Category Archives: Benchwork

Willis Yard Sub-Roadbed Down

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The Willis yard sub-roadbed (the tabletop) is installed and after a bit of surfacing work, it will be ready for track.  The surfacing work is primarily sanding and filling around the joints in the Homasote panels.  As I’ve mentioned in other posts, the Homasote sold today isn’t very consistent in it’s thickness and there is invariably a height mismatch when butting panels up to each other.

Benchwork-Willis_Yard-05But the really good thing about getting this area done is the fact that the actual Louisiana Central mainline can now be laid.  Up to this point, the only LC trackage was that in staging and the lead up to the crossing with the Illinois Central.  This is a new milestone in the construction.  In addition, the sub-roadbed can now proceed west of Willis, heading down the backside of the peninsula and up through Maynard.  This will be some real progress when that is done, and it shouldn’t be that far into the future.

In keeping with my preference for construction first at the wall, then progressing toward the aisle, it is near time for me to start thinking about the Spencer logging operation.  The line going up into the woods (between Maynard and Whitcomb) must be constructed before the LC main (which is near the aisle) between those points can be installed.  These next several months will be quite busy.

Wiring is keeping up nicely.  Four of the seven booster districts have been completed; only track feeders have to be added as additional track is laid.  The other three will be required as the track I just wrote about is installed.

I’m also starting to think about the fascia for the layout edge.  While I don’t plan to install it immediately, I do plan to build sections soon after the trackage in an area is essentially completed.  Since all the controls will be mounted on the fascia, it would be nice to have it installed when I start wiring up all those controls so there is a place to put them.

-Jack

I.C. Mainline Complete

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The Illinois Central mainline has been completed.  I.C. trains can now roll from the west staging yard, through Willis, and into the east staging track.  The passing siding at Willis remains under construction.

The aforementioned siding will utilize code 70 rail (the mainline uses code 83), and is partially installed.  The interchange track with the Louisiana Central branches off of the passing siding and therein lies the hold up.  I’m using Shinohara track and switches for the layout.  Most of my code 83 switches are the newer “DCC Friendly” variety.  However Shinohara has never upgraded their code 70 products to this same standard.  The problem is that the two point rails are always at the same electrical potential, therefore it is easy to short the track if a wheel happens to bridge the gap between the stock rail and the open point.  With regular DC powered layouts, this generally doesn’t present much of a problem.  With DCC layouts however, things are a bit different.  Within milliseconds of a short, the electronic circuit breaker will shut down the district it serves.  If you are using sound decoders in your engines, this results in the decoder resetting and “starting over”.  Very irritating, indeed!

To correct this deficiency, one must rebuild the points such that they are isolated from each other.  In addition, you must isolate the frog.  The latter is simple; merely cut gaps around the frog.  However, the former is quite a chore.  I’ve read about a couple methods to perform the necessary modifications, but haven’t actually done one yet.  Since I need this code 70 switch installed in order to complete the I.C. trackage, the day of reckoning has come.

I’m also ready to push the sub-roadbed (tabletop in this instance) into the Louisiana Central’s Willis yard area.  The plywood and Homasote have already been cut out.  I only have to build the risers and then install everything.  Once I get the L.C. mainline through Willis, I’ll be free to install quite a large chunk of the L.C. mainline beyond Willis…all the way to Maynard, the next town down the line.

Since I want the entire Louisiana Central mainline installed over the course of this, the second year of construction, I’d best get cracking!

-Jack

The First Anniversary

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This week marks the first anniversary since the start of my layout construction.  On July 10th of 2012 I completed the backdrop sky and cloud painting, and on July 15th I installed the first section of L-girder benchwork.  This past weekend I stood back and surveyed the state of this 645 square foot layout and pondered the progress.

The entire basic structure for the benchwork was completed.  All of the staging roadbed and structure is complete, along with that of Willis (Willis is the long area to the right of the trackplan, and is where the Louisiana Central and the Illinois Central railroads enter the visible portion of the layout from staging).

The staging track has been laid and the Illinois Central visible trackage is about 70% complete.  The Louisiana Central track from staging has reached the crossing with the IC and will soon be entering the LC’s Willis yard.

The two electrical track buses for this area are in, the track feeders have been installed and the DCC system is complete for these areas.

