Nightmares are Dreams

As noted in my first post in this blog.

I am working on a 2000 sq foot dream layout with my father.  Everyone talks about building a dream layout. The thing is you have to remember that nightmares are still dreams.

As noted for various reasons progress has came to a haunt on the layout.  I have all the benchwork in, and about 1/3 of the mainline and one of the staging yards on the C&O.  I have about 2/3 of the track on the Mower section in.  
but this lack of progress is unfortunately self reinforcing.  You do less so you lose the excitement so you do less then the layout and the room becomes a huge mess as you store thing temporarily in there and....  

note The track design is mostly laid out in full scale so on the layout so it just needs a track laying group...

Add in extenuating circumstances such as my father health and it grinds to a halt.

So at this point nothing much has happened in months (probably almost a year)

So I am trying to find a way forward.

One concern is the house itself.  The original plan was for this to be my forever home.  However having drastically cut work back to take care of my father then adding in Covids effects on the economy and while I HOPE to be able to keep the house I am not really sure about that and won’t know until after I am on my own when I try to get back to a full time work situation. As opposed to my current self employed consulting bit.  
So things are very much up in the air.

However the other day we had some of our friends over that my dad wanted to see (while he could) as we had not seen them in about a year.  (Yes a bit of a risk, but time is running out so it was take a chance now or possibly not have a chance later). And that really sparked my interest in getting back to more actively modeling.  Mostly I have been doing research and drawing up buildings and such.

Looking back on things I think a smaller sectional approach would have worked better but at the time we started this we were working fast and building the whole thing was not viewed as a big deal.  Most of the layout actually is built in sections as far as benchwork and wire int goes,  and I have a 3ring binder of the electrical as well as a binder with info on each area of the layout to organize everything l. When building a layout this big you really need yo document things or you will spend forever redoing work you already did.

The above being the case it is a bit late to take it down (unless I end up moving but let’s hope we can avoid that).

So the question is, what now?

To be continued

-Doug M

An awakening?

So considering everything in my above two (long winded) posts.  What does the future hold?

Well obviously no one knows.  But some educated guess can be made,  the first is self evident if sad, Unfortunately with my fathers failing health he will probably not be doing any further work on the Mower Section of the railroad or it’s buildings or rolling stock.  Second I can but hope that the economy will be such that I will be able to find better economic opritunity  es and thus can kee the house (with or without renting out a bedroom suite)  but working on the assumption that I will stay here (if not then the layout comes down and this conversation is irrelevant) then the question is what to do now?

So we get to what is really the whole point of these series of posts.  Assuming I continue with the current layout what is next?  
Well as a said the TOMA theory has some interest to me and if I was starting over I think I would head that way but a bit different I think I would build enough sections at a time to do a complete area.  Say the town of Thurmond WV.  Or the town of Cass with its mill and log pond.  Get that mostly complete and move on.  But as I sad I am well and truly past that for this layout,

OR AM I?

This got me thinking.  If the layout is so large and somewhat intimidating to continplate as a whole what if I just ignored most of it and work on one place at a time.  So instead of TOMA i gate OnPartAtaTime  (OPat?)

So I am thinking if I use one town then I can finish it (buildings track scenery ect).  I can use the double track mainline in either side of it act as a mini staging yard to bring trains in do some minor switching and then send them out.  In reality is this much different then many layouts that concentrate on a single town?  Reading Jim Six’s posts has me thinking that for now a single town with minimal staging on either side is a viable option.  So why not view the layout as a string of these one town layouts.  Build one then move on?

It will be a long time before I can see trains run the whole thing but it will help by showing obvious progress,  in truth I could spend the next year building one town to a relatively finished state with obvious progress along the way or I could spend a year laying and wiring track....

In the other hand if we assume that round Robin groups will restart then I can concentrate on one town and when/if the group shows back up I can have them continue the track and wiring around the rest of the layout.  As I said for almost all the  critical locations I already have the track figured out and drawn in (with correct turnout locations and everything) So I could let friends work on the layout as a whole while I work on getting some section done.

The question then becomes where?

To Be Continued

-Doug M

Where in the world is...

So continuing on with my train of thought as it rambles along...

If we assume that I will start building one section (mostly) at a time, then the question is... where?

Well the layout will ultimately consist of the following.

