My dream/nightmare layout... July Update 7/31/19 Big Boy month!

INCREDIBLE!

 

Happy New Year!  Take tomorrow off!

Thanks, but no can do. Patrick is coming over for the first time in a month. I'm anxious to have him too, get more of the backdrop painted. Beside, I kind of had the day off today ( well yesterday now).

Wow Elliot! This transformation is amazing! Happy new year and looking forward to more updates!

Congratulations, Elliot, and happy new year. Great progress!

That is one large layout.

Looks great !!!!!!

Elliot, truly a work of love, looks like everyone's dream layout, the progress is inspiring.  Have a Happy New Year.

 

Jack

Happy New Year to you Elliot. Please continue the wonderful progress you made in 2014 into the new year. 

a major hurdle accomplished 1 goal down many more to go.

 

now what will 2015 bring for you!

 

 

Elliot - Looks great!  I think that I need to invite you and your crew down for a work session soon.  I am making progress but I need to pickup the pace.

 

I am really impressed with how much you have accomplished in the past year.  Even got your cars entered into the card system.

 

Always look forward to your updates.  Hope you have a great year in 2015.

 

Art

Amazing Layout! Lots of progress made too. I would not even know where to start on something like this, let alone get this far? You are doing a great job and it's really taking shape. Good luck and keep us updated.

Elliot,

Great progress!!  Thank you for the before and after photos.

 

Now I know how you get those guys to help you.  Your wonderful wife's good home cooked meals!!  

It looks fantastic Elliott!

 

May the New Year bring continued good health and continued success on your layout!

 

Great progress in 2014!   Looking forward to more!

 

Peter

Great progress, to get the golden spike driven, a BIG goal passed! Looking forward to see what the new year will bring. Go boys (plus one) go!

Sometimes when I look at what you are doing I am .  But I am also   and very much .

.....

Dennis

It's been a good year for you. An awful amount of work accomplished. Hope 2015 is even better.

Thank you all!

 

Spence - Glad to see you're feeling well enough to start posting again. Welcome back!

The new year is off to a pretty good start. January has seen a number of loose ends tied up on the layout and some new projects started.

 

 The month started out with the simple goal of finishing all of the track in the first aisle. Here we see the Northtown arrival yard.

 

The east end leading to the hump still needs work.

 

So does the ladder going to the bowl tracks.

 

I see why people like Ross ready. It takes a lot of feeders to power all of the rail segments.

 

Once the holes are drilled, and the feeders inserted, it's not nearly as messy looking.

 

This area is done.

 

Here was a spot where track needed to be removed. For many years this crossover served as a cutoff to create a loop, but since the completion of the new hidden yard, it was no longer used.

 

This is the final track alignment.

 

The hump is now complete, though I have since discovered that it may be a little too tall. The cars are rolling down a little too fast.

 

The other end of the yard is finished.

 

For the first time ever, Patrick, Matt and Jon all came over on the same day!!!

 

Jon helped me with the last couple of pieces of track against the wall, which was the end of track laying in this aisle.

 

We went on to hang and wire the last 3 cameras for the monitoring system. Camera 6 looks at entry ladder in the big hidden yard. Cameras 7 and 8 see the two ladders in the small hidden yard.

 

Matt did another 13 tortoises.

 

We actually install them a little differently. Instead of using the direct drive method that Tortoise suggests, we build a crank mechanism, and the machine moves that under the deck.

 

And of course, Patrick was painting more backdrops.

 

The Ford Plant and Hiawatha are now ready for track.

 

My wife found this interesting storage device and had the railroad's monogrammed on it. Looks like I need a few more Cab-1's.

 

Next up, finish the track in the second aisle.

 

The Northtown engine service area is now done.

 

Jon came over again and we snapped chalk lines for the Ford Plant.

 

Then, since they needed to be moved anyway, we started to spread out some of my container collection. They cover a hole in the backdrop rather nicely.

 

I was a little burned out with laying track at this point, so I tried my hand at weathering it. I learned a lot on this small section.

 

I decided to add a couple of storage tracks after the fact.

 

The track in aisle 3 is nearly done. I just need to get it up the hill to Roseville, but we still need to the finish the benchwork up there.

 

Switches are laid out and the track plan is just about finalized. This area should be done by the middle of February.

