tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43473923379744526382024-03-05T10:28:46.690-08:00St Paul Pass in ViennaThis blog is about a N scale layout depiciting the long abandoned rail line of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific Railroad across St Pauls Pass, connecting Montana in the east and Idaho in the west.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-11616127585352425612012-02-19T11:21:00.000-08:002012-02-19T11:21:07.975-08:00No News lately..<br />
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Due to high job demand everything has been put on the backburner. I'm in touch with Wolfgang who will be helping me organize the contractor, who in turn will be renovating the walls. Hopefully.<br />
So just stay tuned again, as soon as it get's warmer we will move on!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-16947001541700674132012-01-08T08:44:00.000-08:002012-01-08T08:44:56.875-08:00Mark January 6th, 2012 17:17This is the exact minute, the last tracks of the old Milwaukee Road layout of St Pauls Pass came up. Ironically, it was also the track last laid - the spur to the US Hanford Works Nuclear Waste site which has only seen one train in it's whole "life", as we discovered that the huge nuclear waste flask did not fit very well into St Pauls Pass tunnel.<br />
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But that is history now. All tracks and benchwork are gone, just a bit of the background is left to remove during the next worksession. What is seen in this photo ist how the room is looking without the layout (obviously) In the left corner the background is where the station of Roland, Idaho was located.<br />
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On the ground in the center is a hodgepodge of wiring - every cable that was there under the layout has been salvaged and will be used again. A lonely fast-clock on the wall at left is awaiting it's fate.<br />
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The second photo shows the other corner, looking towards the windows. You can see the curtains and the deteriorating plasterwork on the wall. It's where the wall faces the street above. Unfortunately there is no cure for water sipping in as the insulation from 1909 is long gone. <br />
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The next step will be to remove what is left of the background and making room for the central part of the new multi-level layout.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-217517152947675112011-12-18T13:05:00.000-08:002011-12-18T13:05:54.414-08:00Photos from the US<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here are a few photos of Steamtown at Scranton, Pennsylvania. Actually, it's a National Park and they are doing a beautiful job displaying and operating steam, diesel and even trolleys there. Well worth a visit!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-54205419598128382672011-12-18T12:09:00.000-08:002011-12-18T12:09:54.822-08:00Dismantling started - finally!On November 19, 2011 I fine crew of dedicated people gathered in the layout room to start tearing down the layout. And tearing down they did!<br />
In fact, I could hardly stop them as I had to leave for an appointment after more than 4 hours.<br />
Thanks Wolfgang, Robert, Christian and Herbie for helping and essentially destroying what you built.<br />
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As 2011 draws to a close I'll be continuing the teardown process. In fact, as I write this post I have torn down the whole middle section. Only Avery east yard and the line between Roland and East Portal is still in place. I made several trips to the nearest garbage dump and I still ahve a few auto loads left.<br />
I try to salvage track, screws and every electronic gizmo as much as I can, but especially the turnouts don't really like to be ripped out - they frequently get distorted and damaged.<br />
That's not nice, sure - but necessary!<br />
I hope to be able to finish this work by January. When tearing down will be completed, electricity is next, for I have to change quite a lot of the cabling and lighting. When that is completed, I will store tools, parts and whatever is left in the new containers - and after that rebuilding starts, finally. Although I'm afraid that this is still a few months away.<br />
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Nevertheless, the next worksession will be held on Saturday, January 14th, starting at 2 PM (1400 hours).<br />
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See you!<br />
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I have shot a few photos of the layout in dire straits - this is no beautiful sight!<br />
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At first, here is a view of the middle section - it is gone by now, but after the worksession this was waht's left of it: <br />
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In a hodgepodge of cables sits the rest of the mainline between Kyle and Adair: <br />
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End of track at Kyle: <br />
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That's what had been left of Avery yard - the east yard (to the left) is gone by now.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-84450200537067204072011-10-24T10:06:00.000-07:002011-10-24T10:06:03.279-07:00This is a short post, shortly before I set sail to the U.S.<br />
I'm afraid that I haven't done that much in the last few months. I'm occupied by my Job, a new gadget called IPad and many other things. So the layout is definitely on hold for now.<br />
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As this fall it seems to be very hard to reach our company's goals for 2011 I'll be doing next to nothing during the remaining 9 weeks to Christmas. But I belive that after the turn of the year, I'll have the spirit again.<br />
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Bear with me.<br />
MichaelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-29069039743945782852011-09-23T00:06:00.001-07:002011-09-23T14:10:47.517-07:00News - after a long time<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="DE" style="color: black;">Hi folks,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">it could well be that many of you were wondering what happened to the layout or happened anything?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Yes and no.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">I have not yet started dismantling, although it is not operable any more as I have severed the connection between the staging yards and the rest of the layout.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Unforeseen circumstances have stalled the project at the moment, but it will pick up again sometimes in October when I’ll start to build the dispatcher’s cabin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Meanwhile, the electrical components of the 230V circuit were removed and reside now in a box outside the room. After the dispatcher’s cabin is ready, it will be the next step to plan and mount new cabling.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Stay tuned – I might be calling a worksession on October 22<sup>nd </sup>, just days before I’ll be sailing to the USA again. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">And we have something for you: Florian outdid himself with this film (split in to owing to Youtube limitations).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">So sit back, take your favorite beverage and enjoy a last view of the layout:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Part 1:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="DE" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_A0Jrz1YA4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_A0Jrz1YA4</a></span><span lang="DE" style="color: black;"> </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="DE" style="color: black;">Part 2:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_A0Jrz1YA4"><span lang="DE" style="color: black;"></span></a><span lang="DE" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUp1DPIP-Gg">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUp1DPIP-Gg</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="DE" style="color: black;">have fun & see you!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="DE" style="color: black;">Michael</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-16294954765526019642011-06-18T14:24:00.000-07:002011-06-19T00:37:48.972-07:00The Farewell SessionAs I'm writing this post the last session of St Paul Pass I itself is history. Only 7 attendants (one of them late) appeared and that made it a very relaxed (some say too relaxed) session. The last time there were fewer than 8 participants was in December 2008! Due to the fact that only 2 through trains each way were running it was not too compelling for the dispatcher as there was a gap of 12 fast hours between them.<br />
