Idaho Belt Freelanced plan

[GaryHinshaw]

I definitely like the MDF better than the vinyl, which is hardly stiffer than butcher paper.  To me, that first shot seems a bit claustrophobic with the ceiling-height backdrop, but I tend to prefer more openness in my plans.  The material looks good though.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to make of this picture.... 

Good to see progress though!

[basementcalling]

Claustrophobia or a sense of isolation? Ceiling height does mean more lighting would be needed in the room, but I knew that already.

Gary the other photo was a drunken cat shot.

[GaryHinshaw]

I can understand how a sense of isolation would be quite desirable, so don't take my comment as negative criticism, necessarily.  Partly I'm having trouble relating the photos you posted to locations in your plan, so the context is hard to follow.  For example, in this shot of the central aisle, I'm not sure where that is in your plan, and thus what is supposed to be happening here.  Is the track here part of the upper deck, or will there be something above it?  Is this going to be a remote scene, or a busy industrial area?

Of course all that matters is that you like how it feels. 

[basementcalling]

I can understand how a sense of isolation would be quite desirable, so don't take my comment as negative criticism, necessarily.  Partly I'm having trouble relating the photos you posted to locations in your plan, so the context is hard to follow.  For example, in this shot of the central aisle, I'm not sure where that is in your plan, and thus what is supposed to be happening here.  Is the track here part of the upper deck, or will there be something above it?  Is this going to be a remote scene, or a busy industrial area?

Of course all that matters is that you like how it feels. 

Gary that shot you quoted is standing in the central peninsula looking right on the track plan. The large bridge scene I had mocked up is on the right. The scene in front of that section of backdrop will look something like this when I get it all ironed out.



It's supposed to be a wide open mountain scene, somewhat like Marc found and posted in this thread  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=30038.msg327325#msg327325

The idea here is to balance the switching area on the left with a scene where trains run through so there is not clogging of operators in the center of the layout where aisle space is tightest. It's still 30-36 inches but there isn't a long run of 3 foot wide space for people to pass in.

As for scene height, I am still playing with that. I am thinking of adding some type of overhead storage areas on the right side. I definitely will have a valence to hide layout lighting. Once again, Gary, your comment that central peninsulas in double decked layouts are complex engineering holds true, even though the double decking does not truly start in this area of the layout. Just needing to go that high with the support structure for the double deck on the other side of the peninsula is enough to add complexity to the single level scene on this side.

[basementcalling]

Been a while since I updated. With teaching in full swing and election day coming Tuesday my time has been very limited for tackling major layout work, and a few major things are what need doing. So this weekend I got around to more backdrops.

Fitting one between two sections of deck with variations in height was tricky until I pulled some scrap paper to make height templates by folding and taping the sheets up against a too short sheet of MDF.


The result of some precision origami is this.



The backdrop here creates a lower deck scene that is 6 inches wide. I'll be working hard to blend 3D scenery with the backdrop as two tracks run through here.



Up above the backdrop and lower scene, this loop scene will top the lower scene. This loop scene will have some foreground viewing angles blocked to keep operators from standing to watch trains where lower level operators need to stand to throw 2 turnouts.



The photo above is actually an angle I plan to block to prevent people from standing in the entrance to the branch line aisle.



The second view above is one viewers will have. This is looking up the peninsula. Where the visible clamp is holding wood together is where a tall mountain will serve as a view block and backdrop for the loop. A sky backdrop will run from the clamp location off towards the left behind the loop on that side, and a portion will be hidden from view in a cut. The center of the loop scene will be a pop up hatch for access and so some neat inside the loop railfan type images can be taken.

Want to see more, click here to go to my layout engineering thread.  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=31127.new#new

[basementcalling]

Wow, over a month. Finally had time to get some backdrops up. Nothing painted, but lots of wrestling big sheets of MDF solo done.


this area will have another side. Because it transitions to the multi level section this backdrop was complicated


this area on the left is behind the loop in the previous picture. Center in right we'll have facial and cabinets above the backdrop.

[basementcalling]

Here are some shots of what I've been up to.

The first shot here is of the valance over what will be a deep canyon in mid peninsula with a large hill closest to the camera. The valance was a natural spot to include a row of cabinets for light materials: foam, scenic supplies, etc... It's framed with 1x2. Panels will be luann plywood because I had a bunch in the house. I will hinge one door on the end cabinet and make the other doors sliding. I will likely add another panel to the bottom of this to hide the framing and make the "sky" nice and smooth for light reflection after it gets painted white.



Here's what it looked like partially framed out.



I am going to put in cabinets in the valance on the other side of this aisle as well, which will utilize hollow space underneath forested mountain slopes in the other aisle. That framing is just starting to go up, but the valance will be even with the edge of the benchwork here, as it is on the other side of my center aisle.



