Work Session

I am having a great Christmas break. Yesterday, Jack came back over and offered to work for his time running the trains. I gladly accepted - of course, the micro brew beers he brought just sweetened the offer! Anyway, we spent some time sculpting the hillside and tunnel area in Hermanie and talked alot about the way the mine is oriented. I had designed the track layout and built the module before I bought the Walthers mine kit and as the photo shows below, it's sort of backwards to the optimal orientation. The shift leading into the mountain is at the top of the rear structure, facing the viewer, so there would need to be at least a small hillside in the right front corner of the module. Also, the truck loading building (with the black base) blocks the view of the tracks and makes operations more challenging than necessary.

Since we had the skyboard down to work on the Hermanie hillside (just left of the photo view), we talked about moving the track (I really didn't want to do that!) and finally, Jack turned the mine around and we figured if shorten track WCC 3 it would fit pretty well. We took down the truck loading building and I think it will really open the module. Stay tuned for a new photo.

We did run trains and I say things went pretty smooth. Jack might not agree. I thought moving the IR port from the Irwin Yard to the Hermanie module would improve things so the yard operator (me) would not block the signals. According to Jack, I shift my position from the last operating session and was still blocking his path when he was wireless! The real challenge is that the Digitrax panels stop in the Irwin Yard, I still need to add the 2 remaining panels in E. McKeesport and West Staging. I told Jack the challenge I had creating the LocoNet cables and he said he would give it a try. Long story short, he was able to build the 2 cables, cutout the panel location in E. McKeesport and now we have control panels from end to end of the layout.

It was a very fruitful day!

The Big Picture

Last week, I was talking about the first operating session with a co-worker, Vic. He enjoyed the stories I was telling but said he could not visualize the layout based on the blog entries ... so, here's the big picture. Fortunately, my basement is open enough that I can step back and take a couple overview pictures.

First, the layout is L-shaped running across almost the entire back wall (as you come down the staircase) of the basement, approximately 24' in length. The L is on the left as you face the layout and runs another 14' - enough for some mainline run but mostly I like switching trains. In fact, this is one of the things that Lisa keeps shaking her head - why don't I have a circle to run the trains continuously. Sometimes, I wish I did have a loop so I could break the trains in or run them in the background while I work on some scenery but for the most part, I like this configuration.

To help people orient, when you face the layout you are looking north - so, like a map, west is always to the left and east is to the right. Above is a picture of the layout from the closest part as you walk into the basement, the West Staging yard. This yard provides the trains that come from the railroads off the layout. Trains pass under the Route 30 highway bridge onto the layout proper and enter East McKeesport. One of the key points of interest here is the interchange with the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (P&LE) railroad. This is also where the May Stern Furniture factory is located, a fascinating structure that I will blog about in the future.

As the trains passes around the curve onto the long arm of the L-shape, heading east, it passes through downtown Irwin and the Irwin yard. A branch line off the Irwin yard curves around onto a 2' x 4' peninsula that projects out from the layout and is the Westmoreland Coal Company (WCC) Mine No. 4 in Hermanie PA. The PRR mainline continues past the Irwin yard, passing over a railroad truss bridge (not sure if this will be the B&O or another line) and terminates in the East Staging yard.

And that ... is the big picture!

First REAL Operating Session

A fellow Cub Scout Leader and friend of mine, Jack, stopped over several weeks ago to drop of some scout papers and asked to see the layout. I showed him my embarrassing progress and he offered to help. Over the weeks I managed to get a second Digitrax DT-402 infrared controller, a little more scenery done (like around Dailey Coal & Fuel), create my own Employee Time Table (which I'll post sometime) and generally get the trains to run.


On Thursday, he came back over to run trains. It was a blast! We both had a great time. Jack thought "running trains" would be driving them forward and back. I had a plan to actually operate the trains. First he ran an eastbound train through the layout to get a feel for the throttle and then a west bound through freight. I had him take a local over to East McKeesport and spot some cars while I made up a couple of trains in the Irwin Yard and ran a couple of mine runs to Westmoreland Coal Company (WCC) Mine No. 4 in Hermanie. Jack was doing pretty well when I checked on him. He had a particularly difficult tank car to spot at the West Penn Power siding and I was impressed he was able to hook the engine up and push it back. He was a little sheepish when he said he pushed it back with his hand!

Below, Jack works the PRR-P&LE interchange in East McKeesport.

So Jack learned the game "challenge" of operating trains and I learned some really valuable lessons on the PRR Irwin district.

1. It works. Two people operated trains and rarely got in each other's way.
2. The P&LE crossing over the PRR mainline is confusing to novices - hard to tell how to get from one track to the other. Have to point this out before I send other newbies there to spot cars in East McKeesport or pick up or drop off an interchange.
3. The IR receiver is in the worst spot possible! I kept blocking Jack's line of sight, since the IR receiver is right where the Irwin yardmaster is always standing! 
4. Jack also had a great idea for my mountain problem which view block separating Irwin, the east staging yard and Hermanie.
   

Oh, and on the second local he took to East McKeesport, he spotted the hopper car behind the tank car on the West Penn  Power siding ... without using his hands!
Looking forward to another operating session or two before the end of the year!

Before And After

Earlier this year I figured an industry for the odd P&LE siding that appears to run right off the layout. In fact, once I get a fascia mounted, I plan to put a small piece of plexi-glass to be the "end" of the rail for that track.  Since I am modeling the late 1950s, I thought a coal and fuel oil company would be interesting, especially a little family run business. I came up with Dailey Coal & Fuel, named after my co-worker, Paul. This past week, I added a little scenery just to spruce up the spur a little. All I need now is a sign ... and that darn fascia!

Before ....

After

More Awesome Finds

Recently, I had a chance to stop into one of my favorite hobby shops, T&K Hobbies in Bridgeport OH. This fantastic store is pretty far from my house ... on the other side of the state! .... but on the way to my parents house so I try to stop in when I can. I always find a couple of car kits marked down to what I consider "train show" prices, and there is a huge selection of parts, details, cars, engines, and scenery materials. I could easily spend 3 hours browsing because there are so many nooks and crannies to the store ... not to mention the huge layout in the center of the store. T&K is where I found the Heinz Pickle Car that I like so much.

Anyway, this particular trip yielded a really special find - more detail parts. For less than $2 apiece (Ok, one was $2.50!) I got a collection of lathe's, drill presses, work benches, etc. to detail the interior of a couple of the industries on the layout. I already have a couple in mind for the ground floor of LAS Fabrics. Imagine a bandsaw shaped machine that looks like it could be an industrial sized sewing machine, with a piece a fabric draped over the table and a scale size woman standing in front of the machine. All of this visible through the large pane window with interior lighting.

Cant' wait!