Boardman River Branch switching shelf

[amato1969]

Yea, shelf switching action, love it!  The curved siding is a great look here @freedj

  Frank

[freedj]

The Cadillac shelf benchwork is through primary carpentry.  I am giving it a coat of shellac based primer and then i'll be on to wall bracket and drawer box construction.

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[freedj]

The wall mounts and shelf supports got installed today.  I am hoping to have the backdrop hardboard and the benchwork in this weekend!

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[freedj]

My shelf system involves hardwood strips screwed to the studs, and then plywood support brackets that are carefully installed to create planar surfaces so that the layout, backdrop, and valence are all straight. 

After affixing the hardwood strips to the studs and being sure that they are plumb, I found the two that were getting touched by a long straight edge.  Since my wall tips out at the top, these strips became the reference and I carefully installed the layout supports for those two strips ensuring that a level between them was good and a level on each support was also good. 

After that I installed the remaining layout supports using long straight edges between the reference supports and just but the supports up to them and screwed them in.


After the layout support was complete, i created some L shaped plywood pieces that will hold the backdrop and also support the valence.  Since I am building the valence to line up with some window trim, it ended up only being 9" deep and it wasn't too wasteful to cut them as one piece.  A table saw and jigsaw makes this quick work and once these are cut it's back to those first two reference supports. 

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Make sure that the plywood is at least as far forward as the hardwood support, resting on the layout support, and plumb.  After that its just rinse and repeat with the long straightedges.  The hardboard went up next and I am quite happy with the result.  I'll sand it tomorrow morning and see if the spackle is smooth enough or if I should go with the trim coil I have on hand as a top layer.

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[freedj]

I brush painted the backdrop with two blue latex house paints wet-on-wet with latex extender.  It came out slightly more brush-strokeie than I was hoping for but its a lot better than the raw hardboard

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[freedj]

I wasn't happy with all the brush strokes on the backdrop and so went back over it with the latex paint through a single action airbrush.  It was fiddly, but I am much happier with the result now.   Its a slightly hazy day in Cadillac!

After the paint was dry I set the benchwork in place for the first time and then put my paper mockup on the benchwork!

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[Ed Kapuscinski]

Definitely an improvement. But more importantly, you're happy with it.
That makes a huge difference.

[freedj]

I agree Ed!  I've gotten the curved section of backdrop made up and in place with a quick blue paint job from a spray bomb I had laying around from another project.  I'll come back soon and airbrush it like I did for the main part to get a great color match.

Next up is getting the subroadbed cut out and installed.  Before I get it cut out I want to finalize my elevations.  The Blue track will be flat, and the standard height.  The rest are up for input but right now i am thinking of:
* Blue: Standard height, Ballast, code 55
* Green: 1mm lower, Ballast, code 55
* Red: 5mm lower, in the dirt, code 40
* Yellow: 1mm higher, in the dirt, code 40

There will be a low spot in the front facia between the tan building and the engine house for a river in a canal.  The backdrop is uphill from the front road.  The road comes up to a level crossing just off the layout.  The biggest elevation change (green to red) should come in at about a 1.2% grade with ample vertical curves (R>2000mm).

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[freedj]

I've been working on the subroadbed this week.  All the pieces are cut and I am playing with the elevation differences.  I ended up using 3/4" ply as a base because the spans looked too far between supports for 1/2".

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[MK]

Whoa!  You made risers out of wood???!!!     Such a craftsman!

[John]

Very nice work - I wish my bench work was that nice -- For my taste - the background blue is too dark .. I used a sky blue from the big box store ...

[freedj]

Whoa!  You made risers out of wood???!!!     Such a craftsman!

Yep!  The wood risers came about because that is where the rail is transitioning from ballasted c55 to hand laid c40 in the dirt.  I’ll be gluing ties directly to the risers and wanted a firm base.  It also let me model and cut the vertical curves exactly and then flex them to match the track curves.  I’ve filled in the gaps in the riser with sawdust and glue and then sanded it down flush.  It will provide a great base for tracklaying.

[freedj]

I've finished the cutting out all the roadbed sections and laying cork where the track won't be in the dirt.  I've also finished making the rolling stock drawers for the facia.  There is capacity for about 50 cars in the front of drawers, plus some larger storage behind. 

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I've also modeled and 3d printed some code 40 siding tie strips.  These have some grain texture and the placement is randomized so that there are never any repeats in the pattern.  I've made a small section up with come ME C40 rail and WS ballast and while I am really happy with the tie strips, my ballasting was disappointing.  I figured for a test the WS would be good enough, but in the next test i'll use the ARM ballast that I picked up for this section.

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[MK]

I love looking at your wood craftsmanship.  Those home made draws!   

Oh, the track and roadbed look good too! 

[freedj]

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Very slow progress in the last year, but i've got the foam roughed in and most of the turnouts built.  Only a Code 55 #6 that I have a jig for and a #6 Code 40 left to go. 

I have also been playing with JRMI automation and have built out a script to let the trains run in the background on the old section of the layout.  It turns on track power, fires up the engine, blows the horn, and then does 10 cycles of picking a random speed between 0 and 40% and a random time between 40 and 180 seconds before finally shutting down the loco and turning off track power.

Thats been so successful that I want to add detection and automated turnout control so I can have more complex automations.