A New Era

Well, the entire train is now at Helenwood except for my modeling desk (even the drawers have been moved!) and the twins N-scale 2'x4' module. Eric and I were able to set up E. McKeesport and the Irwin yard against opposite walls and at the new height - 3" lower than before - so I can get a feel for how things will work out. The new height does seem to make a difference reaching across the 30" wide E. McKeesport section while still high enough not to feel like you are looking down at the trains. The lower height may be an issue when I move the modeling desk under this section, where it was for a long time, and I may have to narrow the fascia so I don't bang my head!

Now the next step is to design the new layout. I would like to build on what I learned, liked and did not like on the last layout. Not counting the N-scale module, this will be my 5th layout - my original under-the-bed set Dad built, my first apartment shelf layout, my 4'x8' folded loop at Kenosha, and the last district which lasted long enough to have a name - Irwin District! The new layout will still be called Irwin District and this is what I liked:

• Linear east-west running trains that only went through a scene once. 
• Lots of sidings for operations and switching activities.
• A decent sized online yard for build and breaking down the trains.
• Interchange with P&LE to provide more interesting  operations.

But what I would like to change:

• A loop so I can run a continuous train in the background (operational challenge as the PITT-35 roars through the scene!) or to break in new locomotives. This will also help Lisa who could not understand why my point-to-point layout did not have a loop of track.
• Longer offline staging yards with the shortest track long enough for the longest train that will travel end to end.
•  At least two tracks for the P&LE staging, again long enough for the trains. 
• All Atlas #4 switches. I reused a couple of Shinohara (now Walthers) switches that I could not seem to wire/isolate correctly, creating dead tracks.
• Gray painted roadbed, glue track (no permanent nails).

There are probably more things I want to change, but that is a start. With a 10' x 10' space (actually, I have about 4" inches in both directions but I am reserving that), and moving the staging yards outside the room into the garage, I have two basic configurations that I am trying to figure out which one is better.

Trackplan 1 - Dogbone

The first plan shows the benchwork for a dogbone, where the lobes at each end would be a loop providing a continuous run. The advantage of this plan is that the center is completely open so you want into the layout area. The main disadvantage is that to the trains passing through each scene only once, I have to place the back track behind mountains or buildings - so half of the travel time, the train would be out of sight.

Trackplan 2 - Loop

The other option is a loop, completely enclosing the center area which creates either a duck under (with the current track height, this would be more than a nod under!) or a lift out section like a bridge. The right side track could pass through the garage so you would not see the trains actually running around the track. I am leaning more towards this plan at the moment and if I do this, ask me about the lift out when I am 60!

Of course, I could give up the continuous run and go back to the point to point layout design like the last Irwin District. In a way, it's fun to imagine all the possibilities but I tend to fall into analysis-paralysis at this stage of layout building and after operating trains with my friends, I want to get something back up and moving soon.

Then again, Eric and Jack may help be my motivation!

Disassembled

Well, the layout is officially disassembled! After disconnecting the bus wires that ran the layout from end to end, I cut the track and base (pink insulation) with an old serrated kitchen knife and unbolt the sections in 6 sections. The 4' west staging and 4' Herminie pennisula where no brainers. The 30" wide section of the layout that was East McKeesport from the Rt 30 overpass to the curve into downtown Irwin was easily removed. I wanted to preserve as much of the Irwin yard as I could since I plan to reuse this and possibly East McKeesport, so I removed the 4' module between the two (representing basically downtown Irwin). The remaining section was the track out of Irwin into the east staging yard.

As I write this, 2 of the sections are at the new house and I cut 3" off the legs for Irwin yard and East McKeesport. Hopefully, Eric D and I can move the remaining modules tomorrow (except for Herminie, each one is 8' long!!) and set up Irwin and E McKeesport to test the new height (hoping for a better reach over the 30" wide East McKeesport) and begin to visualize the new layout!

Except ... stacked all the under layout components in the train room so tonight I think I need to go over and make sure nothing is higher than 48". On to the next phase!

Last run on Irwin District

The last official run on the PRR Irwin District was PITT-35, a transfer from Greensburg to Pittsburgh that stops in Irwin for any west bound cars. After this run, I used the engines to pull all the cars into the Irwin yard and pack them away in boxes. All the buildings were removed and safely stored along with trees and other loose items. As I write this, all the fascia is off and the sky & light valence over the Herminie mine have been removed. All DCC equipment has been packed and I am disconnecting the bus wires to cut the module into pieces. One challenge I still have to figure out is how I will remove the 14' light bar I mounted over west staging and East McKeesport - its two separate light bars wired together. I may just cut the wire and be done with it since I won't have a 14' section at the new house to mount it.

Enjoy this video of PITT-35 pulling into the west staging yard.

