Gulf, Atlanta & Eastern - into the second decade

[Barry Ten]

 

Athearn has the Flxble Clipper. 

 

That model always looks weirdly small to me, against other road vehicles. I guess it's accurate though.

[JZ]

Is that a Flxble Clipper in the Galaxy adverts?

[shortliner]

eBay item number:

281241027788

[Adrian Wintle]

That model always looks weirdly small to me, against other road vehicles. I guess it's accurate though.

 

The Athearn Flxble does look tiny but they were 34' long (65mm), so it does seem about right.

[JZ]

 

eBay item number:

281241027788

 

Wrong scale and a bit modern for me Jack

[shortliner]

Oooops! Sorry!

[Adrian Wintle]

I was just building an old Gloor Craft white metal kit of a '65 Chevy Step Van. Quite nice castings, and it goes together well. I also built an anonymous metal kit of a '51 Ford pickup that has serious dimensional issues - the hood is about 10% too long and the cab is about 40% too long, so the whole thing just looks wrong. I'll stick with the GHQ '51 and the CinC '55 for my Ford pickups.

 

I've started a separate thread on N Scale vehicles.

 

Adrian

Edited March 1, 2014 by Adrian Wintle

[Barry Ten]

Walther's USRA 0-8-0 loco is a really nice and useful model, but for some reason I don't think they've ever repeated it after the initial release in 2008. There were some issues with haulage and derailment reported at the time it came out, but while it's not the most powerful loco, it's very smooth running and fine for general yard work on the flat. Mine did have a tendency for the tender to derail but I found I could cure that by fiddling with the retaining screws for the bogies, which were a little on the tight side.

 

For a six year old model, I think it holds up very well in terms of detail:

 

 

 

The engine's not had much use, though, because I couldn't get it converted to DCC. It does have an 8-pin plug in the tender, but space is tight, and although I didn't do an exhaustive search, I couldn't find a direct-plug decoder which fitted. The only solution (for me) was to use a harnessed decoder but to cut the wires to length. I bought a Gaugemaster 8pin decoder, test fitted it to see that it worked, and then cut about an inch from the 8 coloured wires. I then soldered the shortened wires back together, using heat-shrink tubing to protect the joins. I'm not the best solderer in the world so this is definitely at the limit of my skills. When the trimmed back part of the wires is only a few mm long, I don't know how you go about twisting them together so the only solution (for me) is to hold the wires together while soldering and hope for the best.

 

Anyway, although it's still a squeeze, all came well and I could get the push-fit tender top on. After renumbering, the loco was put through its paces on the yard trackage and coped well with the points and double slip.

 

 

 

Top marks to Walthers for this brilliant model.

[roundhouse]

It's strange that apart from Fox a Valley that other US manufacturers just haven't taken on board the 6 pin decoder concept yet Soundtraxx and a Digitrax make such decoders.

 

It's a nice looking model and for a minute thought you had gone HO!

[Robatron86]

That's a gorgeous loco. I keep getting tempted towards American N each time I read your thread, although reading Shasta in this month's CM, I may even try Z!

[DanielB]

I saw Shasta at NMRE this weekend just gone - amazing layout, very nice fully scenic fiddle yard.

[marc smith]

I can't believe how much this layout has grown over the past few months
I'm undecided about how a backscene on the peninsular would fit in to the scheme
but I think some height in the middle of the peninsular is definitely a "must"

I'm sure it will add a sense that the trains are travelling a bit further
Some great modelling going on here once again Mr Ten

Edited March 18, 2014 by marc smith

[DanielB]

Have you considered a forced perspective look to disguise the curve?

 

If you put a view block like a cutting or the like along the inside of the curve and then a backscene around the outside of the curve it prevents the layout being viewed along the tip of the peninsula and stops you from viewing both sides of it at once.

[Barry Ten]

Have you considered a forced perspective look to disguise the curve?

 

If you put a view block like a cutting or the like along the inside of the curve and then a backscene around the outside of the curve it prevents the layout being viewed along the tip of the peninsula and stops you from viewing both sides of it at once.

 

That's a very good solution but I've always intended to complely conceal the curve, as I did at the end of the layout with a tunnel and a removable hill.

[The Bigbee Line]

Walther's USRA 0-8-0 loco is a really nice and useful model, but for some reason I don't think they've ever repeated it after the initial release in 2008. There were some issues with haulage and derailment reported at the time it came out, but while it's not the most powerful loco, it's very smooth running and fine for general yard work on the flat. Mine did have a tendency for the tender to derail but I found I could cure that by fiddling with the retaining screws for the bogies, which were a little on the tight side.

 

For a six year old model, I think it holds up very well in terms of detail:

 

southern_349.jpg

 

 

The engine's not had much use, though, because I couldn't get it converted to DCC. It does have an 8-pin plug in the tender, but space is tight, and although I didn't do an exhaustive search, I couldn't find a direct-plug decoder which fitted. The only solution (for me) was to use a harnessed decoder but to cut the wires to length. I bought a Gaugemaster 8pin decoder, test fitted it to see that it worked, and then cut about an inch from the 8 coloured wires. I then soldered the shortened wires back together, using heat-shrink tubing to protect the joins. I'm not the best solderer in the world so this is definitely at the limit of my skills. When the trimmed back part of the wires is only a few mm long, I don't know how you go about twisting them together so the only solution (for me) is to hold the wires together while soldering and hope for the best.

