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Underpass, LA, 1976


Robatron86
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You never stay away long do you? You always come back to the dark side... 

 

For the last week, I have had an urge to return to NA railroads. The narrow gauge adventure I have been on has been fun, a learning experience, and a chance to actually build things. But my heart yearns for spurs, not sidings, for switchers, not shunters. 

 

Anyway, the real kick up the a**e to get on with it is the sudden loss of Jack. A man who inspired so many, and built more small and micro American layouts than I ever will. It made me think "Life is short, so do what makes you happy before you lose the chance". So this evening, I fired up the laptop, got Anyrail on the go, jumped onto eBay and bought a beautiful Proto 2000 SW9 in Southern livery, and let the designing and testing get underway. Let's see where this goes! 

 

I have the wood I need in the shed. Size? 5"2 by 13 inches. Nice slab of 6mm (or maybe 8mm?) mdf calling out to be used. I'm still moving track around in Anyrail at the moment, so no plan yet, but it will be here soon enough. 

 

It's good to be back. 

Edited by Robatron86
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Good to see you've returned to the 'dark side'.

 

 Jack's loss has made me have similar thoughts so I'm also going to spend some time with Anyrail and see if I can come up with another small US switching layout.

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Dear Rob,

 

Good to see you back. Agree and strongly suspect we'll be seeing a minor explosion in "kick in the butt" micro/small layout builds within the next 12 months or so, for all the same reasons... Jack would be proud that words are turning into modelling-action, and that he's (still, continually) able to encourage fellow modellers... ;-)

 

Can't wait to see what your Anyrail musings spawn from here...

 

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

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5'2" is about the length of a 3-2-2 Inglenook for approximately 50' cars and is relatively easy to manage in a larger car, but there are additional possibilities for extra tracks or going a bit smaller....

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1 hour ago, 298 said:

5'2" is about the length of a 3-2-2 Inglenook for approximately 50' cars and is relatively easy to manage in a larger car, but there are additional possibilities for extra tracks or going a bit smaller....

Well Tilley Yard South was 5'2", so I know that it's a good size, the board is an inch wider than the last one. I'm leaning towards another inglenook. 

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I spent yesterday building the baseboard, usual construction method of MDF on a pine frame, although I was completely wrong on the thickness of the MDF, it wasn't 6mm, or 8mm, it was 18mm! I did a lift test after I put it together and the weight isn't excessive, so not a major issue. More Anyrail playing tonight to finalise the plan. 

Edited by Robatron86
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I've been baseboard building today. My usual method of 12mm MDF on top of my 20 year old 3 x 1ins timber frame,  topped with cork tiles. 

 

Anyrail tomorrow to finalise the plan. We seem to be mirroring each other's work, it'll be interesting to see what evolves.

 

Mal

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58 minutes ago, Alcanman said:

I've been baseboard building today. My usual method of 12mm MDF on top of my 20 year old 3 x 1ins timber frame,  topped with cork tiles. 

 

Anyrail tomorrow to finalise the plan. We seem to be mirroring each other's work, it'll be interesting to see what evolves.

 

Mal

That is spooky Mal, we appear to be progressing at the same speed. 

 

I'm only really looking at a simple 3-2-2 Inglenook design. 

 

Southern.jpg

 

Nothing special at all, but it works, and I can use all the surrounding area for structures and details. I'm not 100% committed to this plan yet. 

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On 26/04/2019 at 18:21, Robatron86 said:

"get on with it"

"Life is short"

"It's good to be back." 

Hey Rob, it is good to see that you are involved with model railroading once again. I had really enjoyed seeing and reading about your former HO scale Tilley Yard South layout. About "getting on with it" and "life is short", this is one of the main reasons why I love small/micro layouts that are within sixteen(16) square feet.

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/30394

 

Wendell

Idaho, USA

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Thank you for the kind words Wendell. I'm glad the Tilley Yard South was such an inspiration to you. 

 

So board complete, cork laid. Now, I don't usually use cork, but the company I work for was throwing a load out and it would have been rude not to take it home. 

 

IMG_20190429_003731.jpg

 

IMG_20190429_003823.jpg

 

My single piece of US code 83 I have left, a #4 wye. This will be incorporated into the plan. 

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The track plan has been printed off and attached to the board. 

 

IMG_20190429_224338.jpg

 

50 ft boxcar for scale. My SW9 should arrive by the end of the week. I shall be using my time before being able to get the track to mock up some buildings in card and have a play around. 

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Is there room for any more track? Although less is more, one problem I foresaw with a 3-2-2 Inglenook is all of the trackwork is used during switching (especially if you aren't using a fiddle yard),  and there is no spare room for additional stock storage or swapping anything over out of sight of the main layout. 

 

Just a thought....

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On 01/05/2019 at 16:06, Robatron86 said:

Potentially. I was thinking about maybe a length of track from left to right in front of the lead track, and placing a few cars on that. 

I did that on my inglenook and I'd consider that aspect at least to have been a success. Obviously you can't use it for operations, but it allows a bit of car storage and you can model another industry if you so wish.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Good news! The track for the layout is on its way and should be with me tomorrow, then I can start the usual dilemma of point motors or mechanical point switching. We shall see, although I suspect the latter as it is cheaper and less complicated. 

 

I was going to mark out building placements and the like while waiting for the track, but the other two micro layouts have been occupying my time. 

Edited by Robatron86
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The track arrived today, so this evening it was laid, wired up and mechanical switch control is in place. Nothing fancy, just some pine dowel and 0.5mm brass rod. And it all works! 

 

I have a few ideas in mind that I want to try out on this one. And I'm leaning towards Atlanta as a location. Watch this space... 

 

IMG_20190524_002231.jpg

 

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