Alaskan Interior Railway: Tok Branchline

[peteski]

Ah, i see, I wonder why true color has been having issues with decals up here

What do you mean?
Is the surface not smooth enough for decaling?  Maybe then you are spraying in on too dry?  If you are using thinner, are you using their specific thinner (that seems to work the best).

[AKNscale]

Pete had tried True Color on a few things. Alaska Railroad blue was way too dark, and if I remember correctly, the paint would bubble up and flake off randomly, especially if you mask it off. Also the paint had problems with the decaling and would bubble them up too. Don't have these issues with Scalecoat I. And yes, I know there's no Scalecoat ARR colors, but there are ways around that. Oh, and I know they were very clean, I'm pretty certain he had their thinner, and I can pretty well guarantee it wasn't too dry.

[AKNscale]

So I haven't been doing too much with the layout lately, mainly because I'd been on the fence and needed to make a few decisions before I continued along with it. But one decision I'd made was that I wanted some more space so I could have some broader curves and spread what I was doing out a little. I was going for expanding it to 7'X42" but I couldn't get Lowes to cut the 4'X8' foam board. So I decided to keep the 4'X8' as is and I'm quite happy with it!

Here's the whole thing:

Here's one side so far:

And the other side:


I'd like to start laying track shortly but I still need to add the runaround for the interchange track and would really like to finish all of the bench work so I can hook everything up properly as I go.

[wazzou]

If I could make a suggestion, it would be turn all of the track work at slight angle to the edge of your benchwork.
Maybe a 15-20 degree angle would be good.  I think you would have more scenic interest at the edges of the layout.
You wouldn't sacrifice your desire to have broader curves and maybe eliminating some of the tangent running at the ends will open up some new opportunities.

[AKNscale]

So turn it so it's not in line with the edges? I can try it and see how I like it. Thanks for the idea and response!

[SSW7771]

Not sure how set the track plan is, but you might be able to put a couple of staging tracks in the middle which will improve operational possibilities. Just a thought.

[AKNscale]

I'd like to see what you're thinking, do you have an example?

[SSW7771]

I'd like to see what you're thinking, do you have an example?

Here is a link to Bryon Henderson's website. Scroll down to near the bottom and there is a narrative about a 4x8 n scale layout. The trackplan is on the right. In the past I had seriously considered building this layout in the past because it has staging, lots of switching, and great operational potential.
http://layoutvision.com/id33.html

[AKNscale]

Wazzou: I can see what you're saying if I were to reduce the short straights I could do what you're talking about, however I like going along with the side, mainly because it will be simpler for me to lay the track fairly straight. I think the concept is interesting and quite clever though. I think it will be quite cool to implement once the room size layout is under way.

SSW7771: He has some great ideas, I really like the designs for the engine terminals, especially the one with the turntable.

So not too much to report on the layout tonight 🙁. I got a couple coupler conversions done as I've decided to revert back to the magnematics, however they'll now all be body mounted. I spent the rest of my train time tonight working on one of a club member's 2 locos that I hadn't been able to get to. I probably won't be doing much with the layout for the next few weeks as our annual Fur Rondy show at the ARR depot kicks off this week. So I'll be spending most of my time there playing mechanic between mine and the other club members' equipment, lol. It's a lot of fun this year our n scale layout will hopefully be able to somewhat keep up with the HO guys!

[wazzou]

Understood on the straight track argument but that is what straight edges are for, like metal or plastic rulers.   

[AKNscale]

Understood on the straight track argument but that is what straight edges are for, like metal or plastic rulers.   

Very true

So tonight I was motivated. I decided to finish my coupler re-conversion but am burned out with 4 cars left... But all the couplers are assembled! Here's a picture of the last batch of evil little bastards I finished:


I really wanted to finish the last 4 cars, but after spending quite a bit of the evening carpet lurping trying to find either springs or brown coupler parts I lost my determination, as I was doing this freehand(without their assembly machine). Now I need a few more switches, to finish the conversions, then to start laying roadbed. Hopefully I'll be game for it tomorrow night....

[MichaelWinicki]

Very true

So tonight I was motivated. I decided to finish my coupler re-conversion but am burned out with 4 cars left... But all the couplers are assembled! Here's a picture of the last batch of evil little bastards I finished:


I really wanted to finish the last 4 cars, but after spending quite a bit of the evening carpet lurping trying to find either springs or brown coupler parts I lost my determination, as I was doing this freehand(without their assembly machine). Now I need a few more switches, to finish the conversions, then to start laying roadbed. Hopefully I'll be game for it tomorrow night....

So what were the challenges from your perspective with MT's "True Scale" coupler system?

[AKNscale]

Mainly the locomotives, due to the sharpness of my curves/switches. With the rolling stock I had the boxes pivot, which worked out well. With the locomotives I couldn't easily make the boxes pivot so I had to cut the springs, which essentially makes the couplers limp. It made operations more annoying trying to couple the loco to the rolling stock. However, once coupled, they worked beautifully.

[AKNscale]

Hi all! It's been quite a bit since I've posted on here mainly because I've done a little here and there, but spent most of my time down in the room working on decoders. However, a few things have changed. I did finish the body mounted couplers on my rolling stock, edited the track plan, and added new rolling stock.

Firstly, I wanted broader curves, so I put in 18.75" curves with 20" easements. You'll also notice that the power plant siding was expanded to 2 tracks:


Next, I felt like adding a coal mine would really validate this branchline's use to the main road and would really expand ops:


Here's the lead off of the mine:


I also decided to change the entrances to the yard to #7 switches instead of the #5s that were there prior.

[nkalanaga]

"but I couldn't get Lowes to cut the 4'X8' foam board"
Is this standard polystyrene insulation boards?  When building my benchwork I had to bring them home in a Geo Metro.  Obviously they wouldn't fit, too wide, so I cut them with a utility knife in the lumber yard's parking lot.  It only took a few minutes, and made no mess.