Mark,

Yes, taking too much time but f I am going to re build then I need the space to do it once. The other delay is we are now debating on downsizing to a smaller home, this is way to big for 2 people. I  want to build a new house with room on the ground floor that is 100% dedicated to trains. Finishing the basement was / is only adding value so I am not upset about that specifically since I am a member of 2 clubs. So running trains is not a problem but I do want a layout in my home.

As we wrap up year number four on My Dream/Nightmare Layout, I thought I would do my report a little differently from years past. I'll start with the highlights from the first 11 months, then go for the "cherry on top" with December's big finish.

It was a great year, and a lot of projects were completed, and a bunch of new ones were started. I've mentioned in the past that I have ADD, but jumping from task to task on a project this large is almost helpful. Letting things sit a while allows me to think things through a little more. It all has to be done sometime. Throughout my life I have been a notorious non-finisher. This year has shown me that I can complete large projects, be it on my own or with the help of others.

In January we saw the late arrival of the Amtrak Empire Builder at the Midway Depot. It only took 13 years to get there.

With the help of Joe, we finished the wiring in the small helix.

In February, I redid the south power panel wiring and cleaned things up.

This Masonite wall is actually the start of scenery. It will eventually get a rock face, and a sloping hillside made of foam will sit on top of the structure and be covered with trees.

This is my TMCC signal strength test train. An R2LC board is connected to the yellow meter to measure levels around the layout.

I drew schematics of both levels of the layout so I could plan out my signaling.

Because some of the new Lionel scale auto racks were hitting the supports of the big helix, it was time to correct the problem with all new supports.

In May I kit-bashed 3 Lionel 450 signal bridges into two 3 track units, then scratch made all the signal heads for them.

My wife and I assembled 9 of these cards. Each card can control 12 bi-color LED's.

In June I added an air distribution system to the train room.

At Hiawatha, I made all the cross streets and sidewalks from Masonite.

In July I started roughing in the grain elevators.

This shot gives a general idea of what the milling district looks like. There will be even more elevators coming soon.

Here we see Joe crammed into the 7" space at Roseville,in preparation for track laying.

In August, using Velcro, I hung the fascia above the bookshelves.

I also wrapped the fascia around the first peninsula, and half way down the other side.

In September, my wife and I created the loco log to keep track of engine problems and maintenance.

Again using Velcro, I hung the backdrop behind Prescott and Hastings.

This event will forever be known as the "train rain" disaster. The train derailed on the top level, and some pieces made it 6' down to the floor.

Luckily, the damage was limited to two sheared off truck screws and some broken off detail parts.

In October, I added these two spur tracks. The switches were numbers 305 and 306, and the very last!

In November, I had the old 1/2" OSB flooring removed and replaced with 3/4" plywood. You'll see the new floor in upcoming photos.

This doesn't look like much, just another turnout control panel. It actually represents the very last of the conversions from the old 12V two wire control system to the new 24V single wire system. All Tortoises are now fully functional and ready for simple conversion to CMRI.

This is the inside of my TMCC command base. I have added a terminal so that I can have an external antenna to ensure good communication with all Cab-1's anywhere in the room.

That brings us to December!!!

I bought a couple new 12VDC power supplies, and hooked this one up to power my Tortoises. Eventually I will hook up the second one and each will power half the room's Tortoises and signals.

They came with this nifty little screw terminal adapter.

The small piece of track connecting the turntable to the yard is the last piece of track on the main part of the layout. All that is left is the connection to the other turntable, yet to be installed.

The dispatcher's corner is the last Sheetrock in the train room.

The task fell upon me to finish the last 10 manual switch throws. Matt got through the first 4 in this bank. I did the last 6 and 4 more scattered around the room.

Some of the turnouts are so far from where the knobs are mounted that the rods and tubes needed to be spliced. That's what that white thing is.

I call this one "red spaghetti". The whole bank is complete and the yard above is functional.

All that's missing is an operator.

Another symbolic photo, the very last manual throw!!!

I pulled wires through the pipe over the doorway. There are VGA cables that will feed signals to two large monitors. One will display the cameras in all the hidden spaces around the room. The other will have the JMRI layout schematic and be used by the dispatcher to control the layout. The heavy gray phone cable will be used to drive various relays that will control the hidden yards.

This mess just needs to be routed to their final destinations.

I had to fix a broken switch point. I was lucky that the pin had not fallen all the way through the throw bar, but It was too far down to grab. Magnet to the rescue! I pulled up the pin, wedged a couple tie wraps under it to hold it in place, and soldered it.

Good as new!

