Layout design
Flirting with the Sacramento Northern
I enjoy imagining what kind of a layout I can build whenever I take control of a space. Even when I’ve worked in office cubicles I didn’t hesitate to sketch up ideas for shelf layouts that I could fit in, even though it might have been bad for office morale to slack off of work so brazenly. But I seem to be ensconced in my current classroom for the foreseeable future and the Inglenook convinced me that a model railroad would be a legitimate and appropriate educational tool. For some kids, maybe better than just appropriate.
The Milton and Dorchester RR
Now for something completely different - traction!
My Milton and Dorchester RR is a combination of the New Haven RR MIlton Branch and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) Mattapan - Ashmont High Speed trolley line. It is a U shaped 4' x 12' that uses half of the spare "hobby" room of our apartment in Lewiston ME. The setting is the late 1950's which allows the NH orange and black "McGinnis" diesels intermixed with PCC trolleys and the occasional "type 5" in its last year of operation.
It started with an Inglenook
I've toyed with the idea of building a working pike in my classroom since I started teaching about six years ago (I'm 58, I've had several other careers). A lot of it has been a selfish desire to increase my own opportunities to enjoy model railroading, so I've been cautious about making sure the academic value was appropriate.
A middle school model railroad
I'm a middle school math teacher. This last year I began to use model railroading as a vehicle for engaging my students with fun, interesting and educational activities that have vivid connections to meaningful real-world themes.
Your thoughts on building this layout?
I think it's time I started building a new layout, and this is what I have in mind:
I'll describe it in more detail below. I would like to hear any comments on building, operation, etc.
Ramping up to Simulate Mountain Climb
Does anyone have any experience with ramps from various platform levels to achieve an overall elevation instead of using a helix? I am trying to simulate a climb that the GMRC makes over Mt Holly. It begins at Bellows Falls at around 350 ft above sea level to the peak height at Mt Holly of around 1600 ft above sea level and then descends to Rutland at about 600 ft. above sea level.
Making the past come to life
Back in 1957 there was a proposal to build a bridge between Long Island (Oyster Bay) and Westchester County, NY (Rye). It was to be a vehicular bridge. For various reasons - money, politics, etc., it never came to pass. But what about a railroad bridge? That's what I'm building. The time will be 1959 - 1960.
Layout Progress Update Plus Other Stuff
Mid July 2014 Progress Update
Over the past month, I have been checking out some of my steam engines, running trains, installing decoders, worked on fixing the shorting issue with the insulfrog turnouts, and began work on the support structure for the main level. There are four videos in this update.
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