The original plan

Here’s what we’ve built so far:

My intention was to hug the room wall to stay out of the way of classroom activities, and to maintain really broad curves. I haven’t set the era yet, but am leaning towards the late 20’s or early 30’s, a secondary line that crosses a class one line at a junction yard in a tidewater port town (with car float service).

In thinking about where to put certain features I have to be very mindful of the way I use my room - especially site lines to the projector screen and whiteboard. My building used to be a home for indigent women, and my room was created from a sun porch and three residential rooms, plus the central hall that ran through the middle. At the time of the renovation the school intended this room to be a kindergarten, so leaving several structural columns in place to break up the space wasn’t an issue. When the school changed plans and decided to put my middle school math class in the room instead, the columns became a problem. There are relatively few areas of the room that allow a seated student a clear view of my teaching wall, and no place where one can see both my teaching wall and the entire long blackboard wall. So the room has some “dead spots” which I feel free to fill with the railroad. (A related challenge is that my room is used by a summer camp program so each year I have to dismantle everything at the end of the school year and reinstall it in the Fall.)

Here’s a room plan showing the site lines and dead areas (shaded):

It occurred to me a couple of weeks ago that I could significantly increase my main line run without much intrusion on the “valuable” real estate in the room if I compromised on my minimum radius.

Jeff Allen

A bold idea

I realized that if I suck it up and learn to deal with more typical model railroad curves, like 30” minimum radius, I could exploit the dead space with a blob-ended peninsula and get two more sidings/towns with all of the collateral operating potential thereof. Here’s my new scheme (the overall track arrangement is just proof-of-concept and still needs to be detailed):

I’m pretty confident that I can get the peninsula, north wall  and half of the yard (enough to act as temporary staging) built this school year. In fact I’ve already got the benchwork designed as a set of sectional frames and L-girder modules that can be built by student teams working simultaneously.

The rest of the plan will be carried on by the following year’s students.

That huge trestle over a floor-to-ceiling ravine just seems irresistible . Does that sound too silly?

Jeff Allen

Will The Students....

....be bulding the trestle? If are their untrained hands going to good enough? Personally I would do a long low Steel Trestle with Microengineering parts or something similar.

Too complicated?

     I don't think a complicated layout is necessary to teach them the physics involved in  railroading and how they apply to their lives?  I'd stick to around the walls, I think the concepts work in simple form and are probably clearer to a student. IIRC you are in the bay area so I'd lean toward making the layout resemble something they can see in the area such as a greatly compressed  Richmond Pacific switching district or the site that was once the Alice Street ATSF float yard. The artists in the group might even enjoy tagging a few models to represent cars they see rolling by or at some local industry......DaveB

good points

Graeme, I've discovered that many projects (not all, there are limits) can be broken down into sub-tasks that are easy enough for beginners. That's one of the attractions of the large timber trestle: if I build a single jig for the bents each student can manage one or two bents easily enough, even though once assembled with cross bracing it can seem impossibly complex. My experience with the kids so far suggests that the trestle is quite do-able and because of it's repetitive form actually lends itself well to a project where lots of students can have some skin in the game. But is it too corny?

DaveB's point is a good one. I considered several local prototypes (coincidentally, including the thought of just building Andy Sperandeo's N scale version of the Alice Street yard and car float operation) specifically so that kids could walk around to see what they're modeling. Our school is right on the old Sacramento Northern right of way, with plenty of remnants still eerily visible. Very tempting.

In the end I decided that creating a "make-believe" world would appeal to many of the student's creative story-telling energies. I think my approach leaves room to render individual scenes as LDEs based on actual places, but I'm weaving them together in a looser framework intended to offer a variety of operational experiences as well as potential story lines about a made up local history in a real historical era. 

Jeff Allen

Agree with Dave...

Kiss is the word of the day..."Keep It Simple Stupid". I built a 4 X 8 layout with a 4-H group one year. Simple plan just a couple of turnouts and a few buildings. Each 4-H'er had to construct a building, help with the bench work, lay track and do scenery. We started in August with a goal of having it completed by December. I worked for an electric cooperative at the time and they sponsored the material cost, provided a place to built it and when it was finished put it in the front window as a Christmas display.

The kids had a great time and so did I and I guess they learned something...working together.

Anyway, It looks like it would be a nice home layout but maybe a little complicated for middle school?

Good luck with your classroom project.

Odyssey of the Mind? Practicality?