However, it is known that for a good session we need at least 10 people.<br />
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Since there will be a longer pause until the next session and for the first few sessions a large crowd won't be needed, this is not really a problem anymore.<br />
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Here are a few pics my son Florian and I made during the session:<br />
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This is the last track cleaning train at the beginning of the session. I use the CR and 2 SP units that don't see use in many trains. Here CR 6338 will soon be splitting the signals at Kyle West switch.<br />
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A little while later we see it somewhere between Kyle and Adair <br />
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This small sawmill is a masterpiece from my son Florian (that was before he found out that there are girls out there...) It will be saved and get a fine place on the new layout. <br />
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The 936/937 job to Ethelton is seen here (at least the tail end) - in the background we have the gas tube ...oh my... it's in the way of level 3. I forgot it completely when planning the St Paul Pass II! Fortunately, the track will fit under it. It's not beautiful, but there is no way removing it...<br />
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East Portal West switch is on the upper level and Hobo Ridge on the lower one. The name comes from the hobo camp at it's base. <br />
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Marmoraton Mining Limestone Works will be saved, too. It already has a place on my plan (level 1). <br />
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Marble Creek will not be a junction any more. This is the last #925 moving out of the tunnel. On the left are the first two towers of Kelly Creek trestle which will also find a home on the new layout. The white spot on the right is the hole I battered out of the gypsum mountain to find two missing locos. (Long story)<br />
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The other half of Kelly Creek trestle. I thought it was a good idea to separate the levels with a 2-turn helix. As it turned out this was not the case. 45 cm ( 17") radius combined with a more than 3% grade is taxing all locos to the extreme. Sometimes even 4 6axle SD40-2 are not enough. This is a part of StPP I that would have been changing anyway.<br />
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Here is a detail shot of the lumber cabin, made by my son Florian (before, you know...), complete with interior, for example a stove, beds and drawer.<br />
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The last through train..... <br />
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Little Joe #22 waits for an assignment. <br />
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The area of the roundhouse with a few helpers waiting for trains that won't be coming any more.... <br />
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The ready track with an NW2, SD40 and U23B <br />
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The wrecking track. The wrecking train will be moved to St Maries (where it belongs). <br />
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Wolfgang as an eager-to-learn Yardmaster has done a very good job to keep the yard clean... <br />
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SD40-2 #157 (with long hood forward!) arrives at Avery. The helper is uncoupled (just now - as you can see the 0-5-0 in the back) and will soon find an empty track at the roundhouse. <br />
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#932 in Calder. Seems that stealth NW fans are among us as we have a long hood again! <br />
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The next signal shows red-over-red, which is quite correct.... <br />
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Mr Hobo and his friend are chatting. They sure hope that Sherrif Smith won't be coming along.. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqN2G51c0buF889Nuzi-vM7SDOx-BVKcetKoXZcR25CYTqlblqbKJtDSYltkae_8sY2UValANe1zBC0aGdl_56dW561LgQN9KXONXsTckhNz80ND6PiVPIUoZjk69tMCqqnfeceSrO7Gq/s1600/P6180371.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqN2G51c0buF889Nuzi-vM7SDOx-BVKcetKoXZcR25CYTqlblqbKJtDSYltkae_8sY2UValANe1zBC0aGdl_56dW561LgQN9KXONXsTckhNz80ND6PiVPIUoZjk69tMCqqnfeceSrO7Gq/s320/P6180371.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Yes, the Milwaukee even has modern concrete ties laid down....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4MFKvxDuiFeMW11igoIAS3CNPcnkmPb2DnRbghOPQNGK4e83KpHETEcQnkpOF3Lb5Ql8RzOnsS09BurNNjGVu-67hRnvoH9EYy82GZZwBGByyL5jc0B8coTbAoWbb1zNOyvo2GWJH53g/s1600/P6180374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4MFKvxDuiFeMW11igoIAS3CNPcnkmPb2DnRbghOPQNGK4e83KpHETEcQnkpOF3Lb5Ql8RzOnsS09BurNNjGVu-67hRnvoH9EYy82GZZwBGByyL5jc0B8coTbAoWbb1zNOyvo2GWJH53g/s320/P6180374.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> The US Forest Service loading track.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWVSgfUTSQKMfx0pW9OvAEUBsvppRKdOi3CoHxJIzTicRqszVuDVrw5VVOFy0eLr8ErjWJBYQuvTLRLwpkmJb602QwYVTu2wt4uxYvxz9z5I1kuCaplwiS74Ssbi3adnygoZRmcicBd_4/s1600/P6180383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWVSgfUTSQKMfx0pW9OvAEUBsvppRKdOi3CoHxJIzTicRqszVuDVrw5VVOFy0eLr8ErjWJBYQuvTLRLwpkmJb602QwYVTu2wt4uxYvxz9z5I1kuCaplwiS74Ssbi3adnygoZRmcicBd_4/s320/P6180383.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> The overpass at Calder which leads to the USFS track.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypT86QeTbF-40evbJbMxYfGxjmXHd5nfxR0II0F0Z5sMk66040owbnA9NJVvtY_CS5NcVpbDS3B92CdJHR4GwYbxcB1DIQGwYXVKtr2zqoWGHLYTXHQVsxyT6g372OKlpLHGFXPCqmE-O/s1600/P6180386.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypT86QeTbF-40evbJbMxYfGxjmXHd5nfxR0II0F0Z5sMk66040owbnA9NJVvtY_CS5NcVpbDS3B92CdJHR4GwYbxcB1DIQGwYXVKtr2zqoWGHLYTXHQVsxyT6g372OKlpLHGFXPCqmE-O/s320/P6180386.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Yellow over red at East Portal <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaec1dp3A4ISAyDoUE2jO-nPnK8OPuBYQ2pfohj8rBRz_FlS3mbD_ZirEyde4u6TMKODD7ZVEC8i9DquExSJarGkHdZvOsBNYvYEur7Dl9ycpbgO2IdJ3cOyp5LcevPrdXXDvwzItEhZ_/s1600/P6180388.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaec1dp3A4ISAyDoUE2jO-nPnK8OPuBYQ2pfohj8rBRz_FlS3mbD_ZirEyde4u6TMKODD7ZVEC8i9DquExSJarGkHdZvOsBNYvYEur7Dl9ycpbgO2IdJ3cOyp5LcevPrdXXDvwzItEhZ_/s320/P6180388.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>..the end of the line for now.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-51276683437115030682011-06-10T14:15:00.000-07:002011-06-10T14:39:08.402-07:00St Paul Pass II - Level 3After exiting St Paul Pass tunnel, we are at an inconvienient height - that's why there will be steps located on the floor for the convenience of the operators.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh49UttJfP_cNfAK2Tugvf_UNQv-i_Zxai2xmp10C7qOUBw7ZF4Bka7qhapCTmI9-fk6f9pagEQ_r78zSPOLUPZ7UxeuhpTverMtUMOPJtytmKiMmPcVoeurnQ3vKmp3TMaI9KTVCGmXnTS/s1600/Level+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh49UttJfP_cNfAK2Tugvf_UNQv-i_Zxai2xmp10C7qOUBw7ZF4Bka7qhapCTmI9-fk6f9pagEQ_r78zSPOLUPZ7UxeuhpTverMtUMOPJtytmKiMmPcVoeurnQ3vKmp3TMaI9KTVCGmXnTS/s320/Level+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Now, we are on the east side of the pass and have reached Montana at (1) when we leave the helix representing St Paul Pass.<br />
At (2) we have East Portal siding and head straight for Bryson (3). Maybe, I should try to put more curves in this stretch?<br />
The track between Bryson and Saltese (4) whith the low trestle should also be located nearer to the edge of the benchwork.<br />
We pass through a last tunnel (it's here because it passes over the staging runaround track!) and arrive at Haugan, Montana (5) with the wye and the shed for the snow plow. (6)<br />
