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Hi Folks,

Over on my recent for-sale thread, I alluded to my new layout being installed by Dunham Studios -- roughly 2 weeks before Christmas 2017.   And having the layout installed during a time when many folks are enjoying the "height of Christmas anticipation (i.e., Dec 11th - 15th)" made for a truly magical Christmas Season overall.  And certainly one that I won't soon forget for many, MANY years to come.  It was almost like being a kid again! 

For those of you who might be interested in seeing how the layout came together, please feel free to visit Dunham Studio's Facebook page, where the entire layout installation was documented with lots of photos over the 5-day installation period.  It's quite the collection of photos highlighting an immensely comprehensive installation process -- from the moment the 53' tractor/trailer truck arrived in our neighborhood to the time those final scenic details were added to the layout amidst trains running through this wonderland of a project.  And while the layout is designed to be modular, it's NOT moved in a modular fashion like clubs often bring their layouts to train shows.  Rather the layout was built in Clarke and Barbara Dunham's Adirondack Studio in upstate NY for a period of 9 months; then knocked down into its 14 or 15 modules, with all of the buildings and accessories packed back into their original boxes; and then transported to the client's residence -- at which point the layout was literally "re-constructed" in a period of 5 days (in this case)!!!    Watching all of this take place was like watching true master craftsmen at work, and it further enhanced the excitement factor of the overall experience. 

So check those photos out on the Dunham Studios Facebook page. And scroll down a bit until you see posts about the Allegheny & Pacific Rwy installation in December 2017 (since Team Dunham has already started documenting two new projects for 2018 -- one in Z-scale, and another in O-scale).

Meanwhile, I've been having an absolute ball FINALLY running trains I had purchased over the years.  And earlier in February, I got around to producing a couple of videos that feature elements of the layout as well as a small handful of toy trains playing the role of actors acting on a magnificently built stage.  As you'll see in these two videos, this is a combination "toy train / hi-rail" themed layout that combines my love of tinplate toy train charm with near-scale scenery elements.  It's not an "ultra-realistic layout" in terms of true 1:48 scale modeling, but there are enough hints of realism so that our brain fills in the true realism that's "artistically suggested" by the non-true-to-scale elements.  And Team Dunham could not have transformed the ideas in my head into a real-life, 3-dimensional train layout any better than they delivered here.  This layout has far, FAR exceeded my expectations in every way possible.   

Now having said that, I've already added a few goodies of my own to the layout to keep my modeling skills from getting too rusty, such as a new railroad spur under construction beneath the Hellgate Bridges, a power substation that incorporates Lionel's industrial smokestack, as well as the recently delivered Broadway Limited Water Tower.  Neither of those venues is 100% complete yet, but it gives me something to look forward to doing when the mood strikes me to get creative.

So if you have a few spare moments where you just want to kick back and watch some trains roll, then enjoy these two videos.  The first video (22 minutes) is a full HD video featuring Lionel's latest StationSounds dining car amidst Atlas-O California Zephyr cars, as well as the brand new MTH CP Holiday Train (Premier version) making a few appearances; while the second video (7 minutes) was just a quickie movie I produced with my iPhone (shortly after the Christmas holidays) featuring the tinplate portion of my layout displaying Standard Gauge Trains on built-in shelves and highlighting Lionel's new Tinplate Prewar-Inspired Scale S-2 Freight Set in action on the lower level loop of the layout.

Enjoy!!!

Video #1:

 

Video #2:

 

If you like what you see here... and you're like me -- a train enthusiast who started building a layout YEARS ago, which then always took back seat to life's other twists and turns that can unexpectedly come our way, then I'd HIGHLY suggest you check in with Dunham Studios.  Their work is impeccable, and Clarke has truly assembled a team of master craftsmen and artists who can pretty much tackle ANYTHING you have stirring about in your imagination.  In just under a year's time, they brought something into reality that had otherwise been spending close to TWENTY YEARS bouncing around in my mind. 

David

Last edited by Rocky Mountaineer
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RickO posted:

....  I especially like the ambient blue lighting,to me it gives a neat "night time" type of effect.   ....

Thanks for the kind words everybody.

Rick, I designed 4 lighting circuits for the train room:  3 circuits support Philips HUE LED smart lights that can be programmed for different lighting sequences and colors.  It's not the least-expensive system in the world, but I lucked out and got most of bulbs around the Thanksgiving Holiday when Philips had a big sale. 

One circuit supports "high hat" recessed BR30-style lights in the ceiling. Two other circuits handle the track lights which are a combination of BR30 floods and PAR16 spots strategically located around the layout.  And the fourth circuit (also via track lighting) still has traditional style halogen bulbs (for now) that illuminate the backdrop and wall displays in the train room.  All in all there are roughly 50 light heads in the train room. 

With the Philips HUE LED smartlights, different colors and "scenes" can be programmed and called up from my iPhone and iPad.  Any of the LED lights has the ability to display different colors on command, so there's no need to buy lights of a specific color.  I'm still learning about the system, but it even has the capability of programming animated scenes that change light colors and levels of different lights over a defined period of time.