I'm reminded of problems that face students in Odyssey: to build load-bearing structures out of toothpicks or spaghetti. So maybe that is some justification for your dream. I think your biggest challenge will be making that high mountain with trestle removable and replaceable to clear the room every year, plus finding storage for the entire empire.

Which brings up the thought that you probably have already considered: how will you deal with unsympathetic parents or administrators who compare real estate of the full layout with area allowed for students, and make a quick judgement about the teacher's priorities?

You probably also have this covered, but how much of the RR project depends on building as real railroads do? Big trestles didn't happen just because they look cool; they were part of a cost-effective way to solve a challenge. Think Keddie Wye. John Allen's trestle allowed trains to change elevation, similar to function of Tehachapi Loop. Ties with surveying and engineering, right?

Good luck deciding,

DrJolS

I would respectfully suggest

I would respectfully suggest less railroad. Modules going around the walls seeming to be out of the way are likely the best way to go. Jumping into the middle of the room with it presents a distraction that will undermine the concentration powers of the kids. Much like being seated next to an open window with something going on outside is a distraction to kids. Also the around the walls work looks like it will be easier to store than the flowing peninsula sections. I also wonder how putting barriers up will impact the fire code as it relates to learning institutions. Other types of emergencies also need to be considered as well. Many of which simply did not need to be considered when I was a kid as folks were held more responsible for their actions then than now.

I would strongly advise against blocking any doorway even temporarily in that environment and suggest that the layout only run along the wall from one doorway to the other.

OM Judge

I was a judge for Odyssey of the Mind for several years. The solutions to problems that the young kids came up with never failed to surprise me. There's no doubt in my mind that middle school students could do this job.

gs

An alternative

I also don't think the idea of closing off the second doorway is a great idea, but how about opening the door way, but having a second stop for the car float on the other side of the doorway?  Especially, if the car float itself is on wheels?  Now you have a reason and an operating system puzzle for the students to work around the car float.

Great feedback

I'm certainly mindful about biting off more than I can chew. Some (not all) of the potential obstacles have been addressed:

We built and installed four benchwork sections over the past two years. During that time we've refined both the design of the sections and the process for building them by students. All eight of the benchwork sections needed for the next "increment" of construction (through the middle of the junction yard) are ready to build. They should go MUCH faster than the first four. 

DrJoIS very alertly identified the tricky problem of getting the section with trestle and high/low scenery out and in through the door. The last 18 to 24" of the blob will be a separate section. Although that will allow adequate dimensions for ingress and egress it could present some cosmetic scenery issues at the joint. 

Storage of all sections is abundant. The entire second floor of the building is unoccupied and was not finished out during the building remodel a few years ago. It will be vacant for the foreseeable future. 

I really appreciate the comment about parent (and administrator) leeriness. That problem has also been addressed by the enthusiasm of the students for participating in math class, and their success on performance measurements (tests), and qualification for advanced math in high school. Parents have been giving very positive feedback to administrators about students' renewed (or novel) interest in math. Everybody seems to be behind the project. 

Once the benchwork is in place and the focus of activity turns to roadbed, the kids get an intense sequence of "civil engineering" lessons dealing qualitatively (and sometimes quantitatively) with track alignment, spiral curves, superelevation, grades, vertical curves, earthwork, etc. Since there will be a variety of bridge designs on the layout, we also talk about the economic considerations - quick, dirty and temporary vs. expensive and robust. 

Rob brings up what is probably my biggest concern - distraction. But when I look at most of the short-attention-span decor of typical classrooms (admittedly not math classrooms as much) I am encouraged to forge ahead. 

Rob also correctly raises fire exit concerns. The big curve in front of the fire exit (as well as a segment not shown that will cross in front of the front door for continuous running) won't be installed for at least another year, but they'll both be on counterweighted pivots that allow the "bridge" section to swing up and out of the way with an upward tap on a panic bar mounted underneath. Here's the idea:

Very astute observations, folks. Thanks!

Jeff Allen

Wow!

Jeff, from your report of parents'  satisfaction and students' achievements and enthusiasm, I think you're one of the seven wonders of the teaching world. I realize that your first priority has to be your students and situation, but have you given any thought to helping other teachers who are model railroaders come out of the closet in such a productive way?

One thought about fire escape: I've seen several railroad bridges over water that are open to allow boats through, except when a train needs to use the bridge. You could do the same, always keeping the door clear except during railroad sessions.

