Any New 2-Rail O Layouts?

We built at the Parkview Lake Resort about 10 years ago. That of course resulted in a move and rebuilding a new layout.  Three years later there were trains running again on the 'new' Pacific & Great Western 'O' Scale Division. Scenery's not all done yet and work on the roundhouse continues. I went alittle over board this time filling a 54'x34' area and leaving 10'x10' for a lounge and crew call area. If your thinking of building in 'O' scale, don't let operating space hold you back, you'd be surprised what you can work with in half this area. Smaller steam and 4 and 6 axle diesels can operate on tighter radius! Here's a look at what's going on 'in the basement'. 

Here are some pictures of the portable 'O' scale layout, the Mexicali Grande,  I constructed for taking to shows. (That's probably why the home layout isn't done yet!). It's only 24'x11', although more 'modules' can be added. Weed planting took the longest to do! 

I have a friend in the Philly area who has built and torn down a layout in the last 10 years.   he is currenly builting a new layout that will be about 35 ft by 2 feet and prototypically based on a santa fe branch end.

Awesome guys love the Mexicali Grande!

The Carbondale is being rebuilt as a  2 rail.  A two year project I think.

Ron H posted:

The Carbondale is being rebuilt as a  2 rail.  A two year project I think.

Just curious......Carbondale, Il. or Carbondale, Pa or ???

Simon

Simon Winter posted:

Ron H posted:

The Carbondale is being rebuilt as a  2 rail.  A two year project I think.

Just curious......Carbondale, Il. or Carbondale, Pa or ???

Simon

Or Carbondale Colorado!

I've been building my 2 Rail layout for the last 10 years. Take a look at

http://www.oscaleresource.com/Magazine/current.shtml

this month to see a feature article covering it.

Robert

Joe,

You mention OSW so I wonder if your request is directed to the West Coast?  Have you ever seen the Fresno Club?  We usually have an Open House on the Sunday following OSW.  Many of the modelers from the Bay Area make the trip.  Most seem to think it is worth it.

Jay

I've been building mine for better than 15 years and I'm a long ways from anywhere near done since it's currently on hiatus and being used for storage......again.

I hope to make that change starting next month.

So of us just do not move all that fast on building a layout,

Carbondale, Ill.

 The Toronto Model Railroad Club.

http://www.modelrailroadclub.com/

About as new as it gets for a 2 rail club layout.  I attended their first open house last year.

Bruce

Keystoned Ed posted:

We have two large O scale 2 rail layouts being built in Williamsburg, VA. Construction started around 8 years ago.  Both model The PRR but in different regions.  A month ago I suspended operations on my railroad to ballast and scenic the Pittsburgh Div.   While necessary for a protype look I find ballasting takes a lot more time than one would think - and it can become boring if you're doing hundreds of feet of track at a time.  Fortunately done right it will last the life of the railroad without more than vacuuming every couple of years.   I'll post some pictures and a video of Horseshoe Curve operations when it's done - hopefully before Fall.

 

Ed Rappe

Ed, we developed a technique that, while a bit messy because of the water involved, is pretty fast. I would not recommend this on unsealed Homasote, though, because of the high volume of water involved.

You need a quality 4" paintbrush to tamp and shape the ballast and you work sections of about two to three feet. During the ballast application/tamping, you work away from turnouts and do those the hard way to protect the points and throw bars. Forgive the heckling in the video, but the gluing technique is what speeds up the process. The glue mix is 2 to 3 parts water; 1 part white glue in a re-purposed mustard bottle; spray with wet water before and after applying the glue.

Yes hope to have first loop running by xmas

Hi Guys - thanks for the tips on ballasting - fortunately I finished ballasting awhile ago.  I recommend the diluted white glue method as it facilitates making trackwork changes.  By re-wetting the area the flex track comes right up with careful use of a putty knife.  Once up you can hose off the old ballast and reuse it. I seal the Homosote roadbed with a good coat of latex paint before laying track to mitigate any issues with water based scenery/ballasting techniques.

Stay tuned in early 2018 for the start of my 2 rail adventure. Don't want to jump the gun on my 3 rail layout yet. I'm just getting to the fun stuff with it at this point.

John,

Modules are looking great! 

Love that inspection pit!

Dan Weinhold

brwebster posted:

 The Toronto Model Railroad Club.

http://www.modelrailroadclub.com/

About as new as it gets for a 2 rail club layout.  I attended their first open house last year.

Bruce

Thanks for the update on this great club.  I visited this club every time business had me in Toronto.  Awesome.  

Do you know if they took the DCC plunge concurrent with their move, or are they sticking with DC?

Regards,

Jerry

If you haven't already done so, try you tube, and do a search for O 2 rail. There are several there.

Simon

A friend did a ''static''walk around video of the layout.   If you go to utube and type in... Pacific and Great Western O Scale layout tour ... it should take you to the 8 min tour.   We were preparing for a bunch of run by shots but encountered a track short caused by a loose strand of wire found wrapped around the axle on the positive wheel side of the tender that would momentarily cause a short by touching the ground on the side frame casting !  With the side to side play of the axle in the side frame as the loco traveled around, this caused the ''short circuit '' to 'move from one location to another''.     This of course took some time searching to find the cause.   We plan a new video tour for the very near future!   In the mean time this should give an idea of what's presently going on with the layout.    Enjoy.