The Lakeshore Central and other Free-moN fun

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I like the idea of T-Trak for this layout. The only thing that’s going against that notion is that at 8-feet long at its most condensed version, it’s longer than my dining room table. Ideally this will be used as a small switching layout in my apartment’s spare bedroom with the other layouts stored under it when I’m not using those. I could combine the best of both worlds by making the vertical line be a double track main for T-Track, and the horizontal follow Free-moN standards, but I’m a real sucker for the look of Code 55 and 40 track. That and I really want to model a torn up second mainline 

I’d really like to have these modules ready for Ohio N Scale Weekend in three months, but life is a bit crazy now with my free time at the moment, so I may just create a T-Trak module of the interlocking tower/grain mill scene at Nova, Ohio on the B&O main to get some modeling done this winter, and bring the Hiles doughnut layout again for display.

It's nice having options!
I'd love to see what you do in TTRAK. It'll sure make schlepping it around easier.

[btrain]

Time for a layout update. So far benchwork has been completed with foam, cork, and track laid. Many of the construction techniques are similar to my Hiles Junction doughnut layout, except the end plates are made of 6" tall 3/4" baltic birch to keep within Free-moN specifications. I did use one-by-four select pine for the legs, and it's holding well without much trouble. For trackwork, all industry sidings, except for the Flour Mill, has Micro Engineering Code 40 track which just looks fantastic. Even some of my pizza wheel cars don't protest much while rolling over it.

It does feel weird putting down cork for a roadbed that will host no trains on the ex-Erie Lackawanna section that runs on the left side of the plan, but I'll chop up some styrene strips for ties that I'll glue down to help give that second main ripped up look.





I did place buildings or their respective footprints on the layout before charting out their placement. I know that this is basically a proto-freelanced layout, but I tried to remember the modeling philosophy of the Modutrak guys and avoided the temptation to crowd the scenes with structures. Looking at Google maps at certain nearby locations to me such as Grafton and Monroeville, Ohio helped reconfirm this need for giving visual space.





Detail of the Flour Mill scene



You can see the ex-EL mainline here with the second track removed. To the right is the future location of the Lake Shore Central engine shed and rip/caboose track.



Keeping true to the spirit of model railroading, of not spending more than I really want to, I made these simple turnout controls. Many thanks to @M.C. Fujiwara's how-to video for relieving some of the anxiety about going this route. The switches are Adafruit 805 SPDT slide switches. They have a nice positive click and I don't have to worry about them drifting on me when a loose car runs through it. I did superglue 1/8" bass board to the foam to act like a frame to hold the switch. Tonight I tested it with .019" brass wire attached to the turnout and it works beautifully! I wish I took a dive into this concept for turnout control long ago, since I don't have to worry about stuff getting mangled up on the underside when I move the modules.

I hope to complete the electrical work by this weekend and get started on the interlocking tower kit. While I'm not an Erie super fan, I do have the ELHS kit of Waldwick tower, which for my purposes will be made into a version of Maitland, Ohio before it was torn down.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

This is pure filth. I love it.

[SAH]

Looking good.  Any chance it will make the trip to the Ohio NSW this month?

[btrain]

Haha, thank you Ed! It’s going to be pretty gnarly county once it’s completed.

@SAH Thank you! It will be part of the Free-moN set up at Ohio N scale Weekend this month. It won’t look as good as I want for sure. But, if I can paint track, foam, and the fascia, along with ballasting the track before it, I’ll be happy.

[btrain]

Just returned from Ohio N Scale Weekend where I gave the layout the big test to see how it would do under the heavy operations of a show. I do have a list of some items to be fixed, such as soldering connections to the Anderson Power Pole connectors, and changing the geometry of the switches leading from the interchange/engine house area to the ex-EL mainline. Some six-axle power and auto racks were having problems making their way through.

The past two weeks have been a layout-building bonanza for me, I painted the track and several ties individually to give that weathered and worn look. Land and ditches were formed with the earth layer glued down. An interlocking tower was assembled that is loosely based on the one that once stood at Maitland (in Springfield, Ohio on the EL Dayton branch). It's an ELHS kit with some model plywood blocking out the windows. You'll also notice that the second EL main is torn out with Evergreen 0.04" x 0.06" strips providing ripped-up ties. I once was wary about buying an NWSL Chop-It, but it was a lifesaver for this project. 