There is no raised floor in aisle 4. That makes it difficult for anyone (except my buddy Dakota who's 6'-7") to see the Ford Plant. I started building a fold up platform for the operators to stand on, bringing them up 15" off the concrete.

There will be hinged legs, and a brace at the bottom to hold them in position when the platforms are in use.

Finally, that brings me to yesterday, and the surprise that I was hinting at last month. After more than a year, Patrick came over for the afternoon. I had saved some projects especially for him. He is the backdrop king, so we started with some easy pieces.

Once painted, and the helix gets its backdrop, trains will just magically appear "on stage" at Red Wing. Almost literally out of the blue.

Then we moved to the southeast corner for a missing link. First we installed a support bracket in a position that it wouldn't block the view of the cameras. Then we added a fence along the outside of the curve, to catch any potential runaways flying down grade from the right.

Then we hung the missing piece of the backdrop.

While we were at it, I had Patrick remove a piece of the existing backdrop.

I had totally missed it, but Patrick caught it right away. The scuff marks on the piece he took out happened as trains came through a switch, and rubbed against the backdrop. The dark line was just a pencil mark I drew around them.

This is the last piece of benchwork. This 4 x 8 sheet will be home to my Bowser turntable and Korber roundhouse salvaged from enterTRAINment.

Now that crossing to nowhere has somewhere to go.

What you are looking at here is the full extent of unfinished backdrop. We still need to wrap the helix and connect up to the Hastings/Prescott section on the left. In order to do that, I need to remove the hidden yard control panel and the number panel, and relocate them to the dispatch area. Hence all the wires.

The turntable...

and the roundhouse.

Earlier this month I did a little test run of the hump yard under power. Results were not bad, still needs some tweaking.

Looking forward to the new year, I have lots of things planned for the layout.

Among them are:

Paint rails
Ballast
Fill in holes between tracks in prep for scenery
Install uncoupler magnets and controls
Do foam land forms
Finish backdrop construction
Finish layout fascia
Finish painting fascia
Apply graphics and labels to fascia
Connect detection wires to panels
Move hidden yard controls to dispatch area
Finish connecting CMRI wires and test system
Create CTC control panel using JMRI
Host an operating session
Host NMRA division layout tour

It should be a fun time on the Twin Cities Central. Stay tuned, and thanks for all your support!!!

Happy New Year!

Excellent layout Elliot and Happy New Year !!!!

By the way all the photos you attached say Image Not Found   

Thanks, I'm aware of the problem  and am fixing it. Please check back in a little while.

Fixed

Elliot. I have been reading this thread for since it began. And I must say it has been a amazing ride so far. Love your monthly updates. Such a huge monster of a layout. If I ever get a chance I wanna see this beast in person. Have a happy New year! And here is to all the updates to come! 

Thanks TJ, but please take another look. Everything is now in the original post. I had to recreate it by reloading all the photos and then cutting and pasting all the captions back in. At least I had everything saved. Phew!

Seems that when you take as long as I did to create the post, the forum can't hold the pictures, resulting in "image not found" (x 51).

Looking great but that operating hump yard is friggin' over the top cool!! 

Elliot, Great pictures and wonderful video. You sure have been busy this year and have gotten a lot done. The one thing you forgot to mention was the time you took out from your layout to help other forum members here. People just like me, and for that I am truly thankful!

Best luck on the new year and I will be watching and chiming in.

Elliot,  your layout is amazing. Thank you for taking the time to post such a detailed account. It will be very helpful when I start my next layout in 2018.

Happy New Year,

Bob

Happy New Year, Elliot!

And thank your for the year's summary in pictures, and the update.

As everyone says, we always look forward to updates of your dream/nightmare layout; where a 'little' of the nightmare is surely making your dream come true very nicely.

Alex

Happy New Year Eh!   Excellent Job guys Eh   Looking forward to checking it out soon 

Im sure this question has been asked but how many feet of track?

BTW  what radius of curves did you use in these photos or if you have a list just getting an idea on what it would actually look like when track is laid down eh

Elliot Happy New Year. The hump yard is impressive I do not see many operational O 3 rail hump yards. I've seen a couple in HO. Awesome work!

Absolutely mindblowing, Elliot! I've really enjoyed this thread. The humpyard video is cool! Well done!

Amazing, awesome, and inspiring! I admire your skills and knowledge.

Great recap and update Elliot.  Thanks for taking the time to do the post.  Have a great new year and looking forward to my next visit.  

Dave

Just gets more amazing with every update. Thanks for the continued monthly updates.

Happy New Year and I wish you great success and progress in the coming months.

Elliot, Happy new year.  