Hawks Nest With its famous bridges (I have the bridge design, and most of the parts to build it from)

Kaymore: with its mine. (I have the track work about 70%)

Nuttleburg (design only)

Cass WV (track is ready to go in, my dad has the saw mill about 70%  the station is finished and we were stating upon the 15 company houses when he stopped working on the train)

Sewell,   Have the layout designed and I have a kit for the coal loader but that is it.

Cunard (coal tipple) I am currently putting together a Walthers kit for use here as very little is known about what the tipple actually looked like unless someone out there has photos I am unaware of.

Thurmand,  very famous town and yard.   Have this designed (track drawn out) but everything here will need to be scratch build

Prince:  the track is basically in it just needs scenery and the station tower and a couple other minor buildings.

Quinnimont.  I have 90% of the track I here for the Y and Yard,  and I have the background mountains 80% roughed un (needs lost of trees) I also have the well known tower finished.  I am 80% done with a scratch built water tower (over 600 parts in that) and I AAM working on/modifying the houses and station and fright station.  I need to scratch build the boiler/sand house and two other buildings (that very little is known about). So I have 80% of the structures started and one finished,

Meadow Creak,  I have the track in at about 80%

Hinton. I have the benchwork in but have not finished the track layout,

So if you look at it the two places fatherless along are Cass and Quinnimont.  Cass has the Tyra i in for the lumber company running up the hill past the switchbacks.  Quinnimont on the other hand is in the section with the most finished mainline track and has some background scenery (as does case) roughed out. Quinnimont also has the branchline off it and that is 75 finished.  I moved sections of my old layout to use as a freelanced mining branchline so it has some scenery finished on the branchline,

So if I used Quinnimont I already have track running 30+ feet in each direction from there as well as the coal branch I can use.  So probably the most track running for the least work. 
 

I am not sure I want to work on Cass without my father while he is in the house.  It almost seams like a betrayal.

Well if you have stayed with me this far...  you must be very board, get a life

Dreams can change

What was right for you years ago doesn't have to be right for you now ,and what is right for you now doesn't have to be right in the future. It's too hard to know for sure what you'll want in 10 years so just enjoy what you have now. Take care of your father and focus on your immediate needs. You'll have less stressful times later to make modeling decisions....DaveB

You are talking about things more profound than model trains:

So many here have experienced the passing of a parent and all the changes that come with it. I hope the thoughts I put down are helpful.

It is normal to feel disoriented at a time like this. An activity that was defining your life for an unknown number of years is ending, and then there is the loss of your Father. That will be a big change in your life.

I still remember the change in my Father after my Grandfather died. It was as if a new responsibility had come to him and he was rising to meet it. I also remember his reaction when my Mother died in 2018. He talked as if he could have saved my Mother, even though it was clear her time had come, even though she was living at home through his efforts, even though she was happy in her last days.

To talk of trains, it sounds like your Father enjoyed the modeling, and your group of friends was a great side benefit. If you had planned a smaller layout that your Father could have completed what would he do then? This is one of the life questions. Should I have a complete work in the end, or should I be working till the end? I can offer no clear answer as I doubt there is one.

Soon two of the three life decisions you started with will be complete and it will be time to move on to the next stage of your life. Don't feel you are defined or obligated by prior choices. You do not have to stay in the house, once it is empty save for you, if it no longer matches your life even if employment opportunities open up again for you. Life can be energetic, productive, and joyful at ages far beyond what people think in their 20's. Go and enjoy your time as there is enough, but it is not limitless.

And if you decide to keep modeling, post some images.  

Reasons

I started this blog for a few reasons.  None of them more important then any of the others.

First off was to get my ideas down on “paper” so I could come back later (in an hour a day a week a month or whatever) and reconsider them.

A other reason was I figure I am not the only person who will ever face some of these issues.

Also was to speak advice from others.

And while the issues with my Parents have been central to my life the last several years that happens to a lot of children, as I am sure others on this board (Joe included) can attests. The reality is that I told it hear more as a background to where I will be going on my journey from here.  You can not tell a story of a journey without knowing where you start off.  In my case as this journey unfolds I will be traveling into the unknown of the future.  What that future looks like is still hazy and where I will end up is impossible to say.

