TheRailwire
General Discussion => Layout Engineering Reports => Topic started by: DKS on March 07, 2018, 03:28:27 PM
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(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/gnrb.gif)
My success at making Code 80 sectional track more palatable (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44158.0 (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44158.0)) gave me the confidence to share this layout project. The origins are kind of strange/goofy: whilst sorting through a box of used track one afternoon a couple of years ago, I came across an old Minitrix curved turnout, and I had a sudden rush of nostalgia about one of my very first layouts, the White River and Northern I. Given how sucky life was at the time (and still is, regrettably), I thought a trip down memory lane would help raise my spirits.
So, I scrounged around for the materials to build a newer version of that layout from 1973, which was based on an old article in Model Railroader by Bill Barron proposing a layout in a coffee table:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/misc/barron_layout.jpg)
I adapted the HO layout to N Scale, making it a 3-foot diameter mini-layout:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/white_river/WRN_0005.gif)
After a false start (which is almost always to be expected when I start any new project), I arrived at a gently-modified version to build anew, using modern construction materials, but old Minitrix track:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/round2.jpg)
I made a new lightweight base from Gatorfoam, and laid the track using 3M VHB double-sided foam tape:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0574.jpg)
Along the way I changed the theme of the layout from a New England logging line to a New England granite quarry line. When I made that choice, I did a deep dive to learn about old granite quarries and the railroads that served them. Consequently, I chose to base it mostly on the Hardwick & Woodbury Railroad in Vermont, which used three Shays for motive power.
I started kitbashing structures for the layout, using mostly Republic Locomotive Works Nn3 kits I'd stockpiled for a never-built layout project back in the early 2000s. But my kitbashing efforts turned out much better-looking than the track, and thus I experimented with a way to improve its appearance.
Over the coming days I'll post more about the layout.
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Oh sh!t yo, a new DKS micro-layout thread! It's Christmas in March! :D
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Cool David. My dad built a coffee table N/Z layout in the early 80's.
(http://www.cgwmodeler.com/picturepost/coffee028.jpg)
(http://www.cgwmodeler.com/picturepost/coffee029.jpg)
Jason
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Some of us are caught up ;)
btw did you see this:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Drawing:%20va0450&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true
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Some of us are caught up ;)
btw did you see this:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Drawing:%20va0450&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true
Yeah, I know there are a few regular followers of my personal site here, but most are not, so this is all new to them. I've not seen those drawings, but I do have a bunch of blueprints from a company that specializes in building "authentic" water wheels commercially. Who knew such things exist? Anyway, thanks for that link--now I know way more about that mill!
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Oh sh!t yo, a new DKS micro-layout thread! It's Christmas in March! :D
ever the eloquent professor. And ever true!
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Yes!
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Yes, indeed. The first new layout thread I've found interesting since we lost a lot of N scalers to HO layouts. Maybe Chris333's next Erie-themed new HCD layout is somewhere in the near future....
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Thanks, all, it's nice to know that my silly trip down nostalgia lane is of interest. It's certainly going in directions I'd not foreseen.
As it stands now, most of my efforts are centered on the track. I'd previously done quite a bit of kitbashing for the layout already, and as good as those models came out, I still wasn't satisfied. It wasn't to do with how good they were, but instead a sense of "ownership": they were still somebody else's models that I had a hand in modifying. So I've started work building all the structures myself from scratch, tapping into the services of a friend with a laser. I'll start posting some of those adventures shortly; meanwhile, I need to recover from the nor'easter. What a mess.
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@David K. Smith - I read your structure post on your website and saw you mention your former partner.
Would that perhaps be Karin? Is she producing model kits again?
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Would that perhaps be Karin? Is she producing model kits again?
Yes and no.
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As promised, the first of the structure projects.
Originally I'd bashed three little backwoods homes from the parts of a Branchline Laser-Arts kit for three company houses. But the results weren't especially interesting. And thus began an odyssey. A few years ago, while I was in the midst of building my own home, I'd made a custom laser-cut model of the guest house I'd built (below)—which, as it happens, is where I'm currently living. But that's a whole other story...
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/my_cabin.jpg)
Recently, when I came across the photo of the model I'd built (below), a great many things transpired. First, it occurred to me that it was perfect for the layout, and so I started working on it again. It also inspired me to resurrect the model and improve it.
