Two sidings - too crowded

Fancy and excellent solution!

The Morrison Door Factory deserves a place on the layout like this for a visual appreciation on all sides.

Nicely done, Tom. 😉

Thank you Susan and Dallas,

This RR has seen quite a few post initial construction bump outs built as engineering short falls were recognized.

I simply cut back some of the 1/2" Homasote then spliced in some 1/2" plywood which was then fastened to the original plywood decking by overlapping the edge somewhat.  The same procedure used on GRJ's RR .  It makes for a very firm extension allowing additional real estate where ever desired.

Tom isn't going to stop adding to the RR until he's horizontal!

Here you can see the 1 1/2" overlap where a passing siding was added to a industrial area.

In this case a mere 1 1/2" overlap with a bead of polyurethane  adhesive.

After applying a bead of adhesive the new deck extension is fastened with a pattern of brads shot into the supports then I added a raised bendable plywood fascia with feathered ends to blend into the existing side members.  The raised edge was used due to the tight aisle potentially causing an interference fit with the typical 0 scaler's anatomy.

Another example:

Here is a module which was out grown before it was finished.  There was a need for a station and a freight depot plus I decided there was a need for a bridge abutment to run over to another module  It never stops...

Actually, each of the bump outs were enlarged once again from what is shown here to provide additional

parking and an REA track at the passenger station.

Your benchwork and roadbed is nicer than mine. You gonna run buss wires under all that? I guess we all do.

@Dennis Rempel posted:

Your benchwork and roadbed is nicer than mine. You gonna run buss wires under all that? I guess we all do.

Tom's gone to the dark side, he's using battery power.

Beautiful table-top work Tom!

Please, though, at a vertical (or 45 degree) 2x3 support under your new section (unless you already have one).   The plywood(?)  curved support on the end will probably not remain laterally straight over time.  (Plywood has almost no lateral stability).  And even a 1/4 inch bend or sag will cause derailments.

Mannyrock

@Mannyrock posted:

Please, though, at a vertical (or 45 degree) 2x3 support under your new section (unless you already have one).   The plywood(?)  curved support on the end will probably not remain laterally straight over time.  (Plywood has almost no lateral stability).  And even a 1/4 inch bend or sag will cause derailments.

I'm pretty sure Tom won't have issues with his benchwork sagging, you're talking about a master carpenter that has build countless layouts for customers, and I doubt any of them are complaining. He puts a lot of thought into the construction.

FWIW, it also does depend on the plywood you're talking about.  The 12mm Baltic Birch multi-ply that I used has pretty amazing lateral stability.  Obviously, mine is still supported, but I'll bet I could have gotten away with a few inches of overhang with no support if I felt the need.

Good points John.  I am only used to exterior construction grade plywood, 3/4ths.  No experience with the Baltic.

Mannyrock

@Mannyrock posted:

Good points John.  I am only used to exterior construction grade plywood, 3/4ths.  No experience with the Baltic.

A whole different animal.  Construction grade plywood is... well... construction grade.   The furniture grade stuff like the Baltic Birch multiply is a completely different deal.

I can assure you, if my experience with Tom's craftsmanship is any guide, one thing that won't happen is that his benchwork ends up being a problem.

Thank you for the kind words John.

IME, quality bench work is a sum total of design, material and execution.

Funky design, Budget material and unskilled workmanship  can yield tons of regrets.

Safest thing I could recommend for someone unsure of what to do would be to have Tim at Mianne spec something for them.

Well Tom, all I can say is that I have never had grade 1 yellow pine studs or 2x6  ever fail me.  :-)

I hand pick every one, and use nothing smaller than 3/8ths galvanized nuts and bolts.

So far, no "funky" problems!      "Knock on wood!"  :-)

Mannyrock

Hi Manny,

What influences me is my background in air frame construction with a spill over into design and construction of  hydroplanes.  These builds are for strength, endurance, surface integrity.

I brought these disciplines into model RR  bench work when I entered the dark side in the late 80's initially with the HO Free-Mo effort on the West coast.

Although versed in 4 decades of residential carpentry, my RR effort is more aligned with strong, lightweight easily portable custom module shapes.

Even with that there was this individual who used a cloths line to tie down a large module job of mine onto a short bed pick up truck then proceeded to deposit it on US-1 at 65 mph with no noticeable damage. 

I have built many RR modules with 5 mm Meranti which have been serving for over 15 years.  So it is not just the thickness of the surface but rather how it is built.  Stressed skin construction and waffle bottoms can permit rigid light weight modules.

Example:

I'm sure your construction is strong.  There is no one right way, we all are different.  It's just that when one builds for HO or 2 rail 0 scale  your surface needs to be flat with smooth & gentle changes in grade.

Enjoy!

Unbelievable Tom!

The only thing I brought to the Hobby was my skill- saw, hammer, and quick square!

Mannyrock

Mannyrock,  the skill saw and speed square is a nice start.  You can use the Skill saw for straight and circular plywood cuts.  The speed square is great for bench work frame work.