There is no way to model the NP connection in any way, but I can live with that. And the wye is on the wrong side of the track, but again - I can live with that, too. <br />
The track makes one last horseshoe curve and heads into East Staging (not drawn with all 18 tracks). To gain room for the second entrance the runaround track (7) runs over the line between Saltese and Haugan, but parallel to the helix coning from level 2. It crosses under the approach track of the helix at (1)<br />
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That's it - we have done a journey from Plummer Junction, Idaho to Haugan, Montana on the St Paul Pass II.<br />
<br />
I'll have to plan how to make the central part (the long tongue) and think about how to make the duckunders but other than that it's pretty much straightforward.<br />
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Dismantling of StPP I will start after our video session in July when we'll have documented StPP I in all it's glory. The layout served me well for over 15 years. The kids have grown and start to leave home, I got older and wider, have a very good (and demanding) job, so let's do it.<br />
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Start of construction is scheduled for early 2012, I'll just make the new dispatcher's cabin and the relocation of the electrical components in 2011 to give me more time for re-thinking....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-43247471024043968032011-06-10T13:52:00.000-07:002011-06-10T13:52:16.514-07:00St Paul Pass II - Level 2..and we continue our journey eastward through the valley of the St Joe river when our train emerges from the helix at (1) and continues to Kyle siding (2).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3NuUlj0rjPLe5LEG5wVHbFL_-0gHUtfGAJt7QekeCyST-MId4-1QkL4vNG0IPBbcKpy9VnoOASUrzSWP1-lumjUhungA1pVOelm2jlWrukRHGFqyVl23iqBKZaesQjyBuEhcbPWzhvJw/s1600/Level+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3NuUlj0rjPLe5LEG5wVHbFL_-0gHUtfGAJt7QekeCyST-MId4-1QkL4vNG0IPBbcKpy9VnoOASUrzSWP1-lumjUhungA1pVOelm2jlWrukRHGFqyVl23iqBKZaesQjyBuEhcbPWzhvJw/s320/Level+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Between Kyle and the next siding at Falcon (4) there are 5 tunnels and 4 trestles. I'll have to lower the ground here to give the trestles some height.<br />
Falcon is the place where our huge cement plant (5) is located - on the StPP I it was at Adair.It's now in the foreground and easily reachable, although it interferes with Avery west yard below, but that is one of the compromises that are necessary.<br />
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And it's here where I have to cheat a bit. In order to be able to pass under the cement plant the mainline is actually dropping a few centimeters here, while the long spur to the plant rises 1.7% in order to gain altitude.<br />
The line continues on to Adair siding (6) which will only have a short log loading spur, again located near the edge to make it easier to access.<br />
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Behind Adair the loop follows - unfortunately it should be located west of Adair siding - but again....<br />
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The follows Kelly Creek trestle, whose footings will be located on the level below. If you take a look at the drawing of level 1 you might notice that the track is somewhat awkwardly curved between (4) and (5). That's because the trestle towers need space! And I won't repeat the mistake of StPP I, a tower footing exactly over the lower track.<br />
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And then it goes up to Roland siding (7) and into St Paul Pass tunnel (8), which is not open any more but represented by the third helix.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-44343278312657903722011-06-07T13:51:00.000-07:002011-06-07T13:51:52.447-07:00St Paul Pass II - Level 1Level 1 is the upper St Joe River valley between St Joe and Stetson sidings.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTpeqHoroVhgjnA5v4t7nvN5Yymt_GmDRtfs3n3IPoVLQyft2HziSLH5VIJAQ8LEstYTl85X7Amt_pBFEdjFradGSlmYMb7NpWpmynFX7_vYUkMDHMYDX0PcgBC5w_f1OLZqbBtf0kjf-/s1600/Level+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTpeqHoroVhgjnA5v4t7nvN5Yymt_GmDRtfs3n3IPoVLQyft2HziSLH5VIJAQ8LEstYTl85X7Amt_pBFEdjFradGSlmYMb7NpWpmynFX7_vYUkMDHMYDX0PcgBC5w_f1OLZqbBtf0kjf-/s320/Level+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We start at (1) where we leave the helix between levels 0 and 1.<br />
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(2) is Zane siding which we leave behind for Calder (4). In between there is a long tunnel at (3).<br />
One of the lessons learned from StPP I is that an active track between an active yard and the fascia is not a good idea.<br />
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In Calder (4) was a small sawmill which will be modelled here.<br />
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(5) is Herrick spur for the loading of logs.<br />
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(6) is Pocono siding and (7) Ethelton siding, where another switching puzzle waits. It is here where Marmoraton Mining will be located. To make it somewhat easier a short runaround track will be located here.<br />
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And (8) is Avery West yard, with turntable and service tracks. I tried to locate it further away from Avery East yard (9) to make it a challenge for the yardmaster and have a startup job for guests, as they all will start as hostler here.<br />
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Following the track to (10) the grade up the pass starts and Stetson siding is higher than neighbouring Calder siding at (4).<br />
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Then follows Stetson viaduct which leads into the second helix uo to level 2.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-45632803370305015232011-06-07T13:07:00.000-07:002011-06-07T13:08:13.187-07:00St Paul Pass II - Level 0<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZp5IYHnBGhtrrZTfx8qJJ_VtYMHOdux35aqNKb_IF4fUEl3P7TIJPfff6rBC4ur0cJUOfA4CLFEfrkPRZE7QKKJkTLcukkJD8Lo47CYk2ABa9qzcfMsXYn2OOMssuVZ39V0-Qh8ObJUzz/s1600/Level+0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Here is Level 0 - it depicts basically the broad St Joe River valley between Plummer Junction and St.Joe.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALEkkmbuRIwdzbRCtmK2i-smafl-udeHUoOl0Ir_FY2cPG3kqf5khJ4iYchFKLk50xfDWnNKDdyAdEbfkOq-cORf2nd7NupzZtTM8gRlAvr-nF3WdPMBnGr8LVAF_UQWVPxdijalAjL6d/s1600/Level+0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALEkkmbuRIwdzbRCtmK2i-smafl-udeHUoOl0Ir_FY2cPG3kqf5khJ4iYchFKLk50xfDWnNKDdyAdEbfkOq-cORf2nd7NupzZtTM8gRlAvr-nF3WdPMBnGr8LVAF_UQWVPxdijalAjL6d/s320/Level+0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We start where we left Level 0, at (1). Here the track becomes visible and Code 55.<br />
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At (2) we reach the east switch of Plummer Junction yard. In reality, there was a small yard there.<br />
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At (3) is the focus of the action - it's where the Spokane line rejoins and the Union Pacific Wallace branch diverges. The turnout arrangement is nearly that of the 1970ies.<br />
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Plummer Junction is (was) a switching puzzle as follows: First the Metaline Falls job arrives via the Spokane line and backs it's train into Plummer yard and then splits it up between east- and westbound cars. Second, the UP turn from Wallace arrives and leaves the cars to be interchanged for the locos from the Metaline Falls job on the Spokane line.<br />
Third, the St Maries-Plummer local arrives with cars bound for Spokane and Metaline Falls, which are taken over by the engines of the Metaline Falls Job.<br />
Fourth, the Metaline Falls Job leaves.<br />
Fifth, the UP turn to Wallace arrives and gets cars from the Plummer turn and leaves.<br />
Sixth, road trains take & set out Spokane cars.<br />
Seven, the Plummer-St Maries turn leaves for St Maries.<br />
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Operators demanded switching puzzles - here it is!<br />
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(4) is Pedee siding<br />
