A Shelf

Having a track plan and then realizing it won't work certainly does set things back a little, but I press on. I started building the shelf over the layout to store kits, 1/2 built structures and some of the more bulky items like bottles of scenic cement ... I think I have a half dozen! I need to keep under the layout relatively clear to store some things from the garage like wood, paint cans, etc.

This 6" wide bracket will be around the 3 walls with either a 10" board or the commercial 11" white shelf, depending on price when I get to the store. In front of this bracket, attached to the shelf will be the 4' florescent light fixtures (with 2 or so 2 footers filling the gaps) and then there will be a 8" tall sky blue valence to hide the lights.

Back to the drawing board

This weekend, the weather was great and I had an opportunity to do some work in the train room. I think I finally figured out a strategy to create the shelving above the layout that will be strong enough to support books, allow me to attach a sky fascia to the front, and provide the mount for lighting all around the layout. I even found some 1" x 4" boards from the old layout lighting valence that I could re-use as the shelf support frame. I started to build the first shelf over the staging yard in the garage. As I moved things around the garage so I could get to the work area, I came to realize something.
This is not going to work.

Twice around point-to-point track plan (v1.5)

I've mentioned a couple times before (here and here), that Bruce has done an exception job creating a trackplan that meets or exceeds all my givens and druthers. I came to some stark realizations this weekend on the negatives on my plan to use both the train room and an area in the garage:

• Tunnels from the garage to the train room will be cold air vents in the winter, since the train room is insulated and the garage is not.
• The garage will be pretty cool, if not down right cold, for the staging yard operator (mole). 
• Engineers will always have to duck under the layout as the bring a train from staging into the train room, and the westbound (coming out of East Staging) will have to hustle to see his engine appear opposite the duck-under. 
• There is no way to operate the staging yard without moving the car out of the garage, and there is no direct path from the staging yard to the train room (have to walk around a lot of stuff!)

So in short, I think the trackplan has everything I wanted, but I think I wanted too much. I am rethinking my givens and druthers list but within new boundaries that I think will allow me to do one of the following:

• U-shaped layout with a yard that provides essentially an out and back, or even a point-to-loop.
• U-shape with a small yard in the middle and make the whole layout an urban depiction of East McKeesport for lots of industrial switching, maybe incorporate an interchange or two.
• O-shaped for continuous run for display but point-to-point for operating.

I am working through these ideas and as I narrow them down, maybe something will grab me. In the meantime, I can still build the shelves above the layout and get the lighting over the layout ... while I figure out what is the layout.

Test Fitting Staging

The track plan is pretty much finalized now and the next step is putting up some shelving. I think I will only have one shelf instead of two so I have more vertical height. Also, I am pretty sure I am going back to the track height of the previous layout which puts "level" track at about 52" off the floor or about chest high to me. This way I can look at the trains, rather than down, and still reach anything 24" deep easily, 30" deep with a step stool. 

Last night I set up one of the 2' x 4' modules in the garage to make sure I had enough space for the car, remaining storage I need and still maneuver at least a little.

In the photo you can see the height of the benchwork and use your imagination to stretch it from the left wall all the way to the door way on the right that goes into the train room. In this photo you can also see I still need to do some work to find storage for the snow shovels and a couple odds and ends. I think once I have the benchwork up, I can store the crates with the boy scout camping gear underneath. The only other problem I have to address is how far down the wall I can place the two step ladders for the single track P&LE staging that is "supposed" to be part of the wall. 

Train Room Shelving

Sometimes, just stepping away from a problem for a while presents a solution. OK  sometimes I have to step away for a couple of weeks!

I want to put some shelves over the layout so I can hang the fluorescent lights and attach the fascia - basically frame the layout space - before I build the benchwork. Part of the reason is a need for storage above where I am working so that I can actually BUILD the benchwork. I have a high enough ceiling for 2 shelves and I was planning on using commercial shelves and brackets but realized that I could not mount the 4' lights under the bottom shelf. I was stumped until I thought about the grid tables I created for the old layout and realized if I create an 8" deep, 10 foot long grid of 1"x 2" or 3" lumber, I can secured that directly into the studs and lay the  bottom shelf on that, leaving about 4"-6" along the front underside of the shelf for the layout lighting. This could work ...

