Having just returned from a day trip into the Sawtooth Mountains, I may be rethinking part of my layout theme. The layout will still be set in 1947 but I may modify the fictional locale somewhat, from the southern semi-desert Idaho plains to the southern central mountains of Idaho. A real-life example would be the town of McCall, a couple of hours north of Boise. It no longer has rail service but there was a line up there that I believe was a UP branch, later part of Idaho Northern & Pacific before that portion of their road was abandoned. The scenery in that area is very appealing, though with such a small layout, I'd only be able to suggest it by having plenty of trees and some water.
No track plan modifications would be required, but the scenery, rather than representing arid sagebrush country, would feature forest...ponderosa and lodgepole pine, inland Douglas fir, etc. The station name will have to reflect this, of course. Rather than "Snake River" it might be something like "Ponderosa Lake" or "Ponderosa Junction" or simply "Ponderosa."
If, instead, I decide to stick to the sagebrush, I think I might model a very thin slice of the Snake River at the front of the layout. Whatever I settle on, I think it's important to convey a strong sense of time and place so that any viewer can grasp it without additional explanation.
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Monday, July 3, 2017
PLANNING TRACKWORK
As mentioned previously, I have a full-size track diagram laid out on four sheets of packing paper. My thought is to cut out sections and glue them to white pine boards (1 x 4, 1 x 6, etc. as needed), and then those boards will serve as the roadbed and will be mounted on the layout. Ties and rail will be laid on top of this "template." I plan to have a basic baseboard surface of particle board, with the white pine roadbed on top of that. Because the layout will be small, there won't be much in the way of terrain elevation changes and no "deep" water features, so this arrangement, based on experience, should be fine. The layout will essentially represent a town so, again, there won't be any dramatic hills, etc., but maybe a gradual rise toward the backdrop of 2 to 3 inches at most. The only water I plan on having is a muddy stream in a ditch; any road or track that intersects it will have a culvert, so it will be "shallow."
I've just used my printer's scanning feature to run off switch templates to glue onto the track diagram. These are from the great Paul Mallery book on trackwork, blown up to S Scale.
I used to spike every tie, a time-consuming process to say the least. That was when I used Homasote. When I switched to white pine for roadbed I found that, because the spikes held better, spiking every fourth or fifth tie (the NMRA recommendation) worked very well. Thus, I think the tracklaying this time will go faster. What I haven't decided is whether to lay the turnouts separately on individual roadbed pieces or simply lay them as part of a larger...say 3 foot...section. I think I'm leaning toward the first option, because it's really helpful to be able to pick up a turnout and sight along the rails, etc., in striving for accuracy. I'll think about it.
As mentioned previously, I have a full-size track diagram laid out on four sheets of packing paper. My thought is to cut out sections and glue them to white pine boards (1 x 4, 1 x 6, etc. as needed), and then those boards will serve as the roadbed and will be mounted on the layout. Ties and rail will be laid on top of this "template." I plan to have a basic baseboard surface of particle board, with the white pine roadbed on top of that. Because the layout will be small, there won't be much in the way of terrain elevation changes and no "deep" water features, so this arrangement, based on experience, should be fine. The layout will essentially represent a town so, again, there won't be any dramatic hills, etc., but maybe a gradual rise toward the backdrop of 2 to 3 inches at most. The only water I plan on having is a muddy stream in a ditch; any road or track that intersects it will have a culvert, so it will be "shallow."
I've just used my printer's scanning feature to run off switch templates to glue onto the track diagram. These are from the great Paul Mallery book on trackwork, blown up to S Scale.
I used to spike every tie, a time-consuming process to say the least. That was when I used Homasote. When I switched to white pine for roadbed I found that, because the spikes held better, spiking every fourth or fifth tie (the NMRA recommendation) worked very well. Thus, I think the tracklaying this time will go faster. What I haven't decided is whether to lay the turnouts separately on individual roadbed pieces or simply lay them as part of a larger...say 3 foot...section. I think I'm leaning toward the first option, because it's really helpful to be able to pick up a turnout and sight along the rails, etc., in striving for accuracy. I'll think about it.
Thursday, June 29, 2017
PLANNING A NEW LAYOUT (CONTINUED)
Another road name I'm considering is "Idaho & Pacific"...a lot of railroads, small and large, seemed intent on including "Pacific" in their names, though some of them never got near that ocean. Not far from here, we have the Idaho Northern & Pacific today, which operates a couple of ex-Union Pacific branch lines that are strictly local, and we are a Rocky Mountain state, hundreds of miles inland. Sounds ambitious, though.
