Seaboard Central 2.0

[M.C. Fujiwara]

I was afraid Radio Shack was involved. I wonder how hard it can be to find those same micro SPST switches with those dimensions someplace else?

You can find similar ones at Fry's, though I find those ones a little too big.
Here's a discussion & step-by-step on some slightly smaller ones from AdaFruit & SparkFun:
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=24399.msg411361#msg411361



Both the AdaFruit & the SparkFun have a travel distance almost exactly equal to an N-scale turnout.

Sorry to slide off topic.
We now switch back to the fabulous modeling of Mr. Foxx.

[eric220]

But will a switch machine fit over it?

[M.C. Fujiwara]

But will a switch machine fit over it?

Ooooh...
That's pretty cool.
As I model older eras that's not an option for me, so I had to find a crappier alternative:



Personally I think Mr. Foxx's look / work fine.
Very clean & functional.

Just throwing out different options.

[glakedylan]

https://www.shapeways.com/designer/keystone_details

John E. LeMerise has made a switch machine that is intended to work with these electrical switches

fwiw...
Gary

[Chris1274]

Dave, what's the radius on the inner curve heading up the grade?

(Sorry if you've mentioned it already, but 132 pages and counting is a lot to scroll through!)

[davefoxx]

@Chris1274,

The curve that you're referring to (the 180 degree turn on the A&R line out of Aberdeen that starts up the hill) is a 10" radius.  It works fine, because I don't generally send anything over 60' in length up the A&R.  And, in true A&R fashion, the motive power is all four-axle locomotives.

However, when no one was looking, I just may have sent my Tropicana Juice Train (a unit train of twelve 57' reefers) and my Amtrak Superliner train (nine or ten 85' cars) up the A&R.  You've got to hand it to Kato that those long passenger cars make it reliably around a 10" curve on an almost three percent grade!

DFF

[Chris1274]

Thanks Dave. I have a similar arrangement on my hypothetical layout; I'm glad to know it works well operationally.

[davefoxx]

You may have noticed very little significant progress on the Seaboard Central lately.  I have a ton of projects started but unfinished, e.g., A&R enginehouse, former SAL station, and the Carolina-style highway bridge in Raeford, and I've lost inspiration to resume work on any of these projects.  The reason is that I really appreciate the hard work that Mike (@C855B) has put into the structure and the layout room that will house his Gibbon, Cozad & Western before even starting the benchwork.  I didn't have that luxury, because when we bought the house three-and-a-half years ago, I was lucky that my wife allowed me to throw money at a new layout.  She would have absolutely balked at any layout room improvements before redecorating and remodeling other places in the main part of the house.

But, I have stepped back from this over the past week and have come to appreciate that one out of the three walls in the layout room is already a stud wall.  The other three are dry, sealed concrete block walls.  It wouldn't be that difficult to build stud walls for the other three walls (I would have to duck around a few pipes and build a closet for the water meter and possibly one for the hot water heater) and finish the room in drywall.  Then, I could hang a suspended ceiling and address the hodgepodge of fluorescent fixtures lighting the room.

It would be easy to go overboard on this project, which I cannot afford to do.  Fortunately, with the exception of the new staging yards, the layout can be unbolted from the wall and pulled clear to install drywall, since the two main HCD sections have legs.

BUT, I am concerned that building out the new stud walls will crunch the layout space, significantly enough to squeeze the aisle near Aberdeen too much (there's a 4" PVC drain pipe on that wall).  This, of course, then leads to crazy thoughts of rebuilding the layout.  Oh, no!  See my problem?

Here's a couple of pictures to give perspective of the layout room:

This shows the one stud wall.  Again, there's only a handful of screws to remove the layout from this wall:


Here's the big dilemma.  Barely visible in the following photo, you can see the 4" drain pipe.  If I box that out, I think my aisle on that wall will go below 18", and I can't narrow the layout (the yard in Hamlet is too short as it is).  Unacceptable.



If I have time, I'll take some room measurements and better photos this weekend.

DFF

[seusscaboose]

Can you move the pipe?

[Philip H]

I've got something of a similar dilemma going on. My wife wants a chest freezer for the house and the basement stairs are too narrow to take in down. She also wants to move the kids crafts stuff out of the dinning room and have more storage in the main house. So to her the logical conclusion is the trains come out of their room and go into the - as @wm3798 will attest - cave like basement. Of course this is the same person who helped the kids buy me a dads train room sign a couple of years ago for my door. But with too little time and too much to do to make it happen, I have yet to start the move.

So aside from feeling your pain, I have to ask - is it really the room condition that holds you up or has the HCD format finally hit the wall where your Druthers can no longer be accommodated by your Givens?

[sizemore]

Dave, if you want to practice your stud walls I have a basement you can practice on! Trying to figure it all out now for the BYR.


The S.

[C855B]

Moving that pipe is going to be difficult. It appears to be the main waste pipe for the house. Judging from the grout lines on the block wall, it already has minimum slope or close to it, so any move that lengthens the run will reduce the slope.

Thank you, Dave. As you are keenly aware, credit should be given where credit is due: Robyn. The GC&W project would not be possible without her assistance, enthusiasm and support. A supportive spouse who is also my best friend and happens to be a railfan and no slouch with tools is simply one-in-a-million. Besides, 28 years together of "going overboard" is just what we do.

Anyway, you don't necessarily have to completely build out those walls if you want to put drywall up covering the block. 2x4s on their sides on 16" centers with anchors and construction adhesive to the block should be sufficient for firring strips, and put 1-1/2" foam between and under a vapor barrier. That way you only lose 2" per wall. I'd box in a soffit around the pipe rather than fully frame a wall losing all that floor space.

[mcjaco]

One of my 3 1/2 year olds says your layout is "pretty fancy" and wants to know when we're coming to see it.

Told him the drive is pretty extensive.  LOL.

[davefoxx]

Thanks for your responses, guys!  After I get out of the office this afternoon, I'll have more time to respond to each and every one of your posts.

DFF

[wazzou]

Yeah, like mentioned above, a vapor barrier and 1x2 firring strips should be sufficient to attach drywall to.  Boxing the pipe looks like it can be done without encroaching into the needed space.