 

Anyway, although it's still a squeeze, all came well and I could get the push-fit tender top on. After renumbering, the loco was put through its paces on the yard trackage and coped well with the points and double slip.

 

southern_351.jpg

 

southern_350.jpg

 

Top marks to Walthers for this brilliant model.

Is it really N gauge?  When I saw the first picture I thought it was HO.

[DanielB]

It's been a while since there's been an update on this thread. How's the layout coming along, any progress?

[Barry Ten]

It's been a while since there's been an update on this thread. How's the layout coming along, any progress?

 

I think the short answer is nothing really worth photographing - the track in the yard, loosely pinned down in the earlier pic, is now fixed down and wired up, as are all the points, and there's a new small control panel serving the yard itself. I've also added a couple more waybill boxes and finally filled in enough car cards and waybills that I can begin to do some structured operation, which has been fun. In the process I've defined one end of the layout as pointing to Spartanburg, SC, and the other pointing to Atlanta, GA, so my car routing has at least a basic relationship to reality even though the layout doesn't correspond to any actual part of the Southern.

 

Progress ground to a halt a few weeks ago, though, when I ran out of green electrical wire, and I'm a stickler for colour coding so things have to wait until I pick up some more wire! In the meantime, I've been fiddling around the 4mm stuff a bit more, and must admit that particular bug has bitten for the time being.

[Barry Ten]

By the way, heard from Model Railroader that the layout article is being put together for the September issue.

[DanielB]

I had to "Like" that post, as there is no Congratulations button.

 

I'm a subscriber, so I'll eagerly await the issue when it is released

[Supaned]

I'll also be looking out for the article , nice to see this getting deserved recognition.

[John B]

Congratulations Al! It seems like years since a teaser picture appeared in "Trackside Photos". And it probably was...

[Barry Ten]

Congratulations Al! It seems like years since a teaser picture appeared in "Trackside Photos". And it probably was...

 

It certainly was - 2011, I think.

[Barry Ten]

It's been a while since an update here, for which apologies, but the arrival of a couple of older engines newly converted to DCC was the spur to give the tracks a clean and look at making some further progress on the peninsula.

 

Earlier this year, I swung the mainline out into the middle of the room and set about planning a small classification yard which would allow trains to be broken up and assembled. Over the next few months I wired up the yard, tested it, and eventually made a few small tweaks for the sake of appearance and operation. When I returned to working on the layout last week I felt confident about beginning ballasting the new trackwork, and so work began, tackling the junction off the original main and the start of the yard throat. It's Paynesville yard, by the way, and it's set north of Atlanta but still in Georgia. The FT units are arriving from Atlanta, heading north. Geographically, it's all cobblers - it doesn't plausibly relate to any actual part of the Southern - but once you get into operation with waybills, you have to start coming up with names for your towns and sidings, and it adds to fun.

 

 

 

I also began to develop the ridge that would divide the two sides of the peninsula. A sky backdrop would have solved a lot of the problems (see earlier discussions in the thread) but in the end I decided it would be hard to implement due to the way the hidden storage yard is arranged - the sky would have had to cut across these tracks at a right angle. So a ridge it would be, and despite my best efforts, it has to end up being quite tall and narrow to serve as an adequate scenic break between the two running tracks, which are supposedly miles apart. From most angles, though, it doesn't look too silly.

 

On the other side of the peninsula, I decided to keep things nice and simple and just have a single line, with no sidings or industries. Although it's early days, I reckon the photographic angles from this view should be quite interesting once the scenery is developed. One thing I've learned as I move through the build is that it's not always easy to get the camera into the tight angles you'd want to - the eye can often get a lot closer, especially when you add in the bulk of a tripod.

 

 

Overall view looking back from the "country" side of the peninsula. Much use of Woodland Scenics retaining walls. I counted how many of these packs I've used so far, of different styles, and it's scary. I cheat slightly by using them out of the box, rather than cutting one pilaster off each wall section, as you're meant to do. But each pack only does a short length, so for the sake of economy I prefer not to make the wall sections even shorter than they already are. Once weathered, and covered in foliage, I don't think the cheat will be too obvious. The tunnel looks a bit toy-trainy at the moment, but the idea (which I hope will be reinforced by the fascia) is that you're seeing a part of a larger scenic feature - in any case, it allowed me to broaden the ridge at what would have been an unrealistically narrow portion. Somewhere along here - maybe the tunnel itself - we pass into North Carolina, incidentally. The original industrial section is now Preston, SC, and the line beyond that heads to Spartanburg.

 

 

And a shot over the ridge, looking back to the locomotive terminal.

 

 

 

That's it for now - thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[trisonic]

Thanks, Al.

I’m reminded by the August 2014 edition of Model Railroader that your Gulf, Atlanta & Eastern will feature next “month” in the September edition.....

 

Here’s the preview blurb if you haven’t read it yet:

 

“ Visit a British model railroader’s 11 x 12 foot shelf layout that captures the look and feel of the transition-era Southern Ry. The layout features removable scenery and hidden track to make it seem bigger than it is."

 

Best, Pete.

[Barry Ten]

Thanks, Al.

I’m reminded by the August 2014 edition of Model Railroader that your Gulf, Atlanta & Eastern will feature next “month” in the September edition.....

 

Here’s the preview blurb if you haven’t read it yet:

 

“ Visit a British model railroader’s 11 x 12 foot shelf layout that captures the look and feel of the transition-era Southern Ry. The layout features removable scenery and hidden track to make it seem bigger than it is."

 

Best, Pete.

 

Hi Pete - yes, exciting times!