But I hope that I can make the best decision I can using my own knowledge and with the advice from others.  Just as you may ask a local for the name of a good restaurant when you are in a new town it is advisable to speak understand and support from others on any journey.  I have and will continue to make mistakes but I try to be creative and invent new mistakes all my own, while avoiding those mistakes others have made and can guide me around.

As for the railroad.  My father and I have very much the same opinion and that is the railroad Is about the Journey not the destination.Like our trips to Europe it was the travel we were there to experience we were not going to one spot to sit on the beach for a month (not that siting on a beach is bad). We knew going in that he would probably never see it finished and that it may never get finished but it is the fun of the building that we were interested   We have built many layouts over the years At least 6 or 7 in HO and a few Lionel.  But only the Lionel layouts were ever finished as they were mentvyo be ran and “played with”  the HO layouts were a hobby for us to work on together or separately after I became an adult,

The question I hope to work out the answer to here is where do I go from here?  Obviously no one can decide that other then me.  
At this point no one has any real idea on how long I will have my father.  But his time grows shorter.  And the future looms.  It is a time for contemplations day planing.  But life must still be lived,  And I feel a need to create something.  Be it on my Cad station for a client or in my wood shop for me or in my railroad room.  
I have set up a workbench for my father in his sitting room.  He had hoped to build models there but is having an issue with his shoulder so he can not do fine model work so he has taken to building really complicated Lego models,  I am think that working on one of my building for Quinnimont would be a pleasant way to pass the time.  I started off my hope building trains at a small bench we shared at the house I grew up in.  It is fitting to end my hobby time  spent with my father the same way it began.

So I guess the question that I wonder about is the logic of essentially abandoning large parts of my layout to concentrate on a smaller section.leave the benchwork and such as it is and just build the smaller area.  I expect as I move forward the next posts will be a consideration of those.  I had not really considered the posts about family and such as anything more then background information to help people understand where I was coming from and why some conclusions were chosen over others,  As stated if I started over I would use a more phased approach.  But hindsight is 2020.

As for the house it will be a bit large for me but it was designed by me to fill the needs of myself and my folks.  And some of those needs will in the future be of use for me as I age.  As it is I am now closer to my mothers age when we bought the property then the age I was.  And it was and still is my hope and intention to leave the house “feet first” as they say (coincidentally this is my fathers goal as well). So I hope to have many more years to get this layout into a resemblance of being finished,

So has anyone ever started a large layout to pull back mothball a large part and concentrate on a smaller area in order to achieve some progress?

-Doug M

Changing My Dream

"So has anyone ever started a large layout to pull back mothball a large part and concentrate on a smaller area in order to achieve some progress?"

We built our house for weekends and holidays until retirement.  About 1/2 the basement was dedicated for the railroad, a freelanced line incorporating elements of family history to keep it alive; it might be more an autobiography than a railroad.    The Big Dream suggested a western city and an eastern town, representing the origins of me and wife.  With the RPO history of one great grandfather, and dairy history with another great grandfather and a grandfather, it seemed logical to deal with passenger and head end traffic.  Obviously, some compression would be needed.

The available space was about 30' x 20'.  Consulting with John Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operation, I had settled with a broad E shape, the top stroke of the E being the town, the bottom stroke being the city, and the middle stoke being the loop at Tehachapi.  The dairy/creamery would fit someplace, maybe the vertical of the E.  Trains would connect the town and the city.  Milk trains would get make their runs.  I started with the city with a 4-track passenger station, and facilities.  But looking at the scope, available time, space (there was also a 3ish by 5ish layout to consider), and other things, I decided, some what reluctantly, to delete Tehachapi, and make the layout a U, with the right side of the U being the city. The bottom of the U became the town, with the dairy/creamery.  The left side of the U would effectively be for staging and a return for continuous running.

So my original dream has been modified, scaled down, but still workable.  As someone has said, "life is what happens when you are busy making other plans".  Part of our resilience is our ability to adapt.  IMHO.

Thank you for allowing me to share.

  "So has anyone ever

Most large layouts never get anywhere near completion. They usually just get torn out when someone moves or dies but I'd guess a few get reduced in size and finished. Maybe in a new house where the salvaged parts are reassembled in a new configuration? ....DaveB

Doug, your plan may change do

Doug, your plan may change do to many things that change in your life. The change to the layout is not that big of a deal. The fact that you are doing things with your father is a big deal. I will tell you this from my own experience in caring for my parents in their final days. Doing what you are doing for your father is one of the best things you can do for someone. After his time on this earth ends you will have the memories of the things you did together. You will also have a constant reminder of his presence when you are doing things in the hobby. This might sound like a negative but it will become a pleasant memory of your father. I am reminded of my parents every time I do something in the hobby and it brings back memories of the the good things we shared rather than the sadness of their passing.