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_8310.jpg)
After three rounds of revisions, I finally nailed the model design, and I'm quite pleased with the results.
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0812.jpg)
Next up, a few more ramshackle homes for Rock Bottom, inspired principally by this reference image:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/town.jpg)
Incidentally, one might accuse me of conjuring a cutesy theme-related railroad name, but actually Greystone was inspired by the Redstone Quarry in Conway, New Hampshire (an old haunt of mine in my youth). Meanwhile, Rock Bottom represents my emotional—and physical and financial—state; it was serendipity that it sounded quarry-related. That said, given the somewhat whimsical nature of the layout, it all certainly fits.
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Next up: the grist mill. Originally I was going to use the Branchline Laser-Arts grist mill kit for the G&RB. Based on the many reference photos I'd gathered, however, it seemed the kit was a work of pure fantasy, so I revised it. Worse, the kit's water wheel was almost laughably unrealistic, so I bashed a new one.
Before:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/la_mill.jpg)
After:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_5133.jpg)
However, after I began to pursue a new direction for the houses of Rock bottom, I was inspired to go whole-hog and design my own grist mill from scratch. I spent a week just collecting and studying over a hundred reference images so I could produce a unique new structure representing a believable blend of styles and features found on real-world grist mills—no two of which are alike. I drew elements principally from the three small mills shown below.
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/grist_mill_ref_3.jpg)
Cades Cove Mill in Tennessee (above) has a terrific backwoods feel.
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/grist_mill_ref_2.jpg)
I like the overall proportions of Mabry's Mill in Virginia—at least what can be seen here. It's actually larger, but the rest is out of sight.
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/grist_mill_ref_1.jpg)
Glade Creek Grist Mill in West Virginia provides a cornucopia of details. I've just completed the fourth round of revisions, and very soon I'll receive the parts for (hopefully) the final test-build. In the meantime, here's a little taste of things to come: the successful test-build of the sluice:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0828.jpg)
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Dare I say it, but that cabin would be a perfect NZT kit. 8)
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Dare I say it, but that cabin would be a perfect NZT kit. 8)
Funny you should say that... this is the actual final laser cutting artwork...
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/01-001.gif)
More at another time...
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I'm pretty sure the Glade Creek Mill is a reproduction. The real one washed away or something like that. The narrow gauge Mann's Creek railroad ran right up on the hill.
Yep built in 1976:
https://www.loc.gov/item/2015634250/
This 3' gauge trestle was about 1/2 mile down the creek from where the mill is now:
http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,275629,275631
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I'm pretty sure the Glade Creek Mill is a reproduction. The real one washed away or something like that. The narrow gauge Mann's Creek railroad ran right up on the hill.
Yep built in 1976:
https://www.loc.gov/item/2015634250/
This 3' gauge trestle was about 1/2 mile down the creek from where the mill is now:
http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,275629,275631
Wow, thanks for all of that additional information, Chris! I especially like the trestle, as that's one of the next upcoming topics. In the meantime, I detailed an aspect of the track in a post on the Faux Code 40 thread: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44158.msg567303#msg567303 (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44158.msg567303#msg567303)
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If you zoom in around that area you will see "Narrow Gauge Trail" You can see the tight curve where the trestle was.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sewell,+New+Haven,+WV+25831/@37.9882536,-80.9527487,323m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x884ebd0d835266cf:0x445d1a46955819cd!8m2!3d37.997335!4d-81.0209315
It was called "tank trestle" because there was a water tank on the north side of the trestle. Was 224' long, 35' above the creek and on a 44 degree curve (135' or 10" R in N scale! )
Someone who models the RR in On3 visited the area. He took part of a buried RR tie to cut his O scale ties. He found the roof to one of the Shays in the woods and stone walls of the enginehouse still standing.
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And very close to that area was "Clifftop" where the Mann's Creek Railroad had a company store, another small enginehouse, car shops and a coal mine.
this is the store:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Clifftop,+WV+25831/@38.0054532,-80.9376527,105m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x884ea2ff4b4f1d1f:0xc027b454fc69233d!8m2!3d38.0042804!4d-80.9439848
http://wvhistoryonview.org/catalog/wvulibraries:69335
https://www.flickr.com/photos/woodhick/6162852002
There was a narrow gauge spur into the basement of this building. The small addition on the left was a post office. There were a total of 8 coal mines in this area and a large sawmill at Landisburg.
useless info I know, but it fits in with your back woods railroad.
