Doug's Train Room

8. A Milepost is reached!

2011-02-02T21:00:00.002-07:00

Well, I finally did it. I came up with a name for my layout. Hence forth it will be called "The Ozark and Green Mountain Short Line." Below is the official business card with railroad herald:

7. Staging Area

2011-01-30T20:35:00.001-07:00

Wholly cow! It's January 2011 and my last post was June 2009. They say time goes by fast when you're having fun. Time has really flown by, but I'm not sure I've had all that much fun. A lot has happened though since my last post. On the railroad, which still is yet to be named, the framework for the staging area was completed, roadbed laid, track installed, the swing out gate completed, the main wire buss installed around the layout with track feeders to every full length piece of flex track. Trains were run on all of the tracks and through all of the straight and curved turnouts, wyes, and double slip switches. All total, there are 10 straight turnouts, 5 curved turnouts, 3 double slips and 1 wye throughout the staging yard. All of these are Peco Streamline insulfrog and I'm using Model Power code 100 flex track. Power is supplied with my NCE Power Cab DCC system. My goal was to have track laid and trains running in time for the first annual Southern Utah Division open house in November 2009. Although I don't remember what the delay was, I didn't make the open house. Then in December, Kay wanted a small remodel project done. This was a simple project replacing old carpet with wood flooring. Well, if you're going to have new flooring, you have to paint the walls. Oh yeh, can't paint the walls and leave the old ceiling color! And that bathroom floor, it doesn't match the new wood floor. Oh my gosh! The colors in the bathroom counter don't match the colors in the floor tile now! And the lights and mirror - they're so out of date.

And then there was the FLOOD! Downstairs, with wall to wall carpet in every room! Twice in one day! Aaaagh! Are we having fun yet?

So, with the upstairs fully painted, new wood floors and carpet and the basement completely repainted and recarpeted I think I'm on the road to recovery. By the end of February my goal is to have all the small details on the house work done and the temporary storage room restored to a train room. (The flood necessitated all kinds of stuff being shoved into the train room since it was the only dry floor in the basement.) Then I can begin the next phase of construction - the helix. Tune in again later and see if my month goes as planned. Adios, amigos.

6. Track Plan

2009-06-13T12:14:00.026-06:00

Well, I finally figured out how to post the track plan to the blog. Actually, I didn't figure it out. I had help. So thank you Jonathan Bayer for showing me how to convert my 3rd PlanIt file to a JPG format.

Here is the track plan for the lower level which is all staging and yard. The track exits the inner track of the helix at an elevation of 25", makes three clockwise revolutions around the room, then returns to the helix on the outer track at 19" after going under all of the staging tracks. The other option was to take the track over all of the staging tracks. I thought the lower route was the best option. I will cover the helix design in detail later in the blog when I actually begin construction.

The middle level is the first with scenery on it. The main line enters the layout from the outer track of the helix at the top left corner at an elevation of 40", makes two loops in a counter clockwise direction and returns to the outer track of the helix at an elevation of 45". There are 15" between the staging track and the entrance to the second level. Each loop in the helix is an increase of 5" in elevation. However, since the track entrance from the staging yard is 6" below the yard, a train will require four loops in the helix to get to the second level.

There are 4 loops required around the outer track of the helix to get from the middle to the upper level. This is a rise in elevation of 20" which puts a train at an elevation of 65" off the floor when it enters the layout room traveling in a clockwise direction. There is a 10" increase in elevation as the track makes two loops around the room.

At 75", a train will reenter the helix on the inner track and make a steady drop of 50" before exiting into the staging yard. There are no connections to the middle level from the inside track of the helix.

5. Construction Begins

2009-06-12T21:23:00.031-06:00

As I continued to study the final version of the track plan and lay it out on the walls, I realized that a change had to be made to the way the crossovers at the entrance to the layout, there are three, will function. Don originally designed the layout so that there would be three lift up style crossovers at the entrance. Each was offset so that they could be independently raised for access to the interior. A modification was needed for several reasons. The distance in elevation between each level had to exceed the length of the crossover if they were to be raised a full 90 degrees. Raising three crossovers at the same time, each at a different height, seemed as if it will be a problem. Plus, each crossover has two tracks on it at different elevations. Finally, placing the support posts in the locations that will provide the best structural support put them in the way of some track approaching the crossovers according to the existing track plan. I decided that the upper level will be a duck under since the lowest track elevation on this crossover is 65" above the floor. The middle level crossover will be a lift up and has track elevations of 40 and 45". The lower level crossover is at 25" and will be a swinging gate that will open into the layout. I know there are many that will criticize me for the design in this area, but I am confident I can make it work.

Construction began the first weekend in May. I selected a number of different materials for use in the construction of the benchwork for the lower level. I did this because the two upper levels will be 2' wide shelves and I don't want bulky shelf supports/brackets if I can help it. So I am experimenting with metal studs in an attempt to lighten the load, so to speak. The layout has a 13' square foot print with three sides attached to the walls and one free standing side. As you can see from the photos, I attached 2x4 wooden studs to the walls for strength. The free standing side is constructed entirely of metal studs. I used 2" square steel posts for the legs where needed. Since the one side is free standing, the legs need to support the 2 upper levels as well. In addition, there has to be strength at the entrance to the layout to support the movable crossovers. I put furniture caster cups used to protect hard wood floors under each leg to prevent the metal tubing from cutting into the carpet. This could eventually cause a settling effect on the front edge of the layout that would interfere with things being level.

