough to be used as is; but it will look even better after a little weathering and detailing.

This really fills a gap for those of us who model the modern era in O scale.

Thanks,
Damin.

Great location for a model

Always thought that area would make for an interesting model. Incidentally Gilmaur in the UK has an O scale kit for an MP15AC 

Colin 

Damin, looks better without

Damin, looks better without the decals.

O-scale is impressive

Your O-scale switching layout seems to be off to a good start...I've been thinking about doing similar in S-scale.  I'll be following your progress.

Benchwork Details

The benchwork for the old layout was 3/8" plywood with 1x2 pine framing.  It was/is supported by adjustable shelf brackets.  For the new layout, I plan to add a 2" layer of rigid foam for the subroadbed  Here's a photo of the underside of the Kingsbury section .

Thanks,
Damin.

Benchwork Width

The Kingsbury St. leg is 11 1/2" wide and the Lakewood Ave. leg is 18 1/2" wide.

Thanks,
Damin.

Chicago Terminal Railroad

I believe so, there are photos online of the line being switched by a Chicago Terminal engine.  Here's an example...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7251112@N04/413777159

Thanks,
Damin.

Layout Update - Benchwork

So the first step of construction is complete: splicing together the Lakewood Ave. section of the layout from two smaller pieces of benchwork.  And then building new endplates so that the two halves of the layout connect reliably.

Here's what the ends of the old benchwork sections looked like before I started.

As you can see, they are rather rough.  Even though I do not plan to exhibit this layout, I did want the join between the two sections to be as bulletproof and as reliable as if it were an exhibition layout.  So I decided to cut of off the ends and replace them with new plywood endplates.

Here is one old benchwork piece with its end removed.  Note roofer's square clamped in place: I used it as a guide for the saw.

While I was at it, I cut two pieces of old benchwork to the lengths needed to make the Lakewood Ave. section.  I also cut two lengths of 1x2 pine to splice the pieces together.

Here I have installed the 1x2 splices onto one of the two parts that will become the Lakewood Ave. section of the layout.  The parts are glued, clamped, and screwed into place using 1 1/4" drywall screws.

Here is the assembled Lakewood Ave. section.  Again, the splices were glued, clamped, and screwed into place on the other side of the joint.  Also note the endplate held in position by a pair of corner clamps.  It too was glued, clamped, and screwed with drywall screws.  However, because the screws were being driven into plywood that was only 3/8" thick, I drilled pilot holes first to keep the plywood from splitting.

I used Baseboard Alignment Dowels from DCC Concepts to keep the two halves of the layout aligned at the section joint.  I used these on my Soo Line exhibition layout and was very impressed with the results.  Here the Lakewood Ave. section to the left is ready to be joined with the Kingsbury St. section to the right.  To make the joint, I just slide the two halves together and then hold them together with a clamp from underneath.

Here is the connected joint viewed from below.

Here's a view of the completed benchwork taken from the doorway.

The next step will be constructing the backdrop.  And after that, installing the subroadbed.

Thanks,
Damin.

Layout Update - Backdrop

Construction on the backdrop has begun...

I decided to start with the Kingsburg section as it contains the corner where the backdrop will need to curve.  The backdrop itself is 1/8" Masonite supported in the back by Birch 1x2s placed every 12" or so.  I used 12" square panels cut from left over 3/4" MDF on each side of the corner to anchor the bend and prevent the straight sections on each side from being wavy.

The backdrop is attached to the layout using 2" corner brackets in the front.  These will later be covered by the 2" rigid foam subroadbed.

Everything was fine until I stupidly tried to attach the backdrop to the layout by myself (I really should have waited until my wife was available to provide a second pair of hands.  But I was in a hurry and didn't want to wait).  My thought was to temporarilly anchor both ends and then go back and adjust everything into its final position, starting at one end working and working my way towards the other.  I had the first end anchored and was wrestling with the other end when I hear a loud crack; the Masonsite had broke right at the start of the bend around the corner.  Fortunately the break wasn't complete, but the Masonsite had delaminated and started to pull away from the MDF support in the back, and left a ugly crease in the front.

After some colorful language, I tried to stabilize the failure.  I applied some glue to the tear in the back and clamped a scrap piece of wood across the crease in the front.  I then drove a series of screws through the Masonsite and into the MDF behind.  The space was tight, there was less than an inch between the crease and the edge of the MDF.  I also ran a bead of glue around the corner along the bottom of the Masonite.  Later on, I'll need to patch and sand this area smooth.

The next piece of Masonite, for the rest of the Kingsbury section, has been measured and cut.  It is currently clamped to its support 1x2s while the glue dries.

After that, the Lakewood section will get its backdrop.  That one should be much easier,

Thanks,
Damin.

Damin, great to see all the

Damin, great to see all the progress. Very nice work.

Thanks

Thanks Deemiorgos.

Damin.