Trackwork
Update: VIA Rail Yard and Shops -Trenton Subdivision in N Scale
I have been working on the VIA Rail yard and shops lately. Here are some preliminary photos of the area, taken with a cell phone to check for details. Once complete I will photograph again with a better camera and a backdrop.
Pokey Progress - Dec '14
Time for a construction update on the new layout I'm building. Here are some pictures and thoughts along the way of what's gone on this past month. I'll post them in the initial entries to this blog. Hope you enjoy the tour! I look forward to reading your replies!
Paul Krentz
Free-lancing a fictitious portion of the N&W Pocahontas "Pokey" District
Buffer stop
Having moved to Australia and finally settled in I think it's time I start some railroad modelling again. I am particularly fond of an area in Port Shepstone, South Africa where the Standard Gauge (1067mm/Cape Gauge is the standard in South Africa) met the now abandoned two foot gauge for a further 13km south and then 109km inland towards Harding.
Car Wash on the Trenton Subdivision in N Scale
I have completed some more work on the car wash in the VIA Rail Yard.
I posted an earlier blog as I was constructing the car wash. I have replaced the black plastic tubes that came with the kit with pipe cleaners and scratch built a base from 1mm styrene. Adding railings, grating and a chemical tank from other kits.
Crazy idea? 3D printed turntable pit
I started drawing a trestle to see how the parts would fit together. One thing led to another, and I decided to draw an entire turntable pit, retaining wall (there's no pit wall on my prototype) and runoff trestle as a single piece. Shapeways says they can print it, and with the holiday sale going on it ought to be in the $40-$45 range.
Middle school model RR: linkage
With roadbed in place on the risers at the appropriate grades and vertical curves it’s finally time to start laying track. At least that’s what it seems like to the students. But there are a number of design decisions that need to be resolved before any track can actually be fastened to the homosote.
Changes at Cranberry
Something has been bothering me about the Cranberry Portage siding and interchange track. My original trackplan had a crossover switch about 1/2 way down the siding, with the idea that if a passenger train was there a second train could still access the siding. However in reality my standard sized passenger train (2 FP9A, 1 SGU, baggage car, 2 coaches and 2 sleepers) was too long to fit in the siding and leave the cross over unblocked.
Rail GAp device
I lost track of information about a commercial product for stabilizing track on either side of an inserted rail gap. My recollection is that the product was a metallic set of ties that are slipped under the rail at the site of the desired gap, The rail is soldered to the metallic tie set and then, once the rails are firmly in place, a gap is created. The tie pads on either side of the gap are of course not electrically continuous.
Switch Stand Position?
Are there prototype rules concerning the placement of a switch stand? Before I start relocating stands I thought I should ask.
For example: at this location it seems more logical for both stands to be on the same side of the track. Would a real railroad always put the stand on the diverging side or would they mix and match sides to minimize conductor crossing the tracks?
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