As to layouts that were downsized I can think of one that went through this process. that was featured in the model railroad publications. The buffalo creek and Gually that was in S scale. You might be able to find it via a web search and see what changes he made to his plan. From what I remember the plan was shrunk by 1/2 to 2/3 and was a much smaller layout. The owner was very pleased with the  choice he made.

One piece at a time.

Right now I am thinking of simply not working on most of the existing layout,  just concentrate on the Quinnimont section, and use the two mainline tracks heading out to the east and West as Staging and be done with it for now.

If I get that finished and still live here then I can go work on another section of the layout.  I essence building it like it is TOMA .

The advantage of working on Quinnimont is that it is located adjacent to my lounge and is the section most visible when you first enter.

So I can treat this as a mini layout.  I can bring trains into the yard,  switch out loaded hoppers for empty and I can run a couple of short mine runs up the branch as the branch is in and running,  the Branch line is about 40” to 60’ long run So the operating scheme would be Mainline trains bring in empties.  The empties go up the hill to the mines in two trains per day.  Returning with loaded hoppers.  The loaded hoppers from the day before are put on mainline train n place of the empties and the train is sent on its way.

Not the most complicated operation but prototypicaly correct and takes no additional track laying beyond the Quinnimont area.  I just need to patch in a couple last turnouts and lay a bit of track in the Y.  And finish wiring it.

So a possibility.

And if you are talking about the BC&G I am thinking of located in Michigan.  And moved a few years ago.  I am familiar with it and know the owner in passing.  And actually operated on the version he had about 5-7 years or so ago.

But I am not familiar enough with the story of its construction to know if it was shrunk

-Doug M

I think that was the one

I think that was the one Doug. The only reason I am aware of it being shrunk was the right up in probably mr when it was in one of their publications, and that comment is based on my memory.

Buffalo Creek and Gauley

  Brooks Stover built a nice S scale version , the NASG website should have info on it.   There was also an article in one of the MRP annuals a few years ago about down sizing a nice HO scale New Haven layout....DaveB

Exactly

That is *exactly* the problem TOMA (The "One Module" Approach) is intended to address.

Here's how I look at it. If I take the monolithic approach and things I don't plan on happen and my room full of benchwork and track gets ripped out, then what a waste of resources, including my time as well as money.

Why not instead invest the same amount of time (likely less dollars) into building some TOMA sections to completion, including doing ops on them?

If I get something operational and I invest that money I would have spent on a room full of benchwork and track instead on finishing a few sound locos complete with operational lighting and running them on my TOMA sections, I think that's a lot more fun than just more benchwork and track.

To me, running (heck, OPERATING) through completed scenery, even if it's smaller, is WAY more fun that running through a huge Plywood Pacific. Need continuous running? No problem, set up some temporary track that loops back around to the other end with a double-ended staging yard on one part of it.

TOMA - Siskiyou 2

Joe,

Given your recent multiple setbacks, I was wondering if you had commenced, or at least planned and drawn any modules for the new layout before all that occurred. When that does happen, where should we look for them. Apologies in advance if this was covered elsewhere and I overlooked it.

Robert

To late

Looking at it now if I was starting over I would do a version of TOMA.

I would do however many sections I need to complete a give scene,  so maybe 1 maybe 4 or 5 for say a yard area like Quinnimont.  That being said one thing I have always liked about this hobby is the diversity.  Don’t feel like doing benchwork today go lay some track or do wiring, or maybe scenery.

So I would probably ultimately have probably have two sets so I can switch back and forth.  But that is a far cry from the 400liner foot plus of benchwork I have in my basement (plus staging yards).  
It seamed reasonable at the time.  I build and had running (with say 20% scenery) 120’ in about 3 or so years so figured this would be done to about the same in about  9-12.  But unfortunately real life has intervened at least 3 times for what is about 4 to 5 years of basically stoppage.  Add in say a year to build out the room. In truth I am probably about on schedule if you subtract the lost time.  But that doesn’t change the fact that right now the project is a bit intimidating.  And as I said I have no idea of what the future holds.