(5) is Lake Benewah trestle - almost as long as it is in reality. It is such a beauty that I have to include it!<br />
(6) is Silvertip Landing - at last a real destination for the log cars! It was here where logs were dumped into Lake Benewah.<br />
(7) is St Maries.It had a lot of local industries (found them in an old shippers guide, but also in TMR. (The Milwaukee Roader - the magazine of the MRHA) So again, this will keep any yardmaster busy. This will be the homebase of the big hook (crane) and a small car repair shop.<br />
Leaving St Maries brings us to (8), the wye of the Clarkia branch, today abandoned but very much alive here. One shortcoming is that it is on the wrong side of the track and the curve on the branch is very small. So this will be 4-axle engines and short cars country - which is correct anyway.<br />
(9) is where the Regulus mill spur diverges (also on the wrong side of the tracks, but I digress) and a combination truss & girder bridge is located.<br />
(10) is Omega siding<br />
(11) is St Joe siding<br />
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and (12) is what I intended to never use again - a helix. The truth is - I cannot do without.<br />
I will be using 60 cm (approx. 2ft) radius at a minimum and keep the grade at 1.4% plus it will be accessible easily.<br />
It's location forces me to use longer tunnels that were not really there, but cometimes you gotta compromise...<br />
There are no spurs or industries on this level except in St Maries whose yardmaster has a corner all for himself.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-72452529617112623982011-06-07T12:31:00.000-07:002011-06-07T12:31:23.494-07:00St Paul Pass II - Level -1The fun starts here - the lowest level will be at a height of 70cm (or slightly more than 2 ft). That's pretty low, but it's a storage level only. I hope I can use one rolling armchair at this height.<br />
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(1) is West Staging yard, complete with 18 tracks - just the same that it is now, except that it will get a second ladder. Today, it is one-ended only and that has proven to be a major headache. It costs precious time to rearrange the trains and it is not good for the locos to be handled every time.<br />
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(2) is a new storage yard for unit trains and unused cars, I hope that I can re-use Peco track from the old layout.<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B7DcO9X2V8CwYjg3MjMyMjAtYjQxMi00ZjY0LTk4MzgtNDc0NWYwYzYxZDY5&hl=en_US"> </a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPCOBv3wgV86-MCpB4zxsEwMFlUsSt8m_7EvQYlQCrlRW0a3YXFYL309OW7jqrp81tzKJUXQyjsh3eYDEvUD_HASZ-lpwA4M1UNGP5O7D9GLsnxteINxhhhlv5jV_CsrIP89vghGqUBjz/s1600/West+Staging+Level+-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPCOBv3wgV86-MCpB4zxsEwMFlUsSt8m_7EvQYlQCrlRW0a3YXFYL309OW7jqrp81tzKJUXQyjsh3eYDEvUD_HASZ-lpwA4M1UNGP5O7D9GLsnxteINxhhhlv5jV_CsrIP89vghGqUBjz/s320/West+Staging+Level+-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Between (1) and (3) is a long but straight ramp up to Level 0, which it reaches at (5), at which point the tracks will be 20 cm higher than before.<br />
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At (3) are the west switches of Plummer Junction, still hidden.<br />
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At (4) the Spokane-Marengo line splits from No.3 track and finds it's way to Level 0 separated from Plummer yard. This represents, as the name implies, the passenger line via Spokane and will only be used by passenger trains and the Metaline Falls Job and the Union Pacific's Wallace trains. All this - and the 2 yard tracks just visible near (5) will make Plummer Junction an interesting spot on the layout.<br />
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At (5) we've reached 90cm (approx. 3ft) from the ground and the visible part of the layout.<br />
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I've changed a lot of my premisses of St Paul Pass I (StPP I):<br />
First, the long hidden track I was to avoid at all cost on StPP I - I might be hiding a WebCam in there to help the engineers. What I've learned is: it is only important that hidden track is easily reachable, it's length is not important. I could have used a helix here but that would have gained me nothing.<br />
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Second, the orientation of the tracks: East is always to the right when facing the layout. There is no running against the direction and seeing the same scene twice, but from different directions.<br />
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important; display: none ! important;"><input id="bfeditField" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(168, 236, 255) ! important; border: 0pt none ! important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) ! important; font-family: arial ! important; font-size: 12px ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; line-height: normal ! important; margin: 1px ! important; vertical-align: middle ! important;" /></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(168, 236, 255) ! important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) ! important; font-family: arial ! important; font-size: 12px ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; line-height: normal ! important; vertical-align: middle ! important; width: auto;"> direction, quarter</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-87814718480340737202011-05-28T03:25:00.000-07:002011-05-28T03:33:16.289-07:00What lies aheadAfter talking with a nice guy from Wiengas, who assured me that the replacement of the gas line that's going through the layout room will not be replaced within the next 2 years, but certainly thereafter, I decided to give it a go.<br />
<br />
So, the last session on the St Paul Pass I will be held on June 18th. After that, there might be a limited video session to document the old layout, but after that it will be history.<br />
<br />
The new layout will be having the following features (which will hopefully increase our fun):<br />
<br />
<div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">Atlas Code 55 turnouts</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">Atlas Code 55 track on mainline</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">Handlaid Code 40 with wooden ties on selected sidings</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">Switching puzzles will be conveniently located near the edge of the layout. Most levels will not be deeper than 50 cm. </div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">Cork roadbed, 3 mm high.</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">Intermediate blocks cut halfway</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">1.6mm diam. Bus wires</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">18mm Plywood as subroadbed, fastened to the wall by shelf brackets.</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">9mm Plywood as subroadbes in every helix.</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">I got my main ideas from Tony Koesters book"Designing and Building Multi-Deck Model Railroads", published by Kalmbach, ISBN 978-0-89024-741-9</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">After the Video session the layout will be dismantled and the rolling stock stored.</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">The dismantling procedure is scheduled to take 4 months at least. It will include several changes to the electrical outfit and the rebuilding of a blocked doorway.<br />
<br />
About at the end of 2011 we will be able to start the new benchwork and lay the first tracks. A first test session with a few selected guests is scheduled for June, 2012. </div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div lang="de-AT" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;">Stay tuned!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-8988409124304892162011-05-09T12:23:00.000-07:002011-05-09T12:23:30.734-07:00A first glimpseas to what might be coming.<br />
My first tries with 3dPlanIt, the lower level of the new St Paul Pass line. On top is Avery. To the right is east, to the left is west.<br />
Ethelton, Pocono and Calder are already where they should be.<br />