The coolest thing was the operations done with the Free-moN setup. On Saturday evening, when I was able to peel myself away from my Hiles doughnut layout and the booth where I had items for sale, I saw someone switching out cuts of cars and dodging traffic on the mainline. While I've tested the layout with a locomotive at home, seeing this added dimension just made all the work I'd put in over the past several weeks so worth it. 



While no Lakeshore Central power is painted or DCC equipped right now, I did bring out my Chessie System set to run on the layout. It's kind of funny since this is the first time that I've run models that I actually remember running in everyday service. All that was missing was my grandparent's house, where I'd run to the patio doors to see the Lorain local glide its way through the back of their property, usually, I'd always get there in time to see the caboose.   





So thank you to the Central Ohio NTrak for hosting this weekend and the organizers of the Free-moN setup. It was a very enjoyable layout to either go out and take a good run on or just switch cars around.

[btrain]

It's been six months since I've had a chance to work on this project and I've created a small to-do list for the layout, after having to deal with some bugs I found from Ohio N Scale Weekend.

The biggest was changing the configuration leading from the ex-EL main onto the interchange tracks. If you’re more of the artsy type like me, who doesn’t pay much attention to the engineering side of your brain, be sure you read the Free-moN standards over three or four times. It will save you from some slight planning pains like I just experienced.



Where I goofed up was on the interchange on the right (first photo), where trains travel from the main (route highlighted in red) onto my branchline modules. What this created was a tight double reverse curve that wasn’t apparent to me, since all my rolling stock is short with truck-mounted couplers. Well, I took it to a show, and folks with long cars with body-mounted couplers had trouble taking this route.
What I should have done was pay close attention to S2.2 which says that at least six inches of straight track track should be placed between reverse curves. The switch configuration was fixed this past weekend, and the 89’ Tofc car I got to test it worked well.



I also had some problems with the CA holding the switch throws bars after repeated use. So the miniature gander dancers were dispatched again to do some work removing throw bars, and replacing them with PC boards. The brass wire is now sodered to them and with a little spring bent into the connection, good contact is now made between the stock and switch rails.





Before all that work, I did have a little operating session. It was relaxing, and almost put me in a trance-like state, shuffling cars around. This is the first layout that I've had that is dedicated to switching. The Bellevue yard layout I have is more about swapping out motive power and making a few cuts to the lineup, you felt more like a yardmaster juggling all of it. But it's nice to play brakeman and develop the strategy that goes with working on a local.

It does give you more time to appreciate the craftsmanship you've put into the layout and not become overburdened by it, and hopefully, you're pleased and not grumbling when you leave the train room.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Love that Precision geep and the iterative model railroading.

[btrain]

I've been finding time this week to put some buildings together since I'd like to have everything painted and scenic by May.

The first structure I tackled by doing a simple kitbash was the bar. Many midwestern drinking holes had some of the big windows and front entrances boarded up by the time I modeled in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I took my main inspiration from the town bar in Jackson, Michigan, which I used to visit a few Fridays when I had my internship at the local paper.



If you're modeling this era and region, I do highly recommend sifting through the photos of John Bjorklund from the Center of Rail Photography & Art. He does an excellent job capturing not only details of trains and the right of way but also the look of many small towns, such as this scene which helped in my research. If you'd like to delve into his adventures, here's a link to some of his highlights: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjCD9WWg



For the small feed and grain dealer that sits close to the diamond, I drew inspiration from an Agway dealer Mike Confalone built on his Allagash Railway. This looked similar to the old Town & Country store in Grafton, Ohio which is the town that this layout is loosely based on. Cutting and splicing of two Walthers kits helped achieve this look, but I'm looking forward to adding the myriad of details that go into an operation like this one.

[btrain]

Been working steadily on the layout over the past couple of weeks. Roads have been put down with sidewalks and a brick platform for the station. This will serve as either a scene for a local tourist railroad or an Amtrak stop. The layout is based on the Ohio/Indiana area in the mid-1980s, and during that time Amtrak's Cardinal took a circuitous route from Chicago to Cincinnati, so it's plausible that scenes like this of it coming off of a junction occurred regularly. And while it's a bit longer than the Cardinal was at that time with a dining car, this will be a fun consist to run at Free-moN events in the future.



