D&RGW narrow gauge: Back to scenics.

[JZ]

A bit more posing today, but this time a little more like it will end up like. The water and coaling towers were branded Tyco and Model Power, but made by Pola. A bit basic, but a little patience makes them a little more respectable. The line in front will be the one that leads to the turntable, while the rear one may be standard, dual or narrow gauge and may be cosmetic. What I need to find out, is whether local coal was used, or if it was brought in from elsewhere.

I'll be putting some scrub, small trees a bushes to hide the join between the board and backscene. Other than that, today has been mostly spent making business signs and scaling some old advertisements I have down loaded to turned into billboards.

Edited August 4, 2019 by JZ
Punctuation

[pH]

3 hours ago, JZ said:

What I need to find out, is whether local coal was used, or if it was brought in from elsewhere.

 

Almost certainly local, as in mined in southwestern Colorado. There were several coal mining regions in the area, served by the D&RGW and the RGS. They supplied coal to these railroads, and were also a source of traffic. 

 

It's a long read, but there's relevant information in this:

https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/blm/co/10/chap8.htm

[JZ]

On 04/08/2019 at 22:28, pH said:

 

 

 

It's a long read, but there's relevant information in this:

https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/blm/co/10/chap8.htm

Fascinating read. Thank you.

[JZ]

Two weeks since the last post. While no progress has been made on the layout itself, the disassembly of Gurney Slade continues. Also been at work on some other structures. First we have a Blair Line laser cut kit which was to have been the main station on the layout, however, I was after another for the smaller one on eBay that eventually went for ridiculous money.

Pale yellow is the standard colour for station buildings on the D&RGW.

 

Then I found another and will see which is most suitable for either location.

 

 Next we have a grocery store. This is a Micro Engineering plastic kit. Thinned paint was used to give a slightly faded and maybe in need of a repaint look to it. Images for the window displays were downloaded from Google images, as were others of shelving inside.

 

Both models in need of further weathering, signage and the addition of clutter.

Next up will be a Funaro & Camerlengo resin Company President's  house.

Work has started on this and hopefully some pictures tomorrow. Most of the castings are quite detailed, though the shingle roof leaves a bit to be desired and maybe replaced with Wills corrugated iron sheet.  Further down the building list are these from Kibri.

Buildings like this were still in use in the late 1950s. These will be used in a huddle near the mine.

 

In other news. JZjr is fitting a Tsunami2 decoder to the non-sound K-27 and, as of today, my Kitwood Hill models Durango turntable is on it's way to me. So, once built, I can get back to laying some track.

 

[JZ]

Still toying with the layout design.

The section in the top right I felt was a little to contrived, also in the event of a derailment in the corner, could lead to problems reaching it, especially as there is to be lots of trees here. Also actually building the scenery here would present problems. So I have done a few mods.

This now enables a larger area for the depot, giving room for a workshop and a little industry. And while I lose about 3 metres of running, the easing of curves allows a slightly steeper gradient, though I may have to have it through Ava, but, as there is no siding here, this isn't a problem. There will still be a long reach into the corner bottom left, but as this is a main feature of the layout, this is something I will have to live with.

 

The turntable is here now and work starts on that in the next hour or so.

 

[PaulRhB]

Is that 6x12ft? If so an 18” wide aisle is going to be very tight. Or the turntable is HUGE  

[PaulRhB]

I think I’d be tempted to swap Ava and the spiral climb along the river over. Put the spiral/ river at the right hand end and Ava bottom left leaving the turning triangle where it is. You can open out the Aisle nearly a foot between the stations and increase the run on scene. 

Measure across your shoulders and with arms at your side and I think you’ll find you need at least 2ft to turn round without constantly catching things.  

[JZ]

1 hour ago, PaulRhB said:

Is that 6x12ft? If so an 18” wide aisle is going to be very tight. Or the turntable is HUGE  

10'x20'

1 hour ago, PaulRhB said:

I think I’d be tempted to swap Ava and the spiral climb along the river over. Put the spiral/ river at the right hand end and Ava bottom left leaving the turning triangle where it is. You can open out the Aisle nearly a foot between the stations and increase the run on scene. 

Measure across your shoulders and with arms at your side and I think you’ll find you need at least 2ft to turn round without constantly catching things.  

Like so?

Quickly done in Windows Paint. Won't swing into the middle as much with Ava and the mine will be set into mountainside.

[PaulRhB]

Yep that’s it, the turntable is big enough for a Big Boy then   

[JZ]

4 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

Yep that’s it, the turntable is big enough for a Big Boy then   

It's a Kitwood Hill Durango 65' TT. It needs a 535mm hole. The gris is 500mm.

[JZ]

1 minute ago, JZ said:

It's a Kitwood Hill Durango 65' TT. It needs a 535mm hole. The gris is 500mm.

Miscalculation there. 235mm hole.

[JZ]

An even rougher update.

[PaulRhB]

That looks better for operation as they will feel like they are going somewhere with the longer run and the helix will take a similar amount of time. 

[JZ]

Back to the drawing board? Maybe.