As I've said, my layout will depict a small town that happens to be at an (offstage) junction, where the east/west mainline connects with a branch. Actually, I've decided it will connect with both a northbound and a southbound branch. Thus, switching activity will largely consist of traffic between the branches and the mainline and between the branches themselves, which will presumably operate local trains originating at the junction town, with no through services from one branch to the other.
There will also be a couple of town industries to switch, a lumber yard and a coal dealer, as well as a small freight house and team track. Eventually, there will be a little passenger train switching activity...adding or dropping cars for the mainline, assembling short locals and mixed trains for the branches, etc.
The layout will be set in April 1947, and, as was the case for the prototype roads, freight house business will steeply decline in the next few years with the loss of l.c.l. traffic to trucking. The team track will have a more extended future. Branch passenger traffic won't have much of a lifespan, either. However, since it will always be April 1947 on my layout, none of these upcoming developments will affect my scheme!
I won't have any room for staging, so the arrival/departure track will serve to absorb and regenerate traffic via a simple card order system.
Another road name I'm considering is "Idaho & Pacific"...a lot of railroads, small and large, seemed intent on including "Pacific" in their names, though some of them never got near that ocean. Not far from here, we have the Idaho Northern & Pacific today, which operates a couple of ex-Union Pacific branch lines that are strictly local, and we are a Rocky Mountain state, hundreds of miles inland. Sounds ambitious, though.
As I've said, my layout will depict a small town that happens to be at an (offstage) junction, where the east/west mainline connects with a branch. Actually, I've decided it will connect with both a northbound and a southbound branch. Thus, switching activity will largely consist of traffic between the branches and the mainline and between the branches themselves, which will presumably operate local trains originating at the junction town, with no through services from one branch to the other.
There will also be a couple of town industries to switch, a lumber yard and a coal dealer, as well as a small freight house and team track. Eventually, there will be a little passenger train switching activity...adding or dropping cars for the mainline, assembling short locals and mixed trains for the branches, etc.
The layout will be set in April 1947, and, as was the case for the prototype roads, freight house business will steeply decline in the next few years with the loss of l.c.l. traffic to trucking. The team track will have a more extended future. Branch passenger traffic won't have much of a lifespan, either. However, since it will always be April 1947 on my layout, none of these upcoming developments will affect my scheme!
I won't have any room for staging, so the arrival/departure track will serve to absorb and regenerate traffic via a simple card order system.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
PLANNING A NEW LAYOUT
We moved into our new home in mid-December, in awful weather. I wasn't planning to build a new layout, but instead decided to build static models to display in a glass-fronted cabinet we have. However, we do have a double garage with an extra bay/shop area deep in the rear, almost a separate room. So that's where I have decided, with my wife Susie's strong encouragement, to build a 3' x 12' switching layout. It will lie along one wall of the shop area and will have a 4' floor to ceiling "wall" on the front end to ward off dust.
I'm not sure dust in the garage will be much of a problem. At least, it hasn't been so far, even with a lot of home construction still occurring on our street, which has stirred up plenty of soil. Our garage is very "tight" and, moreover, is very, very well insulated in both ceiling and walls. Much of my decision to build a layout was due to the garage passing the "comfort test." Since we've lived here, the past six months, outside temperatures have ranged from minus 11 in January to nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit recently. Through all that, the garage has remained quite comfortable, and would be even more so using a small electric heater and a portable fan.
The layout, as I said, will be a switching pike. I'm once again modeling April 1947, this time in a small, fictitious town in southern Idaho on a fictitious railroad line running across Idaho into Oregon, with branch lines into Wyoming, Nevada and Utah. I haven't settled on a road name yet but am leaning toward "Idaho & Oregon." The town will be at a junction point where a branch joins the main line, though the actual junction would be "off stage." Thus, the town name I'm thinking of will be "Snake River Junction" in order to convey a sense of place.
My track plan is essentially finalized and is actually based on a layout in "101 Track Plans." The plan in the book is entitled "Mechanic Street Yard," though I've modified it in several ways. Since my S Scale layout will be small, I've laid out a full-size track plan on four sheets of leftover packing paper. I plan to use this as a tracklaying template when construction begins.