I've also been building and detailing structures to help fill out the downtown scene. Using Youtuber, Chicago Crossing Model Railroad's technique of adding mortar lines to brick buildings helped bring more modeling fidelity.



The Lake Shore Central now has its own power all painted and patched up! I stripped these Atlas shells and used a combination of Tru-Color and Tamiya paints for the base coats, applied decals, and then used some airbrush and Tamiya Panel Line Accent color to have the stark grit and exhaust leaks on these ALCOs. 2072 was inspired by Tom Johnson's version that was one of his locomotives on the Logansport & Indiana Northern. All it needs is a DCC decoder and it can join the fleet, along with sun shades and an air horn.

Part of my research for this free-lance layout brought me to Indiana Hi-Rail's early history, where they worked a network of branch lines with some ratty power. I noticed that their engine 365 first came to the property in a patch-out paint from Family Lines. I like the red and yellow stripes of the scheme against the grey, which to me looks as good as any paint scheme in the 80s. This gurging ALCO will look right at home shoving grain and fertilizer cars up and down the line all day.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I love it. All of it!

[wm3798]

It's not like you can't build something to hold up a series of TTrak modules...  I'm building my staging yard for the HCD using modular "standards", and racking them up over a storage shelf system. 



And you don't have to make your modules all that compliant, or even take them anywhere outside the basement.  But if you allow for a connection that's standard, then the rest of us can show up at your house and click a layout together while you're making us sandwiches.

By the way, do you have any Braunschweiger?

Lee

[btrain]

And you don't have to make your modules all that compliant, or even take them anywhere outside the basement.  But if you allow for a connection that's standard, then the rest of us can show up at your house and click a layout together while you're making us sandwiches.

By the way, do you have any Braunschweiger?

Lee

Haha, that was my grandpa’s go-to lunch for decades! While I share quite a few of his genes, I’ve never developed a taste for it. But, I’d be happy to supply you guys with beer and pierogies during an op session!

There is a double track Free-moN set up I’ve been getting materials together to build for next winter. It doesn’t fit the theme for this layout, as it’s the Sandusky Bay bridge and causeway on the NS Chicago main, but I think it will do nicely either at a Free-moN or TTrak events, with proper adapters. I do have extra incentive to put one TTrak module together. Leopard Architecture Models is a local modeler to me and has done some excellent work 3D printing structure. I have one of his buildings, and it’s a good sturdy design that isn’t marred by any prints lines or distortions. He’s told me that his next project will be B&O’s VN tower in Nova, Ohio. It’s a location I’ve fanned a lot, and with the tower and feed mill foot print, it’s a scene that begs to be modeled in TTrak.

Here’s a link to Leopard Models, I’m not sure anyone has mentioned him here before, but he has quite a few good eastern and midwest buildings.

https://leopardarchmodels.com/

[btrain]

I've been having lots of fun with the layout this week. My favorite part of any build is putting down the scenery, mixing colors and textures helps bring out the mood and look I'm aiming for.

One of the things that's always piqued my curiosity while out and about is weedy tracks. To get this look I applied a small streak of Mod Podge with a paintbrush in the middle of the gauge. I then lightly sifted some Woodland Scenic's earth-colored and dark green foam and after that, I sprinkled some Silflor 2mm static grass and vacuumed it up. While the glue was still wet, I grabbed a toothpick to clean the web of the rail of any errant grass or glue. When everything was set I came back with a nose hair trimmer to see that nothing was above the rail head.

After running my locomotive several times over this section, I haven't seen any grass attaching itself to the engine's trucks or finding its way onto the gears.



I've also successfully put down soybean fields on my engine house module without going cross-eyed! I laid down beads of Elmer's Glue-All onto the surface, holding it as close as I could without blobing the rows together. I used a 4 oz. bottle, which was light enough to put in consistent rows without tiring myself out. Woodland Scenic's fine dark green ground foam was sifted over after 5 minutes of applying glue, I didn't want the glue to skin over and not accept the foliage. I vacuumed up the excess while the glue was still wet as well.

I'm debating if I should brush some scenic cement on top of the ground foam, and then apply Walther's ground leaf cover to help give a better-textured effect.



Tonight I was busy putting in asphalt parking lots for my town scene. I used 1/16th basswood sheet and glued it down with wood glue onto the foam.

[SAH]

Looking good Brian.  But scratched soybean fields!?  You're a better man than I.  Looking forward to seeing it in person.