PRR/Conrail Juniata Division Engineering Report

[davefoxx]

How exciting!  I understand that family comes first, but I look forward to seeing the expansion of the JD.

Depending on how much space you have between the existing layout and a wall, you may not have to notch the second door at all.  If my basement was any wider, I could have gotten away without notching the second door.  I only cut into it a few inches.



As for the space that must be filled where the track will branch off from Lewistown, you might want to make the depth 18" rather than 16", so you can use an 18" bi-fold door without cutting it down for length and width, as I chose to do.  However, if you rip strips of wood, you can fill the void at the cut edges of the door.  See the picture above, for example.  I did this for rigidity and to allow me to have some meat in the door to screw the sections together.

I can't wait for you to begin.  If the construction can't commence in the near future, we can still certainly have fun with some trackplanning!

DFF

[Dave V]

Dave, it's all about keeping the footprint manageable...  I think I understand what you're getting at.  I was thinking a 3' by 16" notch so that there's no "fill in" required.  This will actually reduce the overall footprint by about 4" on the outside of the layout, giving me a little more room to work Enola.

Still slogging my way through that dual-pol radar training this weekend...  I have to teach it tomorrow, LOL.

EDIT:  I could maybe find the room to add a foot to the other door, maybe by recycling part of the "notch."  That moves Lewistown closer to the far wall, giving 2.5 feet of clearance.  That makes the second door 7 feet 8 inches.  Not bad. 

[davefoxx]

Bingo!  I got it.  Your table will be shorter, but that's the way it is now at the existing Enola.  Essentially you're widening Enola, so you can cut in a return loop to connect back at the stone bridge.  Don't forget, the piece you cut out (a/k/a "the notch"), if not recycled elsewhere, can be sacrificed so you can take the framing in the cut piece and use it to fill in the cut end of the door.  That's what I did.  The door will be as solid as before the cut, and I would think it could easily be crated.

I was also left with just over 25" aisle width at Aberdeen (where Lewistown is on the JD), and, while a bigger aisle would always be desirable, it's manageable.  In fact, for no reason other than that's where the table was stood up when originally built, the Seaboard Central sat for two years with that aisle width, so it was easier to commit to that narrow space when I built and attached the second door.

DFF

[eric220]

Overall, though, I would be looking at mostly Pennsylvania wilderness for the other side of the extension.

That was my thought about the crossover: Something distinctly Pennsy, interesting, and functional for the tracks that requires very little disruption to the out-in-the-middle-of-nowhereness.

[Dave V]

Here's Jack's Tower...

http://www.davedupler.com/pa/Jacks001.jpg

http://thecrhs.org/Images/Jacks-tower-on-81985

[eric220]

Do it.

[delamaize]

Do it.

+1

[chicken45]

Since we're talking about towers, was that Tichy tower based of any specific tower?
And Dave, what colors do you paint them with? Aged Concrete and Roof Brown?

[Dave V]

Since we're talking about towers, was that Tichy tower based of any specific tower?
And Dave, what colors do you paint them with? Aged Concrete and Roof Brown?

The Tichy tower is based on a PRR prototype at Ott, PA.  Funny you mention the colors...  I used to use Aged Concrete & D&RGW Building Brown, and then sometime in the late 2000s, PolyScale completely reformulated their colors.  The current iteration I use is Buff and Roof Brown.  They seem to be close enough to my PRR Drift Cards for comfort.  I use Caboose Red for the sashes.

With the demise of PolyScale, I imagine there's a decent match in the Michael's or Hobby Lobby acrylic craft paint aisle.  If I find one that works, I'll let everyone know.

[chicken45]

The Tichy tower is based on a PRR prototype at Ott, PA.  Funny you mention the colors...  I used to use Aged Concrete & D&RGW Building Brown, and then sometime in the late 2000s, PolyScale completely reformulated their colors.  The current iteration I use is Buff and Roof Brown.  They seem to be close enough to my PRR Drift Cards for comfort.  I use Caboose Red for the sashes.

With the demise of PolyScale, I imagine there's a decent match in the Michael's or Hobby Lobby acrylic craft paint aisle.  If I find one that works, I'll let everyone know.

That's awesome! Your paint looks great! I've been using Roof Brown and Aged Concrete only because it was on KC and I saw some folks talking about them in TKM.
For some reason, I never would have thought to use craft paints on my models. It makes sense. What makes those paints different from the likes of PolyScale, Testors, etc?

[Dave V]

I think the craft paints have less binding agent in them.  This could be an issue for things you might want to handle more often than structures.  That said, I use craft paints for weathering (either airbrush or washes) and I just bind it with Dullcote.

Here's the buff/roof brown on the PRR:



The older aged concrete/D&RGW Building Brown combo can be seen on the tower in this view (painted prior to the "reformulation at PolyScale):

[Dave V]

I'm going to do a track inventory tonight and then make a run up to Caboose in the morning.  I may still be short on a few items to do this.

This also includes a re-tracking of the main layout, so I anticipate significant "downtime" if I start this month.  The plus side is hopefully I'll have a "new" layout for those gorgeous new BLI M1a/b 4-8-2s to operate on!

So yes, I feel like I am finally ready to make the plunge.  Depending on what we do this weekend, I may go get a door and some 2" foam as well.  We'll see.

[chicken45]

Can you refresh us on which track plan you're going with?

[Dave V]

Well, that's just it...  DKS is lying low so the trackplan is in my head.  Lemme see if I can use Pencil 2.0 to whip you up an idea this afternoon...

[davefoxx]

This also includes a re-tracking of the main layout, so I anticipate significant "downtime" if I start this month.

I wouldn't let that stop you.  You admitted that the JD has been sitting pretty much silent this summer, since the G scale trains went in.  So, I say get to it.  The sooner you start, the sooner you will be up and running again.  Truthfully, I don't know how fast you put track down, but I would imagine that in a weekend, you could, at a minimum, get at least one mainline track back in for that hot roundy-round action.

DFF