A Change From The "Big Layout."

     I the previous entry I described some of the big layout begun in the early 2000s.  By 2015, there was so much unfinished and there were some design problems that were annoying.  The duck-unders were really a limiting factor to enjoying the pike.  It was getting more and more cumbersome crawling under to access some areas when I wanted to work or operate.  It was feasible earlier, but everyone ages and it was getting to be a chore rather than an enjoyable pass-time, and I wasn't running or operating very much anymore.  It seemed that everything was at a stand-still. 

    At the same time, there were postings on forums and groups involving layout size, having time to complete a layout, and other areas of satisfaction. I was considering reducing the size for a while, sometimes just going into the layout room and pondering different scenarios.  

    The big kick-in-the-pants came from reading a September 2015 post on Lance Mindheim's blog:  http://lancemindheim.com/  If you want to read the entire post from the blog.

    In it, he poses three points that I will paraphrase here of interest in my case:

1.  Satisfaction of Assembly  "... taking a pile of “nothing” and toiling to make it “something” can be tremendously rewarding ...  and what aspect of the hobby do you enjoy most?”  Structure building is consistently at the top of the list..."  Building structures and rolling stock, scratch building, kit-bashing and detailing have always been my most enjoyable aspect of the hobby.  So much time has been and would continue to be in layout construction that it diminished that aspect for me.

2.  Visual satisfaction "... to be transported to a time and place...scenes, real or imagined,... a compelling reason to create them in miniature.  In short, we just like looking at what we’ve created... "  I do very much enjoy a completed or nearly so scene.  It is greatly satisfying taking and viewing a train through  areas like that.  Again, the size of the layout leaves so much to do with the time available, and there is always maintenance on what is already done.

3.  Operational satisfaction  "... type of operations you enjoy ... (... switching, locals, etc...operational satisfaction may just mean...switching a few industries.)  If that’s the case, you don’t need a layout that will sustain a four hour session."  Really, this is for me.  I like making up a train and switchlist, heading out of the yard to a commercial area,  and picking out loads and empties and spotting cars where needed.  I did enjoy the mainline when I wanted to see trains just go 'round and 'round, and will probably miss seeing the passenger trains operate, although I think I may be able to establish a commuter run.  So much of the mainline remains to be completed, and the passenger terminal is only a two track skeleton.  Both of these are taking time from my main satisfying interest. 

    I was able to come up with a Point-to-point plan of an imaginary urban line between Chicago and Riverdale on the very far south side.  This allowed plenty of yard and commercial switching, and eliminated all duck-unders.

    Here are some photos of clearing out the main yard at Chicago and elsewhere on the pike and moving it all down to Riverdale for storage out of the way.

            It is early morning on the big day and CY&P RS-1 160 is already at work with moving  its train down to Riverdale.

        Alco S-2 27 is tacking on a caboose in Chicago.

        Another S-2, 22, is seen here southbound in Brighton Park.  As you can see, this area was pretty rudimentary.  The old Brighton Park was a scissors cross-over that allowed trains from the freight yard or the passenger terminal to access the main line west, and also incoming freight or passenger trains to obtain the freight yard  or passenger main leads.

        

        Big Fairbanks Morse H24-66 Trainmaster is Riverdale bound with a heavy transfer on the "High Line" with the Chicago yard below.

        A Baldwin AS-616 A and B set is in Blue Island crossing on the double track truss bridge over Chicago Junction.  Chicago Junction is where trains entered or left the continuous run double track main.

        Milwaukee Road SD7 509 moves a reefer block into Riverdale across the Cal-Sag bridge at Blue Island.

        Finally, CY&P Baldwin VO-1000 "Ten Spot," is leading an all caboose train onto the "High Line"  toward Riverdale.

 

 

 

The Old Layout

     In the early 2000s I started the "big" CY&P.  It was a huge project and filled most of a 16' X 26' area.  It had provisions for one large yard, a passenger train terminal double track main line continuous run, and a commercial/industrial branch to a transfer yard.

                                       A somewhat primitive sketch of what I had going on.

    It  kept me busy for sure over about 15 years.  I will include a number of photos from that era:

 

  

                                        Main freight  yard at Chicago under construction.

    It was at this time, I made a decision to change to DCC occurred.  I was kind of a skeptic about DCC, but when I started drawing up wiring diagrams with all the toggles, blocks and wiring, just for this area,  I took a serious look at it.  I checked out vendor sites on the internet, joined some DCC Yahoo groups, decided what features were of interest to me and narrowed my choices to CVP, NCE, and MRC.  CVP had a nice system, but at the time did not offer a walk-around throttle.  It came down to NCE and MRC and the economics of the MRC system won me over.  Over the years it has done what ever I expected and I have been very pleased.

    Last of the benchwork and sub-roadbed installed illustrating the use of steel-stud benchwork framing described in an previous post.

First run a of a train on the reverse loop under the area shown above.  Seen here is CY&P Fairbanks Morse H10-44 79 leading.  #79 is an old Cary metal cast body on a stretched Athearn chassis with a Kato motor.  A favorite puller!

 Out on the main line.  the tail end of a local freight is passing over a culvert..

Alco RS-1 160 is just entering the "high line" a long elevated stetch on the way to Blue Island and Riverdale.

Baldwin AS-616 A and B pair in Chicago.  A lot of construction "stuff" fills the scenery.

