final post for the night... Youtubes!

here are some Youtube videos of my layout:



Video tour ft. Mikado



Challenger vs 6% grade



Mikado and 0-8-0 double team the mountain



0-8-0 Solo

Train consits

So last post we talked about what motive power will be present on my layouts now and in the future. P.S. I plan on doing my next layout based on Seattle to Vancouver in the transition era.

So this post will associate the motive power to their trains. Most of the motive power and the passenger cars will have to be repainted.

Heavy Passenger Service -
To be headed by one of the heavy mountains to be kitbashed to resemble CNR U1F #6060. Train will be considered 'Trans Canada passenger service'
Cars will be Kato smooth-side cars that will be repainted from UP to CNR green/gold. Consist is:
RPO, Baggage, 2x Dome, 2x Sleeper, Observation, 2x Coaches, Dinner

Heavy Passenger Service -
To be headed by one of the heavy mountains to be kitbashed to resemble CNR U1F #6069. Train will be considered 'provincial service from Vancouver to Edmonton'
Cars will be Kato smooth-side cars that will be repainted from UP to CNR green/gold. Consist is:
RPO, Baggage, Dome, Observation, 2x Coaches, Dinner

Light Passenger Service -
To be headed by lt. mountain 4-8-2. non streamlined
Train will be assigned to light passenger between Vancouver and Banff
Cars will be Con-Cor smooth side passenger cars consisting of:
RPO, Coach, Coach

Light Freight Service -
To be headed by a Kato Mikado
Assigned to run cars between the mines and Vancouver
cars will be Walthers dump cars and Athearn ore cars

Light Freight Service -
To be headed by a Kato Mikado
Assigned to transport beer from the Nelson brewery to Vancouver and Seattle
cars will be Aztec Beer cars. At least three will be labeled 'Steam Whistle'

Maintenance of Way -
To be headed by a Bachmann Consolidation
Assigned to clean the tracks and assist broken down trains
cars will be: Aztec cleaner car, Atlas cleaner car, Tichy crane cars and snow plow cars

Branch line Service -
To be headed by a Bachmann Consolidation
Assigned to the branch line from Vancouver to Nelson.
cars will be: Life-Like Box cars, Atlas Flat Cars, Con-Cor Coach

International Freight -
To be headed by Athearn UP Challenger
Assigned to haul heavy freight between Seattle and Vancouver.
cars will be a large assortment of brands and style...from Atlas flats, Athearn ore cars/box cars, Life-Like box cars...and yet to be decided oil tankers

International Passenger -
To be headed by Bachmann J-Class
Assigned to haul international heavy passenger service between Seattle and Vancouver.
cars will consist of Kato Great Northern Empire Builder cars.
Mosty dome, coaches, sleepers

Heavy Freight -
To be headed by FP7 A & B units
Assigned to haul mixed freight across Canada. Consist will be similar to the UP Challenger

Yard Workers -
GP9's, Berkshire, 0-8-0, MP16DC's will all be assigned to switch cars around in the various yards throughout the layout

Proposed locomotive roster

While my layout currently is pretty small, the wife and I are planning on moving within the year, and this layout will probably have to be destroyed/dismantled when we do move. I'm using it as a learning experience so when I build my larger layout I'll have a lot more skills under my belt.

But also with the plan of a larger layout in the future, I can also add a lot more motive power!



Motive power right now consists of:
Athearn Union Pacific Challenger 4-6-6-4
Kato Canadian National RDC-1
Kato Canadian National Mikado 2-8-2
Proto2000 Canadian National Switcher 0-8-0
Bachmann Canadian National Lt. Mountain 4-8-2
Atlas Canadian National GP9

Motive power that is current only order:
Bachmann Canadian National Hvy. Mountain 4-8-2
Proto2000 Canadian National Berkshire 2-8-4

But I also plan to add:
Bachmann Canadian National Hvy. Mountain 4-8-2
Bachmann Canadian National Consolidation 2-8-0
Bachmann Canadian National Consolidation 2-8-0
Bachmann Great Northern J-Class 4-8-4
Kato Mikado 2-8-2
Atlas Canadian National GP9
Intermountain Canadian National F7A
Intermountain Canadian National F7A
Intermountain Canadian National F7B
Intermountain Canadian National F7B
Atlas Canadian Pacific MP16DC
Con-Cor Canadian National Hudson 4-6-4
Kato Canadian National RDC3

This will give me quite a lot of my fav motive power on my layout, and for a layout as large as I can hopefully build I'll be able to make use of it all.


Next post? Train association game!

How long does it take to build a mountain

how long did it really take one to build a mountain?

According to biblical texts less than a day for God to form the scenery of our planet.

According to 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' it took thousands of men to build the planet...but I can't remember how long it took.

According o me...well it has taken me aprox 10 hours to build what you see in the picture to the right.

Playing 'God' is actually pretty easy, and has been pretty fun. In fact building these mountains has been one of the most enjoyable parts of my layout so far, and a hell of a lot cheaper than I expected. I still have a lot to learn about this, but I think I've done pretty good so far.

Most of the mountain range has been completed at this time, there is very little to be added on here, and most of which is not visible in the photo. Just stuff to let to the scenery flow a bit easier.

The one thing that really crippled me with the scenery is how I didn't plan for mountains to take up as much room as I did, and now I have to alter the track plan a bit. I also need to get my building kit for the primary brewery facility that will be placed in this layout....as I can still modify how the mountains are at this time.

However I also don't want to put the structure up until I paint the mountains up.

Layout planning

Well this is my fist real layout that I've ever done, so there was a lot to learn. In fact this is probably the tenth revision I made until I actually started building.

This is kind of an 'up until now' post that explains how I came up with the plan and whats been done up till now.

The original layout was based upon layout n-11017 but with a few extra sidings and then a loop off to the side that goes up to a raised area where I built up my turntable area with an extra couple of sidings. This was going to be my engine facility, but I really don't have enough room to build more than a roundhouse here.

I built that layout and came across numerous issues. For starters I had quite a few 9-1/4" radius curve track pieces in place, with the main line having two large curves containing nothing but. While my locomotives consist mainly of larger steam when I built the layout (lt. mountain and a Challenger) the 9-1/4" radius curves are just to small. Secondly I had some pretty warped track, and nothing was glued down, just tacked in with nails. So I tore up all but the majority of the main line.

I then turned around and developed another track plan that gave a bit more interesting and prototypical operations. It also allowed me to do a fresh restart with new track and roadbed.

During construction it evolved to the track plan shown in this posting.

Now my motive power could all but navigate the main line with ease (seeing as how I don't got much of the yard built at the moment, its all main line!) however there are two hicups on the main line runs.

Heading eastbound the Challenger seems to jump track as it comes off the bridge that leads to the lower east wing of the layout (by the roundhouse). So now I try to only run it to the west. However westbound traffic likes to jump track on the turnout that heads north, only when the turnout is switched to send the train off to the right instead of on the more northern track. Something is out of gauge there I'm guessing because even rolling stock and my Mikado are having issues there.

The plan itself was inspired from two specific sources. The first being the layout mentioned above, the second was from an article in a Model Railroading magazine article. It mentioned that some HO industries can be so large that they can take up a whole module. Sure enough even in N-scale the 'brewery' industry that was listed there still takes up an incredible amount of room. The trackage for the brewery can be seen in the center area. I'm still going to be using a brewery style industry, but it is going to be a smaller facility with other industry present.