Genesee & Wyoming - The Bay Line

[poppy2201]

I wanted to go ahead and start a thread since construction is scheduled to begin in the next few days.  BTW, I’m Charles and I posted in the Introduction thread but briefly I’m retired from the Air Force after 22 ½ years.  I’ve been retired almost as long as I served.  I’m an N scaler.

I had a plan originally drawn up but it didn’t seem right so I sought out the advice of David K. Smith.  He took on the challenge and pointed out some major flaws and then graciously redrew the plan to meet my needs for a smoother flowing plan.  It was one of those things where “I couldn’t see the forest because of all those damn trees”.

The track plan is an L-shaped plan that is approximately 115” x 121” in size.  I will be using Atlas code 55 flex track with #7 turnouts (except where noted) and a minimum radius of 16 inches.  It will be DCC controlled.  As a side note, the layout will share a spare bedroom in our apartment that also has to continue to serve as an office and a place for the grandkids to lay their sleepy heads when they visit.

A little background - The Bay Line Railroad (reporting mark BAYL) is one of several short line railroad companies owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operates between Panama City, Florida and Dothan, Alabama, including a branch from Grimes to Abbeville, Alabama, reached via trackage rights on CSX's Dothan Subdivision between Dothan and Grimes. The line interchanges with CSX's P&A Subdivision at Cottondale, Florida and their Dothan subdivision at the trackage rights section near Dothan, Alabama. It also interchanges with the Chattahoochee Bay Railroad in Dothan.

A wide variety of commodities are carried, including aggregates, brick, cement, chemicals, coal, food and feed products, forest products, metallic ores and minerals, steel, and scrap.  The normal operating hours of the BAY LINE RAILROAD are 06:00 till 18:00 7 days per week at Panama City and 06:00 till 1800 Mon-Fri at Dothan. Switching services are available for other than normal hours of operation at charges published .

There are two major players in the area that I will be concentrating on, the Rock-Tenn paper mill and Port Panama City.  At Port Panama City there are several industries but I will only concentrate on 2 or 3.  These are Berg Steel Pipe Co., the Lasaffre molasses facility and the dry bulk materials warehouse facility.  Also I will have a port scene with a ship off-loading or loading container cargo  All of this of course will be a scaled down and compressed version due to room limitations.  At least I’m hoping to capture the feel of the area.

The engineering department (me) is supposed to try and hook up with the contracting company (a friend who is a home builder) and schedule a time to rip some cabinet-grade birch plywood for the benchwork modules.  He has been kind enough to take time and do this for me since there is no way I could manage that task at the apartment.

So, here’s the plan and hopefully more will come in the next few days as I anticipate the beginning of this project.

[LIRR]

I like it. Allow me to offer some unsolicited advice.....I would triple or quadruple the siding around back, maybe hide some or all of the tracks from normal viewing angles. That'll give you some staging tracks for some thru trains from each direction.....happy new year

[poppy2201]

I like it. Allow me to offer some unsolicited advice.....I would triple or quadruple the siding around back, maybe hide some or all of the tracks from normal viewing angles. That'll give you some staging tracks for some thru trains from each direction.....happy new year

Thanks for the compliment and comments.  A lot of the credit goes to David for refining the plan.  As far as tripling the siding around the back it could be something to consider in the future.  For now I want to get this up and running since it's been 2 years since I've been able to run trains.  Also I wanted to try and keep things as close as possible to how things run here.  It doesn't show it on the plan but a lot of the track will be hidden by an abundance of tall pine trees and large buildings, except in the port.  At the port the buildings will be of a size that a lot of track is hidden plus there will be many trucks parked to help hide some.  I was amazed at the amount of trucks and container trailers that are just sitting there waiting to go into service.

And a Happy New Year to you as well!

[poppy2201]

I just noticed that I omitted in my post that besides here you will be able to follow the progress at my web site:

http://modelingbaylinerailroad.weebly.com/

Happy New Year to all at The Railwire!

[poppy2201]

Hopefully I can elicit some response since construction of the benchwork is starting soon.  An issue with the planning of this layout has not been given much attention by myself. 

We live in a fairly new apartment complex but for whatever reason the builders decided not to put overhead lighting in the bedrooms (or living area for that matter) and you have to rely on lamps.  During the day we get fairly decent natural light coming through the window but night time is a different story.

I am seeking any suggestions for increasing the amount of light above the layout without going through a lot of hoops and damage to the apartment.  My initial thought was to build some type of valance into the 1/8" masonite backdrop but am not sure if the weight of that would be too much.  Another thought was some type of shelving around the walls with underneath cabinet lighting but that would entail a lot of drilling holes and running the risk of losing some of our deposit if we should ever move.  I know, life is full of compromises.  I would like something lightweight and maybe portable (and easily moved).

All suggestions and ideas are welcome.

Thanks,
Charles

[Philip H]

Get something like this:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10216330/

Clamp to the backdrop at strategic locations.  Route cords to one or two switchable power strips.

[poppy2201]

Get something like this:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10216330/

Clamp to the backdrop at strategic locations.  Route cords to one or two switchable power strips.

Good ikea, uhmm,  I mean good idea Philip.  I bookmarked the page for future references.

[Philip H]

Ed and seusscaboose have experience with similar lights on the BANTRAK layout. The way I figure it the LEDs should draw way less current then other alternatives.

[poppy2201]

Ed and seusscaboose have experience with similar lights on the BANTRAK layout. The way I figure it the LEDs should draw way less current then other alternatives.

You're right Philip.  I don't think about Ikea all too often because the closest store is Tampa which is a 6-7 hour drive for me; however, we are planning a trip to see my step son and family so I guess I'll make the stop and look in person and I think that this would be the route to go.

[poppy2201]

Talked with my builder friend and he won't be able to rip the plywood for another week or two.  I guess the question for me is do I want to wait and have him do it or let the big box boys do it?

[LKOrailroad]

Wait. Definitely wait.

The staff at BB stores is hit or miss. Some are very knowledgeable, others are downright dangerous with a saw. It is important each and every piece be the same width to minimize your construction pain. Never would I count on a BB store staffer to make two cuts the same least of all 30 cuts.

[poppy2201]

Wait. Definitely wait.

The staff at BB stores is hit or miss. Some are very knowledgeable, others are downright dangerous with a saw. It is important each and every piece be the same width to minimize your construction pain. Never would I count on a BB store staffer to make two cuts the same least of all 30 cuts.

The staff in that section here is pretty good but I am going to wait.  This will give me time to check out a couple of leads I have on suppliers of better grade birch plywood that's within easy driving distance.

[Philip H]

The Ikea one is just a suggestion based on what I've seen here recently. It's likely that one of the big box guys up your way would have something similar. For that matter, you might look around in Pensacola a d see if there is a big lighting supplier that has something.

[DKS]

I just bought some clamp-on lights very similar to the Ikea item at either HD or Lowes, so it might be worth a look.

[poppy2201]

Thanks guys, I'll certainly look locally.  Now that my builder friend can't help me out for a week or two I'm still really anxious to get started.  I thought I might go ahead and get some 1/8" masonite and start prepping for the backdrop to give me something to do.  I would be interested in any comments or suggestions of the height of the backdrop since I will be needing to clamp on some additional lighting for the layout.