Grand Trunk Southern

[wazzou]

You can try small circular, colored stickers that are about 1/4" in diameter.
I think they are made by Avery and sold where you'd find office supplies.

[shark_jj]

Wazzou it is interesting that you mention stick ons.  That is actually how I made my tabs.  Mark painted his, but since I don't have a paint booth, I looked at using my computer and Avery labels to make the colour and routing directions on the tabs.  Similar to Mark I used 1/4 Evergreen Channel for the tabs.  I then used #5160 Avery labels to create the routing directions to go on the tabs.  I will explain this further using the two photos below.

In the photo below, you can see a set of labels where I have colour coded the destination towns.  Yellow for Nathanville, Light blue for Ethansburg, Brown for Clarion, Red for CP traffic, Dark Blue for Grand Trunk Southern traffic, and Dark Green for PRR traffic, etc.  These will be cut out and applied to the tabs.  Computer generating the routing directions gives me a wide range of colours to choose from and provides clear and legible lettering as will be shown in the next photo of cars in the yard.



Here we see a group of cars sitting in the yard.  The colour coding provides basic routing information.  For example, Yellow shows that the car is going to Nathanville.  Light Blue shows that the car is going to Ethansburg.  The lettering shows where the car is to be spotted.  If you look at the two tank cars you will see one says C2 and the other says C4.  The Light Blue colour directs the car to Ethansburg, the C2 says it is to be spotted on the Chemical Track Spot #2.  The car with the C4:  the light blue colour directs the car to Ethansburg, the C4 says it is to be spotted on the Chemical Track Spot #4.  You can see that there are a number of Dark Blue tabs which shows that the cars are to be routed onto Grand Trunk Southern freights.  The lettering specifies exactly which freight the cars are to be forwarded on.  In this particular photo you can see cars destined for GTS #308 a switching local  and GTS #254 an eastbound fast freight. 

[shark_jj]

It is hard to believe that it has been 4 1/2 years since I posted to this thread.  Quite a few things have changed on the Grand Trunk Southern over that time.  Over the next several  weeks I will put up a series of posts which will bring you up to date on the layouts current status.   This first series of posts over the next few days will deal with how I addressed issues which had arisen with staging.

Just after I stopped posting, Covid hit and for pretty close to a year my group couldn’t get together except outdoors.  We went from working on layouts to a lot of railfanning.  Now a lone wolf for the first time in my modeling life I took a long hard look at how the layout was set up and how it was operating.  In my previous posts in September 2019 I spoke of moving to the Mark Dance inspired Tab on Car system.  It worked better than I could have anticipated and my operators loved it.  The one thing they didn’t love was how the staging yards on the lower level and the helix were operating.  The two big issues were location of the yard throat, and the problems with low pro wheels derailing as they went through Peco Insulfrog turnouts in the yard throat. 

The yard throat was located under a bump out at the end of a small aisle and often there was an operator in that aisle switching in Nathansville.  Accessing the panel to throw turnouts was a royal PIA.  In addition the line of sight was not good and you had to bend over to watch your train.  The issue of the insulfrogs fell into the annoyance category.  We were good for probably 3 to 4 derailments on the frogs from the 12 or so trains that would transit the yard throat in an operating session.  In the same way it was awkward to reach the control panels, getting in there to rerail a car was difficult.   The photo below shows the difficulty.



Now on my own due to Covid, and with time on my hands, I turned to how could I solve these problems.  My first thoughts were to completely redo the staging yards with Atlas Code 55 the same as the visible layout, or Peco Code 55 with Electrofrogs or frankly even Kato Unitrack which is bullet proof since this trackage is hard to access.  The more I considered that the idea of working in a 15 inch space 30 inches deep just didn’t excite me, plus I would still be left with operators bending over even if I moved the throat, and moving the throat would reduce staging from 28 trains to 14.  Looking around the layout I had two large open areas where I hadn’t decided what I was going to model.  One was behind the main classification yard and the plan was for a large city style industrial area, even though modelling structures is one my least favorite hobby activities.  The second was the area above the helix.

It was then I had one of those light bulb moments.  Could I fit new staging yards on the upper visible level of the layout.  I called my buddy Justin who is also building a large N Scale layout and who is my “track guru” when it comes to ensuring track geometry and alignment and we talked through the idea and the potential issues which could arise.  There were a number of issues but I will share them and the solutions with you as I post photos over the next few days.   