I do keep two hammers stationed at either end of the train room for urgent use just in case a rivet counter ever gets in.

@Tom Tee posted:

This RR has seen quite a few post initial construction bump outs built as engineering short falls were recognized.

I know a few folks who are having some difficulty getting started on their layouts because they want it to be perfect and they are stuck at the design/planning stage.

Get Started Folks, Run and Enjoy Those Trains!

No matter how well conceived... your layout should evolve ...just like the real railroads.

Beautiful Craftsmanship Tom... Just Gorgeous!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Tom's gone to the dark side, he's using battery power.

"Dark side"??

Nay, I say!  'Tis for the enlightened, mate!!

And 'buss wires'??   For accessories....right?

Very nice, Tom!

Dennis,   Thank you however I am sure that I could say the same of me trying to function in your work place.

As far as wiring no busses were used.   Home run star wiring was used in the initial phase of layout construction.

Both the 3 rail and the two rail have star wiring.

From the main panel 60  pairs of wire from the MTH distribution terminals were run to various blocks around the room.  Near blocks utilized 14 ga,, blocks further away 12 ga.  was used.  On the most distant blocks 10 ga was used.  There RR is perimeter  around the wall on 230 linear feet of walls.

One main panel:

plus a smaller panel at each town:

The track can be powered from either the main or at each small town either AC or DC.

Seven of the bump out modules were added since my first battery R/C.  No track wiring there.   Those areas are served by R/C.  Three earlier modules have track power.

100% of all track power has star wiring.  All home run power is on a toggle switch.  Any track powered locomotive  can be shut down anywhere.

Running circuits like that makes finding shorts basic simple.

I must confess, there is some wiring that still needs doing but it has not made it to my wife's 'honey do' list.

Dkdkrd;  No operating accessories at this time.  So, no buss wiring.  Most all turnouts are hand thrown walk around style.  Where Tortoise control is used there are actuated locally and have local wall wart power.

I ran 20 amp conduit around the fascia of the entire RR for 110 access every 6 feet.

I'm still a newb and quite early in my foray of O Scale Train-ery. I am in awe of the benchwork layouts I see. All I have is MTH RealTrax and tubular Lionel track. All of that on a floor in an "extra" bedroom in which that room itself needs to be gutted and redone before I sell this home and get into our forever home.  Wonderfully fantastic work you have there Tom. You should be very proud of the craftsmanship.

@Dennis-LaRock posted:

I know a few folks who are having some difficulty getting started on their layouts because they want it to be perfect and they are stuck at the design/planning stage.

Get Started Folks, Run and Enjoy Those Trains!

No matter how well conceived... your layout should evolve ...just like the real railroads.

It doesn't matter how long you spend thinking about it, as soon as you're well into construction, suddenly a major shortcoming pops up!

I had the basic track laid and realized that I didn't have any sidings, so I added three at the back of the layout.

Then I decided that I really did want a turntable, so I added the Atlas 24" one, anything bigger simply wouldn't fit.

Then I added some industry sidings as I realized I hadn't provided for any useful work on the RR.

Finally, I added my ten track freight yard as the three sidings were simply not nearly enough car storage!  I'm still mulling over additional changes...

So...there are "mullings" about?  I can help with the mullings.

@Tom Tee posted:

So...there are "mullings" about?  I can help with the mullings.

I'll just bet you can!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

It doesn't matter how long you spend thinking about it, as soon as you're well into construction, suddenly a major shortcoming pops up!

I had the basic track laid and realized that I didn't have any sidings, so I added three at the back of the layout.

Then I decided that I really did want a turntable, so I added the Atlas 24" one, anything bigger simply wouldn't fit.

Then I added some industry sidings as I realized I hadn't provided for any useful work on the RR.

Finally, I added my ten track freight yard as the three sidings were simply not nearly enough car storage!  I'm still mulling over additional changes...

John.......all you need is a skilled craftsman to build a beautiful cabinet and shelf area for the freight cars.

Don't drive yourself nuuuutz with the layout......just have fun.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

John.......all you need is a skilled craftsman to build a beautiful cabinet and shelf area for the freight cars.

Don't drive yourself nuuuutz with the layout......just have fun.

I have a wall full of Glenn Snyder shelves waiting at York next week, those will be where more of my trains show up.  I'm working on a way to come up with some backdrops for over the freight yard and part of the back wall of the main layout.

Dallas, John's dense displayed locomotive racks look more like 3-D wall paper from a distance.  John will need to buy scores of racks to display his cars!  Actually he may well need more walls.

His inventory far exceeds what most train stores have in stock.

@Tom Tee posted:

Dallas, John's dense displayed locomotive racks look more like 3-D wall paper from a distance.  John will need to buy scores of racks to display his cars!  Actually he may well need more walls.

His inventory far exceeds what most train stores have in stock.

