Show us your layout

[CJCrescent]

Had a visit from napa15 on Wednesday. Just hope he didn't get scared away by the mess!

He brought over a Southern 4-6-2, and I showed him what he could do to improve the appearance of it.

[Balrog21]

@GG! haha, yeah The Mist is pretty intense and about as close as you can get to the novella in King's short story book. Glad you enjoyed it! I'm a writer as well. =) The Mist is probably my favorite novella of all time. Frank Darabonte did an awesome job with it, and most people don't know but it was filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana Jerry! 

I will have a few pics to add soon, nothing on the layout but the progress of getting the said needed parts for expansion and whatnots.

[jbrock27]

...I knew that-the scene at the lake in the beginning, with the bridge in the background-LA.

[napa15]

Had a visit from napa15 on Wednesday. Just hope he didn't get scared away by the mess!

He brought over a Southern 4-6-2, and I showed him what he could do to improve the appearance of it.

I enjoyed the visit CJ. I didn't see a mess.. I saw a work in progress.  It was interesting to see a layout of your magnitude, and in it's status up close and personal. I look forward to all there is to learn about it, from the basics of how you've assembled it to train operations. I also appreciate your time and patience in answering my questions and specifically helping me out with my 4-6-2. You're definitely helping me out with more than improving the appearance, considering we'll be re-motoring and re-gearing mainly.

Been working feverishly on my meager 4x8 layout the last several weeks trying to get it much farther along than it has been for the last few years. I'm very close to finally being able to add scenery to it. Just finishing up with the foam (rock) carving this week.

[stationmaster12]

Jerry's HO,
Great looking layout! I'm looking for ideas for an O gauge layout. Love the track plan!

[Jerrys HO]

Thanks stationmaster, it has been added on twice since then. Once I get a little more scenery going I will post more pics.
I had an O scale layout before this one in HO. I used practically the same design as the one you see in the first pic. There would have been no room for add on's in the O but I seemed to have found a lot more space in my garage since I started with HO.
Looking forward to seeing some of your pics once you get started.

Jerry

[Balrog21]

I've had a few people ask me about the anyrail program I've responed to each. I'm going to put up some screen shots for you to see some things anyrail will do and will most likely this weekend do a VERY basic tutorial video showing how to use Anyrail for the first time beginner.

the pics didnt' turn out so well but it's just screen captures but I will tell you what's going on the pics...

ok, in the first pic show the whole bachmann eztrack list, and when you move the mouse over a piece of the list it tells you what it is, also at the very top is a list of all the track from all the manufacturers Anyrail has for you to choose from.

this pic shows a selcted piece of track at the bottom it tell you the product number and size, length of the track selected. The neat thing about this is that you can tell the program to autojoin the pieces and just pull the desired piece to an existing piece and it automatically joins the track together.

the last pic shows a piece of 100 code flex track selected, at the bottom it tells me the exact lenght it is as well along with its product number and what type of track is used. So, yes, you can combine different companies tracks to make your plan.

Hope this helps! Anymore questions just ask away!

[Balrog21]

I'm posting just the link it seems if I do this the pics are a little bigger and a little easier to read and ACTUALLY SEE the screen a bit better!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/balrog21/anyrailex1_zps1e4270d1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/balrog21/anyrailex2_zpsb48cdb2a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/balrog21/anyrailex4_zpsc4effe82.jpg

[Ken G Price]

Balrog21, Thanks for the info on Anyrail.

[Balrog21]

anytime! it's too bad the pics aren't that big, but with the tutorial I'm going to do it should make things a whole lot clearer and more understandable in the pics...

[bfelix]

Love the pictures and videos! I wish I would have come across this before I started mine. I like the multi level tracks. I dont have a lot done but here is mine if your interested.

http://youtu.be/VuXigR_QGVk

[jonathan]

Just spent the last three months building my first wood structure.  Will probably be my last.  That was too hard.  Anyway this is a signal tower for my layout.  I haven't found the perfect spot to plant it, yet.  I will post the pics once it's in place.  For now, here are the photos of the tower itself.  This is RO Tower, Wellsboro, Indiana, 1902-1957.  While is exterior follows the prototype, the interior was pure imagination.  For instance, the real tower had 28 levers, compared to my 16.  Enjoy:

Regards,

Jonathan






















Yes, I know my windows need sills and frames on the inside.  Working on it... 

[Doneldon]

Jonathan-

Wow! Your work is so consistently excellent that I can't stand it. It would be a real shame if you don't build any more wood structures;
you are clearly very good at it. One way to speed up the process is to make buildings less detailed, especially on the inside. Your
interior is great, don't get me wrong, but the majority of structures don't need such a high level of detail because their interiors just
aren't visible.

                          -- D

[jward]

I am not sure how b&o did things in 1957, but in the 1970s, they had a board which was either hung outside the tower under the eaves, or in the side window, which was painted either red or yellow to denote the type of traqin order to be picked up by the next train. these boards also had the appropriate colour lantern hung off them for use at night. this was a distinctively b&o feature, and used pretty consistently on the b&o towers i was fotunate enough to have visited. this would be a nice detail, and easy to add.

one small note, and i am not trying to nitpick here. on the towers i've been in, the operators desk was usually centered along the front wall where the op could easily see approaching trains. your location for this desk reflects that. but the interlocking machine was located directly behind the desk, so that the operator could easily access the levers. there was a model board directly above the machine, suspended from the ceilong, which contained a diagram of the trackage the tower controlled along with panel lights indicating the position and status of all switches, derails and signals in the controlled area. this seemed consistent among the towers i visited on the former b&o and pennsy lines. sometimes, especially on the pennsy, the flor mounted levers were replaced by a series of electrical switcheson a panel under the model board.

towers were a fascinating place to hang out with a friendly operator, and your model brings back fond memories.

