That has got to be some of the neatest wiring I have seen. Mine so far looks like a spagetti factory in the works! LOL!!!
New layout in the works.
- Thread starter nolatron
- Start date
Yep, I know it takes time- and a lot of it (money too, especially with digital, of which I'm also using Digitrax), but it will be worth it in the end and besides- Rome wasn't built in a day.
I typically don't get much time to work on the layout during the week anymore as I'm on baby duty from when I get home from work until I go to bed, so most of my hobby time is on the weekend now. Here's what've I worked on since the last update.
The Dixie River bridge now has track on it. I used Micro Engineering Bridge Flex Track. ME track is pretty darn cool. Flex track can bent to the curve you want and it'll hold it's shape on it's own. Track looks real nice. Temped to do the upper level in ME track, and if I like it redo the lower level. We'll see. But here's two shots of the bridge.
The crossing in the background will be a BNSF mainline crossing.
I need to get a wider shot of this, but on the corner just before the bridge I decided to add a tunnel here. This is the west side entrance (On the lower level, West is going to the right)
And lastly I marked out the track location for the GERN plant and will probably glue this down later today or possibly sneak it in during naptime during the week.
The Dixie River bridge now has track on it. I used Micro Engineering Bridge Flex Track. ME track is pretty darn cool. Flex track can bent to the curve you want and it'll hold it's shape on it's own. Track looks real nice. Temped to do the upper level in ME track, and if I like it redo the lower level. We'll see. But here's two shots of the bridge.
The crossing in the background will be a BNSF mainline crossing.
I need to get a wider shot of this, but on the corner just before the bridge I decided to add a tunnel here. This is the west side entrance (On the lower level, West is going to the right)
And lastly I marked out the track location for the GERN plant and will probably glue this down later today or possibly sneak it in during naptime during the week.
Made some more progress this afternoon:
First I secured all the track down for the GERN plant.
Then I cut and attached the fascia for the lower level lights.
Here's another shot of the corner tunnel I'm going to add. Couldn't really decide what to do with this area, so I thought a little tunnel cutting through the edge of a cliff would look good.
And lastly just a shot of how the wiring panel looks today with the turnout wiring RJ-11 Boxes.
First I secured all the track down for the GERN plant.
Then I cut and attached the fascia for the lower level lights.
Here's another shot of the corner tunnel I'm going to add. Couldn't really decide what to do with this area, so I thought a little tunnel cutting through the edge of a cliff would look good.
And lastly just a shot of how the wiring panel looks today with the turnout wiring RJ-11 Boxes.
Ordered a new kit from Pikestuff today to expand the GERN plant.
I'll build it up so it's about half as deep as normally intended so it'll be more of a backdrop building, and it'll go to the left of the kraft mill with an interconnecting pipe bridge. Not sure if I want to paint it to match the color of the mill building or go with some other color yet.
Ordered a new kit from Pikestuff today to expand the GERN plant.
I'll build it up so it's about half as deep as normally intended so it'll be more of a backdrop building, and it'll go to the left of the kraft mill with an interconnecting pipe bridge. Not sure if I want to paint it to match the color of the mill building or go with some other color yet.
I built that kit for my little pike. It's a good kit, especially if you want to kitbash.
I decided to go ahead and make all of my industrial siding turnouts manual controlled, mainly for cost reasons. No sense in spending, for example, almost $80 on turnouts and mounts for the 3 GERN turnouts that won't see as much action as the mainline turnouts will. I also feel manual control will just be easier to operate for quicker switching maneuvers, etc.. So I opted to use Humpyard throws. I already had two on had and got them installed on the GERN industry.
First I drilled a whole underneath the layout and ran up the two guide cables.
Since the lower level is mostly on 1.5" of foam, I needed to mount the cable above the plywood bench top, so I made some trenches to lay the cable in, and then assembled the throw mechanism.
I then used some hot glue and some Liquid Nails to fill in the gaps to secure the cable.
Well, now I needed someplace to mount the throws, so I finished up the lower fascia.
And then finally mounted the turnout throw to the fascia.
And tada!
First I drilled a whole underneath the layout and ran up the two guide cables.
Since the lower level is mostly on 1.5" of foam, I needed to mount the cable above the plywood bench top, so I made some trenches to lay the cable in, and then assembled the throw mechanism.
I then used some hot glue and some Liquid Nails to fill in the gaps to secure the cable.
Well, now I needed someplace to mount the throws, so I finished up the lower fascia.
And then finally mounted the turnout throw to the fascia.
And tada!
Nice. I was beginning to think with all the tortoise/wabbits/hares that you were made of gold 
I like the look of the fascia in the last two shots. Good to see the progress.
I like the look of the fascia in the last two shots. Good to see the progress.
Nice. I was beginning to think with all the tortoise/wabbits/hares that you were made of gold
Heh. I wish
Thanks. I still need to do some touching up with making all the corners flush and filling in with caulk to smooth 'em out. Then will eventually paint them all this midnight black color I got from Lowes.
Thought I'd shoot a little tour video of the layout today showing the latest progress. Enjoy!
YouTube - layout tour
YouTube - layout tour
Yup. Just got mine delivered today. They look fantastic getting pulled behind the Big Boy. The lights on the observation car are a nice touch too, I didn't know it was going to come with those.
Nolatron,
Lately, mostly because of you, I've been toying around with the idea of adding a helix and a second level onto a new layout I'm designing. If you see a spike in the amount of views to your thread, it's probably because of me as I have been visiting your thread often looking at your helix and how you constructed it for ideas. I think, if it becomes reality, I'm going to go with a 12" radius and a 3% grade. I still have not decided how much height I want to achieve - not too high but not too low either!
Lately, mostly because of you, I've been toying around with the idea of adding a helix and a second level onto a new layout I'm designing. If you see a spike in the amount of views to your thread, it's probably because of me as I have been visiting your thread often looking at your helix and how you constructed it for ideas. I think, if it becomes reality, I'm going to go with a 12" radius and a 3% grade. I still have not decided how much height I want to achieve - not too high but not too low either!
Not a whole lot of changes since the last update. I finished the mainline on the lower level and began fiddling with the staging bridge. It works pretty well.
This weekend I'm gonna get some hobby pine board to glue to the side for protection againt stuff falling off. I also added a switch to turn power on/off to the staging tracks.
This weekend I'm gonna get some hobby pine board to glue to the side for protection againt stuff falling off. I also added a switch to turn power on/off to the staging tracks.
