Modular Nickel Plate Road in Bellevue

[btrain]

Did some more screwing around this weekend. I put the tracks together around the roundhouse and soldered them with feeders. Here a berk tests the clearance of the coal dock.



This will more than likely be how the roundhouse module will be set up with major buildings. A slight difference to the track plan is another switch at Kellogg & Sons to double the amount of cars loaded there to eight.

[seusscaboose]

Well done!!!

Winston Link would be proud!

[MVW]

Love what you're doing here, and would like to hear more about the turntable/roundhouse area.

Are you planning on the turntable being functional? I've heard so many knocks against the old Walthers kit (yet that's all I have on hand  ).

Also wondering about how you laid out the roundhouse tracks.

I'm facing a similar situation, in that I'd like to cram a turntable and (hopefully) 6-8 stall roundhouse in a too-small area. What's the footprint for your turntable/roundhouse?

Thanks, and keep up the great work!

Jim

[btrain]

Thank you for the kind words Eric and Jim.

Jim, for turning the turntable I'll be using the hands of God technique. I couldn't find the motor for it, and I'm too lazy to jimmy rig something. To power it, I'll be using a telephone detangler wired to a Digitrak AR1 auto reverser.

So far I'm testing the table by pushing engines on and off of it. The only adjustments I've had to make to the table, is to sand down the strips that rest on the rails in the pit. I wasn't carful making sure those strips sit on a right angle to the bottom of the table deck, so I've had to file and gently sand to make sure it doesn't webel wobble.

I can't remember how I laid out the roundhouse tracks, but I do have some measurements for you. The roundhouse at its widest point with six stalls is 16 1/4". From the apex of the roundhouse (between stalls three and four) to the far side of the turntable is 23 1/2". Also the track space between the edge of the turntable deck to the roundhouse doors is 2 3/8". The turntable pit with its apron is 9 13/16" in diameter.

[narrowminded]

I love the black and white pic and the flavor of the whole scene.  Looks really good!

And do I see inspection pits in the roundhouse stalls?  If so, could you tell us about them?

[btrain]

Thank you! The pits are standard with the Walthers roundhouse kit. I just have to dig into the foam and put in feeders at the end of the rails. I don't think I'll super detail the inside of the roundhouse, but I'll airbrush the grit and grime that collected on the floor.

[narrowminded]

Thank you! The pits are standard with the Walthers roundhouse kit. I just have to dig into the foam and put in feeders at the end of the rails. I don't think I'll super detail the inside of the roundhouse, but I'll airbrush the grit and grime that collected on the floor.

Thanks, btrain.   I asked because I have been doing some research to find pit dimensions for a scratch built steam era engine house and have seen them all over the board, from 2 1/2' to 6' and some tapered depth from one end to the other.  I think I've narrowed it down a little, including that there is no standard, but was curious about another's take on it.  I'll guess that Walthers looked at some prototypes when they built their version so, in the interest of another data point, if it's easy enough, could you take a crude measurement of the pit depth x width and post it?  Not a big deal but curious.

[btrain]

Thanks, btrain.   I asked because I have been doing some research to find pit dimensions for a scratch built steam era engine house and have seen them all over the board, from 2 1/2' to 6' and some tapered depth from one end to the other.  I think I've narrowed it down a little, including that there is no standard, but was curious about another's take on it.  I'll guess that Walthers looked at some prototypes when they built their version so, in the interest of another data point, if it's easy enough, could you take a crude measurement of the pit depth x width and post it?  Not a big deal but curious.

No problem, I'll give it a measure tonight after work. From the two pits that I've worked in at the Cedar Point & Lake Erie, and the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, I'd say the average depth from the pit floor to the bottom of the rail is around 4 feet. Both of which I don't think were tapered, if so it might be ever so slightly. I know the Age of Steam Roundhouse has a slight slope on the shop floor into the pit, and the pit is tapered into a drain to help make boiler washes easier. Also at Cedar Point the pit extends from the outside edge of the rail by about a foot and a half to help remove dropped drivers.

[btrain]

The demesions for the pit are 178mm long, 6.4mm wide and 4mm deep. The depth of the pit is uniformed without any tapering.

[MVW]

Jim, for turning the turntable I'll be using the hands of God technique. I couldn't find the motor for it, and I'm too lazy to jimmy rig something. To power it, I'll be using a telephone detangler wired to a Digitrak AR1 auto reverser.

So far I'm testing the table by pushing engines on and off of it. The only adjustments I've had to make to the table, is to sand down the strips that rest on the rails in the pit. I wasn't carful making sure those strips sit on a right angle to the bottom of the table deck, so I've had to file and gently sand to make sure it doesn't webel wobble.

I can't remember how I laid out the roundhouse tracks, but I do have some measurements for you. The roundhouse at its widest point with six stalls is 16 1/4". From the apex of the roundhouse (between stalls three and four) to the far side of the turntable is 23 1/2". Also the track space between the edge of the turntable deck to the roundhouse doors is 2 3/8". The turntable pit with its apron is 9 13/16" in diameter.

Thank you, btrain. As it turns out, I have almost exactly the same distance (from roundhouse apex to far side of turntable) to play with, and I may be able to wrangle an extra couple inches when the time comes. You've given me hope! (Or at least alleviated some minor anxiety.  )

Jim

[narrowminded]

The demesions for the pit are 178mm long, 6.4mm wide and 4mm deep. The depth of the pit is uniformed without any tapering.

Perfect!   Thank you.   A little confirmation.

[btrain]

Hey everyone, after plugin away at the layout for a while here's an update of what I've been up to. February was spent wiring the tracks and putting in the bullfrog turnouts. Testing for shorted frogs took up a good deal of time, and after trouble shooting the shorts I found out one thing. Sometimes the bullfrog switches don't always click to switch the polarity of the frog from the shoe on the plate not hitting it. After putting some masking tape then some wood glue on the shoe, the switches started to work without shorting out locomotives on the frogs.

Here's both ends of the yard wired with turnout controls added. I'll cover this area up soon, so the switch machines don't get dinged or damaged with transported.



Last night was spent ballasting the west yard tracks with Woodland Scenics and Arizona Rock & Stone products. The shell of the roundhouse is being put together today, so I'll be able to paint it concrete gray later this week. On the to-do list is to finish airbrushing garages for the town and country scenes, also I'll carve out the foam on the eastern half of the yard into a soybean farm.

[btrain]

Put some static grass and dirt on the west end yard module. This photo probably doesn't show the progress really well on the layout thus far, but I'm a sucker for low-key lighting. The roundhouse has been painted in a concrete color with some putty applied over the bricks of this Walthers kit to give it a smooth look. Just waiting on the O scale decals to apply the road name on the top half of it.

[nickelplate759]

umm, is that a PC SW-1 at Bellevue?

Seriously, I'm impressed at the progress you've made in not a whole lot of time.

[btrain]

umm, is that a PC SW-1 at Bellevue?

Seriously, I'm impressed at the progress you've made in not a whole lot of time.

Haha, thank you! This long, cold, and miserable winter in northern Ohio has helped out a lot in the progress. I can only imagine how much I would get done with six months of darkness in Antarctica.