Much of the sub-roadbed for the Willis yard (located on one of the peninsulas), and the heavy industrial area at Monterey, has been cut out (but not yet installed).

All-in-all, not too bad for a years worth of weekends.

But at the same time it is a bit discouraging to think that this is all that has been accomplished over the course of a year.  I’d estimate that I’m only about 20% done with sub-roadbed and about 13% with track.  That means I have a loooong way to go!

But one bright realization is becoming apparent.  The longer I work at this thing, the less time it takes to do many of the tasks as I begin to hone in on the best way (for me) to do things.

My goal for this next year is to get the entire mainline installed and operational.  A bit ambitious you say?

No hill for a stepper!

-Jack

Disclaimer:  Even with the completed mainline, I will only be at 43% of the total trackage.

A Surprise from Testors

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I was somewhat distressed to read the Testor Corporation announcement a few weeks ago regarding the impending demise of Floquil paint.  In fact, they are discontinuing not only the Floquil line, but also the PollyScale and Pactra lines of paint.  I don’t use the latter brands, but Floquil has been my mainstay paint since back in the 60s.

Floquil has undergone “renovation” at least twice since it was brought into the Testors fold, primarily changing the solvent in the paint to something less volatile and smelly.  I haven’t used the latest formulation, but have read that, while still good, it isn’t quite the same as the old Floquil.

Nevertheless, in my paranoia about having to switch to (probably) an acrylic type of paint (which I’ve never had any particular success with), I decided to stock up with enough Floquil to last me for at least a few years.  Fortunately, MicroMark recently ran a sale with their final price being about 30% off the (ridiculous) retail price.  I ordered 28 different colors, getting multiple bottles of my favorites, to hopefully last me a while.

R.I.P. Floquil.

I’ve done a bit more on the layout since my post a few weeks ago, finishing up those tasks last mentioned.  One of the things I’ve noticed about the Homasote now available is the inconsistency of its thickness.  This is most noticeable (and problematic) when butting sheets against each other.  I’ve tried sanding the high side to match the lower edge, but with limited success.  I’ve had better results using drywall compound to build up the low side.  It’s easy, but time consuming because it generally requires 2-4 applications to do a nice job of feathering the two surfaces into something roughly even.  I’ve done a bunch of that where track crosses the boundaries.  I’ve also roughly filled the seams in where there will be no track.

I prefer yellow wood glue for attaching my Homasote to the plywood base.  At wide panels, I use drywall screws to hold the Homasote to the plywood while the glue dries.  Afterward, I remove the screws for re-use elsewhere.  I back-filled all the holes created to date with the mud so I wouldn’t have scenery materials being swallowed up later by those holes.

I’ve started laying more of the raised roadbed for the mainline, and now have the tracks from the west staging yard actually entering the visible portion of the layout.

This weekend I plan to lay more roadbed and perhaps more track.  Stay tuned for further news.

-Jack

Operations to Resume on the C&O

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Operations will resume on Lou Schultz’s C&O Railroad next month after a long embargo.  As you may recall, back in (about) February Lou had some health issues to deal with and that led to a temporary suspension of operating and work sessions on his layout.  Lou’s doing better now and for several weeks work crews have been feverishly working on the layout in an attempt to correct some bugs and other problems.  The next operating session is scheduled for June 22nd, and I’m looking forward to seeing the crew again.

This session will be in 1951 which means we’ll have a mix of steam and diesels running.  I really love seeing those Alleghenies running down the mainline, but have to confess that I’d much rather operate a lash-up of diesels because they simply operate better on Lou’s layout.

Photo of C&O Railway 2-6-6-6 Allegheny Locomotive

When the time moves up to 1955 in sessions later this summer, I’ll be bringing my trusty (Atlas/Kato) ALCO RSD-5 to the sessions.  She is equipped with a Tsunami decoder and she runs and sounds great!

I’ve been busy each weekend working on the Louisiana Central.  The sub-roadbed (tabletop) is complete along the entire north wall of the room (that’s the wall on the right side of the track plan).  The Illinois Central sub-roadbed leading into the staging area on the east wall (bottom wall in the plan) is almost complete…just one more “section” to go on to the end to finish that.  While doing that, I’ll probably go ahead and extend that sub-roadbed to the far side of Monterey as this will become the Texas and Pacific hidden staging track at that point (again, check the plan so what I’m saying becomes clear).

