Windy and the End Around

The guardians angels assigned to us put in some overtime but did a great job, Hurricane Sandy passed overhead but was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time of its visit. Those Jersey swamp pines did a great job of slowly it down. The Jersey shore got brutalized but we did well. Most of the time the winds "merely" gusted to about 50 mph. So far we missed most of the rain (less than 5 inches after predicting 5-10"). The storm picked up speed instead of lingering. We still have power (only flickered 1-2 times). The 4 state area "only" has about 1,000,000 customers without power (prediction: possibly 10,000,000). Our backyard retention pond got full but didn't overflow. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Spent the time constructing one of the ends needed to join the Westville/Brooklawn and Woodbury modules. Offset the Woodbury modules by 4 feet lengthwise (over 2 modules, a 12' span) so it doesn't look as much like a big loop. Since I despise open 180 degree curves I will put both sides of the end into sloping cuts (we don't have mountains in southern New Jersey - nowhere to hide). The Woodbury side one is legitimate with a highway bridge over the tracks. The other side will enable me to use at least a couple of my 3,000 left over puffball trees!

The center duck-under will be an unsupported 30 inch span of 3/4", 6" wide plywood. Since I raised the tracks to 54-55" (better sightlines) I can swing under it (does rub the sweatshirt hood). If I get more brittle I'll slide under in a chair. I don't think it will sag but if it does, I have enough room to attach a top vertical 1"x2" to give it L girder strength.

I am wrestling, big time, with whether to close the other end now to get trains running by Christmas or going right into phase 3 and curving both ends back up the other wall (Walnut Lane arch bridge, 30th street station, and yard).  If I close it now, I'll have to add 3 temporary 4 track staging yards to be able to run the PRSL schedule. Decisions, decisions! Always more decisions!

The Woodbury modules are ready for ballasting and scenery (all but the Deepwater branch have been wired & tested!).

Next, I will detach (all the 6' modules bolt together) the new end unit and move it to the garage for painting when the humidity drops. Go away (ex-hurricane) Sandy.

 

Oh No! It's a Big Loop.

I understand the financial and space issues, but small loop layouts usually do not hold my interest. When you do one, the structure modeling has to be first class to draw your eyes away from the loop. Folks like Dave Vollmer (http://thevollmerfamily.com/Pennsy/) can pull that off but I doubt very much I could do a good job with my skill set. And you need things like mountains or tall buildings to break up the scenes and hide the loop.

Personally, I would have to bend the tracks and use a lot of tunnels to make the grandkids guess where the trains would appear next. I was fortunate, the track plan I used on my old 4'x8' was very flexible and even allowed significant operations.

To my horror, when I moved the 2 Woodbury modules from the garage to the loft and contemplated adding two temporary end loops to get things running, I will have a flatlands big loop at the end of the Phase 2 construction. 16'x6' but still a big loop with no mountains to hide tracks.

[Phase 3, if it ever gets done, will have both window ends going left to where the desk structure will either be removed or have holes running through it for: 1) the Walnut Lane high arch bridge over the Schuylkill River; 2) Philadelphia's 30th street station (with fake station tracks and the bridge high line transfer tracks); and 3) a yard with a hidden turn-back. (That's a packed 17'+!)]

I believe for the short term I can pull this off with 3 staging yards and still run a challenging operating session running all the scheduled PRSL trains. The morning and evening 6 commuter trains will be covered by 3 regular heavyweight passenger trains and RDCs doing double duty. (The loop will actually come in handy.)

Enough staging and I should be able to run the 6-7 scheduled freight turns that ran through Westville and Woodbury each day. (At least that's the plan!).

 

 

 

 

I Miss It

Well the 4'x8' layout has departed New Jersey and is now getting accustomed to its new home in Alabama. Tim drove 18 hours each way to pick it up and take it home. My boys and I got it moved from the attic to the garage for pick-up (and boy is L-Girder construction (1"x4"s) and plywood (3/4") heavy).  Getting it up and over the loft stair railings and tilted for the trip down the stairs was quite a chore.

The next morning I did my usual ritual of going up to the loft computer, turning it on, and then turning around to switch on the trains to run while I was on the computer. But they were gone! What a strange feeling. Tim sent me some photos. Another strange feeling! I didn't recognize the engines (and just wait 'till he sends me pictures with his SP Daylights - I'll need some tranquilizers).