This is a preliminary version, subject to many changes....<br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B7DcO9X2V8CwMmM2MmZjZGItZTE1Ni00MzRmLTgyMWYtNmQzYmYyMWQ4ZDFk&hl=en&authkey=COiB3OMK">View the first try</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-13072441870236973262011-05-09T12:14:00.000-07:002011-05-09T12:15:37.221-07:00The session of May 7th..was rather uneventful. We managed to get 8 people together, which is about 4 short of what is necessary to have a dense, highly challenging timetable. And I admit, I have given up on making exact plans as to when a train is expected to run as with 8 operators you simply cannot stick to the plan. Especially if 2 come later and 2 leave early. Not to mention the no-shows.<br />
Since the making of the plans was a rather time-consuming affair I've given up on that for now.<br />
<br />
But that is only one side. The other side is that for those of us who are coming because they like switching are disappointed because without planning there is no reliable switching in Avery possible.<br />
And then there are those who disobey the track warrants and continuously run red signals and into open switches.<br />
As a matter of fact, that annoys me really. It’s like building a highway for everyone to use and nobody uses it. The red light on a signal is there because you must stop your train. Period. I cannot understand why this is so difficult to understand.<br />
And it has bad consequences, too – the layout shuts down and after a dozen shutdowns everybody becomes annoyed, not to mention that the signaling system goes down and loses track of the signal aspects. Which means that they show false greens (results in another shutdown) or false reds (which taxes the dispatcher who has to talk everybody by the red signals).<br />
Many problems could be solved by using the mind. After all, that’s what it’s created for. But I admit that the design flaws the layout has don’t help a bit. (See the other post of today!)<br />
So let’s face the future…Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-9178211981760909832011-05-09T11:56:00.000-07:002011-05-09T11:56:48.925-07:00Have I gone crazy?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> </div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, you might call me that. Honestly. But read on.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As the few operators that stayed until the end of our session of May 7<sup>th</sup> already know the St Paul Pass line will be rebuilt from the ground up. The thought occurred to me when I was thinking about the long planned extension into what was a separate room long ago. No matter how I planned the location and elevation of the tracks – it was not going to work in any way. Either I would have to move both staging yards again and make them less accessible or move the dispatcher’s desk or both.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And then, after more than 50 sessions, all the design flaws have been showing their ugly faces:</div><ul><li>The staging yards themselves are a headache with them being connected only on one side. </li>
</ul><ul><li>No consistent direction. On every part of the layout there are at least 3 levels mixed. What had looked like a good idea 20 years ago did not work out as expected. The engineers are to be expected to know where they are going and what the next station will be, yet they are often confused by trains on the next level, which are coming against them but in reality go in the same direction. The other way around is much more serious as the engineer has no way of knowing that the train going in the same direction is actually coming against him.</li>
</ul><ul><li>St Paul Pass and its vicinity are in reality nothing like the Colorado Rockies. It’s more rolling hills with few rock faces covered by trees. Due to the different levels all integrated into the same scenery the small horizontal distance between the tracks leads to a huge vertical distance, which in turn leads to large rock faces everywhere. That not only looks out of place – it is.</li>
</ul><ul><li>To steep grades for the trainlength<br />
I followed John Armstrong who said: “Model locomotives haul more than they should on grades, so grades should be somewhat exaggerated.” Obviously, he thought of 10-12 car H0 trains and not of more than 30 cars in a train in N scale. And for sure he did not mean to apply this rule to helices. It is more than challenging for the operators to get over the 3%/45cm radius helix on the upper level. We have had far too many derailments and other problems there. None of us is slim enough anymore to get in there which results in damaged cars and locos whenever we have to rescue a stranded train.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Accessability <br />
When I had been installing the signals, I cursed myself for having to crawl under the layout and soldering over head or in barely reachable spots. I swore I’ll never get under the layout again. But as I’m getting older (and wider) how long will I be able to crawl down there? So this would have been needed to get solved anyway.</li>
</ul><ul><li>2 of the 3 big industries currently operated are not within easy reach. This results in frustrated operators and damage to the scenery.</li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ul><li>The dispatcher’s desk is too big, resulting in the occupation of valuable space. If it was smaller and more isolated it would be much better.</li>
</ul><ul><li>I did not use cork as a subroadbed, but leftover foam which is used as a base for flooring tiles. It seemed a cheap and perfect solution then, but it is too soft in the long run, resulting in all kinds of problems with the turnouts. Especially those turnouts that are hard to reach.</li>
</ul><ul><li>I do not like Peco turnouts and track any more. Not because they are bad or poorly designed - beware! - no, but they are not designed for DCC and they do not work well with modern, slim wheel treads and besides that I had to modify every turnout to make them safe for operation. Code 80 looks huge and the ties are too big. 20 years ago, that was all that was available. But now with the fantastic looking Atlas Code 55 track....</li>
</ul><br />
And the master argument ("The mother of all arguments") is: At my current age it is hard to do, but I'll manage. In 10 years from now I might feel too old to do it again. So it's now or never.<br />
<br />
<br />
Everybody is encouraged to challenge this decision. I'm looking forward to intense discussions. No timeframe has been selected yet.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-25654927193406627702011-04-21T04:22:00.000-07:002011-04-21T04:22:41.007-07:00Fun&Work Session April 20th,2011The week before Easter is usually slower going and with John beeing eager to test the Zimo sound decoder he had built into the Atlantic we decided that it would be time for having some fun again and called a work&fun session - which meant that we tested the Hiawatha with sound first and than did some work.<br />
<br />
<br />
I got John interested in Milwaukee Road modelling and he bought himself a Hiawatha set from FVM. He got it earlier than me, but I wasn't jealous. (Well, maybe a bit!) He promised to tailor the sounds for the Zimo decoder he prefers due to his contacts to Zimo. And he went a long way to get it as accurate as possible, he bought a few DVDs to get an idea how the Atlantic sounded and he downloaded airhorn sounds from a website to get everything right. He kept his promise and had it ready in time for our session.<br />
And I must say - it was amazing! I could watch the loco for hours going through the yard and around the layout. The photos of that event are on the Flickr photostream!<br />
We will do a video session someday to get a really good impression of this awesome train, which is a real piece of art with it's design and the amazing details. Fox Valley Models did a really good job on that one and I sure hope that it is a commercial success for them, encouraging more projects of this kind. To be honest, it helps that there are just 3 different models in this train: The observation, the cafe and the rest - the coaches are of the same design as is the parlor car.<br />
<br />
We had to find out how the Atlantic would perform over the 3% grade up from Adair to East Portal - with 6 cars. This small 4-4-2 managed to get them over the pass without stalling and slipping and it still had reserves. Of course the cars are a bit on the light side so this is not your really heavy freight train in need of 4 locos!<br />
<br />
<br />
So, yes - it is able to get it's train up the mountain and therefore the next session will see a double-headed excursion train with double sound or two trains meeting somewhere!<br />
