HOn3 Rio Grande Southern First District 1938-1945

[DKS]

I've been trying to derive the most meaningful bits from the last exchanges, and come up with something that might hit the most points. You mentioned a 4x8 version; you also site Ophir and Rico as the key scenes. You may be unwilling to commit to a permanent room-sized layout that might not be movable.

Here's something to chew on (and likely spit out). Let's start with a 4x8 core for Rico, and add two 3x7 "wings" to create a properly-oriented space for Ophir. A long double-sided backdrop provides separation. It's basically a compressed version of your original plan turned inside-out. It's rendered inside the space in your current home; it could be oriented either with Rico or Ophir facing the open side, although I think it's better with Rico facing out. Also, the awkward switches at each end of Rico could be curved to smooth things out.



It could be broken down and transported without a huge amount of difficulty, or it could be further split up. Or, whatever. It's just an idea.


 

[Dave V]

DKS,

Liking that!  I'm a little concerned that the end "lobe" radii are tight.  I'd love to go with 18" but I know that if I do Malcolm's Opus (the SJC) I'll be flirting with 17".  I know the Blackstone stuff can handle it...but down to 15" I'm not sure.

[DKS]

Yeah, the lobes are a bit tight. I drew them at 16". But then, it's only a matter of adding 2-3 inches to each of the "wings" to get you up to 18", which may not be so bad, especially if the benchwork is curved to follow the track, so there'd only be a short pinch point in the aisle.

[Mike C]

What about a whole house humidifier ?  I used to have problems with dry air in the winter untill I put a Reef tank in the basement where I spend the most time . Keeps the air nice and moist .

[DKS]

Here are 18" radius lobes. I flipped the layout around and made the wings asymmetrical to reduce the pinch point.



The 4x8 Rico portion could be shaved by 6-10 inches or so to increase the aisle space along the back wall.

Just noticed I forgot to adjust the backdrop... oops...

 

[Dave V]

What about a whole house humidifier ?  I used to have problems with dry air in the winter untill I put a Reef tank in the basement where I spend the most time . Keeps the air nice and moist .

Mike...  Did you mean to reply here?

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=43619.msg556866#msg556866

Or was that a recommendation for my health issue?  I do have a whole-house humidifier already and it does pretty well for when I'm in the house.  My train projects went through a drying/contraction phase when we first got here from Florida (go figure!) but have since been pretty stable.

Here are 18" radius lobes. I flipped the layout around and made the wings asymmetrical to reduce the pinch point.



The 4x8 Rico portion could be shaved by 6-10 inches or so to increase the aisle space along the back wall.

Just noticed I forgot to adjust the backdrop... oops...
 

Dave, I really like this.  I think we're getting there now!  This is something I can do!

[DKS]

Here it is cleaned up a bit, with the Rico slab trimmed by 6" for better aisle space. It will probably require curved turnouts tho.

[Dave V]

I might still use my custom #6 3-way switch coming into Rico from the right.

[Mike C]

No ment to reply here  ( although it would fit there too ) . You mention you have a problem with the cold dry air , while it won't help outside , it would make house comfortable .....Mike

[DKS]

I might still use my custom #6 3-way switch coming into Rico from the right.

It could be awkward at the very end of the yard, since it probably swings right while everything swings left, but it might work well on the enginehouse sidings, top dead center.

[Dave V]

It could be awkward at the very end of the yard, since it probably swings right while everything swings left, but it might work well on the enginehouse sidings, top dead center.

It would!  As a matter of fact there was another 3-way switch in front of the enginhouse.

No ment to reply here  ( although it would fit there too ) . You mention you have a problem with the cold dry air , while it won't help outside , it would make house comfortable .....Mike

Unfortunately that won't be enough to make a difference for my issues which are immunological and neurological.  But I appreciate the suggestion.  I do in fact have a humidifier as part of the HVAC and it's brand new (installed late 2016 when the house was built).

EDIT:  I'm actually less thrilled with what's happened to Ophir insofar as bridge 45A.  I understand absent solid context for what I'm trying to do, this is awkward.  I'm willing to switch "lobes" and forgo a passing siding at Lizard Head because this is what Bridge 45A looks like:





Long and straight.  So I would prefer to have the "left lobe" longer than the right to do this correctly.

Bridge 45B on the other hand (there were 9 trestles in 2 miles on this stretch) is the piddly curved one:

[Ed Kapuscinski]

6-7 years? Plenty of time to build this, collect the accolades, and be ready for the next thing.

But get busy!

(Ok, maybe you already have, but at this point, don't let perfect be the enemy of good)

[pdx1955]

Why can't you do what you already had planned out? Just add some logical section breaks so you can move it in manageable pieces if you change locales. If you have to modify a section post-move then you can do that without redoing the whole thing. Its better to enjoy working on something today regardless of compromising everything that you won't be happy with. Otherwise, you are right, you'll end up not building anything. I've seen too many good layout efforts that could have been saved get torn down over the years as the builder isn't willing to make them moveable.

[DKS]

Drop Sawpit and put 45A there.

[Dave V]

Why can't you do what you already had planned out? Just add some logical section breaks so you can move it in manageable pieces if you change locales. If you have to modify a section post-move then you can do that without redoing the whole thing. Its better to enjoy working on something today regardless of compromising everything that you won't be happy with. Otherwise, you are right, you'll end up not building anything. I've seen too many good layout efforts that could have been saved get torn down over the years as the builder isn't willing to make them moveable.

I did my best to articulate my logic in this regard.  But you're right, I'm paralyzed again.  When it came to doing a door layout it was so easy...the parameters were rigid.  Now I have a terrifyingly blank slate.

Drop Sawpit and put 45A there.

Won't work...  Bridge 45A leads directly to the Ophir depot and that curved turnout is right at the end:

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I appreciate everyone's help.  I think what DKS has done here is the nexus for something I'm willing to build.