So temporarily I do not have running trains for the first time in 14 years (unless you count back and forth for 14').

At least the 2 Woodbury modules have been moved up to the loft to join the Westville and Brooklawn modules. I'll have to Jerry-rig some end loops to see some action while I finish the Woodbury modules.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field Trip!

Getting to the track-laying stages of South Woodbury, I figured I would take a field trip, walk along the tracks, and see what was left. The yard is practically gone. The revitalized station remains. The Blasius piano factory was destroyed by fire but the apartments replacing it mirrors its architectural style. It was a trip down memory lane since I used to walk the tracks on my way home from Woodbury High School. More photos can be found at: https://plus.google.com/photos/117979710150548241973/albums#photos/117979710150548241973/albums/5786312270700199073

Woodbury Station refurbished as a restaurant

 

Cooper St looking north to Hunter St bridge

Clock on the station corner

Looking south; Deepwater, Salem branches and the yard veer off to the right; Millville branch to the left

Evergreen Ave underpass

Woodbury Heights

 

 

Woodbury - South - Part 1

Continued some slow progress on the South Woodbury module. The other modules have had box benchwork (16"x6'). This module required the ability to fade out the Deepwater/DuPont branch and possibly duck it under the mainlines to staging so I went back to L-girder construction with a cookie cutter top (22"x6'). I should have some track laid in about a week. Then we deal with the congestion issue.

Train Storage

1) I used to store in regular OfficeMax cardboard containers. They held 116 cars (9 rows of 12 MT cars + 8 spacers in the middle). That left a lot of open space above the cars. To facilitate our house move I cut the boxes down to eliminate the headroom as shown.

 

2) Got some cheap (modus operandi) 5 drawer plastic drawer storage units (~$20). Each of the 5 drawers holds78 MT cars (6x13). Extra vertical space will hold locomotive containers also.

3) My next plan is to put storage under my freestanding "Woodbury" modules. My modules are 16" wide and 6' long.  I have about 12" free space between the legs. I will put a 12" board between the horizontal braces with a 1"x3" board mounted vertically down the middle (screwed in making it a strong "L"/"T" girder) which should perfectly hold 288 MT containers (3 high on both sides).

How to Get Everybody Mad at You:

Model Railroad Forum Thoughts:

Model Railroad forums are a great source of help and information that make the hobby  better. They are a way to acquire new friends with similar interests and grow your skill sets. I believe every modeler should at minimum monitor one site and contribute when they can add something to the group.

A friend led me to the Railwire site (http://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?board=1.0) and I became hooked. Then I realized there were other sites. To name a few:
            nScale.net (http://www.nscale.net/forums/forum.php),
            Trainboard (http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/forumdisplay.php?170-N-Scale),
            nscale.org (http://www.nscale.org/defaulteng.htm)
            Atlas (now defunct)

Personally I definitely object  to people posting the same stuff on multiple forums. They have their own reasons (different friends on each, etc.) but it comes across to me as more ego. (Yes I know I shouldn't judge, please smack me on the hand.) If everyone did that there wouldn't be a reason to have multiple forums.

On several sites I also am annoyed at the excessive use of large emoticons (look at me! look at me!) and the space they take up. But speaking of judging anyway, I have compiled a list of things that I personally like and don't like about each forum. These observations are mostly first impressions and definitely subject to change. (You need to make up your own mind!)


Atlas: Sorry I never got to know you before you closed down. It did have a pervasive reputation of being a site that contained a lot of animated divisive arguments.


nscale.org: I occasionally go to view the layouts. but do not spend much time there.
Pluses:

• Colorful site
• Lots of pictures

Negatives:

• Hard to read
• Significant foreign model railroads (nothing wrong with that; I just do not have an interest in non-North American railroads)

 

Trainboard:
Pluses:

• A lot of good experienced modelers across multiple scales

Negatives:

• Harder to navigate
• Waste too much space at top with clutter; always have to page down at least once
• Search feature hard to use and usually times out
• Admins quick to close topics

 

Railwire:

Pluses:

• A ton of great modelers (especially the Canadians)
• Eastern RR tilt (my preference)
• Easy to get good advice & help (DKS, Conrail 98, Lee Weldon)
• Well organized site
• Strong search capability
• Easy to upload pictures
• A lot of traffic and interesting topics
• Seems to have gotten better with the addition of the Atlas fugitives
• Seems to be the most active (number of topics and participation)