4. Acknowledgement

2009-06-09T20:27:00.013-06:00

I want to thank Don Mitchell for designing the track plan and working with me on the changes necessary to accommodate my space. As I stated earlier, his original track plan was published in the Model Railroader Special Issue of Model Railroad Planning 2006 (Union Pacific in a Bedroom). I am forever grateful to him for his willingness to give his time to help a fellow modeler, and I hope my work replicates his vision of the layout as he created the track plan.

Thanks Don for a great layout and all of your help with the modifications.

3. History

2009-04-25T21:55:00.005-06:00

The history of my railroad, which is yet to be named, began in 2006 when I spotted a track plan in the 2006 issue of MR's Model Railroad Planning. Until that time, I had spent countless hours trying to design my own track plan. After each design was complete, I would find fault with it for whatever reason and discard it. I never threw one of them away, I just filed it with each previously filed plan. The process would begin again.

In the 2006 issue of Model Railroad Planning there was an article titled "Union Pacific in a Bedroom." This track plan is a three level shelf layout in a room 13x13. The article described the basic layout of each level and a brief concept of operation. The track plan presented two significant problems for me. The helix was inside the perimeter of the layout and created a foot print much larger than I wanted within the confines of the layout and the entrance was on the wrong corner. Maybe if I had some photos of the layout! I contacted MR to inquire if there were any photos of this layout. They forwarded my email to Don Mitchell, the track plan designer and author of the article. Don's reply - the track plan had never been built! I told Don I was interested in building it but would have to make some changes. He was eager to assist me in whatever modifications were necessary and so began a period of time (about one year) in which I modified the track plan and mailed them to Don for his review. We even met one time in Saint George as he was passing through on a trip to Salt Lake City. As previously stated, Don had the helix inside the layout and I wasn't willing to give up that much floor space. My wife had a craft area in an adjacent room and when I suggested she convert one of the bedrooms to a craft room, she willingly gave up the space. I believe there is a song for every ocassion and the name of this song is "Isn't She Lovely". This space, 5x7, would allow me to put the helix outside of the train room but made the track plan modifications more complex.

The second problem was two-fold in that the track plan entrance was at the wrong corner in relationship to the entrance to the train room and the helix was in a corner opposite of where it needed to be to allow use of the old craft area for the helix. Both of these problems were overcome by flipping the track plan 180 degrees along the vertical axis. By doing this "flip", everything that was on the left is now on the right and vice versa. The track plan was finalized in January 2008.

So, the track plan was finished in January 2008 and it's now almost May 2009! What have I been doing for the past 16 months? Some would probably say procrastinating, but I honestly don't think that was it. The delay was actually a combination of two things. First, while the train room was idle during the track plan design phase, it became a storage room. Whenever I would make an attempt to clean it up, I would get side tracked doing something else and so no progress was made. The second thing was fear. Fear that I wouldn't be able to build it after I got started or just a general fear that I wouldn't be able to do it - period. This was a subconscious fear most of the time but one that I eventually became aware of. After all, the only thing I had built up till now was a 4x8 and a couple of HO modules. Now I was looking at a 13x13 with three levels, a 5x7 helix with 10 loops, and three gates, lift-outs, lift-ups or duck-unders - whatever you choose to call them. Actually, I've decided to have one duck-under at 65" and two gates, one at 25" and one at 40".

After 16 months of delaying, what was it that got me going? A visit from my son Brian. He was coming from Alaska to visit in March, last month. He is by trade an electrician and I needed extra power put in the room and track lights hung. I could do the work myself, but he could do it much quicker. Hey, and it would be free labor! What are sons for? We could do this by just shuffling around some of the clutter; no clean up required. What a deal!

After we did the electrical work, Brian ask me when I was going to do the floor (lay carpet). Said I hadn't given that any thought (procrastinating again?). He said if I'd get the carpet he would put it down while he was here. I had forgotten that he laid carpet before he became an electrician. That was all the inspiration I needed. My lovely wife, again, came to my rescue. Actually, she's always lovely (can't think of a song title right now). Three days later we laid carpet. Then I repaired and painted the walls. Yes, I know I should have painted before we laid carpet, but I can't think of everything. Well, actually I can; just not at the same time. So now my train room is ready for bench work. Here is a photo that shows the mess before the major cleanup and a short video clip that shows a panoramic view from the center of the room after carpet and painting were completed. Construction begins soon! Stay tuned.

2. Dedication

2009-04-24T21:37:00.009-06:00

I would like to dedicate this blog to my wife Kay for giving me the "train room" and the space for the exterior helix and for supporting and encouraging my efforts with model railroading.

1. Prologue

2009-04-23T21:20:00.021-06:00

The life of any railroad, whether real or modeled, begins at the time of conception. Someone has an idea, the idea develops into a plan, the plan becomes a reality. Presto mundo - a railroad is born! I like to think of it as being analogous to life itself, at least as I view life. There are 5 basic stages: the concept (hey, let’s have a baby), the design (hey, we’re makin’ a baby), the development (honey, we’re going to have a baby), the preparation (do we paint the room pink or blue), and last, the construction (I told you we should have painted the room pink).

My railroad had such a beginning with some stages taking longer than the creation of life itself. I got the idea of a room sized layout in the spring of 2003. I’m sure of the year because it was the same year I lost my son in the Iraqi Freedom Conflict. That event interrupted my thought processes for a number of months. Many designs were conceived and discarded as I got back into the process. A design was developed and adjustments made. The final track plan was completed in February of 2008. After a year of procrastination, preparation began in March 2009 and was completed 19 April 2009. Construction is scheduled to begin May 2nd. I will use this blog to chronicle my progress.