<br />
Of course, we did some work, too. Wolfgang planted trees and the rest tried to organize the next session by loading cars, placing locos and shuffling cars around with the good old 0-5-0.<br />
<br />
And we discussed the oncoming extension for which construction will start this summer.<br />
I hope, everybody had some fun!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-21799763305578253432011-02-19T03:26:00.000-08:002011-02-19T03:27:43.705-08:00Looking into the future<div class="MsoNormal">Our 51<sup>st</sup> session was a cold one – it has had near-zero (Celsius) temperatures and fog here in Vienna for the past few weeks and it gets cold in the cellar. (The minimum is 10 degrees, which is not that cold. But after a while the coldness penetrates your clothing. Tea does only help for a short time.)<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On the bright side is the fact that it is only one more month until spring is here, but that is not the point of today’s post.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There were a few things to note: We had a new dispatcher during second shift who did particularly well as I expected. We were too few operators to test him really but he had also no help because of that. And we had a new yardmaster, for whom I hope that the experience was not too bad. It will take some time to clean up Avery yard but that gives me the opportunity to play between sessions.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I note some downward development with our operating sessions and I have yet to find out what the reason is. Or is there more than one reason? The layout is operated in earnest since 2003 and it is more complete than ever and 2011 will see the completion of the lights, the buildings and industries and the CTC panel, after which only a few hundred trees will be missing.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To my surprise the signals usually work as intended, only the shorts are still annoying – most of them would not be occurring if the operators would really watch out for red signals and turnouts thrown against them. Unfortunately, we do have too many derailments which has many reasons: the FoxValley metal wheels are one of them, or to be precise: they have such small wheel threads that they do not work well with Peco turnouts as they all fall into the huge gap at the frog. </div><div class="MsoNormal">But that is still not the point.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The point is that we have in 2011 too few operators to make a really good operating session. And we have far too few helpers during work sessions to make good progress with landscaping.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Speaking of work sessions - Granted, there is a core of about 5 to 6 people who try to attend work sessions regularly, but the work sessions themselves are far and few between. We have not found a system that is flexible enough to guarantee progress. How can we achieve that? If I appoint a date for a work session, far too few people show up – not even those who had encouraged me to find a date. A viable alternative would be to decentralize the organizing, i.e. define projects (e.g. planting trees or re-working bad landscape) and hand over the keys to those people pursuing the goals of the project. On the other hand, I even tried to do that about 2 years ago without success. There was mild interest, but nothing came out of it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
I’m certainly open to any suggestions here. And I do know that not everyone was made to work on models.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
The other point is the attendance to operating sessions. We have lost 2 members in 2011 – one through death, the other through not showing up for more than a year. We will lose another one soon, another 3 show up once in a while, often not for more than a year and they usually do not answer on my invitations. (Which is impolite in my opinion.) Than there are the ones that say they would be coming but do not show up without any explanation. That’s rude.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
Now, let me get this straight: I have built the layout mostly on my own for my own enjoyment and those of my children and I really don’t care if I’m operating alone or with 1, 2 or many operators. I do it for enjoyment and I could very well play a session as a single operator. But I wanted to open it up for interested fellow modellers and give them the opportunity to enjoy too, expecting nothing more than a bit help now and then.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
But when there are more people around, expecting to have fun too, travelling far to attend the session and too few others show up it’s not fair to them, not me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
So re-shaping is in order. There are many possibilities: Change back the date to Saturday evening, enforcing no-show policies (e.g. if one has not shown up for a year or not responded to invitations three times, prune them from the list), make a new round of advertising to find more modellers, change the date to something other, e.g. Sunday evening, operate only every second month instead of monthly, or increase the interval between sessions to 6 weeks,…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<b>I’m open to suggestions up to a certain point, so let’s face the future!</b></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-4431163312837061892011-01-24T00:52:00.001-08:002011-01-24T00:52:46.955-08:00Mr. Murphy and the 50th session<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">I bet that many know very well who Mr. Murphy is! For the rest it’s the guy who formulated a few laws that apply do everything we do. For example “What could go wrong, will.” “If you drop something it will fall in way as to inflict the most severe damage on the thing it will fall onto and on itself” – you get the idea.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I very well expected to have a lot of operators around for this occasion, but everything went downhill with even the dispatcher calling in sick just hours before session start. And there were a lot of “perhaps”, which is useless for planning – more on that later.</div><div class="MsoNormal">To make bad things worse, our printer quit during printing out the session plan and the switchlist. And by “quit” I mean it as in “spit out the gears, but not the paper”, which it duly did. It was too late for a trip to the local copy shop and since there were just a few operators left we would be doing nicely without the papers by just running a few trains and quit.</div><div class="MsoNormal">When we arrived at the layout’s location we found out that we forgot our camera, so there would be no photos of the session, which I had planned to do.</div><div class="MsoNormal">As always I did not count on the determination of the crew. In the end we managed to run nearly all the trains that were planned and there were no “dispatcher’s woes” as I was able to plan the moves ahead and except for a few glitches all the signals worked, including JMRI itself (which was no surprise as it does that most of the time). So Mr. Murphy left us at the beginning of the session and stayed away.</div><div class="MsoNormal">What had been annoying – as always – were the derailments. Usually the metal wheels from Fox Valley don’t match very well with the Peco turnouts and with small kinks in the trackwork and especially with turnouts at the end of inclines. Not to mention the Shinohara 3-way turnout which was obviously not made to any standards the axles adhere to.</div><div class="MsoNormal">All in all there were surprisingly few defects, no decoder quitting all of a sudden and no mass-loss of kingpins or couplers.</div><div class="MsoNormal">An absolute highlight of the evening was how Robert filled the yardmaster’s job from the top of his head, without any plans in hand. He managed to get everything right which is a clear sign that he should really be considering getting the dispatchers job.</div><div class="MsoNormal">And speaking of highlights – the enhanced fluorescent lighting really enlightened us! The valance, though, will be a summer job.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Florian and Adrian experimented a bit and were able to mount antlers on a few Preiser-deer they had found somewhere and placed the modified animals around the layout. </div><div class="MsoNormal">All in all it was another successful and funny evening. Mission accomplished!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-55829188046081549012011-01-01T08:54:00.000-08:002011-01-03T00:32:12.805-08:00Worksession Photos from Dec. 29thOn December 29th, we did the last worksession of the year. Although there were only 3 of us (Roman, Florian and Michael) we did accomplish a lot of things: Roman did the landscaping beneath Kelly Creek trestle, Florian wheatered the cement plant and I extended the lighting so that it will be two thirds finished for the next session.<br />
