Oh no! I'm Having THOSE Kinds of Thoughts Again!

[Brakie]

Outstanding layout design. ;D plus 2 thumbs up!

[davefoxx]

Thanks, Larry.  David K. Smith's drafting and others' suggestions made this come together very easily.  It's exactly what I was looking for when I began scribbling down a track plan a few day ago.  The final design will allow a reasonable facsimile of the operations in and around Aberdeen, NC.  I'm excited to get started.

DFF

[extra7000south]

It looks great Dave.  
I look foreward to seeing you get started and following your progress.

Here's some other A&R photos and information for you;
http://hawkinsrails.net/shortlines/ar/ar.htm

David also did a excellent job drafting out the plan!!  

[Brakie]

Thanks, Larry.  David K. Smith's drafting and others' suggestions made this come together very easily.  It's exactly what I was looking for when I began scribbling down a track plan a few day ago.  The final design will allow a reasonable facsimile of the operations in and around Aberdeen, NC.  I'm excited to get started.

DFF

Dave,I'm excited to because the MR article on the  A&R is what started me on my love for short lines and the A&R still remains on of my favorite short lines.

I can't wait to see photos.

[Iain]

I guess this means you'll want photos of Aberdeen and Raeford, then?  I haven't been able to make the trip like I had wanted because I've had some personal crap come up, but in the next few weeks I'll do my best to get down there.

For Laurinburg and Southern, all you need is a SW1200 or one of Randy's 70 tonner kits.  I actually found their paint scheme to be rather attractive.  Of course, if you go modern, they're Gulf and Ohio black (ugh).

[Bsklarski]

Davefoxx, why dont you document the process and keep the stuff for a possible future piece in one of the mags.

Brian

[davefoxx]

Davefoxx, why dont you document the process and keep the stuff for a possible future piece in one of the mags.

Brian

I'll definitely document it, so far as posting to The Railwire, for instance, but, realistically, watching what Lee went through to get photographs up to snuff for the magazines, I'm not sure I'm capable of that caliber of photography.  Plus, as you can see in the photographs of the table I built last weekend, the basement is a mess and doesn't make for a great backdrop.  But, I won't rule it out.

DFF

[Chris333]

OK then just tale pics for us!  ;D

[DKS]

I've started an archive of Dave's progress here--

http://whiteriverandnorthern.net/plan-13.htm

I'm not sure I'm capable of that caliber of photography.  Plus, as you can see in the photographs of the table I built last weekend, the basement is a mess and doesn't make for a great beckdrop.

We can always schedule the occasional photo shoot, with portable backdrops and extra lighting, for some good shots when the layout hits key milestones.

[davefoxx]

I've started an archive of Dave's progress here--

http://whiteriverandnorthern.net/plan-13.htm

I love it!!!

We can always schedule the occasional photo shoot, with portable backdrops and extra lighting, for some good shots when the layout hits key milestones.

We'll need it: the portable lighting and backdrops, that is.  I have one overhead light and one shop light, making the existing lighting atrocious in there.  The ceiling is unfinished, so I might try to wire in another box or two up there for more overhead lights.  But, I'm not going to put a lot of money into this unfinished basement, because our plans are to sell this townhome in the next year or two.

DFF

[DKS]

We'll need it: the portable lighting and backdrops, that is.  I have one overhead light and one shop light, making the existing lighting atrocious in there.  The ceiling is unfinished, so I might try to wire in another box or two up there for more overhead lights.  But, I'm not going to put a lot of money into this unfinished basement, because our plans are to sell this townhome in the next year or two.

Lee will tell you I have no shortage of lumens at my disposal.

[davefoxx]

What do y'all recommend for overall room lighting?  I mentioned yesterday that the lighting is horrible in our unfinished basement: one overhead socket for an incandescent-style bulb?  I'm thinking about running a line off of that box to add a second overhead fixture.  Should I just put in two 4' fluorescent fixtures?  I could even turn the first box into a junction box to center the fixtures in the room better.  Honestly, I have no idea what's on the circuit to say whether two fluorescent fixtures will overload the circuit.

DFF

[GaryHinshaw]

2 4' fixtures would be my pick.  It's highly unlikely that you'll overload any circuit with that.  Each tube is 32 watts (1" tubes) or 40 watts (1.5" tubes) so 4 tubes would be <160 Watts.  A 15 Amp breaker (typical) gives you ~1500 watts, so you're only using ~10% of it for lighting.

-gfh

P.S. I put in ~12 2-tube fixtures in half of my basement.   

[davefoxx]

Thanks, Gary.  I was hoping that fluorescent fixtures wouldn't put too much strain on the system.  Good to know.

DFF

[davefoxx]

I downloaded David K. Smith's 1:1 track plan and printed it out today.  This evening, I cut and pieced it together to see how it all fit.  It looks great and will definitely fit.  Unfortunately, I must have entered the parameters incorrectly when telling the software how large to make the picture at the time of printing, because it is slightly undersized.  However, it definitely gives me an idea of where the turnouts go, and I can easily connect the dots with flextrack once I have the turnouts placed.