The year has gone by fast with the recap You have accomplished a lot and more then you realized.  The backdrop install really changes the character and the look of the layout.  Looks like this will be the year for operations and with you list for 2017 including some unknowns, your on the downhill side and finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.   Looking forward to the updates.

Elliot congratulations on a very productive year.  I am impressed with so many things that you are doing, but really like the looks of the Lionel signal bridge that spans three tracks.  How did you lengthen it?  Also I'm looking forward to see how you detail your grain elevators which is another favorite scenery element of mine. Things are really taking shape, very nice job.

Art

WOW !!!!  A work of art.

Wish I lived closer, love to see it in person.

Count me among your legion of fans for your comprehensive and informative photos and descriptions provided monthly throughout the year, and your "year in review", Elliot.  BRAVO!!!

  As usual, the scope of this monster leaves me speachless outside of talking about a beaver's architecture. Seeing it condensed hardly does it justice excepting to being able to take it all in and see the big picture more clearly this way.

Happy New Year Elliot! Thanks for posting the updates on your layout, I know it must be daunting, but this layout is just, well, there just is no description in words! Pretty awesome!!

Elliot,

What a fantastic amount accomplished this year!    I am in awe at what you and your helpers have been able to do.   Love the Hump yard.  

We wish you and family a Healthy and Happy New year.

Look forward to more of your wonderful updates.

Thank you all so much. It's all of you that keep this train on the rails and moving forward.

I tried to go downstairs and work this afternoon, but an hour in, I started to have an insulin reaction, AKA low blood sugar, and had to get something to eat. I can feel these things coming on, but this one was rather quick. I was moving around so much, I used up most of my sugar. I made it upstairs and got something in me and felt much better. There was one time, I was inside the helix when it hit. I barely made it out and upstairs. Now I keep the phone nearby so I can call my wife if I really get into trouble.

Casey Jones2 - The hump yard still needs to have the switches wired to a diode matrix, so that a single push button will align all the switches for a particular track. That could be up to 3 switches in a single push. Then they may also need a capacitor discharge unit. As for the car speed, I have some ideas on how to slow them down. We'll see how it all shakes out.

Mike - I do take some time to help out my fellow model railroaders, including forum members, when I can. I am the local NMRA division layout tour coordinator. This year I took a bunch of time off working on the layout in March, April and May to help my former club move their huge 2 rail O layout from its home of the last 30 years. Tore it down and set it back up.

Bob - It's always my pleasure to share my progress with all of you.

Alex - Thanks, I do take these updates rather seriously, as if I was publishing on deadline. I don't want to disappoint any of my loyal readers. You may not be able to set your watch by these posts, but you can set your calendar.

Chad - All three of the peninsula ends are based on an 8' circle. I use 4" track centers, so you have to subtract 4 from 96, bringing the max curve to 092. The big helix is based on a 10' circle. I've been using a best guess number of 3000 feet of track for many years. I really need to just sit down and count.

George and John - Thanks. You guys have really been going to town watching that little video. It was at like 160 views last night before I posted it here. It's over 200, which in my world is like going viral.

Luvtrains - That all comes with years of experience, 40+ to be precise. I have a library of books and magazines, and have visited train layouts all over the country. I've even earned a living working with trains. I don't know everything about everything, but I know a lot of things about some things.

Dave - I'll be here, and with any luck, you won't recognize the place.

RTR12 - Thanks. One thing I've noticed here on the forum is that some of the most popular posts are ones with finished scenery and trains in them. I haven't gotten to that point quite yet, but 2017 should be the year when this layout starts to really look like something. I have so many trains in boxes, but have refused to get them out until ballast and rail painting are done.

Suzukovich - I'm not sure I'll ever run out of projects on this layout. There are some seriously technical projects that scare me a little, CMRI and JMRI to be precise. For CMRI, all the hardware is built and tested, it just needs to be configured. It's going to be an interesting 2017.

Art - It's great to have you back on this side of the tracks. You are so close on your layout, you gotta get it done. I may be heading your way this spring. You should think about making the trip up here. A lot has changed since Jim was here. I actually did a topic here about those signal bridges. If you still have questions, I'll be happy to answer.

NYC 428 - Thanks. I'm sorry I live in no-mans-land so far from the center of the train loving world. I love having visitors, you're just going to have to make the trip.

Carl - It didn't take me too long to adopt that posting style. All it is, is captions on top of photos. Nothing fancy really, I just take pictures of what I'm working on add a few words, and it magically becomes a story.

Adriatic - I've been threatening to do a couple of videos to help everyone understand the layout better. This will be the year. The unnarrated eastbound and westbound GoPro  videos can only go so far.

