Baton Rouge Southern 3.0 - a Design discussion

[C855B]

"...any issues? ..."

From experience... it depends on how you plan to fasten things to make the box. BCX and similar rough grades don't hold end screws well, nor "modern" milled techniques like pocket screws. You can certainly glue the 1/4" to the ends of the 3/4", but mechanical fastening should be through the face into 1-by-X (not ply!) gussets.

[Philip H]

I'd be ok with some gussets - more surface area to glue the foam top to.

[wm3798]

Being a frugal modeler, material that's at hand can almost always be adapted when the alternative is spending money on something that lacks flanged wheels...

If you're planning to use it for your rough framing, I see no problem with it.  There is the problem of gaps in the inner layers of the plywood, which could create a problem holding screws in the end grain.  That said, it's 5-ply 5/8" so there are more plies, which should reduce the occurance of such voids right where you don't want them, but alas, Mr. Murphy finds his way into all of our train rooms sooner or later, so you might have to do some occasional mitigation.  Plywood is very dimensionally stable, so once you overcome the void problem, it should prove to be quite useful.

I suggest inspecting your end cuts to make sure you have enough "There" there to hold a screw, then apply a bit of Gorilla Glue to each screw as you run them in.  If there's a particularly open gap, put the Gorilla Glue right on the gap, maybe squeeze it into the gap to leave some excess oozing out, then run the screw in and clamp the joint until the glue sets.  Gorilla Glue expands as it dries, so it would fill the void, and also bond the screw to the wood.  It would also help to pre-drill pilot holes for the screws to prevent splitting the plies along the end grains.  Another simple solution would be to cut a 45 degree block for each corner, and screw/glue the corners to THAT rather than to each other.

If this will be along a visible edge of the module, the easy answer there is to make the rough plywood the subfascia, then add the 1/4" finished stuff to the outside of that, running it up to the edge of the finished scenery.

Should result in a sturdy platform for a relatively small investment.
Lee

[Philip H]

Many thanks guy. A few clarifications:

I’m looking to use this ply to build benchwork for the home layout to @AlkemScaleModels plan. I want to build it in roughly 2x4 modular sections and am trying to adapt the FreeMoN standard to home layout construction. The ends would be 3/4, and possibly the sides, with two inch foam laminated over the frame (and probably on a layer of door skin). I seen, and dismantled, too many way over built layouts over the years and so don’t believe dimensional L girders on a dimensional frame is the way I want to go.

The segmental/modular approach is derived also from the TOMA idea that Joe Fugate is exploring at MRH. Being able to finish a segment and then “plug it in” means I can get to anphotographable layout more quickly and allows me to spread out the inevitable purchases of buildings details etc.

So let’s keep working this over and see what we come up with shall we?

[wm3798]

Very good idea.  Am thinking about following a similar path until such time as more permanent basement/ spare room makes itself available.

Do you have a diagram of your space and how the dominoes will be stacked to create your track plan?  (If you've already posted it, my apologies for not searching it out more thoroughly...)

Lee

[C855B]

... The segmental/modular approach is derived also from the TOMA idea that Joe Fugate is exploring at MRH. Being able to finish a segment and then “plug it in” means I can get to a photographable layout more quickly and allows me to spread out the inevitable purchases of buildings details etc. ...

I suppose I understand what Joe and company are trying to do, plus I get the impression it's highly influenced by Ken Patterson's successes, but in the end it seems... to me... to be all about photography and not about running trains. And then I get the nagging feeling nearly every TOMA article impugns "large layouts" as unrealistic ideals, which as you could guess I might tend to take personally.

I'm certainly not going to say there's no place for modular construction in a personal, mostly stationary layout, because I had to consider that notion in the very beginnings of the GC&W. I like @Mark W 's approach - high-quality module build-out with an emphasis on getting it running first, not necessarily completing the whole scene on each module before starting the next. In other words, there is no shame in showing folks a little pink foam if the trains run well. In your case I think modular is good in general, but IMO, TOMA gets in the way of running trains. TOMA would be a total fail for me since my weak area at the moment happens to be scenery, and it would further hang-up the already poor progress on full operability.

[wm3798]

The modular approach gives you a more practical and realistic linear approach to track planning, which CAN help you avoid the kind of nonsense that room-filling empires end up with...  Case in point:



Three layers of main line, buried staging tracks, and scenery that needs magic beans to float above it all...

Plus, your locale that you're modeling lends itself to linear simplicity, since you don't have any mountain ranges to tuck your staging tracks and reverse loops behind...