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And then we moved the cement plant on it's place at Adair and - it fit perfectly! A bit of track-tweaking will be needed, but all in all it looks good!<br />
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Even though it was very cold (-10C outside, +10C inside) we managed to work for 5 hours! Hot tea did help, of course. The most notable change, however, is the lighting. The fluorescent tubes really improve the brightness of the room. We will notice during the next session!<br />
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See the Flickr-Stream for the newest, latest photos of the layout!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-12400893460848595542010-12-18T03:02:00.000-08:002010-12-20T12:23:58.967-08:00Dispatcher WoesThe Christmas Session was the second one we had remote dispatching (from far way Berlin!) and it worked well again. After 2 hours, the shift of the remote dispatcher was over and I took over.<br />
This was not easy, because the first-trick dispatcher did not provide me with documentation about each trains whereabouts! Of course, how could he? After all the information was on his desk and could not be transferred to Vienna!<br />
<br />
So I had to ask each known train who and where it was and in which direction it was going. This is where CTC really has it's advantages, even if it is still not completed in JMRI. One train usually gets only 2 Track Warrants (From Staging to Avery and then to Staging) and the rest is done by signal indication. (Which, anyhow, confuses some engineers ;-) "...this is 202 in Adair - dispatcher, my warrant says to go to East Staging, but the signal is red and the switch is against me..." "Hold on, 202 - be glad that the signal is red because if it were not you would be dead by now, there is a train coming up against you..." (Names and locations deliberately changed!)<br />
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I really enjoyed beeing the dispatcher again because of this and the fact that many engineers are now able to make up the multi-tractions themselves and assign a FRED without my help. And then there is my youngest son who can do all this (and is the last one being able to climb into the confines of the upper helix. But as he has grown significantly in the last year I doubt if he will be doing this any longer!) and helps me alot.<br />
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With CTC all it takes is to set the turnout levers, the signal goes green (or yellow) and without any Track Warrant the train continues. Setting up a meet is a snap - just think ahead where you will let it it happen, align the turnout levers and don't forget to set them back after it has happend. Remind the engineers to report when they are clear so that the procedure is accelerated (not all cabooses are lighted, so a block occupation indicator is not always correct) and off you go.<br />
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Sometimes, though, you will create a gridlock with 3 trains on 2 tracks which will cause havoc on the rest of the trains as planned meets evaporate and well laid out plans are nullified.<br />
In this moments, the safety logic built into the CTC panel will work against you as the dispatcher cannot align a turnout when the block it is in is occupied. This is a lesson learned and I will have to find a way to allow the dispatcher to align the turnout when the block is occupied without letting go of the safety it provides.<br />
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I hesitate to admit that I did not use a dispatchers sheet to record the train movements as I had the feeling that it would distract me from thinking ahead by fixing my thoughts on what already had happened not what was going to happen. I know that this is not prototypically correct and I will have to find a way around this. A magnetic board perhaps, where I can shift the train numbers araound? The ultimative geek-like solution would be to use transponding and get the numbers of the locos on the screen in JMRI, but that is no option at the moment...<br />
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All in all - happy times for the operations guy as there are so many things we can do now with software that were only possible with expensive hardware afew years ago!<br />
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Happy Model Railroading!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-84030557823568477382010-12-18T02:22:00.000-08:002010-12-18T02:22:16.764-08:00Christmas SessionYesterday was a not-so-ordinary operating session here on the St Paul Pass in 1:160! Unusually heavy (real) snowfall here in Vienna and - so they say - the coldest days since 1995 (-8 C) made the way to the session really hard for many of our crew members. But, except for 2 calling in sick - they all made it from as far away as Styria or a small town somewhere over the danube, despite icy highways, derailed streetcars, cancelled trains and 1 foot deep snow in the streets.<br />
So, I can really say: that is a dedicated, hard to beat crew that assembled here to operate trains. And besides running trains, they got a cold cellar (+10 C in the beginning), not enough Punsch (w/o alcohol, as Rule G applies!) and some chocolate.<br />
It started all with delays - I was nearly not able to make it on time, as I forgot my driving license at home and had to return home in the middle of the crazy pre-Christmas friday evenening traffic madness. And then finding a good place for the car (this is one where you can get your car not only in, but also out) wasn't easy, either.<br />
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Our dispatcher from Berlin was right on time, but most crew members were not so we started with the snow plow train and a few local freights (and forgot to turn on the fast clock!) Traffic density grew with each member arriving from the cold and stormy outside world and we soon had more and more fun!<br />
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3 issues came up during the session:<br />
Because of the low temperature, 4 of my AlanCurtis 89 foot flatcars lost their kingpins and made running #99 difficult - not only that, but following trains usually found the missing kingpins when they run over one, hereby derailing themself. Now, this is an easy fix with some superglue.<br />
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The second issue has to do with the FoxValley metal wheels - as good as they are, they are not really compatible with Peco turnouts, not to speak of the Shinohara 3-way turnouts, where they tend to fall in between the rails! I'm tempted to replace them soon, despite having paid more than 70 Euros for each. They are a real PITA.<br />
<br />
The newest issue is that the 3 Amps the Intellibox is providing for the staging yards is not enough when they are full of locomotives, as even if they are just idling away, they consume power. It would be good to be able to turn off the staging tracks, alas I did not make any provisions for that. <Sigh> I already ordered a 4 Amp booster from LDT but they delayed that product for a year and it will not be here before March 2011. In the meanwhile, we'll have to live with that.<br />
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<br />
But let's focus on what was fine:<br />
The dedication of the crew (I hope everybody had a safe trip home and those who needed to catch a train did so!)<br />
The relaxed atmosphere.<br />
The patience of the crewmembers - it is not so easy to be stuck in the hole somewhere in a siding and no other traffic is in sight and not knowing the dispatcher's overall plan.<br />
Just one failed decoder!<br />
No Skype and Go-To-My-PC problems, no UMTS connestion drop!<br />