 As I move to where the peninsula joins the wall mounted benchwork though, I have a challenge. The scene becomes 30 inches deep in front of a wye junction, so I am debating if I want the fascia to come all the way to the layout edge. Certainly not at 11 inches above rail top, which is the height under the part built so far. Here's a shot of that area with experimental vinyl backdrop material in place. The opening in the backdrop is 30 inches away.



This next area is only 6-8 inches deep, so the backdrop will be an important component of the scene. I have 10 inches of rail to underside clearance here with the roof on. A 1 lap helix is inside the backdrop here, which is accessible on a rolling chair from the middle of the benchwork. Obviously the upper deck fascia will need to be pretty thin here as it forms a valance for the lower deck. Luckily there are no track elements that need controls mounted here so I think a fascia that drops just 2-3 inches below the upper deck plywood should be sufficient. It will rise higher than that to form a backdrop for the loop scene on top to encourage upper deck operators not to stand at the end of the peninsula and clog the aisle.



The next scene is 12 feet long. The upper deck edge makes an S curve as tracks go upgrade here following a river. This is a challenging fascia/valence to make, and I worry about lighting the loop portion of the lower deck that has no upper deck over it.  I am considering not having an upper deck valance here at all and lighting the upper deck with a row of track lights centered over the aisle.



I am going to use the method written up in the December MRH magazine to deal with this outside corner. I will wrap vinyl sheet around the edge and glue it to the MDF backdrop with construction adhesive. I envision a large log crane standing in front of the corner of the backdrop here, as my paper will be off to the left here. I am also checking backdrop heights here for the upper deck.  This scene is problematic because at the far right it will need to evolve from having a valance to not having one, as the plan is to leave the upper level loop totally open, again because of the depth of the scene.



You can see how deep that scene is below. The first shot shows the framing for the double sided backdrop that runs down my center peninsula. The MDF sheet at the left will be moved behind the loop track shown in the elevated second shot of this area.



This gives an overall view of the loop scene. The back of the loop will go into a cut to hide the track some and break up the loop effect. I don't want the typical viewer to be able to see the entire train traversing the loop as one scene. The track will also be close enough to the backdrop that a cut or tunnel would be needed to keep the track from being too close to the backdrop.



The area above is planned to be valance free and illuminated by LED bulbs in a track lighting set.

I am thinking of going with a flat black where I do have valance, with the inside surface obviously painted white to reflect light from the LED strips I plan to use to illuminate most of the layout.

Thoughts and suggestions welcome. I am feeling more like a carpenter than model railroader at this point, but an end to major sawing and screwing is in sight.

[basementcalling]

Beginning to rethink the design of the main yard for the Idaho Belt. Not sure this one is properly designed to allow smooth operation and meet the needs of the main line and local operations as planned any longer.

The bottom left is drawn as a large packing house, but am thinking of straightening the mains and adding an auto rack unloading area instead. Also trying to figure out how to squeeze in another active switching track or two in the yard. The staging throat needs to be visible for ease of operation, to present an illusion of 2 yards functioning as one facility and to make the staging tracks long enough for mainline length trains.

Wondering now though if I want locomotive servicing as an option, and if I should develop another industry or two for this area.



Thoughts?

[MichaelWinicki]

I like the idea of straightening the main out Peter.  I'm not sure about adding more tracks/industries though.  As it exists on presently (on the screen) it already looks like it's going to be a pretty congested area... Sorting cars... servicing industries... trying to reach the rear tracks... trains going in & out of staging.  It's a lot going on in a short distance.

[basementcalling]

Valid points, Michael, but aisle width here is 36-42 inches so room is doable. I think the bigger problem is I don't like the way the components of the yard are laid out at this point. Seems inefficient in its use to me.

Revisions done today while watching football are below.



I added one classification track by eliminating the two industrial tracks on the front of the layout. The warehouse in the back corner was eliminated for reach reasons, and the main line was straightened to run through the scene.

Still looking for a logical place for engine servicing with easy access to arrival departure without crossing the mainlines.

[basementcalling]

More cabinetry in this update.

The combination of a holiday weekend and 3 snow days off from teaching gave me plenty of time to make some progress. Funny thing is I had more sawdust on my layout room floor than snow in my yard at one point, but being Virginia, we still missed a day of school. The 20 degree days and 0 degree nights made the back yard workshop (ie cutting with the chop saw outside) impractical, so the cat of course discovered  the joys of rolling in the pile of sawdust and spreading it around the house.

The end result of the chopping and trimming is this set of three cabinet in the valance I can use to store lightweight materials related to the railroad. This set has sliding doors using a pair of pieces of some type of carpenter's trim material as the track. It will need some wax to help the doors slide easier, and a trim as I found one end of the cabinet is slightly less tall than the other (oops )



Here is the same set of doors from the other angle looking towards the blob end of the peninsula. The third cabinet area bumps out slightly to keep the fascia and valance even.



