N Scale Hi Rail - Retro Hollow Core Door Layout

[wm3798]

[clipped and pasted from Weekend Update for the purposes of the archive]

Thanks to the efforts of a couple of members here, I now have four nice groupings of classic ConCor PAs.
It all started with the arrival of three dummies from @chessie system fan , a beautifully custom painted A/B set of L&N, and a Southern A unit.




Next, i got a great deal on a fully powered ABA set from @ai5629 Jeff Lopez ,   all three drives are silky smooth runners (compared to their contemporaries anyway)   Now, for those of you old enough to remember,  three powered PA drives can pound out a 200 car train on an N track layout without blinking an eye,  so I set about the task of shuffling things around a bit.



First, I picked up a bargain bin deal on a Dummy A unit while I was in San Diego last week.


This gave me some parts I would need to complete the transplants.  (The Southern and L&N engine came with the pilots fixed to the shell, and I was not able to salvage the one from the SOU cab)  also these were set up with a home brew link and pin set up, presumably to get closer coupling distance.

To keep the L&N shell intact,  I opted to power the B unit.  I replaced the link and pin set up with Unimates to keep the coupling close, and put a Rapido in the back to interface with my old passenger fleet.  Since ConCor provides a light rig in the dummy A, the B can push it around and no one is any the wiser.

The other A drive went under the Southern shell pretty seamlessly (once I had broken off the OEM pilot)

With a bit of repair and replace on the dummies frames, I was able to put the B&O set back on the road with a powered A and two trailers.  The set looks great handling my 8 car streamlined Columbian.

These, of course, now share the spotlight with my original PRR ABA set, also a singled powered A and two trailers.



When I run all four, the lights in half the county dim, but there's nothing like the thrum of those old motors as they whisk passengers along to their holiday destinations!

Lee

[wm3798]

Looks like somethings afoot in Cornersville...


What will it be?
A TTrack interface?
A yard?
A spur to connect the upper and lower loops?

I've got a fair amount of real estate to play with...  we'll see what evolves.



Lee

[Hawghead]

What will it be?
A TTrack interface?
A yard?
A spur to connect the upper and lower loops?

I've got a fair amount of real estate to play with...  we'll see what evolves.

Things that make you go hummm...

Scott

[wm3798]

Here we go!


But I really need a stick of my Peco flex... and it's half a county away in my storage unit.  With the snow we're expecting I won't see that till next week...

Dammit.
Lee

[mu26aeh]

But I really need a stick of my Peco flex... and it's half a county away in my storage unit.  With the snow we're expecting I won't see that till next week...

Dammit.
Lee

I know you already have it, but you should have stopped at the top of the hill before you chased L137 down the hill and grabbed at stick

[wm3798]

I was grabbing the sectional track I "thought" I needed, and some Unitrak bits I need for the modules.

I got it sorted by carefully trimming a short piece of 9.75" to make the connection.
I had it running last night.


Alas, I'm once again confronted with a screwy scenery dilemma.  Cornersville worked well, but the wye has obliterated the real estate, so I'll have to do some head scratching.
Lee

[chessie system fan]

Do a squashed Point of Rocks station. You could build the front profile and fudge the rest. And the tunnel is conveniently on the left of the wye, which works perfectly for you.  There were plans in a modeling rag years ago. I have them somewhere. 

[wm3798]

Playing around with lighting.  At our old house, I had to mount my lights directly on the sky board, which provided really intense light.  I had 3 clip lights with 60w equivalent LED soft white bulbs.
In tge new house, I still have to finish the basement, and I'd like to install recessed can lights.  As an experiment,  I clipped the original light fixtures up in the floor trusses, then added a daylight tube led to add some brightness.  Overall I like the broader wash of the lights, but I think it still needs to be a bit brighter.  What say you?

The original scheme.



The experimental scheme.





The new look...  less glare, less back lit.

It's getting close to time to install the wiring.  I put in some adjustable color LED cans over the new bar, which I think will work well, but I can't help but recall fondly the positional heads of the track lighting I used over the old WM layout.

The trick here is to have it make sense in the room in case it's not used for trains... but still be useful for watching and photographing trains...

Something to think about anyway.

Lee

[wm3798]

It's been a while since I worked on scenery, so last night, while watering the TTrak modules,  I went ahead and cleaned up the Potomac and added a coat of Mod Podge gloss along it's full length.






I guess I better find the canoes!

Lee

[OldEastRR]

I'll be interested to see now the former Cornerville site turns out. It would be neat to have a station in the middle of the wye, with platforms on both legs. And the new viaduct for the other wye leg. Is that switch way in the back going to be manual?

[wm3798]

A lot will hinge on what goes on beyond the wye to the right.  I'm working toward building a set of TTrak yard modules that I can add to the display at Altoona next year, and they will be the most likely short term addition.  That will help me add a bit of switching interest to the upper loop.

Longer term, if I ever get the room finished, I may add another HCD then build out some railroad to connect the two.

I definitely want to reincorporate the vintage Magnusen Merchant's Row into another town setting.

Until then, I'll keep picking away at the gaps in the current scenery I need to finish.

Lee

[wm3798]

Did some tidying up around the layout today.


Still more organizing and sorting to do, but the shelving down the wall opens up a few opportunities...




Lee

[wm3798]

More fun with expansion planning.

I want to add capacity to my JFRTM lifestyle, which ideally will include a longer main line run and a fiddle yard.

As noted previously, I worked out the geometry of the upper loop, where hopefully I can add an interface to a TTrak compatible yard and balloon track.  Next I want see what's possible down on the double track main line.

I don't want to interrupt the loop on the HCD, since there are no guarantees that downstream I'll have the opportunity to connect, so I'm working out a wye junction off of the outer main.


In order for it to be fully functional, I'll also need a full interlocking between the inner and outer loops.  I can locate half of it here.


I'm checking my inventory of turnouts to see if I can get the other half just to the right of that.

Back to the scrap box!
Lee

[wm3798]

Found it!


Time to start dissolving ballast!

Lee

[wm3798]

I spent the evening contemplating the pros and cons of changing up the track plan, and have concluded that it's not in the cards for now.
Adding the crossovers would require a nearly complete rewiring of the lower route, and I don't have a specific plan for what would come next in terms of expansion. 
I'm also concerned that adding a bunch of turnouts will impact the reliability of the roundy round.

The basement still needs a lot of work, and I have to be careful not to get too far ahead of myself there.

So I'll focus on hanging a yard module off the upper loop at Cornersville,  so I can add some better switching opportunities on the route that is already set up with block control.

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

Lee