GRN-24 Arriving in East McKeesport

I took some video shots of the current layout just before I begin to disassemble it. Here is the first segment with the first train of the day, GRN-24 leaving Pittsburgh and passing under the Route 30 overpass. The engine passes West Penn Power and Stetson Convention Service in the background, with the P&LE serviced sidings in the foreground including Dailey Coal & Fuel. The video ends with GRN-24 rounding the bend in front of the May Stern furniture factory and passing the P&LE crossing bound for downtown Irwin.

Note that I do not have sound equipped locomotives and what you are hearing is actually just the motor noise of the engine. It actual sounds pretty realistic!

I Can See For Miles and Miles

I did get the walls painted in the new layout room and tonight will hopefully be able to paint the cement floor. All of a sudden, we went from crawling along to moving at warp speed. I am still working on videoing the last run of the Irwin District but I have already started marking the light valences, fascia, and legs so that a could reassemble the layout if necessary.

Onward!

This wall will likely be the Irwin Yard - note the door to the backyard is just to the right of the photo.

Left is door to backyard, right is door to garage.

Sun setting on PRR Irwin District

I decided that I need to take disassembling the layout this week. Tonight I hope to paint the drywall in the new train room sky blue and later this week paint the concrete floor. I want to get the layout pieces to the new room to arrange them to begin to visualize how they will fit.

Just before I start disconnecting the electrical and removing the light valences, I will try to record some video on the trains making a final run across the district. Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it turns out.

New track plan update

I have not been able to do much on the room preparation this week other than the initial spackling of the nail holes. An hour or two to sand those smooth and apply a second patch for some of the deeper creases and I can paint the room. One of the items I have been debating back and forth on is what to do with the electrical outlets. They are higher on the wall than a typical bedroom and Lisa suggested mounting the layout right above the outlets with a hole cut out in the 1" x 4" to access the outlet. Turns out I would have to install the layout an inch higher than it currently stands and lately I have been considering lowering the layout a couple of inches. I like the perspective of it sitting at 52" off the floor but E. McKeesport is 30" deep and you really have to stretch to reach the switch to access Stetson Convention Service. I am thinking of 48" - still high enough for a good perspective but more workable.

Anyway, I was talked to Eric D about lowering all 3 outlets and covering the existing outlets with a blank plate that I would paint sky blue. With his background as an electrician, he pointed out my idea would create 3 new junctions which increases the potential for a problem. He suggested adding a new junction before the 3 outlets split off the line and then run my own line where I need it but I told him the outlets are on 3 separate walls and may not share the same source. We were sitting on Eric's patio, using a kid's chalk board to sketch our ideas when Lisa says, "Can't you just leave the outlets where they are and cover them with trees or something?" Bing, the light came on. She was dead on to a great idea. Mount the layout on the wall at whatever height I want (in fact, may try a couple to see what works best), cut a 2"x 2" hole in the layout surface to run up power cords and place a 1/2 building or removable hillside in front of it. Perfect!

Damn, she's good!

Back to the track plan, I am getting better at manipulating XtrkCAD and the plan for the new layout is starting to take shape. I've measured and remeasured the room space and it is definitely 10' 4" square. I am trying to keep the extra 4" as a margin since I know things will shift a little from the plan to the actual implementation. I really like using offline staging to simulate traffic going beyond the layout, so I am planning two narrow shelves in the garage to provide this. In addition, I want to move the P&LE staging to make it more accessible and expand to 2 tracks if possible. Finally, I would like to reuse as much of the current layout that I can. I like the east-west flow (Greensburg offline east staging, Herminie-Irwin-East McKeesport online, and Pittsburgh offline west staging). Below is the current plan with some placeholder curves to give me an idea of where the 4 corners will fit to make the loop.

Preparing the train room

One of the comments that I have read in the magazine articles and How To books is preparing the room BEFORE you begin to build the layout. The current layout is an unfinished basement, which I did not want to spend the time or money to finish before I started building the layout. It still looks very nice and is more function over form, but it did put some constraints on the railroad. For example, the L-shaped layout is a series of 2'x4' or 30" x 4' modules bolted together with L-shaped, height adjustable legs. The sky backdrop is masonite attached to the back of the layout (see my either blog post on the fun I had attaching this!) Finally, the lighting is mounted on supports behind the backdrop across the entire length of the layout.

But live and learn. This week, I have been spending the evenings preparing the new train space in the house on Helenwood. This room behind the garage has a poured cement floor and drywall so once I detached the old workbench and (with Lisa's help) dragged it out into the main garage, I washed the walls and spackled them. Today, I stopped at Lowe's for another gallon of sky blue paint for the walls and a special cement paint for the floor. I plan to mount the layout right to the studs behind the drywall with either angle braces or at least recessed legs so I don't trip on them. The drywall will be the sky board and I plan to mount the light valences again directly to the wall about 18" above the layout which is the same distance as the current layout.

Above the lights will be an around the room shelf  for books, memorabilia, a TV for watching train DVDs and speakers for my train sounds - none of my locomotives are sound equipped and since the room is so small, train sounds coming from above should sound good.

I will be busy over the next several days with other commitments but I hope to begin painting the room sometime next week.