I like the blue/violet effect too, because it helps illuminate the layout while still providing a night time effect.  Otherwise, if you just dim the lights or turn them off completely, you're missing a whole dimension of "night time train running".

David

Last edited by Rocky Mountaineer

David -

Funny, just this morning I was perusing the for sale area and came across your ad mentioning the Dunham layout build.  I spend a few minuets looking for a post about the installation but couldn't find anything.  That looks spectacular!  Can you give us some details about the room size and the track plan? How involved did you get with the design?  Thank you for sharing!

I am not normally a fan of any type of toy train layout although I do like tinplate to some degree.  However, Dunham has a certain way mixing realism and toy train into a whimsical masterpiece which is certainly evident in your layout.

Very nice layout David and congratulations for sure.  Looks like there is quite a bit to enjoy and have a feeling you will be finding new elements to it all the time.

David,

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME layout!!!  WOW!!

Thanks for sharing... like James when I saw your mention of your new layout in the for sale board I went looking through your recent posts hoping to get more info...

You may remember helping me with a somewhat complex track plan recently... well I took that plan to York last October and spent a good hour with Clarke & Barb discussing the merits of letting them build it. I have been a fan of their style since I first saw the article about the layout they built in Iowa for Doug Dubays museum! After seeing the wonderful display they have built for you I am more convinced than ever I should have " the Pros" do it!

I really would like to learn more from your experience.. feel like letting me pick your brain a bit ??? 🙏🏻 

Samplingman posted:

David -

...  Can you give us some details about the room size and the track plan? How involved did you get with the design?  Thank you for sharing!

The train room itself occupies roughly half of our finished walk-out basement at approximately 37' long by 15' wide, sharing space with our home theatre and a sitting area directly adjacent to the train room itself, along with my wife's office and two "unfinished" storage/utility areas (in which my wife knows EXACTLY how many train boxes reside at any given point in time ).  The layout is an island-style design and measures roughly 32' long by 10'-12' in width.  While much of the track is well within a comfortable reach of the aisleways, there are a few cleverly hidden access panels for locations that are a tough reach from the aisles.

The track plan (designed with RR-Track) went through several iterations in my mind before I approached Clarke at October 2015 York.  Actually, my first conversation with Clarke only involved the creation of a backdrop.  But as I looked more seriously at the ideas I had floating around in my head vs. how little progress I made on an earlier layout over a 20-year time span, I thought... "Who am I kidding?"    I want to enjoy the layout in THIS life -- not just tinker with its construction at the pace of an iceberg crawling through time!  So the decision was made to pursue the whole enchilada around April 2016 York.  But it wasn't until October 2016 York that we nailed down some serious specifics and agreed to schedule production for early-2017.   

After a healthy number of email exchanges where I sent Clarke several versions of the track plan along with photos of all my bridges and buildings -- accompanied by discussions to fine-tune all that needed to be accomplished, the actual "formal contract" to build the layout was ONE simple page.  That's it... no more... and no less.  And I assure you, there are very, VERY few people in this world with whom I would enter into an arrangement of this scope defined by that simple of a formal agreement than Clarke Dunham.  Our handshake "sealed the deal", and that's the way we moved forward on this project.  There was ALWAYS a nice candid, give-and-take way of communicating -- which made a huge impression on me.  And never once did I feel the slightest bit uneasy about how the project moved from one stage to the next.

The track plan itself actually has its roots in a Lionel postwar-style layout entitled, "Layout for the Years", which I first read about in an old Lionel publication "Model Railroading", that was originally published in 1958 and later re-issued by Lionel Trains, Inc. in 1990.  Being a post-war style layout, it was originally designed for Lionel O-Gauge tubular-style track and switches with an approximate size of 160" x 100".  But my preference in the hobby tended more toward the "hi-rail" side of things -- mixed in with elements of toy-like charm and whimsy.   And I fortunately had a larger space to incorporate my ideas and concepts.

To that end, I reworked the original track plan for the larger space and employed #4 and #6 turnouts (wherever possible) as opposed to the postwar track plan's O-xx Lionel O-Gauge turnouts.   In effect, this part of what would eventually be known as the "Allegheny & Pacific Railway Company" essentially became the new layout's "main level" capable of supporting continuous running as well as simulated train operations with a nice amount of switching maneuvers, since the main level incorporates a double-track mainline with crossovers, passing sidings and five industrial spurs.  Then to add more 3-dimensional visual interest to the layout, I envisioned an upper-level figure-8 above the village and through the mountains, as well as a lower-level simple loop below the industrial area and along the river canal -- primarily for continuous running -- which increased the layout's capacity to 4 trains that could be run simultaneously in a "kick-back, relax, and just watch the trains roll" mode of operation.