 

I started carving roadbed profile into the fiberboard on this section.

 

Jon was over for the third time this month, and we started wiring on the upper deck.

 

The main feeders are about half way around, but there is still lots to do. This could take a while.

 

I got the track started up the hill, but my shoulders are sore, so it has been slow going.

 

 

I'm excited to see what February will bring.

Wow!  Just Wow!  Very nicely done, what a spread!

 

The hump is now complete, though I have since discovered that it may be a little too tall. The cars are rolling down a little too fast.  

 

On a layout we did ages ago we had a similar problem with a hump yard simulation.  What we ended up with sounds pretty hooky but it actually worked.  We used stiff bristles from a heavy duty shop broom.  We used them one at a time, drilled a very small hole in a tie, then inserted a single bristle, sticking up just enough to hit the axle of the cars and offset to miss the coupler. We inserted one and tried the 'test' string of cars.  BTW having a documented test string is important for this part.  If we felt we needed more (we did) we would drill / insert another bristle about 3 ties down the track.  Then ran the test string test again.  And so on and so forth!  I know it sounds kinda hooky but . . . 

 

Anyhow, what a great project you have under taken. Russ

Thanks Russ. It's funny that you should mention brush bristles. I was recently on an NMRA layout tour, and one of the guys was using them on his HO layout to hold cars in place on un-level track.

 

Right now the cars are crashing into each other so hard they sometimes derail. It can't be good for the couplers either. I have also noticed that the cars that work the best are all Lionel. Imagine that. I do own a good mix of MTH, Atlas and Weaver.

 

Of course the ultimate solution is to lower the hill a little first then start playing with retarding methods. I do like the bristle solution. I've also been thinking about magnets or possibly plastic strips that rub the backs of the wheels.

 

Then there was the guy that used air jets on his to slow the cars down. Too complicated for my taste, but I was mesmerized just the same!

 

I shot these back in 2013 at Railfest in North Platte, NE. Listen and you can hear the air.

 

Here's a different look.

 

 

 

Well, you have another work order...make all of the cars weigh the same as the heaviest car. Then the bristle retarders should fine. It's simply elegant. One brush head should supply a lifetime of replacements.

Eliot; I've said it before, just an amazing layout. You kind of run out of superlatives to describe your layout. I really look forward to these monthly reports and wish you well in the future in regards to your project.

As I have said before, I get tired just looking at all that track!  Incredible.

i am sure it has been answered before, but i cannot find it / why the chicken wire under the plywood

 

incredible amount of work

 

people are going to be fortunate to see the finished project

 

thanks

COMMAND CONTROL CONDUCTOR iirc

Elliot... amazing to say the least!
I look forward to the day an entire train can run the entire layout.
Am sure a video of that day will be posted.

How does the crank for tortoise machines work I cannot picture it's movement for some reason. maybe the photo you showed is deceiving as it looks like tortoise is mounted sideways to way the crank would move.

Ray

Earth Ground Plane to prevent TMCC signal issues.

Great looking layout so far. Always look forward to seeing the updates. You and your helpers have really done a lot of work in this short amount of time. Thank you for posting the pictures and keeping us updated.

Have a great rest of the weekend,

David

I'm still amazed by your layout! I would be losing my trains...now where did that one go? And what a massive amount of work as well.

Since you and your 'crew' are quickly becoming masters of the Tortoise, how about using them to raise and lower the bristles.  If they all moved at the same time, very slowly down for each car, the faster heavier cars would hit more of the bristles, the slower lighter cars would hit fewer bristles and possibly maintain a good speed.  Just thinking out loud here, but . . . it might work!    Thanks for those actual O scale hump yard videos, was fun to watch.  Russ

Friggin' cool layout!

 

Go big or go home 

Thanks guys for all of your great comments and continued support on my massive and crazy layout project. It's always fun to wake up on the morning (or afternoon) of the first of every month to see what everyone has said. I see a lot of familiar faces here, and a few new ones. Welcome aboard the long journey that is the Twin Cities Central!

 

In case you haven't noticed, these updates always occur on the last day of every month and generally after 9 PM central time. This train runs on schedule and mostly on time.