I also will be buying a brand new supply of rail. When I scrapped my Texas layout, I really scrapped it! The only things I saved, besides rolling stock of course, were most of the structures and all of the vehicles, figures, signs, etc. I didn't save the rail, since it had been used and reused in six different layouts over nearly 40 years, and the original 3' lengths of rail had long since been reduced to various-sized fragments. I think I definitely had gotten my money's worth from that rail!
So my rough plan is to begin construction around September or October. This summer, since we've been through moving, settling in and major surgery for my wife, we're just going to take it easy!
We moved into our new home in mid-December, in awful weather. I wasn't planning to build a new layout, but instead decided to build static models to display in a glass-fronted cabinet we have. However, we do have a double garage with an extra bay/shop area deep in the rear, almost a separate room. So that's where I have decided, with my wife Susie's strong encouragement, to build a 3' x 12' switching layout. It will lie along one wall of the shop area and will have a 4' floor to ceiling "wall" on the front end to ward off dust.
I'm not sure dust in the garage will be much of a problem. At least, it hasn't been so far, even with a lot of home construction still occurring on our street, which has stirred up plenty of soil. Our garage is very "tight" and, moreover, is very, very well insulated in both ceiling and walls. Much of my decision to build a layout was due to the garage passing the "comfort test." Since we've lived here, the past six months, outside temperatures have ranged from minus 11 in January to nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit recently. Through all that, the garage has remained quite comfortable, and would be even more so using a small electric heater and a portable fan.
The layout, as I said, will be a switching pike. I'm once again modeling April 1947, this time in a small, fictitious town in southern Idaho on a fictitious railroad line running across Idaho into Oregon, with branch lines into Wyoming, Nevada and Utah. I haven't settled on a road name yet but am leaning toward "Idaho & Oregon." The town will be at a junction point where a branch joins the main line, though the actual junction would be "off stage." Thus, the town name I'm thinking of will be "Snake River Junction" in order to convey a sense of place.
My track plan is essentially finalized and is actually based on a layout in "101 Track Plans." The plan in the book is entitled "Mechanic Street Yard," though I've modified it in several ways. Since my S Scale layout will be small, I've laid out a full-size track plan on four sheets of leftover packing paper. I plan to use this as a tracklaying template when construction begins.
I also will be buying a brand new supply of rail. When I scrapped my Texas layout, I really scrapped it! The only things I saved, besides rolling stock of course, were most of the structures and all of the vehicles, figures, signs, etc. I didn't save the rail, since it had been used and reused in six different layouts over nearly 40 years, and the original 3' lengths of rail had long since been reduced to various-sized fragments. I think I definitely had gotten my money's worth from that rail!
So my rough plan is to begin construction around September or October. This summer, since we've been through moving, settling in and major surgery for my wife, we're just going to take it easy!
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
IN THE NORTH
We've been back in Idaho since early October and have been living in a short-term rental apartment until we can get into a house...which will happen in about a week or so. It's good to be back here after 8-1/2 years. We've quickly gotten reacquainted with the Boise area and people we know, particularly at our old church. We're also currently getting reacquainted with snow!
The house we're buying has three bedrooms and two baths, but no room for a layout, which is fine since I hadn't planned on having one, anyway. I will have room to display static models and small dioramas and am looking forward to that. Since I have always enjoyed scenery and structure construction the most, this will suit my needs just fine. It will be a while before I have photos, but they will eventually appear.
After unpacking and building storage shelves and a workbench in the garage (which has a shop-sized area in addition to room for two cars), my first display project will be my 1930s Orient Express coach, which I've been sporadically working on for several years.
The house we're buying has three bedrooms and two baths, but no room for a layout, which is fine since I hadn't planned on having one, anyway. I will have room to display static models and small dioramas and am looking forward to that. Since I have always enjoyed scenery and structure construction the most, this will suit my needs just fine. It will be a while before I have photos, but they will eventually appear.
After unpacking and building storage shelves and a workbench in the garage (which has a shop-sized area in addition to room for two cars), my first display project will be my 1930s Orient Express coach, which I've been sporadically working on for several years.
Friday, September 23, 2016
HEADING NORTH
We've sold our house and will be leaving for Idaho in less than a week. We will miss our many good Texas friends, but we know this is the right thing for us. God has opened every door for our sale and move and so we really know this is what we're supposed to be doing. We're very grateful.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
END OF THE LINE
The Gulf Harbor Terminal Railway no longer exists. The layout has been completely dismantled; rolling stock, most structures, figures, vehicles, signs and other scenery items have been packed away. The layout itself, including track and scenic base, is now scrap in a local recycling center.