Steel Stud Benchwork

     For about twenty years now, starting in the early 2000s, I have been using steel stud benchwork for my layout construction. I learned about this method from an article by Jonathon Miner in the April 2000 issue of Model Railroader.  The materials are readily available at most home and building centers and have the favorable characteristics of strength, light weight, economy, and stability.  Once a few techniques which may be new are learned in using this material, one will find this a very satisfactory way to go about benchwork construction.

 

                        View of one section of benchwork with some risers and sub-roadbed in place.

    To start,  steel stud "plates," or "tracks" as they are called are cut to length    

                                     A sabre saw with metal cutting blades is handy for this.

    For the inside pieces, steel "studs" are used.

                                       

         Cut the sides of the studs the length needed for the width of your bench with metal cutting shears.

                        .

    Fold the piece back on itself, keeping everything parallel.  Crimp with a flat-nose pliers.  Flex this joint a few times until it breaks away resulting in a nice straight edge.

 Hold together the plate and the stud for the ends with a vise-grip pliers and a square with the flat side of the stud to the inside of the bench,  I used washer-head self-drilling sheet metal screws, two at each end top and bottom.  Similarly, cut and insert the the interior pieces of the bench at the desired spacing.

    When finished, the bench may seem floppy; this goes away when attached to the supporting legs.

    The legs I made are from 2 X 2 lumber with a diagonal strut.  The top piece is the width of the bench and is attached with drywall screws from underneath through the top wood member into the steel stud frame.

 

    A view of the other end showing also diagonal bracing between the two end leg sections.  Once attached to the legs, the bench becomes very stable and quite strong.  The wood used in the leg assemblies and bracing is sealed and given two coats of paint to help insure stability.

    Likely, one will be using more thah one section of benchwork.  Sections are joined like this: 

    Blocks of wood are placed into the open ends of the frame and screwed in with self-drilling washer-head screws through the stud into the wood block.

The other section is then fastened to the wood block.  If one is joining end-to-end where the open spaces are facing, the blocks would be placed in both open spaces and joined with longer screws.

    It is surely likely that curves will be placed on your bench requiring a diagonal stud for riser attachment.

    Pieces of stud are cut and fabricated to fit these situations.

    The studs are cut long and then cut along the edge making"flap"bent to the desired angle with flat-nosed pliers.  These are then screwed into place where needed as seen in the previous photo.

My risers are 3/4" plywood of length and width required for the sub-roadbed.  A 1 3/4" wide cleat the required width is attached to the riser making an assembly.

    The riser leg and cleat are glued and screwed together to form the riser to form this assembly.

    To attach the risers to the bench, I clamp the riser in the desired location and height to the stud.  I run a self-drilling screw through the stud into the riser on one edge of the riser.  I remove the clamp and then move the riser until it is level and fasten with one or two more screws depending on the width of the riser.

    It is easy to configure your sections as needed.  Even making odd angles to fit your needs.

    This is from my remodel project.  The bench sections are easily disassembled for re-use if needed.

    I hope this overview of using steel studs as a benchwork material has been helpful.  Lightweight, no expansion and contraction, inexpensive, strong and I think easy to use are characteristics to promote with this method.  In handling though, one must exercise common sense and work practices as cut metal edges can be very sharp.  I have never been injured in my work with this, but just be aware.

     In nearly two decades of use, I really can offer no negative comments in my experience of making steels stud benchwork.

    

     

 

Introduction To My Model Railroad

    I have been a lifelong model railroad enthusiast since the middle 1950s beginning with a clockwork Marx 0-4-0 steam train as a Christmas gift.  A couple years later, a Lionel 2-4-2 made an appearance under the tree.  My Dad set up a 4 X 8 with a long shelf to a turn-back loop.  A lot of scale miles were run on that layout.  In the earlier 60s, I changed to HO.  A small layout was started and then a larger one based on the Ohio River and Wabash featured in Model Trains magazine.  College time came and the railroad was dismantled.  I did stay in touch with Model Railroader magazine on and off.  In the mid-70s, I started up again with reading the magazines and working on kits from time-to-time.  A 5 X 9 layout went up to develop scenery skills and seeing trains run.  I had always enjoyed seeing and reading about urban/industrial model railroading and i built an ell-shaped 8 X 10 to enjoy this type of modeling.  It was a this time that my model railroad name, "Chicago Yellowstone and Pacific" came into being, also known as the Yellowstone Road.

    The name "Yellowstone Road" came to me from a local newspaper article about a network of very early roads running east-west through our state for automobile travelers.  The name had a pleasing ring to me so I used it along with the full name Chicago Yellowstone and Pacific.

    Very early in the 2000s, I started a large half-basement layout about 16 X 28.  A double track main for when I wanted to see trains run, and a stand-alone single track out of Chicago south to Blue island and Riverdale with industrial and transfer traffic that appeals to me.

    I  realized that this was entirely too much to work on and maintain for real enjoyment.  A few years ago I down-sized to just the Chicago to Riverdale line as a point-to-point operation.  This was a lot of fun, but I did miss having a continuous run when I just wanted to see trains run.  Another big change and the latest iteration in a 12 X 16 area gave me terminals at Riverdale and Brighton Park with continuous run available.  I have yet to construct the commercial/industrial area as there is a much finishing work to do with background buildings and detailing before moving on to that.

    In this blog, I want to publish my activities on-going and in the past with my model railroading hobby.  I hope all can enjoy what I am doing.

CY&P Alco RS-1 160is seen here making a long shove in Brighton Park.

This is all for now, thanks for viewing and until the next time,

Bob