 

Carl - I'm not sure about adding weight to cars. Keep in mind they all have to be dragged up the helixes. If there is one brand that is grossly under weight, it's Weaver. They will get some. There will also be cars that will have the classic "DO NOT HUMP" order on them.

 

Spence - Always good to see you here. I'm guessing that you are almost back to full strength by now.

 

Lee - Hang in there buddy, the track is nearly done. I have a case and 1/3 "in stock" but I may need one more to finish. One reason for all this track is I don't have any shelves to store and display my trains. This will be a working railroad so all the trains will be moving from place to place, broken down and rebuilt into new trains. Labor of love!

 

jpc - Thank you. I'll be fortunate to see the finished project. Thanks to Dave and Carl for answering your question while I was sleeping. They've been regular followers here for quite some time.

 

Ray - That day is coming fairly soon I hope. I'm shooting for this year. The crank mechanism is really quite simple. We drill a hole through the deck and insert a brass tube. Then we take a piece of piano wire and bend it to connect the throw bar on the switch to the tube. That's the part you can see in the photo. The part you can't see is is also quite simple. When the top part is working smoothly, there are 2 more bends to make below the deck. There is wire sticking out the bottom of the tube. That is bent to form the crank. Finally, a loop is bent on the end, and the wire from the Tortoise goes through the loop.

 

David - This layout has been under construction for about 13 years, though it sat 100% idle for six of them. The last two years have been nothing less than miraculous. I don't know where I would be without them.

 

rtr12 - Actually, I've begun using a car card system to keep track of things. I don't go looking for particular pieces. When everything is fully operational, cars will just be dealt with as they come along, and routed to their destinations. There will be over 500 cars and more than 60 locomotives when everything is unpacked.

 

Russ - OMG, there would be a sea of green under the bowl tracks. I think the air jets would be easier. Glad you enjoyed the videos. There were plenty of out takes that day, but those two runs were perfect.

 

Chuck - Thanks, that's the way I roll. Always have.

 

It would be really nice to have all you trains on tracks on the layout instead of shelves or stashed away in boxes. I started out with that in mind, but I think my train tally has exceeded my largest possible layout size. Looks like shelves or boxes for me.

 

rtr12 - I hear ya. It is so easy to over buy regardless of your space. I went absolutely crazy, buying almost everything in sight, when I returned from my six year hiatus. I feel like I'm caught up now, but I'm worried I've over done it already. Even with all this track, I still need to leave room to move the trains. A perpetual traffic jam would take much of the fun out of the layout.

 

Kerrigan - I still haven't tried it out, since I don't have power on the upper deck yet. We are getting closer though, Jon and I were working on wiring last week. I have high hopes for this based on the success of the foil method I used in the helix.

It's that time again, another month gone. The "score" was Patrick 1, Jon 1 and Matt 3.

 

My wife took this one while she was helping me clean up the wiring by handing me my tools.

 

End result the wires are neatly tucked up and we have power on the upper deck!

 

Patrick Matt and Jon all came over on the same day for the second time. Patrick hung the next batch of backdrop, while Matt worked on engine repair.

 

We left room for the door trim.

 

Jon and I worked on wiring.

 

The beginning of the Ford Plant.

 

By this time the new 86' box cars had arrived, and I was anxious to unpack them, but I needed to get the track done first.

 

The wife and I took a little field trip to see what was left at the old Ford Plant site. If it looks cold, IT WAS!

 

As I was trying to clear off the space above the workbench, I ran across my stash of uncoupler tracks. Matt worked on wiring.

 

I got them all disassembled and reduced to their electromagnetic essence.

 

The good part is in the bucket.

 

It was finally time to unpack the box cars. They are so cool!

 

The fruits of Matt's labors are shown here. No more spaghetti hanging over Red Wing.

 

All of the detection lines are are finished in this section.

 

I rebuilt a small piece of decking between the Ford Plant and the helix. The original alignment was awful. My fault.

 

For all practical purposes, the Ford Plant is done. Just missing one small piece.

 

I think March is going to bring a lot of wiring and some new routes opening up. Beside, I need to order another case of Gargraves.

Coming together very nicely Elliot!

This is one terrific project. Enjoy seeing the progress.

       
       

Same Here…
I Love watching the Birth of a Beautiful Layout

K.C.

Incredible!

 

Peter