The sub-roadbed (and tabletop where applicable) is starting to get “easier” as I learn and find better ways to get the construction done.  I’m lagging on the trackwork itself because of my focus on the supporting structure, but that’s okay because trains won’t roll until ALL of it is done.

As usual, comments are welcome.

-Jack

Progress thru Willis

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I thought I’d post a little update on the layout construction.  The staging yard trackage on the (railroad) west end of the layout is complete including wiring.  I’ve been working along the north wall of the train room these last several weeks (the area along the right side of the layout plan).  This area is the City of Willis and will have a business district along the wall (those buildings will conceal some of the hidden Louisiana Central staging trackage).  The Illinois Central also makes it’s entry into the layout here with the mainline passing through, along with a short passing siding and the interchange spur with the Louisiana Central.  I’m using sheets of plywood topped with Homasote along this wall and most of it has been installed.  I’ve installed some of the raised roadbed coming out of the IC staging yard and through the town.  I’ve one more odd-shaped piece of tabletop to install before completing that.  From there, the IC track will disappear behind an industry building and head into the hidden staging at the east end of the line.

I’ve also starting laying the tabletop sub-roadbed into the Willis yard of the Louisiana Central.  This is the peninsula coming off the benchwork along that aforementioned wall.  I’ll probably go ahead and put in the tabletop for the entire Willis yard now so that I can start working with that area.

Generally, in yard and town areas I’ll be using the plywood/Homasote tabletop surface.  In mainline areas between towns, I’ll be using just roadbed wide sub-roadbed.  I still haven’t decided what method I’ll use.  I really wanted to use spline sub-roadbed for all these areas, however since I’m usually working alone, it might be easier to simply cut out plywood sub-roadbed and top that with my Homasote roadbed.  Of course that greatly increases the cost (relative to the spline sub-roadbed), what with having to purchase so much plywood, and there is always a huge amount of waste when using this method.  But that method is much easier, I think, for one person to cut and install.

Anyway, things are beginning to take shape.  I’ll probably post a couple more photos on the website in a few weeks.  Most pictures that I post now will be after I actually get the track laid in an area.

If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to comment.

-Jack

Another Progress Report

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Benchwork construction is making slow, but steady progress.  I manage to get more done each weekend.  I’m still working the corner of the room that I wrote about in my last post, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I have the risers and roadbed complete along a 35′ length of layout now, and that will contain about 120 lineal feet of track.  About two-thirds of that will be hidden staging track, and that track is ready to be laid.  This past weekend saw the completion of the roadbed for that, and I’ve drawn the track centerlines out.  I spent Sunday afternoon (after watching the Giants crush the Saints…ouch!) studying the wiring diagrams for the Atlas code 83 switches that I’ll be using in the staging areas.  My intention is to solder a jumper onto every single piece of rail, not depending on rail joiners or pressed joints for electrical continuity.  That will probably be a PITA, but not nearly as much as trying to find open circuits a few years down the road when mechanical connections begin to fail.

I’ve had a couple folks comment about my slow progress.  Well, it’s been quite a few years since I did any layout construction, and even though I know generally what to do, I still feel like (and make the mistakes of) a rookie.  Since I haven’t established myself as a famous model railroading guru, I find that I don’t have legions of volunteers begging for the chance to assist in the construction of the next great model railroad.  Therefore I’m mostly stuck with doing this virtually alone, save for some occasional help from my friend Wayne (he provides those extra hands for ripping lumber and things of that nature).  The result of my inexperience and generally slow nature, and lack of experienced help, is somewhat tepid progress.

But, progress is being made!

After I get some track down, I’ll file another report, and probably post a couple photos on the website.

Merry Christmas to all…

-Jack

It’s Fall …and it’s Railroading Time

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We’re getting into my favorite time of the year for model railroading and railfanning.  The temps have come down and the rains have slacked off . . . we’ve had some beautiful days these past several weeks.  Last weekend was the annual open house for the railroad club up in Jackson, Louisiana.  As usual, they had all of their layouts on display and operating.  I don’t think many clubs can boast of having an operating layout in each of the major scales.  And the outdoor operations are fun to watch also.  Their G scale garden railroad is pretty cool, and of course, the operating live steam loop always has some really nice equipment under steam.  I got there about lunch time (and consumed one of their complimentary lunches), but ran out of time before I got to visit all of the layouts.  It appeared to me that they had a nice turnout for the event.