Conrailfan - I had actually been thinking about that post for the last couple months. I was preparing for it the last couple days. It took over 4 hours to pull it all together, and then none of the pictures showed up. Then it took just over another hour to fix the mess. It isn't the first time that that had happened.

Randy - Let's talk about helpers for a minute. As you may know, I keep track of everyone's hours when they help with the layout. I think I started that practice back in mid 2013. In 2016, I put in just over 750 hours myself. Second, was my wife, who racked up about 85 hours. Joe was next at 53. Matt had 36, and Patrick just the 6 last Friday. I have a couple other friends who had 2 hours each. I appreciate all the time they are able to give me, but it is getting to be less and less (except my wife).

Again, thank you all and Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year Elliot!

I have been following your progress for a long time. I never cease to be amazed at your huge layout and I continue to learn from your posts. Thanks for sharing.   

Elliott,

Do you ever sleep? You have set the bar so high I cannot see it anymore. You have a list of things to do that I didn't even know existed. You're planning control elements that are appropriate for a Mars mission. Apparently, you are building a real railroad not just a model railroad. These updates started out as mind boggling and have left to go up through the stratosphere. Holy Turnouts !

I have to see this layout one day Elliott. I want to have a photo of Eliot's visit to Elliott. 

Eliot

Eliot, thanks for pointing me to the thread on the signal bridges.  My son Jim has been suggesting to me that I should consider these Lionel signal bridges also as he feels that they are an easy way to get the look and operation that I want.  They are pretty easy to pick up at the monthly DuPage meet here too.  The biggest problem is finding or making good looking signal heads.  I like your solution and may try it as well.  

Let me know when you are coming this way.

Art

Elliot sorry to be late seeing the progress this month. Congratulations on the tremendous progress that you have made and thanks again for sharing it with us.

The best to you for completion of your list in 2017.

Bill

Thank you Pat, I really appreciate your loyalty and that of the others as well. It makes me very happy when I hear that people are learning from my experience. Lots more to come as I prepare for the Narrow Gauge National Convention in 2018. Gee, I guess that's next year!

Eliot, I do sleep, but I'll let you in on a little secret, one that I've never told anyone, not even my wife. When I get into bed, and get settled, my mind turns to the layout and what I need to do next. It usually only takes a few minutes, and I'm out like a light. You're correct about this layout being kind of high tech, however, most of it has been around for many years and is well proven. What is unusual is applying it to 3 rail O.

Art, I'm glad you liked that topic. Sounds like you have a good project to get you fired up again. See what you missed while you were gone? I have nothing against that other forum, but this one has a major advantage. That is that it uploads your photos, with no need for them to be hosted on the net. The trip is still in the planning stages, and I'm not even sure if we will go. I will definitely let you know.

Thanks for checking in Bill. You aren't really that late, it's only the third of the month, though there was a great response on the first. I'll just keep plugging away at it, and posting every month.

Several times 2016 you said "final" most feel good to be able to say that, but you still have a long way to go. Keep up the good work and posting. Enjoying the updates.

Hi Elliott, 

Happy New Year too you. My name is Allan and I joined in 2015 I'm still considered a Newbie, and let me tell you it has been nothing but a total Major Nightmare for me since 2015.

I don't want to sound like I'm feeling sorry for myself, but what I should do in each problem I come up with is to buckle down do the work at hand and then and only then I should seek some assistance from my fellow railroad members about a situation I could be in. 

1st of all I enjoyed reading your blog and I hope you will have a wonderful 2017. I admit I just found you today because I was heading to my blog in the Subway forum asking if there might be a after market kit to install remote control doors that open and close in the auto mode whenever the Subway driver makes the next stop.

Upto now you always hear the sound of the doors open and close, but nothing happens. To me Personally that is not prtotiotipacale. 

Anyway enough about me my question to you is what scale are you running and how big is the entire Layout? Also what is the safest incline for a big and small helix? What size are your big and small Helix? 

That is all I'm sorry to have bothered you enjoy the rest of your week and again have a wonderful 2017. 

Sincerely 

Allan Martinez 

Redball, good to see you back here. 2016 was a very good year finishing all the switches and the track. Just a little wiring left and that will be done. 2017 will bring a  bunch of scenic elements and really change the look of the layout. There will also be a new round of "technical control" wiring coming this year.