[shark_jj]

I started with considering whether I could fit a new staging yard behind the existing classification yard.  Originally intended as an engine terminal area, I had thought about moving that to another section of the yard and this was now intended as an industrial area.  It wouldn’t add switchable industries since it was too far back and behind the existing yard.    Looking at the gap, between the last classification yard track and the wall I figured out that I could fit 5 tracks in.  If the yard throat at the north end was doable then the only issue would be the length of the tracks.  I also had to take into account whether or not the benchwork underneath would get in the way of Tortoise installations.  Turned out I could fit 5 tracks.  Two would have a maximum train length of 21 cars with two locomotives and a caboose.  Three would have a maximum length of 25 cars.  That was acceptable.    In the short term trains in staging would have  engines and cabooses on them, however, once an engine terminal was built, they would just contain cars.   From a scenic perspective it would just look like a bigger yard.

The photo below shows the north end of the existing classification yard.  The staging yard throat would be an extension of the classification yard ladder and would be located in front of the white styrene backdrop building.   



The photo below shows the south end of the existing classification yard and the area at the rear where a new staging yard could be added.  The cork which you see at the rear was leading into what would have been a 3 track engine terminal and which would now become a staging yard.

[shark_jj]

The photo below shows the south end of the yard and five tracks at the rear are the new staging yard installed.  The sixth track from the wall is a run through track which takes you from the south end of the yard to the north end and runs between the classification and staging yards.  Getting underneath to install tortoises was the biggest challenge in this build.



Photo below shows the north end and the five tracks at the rear which are the new staging yard. 



Photo below shows the centre of the yard.  The five rear tracks are the new staging yard.

[shark_jj]

In this last post of the 4 post series on the new Clarion Staging Yard we see it in operation.  The next series of posts will show the more complex construction of the Helix Staging Yard.
 

Photo below shows the south end of the staging yard shortly after construction and before the engine terminal was built. 



Photo below shows the north end of the yards including staging as it is in service today.  Buildings are just stand ins as I haven’t finished the background in this area yet.



Photo below shows the south end of the yards including staging as it is in service today.    I love those bicentennial units but hate the thought of weathering them. 

[shark_jj]

The more challenging of the two new staging yards would be the helix yard.  In the picture below, the mainline that the Turbo is running on and which goes down at a 2% grade into the Helix tracks 3 and 4 would have to be levelled up and run into the new helix staging yard.    Tracks 3 and 4 of the helix would be disconnected and Track 2 of the helix would continue to run into the town of Nathansville, however,  Track 1 which previously ran into Nathansville would now continue its turn and connect to the mainline going north instead of south.  This could be a plan killer if the grades don’t work out.   Similarly would the benwork for the helix yard have enough clearance over the helix and could I fit in the Tortoise machines.  Lots to work out.  The photo below, taken during the Rapido visit, shows the existing track arrangement.   The Turbo is downbound on the mainline connection to Tracks 3 and 4 of the Helix and in the foreground is trackwork in the town of Nathansville.



In this photo we an see the very beginning of the demolition process.  In the rear we see the return loop track which I use for Open Houses and which in this new configuration will become part of the mainline as Track 1 of the Helix will now be joining up to it.  It needed to be moved and the grade altered. 



In this photo we an see that the downgrade connection to the helix has been separated and raised up so that it is level to give entry to the new staging yard.  The grade has also been changed on the entry to the return loop. 

[shark_jj]

The yard was first laid out on paper and then a cardboard mock up was created and overlaid on the helix to ensure that we could make it fit.  The inside track has a radius of 17 1/2 inches, the outer track a radius of 23 inches.  Due to the restrictive nature of the area, the yard throats would be build on the bench and the tortoises installed and then put into the benchwork, wired and tested before proceeding further. 

Photos below:  beginning to cut and install the benchwork.  I think this is the 5th layout that this plywood has been installed on.  My oldest turns 50 this year and I think this plywood is about the same.  You can see that the helix yard will be supported using the rods that separate and support the helix turns. 

[shark_jj]

The photo below shows the all important new connection from Helix Track 1 to the northbound mainline.    In a stroke of pure luck,  continuing the helices 2% grade led to a perfect fit at the mainline connection. 



