Thomas1911's Layout

[Thomas1911]

Thought I'd share my layout with everyone.  Model trains is just one of my many hobbies, like most of you I'm sure, and this has been an on/off project over the last 4 years or so.  It's a 10 ft. x 11 ft. point-to-point plan around 2-1/2 walls of my spare bedroom.  It also has a loop that passes underneath should I want to sit back and watch trains run.  The layout will be primarily logging and coal operations with some passenger and other freight traffic mixed in.  The layout is built in four sections.  I built benchwork and laid track for sections 1 and 2 in '06 in my parents garage.  Messed with it here and there over the next few years making some minor changes to the track plan and upgrading to DCC with an NCE Powercab.  In '09 I moved into my own house and decided to dedicate one of the bedrooms to my train/hobby room.  Once I figured out how big the room was I began designing the remaining layout sections and making modifications to the existing sections before setting them up.  In April of this year I began constructing section 3 and 4 and was able to get them setup and track laid last month.  Curves range from 18"-26"R with the broader curves in visible areas.  Turnouts are Atlas, #6 on the mainline and a few #4 turnouts on sidings, all operated with ground throws.  Track is also Atlas, all code 83.  I have been doing a lot of testing and tweaking before going on with anything else.  The end loops are an 18"R and the current plan is for them to be hidden under the scenery, hence all the testing.  Once I'm satisfied with the trackwork it will be painted and ballasted, then on to forming the terrain, which will be constructed of extruded foam sheets.


Track Plan


Section 1 - Engine service facility


Section 2 - Powerplant, river, and part of a town


Section 3 - Will have a logging camp and coal mine.  Awaiting foam sheets to finish laying track.


Section 4 - Will have rest of the town, a sawmill, and possibly some other industry.

[Thomas1911]

Here are some of my other projects.




These are some Athearn F7 SF Yellowbonnets I painted, decaled, and detailed.  Inspired from an article in the June 1999 issue of MR.


These are some Proto 2000 SD7's I painted, decaled, and detailed for my fictitious railroad.


This is a Walthers 90' Turntable I modified with scratchbuilt trusses and powerarch to resembled a prototype used by the Santa Fe.  Loosely followed from an article and plans in a late-80's issue of MR.


A Bachmann 2-6-6-2 that I shortened the tender by 1/2" to fit on the turntable.


A Bachmann Shay with Bachmann flatcar, Kadee disconnect log cars, and Kadee logging caboose.


A Bachmann Decapod with Roundhouse Overton cars.

All locos are running sound decoders.

[buzz]

Hi Thomas 1911
Please excuse me while I just turn a pale shade of green and cry.
That is a nice effort I particularly like the effort that has gone into the bench work.
I personally think a saw mill and part town of will be enough in the proposed area, once the timber stacks are in they will take a bit of room.
If the mill flogs the 1' leftovers as domestic fire wood there is going to be a fair bit of storage area needed.
regards John

[jonathan]

I love your plan and progress on the build.  Congrats so far!

You could put a Hard Rock Cafe in there somewhere.  Then the guitars could be displayed on top of the layout.

Thanks a million for sharing!

Regards,

Jonathan

[Michigan Railfan]

That is one nice layout you got there. But you should try to make the outer loops something greater than 18". It will definitly help you in the long run if you decide to get longer cars and engines. Otherwise, great job!

[ABC]

Thomas correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that the yellow bonnets were never used in passenger service, while the blue bonnets were used in passenger service.

[Thomas1911]

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

Buzz:
I  think you're right about the sawmill.  Should probably just concentrate on it and the town.  I wasn't planning on it being incredibly huge, just a small simplified operation.  Haven't done much research on this yet.

Jonathan:
Haha.  I could do that.  Not sure it would fit in my grand scheme though.

Blink_182_Fan:
The only reason I chose to use 18"R was simply due to conserving space.  Currently, I don't plan to run anything larger than what I have now.  Obviously the longer equipment does look funny on the tight radius, but as I mentioned, I limited its use to areas than will be hidden from view once the scenery is complete.

ABC:
Not certain on this, but I think you may have that backward.  I do have documentation they they pulled the "Texas Chief" in the early '70's in Amtrak service.  I took some artistic license and have them pulling some Santa Fe streamliners.  I'm not a stickler for 100% prototype accuracy.

[ABC]

I did a great deal of research and found this: only two yellow bonnets (2 F7As) ever served in passenger service. The number on your trailing unit may be incorrect and they did not have a F7-B unit in that paint for passenger service.

[Thomas1911]

http://www.atsfrr.net/resources/BackRalph/Yellow.pdf

This was the article I used.  F7A's #315 and #304 and F3B #319 were painted in the yellow bonnet scheme used in Amtrak service.  #304 however was not used on the Texas Chief as it was based out of Barstow.  Unless I grossly misread that article only my Athearn F7B is incorrect as it should be an F3B.

I'm aware of the blue/yellow freight paint scheme and the blue/silver bluebonnet paint scheme.

[ABC]

315L was indeed assigned to the Texas Chief as the primary lead unit. 304L rarely was a part of the Texas Chief, only on a few occasions from what I read, but it said that it did head other passenger trains more frequently. I wonder which article has it's facts right, at any rate they sure are nice to look at.

[Thomas1911]

I agree, they are nice to look at.  Not sure which is correct either, nonetheless, they are close enough for the likes of me.

I did incorrectly call out the MR issue I referenced.  Should be the June 1999 issue, written by Gary Hoover.  Previous post corrected.

[Doneldon]

T1911-

The Santa Fe didn't have many of the yellowheads, as they were known on the railroad.  They were a test paint scheme (there was also a medium blue one) that the railroad learned wasn't appreciated by the public, compared to the red and silver passenger warbonnets and the blue freight units.

That red and silver paint design wasn't actually an AT&SF creation; EMD essentially adapted it from their catalog paint schemes.  Most notably, the D&H used something very similar.  And this paint scheme was very important to the railroad.  It was clearly the most dramatic and most widely recognized paint of the day, or maybe ever.  It was so recognizable, in fact, that it saved the postwar Lionel Lines who sold something like ten times projections in a fraction of the time they expected.  Does anyone, regardless of age, not remember either the real warbonnets or the Lionel versions?  I'll bet not.
                                                                                                  -- D

[jward]

i think you've done a great job so far.

about the 18" radius track: people need to realize that model railroading is all about compromise. you only have so much room, and if you need to go with sharp curves to get an interesting layout, then you just live with the limitations on equipment it entails. i probably would have come up with something similar given the space you have to work with.

a word on paint schemes. it is nice to see the yellow bonnets in model form. there are several other experimental or one of a kind paint jobs i'd love to see. new york central had a couple of e units painted the same green as their boxcars, and an f7 with a gold cigar band on the nose instead of the white one.

[Thomas1911]

I basically did the yellowbonnets just as a novelty and conversation piece.  Since seeing them in the MR article years ago, thought they looked like a fun project.  The yellowbonnets were my first attempt at painting and decaling a prototypical paint scheme.

[sparkyjay31]

Looks like you might need some fascia or something to stop the trains at the end of the staging.  Especially behind your Power Plant.  I did not think about this until after my 2-8-0 Connie bounced off the concrete floor.  Even on the corners, trains have a way of always falling to the "outside".   It's a long way to the floor.  A cheap fascia can save you hundreds....  Jay