May Construction

I am posting this a couple of days early.  The benchwork is almost completed.   Roadbed is being laid for the staging tracks and the buss wire for it has also been run.   Hardboard for the backdrop has been installed on the east side of the layout.   I had to install the right half in two parts to get it to curve around the part of the wall that sticks out two inches.  The picture of the west side of the layout was taken mid-May.  All the lumber and other items on top of the benchwork are being stored there temporarily.   

Goals for June are to first get the staging tracks wired and operating.   Then place the sub-roadbed on the west half of the layout for the staging loop and interchange area.   This will be followed by roadbed, track and wiring for the complete staging loop including the two lift-outs at each end.  If all goes well, I hope to have the staging loop in operation by the end of June.  

I have also made some minor alterations to the track plan after learning a new trick using cornu curves in place of flex track in XTrackCAD.  XTrackCAD has a function button that allows you to add cars and locomotives and run trains around the layout.   The red lines in the picture below indicate the direction the turnouts are set to.  I put some cars and a pair of locomotives on the tracks and ran them around to check siding lengths.  

The program also measures the distance a train moves and I used that to find the distance from the start of the siding at the top left to the end of the track on the bottom half of the layout and then to the starting point.   Running point-to-point the mainline is 91.5 feet.   Including the continuous run section increases the total length to just over 100 feet.  Operations will be point-to-point with a turntable at the right end of the final town and a wye at the junction for turning locomotives.  The continuous run is there if I feel like just running some of the larger locomotives over the entire layout.

Motive power for the Modoc and Lassen will be a pair of 2-6-6-2T's and a 2-10-2T for the 1950's and three RSD-15's for the 1960's.   Actual start and end dates are 1953 when the Southern Pacific transferred the AC-9's to the Modoc Line and 1969 when ALCO stopped building diesel locomotives in the US.

I was also able to purchase a couple of locomotives on EBay this month.   The one on the left is a Mantua 2-6-6--2T full saddle tank logger.  It was listed as broken with a buy price of several dollars over $100.   The seller mentioned that it might be DCC equipped as it only hummed when he tried it on his DC track.   When it arrived, I put it on the test track and found it is DCC equipped with sound, etc.   The decoder is a TCS WOW sound unit.   I have to find out how to add a keep alive to it.   

The locomotive on the right is a NWSL full saddle tank logger that was listed on EBay shortly after the Mantua engine arrived.   It is in very good condition with added lights and crew.   I almost got it for a very low price but ended up paying almost the minimum price on the BrassTrains site due to a last second bid.   Fortunately, I had posted a higher total for my bid and did not lose out.   

The Mantua locomotive was undecorated while the NWSL was decaled for a fictional road.   I removed the decals using MicroSet and MicroSol and rubbing them with a cotton swab.   They came off after several minutes of rubbing.   I then decaled both for the Modoc and Lassen.   The NWSL already had the number 8 and I numbered the Mantua as 6.

Both are supposed to represent the same engine.   As can be seen the Mantua is much larger and has several inaccuracies such as both air reservoirs at the front of the saddle tank. On the prototype locomotive one is toward the rear.     The drivers are 55 inches in diameter compared the 44 inches of the prototype. Since it is only intended as a spare engine for running at the club and to use while a decoder, keep alive, and speaker to the other , that is okay.

April Construction Update

The framework for the east wall of the garage stall has been completed and that for the west wall has been started.   Half the plywood for the staging tracks has been installed and the other half is waiting for additional support pieces to be installed.   The plywood for the upper and lower towns has also been cut to size.  

The following photo shows the front half of the east wall framing.   Each framing section is three feet wide by eight feet long.  The two sections will be bolted together with carriage bolts.   The legs are attached with carriage bolts.   The support pieces are held in place by 1.25-inch wood screws.  I had originally intended for the legs to be removeable but had to permanently attach them due to needing them supporting the upper level of the track.  

I have also drawn the curved plywood sub-roadbed pieces to be cut out of the remaining sheet of plywood.  These can be seen in the second photo.  These will probably take a day to cut out with the jig saw.  These are 30-inch radius quarter circles.  Most of these will be for the loop area on the northeast end of the layout (see track plan) along with connecting the upper-level town on the east side to the loops.  

I also need to go to the hardware store for more 1.25-inch wood screws and 1x3 inch lumber for support pieces.  I will also check to see if the store has any cans of mistake paint that is close to sky blue.   Every once in a while, when they are mixing paint, they will make a mistake and end having to make a second can of the correct color mix.   The mistakes are usually a lot less expensive than buying a can.

I have levelled the front section of framing to match the rear section when it is level again.  The floor has about a two percent slope from the rear of the garage to the front.  

May construction plans are to finish the framing for the west wall, lay roadbed and track for the staging yard and maybe complete the lower-level loop connecting the two ends of the staging yard to the rest of the layout.  Then wiring the track so I can run a train or two.  The staging tracks are about 18 feet long and will hold two normal sized trains each.