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Aug 2, 1999 [Mon] Here we go again. Here are the totals from the first three months of 1999. It has now been 4 months away from the hobby.
The first step is to bring myself back up to speed. The original goal was to dedicate a minimum of 5 hours a week to the hobby. That seemed to work for the first three months, so I will stay with it. By bringing this web site up-to-date, I will also reaquaint myself with what needs to be done. The layout is the primary task. I need to get it up and working. This means that I should spend a bit of time rereading the magazines I have on the topic plus playing around a bit with the 3rd Planit software package. Also I need to begin checking the rec.models.railroad newsgroup postings again. Reviewing my notes on Layouts, I see that I last decided to begin by using a layout from a magazine. Thus I now need to review my magazines and make a decision. I really want to get something working soon! (web site updates - 1 hour) I spent about 2 hours reviewing layouts from magazines. I finally decided that I liked many of the features from a design called "A track plan to share a family room or bedroom" by Kenneth Gentili in 48 Top Notch Track Plans From Model Railroader Magazine (Model Railroad Handbook No. 39). I spent about an hour with 3rd PlanIt but found that my skills with this software were not equal to the task of quickly modifying such a track plan. (reading 2 hours, computing 1 hour) I then decided to simply start playing with the 2x4 sheets of 1/2" plywood and see if I could approximate the table layout. This turned out to be much easier than I anticipated. I then began laying out some track to see if I could come up with a pattern for the mainline. I spent about 4 hours on this, and feel that I am getting close. (building 4 hours). Aug 9, 1999 [Mon] I have been fairly busy during the week. Each day was much like the others. I would go down to the room and move track around and see if i could visualize a mainline route and some side track that would fit into the general table structure. Here is the table for August:
Today I spent about 3 hours cutting plywood and building the final basic table layout. I thought that I had a final track layout, but as I completed the two levels of the tables I began to realize that there may be some opportunities for some hidden track that I had not foreseen earlier. I may make a few more changes, but I feel that I am very close to a final design. Aug 25, 1999 [Wed] This has been a very full two and a half weeks: we took a 5-day holiday, accomplished a fair amount at work, and I spent about 15 hours a week simply playing around with the layout. I thought I had it finalized until I started to put in the inclines for the different levels. That was a rude awakening. Many of the slopes were unrealistic and when I lengthened the slope I found I no longer had room for some of the sidings and switches. I continued to make adjustments and as of 10 minutes ago, I think I really have a viable layout. I even purchased a few packages of the Woodland Scenics Subterrain foam today to ensure that I had the elevations working properly. I also bought an issue of Canadian Railway Modeller (Train 9 Track 1). Now to find the time to read it.
Another comment on my approach to design. From the outset I was trying to take into account many of the buildings and structures that I already have. Overall, I am please with the result. I have not been able to find a place for a roundhouse (which really was very large (8 bays) and turntable, nor could I fit in a dual track bridge. On the plus side, I have a large grain elevator, a prairie grain elevator, a coal mine, a lumber mill, an oil refinery, a meat packing plant, a couple of warehouses and a station. I have yet to read anything that talks about planning from this perspective. Usually one seems to start with a blank room and then builds everythng according to a grand plan. I hope to take a few pictures so I can discuss the various features and obtain some feedback from viewers to this site. A review of the previous table shows that I have spent 121 hours in the last 7 months on this hobby. Over half of that time has been spent on "Building". I have almost spent $500. on the hobby. It is impressive how the costs sneak up on one. Aug 29, 1999 [Sun] I had to buy two more packages of the Subterrain foam ($29.42) a couple of days ago. I now have the entire layout set up - that is, all of the track is joined and it seems to work. I spent about 3 more hours just playing with the foam and the track. I must try to get some photos so I can describe this layout on this web site. The next step is to make a number of plywood bases for the turnouts. As the first step in this process, I need to make one such base and then mount the turnout on it so I am confident that I understand how an "under-the-table" mechanism works. I tried putting a locomotive on the layout, but it barely moved. I realize the track is very dirty, and also that many of the joiners may be very loose, so it may take a while to ensure that it is working properly. I want to test each section of the layout to verify that it will work before I begin gluing and nailing everything down. I have updated this web site (2 hours) Aug 31, 1999 [Tue] I have made one plywood base for a turnout. I have read up on under-the-table mounting and realize that I will need Atlas No. 65 switch motors. Unfortunately my local hobby store does not have any in stock, so this will go on hold for a bit. Here is the final table for August:
The next step is to review the entire layout and see if there are not places where I can make it simpler. I have a loop at the moment that surrounds one of my "towns" that raises the track to the next level, but I think it looks artificial. I may see if it is possible to delete the entire loop. Just a thought at the moment. August has been great. I have made a lot of progress and hope that I can keep this up in September I worked on the layout for another 3 hours - I managed to totally delete one loop of the layout, plus I made a number of changes to the turnout locations on both the set of sidings near the oil refinery and the coal mine. Each adjustment makes the layout just that much better. I am beginning to get a very good feeling about the result. I have added these values to the above table. |
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