progress on my layout

viperman

Active Member
Finally decided to create my own thread, to update The Gauge on my progress.

First up is a collection of 23 old shots:
First shot is as I got it, after I added the 36" legs to support it
mytrainset-1.jpg

mytrainset-2.jpg

mytrainset-3.jpg

mytrainset-4.jpg

mytrainset-5.jpg

mytrainset-6.jpg

mytrainset-7.jpg

mytrainset-8.jpg

mytrainset-9.jpg

mytrainset-10.jpg
 

Nazgul

Active Member
Viperman....you didn't waste any time startin' a thread, did you! sign1
lookin' good. How about some details...like size of benchwork, locale your modeling, features your planning.....That info will help us "see" the layout through your eyes. Thanks for sharing
 

viperman

Active Member
Thanks everyone for the responses and the kind words. The layout is on 2 4x8 sheets of plywood, side by side to make 8x8. In the very first photo, that is exactly how I got it from the other guy (thank you craigslist!), with the 2x4 support legs I attached. The 4x8s have a 2x4 running all along the outer edge, with ribs going across every couple feet or so. You can see in the 4th picture, I added a 2x4 going across in the middle gap, to mount the power source and switches for the turn-outs.
Setting is all going to be lush vegetation. As you will be able to tell in the next pictures, I am working on another hill, I will have the lake, and probably a big hill/mountain in the lower left, still debating a few ideas there. Dirt back road in the forest with a rally car ripping around, old abandoned cemetery, mountain with foliage and wildlife, etc. Just want a peaceful small town look in the middle of a valley between hills. Something to that effect.
 

viperman

Active Member
Here are a couple more shots taken this morning.

Here is the hill I've been working on lately. Its shaping up nicely
CIMG0083.JPG


And another overall shot. You can see the hill in the previous pic in the lower left corner. The cardboard stuck to the side was for me to use as a template to get the shape and size I want
CIMG0081.JPG
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
viperman, WOW!:eek: , looks like your layout is off to a GREAT start!:thumb: are you going DC or DCC? NICE UP engine!:thumb::D may i ask what time setting(60-70? 70-80? or what?)you are doing the layout in? i cant wait to see MORE progress shots;) . keep us updated.:D -Deano
 

viperman

Active Member
Modeling modern times. Probably won't look like it with the loco's I would be running. My one GOOD engine is an Athearn BN GP40-2. The UP engines in the pics are both from older train sets, and have the black bulky horn couplers, not kadee's. They are both MUCH pickier about how clean the tracks are, and neither runs anywhere as nice as the Athearn. Gotta love Life-Like.
It is wired up for DC right now, but if I actually had money to spend, I'd probably look into DCC. I'm not too worried about that at this time.
 

jasonboche

New Member
Nice layout progress!

Inquiring minds want to know about that rack mount server sitting underneath the desk in some of the pictures. :)
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
viperman, GLAD to hear you got your computer back!:thumb: :D , SORRY to hear you lost everything:( . any progress on your layout? :D-Deano
 

Gil Finn

Active Member
YOu are an industrous fellow. It is as much work to load all those pics as it is to make the bench work.

Very well done.
 

viperman

Active Member
Deano - it is nice to have the computer back. Sucks that I lost everything, not to mention the problem didn't get fixed :curse:

Wickman - Thank you for the kind words. Are you talking about how I jumped from carving the lake to building the hill, or from the tunnel in the upper left corner to the present hill? I'm having fun with this hill, and it is shaping up nicely.

Gil - all I had to do for benchwork was cut 36" legs out of 2x4s, and screw them into place. I sill would like to add crossbraces once I get the area under the layout cleared, and figure out a good way to build them, and what lumber to use.

I'm glad I posted the pics here when I did, because now I don't have them in computer. Lucky break huh?
 

viperman

Active Member
I'm also now tossing the idea of creating a logging area on the layout. Somewhat thinking of the area the lake is carved out, but also the area to the lower right with the bigger blocks, which is the same area I have many other ideas for too. Decisions decisions
 

Canopus

Member
Hmm, the only thing I can see wrong with that is you've maybe got your embankments a little bit too close to the tracks... from experience, railway builders in real life seem to usually like to leave about 6 foot or so between the edge of the sleepers and the bottom of the bank.

Having said that, I have seen a few lines where the actual trackbed is only as wide as the track itself. So long as you have no clearance issues and you don't mind it being a little unrealistic I guess it doesn't matter too much.

Other than that looks good, you're progressing real quick, and that's the way to do it. Slow progress puts people off, or it ends up getting them bored of the project - that's why I like to have all the materials I'll need for a project ready before I start, so that I won't have to stop and wait for something to arrive - nothing like waiting on a delivery for dampening enthusaism!
 

viperman

Active Member
I started work on it about a year ago now. The first couple months I was just trying to get the wiring done to be able to run trains, then decided to change the track plan, then change it again. Since then, I haven't really worked on it a whole lot. The whole time I have been working on it, has only been on the weekends. The layout is at my parents' house, which is an hour drive to the NW from where I stay during the week. There are no clearance issues, all the cars I have can make the turns without brushing the foam or anything. I've made sure of this. As for realism, I'm not worried. This is my layout, coming from my mind and my hands, ya know? Thank you for the input though, it is appreciated. Only thing is now, I'm trying to figure out a way to make that outer loop, at the top of the pictures, elevated, but keep it somewhat realistic with the inner loop running so close in that area. Any ideas? This part of it I actually do want to look realistic. ;)
 

Canopus

Member
viperman said:
I started work on it about a year ago now. The first couple months I was just trying to get the wiring done to be able to run trains, then decided to change the track plan, then change it again. Since then, I haven't really worked on it a whole lot. The whole time I have been working on it, has only been on the weekends. The layout is at my parents' house, which is an hour drive to the NW from where I stay during the week. There are no clearance issues, all the cars I have can make the turns without brushing the foam or anything. I've made sure of this. As for realism, I'm not worried. This is my layout, coming from my mind and my hands, ya know? Thank you for the input though, it is appreciated. Only thing is now, I'm trying to figure out a way to make that outer loop, at the top of the pictures, elevated, but keep it somewhat realistic with the inner loop running so close in that area. Any ideas? This part of it I actually do want to look realistic. ;)

Elevated eh? How elevated are we talking... an inch? a foot?

Obviously a foot isn't going to be possible... I'll tell you what I think about what's possible from just looking at the photos... I'd say you could maybe get 1.5 to 2.5 inches of elevation, tops. The outer loop on the left hand side has a nice big long run to go up hill, but the outer loop on the right hand side doesn't have much room, since it just comes out of a turnout half way up the board. What I'd suggest is, going counterclockwise, you start the gradient just as it comes out of the turnout, so that it finishes climbing in the middle of the board. Then you can have it going back downhill on that long straight on the left just after it curves. That should give you near enough realistic gradients, depending on how much elevation you give it.

How does that sound? (PS I may have to illustrate what I mean, so if I don't make sense just say so and I'll post a picture demonstrating it)
 
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