Fort Nelson - BC Rail's northern terminus in N scale

[BCRail_FSJ]

I recently started a new simple shelf layout based on Fort Nelson yard to replace a somewhat unmanagable and flawed design based on the Fort St John subdivision. 
Fort Nelson was the northern terminus of the BC Rail network and is currently the northern end of CN operations in British Columbia.   This is a somewhat controversial choice of prototype as the operating potential is limited to yard switching the up-one-day, down-the-next service from Fort St John.  Fort Nelson offers a decent amount of industrial switching however and more importantly it fits well in my space despite the required compression.

Construction will be commencing very soon.  The room has been repainted and shelf components are awaiting installation.  In the meantime, here is a map of the prototype location and a preliminary trackplan.  Phase 1 will reproduce the main classification yard and plywood mill.  Phase 2 will be a future expansion to add in additional rail served industries.  I was definitely guilty of biting off more than i could chew with the last layout so this one will be very simple, but with opportunities to expand in the future.  Era will be the same as the old layout... early 2000s under BC Rail.  I  am excited to get started and look forward to using a bunch of new techniques that I did not get an opportunity to try on the old layout


980 rail miles north from Vancouver


Preliminary track plan.  Minimal compromises required to stay true to the prototype


Google Earth Image. Yes.. that does say 58 degrees north!

[squirrelhunter]

This looks really interesting. What kind of power did BC Rail operate up there?

[BCRail_FSJ]

In the early 2000s it was nearly always big lash ups of SD40-2s, often with remote helpers cut in mid train.

[GaryHinshaw]

I'm still getting over the fact that the old layout seemed to disappear overnight without a trace....  But a fresh start can be just the ticket some times.  Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

Are you comfortable without any mainline running to speak of?  Some place to let those SD40-2's stretch their legs a bit while you train watch?  Of course it's fine if the answer is 'yes'. 

[BCRail_FSJ]

I'm still getting over the fact that the old layout seemed to disappear overnight without a trace....  But a fresh start can be just the ticket some times.  Looking forward to seeing how this develops.



Are you comfortable without any mainline running to speak of?  Some place to let those SD40-2's stretch their legs a bit while you train watch?  Of course it's fine if the answer is 'yes'. 

Well.. when i get an idea in my head and make a decision, I move fast.   It was apparent during dismantling that the old layout would never ever have survived a move, even though I tried to design it sectionally.  it required a lot of brute force to separate the sections. A surprising amount of the old layout was saved however (the bridge, all track and turnouts.. and quite a bit of wood) so it really is not that much of a loss in my mind.

Intially.. yes..I am OK with limited mainline running.   I can kind of view this as the classic British type small layout (a terminal fed by staging).  Because this layout will actually be portable this time it can be moved into a larger space when the time comes ..and expanded to include more mainline.    Even in the current space a lower deck could be added for another scene.   The benefit of mounting everything on shelf brackets is that I will have that option down the road.

It's not THAT bad.. I could be modelling Penn Central.

[mark dance]

Have you thought about using an indexing table for staging?  It would allow for a lot more staging room and would be easy to construct all out in the open like that. It would require you to keep the door closed when you use it and then put the table back before opening the door.  It would also require the feeder track to be about 6" further forward (to the right) from its current location where it lines up with the table.

But you would save 6 switches and add maybe 33% to staging/storage capacity in the yard by adding 10-11' to the existing yard tracks because there is no yard throat and putting 2-3 more 9' long tracks behind the ones you have there now.

my indexer is 8 tracks x 8' long...works pretty well for my needs.

Here is a shot of it from a lonnnggg... time ago (July 2005)



md

[GaryHinshaw]

Agreed, an index table is definitely worth considering here. 

How do you envision using the staging in this plan?  With one train a day I'm picturing this to be on-line storage with some manual shuffling of consists between sessions.  But if you expect to have some real time switching occurring there (maybe a second operator?) a table is less convenient.

-gfh

P.S. Wild picture Mark.  (Love the deck chairs.)  Considering what this area looks like today, I'd say 2005 was a mere blink of an eye ago.

[BCRail_FSJ]

Have you thought about using an indexing table for staging?  It would allow for a lot more staging room and would be easy to construct all out in the open like that. It would require you to keep the door closed when you use it and then put the table back before opening the door.  It would also require the feeder track to be about 6" further forward (to the right) from its current location where it lines up with the table.

But you would save 6 switches and add maybe 33% to staging/storage capacity in the yard by adding 10-11' to the existing yard tracks because there is no yard throat and putting 2-3 more 9' long tracks behind the ones you have there now.

my indexer is 8 tracks x 8' long...works pretty well for my needs.