I look forward to more news.

DrJolS

normally open bridge + car float connection = very interesting

I REALLY like James' suggestion to have both ends of the car float operation with a traveling float. I actually set that idea aside some time ago after I concluded I needed to get the main line across that gap to staging anyway. And, I had a chance to operate on Bill Kaufman's State Belt, where a single car float terminal is an obvious winner.

AND I'd rejected the bridge strategy because I needed a gate that was robust enough to work with a panic bar. But I'd never even contemplated a normally open bridge...

Perhaps both of those ideas together would work well - a bridge for the main line to staging across the river and a car float serving a branch across the channel - two separate destinations. The float destination has plenty of room for a pleasant switching location. I was troubled by the temptation to squeeze in two sidings on the legs of the L of the south wall extension. By putting in a float apron instead of the first siding operations will be much more relaxed and enjoyable.

Now I just need someplace to put that yard lead...

Jeff Allen 

1 additional item.

Since you are dealing with middle schoolers-any of them Boy Scouts?  Obviously, being in your class is an easy intro into Railroading Merit Badge.  Signing up with your local council is FREE.  You have to fill out an application,  take a single 1/2 internet course (youth protection), and pass a background check.  If interested, I can forward the powerpoint I use to teach most of it.  Then you can opt for the layout sections vs the car build for the rest.

Railroading Merit Badge

Thanks James, I would be delighted to see about offering merit badge credit to my interested students! I don't know who the scouts are, but I had a conversation last year with a student from the nearby high school and he said the program is very active there. 

If you're willing to share your powerpoint that would be fantastic. Please feel free to get in touch via my MRH account.

Jeff Allen

ambitious

very ambitious layout.  Pardon my pessimism,  was in a "permanent club" that lost their lease on the space.  Lots of work down the drain.  Somewhat different story in your case.  This layout is as much (or more?) about teaching the students than it is about building a layout.  Just make sure you have a contingency plan for when things change and you're not in that room any longer, not at that school any longer, etc. etc.   I guess the contingency plan could also include not getting personally attached to the layout (would be hard for me to do).

Best wishes!  Good luck!

...

I think you should take a step back and really think about what your goal is in this classroom.  Is it mathematics education, or is it model railroader recruitment?  Because in all honesty, your time is very limited, and yet you're teaching the most crucial level of mathematics that will literally decide if they go on to the higher order mathematics world where calculus rules or branch towards the non-mathematics orientated world.

Everybody here is a model railroader first, and naturally they are very excited about any avenue where there's more model railroading going on.   This being said, I spent 2.5 years in teacher education training in college, and even if I then opted for the Geoscience degree instead of the teaching degree, I still carry with me my training and that gives me pause as I consider your "next steps."

If you want to be a model railroader and build a layout and enjoy the hobby, then do it - As A Hobby.  If you want to share your hobby with your students, start a model railroader club and have a couple hours after school each week where this activiy is pursued inan extracurricular manner.  If you're usurping your duties as a mathematics teacher to indulge your passions as a model railroader, you're doing yourself and your students a huge disservice.

Focus

I'd be careful before expanding the "model railroad" much beyond what it is already.  As the trains start taking more and more of the classroom, (some) parents will begin to question what is really going on in that classroom; and while your intentions are good, you may find yourself alone in defending your "project".  This is likely one of those things, where all it will take is one parent to raise a concern and the whole thing will come to a screeching halt.

I appreciate the sincere cautions

Sheesh, I was expecting someone to suggest a less cliche treatment of the turnback curve on the blob. I'm surprised at the number of folks who are worried about parents' reaction to model railroading!

I totally understand though. It isn't necessarily obvious that being introduced to the "applications" of mathematical ideas before becoming proficient with the skills can often spark the kind of comprehension that propels a student towards applying themselves diligently to mastering those skills. So many students feel like math education is torture because they're being forced to learn things that have no relevance to their lives. By middle school they discover that their parents never use any of this math and their resentment becomes entrenched.

The elements of model railroading are a boundless vehicle for thinking about, talking about, and doing math (and science, history, social studies, language, engineering, ad infinitum). "Working on the railroad," even as it grows, takes a small fraction of our class time, and we incorporate many other real world, participatory activities. It's not all trains, all the time. 