I kind of got that Tom, when John talked about the multitude of passenger cars he had to put LEDs in .   I was humbled  ..........I only have 24😉

For storage at one point I was going to run a siding track around the back and under my layout for a huge yard with engines and rolling stock.............with a couple blocks and with video cameras to track movement................Alas......it remains a dream. 😴😴😴😩

@Tom Tee posted:

Dallas, John's dense displayed locomotive racks look more like 3-D wall paper from a distance.  John will need to buy scores of racks to display his cars!  Actually he may well need more walls.

His inventory far exceeds what most train stores have in stock.

Sounds like my friend George in HO:

That is less than half and there is quite a bit more in boxes under the layout. The O is in a different room but everything there is in boxes if not on the layout:

@Tom Tee posted:

Dallas, John's dense displayed locomotive racks look more like 3-D wall paper from a distance.  John will need to buy scores of racks to display his cars!  Actually he may well need more walls.

His inventory far exceeds what most train stores have in stock.

I'm afraid more walls are out of the question, I have to work with what I have.

I am picking up another couple hundred feet of Glenn Snyder shelves at York for the 18 foot wall opposite the freight yard, that will help.

I take solace in the fact that no matter how much I accumulate, there are many folks with far more that I have.

OK Guys!

     Last week I was given untold grief because I said that I was designing the wiring of my layout by not using any bus lines, and running multiple sets of feeder lines straight out to the tracks, with toggle switches in those feeders at the control box to turn the power blocks on and off.  Unheard of, foolhardy, inexperienced, way to many wires.

    And now, here, now we have an  undeniable expert, Tom Tee, whose diagram above shows that he wired his layout the same way. NO BUS LINES.     And, although I will probably have 16 sets of wires running to the tracks, Tom is not "afraid" of having 60 pairs of wires in his control box running to the tracks, each set labeled at the box and probably also where it is probably labeled at the terminus as well.  Why?   Because it is extremely easy to do, extremely easy to locate shorts, and eliminates squatting under the table for hours trying to tap into buses.

     Accordingly, I hereby officially declare myself vindicated and a KING VIKING!    :-)    (You may now kneel!)

Mannyrock

Manny, there is no 100% right way or 100% wrong way, there are lots of ways to skin this cat.

Manny, thank you but I would be the first to deny being an expert. I just play one on the OGR forum.   The impetus to use of pairs of block feeders  simply came from Barry's 1st edition book on DCS wiring many years ago.

Additionally, much of what I do has to deal with the complexity of the track plan and the multiple right of ways.  This RR is regretfully too big and involved.  GRJ's layout is a prime example of a good size layout.

However, since then I have read of many folks with buss wiring & not using the twisted pairs yet still getting 10's on their meter???

Never the less, using direct pairs to power block just seems right for me.  Other's mileage may vary.

Truth be known, since selling my TIU's and accompanying hand helds & giving up on DCS as such and just using PS 2 & 3 with several Z-1000 transformers conventionally I have been dropping more feeders onto the home run star feeders to add consistency.  Not necessary but it just feels better.  I do not like to depend on rail joiners for electrical continuity.

Something else I prefer is the use of 12 different colors of wire and twelve different colors of electrical tape and numerical wire tags.  No matter where I encounter a wire I can tell it's routing.

Also, when you power most or all of any layout with full voltage all the time running DCS I understand that the hour meter of parked locomotives will continue to accumulate time as though it was being used.

With battery R/C all the above is unnecessary.

@Tom Tee posted:

With battery R/C all the above is unnecessary.

Well, you do have to remember to turn off each locomotive or it'll run down the battery.

Thanks for the comments TT.

Best thing about the direct wiring, if you have a short in the power supply to a power block, then there only two places to look.  Inside your control box, or where the direct lines are attached to the track.

  (This assumes of course that in stapling the feed wires to the underside of the table, you didn't run a staple through the middle of one of the wires.  :-)  But, I always check that carefully at the time of installation.)

Instead of using different colors of wire for the blocks, I just wrote a specific number on the underside of the table, where the set of feed wires go through to the top, and then attached a small tag with that  number to the set of wires inside my box.

Mannyrock

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, you do have to remember to turn off each locomotive or it'll run down the battery.

Each battery powered unit has a light of some type be it a head light, fire box or interior light that indicates power on.  No large problem.

And now with our battery powered recumbent Catrike Dumonts we have elevated battery awareness.  One thing that does surprise me is how quickly all these battery powered toys achieve full charge.

Battery power has made a big inroad in all of our live as far as tools, communication, illumination, security, transportation, entertainment.

Maybe I will have an electronic specialist friend of mine install time out sensors in my locos???

There's a new product idea for me!  A sensor that camps on the motor drive and if it sits idle for a set period of time, it turns off the power.  The only trick is you'd need a button to trigger the power and turn it back on to run again.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Tom isn't going to stop adding to the RR until he's horizontal!

GRJ then he will only slow down a little.

Rick,  Your are close...I actually thought of making my own coffin with a 6' Glen Snyder display shelf and some T-1 locos.   The curved bench work material can conform to most any shape.