This weekend coming Lou Schultz over in Covington will be having an operating session on his C&O layout.  There is also the annual railroading event over in Meridian, Mississippi this weekend.  It’s too bad that it conflicts with Lou’s session, as I would like to do both.  And the weekend following this will see another operating session down at Art Houston’s layout in Houma.  This is also the time of year that we occasionally have a train show, either in Covington or Gonzales (unfortunately, there is no show scheduled for this year).

It’s also a great time to spend next to the tracks, with the mild days and crisp weather.

I’m still working on my layout, though at a bit of a reduced pace.  As I reported earlier, the basic framework of the benchwork is all but complete.  I’ve turned my attention to the sub-roadbed and risers this past month.  I am working in one corner of the room where several of the tracks going into the hidden staging area will be located.  It turns out that this is a difficult area to lay out and build.  A couple of the tracks at the rear are on curves and are descending at the same time.  They start at different places, but ultimately end up on the same hidden roadbed.  It is challenging to say the least.  I would have rather started in an area of straight, level track to kind of ease into things, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it would be much easier in the long run to install this complex area, then build out away from it, than to do it the other way round.

I haven’t posted any pictures lately as I want to wait until I have some track actually spiked down.  Trackwork in place signifies to me that the section is complete, thus ready to photograph.

I have my vacation time coming up later this year, and I hope I am able to use some (most) of it working on the layout.

-Jack

Sub-roadbed Work Started

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I haven’t posted in over a month so I thought I’d post a short update on the layout progress.  As I mentioned last month, I had slowed a bit to take a breather from the intensity of benchwork construction.  Doing so gave me the opportunity to step back and think though the next steps.  As I started looking carefully at where to start roadbed and track, it became obvious that I needed to begin at the point in Willis where the Louisiana Central and Illinois Central tracks leave the layout and go into hidden staging.  As I evaluated the design, I came to realize that from a track plotting perspective, this was going to be a complicated lay out.  I have several tracks in the area all going into curves at various points and also starting down grades, again, at various points.  I finally decided that this area may work best using the “cookie cutter” method of sub-roadbed construction.  I’ve plotted and cut out some of the plywood sub-base.  Next, I’ll use that as a template to mark and cut out the Homasote for the sub-roadbed topping.  I still have to build and install all the risers for this sub-roadbed (about 22′ so far).

It also occurred to me that if I want to install the wiring as I go along (which is what I planned to do), that I needed to start drawing up a wiring diagram.  The layout will be powered and controlled with a Lenz DCC system.  I will have three booster districts; each of those divided into two or three sub-districts; each of which will utilize a DCC Specialties PSX circuit breaker for protection.  My wiring diagram will show these components with associated wiring, as well as tie points for the wiring.  Actual connections will be a mixture of direct wire-to-wire soldered joints, and screw type terminal (barrier) strips, the latter being to aid diagnostics when it becomes necessary to troubleshoot things.  The single most important thing I want to do as I lay track is to solder the feeders to the track and drop them through the roadbed as I progress.  I want to connect the track to the electrical bus as soon as each small section is done so it can be verified and debugged if necessary.

Anyway, I’ve spent a good bit of time working through the electrical aspects of the project, at the same time compiling a list of the supplies that I’ll be needing.  I need to order my terminal strips and a few other things, and admit that I had a case of “sticker shock” when I started pricing things.  Man!, prices have soared since the last time I bought any of this stuff.  I’ve checked the prices at Mouser, Newark and All Electronics.  Anyone have a favorite supplier that they recommend?

So that’s about it for now.  I’ll likely try to get some risers done this coming weekend.  I haven’t taken any photos since the basic benchwork was put up . . . I’m waiting until I actually spike down some track, even if it’s just a few feet.  I’m excited about the next few months because I have several weeks of vacation time coming, and I hope to utilize a good chunk of it for layout construction.

-Jack

The Next Chapter

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I’m taking a bit of a breather from railroad construction this week.  The benchwork supporting structure is complete except for the section that will cross past the room doorway.  Sub-roadbed and trackage are next up.