Thus my theory to pretend that only a small section of the layout exists and ignore the rest until that section is done.  If you think about it this is no different then if I had done TOMA except that the benchwork is ready for the future should it be needed.  The alternative to this is either continue piecemeal as I have or to tear down what I have and start over but that would just be a lot more work.  Taking out the existing and then building the new sections over again.  
So I am thinking the best compromise is to take the area I have that basically wraps around my lounge table and run with that.  It is about 12’ on one wall, 10 on the next and 30 on the final.  This is Prince and Quinnimont WV.  
At the end of the 12 Prince area it goes into a tunnel and on the other end of the 30’ yard it turns a corner 180 so is out of site.  The track is all but finished in this and about 30’ beyond each end.  It is about 3/4 wired as well.  So with relatively little effort I could get this large stretch of about 52’ up and running using the double track beyond it in each direction as a mini staging yard,  

Most of this layout is already build as sections as that is how I build my benchwork but I would lose the yard section of Quinnimont if I moved, but the Y where all the buildings and such are and the Prince Benchwork are sections and could easily be pulled out and moved so I wouldn’t lose much work if I finished them.  And if I continue most major scenes would be on models as well with some generic track in between being potentially lost.  But this is the part that would be reconfigured in a new space anyway.

Think of it as TOMA for you towns or mines or whatever and fast disposal track and scenery in between.  This disposable sections would be the area s reconfigured to fit the new room.

So this is my current thinking.

-Doug M

And the pursuit of happiness

One thing I have noticed over the past 7 years or so is that while working on my hobbies (beside model railroading I build furniture/woodworking) are very enjoyable and will at least allow me to relax and get away from the stress of life   It is often hard to get the motivation to actually get up and get started.  Once started it is useful as a stress reliever and such but getting the momentum going can be hard.

Oddly enough, though understandably if you think about it, the times that you most “need” a hobby is the times it is the hardest to get up the ambition to work on them.  And the longer away from them the bigger the hump you need to overcome.

This gets confusing for me sometimes.  As years ago I used to know I was unhappy with something on the layout if I avoided and did something else.  But the way I have been “avoiding” the whole layout would indicate I need to find a new hobby....

Well sorry about using this as a sounding board but then again I did create this as a blog.

T.K.  Has his “trains of thought “. But If I named this blog I guess it would be “derailed “... 

-Doug M

Musings of a Modeler

Doug,

Speaking for myself, I can relate to the story as you have been telling it on more than a couple of levels (father winding down, hobby interest in multiple hobbies waxing and waning over the years, second guessing previous actions taken on my model, etc.).

Other commenters have already highlighted how much more important is the human element than the hobby element, and I liked your point about hobbies for stress relief  just when the stress causing event is making it hardest to have time for a hobby.

Sometimes you probably feel like a lone ranger, but there are others. I appreciate that you recorded some of your musings here.

As to your current model railroad it sounds like you are making the best of what is, what might have been, and a possible way ahead through a hybrid of methods that get discussed on these forums and in the pages of MRH.

Robert B

Of interests, time and lethargy

One thing I have noticed over the years is that certain events cause “fatigue” for lack of a better word.  The stress builds up and it gets harder and harder to get motivated. 
Oddly enough at a time when you need a hobby the most it often seams that is the time your motivation to actually DO something is at it lowest.

At this point I find that little annoying things that would normally be overlooked are enough to destroy any inclination to do something.  For instance my wood shop has had a few issues with its layout and not have a place for some things and this has not been an issue in the last 15 years.  But when things get stressful these little things that would be overlooked take on whole new levels of meaning.  I was looking for a couple little bar clamps a few months ago and they were scattered around so I had to stop what I was doing and go find them all.  And by the time I did I had lost interest in what I was doing so I headed into the house and did a load of wash instead.

I have had similar problems in the train room.  It is not fun spending the first 45 minutes finding the tools I need to do whatever it is I want to do.

So I am starting to try and minimize this kind of thing.  In the shop I built a rack for the clamps and gathered them together.  In the railroad room.... I am still trying to figure it out.  One of the goals of concentrating on one section of the layout and “mothballing” the rest is it will better focus my attention and keep things in a smaller space.  So I won’t have to look over the whole layout to find a tool.  I also am reorganizing  my tool racks and my rolling carts so as to minimize the issues with finding things.  One cart for scenery one for wiring, a shelf/rack for power tools and bigger tools and such, And so on.  In order to minimize complications and annoyances that will derail things.

