Christmas layout 2019

[Terry Toenges]

It's just not the same without using the snow blankets and batting because it now looks so flat. It will be a lot easier for me because I won't have to pull all stuff off of the wheels and axles.

[Terry Toenges]

Some close-ups

[Len]

It's just not the same without using the snow blankets and batting because it now looks so flat. It will be a lot easier for me because I won't have to pull all stuff off of the wheels and axles.

Maybe next year you could try putting the snow blankets and batting under the sheet to create some hills. The sheet should still keep it from getting into the works of the trains.

Len

[Terry Toenges]

That's a good thought Len. Thanks.

[Terry Toenges]

I have a new video up with the finished set-up and the trains running.
https://youtu.be/2YjnAOWLei0

[Terry Toenges]

I made a few changes. I still had some pieces of sheet left so I made a few mounds by crumpling up paper towels under pieces of sheet and stapling them down so it doesn't all look so flat. Then I covered the staples with bits of white duct tape. I still had my "mountains" in the garage from last year's layout so I modified those to fit this one. I switched up the trains on this one, too. When my five year old Great Granddaughter saw it for the first time yesterday, the first thing she said was, "Where's my Grinch?" I had forgotten about the Grinch piece I had gotten last or the year before. That had to be retrieved from the garage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPs99xK_etk

[Terry Toenges]

I've been playing around trying to get some close up shots. I can't get close enough to see what I'm shooting. I have to just sit the camera down on the layout and press the button.

[Terry Toenges]

The reason for doing it.

[Terry Toenges]

This is some random clips of the trains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38fxuHJtu44

[bbmiroku]

I know that face you're making Terry.  "You worked perfectly when it was just me, so don't bugger up when the real audience is here."

[Terry Toenges]

Everything went fine when the all the folks were here. No derailments or accidental uncouplings. i had to speak up a time or two when one of the kids was leaning over the layout to get to the skaters on the pond and one of trains was getting close.

[Terry Toenges]

Since I have the layout up, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and play with some of my old HO stuff. I gave away most of my HO stuff but kept some of them for sentimental reasons. Most of these I had displayed on a ledge around the dining room for a bunch of years. It's been many years since any of them had been run.
My old Amtrak passenger stuff were some of the first train pieces I bought when I decided I wanted to have trains back in the late 90's. I started a little 4 X 6 layout out in the garage back then. I think the little black tea kettle 4-4-0 was the next one I bought or it might have been the Santa Fe diesel off EBay.
I've seen people wonder how the old time ones like John Bull, Dewitt-Clinton, and Lafayette run. There is some video of those in here, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euFH3Eq6rLE&t=

[Terry Toenges]

It was modify time now that Christmas is over. She wants me to leave it up. I will, but with modifications. I removed the tunnel in back so I could connect all the loops. I can now go from outside to inside and back to outside. The one crossover is in front (upper right in the pic). The rest of the turnouts and other crossover are in back. Not ideal but the only way I could do it. I'll have to add a turnout somewhere and some track to park stuff.

[Terry Toenges]

I changed it around because I knew that "S" turn wouldn't work out. I had like a double "S" back there. It's a straighter shot back there now. I moved one of the turnouts to the front, also. I also swapped the crossovers around. I plan on having the trains run clockwise. From the outer oval, they can enter the middle oval in front and exit it in back. From the middle one to the inner one, they enter that in back and can exit back to the middle one on the right front.




I was able to tone down the "hump" in front, too and make it a little straighter. Making all the changes allowed me to get rid of some of the 15" curves and use 18" curves.

[Terry Toenges]

I had to do some more rearranging. I was trying to run a string of 5 On30 passenger cars with my Heisler. It was doing ok except for coming from the inner loop back out to the middle loop. There was kind of an "S" there. I didn't have much room to fix it so I put the other crossover in back to go from middle to inner.
I moved the #4 and #5 in front to go from outer to middle so I would have room to add some straight on the S coming out of the inner to the middle. Originally, the crossover was taking up most of the real estate on outer and middle in front.
I ran them all through, in and out of all the loops. It was ok for the most part. I'm having issues with the #5 left turnout. Heisler keeps wanting to go straight and not diverge. When I turn it off and just push it through by hand, it does fine. Pulling it from the front by hand or pushing from the back by hand, it's good going through the turnout. Pulling or pushing the cars through by hand goes ok, too.
When I put power to it, it jumps the inside point and tries to go straight. I clipped the glad hands because they were hanging a little low. I filed the point down where it contacts the rail and still no luck. The point on this one are pretty loose. I guess I'll have to get another one.
I have some more standard DCC turnouts but I can't fit them in anywhere. All my turnouts are DCC.