The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[davefoxx]

I fit the next piece of styrene road section between the rails.



Not obvious is that I also trimmed the most previous large piece to adjust the trajectory of the road as it clears the wye track and parallels the SBD mainline, as on the prototype.  You may notice the road is narrower on this side of the small parking lot.  That’s because I’m stopping the sidewalk at the parking lot.



Just one more piece of styrene is needed to finish the fourteen-foot-plus length of road from one end of the layout through town and to the other end of the layout.



DFF

[amato1969]

...the fourteen-foot-plus length of road...

HO scale problems 

[davefoxx]

HO scale problems 

Haha!  And, it's my own fault by trying to model the entire Aberdeen-side of the layout as an LDE.  Walked myself right into that one.

Of course, I make things as complicated as possible: my bridges are curved, on a grade, skewed, or some combination thereof, and my road crossings are on curves, near turnouts, and cross multiple tracks. 

DFF

[davefoxx]

The last of the four railroad crossings is finished (as far as cutting and fitting the styrene to the rails).



Unfortunately, the four-foot length of styrene just missed the mark, so this is not the last piece of styrene road section to make, plus I will now have a seam to patch.  Oh, well.



DFF

[davefoxx]

I finished roughing out the last piece of road with the attachment of a short piece of styrene to reach the end of the layout.  Obviously, this all still needs to be painted and weathered, but only after I paint and ballast the track at that closest leg of the wye in the pictures below:



I added some variation in the elevation of the road to somewhat match what's going on with the scenic forms at the fascia.  At least it won't be just unrealistically flat.  I'll fill in around the road with lightweight spackling.



On another note, I'm trying a new (for me) method of cleaning track: first, scrubbing the rails with a 600-grit sanding stick and then a 1000-grit sanding stick, followed by rubbing the rails down with a stainless steel washer.  Boy, the polish this gives to the railheads is insane.  The railheads are smoother (I can feel drag when I run my fingers along the rails before this procedure, but not after), and they shine like well-used 1:1 railheads.  I used a fender washer, which I also lean up on edge a little to try to get down inside the inside edge of the railheads where the wheels ride.

Here, the rails on the left are untreated and have a matte surface that, again, doesn't feel smooth when running a finger along the rails.  The rails on the right are treated.  These pictures don't do this procedure justice, but the treated railheads almost have a mirror finish (I wonder if that will affect the tonnage rating on the hill?):



Rails on left untreated; rails on right treated:



Let the experiment begin to see if this makes any difference in keeping the rails clean.

DFF

[C855B]

...Here, the rails on the left are untreated and have a matte surface that, again, doesn't feel smooth when running a finger along the rails.  The rails on the right are treated.  These pictures don't do this procedure justice, but the treated railheads almost have a mirror finish (I wonder if that will affect the tonnage rating on the hill?):



Rails on left untreated; rails on right treated:

"Hey, Dave! I think I found that short!" 

 

[davefoxx]

"Hey, Dave! I think I found that short!" 

 

Why do you think I bought the largest (and most obvious!) fender washer I could find? 

I will admit to, on at least one occasion, however, mindlessly checking a questionable spot for track gauge- while trains were running- with an NMRA gauge.  We all know how that ended.  Yeah, we'll call it the "DCC coin test." 

DFF

[CRL]

I wonder if this will reduce the traction of the locomotive to an unacceptable level.

[davefoxx]

I wonder if this will reduce the traction of the locomotive to an unacceptable level.

I don't know, but, since the reality is that I'm only hauling three cars and a caboose up the hill on the Seaboard Central, I can't imagine it will affect ops on this layout.  But, if I can remember to test it before I treat those rails, I'll run a test train before and after to see if there is any change in what amount of cars it takes to stall an engine on the hill.  The grade is 4%, so it doesn't take a lot of cars.

DFF

[davefoxx]

Thanks to a discussion with a few ’s this afternoon, I have decided to rename my layout.  The reasons:

1) My current track plan, for the most part, is not modeled from the track plan of the 1980s MR project of the same name.  In fact, my layout is mostly the MR track plan, the Bedford Valley, which was designed by Gordon Odegard.

2) The Seaboard Central Ry. on my layout is only one of three railroads that I’m modeling, so it makes little sense to name the whole layout from just one of the three roads.

3) There’s another HO scale layout that you can find on YouTube that is way better than my layout, both operationally and scenically, called the Seaboard Central.  Since the name “Seaboard Central” is rather unique, I cringe at the thought of my layout being compared to that layout and don’t want to be known as that “other” Seaboard Central.

4) I’ve also grown weary of referring to the layout as the V3.0, since it really is completely different from my prior versions of the Seaboard Central track plan.

5) I think people get confused by Seaboard Central as the layout name, but the Seaboard System is the roundy-round on the layout.

6) By renaming the layout as “The Carolina Sandhills Lines,” it helps place the layout geographically (in and around Aberdeen, North Carolina in an area known as the Sandhills).  For those that don’t know, the Sandhills are erstwhile sand dunes from a time when sea level was much higher and the coastline more inland.  The description, “Lines,” demonstrates that there is more than one railroad on the layout.  Also, I’m using Carolina, because Sandhills or Sand Hills can be tied to an area in Nebraska.

DFF

[wm3798]

Dammit.  And I just got my Seaboard Central tattoo.

[Point353]

On another note, I'm trying a new (for me) method of cleaning track: first, scrubbing the rails with a 600-grit sanding stick and then a 1000-grit sanding stick, followed by rubbing the rails down with a stainless steel washer.  Boy, the polish this gives to the railheads is insane.  The railheads are smoother (I can feel drag when I run my fingers along the rails before this procedure, but not after), and they shine like well-used 1:1 railheads.  I used a fender washer, which I also lean up on edge a little to try to get down inside the inside edge of the railheads where the wheels ride.

Here, the rails on the left are untreated and have a matte surface that, again, doesn't feel smooth when running a finger along the rails.  The rails on the right are treated.  These pictures don't do this procedure justice, but the treated railheads almost have a mirror finish (I wonder if that will affect the tonnage rating on the hill?):



Rails on left untreated; rails on right treated:



Let the experiment begin to see if this makes any difference in keeping the rails clean.

DFF

The polished/treated rails appear to have a dark streak down the center of the railhead.
Is that their actual appearance now, or simply some sort of reflection?

[davefoxx]

The polished/treated rails appear to have a dark streak down the center of the railhead.
Is that their actual appearance now, or simply some sort of reflection?

Reflection.

DFF

[davefoxx]

Dammit.  And I just got my Seaboard Central tattoo.

@wm3798,

You're in luck!  Your tattoo won't go to waste; there's this guy on YouTube. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/tmh57

DFF

[davefoxx]

Oh, and just for clarity, this name change only affects the layout's name.  There is no revision of the track plan, and the Seaboard Central name lives on as on of the three roads on my layout.  I will just refer to the entire layout as the Carolina Sandhills Lines.

In other words, this little Seaboard Central GP9 (and the Party Bus, "Gull"!) are still employed:



DFF