Southern Pacific Toledo Branch (N scale)

[Hamaker]

  I do believe it is the Albany and Eastern now, or what ever G&W calls it..

The Albany and Eastern is not owned by the G&W.  It's owned by a corporation which is soley owned by an individual.

[sp4009]

The Albany and Eastern is not owned by the G&W.  It's owned by a corporation which is soley owned by an individual.

I must have been tired when I read the original post and thinking railroad East, which was geographically West on the Toledo Branch..  A better answer, no, this is not the track that I am modeling, but the Albany and Eastern does operate the Mill City Branch that runs geographically East from Albany and, historically, was part of the narrow gauge railroad constructed by the Corvallis and Eastern.  The C&E also constructed the Toledo Branch (which runs Geographically West from Albany) as part of a transcontinental dream before being absorbed by the SP and all the trackage was converted to standard gauge.  The portion of the line that I am modeling was operated by the Willamette and Pacific, which became part of the Portland and Western, which is now a G&W property.

[sp4009]

Another handlaid turnout devotee I see.

You've got that right!  Hand laid is the only way to go in my opinion.  Not only to they operate better, they only cost a few bucks to build.

The Toledo Switcher crew preps SP 3932 for today's shift.

[SSW7771]

Great looking layout. What is the overall size of your layout?

[Spades]

Joe

The SP Historical Society Winter 2018 Trainline has an article on the Toledo Branch, 

On the SD9 whose headlight casting are you using and what are you doing for the lens?  If fiber optics source and technique.

[sp4009]

Great looking layout. What is the overall size of your layout?

Thank you!  The overall size is roughly 9'6" x 7' along the walls with a 6'6" angled peninsula.  Max width is 38" on the peninsula and about 4' at the helix.

Joe

The SP Historical Society Winter 2018 Trainline has an article on the Toledo Branch, 

On the SD9 whose headlight casting are you using and what are you doing for the lens?  If fiber optics source and technique.

I just heard about the article a couple of days ago, been waiting a long time for them to publish it.  I need to pick up a copy.

Headlights:  The headlight/gyralight/bracket castings are resin Sunrise copies(started casting my own when Sunrise stopped production) and the square UDE light is my own casting from a scratch built part.  Lenses were made with .030" fiber optic.  The lens is heat formed with the ole Bic lighter, leave a little stem on it to run through the shell.  Takes a few tries before you start getting the right size lens, but it's cheap and very effective.  I used .030" for headlights, .020" for the sealed beam headlights on my F units and .010" for class lights.

[sp4009]

Quick update, just got called to work.. 

I got a lot done this week, the last of the track is in and wired, last trestle completed, plus the backdrop in this section is done.

[sp4009]

Track plan!  Ok, so my computer drafting skills suck, so here is a photo-shopped pic of a hand drawn plan.  It is fairly accurate, though the main/siding/back track at  the top should be a little closer to the fascia.  I did not include the staging yard, but it is a simple design with a runaround and three storage tracks that split off directly under Robert's Lumber and end under the woodchip dump.  Two engine tracks run opposite under the GP warehouse/lime spots.

[jagged ben]

How did you do the separate headlight lenses inside the F-Unit headlight housings.

[sp4009]

How did you do the separate headlight lenses inside the F-Unit headlight housings.

I had to think about that for a bit, it's been over 10 years since I built that unit..  It's an InterMountain product, the inside of the nose door has a recessed area, I took some sheet plastic(.020" prob) and cut a strip a hair wider than the recess, then plotted and drilled holes, painted it silver(black on the inside) then took some .020" fiber optic and heat formed a lens, fed it through the hole, trimmed it close and heat formed the inside to form a rivet.  Then sanded sides until the piece fit the recess with the lenses centered, cut the top and bottom and glued it in place.  The Mars light was a little different, I either took some thicker sheet for maybe some square stock and drilled the triangle pattern holes, then formed the part to fit the housing.  The fiber runs through the cab to an LED under the dynamic brakes.  I think I have some construction photos on an external hard drive somewhere, if I find one that shows this, I will post it.

[maharvey]

Very cool. I've visited that area many times. Any progress update?