I think you'd need to be here and listen to the students and their parents talk about how they're feeling about math these days to "get" the excitement that surrounds the project. It's palpable. And the students are doing extremely well mathematically. I'm very proud of the number of students who came in considering themselves to be "bad at math" who no longer feel that way as they go off to high school. That's not all due to the model railroad, I really do teach math directly most of the time. 

But the caution that putting MY hobby in the classroom risks usurping my duties as a mathematics teacher is certainly one that I need to be mindful and vigilant about. I wrote before about a crack a student made that "Jeff is using us as slaves to build HIS railroad" stopped me dead in my tracks. I probed this with the student very carefully, and she was adamant that her sentiments were entirely in jest, she said she loves working on the layout and urged me not to change anything. 

I'm also very realistic about my own attachment to the artifact. I am acutely aware of the tenuousness of teacher employment and that room assignment circumstances are almost certain to change. My attitude is that although there are always long term goals to work towards, it is the value of each day's activity that I focus on. Learning to solder is a worthwhile experience regardless of whether one has the opportunity to be tower operator at the junction interlocking. I may need to throw everything in a dumpster at any moment. That doesn't erase the experience students acquired in creating any part of it. 

I recognize that the long term plan that I've presented may be over the line, and I certainly expect to make changes as the experiences of each year get incorporated into the vision. I've tried very hard to remain alert to concerns from parents and administrators at every step of the way. The fact that the whole thing disappears every summer, and will continue to, probably accounts for why administrators have raised no objections (on the contrary, they're excited too). 

Keep it coming. I may design an "alternate" section that would bypass the peninsula for next year. Later, if the peninsula still seemed like a good idea that section could be replaced. 

Thanks again all,

Jeff Allen

Jeff, one of the larger and most impressive layouts.............

...........is the New England, Berkshire and Western, located on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.  See link for info.

http://rpinfo.rpi.edu/search.html?q=model+rr

I understand a lot of the architecture and engineering classes built 1/87 scale models which are used on the layout.  It's actually run somewhere between what you do and what Benny thinks.  It's a "club" and "society" with student members but is supported by RPI and some of it's classes.

Thanks for sharing with us, and keep up the good work,

Peter 

Moderation

I love what you are doing-- it's right in line with the teachings of Ken Macrorie (see 20 Teachers). I do feel the peninsula is a bit too far though. Eventually you are going to reach a point where all layout space is occupied and you will need to tear something out to accommodate the next class. It is best to plan for that from the beginning-- probably by working out how long a student will remain in school after they build "their" module. They won't want to see it torn down before they graduate. I can easily see taking the layout along the back wall to the big window. But filling the peninsula area is a big hit to the flexibility of the room-- something is bound to turn up that will fit perfectly there-- maybe one of those multimedia display boards that gets brought out for some units but needs to be parked out of the way. I also suspect that moving the peninsula is going to be an order of magnitude harder than moving the simple modules.

Of course going through what you are doing now-- planning various scenarios, is a perfect activity for the kids too.

pqe

 "It isn't necessarily

Teaching the practical application of math makes a lot of sense to me  When I was in 7th grade they were building a new subdivision adjacent to our school playground and I started asking the surveyors what they were doing and instead of telling me to get lost kid they showed me how they calculated curves with trig functions and shot them in  with their instrument. I thought it looked like a cool job, they had a 4 wheel drive jeep, got to work outside, and seemed very relaxed. Years later I remembered that when I saw surveying classes listed at college so decided to give it a try. A couple of classes and I was offered a job. About 25 years later I was surveying a new building at the same college and saw my old surveying instructor who was ready to retire, we had a nice chat about his classes and how surveying had changed over the years.When we worked around elementary schools I always noticed a few kids watching and would take time to answer any of their questions.......DaveB

... it looked like a cool job...

I know what you're talking about DaveB! I spent the last half of high school and all of college working summers for a civil engineer, back in the olden days. A couple of years ago I bought this beauty on eBay...

...and finally got it operational this summer, so we'll be following exactly in your footsteps, using trig to lay out curves.

I also do a project on topography in which we shoot a set of points, plot the contours, then build a three dimensional model of the terrain. Here's an example that students built from Google Maps topo data:

Before I had the transit we built our own spirit levels using a piece of clear vinyl tubing, which was cool but not as cool as this old transit. 

I feel strongly that working on these contour line models lays the conceptual foundation for understanding integration when the kids eventually take calculus. Sometimes "learning math" doesn't need to be explicitly mathy. 

Jeff Allen

Do it in stages