Memories and Place

Memories drive a sense of place.  Memories, to me, are a powerful motivator for life going on, and for the ups and downs and majesty and wonder of it all - and the despair that can haunt the shadows of the brightest days.

It's July of 1994, again, in this image.  Typical hot humid summer day and gray sky in New Jersey, and I am testing out my driver's license - then about 7 months old - for my first ever trip to watch trains at Ridgefield Park.  We hoped at Mark's suggestion to see some NYS&W trains there, but besides a few NS engines at rest, they were quiet.  Conrail however put on a show on the River Line.  At the end of the afternoon this train, led by SD40-2 6438, came to a stop right in front of us.  The crew got in a van and left, and so we took the opportunity for this photo.

 This image was made on slide film, and shows three 17-year-old kids having a good time.  

Life today gets complicated, but shots like this make you remember a simpler time, and remind us all that everything changes.  A good chunk of the passion behind the OC is remembering such times.  Every time has its place.

And that is ok.  

An honor, again

This is one that never gets old - seeing the Onondaga Cutoff on the cover of Model Railroader magazine!

 This is the third time I have had this honor, and each time it reminds me of the long and fascinating journey of this hobby and how it weaves into and out of life.  For me and for many railroading is in the blood, so to speak, and seeing our work be featured is a great feeling.  I hope in creating content like this that young people today can be inspired like I was when I was a child.

Life this year has been a crucible again - a fervent mix of responsibility to family, work, community, finance, and hobby, all of them intermingled and with little time to spare.  It was time to change internet providers, time for a new (to us) car, a time of banks changing hands, extra projects (even including a strike) at work while dealing with scarce funds and insecurity amongst managers, all while maintaining the house and layout.  'Life the 40's' as regular readers know is a constant theme here.  And 2025 is living up to the expectations!

With this sort of intensity we blink and weeks or months pass.  And in any case it is harder and harder to think things through or reflect on faith in others or in coming together when there is no time for it.  I am hopeful that this wonderful experience of another MR cover will help me look back on this era and be reminded that good things can come at any time.  Do the work, try to make what you are doing a bit better each time, and with a bit of luck, a new door can open.

I am grateful for the opportunity and for all the assistance and inspiration that has made the OC what it is.  I hope this continues the work of giving back!

The Big Test!

 There comes a point in any big project where it's time to give it a go - 'kick the tires' so to speak, or give it a try.  Well, we got to that point here with our new lift bridge - time to see if it actually works.  I recorded a video of our first opening - Here we go!

Well, alright!  Not bad for a first test, and while we have some adjustments to make I am thrilled at the progress.  Now, we get all-rail access to the new storage staging at Peat Street Yard, and we do it without the need for a duckunder.  Instead we have an actual, functional lift bridge!

As you can see here, it's powered by a cordless drill with a 3/4" socket wrench, and can easily be moved up or down as needed.  This will allow a walkway to stay open but also occasional all-rail access to the new staging area.  

Plenty more to come, but this is a game changer for us here on the Onondaga Cutoff.  Lots of new variety coming soon!

A big project? Work step by step

The bigger projects in life can seem overwhelming, even if you'd done something similar before.  The only way to get something big done is to get started with something small.  

This lift bridge is indeed a big project.  Recently, hobby time has been dedicated to moving forward by making progress as often as feasible on the smaller steps to bring it to completion.  These steps take time.  Adding a lift out bridge would be enough to push the envelope, but making it a mechanized vertical lift bridge is pushing the limits beyond anything I have tried to date on this railroad.   We are trading longer, more intricate work for a more operable and less cumbersome feature.  

First, that involves fortifying the edges of the bridge and the layout that will support it.  I removed track for the new switch in the background as seen above, and adding PC board strips to the edge allows a surface to which we can solder the rail ends directly.  This will be an important effort to strengthen the gap areas.  Construction adhesive was used here for a tough and rock-solid cure.

You can see here how this area is right over the location of the dispatcher, and the management desk for sessions.  Someone sits in this spot below.  Therefore the idea to have a longer permanent track extend out to meet the bridge does not work.  The bridge would need to include the long curved approach, and the ladder tracks.  

With the edges in place, it was time to lay track and cut in the new switch for the Teddes Street Lead.  Gapping rails on a curve is, frankly, not a good idea in model railroading.  And yet there is no option here: if this bridge is going to work, a gap must be on this odd angle, and through a curve.  Yikes!  

Cutting in a switch is something we have done before, but building track over a gap to a moveable bridge is not.  Essentially, this is a mitre rail sort of connection, with guard rails installed as well to help guide wheelsets over a curved, gapped rail.  First, though, those great PC boards can be soldered to the rail directly.  Plastic ties are removed as needed, joints made with the switch, and now the whole assembly is tough.  The photo above shows the area just before the rails were cut.  