Just one rear-ender. (A train without a lighted caboose is always in danger to be rear-ended, as the protecting signal goes to "approach(yellow)" long before the train left the block.) When will Kato bring us the caboose trucks again as they are simply the best option if you wanted to provide electrical pickup for a caboose.<br />
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It was a great night - and it lasted from 6pm till midnight and we run all trains!<br />
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Have a merry Christmas and those who won't be here for the planned worksession between Christmay and New Year - "Happy New Year"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-36527494844727831952010-12-08T07:43:00.000-08:002010-12-08T07:43:38.496-08:00Operating Sessions<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The next best thing to chocolate are the Operating Sessions which we hold once a month (except July and August). With the September, 2010 session we switched to a Friday evening schedule, starting at 6 PM. We use 1:6 fast time, so in order to get a full day, the sessions last 4 hours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is worth to note that we seldom make it in 4 hours, it usually takes a little longer to finish up the schedule</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are a few reasons why this is so:</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Derailments on the upper helix can screw up the schedule really fast.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stalling trains on the upper helix will screw up the schedule!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Inexperienced operators.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Operators not adhering to their warrant or not watching the signals or misinterpreting the signals.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Operators running into an open switch and thereby causing a short. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Derailments in general.</span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1+2 will be solved somewhere in 2012/13, as we will replace it after the second stage of layout building will be finished!</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3 to 5 will be solved with time and ongoing training.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And 6 is really a growing problem, as we changed many wheelsets to Fox Valley's metal ones which don't really match up with Peco Code 80 and Code 55 turnouts - they tend to fall into the gap at the frog. Add to that a few not so well laid turnouts and you have a problem! It's very hard to back a long train through the Avery yard ladder without having derailments. Thanks to tips from the Internet, I'm using automotive tail light bulbs to guard against shorts in most blocks.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I really have no idea how to solve that problem. To be precise, I do have an idea how to solve that. But that would mean changing all turnouts with homebuilt ones, for example by using the FastTrack jigs. So far, I've heard many good things about the FastTrack jigs, but they are costly and I'm not sure if I will be skilled enough to build with them.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Besides these few obstacles, we really have fun as we have a relaxed approach to the sessions. There is no place for yelling or being obnoxious, and everyone tries to be as helpful as possible. It is well remembered that a failing train will eventually also delay the own train. The motto is: "Have fun!" - and that is how it should be!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-29643809760740257542010-12-01T12:37:00.000-08:002010-12-01T12:37:59.894-08:00Why American Style? Why the St Paul Pass?American Railroading fascinated me since I was a youth after I saw a photo of a real long train in one of the Euopean Railfan magazines. When I bought one of the best books ever published on Railroads, "The Milwaukee Road" by Fred Hyde, in the eighties, the virus got me.<br />
And I was hooked by the Pacific Northwest setting - endless forests, remoteness, long trains - so one day it became clear that this was what I wanted.<br />
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When I do a little railfanning during sessions it is clear to me that the decision was the right one. Seeing a string of locos wearing orange and black coming out onto a high trestle from some dense forest is a sight to behold!<br />
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The Milwaukee Road with its electric operation was a natural choice, because that linked it somehow to Europe. <br />
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Many hours reading in books and later the Internet gave me the information I needed. I learned how US-style layouts were built and operated and what the thinking behind it is. So out went my European H0 scale and my 0m garden railway and in came the N scale locos from Kato (and later Atlas) and the cars of Atlas and all the other manufacturers.<br />
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A huge part of my car fleet are the leftovers from ahm/Aurora/PostageStamp Trains/Atlas which were all produced in Austria. When Atlas turned to other sources there were obviously a few thousand cars left. They found their way to a second-hand shop in Vienna and that's were I found them and bought many at very cheap prices.<br />
I try to stick to the 1980-1985 era, so most cars have lost their roofwalk and have roller bearing trucks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4347392337974452638.post-13507138131293476042010-12-01T12:16:00.000-08:002010-12-01T12:16:38.727-08:00The LayoutThe layout is built in N Scale (1:160) and is point-to-point, that means: no circle, no loop - just as it usually is in reality. The distance between East and West staging yards is 115 metres, it usually takes 15 to 20 minutes for a train to get over the line. (Much longer during operating sessions because of frequent meets and a few derailments here and there)<br />
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It's an American-style layout and that means operating as an engineer. European layouts usually have to automate many aspects if they are huge and the operators work the yards and not the trains. I just find the idea that you could be engineer fascinating which is quite realistic when using walk around control. And since the signals are operable the engineer better walks with his train or else he might miss a red signal.<br />
And that is another big difference to European style: you would have to automate the signals, too- every train encountering a red light will have to be brought to an automatic stop, oftentimes with sophisticated ways to achieve a realistic slow approach and a soft start. No need for that here! Since every train is operated by human intervention, it is the human that is responsible for stopping.<br />
Of course, we had a few sideswipes in our sessions but no really bad accident.<br />
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There are 7 sidings and one yard, from east to west:<br />
East Portal, Montana<br />
Roland, Idaho<br />
Adair<br />
Kyle<br />
Avery - the only yard. The yardmaster here is the most challenging job on the railroad - not for the faint of heart!<br />
Ethelton<br />
Pocono<br />
Calder<br />
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and of course, the two 18-track staging yards.<br />
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When the lighting is finished somewhere 2011, the last huge project will be the extension of the line in bith directions, which will bring the total length to over 200 metres. This is scheduled for 2011/2012, albeit it well be a challenge to make this work without interrupting the monthly sessions too much.<br />
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The turnouts are operated manually, except the entrances to the sidings and the yard. For those I'm using Fulgurex (PFM) and stall type switch motors (they are more quiet).<br />
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I scratchbuilt 50 signals and installed them on the layout, driven by two SE8c controllers from digitrax. The signals work as ABS. When I get to the programming of JMRI it will be (almost) real CTC operation. (That is the current project)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11187152416947461533noreply@blogger.com0