RR-Track made it easy to continually refine my designs, and I probably could have continued having fun just doing that weeks and months on end in an armchair model railroading sort of way.   But eventually, it was time to turn my design over to Team Dunham, so they could better define what could actually be built in the way Dunham Studios builds layouts.  That occurred in the December 2016 to January 2017 timeframe.  And by February 2017, Clarke presented me with a 12-page document that included all kinds of 3-dimensional views of the project as well as how the project would be divided into multiple modules for construction and transport.  Here's one of those views that should give some perspective of the final layout's track plan in 3D (without the backdrops):

Allegheny_and_Pacific_Rwy_Illustration1

So while I was closely involved with the initial track plan's concepts and preliminary design, the final design of what was to actually be built came from the folks at Dunham Studios.  And that's basically what they excel at doing!  I had suggested some track shelves along portions of the layout.  But the final design that included built-in shelving as part of the layout cabinetry for displaying my Standard Gauge trains was all Clarke's idea.  Likewise, that's where an entire series of arched O-Gauge bridges I purchased back in 2005 at York would also be incorporated into the layout.  It was really pure genius on Clarke's part, because I knew I wouldn't have room to actually RUN the Standard Gauge trains on this layout.  But I hated to part with them completely.  So this was a splendid way to incorporate a number of my Standard Gauge trains as part of an otherwise predominantly O-Gauge layout -- to be enjoyed in a very unique setting.  I should also point out here that this is yet another facet of the layout where Team Dunham's master craftsmanship excelled in spades.  Those bridges I purchased back in 2005 were from a company no longer in business (Bridge Solutions), and I only had a couple of very tall support towers for the arch bridges.  But the final design called for SEVEN tall support towers that were eventually produced in fine matching detail at the Dunham Studio shops.  Simply amazing!  

So the Standard Gauge display blends into the largely tinplate-based industrial area, consisting mostly of Lionel tinplate accessories mixed in with a few Korber kits that were brilliantly painted in Lionel blue/orange colors to blend in with the bright tinplate colors; which then crosses over a river canal that transitions us to the more hi-rail / scenic'd portion of the layout including a 30-building Department 56 "Christmas-In-The-City" village set in the foothills of a dramatic mountain -- featuring carved rock, multiple tunnels and full scenic treatment.

As an aside from all of that, I provided Dunham Studios with the track (MTH ScaleTrax), Lionel tinplate buildings, bridges and operating accessories, trackside signals, Department 56 buildings (that date back to my acquiring some of them in the 1980's and 1990's), Z-4000 transformers, Legacy and DCS control systems, and of course a key selection of my train roster to ensure the layout would have adequate clearances to handle all of my locomotives and rolling stock for years of trouble-free enjoyment.

So in March 2017, I rented a 9-foot U-haul cargo van... packed up all the items I could until the van was completely FILLED with "train boxes".  And my trusty black lab Zuke and I headed northward about 5 hours to Dunham Studios in the Adirondacks.  Fortunately,  Mother Nature cooperated was with us, as our trip happened to fall right between two big snow storms that winter -- although I'm sure there would have been worse places to get stuck.    Clarke and Barbara's hospitality ranks right up there with the best of our nation's Top 10 Bed & Breakfast Inns!!!   

As you can see, 2017 turned out to be quite a memorable "adventure" in many ways.  Designing this project's track plan was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, so to speak.  Bringing all the stuff up to Dunham Studios in March; then watching for weekly photo updates on Dunham Studios Facebook page (which documented various stages of the project's development) made for a year of heightened anticipation as the project rolled along at quite the steady pace.  My wife loves hot air balloons, so our "official client visit" to Dunham Studios about 3/4 of the way through the project just happened to coincide with the 2017 Adirondack Balloon Festival, which had its best weather to accommodate hot air balloons in the last 15 or so years!   And the Lake George area of Upstate New York is absolutely BEAUTIFUL during that time of year!!!    Then having the completed project installed in mid-December -- just during the height of Christmas anticipation -- made for an absolutely fairy-tail-like ending that capped off a year filled with LOTS of fun and excitement on my part, and a TON of hard work I'm sure on the part of Team Dunham.  The layout installation itself took roughly 4 days on-site, with an extra day on the front end to install the colorful backdrop that quickly captures the attention of visitors the second they walk into the train room.  At the completion of the layout's installation, we all agreed that the train room looked like it was designed around the layout -- instead of the other way around.  The layout looked THAT much like "it belonged" in its new home!

So now, it's onward to enjoying the trains... and sharing this whimsical wonderland of toy trains with family, friends and other toy train enthusiasts.  Even my dog Zuke got a bonus out of all of this.  He thinks the Allegheny & Pacific Railway is his new dog house!!!  It took him all of two seconds to grab one of the installer's work gloves and get comfy underneath the layout after Day 1 of the installation.  See for yourselves..... 

1010_Dunham_Studios_Layout_Installation_Day2_1036

David

 

 

 

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Last edited by Rocky Mountaineer

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