In reality this is probably what is driving the idea of concentrating on one smaller section of the layout.  By doing so I minimize things that would lead me to be less inclined to work on the layout and at the same time make the whole thing more manageable.  Finishing 10’ of track in a 30’ area is an accomplishment finishing 10 out of 500 is just an indication of how far you have to go still..

And it is not my interests in my hobbies that is declining it is my ambition to climb out of my chair and DO something.  And as such even minor obstacles can be enough to send me back to my chair.  
 

Please don’t take this wrong I am not that depressed or anything I just notice that I am more inclined to spend time on other hobbies such as reading, doing research on historical things, playing games with friend (online) etc more then I am my more physical hobbies such as modeling and woodworking.  In part because these two hobbies I used to do with my father in part because of the above noted things.  So I am looking at ways to minimize the things that cause me to lose interest in my hobbies and to find a way to increase my likelihood to get up and do something.

For instance in my wood shop I have started a numbe4 of relatively small projects around the shop.  All aimed at increasing the utility of the shop and minimizing the inconveniences.  So I build a clamp storage area and reorganized the clamp wall.  It was a minor project took only a couple days and I had something accomplished/finished and it helped remove an annoyance also so a win win.  Thus I find myself slowly getting back into my shop more.

This is kind of what I am looking for in the railroad.  I am thinking to get thing organized and cleaned up. But instead of worrying about the whole big room I will concentrate on the lounge area where Quinnimont and Prince are. A much more manageable area.  And with a potential for faster results.

I am also starting to organize a toolkit to bring upstairs to my dads sitting room so I can work on a building while he is building a LEGO kit.  (His bad shoulder does not allow him to work on his model train buildings with the level of skill and detail he used to have so they frustrate him now so he has taken to building extremely complicated lego kits such as a car that has an actual gearbox with changeable gears...

So I am slowly address thing by removing annoyances and making thing easier to do.

Hopefully this will start to self reinforce.

Well just a thought.

-Doug M

The Great Flood, it was Biblical

So the railroad work took a minor setback last week.

I was rinsing out a container I need for my father in my first floor laundry tub, when my dad needed something and I walked away.  (first mistake)

I didn’t realize there was something else in the tub that sealed the tub.   To make a long story short water overflowed the tub.  Do to a strange interpretation of the plumbing code when we built the house I was not allowed to put in a floor drain unless I tiles the floor added a membrane and slopped the floor. So the water pooled on the floor in the laundry and found a way through the floor.  (Because you know this is better them most of it going into a floor drain..l yeah plumbing inspector)

So when I get back to it I have Niagara Falls over from the tub a lake on the floor (about 4’ diameter) I shut off the water and toss some dirty cloths on the floor to absorb the water.  Toss them into the washer afterwards and head downstairs....

the water found a way onto three spots on the layout,  the benchwork for the Future Hinton yard got a bit (upper level). The return look staging yard benchwork that will be east of Hinton got a LOT but in a small area as it flowed off. (Upper level )

Then it landed on the benchwork for the Thurmond yard ( lower level,).  This was about 4sq feet of area.  
Then it flowed onto the floor. (Painted concreat)  covering an area about 5’x10’.  Fortunately it was in an area with a sump pump.  So mostly flowed out.  What didn’t got sucked up with the wet dry shop vac.

So other then on driver getting soaked,,,, it was not too bad.

I do need to finish cleen up the mess.

But my precautions seamed to have payed off.  When I designed the house and the layout then built the railroad I took a few Precautions

The benchwork is all higher quality wood well secured so won’t warn very easily,  the legs have wood feet on them that are made from pressure treated lumber.  Anything siting on the floor or within 4” of the floor is in plastic boxes or up on platforms.  (well almost everything).  
the basement has two interconnected sump pumps in opposite corners that can act as floor drains (we are in the country so have a septic tank so no actual floor drains).

So we were set up for this to happen.
Still it is a pain,

And learning your insurance is good does not help with the inconvenience of having the accident in the first place,

And of course this eats into my extremely short free time.

