Dismantling in earnest again!

I started dismantling Siskiyou Line 1 last year in March after the last op session in late February.

However, life intervened in April and my wife and I spend the next 8 months dealing with moving my 89 year old mother out of her house in with us, and then preparing to get her house on the market. We had to first dispose of all her stuff (she insisted she did NOT want to pay for storage) and then deal with a house that had 6 years of deferred maintenance.

It took us until Nov to complete that work and finally get her house on the market. The house finally closed on Dec 29 -- hooray!

So as of January, I started dismantling the Siskiyou Line again. I'm eager to get enough dismantled that I can set up a new TOMA workspace and build the first test module for Siskiyou Line 2.

Anyhow, the dismantling started in the staging area last April. Now I've moved to dismantling the Dillard area in the main layout room. Here are some photos ... Dillard is no more!

 
This is Cottage Grove on the right, with the layout entry way and Dillard in the background.

 
I laid my trackwork on drywall over plywood. Here is the Dillard trackwork being broken up and removed.

 Pieces of Dillard now in the dumpster at the dump. Goodbye, old friend ...

I was originally going to soak the ballasted parts of the layout to try and remove the trackwork, but with mom now staying with us, the bathtub is in her bathroom, and she wouldn't appreciate pieces of layout soaking in her bathtub for a couple days at a time. Plus when I checked my stash, I have a LOT of rail and flex track still in my stash -- enough for at least 4 or 5 modules worth.

If the track is unballasted and will come up easily then I will try and save some of it, otherwise, I'm not going to bother. It's just easier and since I'm going with TOMA for Siskiyou Line 2, building a layout becomes a lot more of a bit-by-bit expenditure rather than a room-full-at-a-time kind of thing like SL1 construction was.

EAGER TO START SISKIYOU LINE 2
Once I get enough of SL1 dismantled, I want to set up a work area for building TOMA modules. I'm planning to use the old layout staging / shop area for this. I'm well on my way to getting the dismantling in this area done, and then I will need to repair the walls and fix up the room as a TOMA module workshop with a rotisserie.

As for where to start -- I've settled on what part of Siskiyou Line 2 that I want to start with. I've selected the Dillard Mill, ironically. It was a lot of fun to switch on SL1, and I expect SL2 will be no different. I'm also looking for a good excuse to finally finish modeling the mill complex in this location. So I'm starting here. 

One module section is just a typical square section, and the other module is on a curve. The gray line shows the joint between the two module sections. So I will get a bit of a challenge figuring out how to build the curved module section.

The first module is just straight track and ballast (not even a single turnout), so there's not much to it. It should be done in a week or two once I start it. It's the curved module to the right that will be the real work.

Here's my plan for this start of SL2:

 This is enough to get me started on the TOMA version of SL2. Later, I will  add a couple more module sections to the left, and then extend the staging yard to allow for 18' long trains and  make it double-ended, then connect both ends of staging to each end of the existing modules to get continuous running. This allows for op sessions switching Dillard and running the normally scheduled through trains through Dillard either direction while switching the forest products complex here on the (eventual) four module sections that make up the Dillard area.

These two module sections will be completely finished with all the structures, scenery, details, and working lower quadrant semaphore signals. Should be fun!

Pictures

We want photos!

JoeF Note: You were too fast for me! As you can see, after you posted your desire for pictures, you got your wish ...

A couple thoughts

I was always afraid you were going to finish Roseburg Forest Products at Dillard, since that would have made some of the industry tracks very difficult, if not impossible, to see from the front. I'm going to be very interested in seeing how you do it on a TOMA module.

Also, if you are looking for easy to remove track, I suggest looking at the main between the Rice Hill switches....

Making Dillard more visible

Time for a an infrared TV camera. Actually we have several from my mom's house already.

We decided to put cameras all around moms house after my step dad passed in 2016 so we could keep an eye on her remotely while she was all alone. Now that she's living with us, we don't need those cameras any longer, so let's re-use them to show the "hidden" parts of the Dillard Mill.

If I want to have fun, I could even put some lumber stacks and Hyster fork lifts in that hidden part so it looks like you're inside the mill!

Any reason why you are

Joe - Dismantling in earnest again!

Joe,

Why are you doing this? I hate tearing out a layout. A curious mind wants to know.

Dillard - Roseburg Forest Products

Roseburg Forest Products is sort of on a shallow curve, but mostly it's just huge:

It fits in the room better

It's part of the grand plan for the room (see below). If possible when you do a TOMA larger layout design, to avoid problems later, plan out enough that you know how you need to shape the module sections to get everything to fit into the room (click image to enlarge).

Why

Siskiyou Line 1 (SL1) was 26 years old and as my wife and I discussed future plans, we noted that we both would like to relocate and get some rural property. That meant the 26 year old layout in the basement was destined to be dumpster fodder.

Plus, I've been pushing the TOMA idea recently and it allows you to relocate easily.

So! I knew relocating was likely several years off yet -- dismantle the current layout now, fix up the basement to look like a normal finished basement again, then stand up Siskiyou Line 2 (SL2) as a TOMA layout.