This shot gives more of an overview of this side of the peninsula so you can see how the valance overhangs the benchwork. I plan to add a couple pieces of chair rail I have to decorate the edge a bit and create a strong border between valance and lit scene below. It will also hide the sandwich effect the 2 layers of luann over a 1x2 beam created below the doors.



For comparison, here is what the area looked like 2 weekends ago when the cabinet idea crept into my brain.



One other area will have valance cabinet space, which will be perfectly sized to hold a couple of the big white car carrier boxes popular with the NTRAK crowds that much of my rolling stock is stored in. The space will be underneath hillside scenery behind the tracks on the other side of the peninsula. The "cabinet space" will be between the two upright 1x2 posts.



One of these days I will get back to actually touching track, rolling stock, engines, and maybe some scenery making supplies. I also have two feeders to resolder to a track section thanks to a cat playing with the dangling wires. after ripping up that section of track to sleep on the foam by a sunny window. Time to by some blinds.

Still, progress is marching on. Here is what the same sections of the layout looked like back in July. Progress would have been faster, but as Gary said, double deck central peninsulas are complicated engineering. And my best engineering problem solving seems to come subconsciously after staring at a scene and thinking, "I didn't think it would look like THAT from what I saw on paper."

[MichaelWinicki]

Valid points, Michael, but aisle width here is 36-42 inches so room is doable. I think the bigger problem is I don't like the way the components of the yard are laid out at this point. Seems inefficient in its use to me.

I like the revisions.

No, it's not the aisle width per se, but the potential for having too many people at one time in that 8' length of space trying to do stuff at the same time.

There's just a lot going on there.

[basementcalling]

More valance work. End in sight for now, which is good because the wood runneth out.

Here is the site of a future paper mill. It will bump out inside the turnback loop, but most of the scene will be long and narrow. This area will have a valance, thus the open grid above the top of the backdrop. Unless I change my mind. 



This won't be part of the mill, but the kitbash is walls ready and I wanted to see something besides bare plywood. I like how the experiment with old and new sections of the building is turning out.



On the other peninsula the tall mountains will come 15-18 inches above track level. The gaps in the MDF are where more cabinets in the valance will sit allowing for under scenery storage. This one is sized to hold wide white rolling stock boxes.



A simple spot for a simple scene. I will be covering the gap on the right with vinyl and spackle, probably light weight.



This is the start of the benchwork near the sliding glass door. The upper deck is going to be a lead to a staging yard, so I am debating at this point if I should have a 6 inch or 12 inch shelf overhanging the lower level mainline, passing siding, and yard lead.

6 inches


12 inches


Access to this turnout and sneak hole through the backdrop is a consideration.



I broke down and broke out some of the new MT log cars just to see what they would look like on the lower level in a yard.



That's all for now. Out of the classroom tomorrow to head to Richmond to lobby elected officials about the education budget. Should be interesting verbal sparring.

[basementcalling]

Ouch, page 3. Been a while since I had something to share.

Finally got some nice weather so the backyard sawmill could open up again.

I decided to take a break from valances and such and do some subroadbed. This is my branch line along the north wall of the plan. It's obviously lower deck level, but it climbs a 2.0% grade uphill towards the yet to be named town at the end of the line, which is not shown. Let's start with an overview of the scene.



Here's grade bottom, which will start at the plywood joint to move it back from a swing gate (Which I am still pondering how to build.) just to the left of this shot.



The deck to deck separation here is 16 inches, though the deck is 4 inches below track level for scenic purposes. Railhead to railhead will vary, as the upper deck is going downgrade, but railhead to underside of the upper deck will be 8-12 inches. That may impact scenery more than I would like, so here is an eye level shot looking in with an upper deck mock up.



The plan is for a sloping hill to run from backdrop to fascia, with the tracks twisting and turning heading up the canyon wall. I am not sure how steep  hillside I can get away with behind the roadbed, but would love for the canyon rim to be level just short of the upper deck so a thin strip of sky shows, with more in places where the canyon wall has gullies, ala how the Camas Prairie climbed up Lapwai Canyon, but without the loop and grade twisting back upon itself. This image is eye even with the "sky" level. Foam hills to come, as are intermediate risers between the ones I clamped in place today to test.



The middle of this video shows some canyon run scenes.

This is what the upgrade view looks like when I put the cellphone on the subroadbed and remember to turn the flash ON.   



Probably won't get to the other risers or foam cutting until next weekend, as this is a busy week.

[basementcalling]

Carpentry paused for some foaming landforms. I've been cutting the 1/5" foam with a hot wire tool and sculpting the pieces to create a rolling hillside. Some more smoothing to do and the foreground needs some work in places, but this trestle scene is starting to take shape, at least in my mind's eye.




The track will enter a tunnel on the right to hide the close approach to the back wall as it prepares for a sharp right hand turn.

Trying to execute the hillside climb so scenic elements exaggerate the height gain of the branch through this area, while keepin the tops of the hillside below my upper deck, which have a 12 inch rail top to underside clearance.