Negatives:

• Won't accept hotmail email addresses for membership
• A lot of insider jokes that clog up the discussions
• People take pride in earning the title "a$$hat" (they could have chosen a less crude title)
• Very opinionated (a lot of "my way is better")
• A couple of  socially inept (nasty), picky participants with Neanderthal attitudes.
• Can be non-family friendly, obnoxious, and proud of it " Irreverence is embraced, instead of frowned upon"

This is an excellent site but this last item is what I consider to be its main drawback. Most people grow up over time but there are some on this site that are proud of their snotty attitudes and very vocal.

nScale.net

Pluses:

• All N Scale
• By far the friendliest and most open
• Family friendly
• The only forum to stay on topic with my question on forum focuses
• Easiest to search for local modelers (unfortunately south Jersey is relatively N scale modeler barren)

Negatives:

• Have yet to uncover many advanced modelers - most seem to have small loop track layouts (certainly OK but I am looking for more)
• Reputation of feeling everything is OK (critics say they: "celebrate mediocrity")
• Picture handling OK but could be easier

Personal conclusions:  I am trapped between Railwire and nScale.net. I can get usually get more good advice from Railwire but am turned off by some participants with immature attitudes. nScale.net is more friendly (less Neanderthals). So for the time being I'll enjoy spending time in both and perhaps get to modify some of my initial observations.

Really wishing them all the best! They all make the hobby better.

So go out and find one that meets your tastes!

N Scale magazine Sept/Oct 2012

Just got a complimentary copy of the Sept/Oct issue of N Scale magazine.

It includes my second article on my 4'x8' layout. This is not an easy read like the first article (see Oct 14, 2011 blog). The first was meant to tell a story. This is designed to show how much can be done on a 4'x8' and attempt to get some armchair railroaders into building mode.

It covers 10 pages and has 30 pictures. [I'll be famous for about 5 minutes.  :-)  ]

So far the only problem I have seen, is that they failed to give David K. Smith the credit for the beautiful track plan drawing he provided. I'll try to get a correction in the follow-up issue.

 

With the next PRSL module rapidly proceeding in the garage, I am afraid the days are numbered for this platform. I will miss it. It was my first layout following 20 years of armchair railroading inactivity (and collecting excessive amounts of trains). Hopefully I can find it a good home (and get at least enough money to replace the turnouts I'll be losing).



Fighting Fires in Westville

I am not a firefighter so I may not know what I am talking about here but one thing that always puzzled me was why Westville's multiple (Union & Independent) fire companies (pre-1980s merger) were both located on the same side of the tracks. (A couple of miles up the road Westville Grove's (Deptford) Tacoma fire company was also on the same side of the tracks.) Granted that side contained the town's small business district but if a fire occurred in the Newbold section and one of the PRSL 100 car trains happened to be going through town that would be an issue. Before the Timber Creek trestle replacement 10 mph speed limits meant the freight trains did not exactly hustle through town.

I vaguely remember talk of one such fire where the fire trucks had to go over the Broadway Timber Creek highway bridge to the first Brooklawn circle, under the railroad overpass, through the second Brooklawn circle and back into Westville on the Gateway Blvd Timber Creek highway bridge to the other side of town to answer a fire call.

I believe the same situation existed (on the other side of the tracks) in Woodbury where the main Friendship fire company and the Colonial fire company also were located on the same side of the tracks.

Later we moved to Woodbury Heights which only had 1 fire company which was located right next to the tracks!

Anyway, the old Independent Fire Co is a half block off my layout (perhaps a background picture off Pine street?). To get the Union Fire Co on the layout I will have to turn their building at the end of Olive street to be able to get a fire truck model on the layout.

So Much Easier This Way

Wiring is much easier when you can tilt the module on the garage floor and not have to worry about hitting your head or squeezing between the bookshelves and the bottom of the layout. Compare this with the last wiring go 'round in my September 1, 2011 post.

Module track work is done. I now have to:

·         Connect the leads
·         Test that everything runs
·         Paint (spray) the track roof brown
·         Ballast the track
·         Put the legs on
·         Raise the original 3 modules 6"
·         Sell off the 4'x8'
·         Move the Woodbury modules up to the loft.

We are going to be here a while!