The photo below shows that Tracks 3 and 4 in the helix have been disconnected.  I hadn’t been using them for a few years.  Track 2 now connects to Nathansville going southbound, and we see track 1 diverging to make the northbound connection to the mainline.  From a wiring perspective the polarity on these tracks is opposite.  A train downbound on track 2 enters the 7 track rear staging, proceeds through and around the return loop into the 7 track front staging yard and goes up the helix on track 1 to reenter the visible part of the layout.  Since Tracks 1 and 2 used to be a pair, there was some rewiring to do., fortunately all at the terminal strips. 

[shark_jj]

In this series of photos we see completion of the benchwork, installation of the cork, and laying of the track.  The yard throats and the installation of tortoises were done on the bench and then the completed section installed.  Made life a lot simpler.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Your backdrops are an inspiration, my friend.

[shark_jj]

Now that the track in both staging yards had been laid.  The two new connections to helix were hooked up.  The return loop which had now been converted to an integral part of the mainline was installed and track laid on it, the next step was to test everything out.  The first photo shows trains in the newly installed helix yard tracks to ensure that we were electrically sound, that the reversing loops worked, and that the radius provided sufficient clearance for cars.  As a reminder the minimum radius on the inside track is 17 1/2 inches and on the outside track 23 1/2 inches. 



This photo shows Neal and Colin, two of my regular operators running a northbound train on the newly aligned mainline past the junction with the helix entry track to helix track 1. 



This photo shows my grandson Ethan, yardmaster extraordinaire, and now 1st year civil engineering student extraordinaire, running the yard.  What is important in this picture, other than my grandson is the locomotives you can see above his right arm. 



When trains ran from lower staging up the helix and onto the mainline, did their task and returned back down the helix to lower staging, the elapsed time was approximately 20 minutes.  During a typical 2 1/2 to 3 hour operating session we would average between 12 and 14 trains.  Since I hadn't built the engine terminal yet, having the engines and cabooses on trains in staging had reduced this time to 10 minutes meaning we could run between 24 and 28 trains.  However, I was only staging a maximum of 11 trains on the upper level.  The short term solution to this was to convert the power plant to a locomotive terminal and those are the locos that you see above Ethans arm.  Now that an operator had to get his locomotives,  acquire a caboose, place the caboose on his trains and then run the locos to the front of the train before he could depart, the length of time it took to run a mainline freight now exceeded 20 minutes.  By staging an additional 3 trains in the helix ready to enter the visible part of the layout I now had more than enough trains to operate.  We ran the layout for somewhere between 6 to 8 months to ensure that the yards were functioning properly before I gave a thought to scenicking them in.   In the next series of post I will begin to show how the scenery starts to take place.

[shark_jj]

Thanks for the kind words Ed.  They came about after I tried painting backdrops only to discover I lacked any skill at it. 

[CNR5529]

As a part time operator on the GTS, I can attest to the fact that operations have been much improved by the new staging solution. Also, getting in the way of the Clarion yard master and his duties as we run power over and get our cabeese prior to departure or after arrival in staging is always good fun 

The backdrops do look great, and are even more effective in person!

[shark_jj]

Appreciate the kind words Fredrick, your 16 car Canadian is quite the train.   

The following post will show the progress that has been made on the scenery front subsequent to the installation of the staging yards.  I will try not to dwell on too much wet plaster type of photos, but show enough to illustrate the progression from empty space to current state. 

The photos below show the empty space in front of the leads into the helix staging yard.  I wanted to make this section of scenery removable so that in a pinch I could access the tortoise machines in the yard throat.  The scenery in the background also had to be reattached to the subroadbed.  It had been detached in order to level up the subroadbed which used to be on a downgrade.  The second photo shows the piece that was created to sit in that area.  Pink foam on 1/8 inch hardboard. 





The second area that required attention was the area between the helix yard and the backdrop.  I had removed this completely over half its length in order to re-align the return loop.  The first photo below shows the area that needed to be addressed and it also shows the wall bump out under the window which needed to have a backdrop applied.  I would also be dealing with that.  The second photo below shows the area after plaster had been applied and some rock castings installed.  The base for this cardboard is the tried and true cardboard strips in a web, covered in masking tape, and then covered in plaster cloth.  Ground goop will be applied on top.