-Doug M

Siskiyou Line 2 ... plans

Yes, I have the overall track plan for SL2, and I did build a couple chainsaw modules. My biggest learning from the chainsaw modules was:

1. Curved 6-foot modules are a total pain. All curved module sections will be 4 feet going forward.
2. 1/4" plywood flexes too much, moving to half-inch plywood going forward.
3. For shadowbox module sections, perfectly 90-degree vertical ends is critical.
4. For shadowbox module sections, butt joint rail ends ala FREMO doesn't work.

On #2, I'm thinking I may drill some holes in the 1/2" plywood for wires and to reduce weight. I'm still aiming for 40 pounds max for the weight of a single module section.

On #3, I didn't get my vertical end plates perfectly 90 degrees and as a result, my module sections joined as a V with an unintended grade as a result. If I made one module section have the proper grade, the next module section had a nasty grade the other direction because of the out-of-vertical end plates. Very bad.

On #4, needing to align the fascia and the valance and the butt joints in the track resulted in a massive 3D alignment puzzle where nothing would line up perfectly. As a result, I have decided to use a joining method that keeps the up-and-down part in perfect alignment and then use short sections of floating rail to bridge the gaps and allow for slight misalignment side-to-side on the rails. The half-inch plywood should also keep things from flexing as much, and the end plates should align better.

Sounds like it's time for an update in MRH on SL2 and my learnings.

Sad days

So my speculations have became reality.

My father passed away earlier this week.  Which means my partner in all thing railroad related (prototype or model) for the past 40+ years is no longer with me and I will have to face a future by myself for the first time.  Because even when we lived apart I always knew I could count on his support and help.

So my plans for the layout have taken on a bit more urgency 

-Doug M

Sorry to hear that, Doug

O/T Proscenium + Butt-joints : Very Do-able...

apologies for the minor thread hijack, but I really struggled to let this one go...

Dear Joe, MRHers,

...some decades of experience in hardcore touring-layout says this statement is very likely due to inappropriate design and/or construction, as Proscenium design modules (inc High-accuracy Captive/Integrated Alignment system) + butt-rail-joints are very-much compatible. Indeed, for touring-layouts where "automatically fall-together, perfectly, first-time, every-time" performance is not just a "nice to have", but a near-mandatory benchmark, such a combination is a go-to solution.

Examples of such touring proscenium + butt-joint layouts have been posted here on MRH previously
(Search "Toorong" , "Nine Mile", "ChicagO Fork", "Cass W.Va", "Yallah 2", "Foamcore", etc)

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/36826?page=4#comment-391947

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/36826?page=5#comment-392044

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/36826?page=7#comment-392442

I'm not going to say "just trust me, it works",
as I know you have your own practical experience which informs the statement as writ...

...but I respectfully fear that the experience is borne out of (likely-unwitting) fundamental issues with the design and implementation as-tested... because a flat "it (just) doesn't work" has a lot of long-term road-proven prior-art evidence and posted-how-to-info standing in it's path...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

I find this to be an interesting topic

I find this to be an interesting topic as Doug has many parallels to my situation. I will be 73 year old this summer. While some of you may be older, 73 is OLD, period. It took me a long time to accept that as I aged I became less and less physically capable of doing thing that I once did without giving it a thought.

Those of you who follow my Limited Modeler column knot that I abandoned my layout about 5 years ago and have been dismantling it in order to build a new, simpler layout. Well, that is not going very well. The layout is still sanding, well sort of. Some of it is gone but too much remains. I do hot have the physical ability to complete the demo and then "finish" the train room. Since my heart surgery six years abo I am not physically able to do what needs to be done.

So, This week I had an Amish contractor over to go over my plans with me. I am contracting him to demo the layout and completely rebuild the train room into a second family room. Once done, I will built the new layout. It will be along one 50-ft long wall. It will be a 16" deep, straight shelf layout representing one town. A switching layout.

This is a far cry from my dream layout of years back. Like most of you I wanted to fill a basement with layout. Let me tell you, "it takes a village" to build, maintain, and operate such a layout. I don't have a village at my disposal, so I will not be delude myself think that I can have a dream layout.

Friend Mark Plank will help me build the benchwork for the new layout starting this fall when the remodeling of my basement is completed. (It's projected to be complete in September, some $20,000 later!) 

Like you Doug, my Dad was always supportive of my hobby effort. He passed away 8 years ago. 

Jim Six