You can also see the bracing designed by Jim Harr that supports the masonite side girders on the bridge.  The curve required a series of small wooden angle glued in place.  The straight areas, seen below, allowed longer runs of 1"x2" cut at a 45-degree angle.  Adding the girders really stiffened up the bridge, as was intended.  

While the track on the curve cured, it was time to move to lay down the ladder tracks for Peat Street Yard.  I used a compound ladder to help maximize storage track length.  This was glued in place.  Once cured, the rest of the track was added, allowing rail to be continuous from the Island all the way to the bumpers in Peat Street Yard.  

Now, to run power, and to finalize the lift mechanism!  Those projects too will take some time, even to the point where we have to cancel the May operations on the OC.  And I never like to miss an operating session.  

This illustrates a larger point, though.  This wild idea of Jack's is the right solution to the new storage yard.  I am confident it will work out for the long term improvement in the operations.  And, it is a fact that big opportunities require big projects to be completed.  The way we get there is by handling a steady stream of smaller steps to keep the project moving.  

A wild idea

Leave it to Jack to provide a different point of view.

We were staring at the progress last weekend while having a drink, and suddenly he says "you should just make it a lift bridge that gets pulled up by cables and stored against the ceiling."

I had to pause, and consider it.  It is a valid point that it is long, longer than originally thought about, so as to not have permanent piers in the way of the group when we operate.  It is light enough to lift out by hand, but would require twisting and storing away by the wall around to the left of this image.  That is cumbersome now, before we have people standing by.  

Jack also made the point that by having a vertical lift, we could much more easily open and close during a session, so perhaps we could use one of the tracks in the new yard to the left to store Amtrak or a short regular freight train as needed, freeing up an Island track for more consists.  The bridge itself will not have trains on it for storage.  

And after a night spent painting the sides to match the fascia and the underside to match the ceiling, I had to concede this was a better plan.  More work now, but less chance of damage later.  Thankfully, the side girders are sturdy and plumb, which will allow vertical cable attachment without an issue.  And the apparatus should fit above the drop-in ceiling, with simple holes cut to allow the cables to extend below and be affixed to the bridge.

I checked online for lift systems and found a good one normally used in garages.  I think this one is going to work out.  

Stay tuned!  Tracklaying is next, and will be its own adventure with PC ties at the joints and a new ladder track assembly with Walthers switches.  I am hoping in a few weeks to be ready to test run this thing.   

A Comfortable Space

There is a lot to be said about a space being 'visually comfortable.'  We have touched on this on the Onondaga Cutoff before, but it bears repeating now and again because it's an ongoing effort. If we want people to be part of what we do, it is our responsibility to do what we can to make what we do enjoyable and comfortable.  

As we proceed with the new storage, while the bridge is finalized we continued with operations.  I wanted the area to be seamless and so I decided to finish the existing project first.  The cap on the support girders proved a perfect spot for something we can all use more of: drink holders on the layout!

The switch ladder and storage tracks have yet to be finalized, but adding this little plywood cap is a great way to get use out of the new construction at every session.  The cap is removeable and into its place the removable bridge will sit.  

This was also a chance to re-hang the skirting along the bottom of the layout, and to do it in a way that looked seamless.  Tom's suggestion to use staples and a strip of cardboard was a good one and created a nice straight edge.  

The overview shows it all: a visually pleasing finishing job for new construction.  

We can see the bridge to the left, which is waiting for girders, an official keeper stand, and track.  The girders are next, this week; track and wiring will follow.  Our hobby is based on trains but trains are built, moved, and maintained by people.  Making our layout spaces a bit more comfortable for them and for us will benefit each of our experiences along the way!

Halfway there!

We are just past a few weeks that are a nice illustration of the balance required to keep things moving on a layout when there is a full life going on aside from the hobby simultaneously.  Somehow it is nearly a month since the last post though it feels like a week!   Between activities for the kids and family commitments on nights and weekends, all the layout progress had to be crammed into moments when time was available.  

And yet there is progress, because even small steps over time add up to a whole. The new storage area off the Island is coming along well, now wired, mounted and painted up:

The end piece is made from leftover plywood to create a small drink shelf that can also hide the protruding supports for the new lift out bridge.  Holes will be cut to support beverages.

And it can be removed, allowing for installation of the bridge.  Here's an earlier test fit of the new bridge, cut from Gatorboard.  Gatorboard is a specialty structural foam product with an even surface and it is quite rigid, while being very light.  

Many thanks are due to Tom Schmieder and Jim Harr, who both have helped me bring this vision to life.  It was threading a needle in many ways and while there is a ways to go, we are getting there.  The bridge will get Masonite girder sides and needs track laid and wiring completed.  But in the meantime, we need to clean up in order to host an operating session for guests this coming weekend.  Building a layout like this sometimes means having to build while accommodating operations - a lot like the prototype!  

Spring has begun and the race is on to get this project set ahead of the May and the start of many outdoor activities.  And we get it done completing each step along the way.