Thinkin' Like A Shortline

Yard design for the M&E was recently completed, at least regarding the general layout of the tracks.  The yard area will be dominated by the major industry, the 'anchor' customer for the short line:  the Doelger Brewery.  Named after the real Peter Doelger Brewery, which was one of the largest breweries in New York City in the 1800's, my version will recieve barley and grains via rail, and will ship bottled beer. 

I figure that's a great industry to have on a model railroad!

Here's a little diagram of the current plan for the track layout at Euclid.  The brewery, located on the north side of the yard, will have another turnout and two longer sidings; one will accept loaded hoppers, the other will load insulated and refrigerated boxcars. 

Designing a stub-end yard like this is challenging, due to the fact that as a train arrives, the engines will be at a dead-end and must run around the train before switching.  Therefore, you must maximize the length of the runaround - in this case, the first switch is part of the runaround, as is the last one.  This should allow two 4-axle units to run around a train of the maximum length - for me, I have just under 8 feet, with equates to about two engines and 12 cars.  I think that's longer than almost any train I will run on the steep grades of the M&E.

Tracklaying is under way, photos of the new yard coming soon!

~RGDave

Progress on Several Fronts

As the summer digs in, large blocks of time for layout construction are few.  However, with the water meter repaired, I have moved forward with several major projects as time allows.

First, the engine facility at Onondaga Yard is taking shape.  Here is an image of it, test-fit on location.  The servicing platforms and pit tracks are in place and the columns are attached, awaiting bracing and walls.  Once the entire structure is complete, it will be installed, and I can finish tracklaying in the engine yard.  Conrail C32-8 6611 sits in the facility to give some sense of scale:

Also, the bridge at Skaneateles Creek on the short line is now weathered and permanently in place:

Built from a kit, this bridge received a heavy dose of weathering to represent a structure on a short line without much money to paint bridges.   Still to come here are the guard rails and final abutments, but I'm excited with how this came out.

A close-up view of one of the weathered gusset plates:

Having that bridge in place has allowed me to lay track up to and through the staircase:

Now that the shortline's route is in place up to Eulcid Yard, it was time to put the yard roadbed in place.  With a large, stub-ended area, I decided to try 1" thick insulation foam as a base.  I attached it with latex adhesive caulk, and then clamped and weighted it to ensure good adhesion.  Here is the progress before removing the weights:

So, plenty of progress, little by little!  I will continue working on the engine terminal and shortline in order to try and finish tracklaying before the end of the summer; then once the shortline is operational, it will be time to take a shot at backdrops.  That promises to change the overall look dramatically!

Enjoy the summertime and stay tuned!

~RGDave

SUCCESS!

In a refreshing development, we are back on track for progress on the Onondaga Cutoff!  The leaks in the plumbing system that have delayed progress on the benchwork are now repaired, including the pesky ones on the domestic water supply main.  Valves have been replaced, and the whole meter arrangement stabilized, so we should be good here for some time.

Tonight, I made some major progress.  Here is a photograph of the new landing for the stairway as viewed from the basement floor, including the supporting studs for the meter and the future big turn in the short line.

The new landing is assembled from left-over lumber from layout progress as well as a variety of plywood from other home projects - it pays to save bigger 'scraps' as they always come in useful somewhere down the line in an old home.
Next, here's a view looking down the stairway into the basement, with Clarence watching curiously if you look carefully.

The benchwork for the shortline that was constructed previously comes in from the top right.  Now, finally, with all supporting studs in place atop a very solid landing assembly, it was time to install the last of the benchwork on the shortline - which finishes all benchwork with the lone exception of one last industry that will go in shortly.

An overall, ground-level view of the long-awaited benchwork for the Minoa & Euclid:

Visible here is the whole deal:  the tunnel in the stairs at top left, the grade down to Skaneateles Creek (the bridge for which sits where it will be permanently installed after weathering), and the first pier supporting the roadbed along the front wall.   Behind the camera is the west end of Onondaga Yard.

Heat and humidity outdoors is a good reason for me to keep moving on the model railroad.  Tracklaying, wiring, and the engine yard construction coming next!

~RGDave

Not So Fast

Well, the leaks were not quite fixed...and as always, Rick was the one to lend a hand - years of work in HVAC have made him a very competent handyman, and sure enough, as we sweated the leaking joint apart, he immediately saw the problem and taught me how to see it and repair it.

And...all dry now; even late last night before bed, all dry. 

Photos coming soon to show the framework I constructed to support the meter arrangement and allow for the final benchwork on the shortline as well, all atop a new landing.

For now, home projects = layout progress too.

~RGDave

A Fixed Leak, and New Stair Landing

The long standing leak in the water meter assembly seems to have been addressed!  Thanks to leadership and help from a neighbor who does HVAC plumbing professionally, the water main into the house has never looked better. 

My thought quickly turned to the unstable landing on the stairway that was below the meter for 60 years.  It was soft and off-level, and my thought was that there was significant rot beneath the surface.  I was right.  Since the new shortline will need to have several supports on the landing, I decided replacing the landing and stabilizing the bottom of the staircase was in order.

So, I demolished the landing on Memorial Day, and cleaned up the mess while being very careful to avoid damaging the meter assembly (seen on the wall in this view).  Also visible here are the shortline coming in from the right, and also if you look carefully, the benchwork for the stair-tunnel on the 5th step at the upper left. 

I put several hours in to engineering a new landing on an uneven concrete floor, including brick risers to keep the 'green' lumber out of the moisture as much as possible.  The landing is now in.  Tonight I will construct the final step, install finishing trim, and attach the staircase to the landing.

All of this is in the name of 'basement projects' before the layout, which has included replacing all galvanized water pipes, replumbing the entire downstairs bathroom, installing a new boiler, installing a new oil tank...

Finally, an action shot for you, as I switched Onondaga Yard with CR 2795 while the mortar set beneath the brick risers for the new landing...

All for now! 

~RGDave

FIXED...

...at this point, at least!  The leak was addressed in a two-man, 3-hour work session last night and so far, so good.  We will give a week or two, minimum, to ensure that it really is leak-free, and then it's time to connect the final benchwork section of the short line and to complete track laying there.

Lots of major progress, coming soon on the Onondaga Cutoff!

~RGDave

The Waiting

Progress on the water meter work has stalled, pending support from the local water department.  Due to a stuck valve at the curb, they will need to dig up the front yard and replace the valve before we can do the work inside - a major headache!  On the bright side, once this work is done, I will essentially have modern valves and plumbing over most of the system in the home.

In the mean time, I continue to wire locomotives for DCC, and I recently took delivery of the structure kit that will be the locomotive shop in the Onondaga Diesel Terminal.  Here is the Walthers promo shot of the assembled structure:

Of course, mine will have Conrail locomotives instead, but you get the idea!  Having this structure in hand allows me to finally lay all the tracks in the Locomotive facility, which to this point had been on hold since I need to match the ladder track with the spacing in the floor of the facility.

Coming soon is backdrop installation and painting.  Masonite seems to be a popular choice for backdrop material, and at this point, that is the direction I am leaning - aluminum flashing will be expensive and also will have less stability for painting.

I have found the trick with building a large model railroad and keeping progress going is to keep working on something, even when one job is interrupted by circumstance.  With shortline benchwork (and therefore trackwork) stalled awaiting the new water meter arrangement, I have kept working on other projects. 

Even the waiting keeps me busy!

~RGDave