The gating factor for us moving is my 89 year old mother. She's living with us now and until she passes, we're not going anywhere. If she lives to be 100 then we've got at least another 10 years here. I could dismantle SL1 in my leisure (rather than in a rush to get the house ready to sell) and work on a layout I knew would go with me when we moved.

So the idea for dismantling SL1 and building a TOMA SL2 was hatched. That way, I'm not working on known dumpster fodder in the basement. I also get to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, with TOMA if I'm doing it myself too.

Finally, SL1 was 26 years old and although I love the theme and era, I'd like to take 26 years of learning (same theme and era) but do it again only better this time.

SL2 plan with current floor plan.

Yes, space of SL1

Yes, this is the space of SL1.

The idea with designing a TOMA layout that will be destined for a new as yet unknown space is to deliberately design "sacrificial" modules. On Dillard, the straight section with no turnouts is the sacrificial module. With Roseburg, the sacrificial module is the middle curved section with only one turnout.

Once I get the new space for SL2, the sacrificial modules will need to be dumped and new module sections will need to be designed to take their place so the rest of the modules I keep will fit into the new space.

The current layout space is about 800 sq feet, and I'm hoping to get about 1100 square feet for the new layout space. I will simply use the extra space to make it easier to get the current layout module sections to fit and to have more generous aisle spaces. If I do add any more module sections, they will be plain between-town module sections to increase running distance.

The overall complexity of the layout will be the same since I won't be adding more turnouts.

Sad but new era for TOMA.

 If your TOMA is anything like what was at Amherst it will be fantastic.  ????????????????????

Crossovers

Hi Joe,

Just a thought on your new plan for your first two sections. If you add a crossover at each end connecting the mainline to the industry lead then you could have a runaround track to help with operations of the first two modules.

I know I am for one pretty excited about seeing what your new vision of the layout will look like.

Thanks for sharing your progress!

Tim Garland

Loving the TOMA concept.

Joe,

I hope you will keep all of us updated with your TOMA construction. I, for one, would greatly benefit from your expertise. Starting my own TOMA layout, I need as much advice as I can get.

Sad but exicited

One of the truly best model railroads ever!

Drawing Program?

Hi Joe.

I, and no doubt many others, have been eagerly awaiting the birth of SL2. While there's still a little way to go, while you get the basement lovable again, I'll be watching with great interest.

As an aside, what software did you use to raw the layout room/trackplan? Is the geometry of the track accurate?

A better starting track plan

Tim is right -- after some reflection on the operation possibilities of just these first two modules, the following is a revised track plan.

Basically, I added a crossover on the bottom left module and I added a cross over in staging. This connects the main to the siding and industry spurs on this two module + staging subset. The additional modules coming later will make these same connections, but this addition enhances just these two modules to be more interesting operationally by themselves too.

 "as my wife and I discussed

I'd greatly discourage moving to rural property if you value your hobby time. Yard work and driving to and from town for all the necessities tasks large chunks of dwindling time as one ages. I have to spend hours mowing and trimming trees and other yard work when I could be pursuing the hobby if I lived on a smaller parcel. If you don't mind hiring the work out you might be fine but I'd certainly think hard before moving to a place that demands more time( time is one thing you can't buy more of,when your years are gone they stay gone)....DaveB 

Dismantling A Legend

I just loved this layout!   It's always sad to see a layout go down!   I can still see it on...YouTube!   All the best...Mr. Fugate!    Jack Oesterle,Jr.  former Sec./Treas.     "Midwest Valley Modelers"   The elite  model railroad club!  St. Loius, Missouri

SL2 TOMA on TMTV?

Joe, 

Will you have a series on TM TV following the build of the SL2 TOMA sections?

Documenting SL2

Before and after pics?

Joe it’d be cool to see some before and after pics.  Before the tear out and after.  Let us morn with you. Or maybe you’re not even in morning maybe you’re stoked to be getting a new TOMA layout????????   Those question marks were different emojis that don’t show up on here.  Think laughing happy train pimp smiling faces :0 )

Alright you got me.

Alright you got me. This is pretty darn inspirational. Looks like I’m gonna continue with the TOMA technique on my own railroad and begin to expand it.

Tearing down a layout is great

As a noob who hasn't even finished his first TOMA (The ONLY Module Approach -- that's my take on it) tearing down a layout is something I haven't even considered.

But on thinking about it, how nice it must be to be able to start anew, with new technology, with brand new equipment and with everything one has learnt since the start.

Not quite the same cup of tea but...  I recently had to rebuild a server that had been chugging along quietly for 20+ years. It never lost a beat, never crashed. I've had to replace a hard drive or two via RAID, but it picked up where it left off with much a problem. But being the sole 32-bit machine remaining it was time.

It was a bit sad to see something so iconic go, but at the same time building something fresh, up-to-date, and without all the trial and errors of the first installs gave birth to a lean, clean, powerful server. I did everything in a few hours versus the weeks it took me the very first time.

I have a feeling Joe's first Toma will be much the same way.