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(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0828.jpg)
DKS builds ye olde AT-AT
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This morning I wrapped up the wooden trestle for the G&RB. Originally I was going to adapt a Micro Scale Models kit I had on hand. However, the kit was an utter embarrassment, with no end of design flaws and guffaws: they called it a "trustle" bridge—I kid you not—and the deck ties were sized and shaped exactly like old Code 80 European flex track! It wasn't a cheap kit, either, so I tried my best to make of it what I could, but the wood was soft and easily broken, and ultimately I wound up tossing everything into the trash.
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/trustle.jpg)
So I designed my own proper wooden trestle exactly to suit my layout, and had it laser-cut. Here it is about half done:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0837.jpg)
And now it's finished:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0968.jpg)
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0969.jpg)
Next up will be installation. The ties are notched to accept the rail, so this will be a snap.
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Very nice! I love me a good trestle.
Hey, DKS, got a minute...? :D
My task is to build this one...RGS Bridge 45A at Ophir.
(http://www.rhyman.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Bridge-45A-940x198.jpg)
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Very nice! I love me a good trestle.
Hey, DKS, got a minute...? :D
My task is to build this one...RGS Bridge 45A at Ophir.
(http://www.rhyman.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Bridge-45A-940x198.jpg)
Lotta wood in that thang, but laser-cutting the bents is a big timesaver. Also lasering the cross braces on the bents. The rest, well, it'll just be a lot of cutting and gluing.
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So now that you've taken old Minitrix sectional track and reduced the rail heigh by half...can you re-gauge it to 3' gauge? :D
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So now that you've taken old Minitrix sectional track and reduced the rail heigh by half...can you re-gauge it to 3' gauge? :D
Prob'ly. But I may be too lazy to bother. We'll see.
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And, it's in:
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0970.jpg)
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0971.jpg)
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What's the plan for the two short bents on either side of the track below?
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I love that bridge and kudos on getting fit into the layout well. By the way, the faux ties look hilarious until you get them ballasted. That's a lot of work, but the results are really worth it.
DFF
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What's the plan for the two short bents on either side of the track below?
They look a little shorter in the photo than they really are--it's an illusion due to the thick roadbed. The plan is just to install footings, which will be slightly higher than track grade.
I love that bridge and kudos on getting fit into the layout well. By the way, the faux ties look hilarious until you get them ballasted. That's a lot of work, but the results are really worth it.
Thank you! Yeah, they do look goofy at first. But the process of installing them is getting quicker as I go--it's not quite as tedious now. Thing is, I'm running out of them--I'll have to order up another batch soon.
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I can't wait to see what DKS will hold next!
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I can't wait to see what DKS will hold next!
Wouldn't you like to know, big boy!
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Waiting to see how you finish off the quarry walls. I got this far:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7feB6QMhKj00sKvC2
Guess I need to smooth it all over with spackle and try painting it :scared:
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Waiting to see how you finish off the quarry walls. I got this far:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7feB6QMhKj00sKvC2
Hey, I resemble that!
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/misc/GGM_0001.jpg)
My plan is to brush on premixed sanded grout. I think it will capture the color and texture of cut granite, but I'm not quite there yet. All I've got is just what you have (which I imagine you already know)--
(http://davidksmith.com/modeling/images/greystone/IMG_0839.jpg)
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Mann’s Creek, eh?
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This is where Tom Mann was born. He was chiseled out of this granite from this quarry.
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https://www.amazon.com/Virginia-Narrow-Gauge-Manns-Railway/dp/1883089379
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Man that is one gorgeous trestle. One of these days, I need to get started on my new layout, using oNeTrak standards. one of the 4' modules is going to be a 3' long trestle....
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Man that is one gorgeous trestle.
Thank you, Mike! I appreciate the compliment. It's good to know that not all of my skills have eroded away.
I will say that much of it was custom-lasered. I developed a design that's close to tab-in-slot easy; the braces were the only PITA.