Welcome aboard Allen. I love subways, but for riding, too hard to model in my book. I do 3 rail O, and try to use only scale equipment. The train room is 1900 square feet, but the layout is more like 2200 because it has three levels. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "safest incline", but in general, trains don't like hills. In railroading we talk about grade percent. That is calculated by the number of units rise per 100 units of run. The big helix is 10' diameter with a rise of 8" per 360° turn. Doing the math, it works out to about 2%. The small helix is 8' diameter which works out to 3%. Real railroads find that to be very steep, but it isn't bad for models. Shorter trains can do steeper grades, or you need more engines to pull longer trains. It is no bother at all, I enjoy answering questions for my readers.

wow.....just WoW!..... ........ WOW...... You have got a GIFT of VISION. I am just beginning to re-kindle my childhood spirit with the Lionel "Heavies". My grandpa, father, uncle, children and now Grand kids..... I am having a blast with a small oval round the tree!! Teaching the grand kids how to handle, care, enjoy trains... I know, right? (lol) and when they say... "Wow Papa, wow...!!" it just makes it all worthwhile.

I live down in ELKO and if you ever have need for someone to solder, nail, hand tools, bring coffee, or just hang out I would be happy to give my time if it helps. 

I just bought a couple of engines to rebuild, for daily runners.... 675 and 2055 Hudson. (Berkshire looks way kewl with the fancy driver wheels.. but $$.

I am amazed by all the folks who have shared answers and videos....

Tis enough that you have this HUGE project going, and you take time to photgraph, share, enlighten.....share.... where do you find time..

New to board, thanks for sharing with Kindred Spirits....

(OMG... wow..... just WoW! )

Regards, I appreciate ya! (looking for your go fund me page)

miglet aka frank55306@gmail.com

2017 is off to a good start, lots of projects being worked on. I have a new helper, his name is Walt. He came over a couple times, and ran trains in an effort to understand more about TMCC and its signal issues. Walt's main area of expertise is JMRI, and those skills will come in very handy as things move forward. Walt is an HO guy, so this 3 rail stuff is still a little foreign to him, but he's a fast learner. I may have another helper in the works. He stopped by for a visit and tour. More about him when he gets started, hopefully later in February.

I stayed very busy in January. Let's take a look at the highlights.

The month started out with me completing the Ford Plant steps which I started at the end of December.

Next up, I filled in the holes in the plywood over at Dayton's bluff

In hindsight, I wish I would have just used a full sheet, and saved myself all the trouble.

After asking the guys over on " What Did You Do On Your Layout Today" what to do next, they wanted to see some scenery, so I started the foam portion of the bluff.

These next two pics are the views from the cameras of the 3 track yard under the bluff.

I worked on mudding, taping and sanding the dispatcher's corner. More on this later.

Bluff construction continued...

I added wooden bracing to the foam sections.

Here we see the number 2 section built up.

There are 3 doors in the train room, all got their trim done this month.

The back door trim comes right up against the backdrop. Good planning a couple years ago resulted in a perfect fit.

I finally found the dead short in the Roseville power district. It was all my fault, because I used the wrong color wire on the center rail, so when Joe hooked things up the way I told him, instant fail!

With the problem corrected, it was time to put up some Masonite to cover the supports and wires. Looks much cleaner.

Back to the dispatcher's corner, now it's primed...

and here it is painted. Yes, it's black, and the two big screen TV's should look cool. The first bracket is on the left wall.

While I had the black paint in the tray and the brush and rollers dirty, I took care of a bunch of recently hung fascia. Here we see where the wall meets the fascia.

The Minnesota Commercial yard and all ten of its switch knobs.

The first peninsula lower deck fascia got painted.

The three elements seen here all need to be moved to the new dispatcher's corner, the monitor, the control panel, and the train position board. That will clear the way to finish the backdrop and fascia in this area, and thus the whole layout!

I still have to hang the second TV bracket on the right wall. Once the TV's are up, I can pick up the counter tops at Menards and install them.

I have a real push on ahead of the layout tour at the end of April, twelve weeks from now.

I'll be the first to say another great read. Thank Elliot.

Elliot the progress continues. What you are doing now really shows up. You will be ready in April.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

Bill

Nice progress Elliot. It was a good month. You are at the point that it's easy to see where you are headed with the layout. Every installment shows visual accomplishment. Thanks again for keeping us posted.

WOW, just wow mr Elliot....... Fantastic.... takes extraordinary spatial skill to come up with that..... great progress. Looks great.

wow, just wow....

scott

p.s. thanks for the heads up on the photo.... my computer died, so I have to retrieve the hd, at least I can use it for storage.. a photo is there for sure..

Great progress Elliott!  I've been following this thread since you started it, and I've learned a lot.  Always look forward to your monthly updates!  

Elliot, thanks, again, for another comprehensive monthly report on your progress--every one of them leaves me astonished with the scope of your undertaking and impressed with your disciplined approach.

As always, I'll be looking forward with anticipation to the next installment and the "what have you done" posts.