Tehachapi, BC

[James Costello]

HAWT.

[Sokramiketes]

-gfh

Oh no!  Gary's been in Canada too long and has changed his layout to CP and the Spiral Tunnels?

[Scottl]

It's funny, that was my first thought as well.  If he tires of Tehachapi, he could probably convert the layout pretty easily!

[GaryHinshaw]

Oh no!  Gary's been in Canada too long and has changed his layout to CP and the Spiral Tunnels?

Alas, it's actually the only detailed loco I own.  I've got a whole fleet of naked UP & BNSF power awaiting the treatment....

Spiral Tunnels would be cool though!

[ednadolski]

Oh no!  Gary's been in Canada too long and has changed his layout to CP and the Spiral Tunnels?

Not at all, there is a prototype for everything: 

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Thanks Gary for posting those shots!  Glad to see the portals have arrived, looks like they fit pretty well.   That CP loco is Awesome.  Side note, don't forget to notch the tunnel arches for the stackers 

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

I will definitely notch the portals! That's such a distinctive modern signature.  Along the same lines, I was checking clearances and found that with cork and code 55 in place, there is still plenty of clearance, even for the worst offender I can think of: a stock Walthers well car with two hi-cube containers on board.  The Auto-Max -- another giant -- also has plenty of room:



(ack - sorry about the tilted photo).  I might look into lowering the portal by ~1 scale foot; partly so the clearance is closer to prototypical (but not so close as to cause problems) and partly to make the Loop crossing look a bit higher. FYI, the crossing has a separation of 45 scale feet (3 3/8") which is a bit under 60% of the prototype's 77 feet.  The grade on the inner track is just under 2.4%, which I think will be manageable.  This is still slightly adjustable if I encounter any issues running trains.  FWIW, the selective compression in the horizontal direction is in the ballpark of 35-45%.

-Gary

[ednadolski]

I think one trick to making the vertical separation look bigger is to position the portals a bit further from the top track, and then take the pics from a slightly higher angle.

Lowering the portals on tangent track like Tunnel 9 should work OK.  On curved track like at Tunnel 10 any lowering might need to be limited, since not only the tall cars but also the long ones will need the side-to-side clearance.

For the notches, less is definitely more.  I found out the hard way (of course ) that it's easy to overdo, and a lot harder to put material back than to take it off....  <sheepish>

The grade sounds like you are on the right track (pardon the lameo pun!  ).  Will you be tacking down some track and running a few test trains?

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Yes, clearance is definitely a tougher issue on curves.  The curve at Tunnel 10 is 30" radius, so may not be too bad.  The toughest will be Tunnel 2, which is 18".  I'll just have to deal with it.

The plan forward is to start laying track at this level and do some test running, and to proceed with the rest of the upper deck benchwork & roadbed in parallel.  But not until next weekend since I'll be on the road all week.

Cheers,
Gary

[3DTrains]

P.S. How is your plan coming?  Starting construction yet?

I missed this earlier, Gary. Here's the latest drawings:

Lower Level: http://www.3dtrains.com/mrr_tehachapi/tp_1.png

Upper Level: http://www.3dtrains.com/mrr_tehachapi/tp_2.png

Middle Level: http://www.3dtrains.com/mrr_tehachapi/tp_3.png

I decided go with a walk-in only plan - I'm not getting any younger! 

Plus, I wanted to see what would fit in the shop without having to alter the space. I still may add a small 5' x 12' bump-out (bottom of plan), but not a big deal if it doesn't happen. You'll note that there's not much space separating Rowen from Walong, so may move Rowen up a few inches.

Cheers!
Marc

[GaryHinshaw]

That's a very nice plan Marc!  I see you posted more details on TB, so I'll pop a few comments over there. I'm envious of space you have!

On the home front, I'm laying cork on the Loop shelf (I love the look of newly laid cork - such promise....); I built the upper level bench work along the right side wall (the Monolith to Mojave shelf); and I've cut all the roadbed for the rest of the upper deck.  So things are moving, but the room is a big mess now...

I'm also trying out superelevation on a test track.  I need to try it on the actual Loop before I commit to it, because I'm a bit worried about string-lining.   But it looks so awesome...

-gfh

[3DTrains]

Gary, I can hardly wait to see new pics of your loop!

BTW, and I don't recall this being mentioned before, but what are your plans for backdrops? For my layout, I'm thinking of using ones from Backdrop Warehouse, especially after seeing Jim Reising's efforts on his Oakville Sub layout.

[chuck geiger]

Gary check out the pics I posted from my trip in 2006 to the Loop:

http://scalewestrails.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-tehachapi-pics.html

[GaryHinshaw]

Marc,

We had a brief discussion of backdrops a few pages back, starting about here but nothing is finalized yet.  I will definitely consider the Backdrop Warehouse line, though I haven't been brave enough to actually navigate to the right section of his web site yet to find what I want.    I really like the latest backdrop that Chuck posted in WU and I'm thinking that layered photo cutouts would work well on my pike, especially on the upper level.

Cheers,
Gary

[3DTrains]

though I haven't been brave enough to actually navigate to the right section of his web site yet to find what I want.

It's a nightmare for sure!

http://backdropwarehouse.com/SkWestHills2Grp.htm#284B

There are two scenes in pairs (Caliente and Tehachapi). They look good, but some stitching might be in order to combine from one pair to the other. There's also a page that states that transitions are possible. These things ain't cheap - I am, however, and I may try my hand at shooting some pics as the hill are only an hour or so away.

BTW, I also found a Bakersfield set (Edison looking west though):

http://backdropwarehouse.com/SkWestAgric1Grp.htm

There's also some nice dessert scenes at Backdrop Junction:

http://www.backdropjunction.com/thebackdrops/hillsmountains.html

Cheers!
Marc

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks for the direct links Marc! That will save me lots of time when I get serious about backdrops.  Thanks again to Chuck for posting your Tehachapi album.  Proto photos of the area are always welcome!

Here is a bit more progress from the weekend (though it's still a big mess in there as you can see, so these shots are pretty raw).  First is an overall shot of the Sausage Factory taken from the access area in the Loop shelf looking towards the doorway, showing the work done on the upper deck benchwork.  All that remains is 1 of the 2 boxes needed for the Tunnel 14-17 shelf on the right, and a rig for the doorway crossing:



You can see the Loop roadbed in the lower right corner. The lower deck will be a few inches above the height of the cardboard boxes my laptop is resting on in the distance - it seems like the lower deck will not be too claustrophobic.

Here are a pair of shots of the Tunnel 14-17 shelf-to-be from each direction:





There will be a series of four short tunnels in rapid sequence along this stretch, all with very unique and decrepit portals that will be fun to model.  This is one of my favorite scenes in this plan.

Finally, two more quickies of the benchwork: a shot of the Mojave shelf descending to staging via the right rear portion of the Loop shelf:



and an overview of the Loop with cork:



Thanks for looking,
Gary