ATSF Los Angeles Division, circa 1949

[Cajonpassfan]

I’m having some first time visitors tomorrow morning, so it’s track cleaning time on the Los Angeles Division tonight😜
Glad I imade the workbench above the hidden half-lix removable for easy access. Not pretty, but practical!😎
(The “half-lix” is just a 180 degree hidden curve in my workshop that replaced the hated hell-ix). Life without it is GOOD!
Otto

[Yannis]

Otto since a fellow member mentioned it, i take it the lower level is around 30" high? Lacking any multideck experience, i assume/hypothesize, that having a layout with just yards/terminals on the lower (sit-down) level using chairs, and then have the mainline run on the top level while walking is something like the best of both worlds. Is that the case?

Very nice solution with the magnets. If i understood this right, it is like a removable backdrop to gain access to a deep scene?

[Santa Fe Guy]

Looks like you have been really busy Otto. The layout is looking very smart.
Rod.

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks Rod! Nice to be retired, isn't it?
Yannis, the backdrop is hinged along its upper edge and the magnets hold it in a horizontal position over the yard when I need access. Its lower edge stops just above the long baggage and express buildings so it can be swung open without interfering with trains parked on adjacent tracks. And yes, you get the idea; I wanted the "main deck" to be optimal height for walking around and the lower deck optimal for sitting around. Of course, in N scale, one can reach a lot of acreage without moving the caster equipped chairs much. Also note that while the trainroom is carpeted for comfort, the flooring around the yards is linoleum for ease of movement.
Thanks for your interest,
Otto

[Yannis]

Thanks Otto, much appreciated details!

[Cajonpassfan]

I’ve been posting a lot of boring layout “infrastructure” stuff, so I thought I’d spice it up with a couple of shiny train photos from our Saturday mini run session. Eastbound City of Los Angeles leaving its namesake city along its namesake “river”, and and a westbound El Capitan making a stop at San Bernardino on its way to LA.
The photos remind me how many unfinished projects I have...
Otto K.

[C855B]

... its namesake “river”...

You just piqued my particular conundrum. I have "an L.A. basin river" in my plan, but I am torn between the Santa Ana through Colton and the L.A. River through the grungier parts of the industrial areas. Santa Ana through Riverside with UP's monster concrete arch bridge would be great, but not doable without big sacrifices in other LDEs. Your scene - well done - makes me think of the "cat face" drain outlets visible from I-5 through Burbank and next to where Taylor Yard used to be. Pondering here, maybe the concreted channel through town with the distinctive graffiti features from the '60s might be my best bet.

[MVW]

  Nice stuff, Otto!

Jim

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks guys. Mike, my river edge scene is more “inspired by” rather than “model of”. Just trying to capture the feel of First Street Yard, see pics. It was gritty even then, before the onslaught of the graffiti era, which I abhor... My cat faces will be nice and clean😽
Otto

[C855B]

Interesting with those "modern" cat faces. Generally I agree about grafitti; the classic graf in the channel in the '60s was much simpler, little more than smiley faces (and ears) outlined in white paint applied with a roller. It was amusing then, more along the lines of a local joke rather than the modern "my mark on the world, try to stop me" crap self-justified as underground public art.

[Cajonpassfan]

Somebody makes the cat face storm drain lids in HO, forget who. Too big for us.
It was/is a clever way of keeping trespassers out of the stormdrains; too heavy to lift until enough backpressure built up to open the floodgates... a cool LA River trademark. I do need to include them at some point...
Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

Maybe something along these lines...

[Yannis]

Ha, the moment i sort of decide that in my future layout i won't be modelling 1st street yard and LA river (and have SB instead), a photo like the one you posted pops up and makes me think twice.... very inspiring photo Otto! Thanks for posting this.

[johnb]

Interesting with those "modern" cat faces. Generally I agree about grafitti; the classic graf in the channel in the '60s was much simpler, little more than smiley faces (and ears) outlined in white paint applied with a roller. It was amusing then, more along the lines of a local joke rather than the modern "my mark on the world, try to stop me" crap self-justified as underground public art.

the painted cat faces are one of my earliest memories, I looked for them every time we went to Saugus Speedway.

[OldEastRR]

Your LA river needs giant ants.