Analyze My Layout, Please!

[John]

At the risk of asking a truly dumb question...

What do you mean by running left-handed?

Normally railroads ran trains on the "right" on double track. The signal was on the engineers side.

Some railroads ran the other way. Most railroads now run on either side. CTC allows that.

[3rdrail]

At the risk of asking a truly dumb question...

What do you mean by running left-handed?

On a doubletrack line, you run forward on the left hand track. In the USA we drive in the right hand lane, and most railroads run forward on the right hand track. In those countries where driving on the left is done, most railroads also run left handed.

[pnolan48]

I'm designing my catenary now.

hmmmmm ? please share what you are designing, thank you... 

After some study, I've concluded that the catenary will not be live. That conclusion came about because of wire size--it's doable, but would look clunky and be a maintenance nightmare. I consulted some of my EE friends at work and, of course, they were full of solutions and encouragement. They came up with a doable engineering solution to distribute the load over a very thin wire(s); fabricating it wasn't all that hard; maintaining it in an open environment was--well--not doable. Perhaps when I retire!

[pnolan48]

Yes, I had to see if a 52-year-old dream would fit. Since second grade, I've dreamed of building a model of a major league ball park. Thanks to Google Earth, I now know it fits pretty nicely.



This extension eliminates my 12-foot long saw table. That's not a big deal, as I no longer build much furniture. So I can just put the saw itself on wheels, and roll it outside when I need it.