Here is a shot of it from a lonnnggg... time ago (July 2005)





md

I was planning on using a 'traverser' (as the brits call it) at the door end of the staging yard so I could slide the head end power (4 x SD40-2s typically) over to a vacant track before running it around in preparation for the return trip back to Fort Nelson.    Making the entire staging yard as a sliding traverser would be an intriguing space saver.  This would gain me a few more feet of scenic area though (enough to model the level crossing over the Alaska Hwy).  I am mounting the staging on a hollow core door on shelf brackets so i imagine it would be possible to sink this down in height an inch or two then mount a sliding traverser (indexing table) on top of it using kitchen drawer hardware.   I'll add that to the options list (anything that reduces the number of turnouts gets my vote.) 

[mark dance]

For the indiex table I used an 8'x2' hollow core door. 

I mounted high quality drawer slides underneath each end of the door and then screwed them to a frame of 2x4s as shown in the photo. 

I mounted ball latches on each to the frame and had them run upon brass strips mounted to the crosswise across the back of the door at each end.  These strips had a line of holes drilled in them at 2" centers to allow the ball latches to act as detents and hold the table in 2" steps, which is the track to track spacing. 

To prevent camming of the index table as it is moved in and out, I made a pulley system from wire and cheap caster wheels.  This pulley system assures the ends always move in synchrony with each other so that the whole table does not twist within the "play" of the slides and get cam-locked.  The pulleys work great and I can move the table in and out with a single hand, pulling or pushing anywhere along the front of the table without it jamming.

Hope that makes sense...

md

[BCRail_FSJ]

Construction officially started this week.   Shelf brackets and hollow core doors allowed it to move fast.   Benchwork is 18" wide and is 58" high.   The near-eye level perspective is great.   

[BCRail_FSJ]

The main focus on the layout recently has been composing a large photo backdrop file that will be printed out and mounted on the wall behind the Fort Nelson yard scene.   The final file is 200 inches x 12 inches and the plan is to find a print shop locally that will print it out as a single roll.   Most of the textures came from photos taken at Fort Nelson yard this summer.  Some.. like the beehive burner had to be added from images found online as the original beehive burner was removed some years ago.

This image is a quarter scale version of the final file

[PGE_Modeller]

Andy,

There are undoubtedly others as well, but Dominion Blue Reprographics should be able to handle your photo backdrop but  I don't know what their pricing structure is.  I haven't checked regarding a Calgary location but there must be one.  We have one here in Burnaby just down the street from Home Depot.  I know that Staples can do at least 84" in length but I don't know if they can do anything larger.  I had a 7 sq. ft. poster done by Staples recently for a function at church that cost $88 but that included laminating and taxes.  My recollection is that the per square foot cost of the laminating was about double the cost of the printing.

I guess you will need a new header banner for your display board in time for next year's Calgary Train Show!

Cheers,

[BCRail_FSJ]

Andy,

There are undoubtedly others as well, but Dominion Blue Reprographics should be able to handle your photo backdrop but  I don't know what their pricing structure is.  I haven't checked regarding a Calgary location but there must be one.  We have one here in Burnaby just down the street from Home Depot.  I know that Staples can do at least 84" in length but I don't know if they can do anything larger.  I had a 7 sq. ft. poster done by Staples recently for a function at church that cost $88 but that included laminating and taxes.  My recollection is that the per square foot cost of the laminating was about double the cost of the printing.

I guess you will need a new header banner for your display board in time for next year's Calgary Train Show!

Cheers,

For now I have test-printed and taped together a string of 11 x 17 sized prints.  I have a few leads on print solutions as there is no shortage of big print shops in Calgary.. one option is self-adhesive vinyl (the stuff they wrap around buses).  Not entirely convinced this will be needed as I  have some contacts with access to big drum printers if I can't get a print shop to do it.

...Actually we don't (yet) have a display board set up at Supertrain...   although if you all want to pile on a plane for the weekend it would be fun to arrange one. 

[Scottl]

When I did a large banner printout for a backdrop this way several years ago, the colour of sky blue I selected had some red tones in it.  It was not obvious on the screen or in small prints, but the red was decidedly visible in the poster sized prints.  Otherwise, I was able to use matte paper and mount it easily (with some help) with spray adhesive.

This is how it looked, the red is not visible from this distance.

[PGE_Modeller]

...Actually we don't (yet) have a display board set up at Supertrain...   although if you all want to pile on a plane for the weekend it would be fun to arrange one.

It's a possibility Andy.  At Trains 2012, I gave Doug Davies the details of the reduced size display board that I made up last year so it would either fit into my suitcase or qualify as carry on baggage on the flight to the NMRA National in Sacramento.  It's a piece of 22" X 28" foam core board cut to a finish size of 20" X 27 1/2", scored on the back side 6 3/4" from either edge so that it folds to 14" X 20".  I simply reprinted all the photos and track plans at a smaller size.

Tim has also expressed interest.

Cheers,