Last week I was fortunately spared any significant damage wrought by the storm Isaac.  Winds in my neck of the woods were not as severe as in the earlier hurricanes Katrina and Gustav.  But the rains . . . I don’t recall such a slow moving storm and the sheer quantity of constant rain!  My biggest fear was from ground saturation and the resultant tree toppling in the wind.  But no trees came down by me, and I only had to concern myself with a massive clean-up of leaves and branches.

But back to the railroad: now that I’ve reached the roadbed stage, I thought I should slow down a bit and think through what I’ll be doing, and where to start.  I have a ton of old material and pieces-parts from old layouts that I’ve saved and I’ve been digging out those boxes and caches of material.  Obviously I want to use as much of this existing stuff as possible before heading out to the lumber yard.

Yards and other flat areas containing industry will be built using plywood topped by Homasote.  This has worked well for me in the past, so I see no reason to do otherwise.  I’m still teetering with regard to the mainline.  I’m strongly tempted to try Masonite spline construction for the sub-roadbed, something I’ve never used before.  My biggest concern using this method though is with the layout of the track.  I want the track very precisely placed in accordance with my plan and I’m still scratching my head over just how to precisely plot track centerlines when you have nothing to work on except a bunch of skinny joists spanning the L-girders.  I’ve read several articles on spline sub-roadbed and they all were very terse on that aspect of the task.  I suspect from what I’ve read that spline users tend to be satisfied as long as the track runs approximately where they want it to go.  But I come from an engineering background and I have this hang-up about wanting everything precise (which I find quite difficult in many of the things to do with layout construction).

I’ll likely start with the roadbed and track that will be hidden along the walls of the room.  That seems to make sense since it will be the most difficult to access later.  It will also give me a chance to “practice” my construction technique with risers, sub-roadbed and track laying.  With most every task I’ve done in the room construction, and lately the benchwork construction, I’ve eventually worked out a method that produces an acceptable result while at the same time cutting construction time and effort.  I trust this will also happen during this next phase.  I’ve not done any of this construction since back in the early nineties , so it’s really like learning all over again.

Once some track is down, I’ll post photos on the website for those of you following the construction.  I should have something to see later in this month.

-Jack

Basic Benchwork Nearing Completion

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The benchwork on the new layout is progressing quite nicely.  All five of the major sections have been completed.  Next I will be connecting a couple of the major sections with shorter “bridge” pieces, including the swing (or drop) section across the room’s doorway.  I also have to put in a number of angled pieces at intersections of the major sections, and I want to put in some reinforcement material in key places.

The framework is quite strong and is very light.  In fact, it is so light that it is easy to move by bumping into it.  I hope the added mass and weight of the (future) joists, risers, roadbed and scenery is enough to anchor the whole thing down.  The legs aren’t secured to the floor as I don’t want to drill holes through the carpet into the concrete.  I will be depending solely on layout weight to keep it in place.

I could probably wrap things up in about two weekends, however next weekend will be cut short while I take a break to do some railroading over at Lou Schultz’s C&O layout.  I’m looking forward to the operating session.  I also want to do one more evaluation of the roadbed elevations (heights above the floor) of his layout while there.  I’ve tentatively set the various elevations of my roadbed based on my experiences operating at Lou’s.  This will be my last chance to confirm my comfort with these elevations since my roadbed will likely start going in sometime in September.

The startling revelation has hit me recently that I need to start working on much more than the layout structure itself.  I have an entire fleet of locomotives that need to be cleaned, adjusted, lubed and have DCC decoders installed.  And only about 15% of my car fleet is assembled and ready.  Only one structure that I plan to use is ready, and that is a mere shack.  So much to do!

But the layout, after years and years of delay, is finally under construction.  And that is good and I am pleased!

-Jack

Benchwork Progress Report

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Just a short post to give y’all an update on the layout.  Benchwork construction has been proceeding nicely.  Three of the five major sections have been completed (photos on the main website for those interested).  The two major sections left are the peninsulas.  There are also numerous corners to “fill out” with angled L-girder supports.

Overall, I’m pleased with the progress thus far.  Once this basic supporting framework is complete, I’ll turn my attention to the roadbed and supports, and of course, the track there upon.  I also have to deal with the bridge issue across the doorway.  Research continues on that project.

-Jack