Seaboard Central 2.0

[seusscaboose]

Are you transferring the cartridge idea to door #2?

I know you will have staging included in the plan, I was just curious

Ep

[davefoxx]

The cassette will go to the other end of the existing HCD for the Southern Ry. interchange.  Nothing goes to waste!

Thanks for asking,
DFF

[seusscaboose]

Nice
Weathered with kudzu I A$$ume

[davefoxx]

The kudzu is in a really convenient spot, because I can use it to camouflage the joint between the tables.  I don't know how far I'm going to take it on to the new table, though, because I don't want to overdo it.  I really wish I could come up with an easy way to build hundreds of trees to cover the layout in those pine trees that are so prevalent in the sandhills of North Carolina.

DFF

[jpec]

Brilliant!  You get the best of both worlds - continuous run and point to point. As far as the power goes, maybe you could set the normal direction of travel for the trailing unit to reverse, run around the train at the end of the run and avoid the 0-5-0...

Jeff

Jeff,

I admit that I'm sort of a roundy-round guy, but I'm trying to set up the layout to allow what limited knowledge I have of ops.  The SBD will be northbounds (clockwise) and southbounds (counter-clockwise), so that connection will be used.  Truthfully, in the real world, the order is Hamlet-Aberdeen-Southern Pines, heading northbound towards Raleigh.  Using one's imagination, a train heading northbound (clockwise) out of Southern Pines will be heading to Raleigh (rather than actually returning to Hamlet).  Trains coming into Hamlet clockwise (actually from Southern Pines) would be imagined to be trains coming in from the south and west.

The real fun will be transferring cars between the SBD and the A&R.  The A&R is set up as a point-to-point, giving me fun in operating a short line's local, while the SBD racks up the miles on a Class 1 racetrack.  The Southern and L&S interchanges will allow me to bring in some different freight cars.

I realize the connection between Hamlet and Aberdeen is short, but this is not a large layout.  I have no problems with SBD trains running a lap or two to make up some miles before stopping in Aberdeen.

DFF

[seusscaboose]

just like the prototype operations...

mmm

be careful... we may pull Dave into Mini-Op's yet on the ol' SC2.0

[davefoxx]

The notch has been cut.  While I was looking for some lumber to cut up to patch the hollow core that was now exposed, it occurred to me that the frame that was cut out could be flipped around and used for the frame inside the cut.  I just had to scrape the lauan off both sides.  That scraping turned out to be a pain, but, once complete, these frame pieces worked beautifully to fix the end of the door.  I didn't even have to cut them.  The glue is now drying.



I ended up lengthening the cut to 20" wide, so the extension to the end of the existing door will end up being 16".  This should work fine, as I had a bit of flexibility in the track plan where the track leaves Aberdeen and heads towards Hamlet.  And, the SBD mainline in Southern Pines can run onto the new HCD with a little room to spare between the track and the edge of the door.

DFF

[Rich_S]

The notch has been cut.  While I was looking for some lumber to cut up to patch the hollow core that was now exposed, it occurred to me that the frame that was cut out could be flipped around and used for the frame inside the cut.  I just had to scrape the lauan off both sides.  That scraping turned out to be a pain, but, once complete, these frame pieces worked beautifully to fix the end of the door.  I didn't even have to cut them.  The glue is now drying.

DFF

Nice work Dave. What is the old saying, necessity is the motherhood of invention, flipping the piece around was a great idea. A trick that works sometimes, heat the door with a hair dryer where you want to remove the lauan, some of the glues that are used, break down with heat making the removal easier.  Looking forward to seeing the expanded Seaboard Central 3.0 

[Bsklarski]

Dave, where did you get your legs? I am in need of a set lol.

[davefoxx]

Dave, where did you get your legs? I am in need of a set lol.

Hi, Brian,

I bought these from The Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Waddell-Folding-Banquet-Table-Legs-2-Pack-2775/100048820

They aren't the most sturdiest legs, but they are cheap and hold a HCD layout up fine.  Their downfall, if any, is that they will allow the door to sway end-to-end, if the table is bumped.  I have to remind my kids not to grab on to the table, which is difficult to explain to a two-year-old who wants to swing around a table leg.  In my case, I have two doors set up perpendicularly, so the set-up is a little less shaky.  Not to mention that my plan is to secure the end of one table to the wall, which will really stiffen things up.

DFF

[Bsklarski]

Thanks DFF! I may pick up a pair this weekend. I may have some extra time to an unwanted vacation (ran through a bumping post at work, glad I have OOS insurance!).

[davefoxx]

Thanks DFF! I may pick up a pair this weekend. I may have some extra time to an unwanted vacation (ran through a bumping post at work, glad I have OOS insurance!).

Brian,

I'm sorry to hear that.  If I was suspended every time I screwed up at work . . . hoo boy!  I hope you're back to work in no time.  Maybe someday you'll look back on this situation and be able to laugh about it.  Any pics for posterity?

DFF

[Rich_S]

Thanks DFF! I may pick up a pair this weekend. I may have some extra time to an unwanted vacation (ran through a bumping post at work, glad I have OOS insurance!).

Brian, Sorry to hear about the street time. Good to hear you have what we call "Cut Off" Insurance. Working on the transportation side without Job Insurance is like playing Russian Roulette, eventually everybody goes on the ground. Back when I was a hostler, I was on the ground twice within a two year period. Both times my ground man told me everything was good and he never did a double check, worse part both times were at the turntable     

[Bsklarski]

No worries yet, not even sure I will get time. I may, or time over my head, or both. Not worried here. We spot that customer every day so tonight I will be working the ground, I will see what I can do. Yes I bought insurance years ago so it is where if I need it.  We had to go back to another track with 5 cars with 4 hand brakes. I had 10 x 12 on me and I swear I was not going that fast and even had air on. Just pushed into the stops and broke a rail and bent it back about 3 feet.

[davefoxx]

I removed the cassette from the end of the SBD mainline in Aberdeen tonight.  This will mean that the train length on the layout is significantly shorter until I get some track installed onto the new door, but the cassette has found its final home.  The plan has long been to move the cassette to the Southern Ry. interchange, but it was serving a more important duty on the SBD main until the expansion began.

I had to pull up approximately 15" of track to realign the Southern Ry. track with the cassette.  I shifted the track about 1/2" and created a more pleasing looking alignment.  Thankfully, the tracks aligned without any undesirable hump, and the cassette is hanging relatively level, i.e., cars don't roll away like they did when the cassette was installed at the other end of the table.



It works!  The cassette should be able to hold a locomotive and five cars.  Nice.  I'll 0-5-0 and flip the locomotive/caboose end for end when it leaves and returns to the table.  Sure, a loop would be nice, but that takes up too much space.



Here's an overall perspective of the layout, where you can see the original HCD, the relocated cassette, and the new HCD.  There's about 15" between the new HCD and the hot water heater, but I have approximately 25" from the other side of that HCD and the light switch by the entry door in the background.  I may shift the whole layout towards the entry door about 12" or so.  But, I have a lot of work before I get to the point that I'm making the permanent connection between the HCDs.



DFF