This is not a sad event, but one that signals a change in our lives, a change we are looking forward to implementing. It's a decision inspired by a recent visit to our daughter and her family in Utah. Having been in Texas eight years, we are returning to the Northwest, back to Boise, Idaho. Though my wife and I are both Washington State natives, we have lived in Idaho on three different occasions (if I count my Air Force time), two of which were in Boise, and consider it a second home. While we've enjoyed Texas and have made many close friends here, we no longer have family here and so it's time to go. Our daughter in Utah will be only a five-hour drive from Boise, and that's a darn sight closer than a 1200- mile plane ride. Way less expensive, too!
We also plan to downsize, shedding about 1,000 square feet of living space, so there won't be room for a layout. And I'm fine with that. The GHT was my sixth layout and, believe it or not, the same rail and spikes were used in all six! I sure got my money's worth from that rail I bought in 1978 and 1985! I had countless hours of enjoyment and learned a lot from building and operating those layouts, but it's time for a change. I want to pursue other interests, such as my other hobby of amateur astronomy and get back into trout fishing and become reacquainted with the mountains.
While I won't be building another layout, I intend to continue to build models of rolling stock strictly for display purposes and someday may even create a couple of bookshelf dioramas. We'll see; for now, I suspect my equipment and rolling stock projects in progress will be packed away for at least a year or two, if not longer. Our immediate concern is to sell our house here in Texas and find another up north.
The decision to relocate wasn't easy, but it feels absolutely right, and we trust in God to lead us into this next phase of our lives. As I said, we have made some wonderful friends here and that's the hard part of leaving. However, I am looking forward to living again where there are four distinct seasons and, being a native of the Northwest, I have never stopped missing the sight of mountains. Boise is a very pleasant, very livable city of 200,000 that backs up to a mountain range and has a nice climate. We will have to get used to snow again, true, but since Boise has a high desert climate, we won't have to deal with the sticky humidity any longer...nor with bug treatments for our house!
I don't know how many people have read this blog and it doesn't really matter, because I've enjoyed writing it. It focused my thoughts and was fun to do. I hope some of the experiences I've set down here have been helpful and I hope you have enjoyed my photos, too.
Thanks for reading!
This is not a sad event, but one that signals a change in our lives, a change we are looking forward to implementing. It's a decision inspired by a recent visit to our daughter and her family in Utah. Having been in Texas eight years, we are returning to the Northwest, back to Boise, Idaho. Though my wife and I are both Washington State natives, we have lived in Idaho on three different occasions (if I count my Air Force time), two of which were in Boise, and consider it a second home. While we've enjoyed Texas and have made many close friends here, we no longer have family here and so it's time to go. Our daughter in Utah will be only a five-hour drive from Boise, and that's a darn sight closer than a 1200- mile plane ride. Way less expensive, too!
We also plan to downsize, shedding about 1,000 square feet of living space, so there won't be room for a layout. And I'm fine with that. The GHT was my sixth layout and, believe it or not, the same rail and spikes were used in all six! I sure got my money's worth from that rail I bought in 1978 and 1985! I had countless hours of enjoyment and learned a lot from building and operating those layouts, but it's time for a change. I want to pursue other interests, such as my other hobby of amateur astronomy and get back into trout fishing and become reacquainted with the mountains.
While I won't be building another layout, I intend to continue to build models of rolling stock strictly for display purposes and someday may even create a couple of bookshelf dioramas. We'll see; for now, I suspect my equipment and rolling stock projects in progress will be packed away for at least a year or two, if not longer. Our immediate concern is to sell our house here in Texas and find another up north.
The decision to relocate wasn't easy, but it feels absolutely right, and we trust in God to lead us into this next phase of our lives. As I said, we have made some wonderful friends here and that's the hard part of leaving. However, I am looking forward to living again where there are four distinct seasons and, being a native of the Northwest, I have never stopped missing the sight of mountains. Boise is a very pleasant, very livable city of 200,000 that backs up to a mountain range and has a nice climate. We will have to get used to snow again, true, but since Boise has a high desert climate, we won't have to deal with the sticky humidity any longer...nor with bug treatments for our house!
I don't know how many people have read this blog and it doesn't really matter, because I've enjoyed writing it. It focused my thoughts and was fun to do. I hope some of the experiences I've set down here have been helpful and I hope you have enjoyed my photos, too.
Thanks for reading!
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