Book shelf over the layout that is strong but leaves room for  the florescent lights strips.

Keeping busy

I am keeping busy in the train room as I continue to mull over the latest ... and I think final ... track plan. While I was traveling for work last week, Lisa did some clean up in the garage and moved a lot of the gardening equipment off the wall that will be the offline staging yard, freeing up a good portion of that space. I still have a lot of tools and things hanging there that I need to find a new storage spot but it's looking hopeful that I can really use the space for the trains ... or most of the space!

I spent last weekend and the beginning of this week unsoldering sections of track from the old layout. All the benchwork has been disassembled, although I have the 2'x4' and 2'x30" modules stacked against the walls. All the old scenery and even the pink insulation subroadbed are gone. Two of the 2'x'4' modules will go into the garage for the staging yards (unless I can squeeze the 30" deep module.... doubt it!) and likely the rest will be scrapped as I switch to L-girder for the benchwork. I may be able to reuse one or two of the modules, or maybe just the frames ... who knows.

First, I want to put up some shelving above the layout for supplies, books, and memorabilia. I have a high enough ceiling I could put in 2 shelves tall enough for magazines or large books and attach the train lighting and sky fascia to the lower shelf. I was all set to pick up the parts from Lowe's to build something like the photo below...but it won't work.

I realized that to have this hold the weight I expected, I would need the vertical supports in every stud, meaning every 16". But my lights are 48" so they won't fit under the bottom shelf.

Back to the drawing board!!

Final track plan ... Look, a squirrel!

I always laugh at how easily we can be distracted and the old joke, "I don't have ADD, I...look a squirrel!" No offense intended, since I think we all suffer from the distractions like this at times. Case in point ... this week I settled on the final design of the new PRR Irwin District as conceived by my friend Bruce.

The new PRR Irwin District track plan .... maybe

Bruce was very patient with me, listening and incorporating nearly every single Given & Druther I had. Key points in this version of the track plan:

• Both east and west bound staging yards outside the train room in the garage
• Staging track for P&LE 
• Interchange with P&LE
• Irwin yard
• Coal mine on a hill in Herminie
• Several sidings for operations

I have complete disassembled the old layout except for E. McKeesport which probably won't survive today. I can reuse some of the benchwork for the staging yard but most will likely be used in the firepit! With the elevations on this track plan, Bruce and I decide that L-girder would be best for seamless rises. 

Well, I can start with the staging yards in the garage and work my way into the train room, except...

There is still not very much room in the garage. We don't have a shed (yet) so the table saw, 4 bikes, shredder/chipper, power mitre saw, camping gear, 4 step ladders cover every spare inch that is not set aside for parking the car. Plus the garden tools are hanging from the peg boards right where the staging yard will be. 

So, maybe I should just have an L-shaped switching layout in the train room and keep it simple. Ah, distractions! 

NMRA Division 3

I used to be a pretty active member of the NMRA Mid Central Region Division 3 group back in the 90s but work and family took a lot of free time and Sunday afternoons were just too busy to stay involved. I still keep up with what the group is doing, mostly following the website and Facebook pages. This past Sunday, they were having Allen McClelland talk about the V&O Railroad. Allen wrote a series of articles for Railmodel Craftsman that later became the book, The V&O Story, that set the standard for creating a model railroad with a purpose. He, along with John Armstrong, Bruce Chubb and Tony Koester, were strong influences on how I developed my operating scheme.

I was able to attend the meeting and the presentation was very enjoyable. Allen talked about the original V&O (I did get a chance to tour this amazing layout once during an open house!!!) which had a last run a few years ago and he showed the new layout in progress. Excellent presentation. I also ran into several guys I knew from my past involvement with the group - Dave Reid, Teri M., Wil Davis, Merv and a few others - many of whom remembered me.

I think I will have to get involved again!