Lee

[Philip H]

Very good idea.  Am thinking about following a similar path until such time as more permanent basement/ spare room makes itself available.

Do you have a diagram of your space and how the dominoes will be stacked to create your track plan?  (If you've already posted it, my apologies for not searching it out more thoroughly...)

Lee

The diagram is linked in a PDF here: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=40665.msg528256#msg528256

But because you are a lucky guy, here it is extracted:

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

The corner of the garage slated for it is here:



And yes I am well aware of the issues with garage layouts. The garage door is already weather stripped, and I am insulating the door itself the next time I'm home.  I have a line on a small A/C for the space too, so warm months won't do too much damage.

[C855B]

... mountain ranges to tuck your staging tracks and reverse loops behind...

Actually, that's an argument against TOMA I didn't think of before. Ever notice how TOMA so far seems to be industrial or city scenes? I'm not saying it's impossible to portray mountainous terrain in a module - Bruce @arbomambo is a prime case of outstanding work there - but it does require a lot more thought and space.

Anyway, having been there you're basically right about "organically-evolved spaghetti bowl" layouts. Phillip's plan is well-suited to TOMA since it's a switching/operating scenario rather than the over-the-top railfanning setup I'm going to be working on for the rest of my life.    But it was designed that way. I'll get a couple of photo scenes developed sooner or later... if I have to... I guess.

[davefoxx]

Actually, that's an argument against TOMA I didn't think of before. Ever notice how TOMA so far seems to be industrial or city scenes? I'm not saying it's impossible to portray mountainous terrain in a module - Bruce @arbomambo is a prime case of outstanding work there - but it does require a lot more thought and space.

Anyway, having been there you're basically right about "organically-evolved spaghetti bowl" layouts. Phillip's plan is well-suited to TOMA since it's a switching/operating scenario rather than the over-the-top railfanning setup I'm going to be working on for the rest of my life.    But it was designed that way. I'll get a couple of photo scenes developed sooner or later... if I have to... I guess.

@C855B,

Channeling Red Green and the "Men's Prayer" there at the end of your post? 



DFF

[C855B]

That, and all my friends at Possum Lodge.

[wm3798]

Cool little plan.  Three thoughts:

1.  Where it says "possible staging" you should just say "Staging".  You have a lot of industries spurring off, and without some staging, you'll have a devil of a time serving them if all the rolling stock ends up on the layout.

2.  The car float barge should be two tracks it's whole length, with the switch located on the pier.  Size the barge so it can supplement the staging. (8 cars?  Maybe a 3 track barge that holds 9-12 cars?)  There's a couple of excellent articles about building a car float in some recent N Scale mags... check them out.

3.  Is there a way to add a straight track to the Oxbow Carbon module that would allow you to connect to the main module in a straight line?  I don't think you need it for the arrangement you have, but it would give you some flexibility if you were to take the modules to a show.

Other than that, it's a tidy little switching puzzle.

Lee

[Philip H]

So the barge load out isn't a car float operation - we don't use those down south. Its a proto-freelanced from this https://goo.gl/maps/wrwKcsemfPT2.  So the switch on the dock is prototypical.  The dock transloads calcined petroleum coke from the local refineries to barges to be sent up river.

The possible staging on the upper right buts up against my built-in workbench. So my nifty plan is to redo the Elkins yard lead again and have that module on short legs on the workbench when in use.  IT will add a few minutes to set up and populate for ops, but I think its an effective trade off.  The other staging tracks (lower left) would jut out into the larger open space in the garage, so they may need to swing.  That said I am contemplating a return loop section that would be big enough to have a scale rendition of Bucky's Dome in it (not my image)



Scaled the dome is 28.8 inches across and 9.6 inches high.  Which means I could do a two track return loop around it with an 16 inch inside radius and an 18 inch outside radius and it would be 36 across. 

But I need to get the rest built first.

[wm3798]

My mistake.  I see "barge" and I think car float.

I like using Bucky's Dome as both a visual connection to the prototype, as well as a mask for a return loop!
I assume the dome was designed by Buckminster Fuller...

Lee

[Philip H]

His company designed it, but the signing engineer was a subcontractor.  UTLX built two of them.  KCS knocked this one down Thanksgiving weekend 2007 after letting it sit idle for about 20 years.  When I get to it I think I may shapeways a few panels and then cast the rest in resin.  But thats a couple of years off.

The other dome remains in service in Wood River, IL:

https://goo.gl/maps/wJVqqW75BC52