Seaboard Central 2.0

[mu26aeh]

These were painted with Krylon ColorMaster Paint +Primer CoverMax Pumpkin Orange Gloss

20161008_122341[1] by Adam Henry, on Flickr

[davefoxx]

That's not bad, Adam.  Thanks for the tip!

DFF

[wazzou]

I'd check the Tamiya line of paints.  They have Spray Cans that have terrific nozzles that very finely atomize the paint.

[davefoxx]

Thanks, Bryan.  I'll check that out, too.

[davefoxx]

I've been running the layout a lot lately ("Yay!"), and I found myself having to add and remove cars from the layout, because I have a number of freight cars that tend to run in unit trains, e.g., intermodal and coal.  Without jamming up my existing storage yards with unit trains, I kept trying to figure out what I could do to add some capacity without enlarging the layout again or creating a spaghetti bowl.

I had flirted with the idea of adding another track on my rolling reverse loop/staging yard cart, but couldn't see how, unless I could squeeze a #5 turnout into the small straight section in the s-curve of the loop.  Well, tonight, I went for it and sacrificed a turnout.  I butchered that turnout down to just about the shortest length it could be to shoehorn it in.  If you look close, you can see the rail joints.  (IGNORE the two rail joints at bottom right; they're just an existing rail joint that couldn't be eliminated.)  What you're seeing is that the rails of the turnout were cut back to about only three ties' distance from the frog and the points.  You just can't cut the rails any closer to the points or the frog without destroying the integrity of the turnout.  But, I did pull the turnout's short sections of rail beyond the frog out, and then I brought the flextrack's rails up to the frog, eliminating two rail joints!  It works, too!



By adding this turnout, I have now added an additional eight coal hoppers to the layout, and, most importantly, I have added a destination for this commodity to improve ops.  And that means that less 0-5-0ing is now necessary to run the layout  Oh, and yes, that track is sharp, an 8-3/4" radius.  But, that was the trade-off, and, again, it works fine.



DFF

[Rich_S]

Well, tonight, I went for it and sacrificed a turnout.  I butchered that turnout down to just about the shortest length it could be to shoehorn it in. 



DFF

Dave, The turnout works for this application, so I would not say you sacrificed and butchered a turnout, I'd say you customized a turnout to add flexibility to your layout   

[OldEastRR]

What you're seeing is that the rails of the turnout were cut back to about only three ties' distance from the frog and the points.  You just can't cut the rails any closer to the points or the frog without destroying the integrity of the turnout.


DFF

The points on Micro Engineering switches already come only 3 ties from the end of the rails.

[seusscaboose]

Is that stub end with the loco new?

[davefoxx]

Is that stub end with the loco new?

No, those stub tracks were part of the original plan built a couple of months ago.  Only the track with the hoppers is new.

DFF

[davefoxx]

The points on Micro Engineering switches already come only 3 ties from the end of the rails.

Yeah, but ME turnouts are only #6, which likely never would have fit.  This turnout is a #5.  I don't have any ME turnouts, but, geometry aside, I doubt you could cut them as short as I cut this turnout for length.

DFF

[Cajonpassfan]

By adding this turnout, I have now added an additional eight coal hoppers to the layout, and, most importantly, I have added a destination for this commodity to improve ops.  And that means that less 0-5-0ing is now necessary to run the layout  Oh, and yes, that track is sharp, an 8-3/4" radius.  But, that was the trade-off, and, again, it works fine.



DFF

Another way to save space with Atlas #5's is to bend their long tails. I did that in my staging yard, see below. Another thought: had you continued the sharp curve rather than straightening it out, would you've been able to store couple more cars on the spur?
Otto K.

[davefoxx]

Another way to save space with Atlas #5's is to bend their long tails. I did that in my staging yard, see below. Another thought: had you continued the sharp curve rather than straightening it out, would you've been able to store couple more cars on the spur?
Otto K.

Hi, Otto,

Yeah, I've bent those, too, but, in this case, it was easier to cut the tail off.  About the sharp curve on the new stub, I could have probably gotten away with continuing the sharp curve and increased track capacity, but it was unnecessary.  With the grade on the A&R, train lengths are limited.  Most trains are six cars or less.

Thanks,
DFF

[Chris333]

Random though... whatever happened to On30? 

[davefoxx]

Random though... whatever happened to On30? 

It sits quietly while I wait to remodel the layout room.  I bought some Kato HO Unitrack for a temporary rig when I was in Wisconsin visiting MR Headquarters back in August 2016, but, being more then 800 miles from home, I miscalculated, and the curved track was slightly too large to make a loop of track on my workbench.  I've sworn to not start any new layouts until the room is finished.  The plan is to do an N scale layout and an On30 layout in the same room.  I haven't figured out the actual layout plans yet, but both will be around-the-wall-style layouts, with the N scale layout at one end of the room and the On30 at the other end.  In case anyone is trying to be creative, I'll add that I don't think I have any interest in trying to do two separate stacked decks with one scale on top and other underneath.  I think expense and the size of that project would preclude that.

Another reason for the delay in remodeling the room, is, because, honestly, I've actually enjoyed working on the much scaled-back Seaboard Central again, because it's not so overwhelming anymore.  I'm hoping that two medium-sized layouts, rather than one large layout, will be less daunting, as I can more easily focus on tasks that won't be so huge.  Plus, when I get tired of working on one project or reach an impasse, I can jump to another project on the other layout.  We'll see; I could be wrong.  But, that's down the road.  I don't even know if I'll start the layout room in 2017.  A lot of that will be decided by how long I can live with the Seaboard Central.  When I lose interest or get the inspiration to start anew, it will go on the block and be sold.

DFF

[Dave V]

The plan is to do an N scale layout and an On30 layout in the same room.

DFF

Aha!  Someone else understands!  This is why I want both my N scale layouts in the same room, and I'd rather they have their own space.