[rbryce1]

Well, after re-designing over 20 times, here is where I am at.  I have attached 2 JPEG files of the upper level, one with hidden rails shown and the other with hidden rails concealed and 1 file of the lower level.  The layout was designed with Anyrail software.  It may not be prototypical in the true sense, but it is more like a little piece of many prototypes.  It not only incorporates many of my ideas and desires, but a LOT of the things I have learned from other members of this forum, for which I thank everyone.

It is HO scale, and consists of 2 levels, totally independent of each other.  No room for an elevated ramp or a helix.  Tried this on versions 1-10 and scrapped both of these ideas due to the huge waste of real estate.  If you want a train on the lower level to run on the upper level, it will have to be moved physically, but I don't plan on doing that.  First, it is not a walkaround, but there is access to the center via a pass through.  The upper center access is high, about 4'-6" above the floor and only has a 29" deep "duck-under", while the lower level pass thru is about 30" above the floor and has a completely open access.  The shape of the layout is totally dictated by the room size and obstacles.  

I will be operating it with an NCE DCC control system with a 5 amp booster and both corded and wireless throttles.

The upper level will consist of a base layer of 3/8" plywood over a 2X3 frame, covered with 3" of foam.  The foam will be contoured as rolling hills and scenery, with earth cuts and retaining walls as necessary, just as real people would have to build.

The lower level will be 3/4" plywood with 3/4" foam as a base, as it will be fairly flat, but will have some elevated contours.  

In both cases, higher hills and such will be made with more foam in specific locations, and the Upper level will have two major mountains with access from beneath.  A large 18-24" long, 12" high trestle bridge will span the two mountain ranges for the mountain rail (maroon) and a shorter span bridge for the mountain passenger rail (green) at a lower elevation.

The two lowland freight lines, coal (dark blue) and freight (light blue-grey), will pass over the stream with short bridges and the spurs will use culverts.

The Upper level has 4 railroads, none of which have cross-over turnouts, therefore I can control all 4 trains running in different directions and at different speeds by myself without collisions.  The mountain rails are all elevated higher than the low land rails.  There is track access beneath the tunnels where hidden track is shown.  The top left, center and right corners will try to replicate the Alaska mountains.  The Mountain freight rail train is pulled the the Bachmann EM1 2-8-8-0 steam locomotive, while the Mountain Passenger train consists of 4 Alaska Diesels pulling 7 of the new Bachmann McKinley Explorer passenger cars, the same train that provides tours between Anchorage, the Denali National Park and Fairbanks, Alaska.  Each of the McKinley Explorer passenger cars are named after a different Alaska river, both on the model RR and in Alaska.

The monorail is elevated and passes over all other tracks and roads.  The Mountain Passenger rail (green) will go through the mountain areas via grades and tunnels, but pass over the town using a 4" high continuous trestle system, passing over the coal mine rail (dark blue) and the freight rail (light blue-grey).

The red rails are single Monorail tracks, while the orange rails are double monorail tracks, all elevated about 6" above the base level and the elevation varies in the mountain areas.

The black trail is where I would really like to incorporate the Magnorail bicycle trail.  It passes under the Monorails and under the Mountain Passenger Rail, and doesn't cross any tracks.  

There will be a coal mine, with coal conveyors coming out of the mountain side to the hopper fill structure.  The lower center is a town.  The light green areas are foothills, while the dark green areas are mountain areas.  Yes, I'm big into creating scenery that breaks up the visual flow of the railroads, so it doesn't look like a round-e-round, but can run as one.

The lower Level consists of a yard area, an electric power plant with a substation, my Tropicana Orange Juice plant, an orange orchard with picking and transport equipment, a farm with a corn field and silos, a lake with small lakeside cottages, a forest area and a sawmill/lumber mill (not outfitted on the plan yet) and two main rails, one for the Tropicana "Juice Train" and the other for a freight line.  These have double cross-overs so they can switch tracks.

There are two yard areas, one for freight staging and the other for the Juice Train staging.  I wanted an industry and I had purchased the entire Walthers Ethanol Series of structures, and after that, realized how much I hate ethanol.  So , I bought lots of Tropicana decals in N scale for trucks, HO scale for buildings and O scale for silos, tanks and building roofs and I am converting the Ethanol plant into a Tropicana plant.  I need to paint the structures white with green roofs to go along with the Tropicana scheme.  There is a pair of sidings with ramps for loading the Juice Train cars and I have been collecting LOTS of Bachmann, Athearn, Lifelike, Con-cor and Red Caboose Tropicana refer cars.  Finally, there is 1 siding with an engine maintenance building for the 2 70 ton switchers I have purchased and colored and decaled them as Tropicana diesels.  Yes, Tropicana does have a pair of their own switchers!  I also bought 2 AC6000 CSX diesels to pull the Juice Train.

The other yard is just a lot of staging sidings, a Bachmann DCC motorized turn table and roundhouse, and all the junk that goes with an engine yard.

I'm sure you as well as I know things will change, be added or moved, but so far, this is a workable layout, as I have already once printed this entire puppy in 1:1 scale, laid it out in sections and verified all the stuff, tracks, roads and buildings will actually fit without clearance problems.  One GREAT benefit of the Anyrail software.









If you see any problems staring me in the face, please mention them.