One problem I have encountered is the need for a minimum of 24" radius for brass loco's, should I go down this route. Another problem is the C-19, while it will easily haul 7 cars up a straight 2% grade, as soon as you give it any sort of curve, it struggles. So the answer may be to have the layout all level, using the scenery to give the impression of gradients. Losing the helix would give me an extra 42" for the townscape, or at least to move it towards the door. It would also make it easier to get in the shed, but would require a lift out section, rather than a duck-under. Getting rid of the Georgetown loop bit would certainly make it easier to get into corners for making scenery and should there be a derailment. There is still plenty of opportunity to use the two viaduct kits I have and to have a canyon section. I would still have a 'wye', as they are quite common. maybe I should have waited before buying the helix, but sometimes it is easier to start imagining once things start getting put in place.

 

Nothing is set in stone.

 

Yet.

Edited September 2, 2019 by JZ
Grammar, punctuation.

[PaulRhB]

Is it worth trying some of that bullfrog snot to paint on a traction tyre on the C19? 

 

If if you do go with flat you can make it look like it’s climbing with the scenery rising and falling. 

How about a basic layout like this, minimum aisle 600mm and short narrow shelf sections 300mm wide to allow that central aisle loop?

The black boxes represent depot areas. The approximate aisle shape in blue, very rough as done on the iPhone! Mines shown by red circles. 

 

Edited September 2, 2019 by PaulRhB

[JZ]

Worth developing, but the mine bottom right as out. Pet hate of mine is sharp corners in the backscene. I like the peninsula idea and may look at that, maybe not so far into room. No plans for tomorrow, so out with the drawing kit.

[PaulRhB]

Ask yourself what you need all the aisle room for if you shorten it back vs what you gain in the run I was keeping it similar to your original aisles as a guide. Making the peninsular longer splits up the scenes a bit more too. 

The mine can go anywhere you like  

 

Just throwing these in as thinking points rather than trying to design it for you  A bigger aisle like shortening the peninsula creates could be good for a workbench or if you want operating sessions with several people there. 

[PaulRhB]

You could have a loads in and out mine / tipple on the left end to split the short run between the depots on the continuous loop?

[JZ]

2 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

 

A bigger aisle like shortening the peninsula creates could be good for a workbench or if you want operating sessions with several people there. 

 

My workbench fits under the present layout and slides out, but the bigger aisle is useful for working on another project when it's too cold and wet to work outside, or too messy for indoors. But, yes, all your points have been taken onboard. Expect to see a few options over the next few days.

[JZ]

The extra space created by losing the helix could be used to have a larger loco depot with a 3 stall roundhouse. It would add a bit more purpose to the turntable, which is progressing nicely. A few more laser-cut kits have been found and won on eBay for a very reasonable price, a 1950s drive thru restaurant, grocery store and a used car lot, the latter giving me an excuse for more H0 cars.

[JZ]

A couple of buildings I have acquired are from the estate of Jack Trollope, Shortliner here on RMweb. I plan to give them business names that will remember him someway.

Edited September 6, 2019 by JZ

[JZ]

The Kitwwod Hills turntable is approaching completion. Just motor and weathering to do and cutting the handrails to length.

This has been a pleasure to build. All the parts going together without any fettling. I used Gorilla Wood Glue for assembly.

Another flatcar kit has been won on eBay, this one including trucks. Even without them it was a bargain price. And my Blackstone reefers have arrived at SCC, so should be with me next week.

 

Building the turntable, has meant drawing up new plans for the layout have been left, but plenty of ideas going around in my head.

 

Also picked up a Faller 3 stall Roundhouse. Unfortunately a previous owner had removed a number of parts from sprues and are now missing. However, enough is left to fabricate the missing parts. Besides, I picked it up for around one third of the RRP.

[JZ]

Done a bit of weathering today. 

Gave it a quick spin by hand to make sure nothing binds. Had hoped to get the motor fitted today, but after searching high and low in the shed, I find the 3v transformer I have is AC. This is where I really miss Maplin, could have popped in after work tomorrow. Anyway, one has been ordered online and I have also bought one of these for speed control.

And will be using a DPDT switch for reversing the rotation. And I have two Gaugemater DCC40 reverse loop modules. One for the turntable and another for the wye.

 

Back to the missing parts on the roundhouse. One of the parts is the frame that goes between the stalls and supports the roof. Decided to use the one I have as a guide and fabricate two using wood, which is probably more in keeping with the narrow gauge theme than a welded steel one. Missing floor parts will be made from plywood, as will be the doorways. Will be getting a Peco N inspection kit to modify to 10.5mm gauge, probably easier than narrowing an 00 one and as it will be indoors, I don't think it's lack of depth will show.

[JZ]

Blackstone reefers arrived today.

[JZ]

Now the helix has been removed, thoughts are turning to what form the scenic break next to the lift out section should take. One idea is a used car lot.

This is a Blair Line, laser cut kit, cars are Oxford and Brekina. Not completely settled on this yet, I may put a gas station or fast food drive-thru here, or maybe all three. managed to get some more laser cut buildings for further around the layout, including a Master Creations kit for a saloon. These are the dogs bølløcks of laser cut kits, with full interior, lighting and some,  Silver edition, have a sound module, unfortunately not the one I have. All their kits were limited editions, this one retailed for $94.99 back in 1992. Like gold dust now, they can fetch $150+ for this kit and $225 for sound. Needless to say, I was lucky enough to get it from a seller in Germany and paid substantially less.

Edited September 24, 2019 by JZ