Tour of Track Tuning

I spent a little time cleaning up the tracks and the arrangement and it's paying off. Again, the benefit of taking my time and really working things out before moving forward. I realized that I didn't have a good solution for running two passenger trains around. Sure, I could run one for a period of time, then run another, but I like the feel of having two at a time in service.

So, I took a long look at things and made some changes.



VIDEO:

It took a minute to figure things out. I kept running into issues where the configuration I was trying wouldn't work or would work when I DIDN'T want it to work.

After a few efforts (...and failed attempts....)  I got something that worked and managed to clean up some wonky areas as well.  I cleaned up the main station area, making it a straight run instead of the odd curve I had when it was rolling out. I have a little mini-station area (top middle) that lets me run two passenger trains now.

Ahhhh....much better.

While I was at it, I straightened out my tram track as well, shortening the loop through Soyokaze and straightening the tracks so they don't swirl through the landscape. Now, they are just straight lines. Again, much better!  The area in the middle of the photo below shows the new straight sections.

Then it hit me. I was running the N•EX which is somewhat forgiving, but I had not tried my EVA Shinkansen - aka, PROBLEM CHILD. hehehehe   VERY unforgiving on all fronts. When I built it out, I was happy that It basically fit in the station now with all the cars!

However, when I ran it around, it hit a few snags. I figured as much - I really just have the track fired in at this point. I need to do a lot of work getting areas level and the like.

One of the things I hit was the bridge. Literally. :) I forgot that it needs a bit of straight track before going into the bridge section or it will clip it. A relatively simple fix.

Then it was one to issue two which was more of an esthetic look and feel rather than a running issue. I just didn't like the way it looked rolling out of the double track area and into the switch. I finessed the area and it's looking way better.

The little bow out makes things look much better when running!

The last thing I need to address is a section of track that isn't 100% level and the small bump derails one of the cars. This is something I planned on fixing anyway, so that's not a major deal. I have a lot of the track in to my liking, but I need to address the area under the track to make sure things are leveled and not roller coaster like! Even areas like the one above need to be addressed so there is actual LAND under the track! :) Then I'll go in in sections and start the plaster gauze process. But, AFTER running things a while like this.

So, I'll pack the EVA 500 back up and slap the N•EX back on until I have time to smooth out the tracks and get things properly leveled, etc.  That way I can keep running things.

Speaking of running things.....

NEW ROLLING STOCK

Now that I can actually run things around ::::happy dance:::: I've been looking at buying more rolling stock and the like. It's really making me happy. :) I had to think about the things I REALLY wanted and not just...everything I wanted. heheheh  So, the winner this round were....

Kato 5079 Passenger Car MANI 36 (Modified SUHA 32) (N scale)

Kato 5003 Passenger Car OHANI 30 (N scale)  - I think I got two of these.....hmmmm...

Kato 8062 Freight Car TORA 90000 2 Cars (N scale)

Tomix 2719 JNR Refrigerator Container Wagon KOMU 1 (with containers) (N scale)
Another set of these for the harbor section. Still not 100% sure how that harbor is going to go with less space. That's something I might break out buildings for since the tracks are directly related to the fishing area. I'll pop the buildings into the section to make sure I have enough space for them AND a loading dock area. That's crucial. 

I also picked up another engine.....   ::::blush::::   The EF70 1000. Yeah, I can see why people end up with a lot of things to run when you can actually run trains! hehehehe   This will be a wokhorse for pulling the passenger cars.

The NEXT thing I want to get - maybe around Christmas - is some steam! I'm currently looking at some small stream like this lovely J.N.R. C11 Hokkaido Type 150W Headlight w/Coal-bunker Hokkaido Type (Model Train) !

We'll see how that goes. :)

I'm thinking through how to move forward now. I have many of the grades and things sketched in. Do I just glue what's there now, then go over it with plaster gauze, or do I go into measuring the wonky parts I've built up with foam core, then cut pink foam to fit instead?

Hmmmm....comments welcome. I'll be YouTube searching for answers.  While it did work out last time, I'm sure it's a bit wonky. I'm NOT going to be cutting plywood rams and the like. I just kinda know that about myself. hehehehe

OH! Then there are the backgrounds as well! Almost forgot! I want to do those BEFORE doing the track so I can climb up on the bench work to paint and I can move track sections as needed. Man...that $250 or so dollars for the printed background is looking pretty cool right now. :)

Roaring Camp Dixiana Shay

We had a fun trip to ROARING CAMP this year. The kids had a lot of fun. 

More videos and images here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/malcojojo/sets/72157666727049650

 

From http://www.roaringcamp.com/history


Dixiana Shay
The Dixiana, Roaring Camp Engine #1, is one of three engines designated a National Mechanical Engineering Historical Landmark.
The Dixiana has an historic and varied past. The "Dixie," as she is affectionately called, was built by Lima Locomotive Works, Shop No. 2593, on October 12, 1912. She served on six different short line railroads before coming west to California. Although she saw service on the famous Smokey Mountain Railroad in Tennessee, it was a little narrow-gauge mining railroad (now abandoned) in Dixiana, Virginia, that gave her the name "Dixiana."
A two-truck engine, the Dixie weighs 42 tons with a tractive effort of 17,330 lbs. and has 29 ½" drivers. Three 10 x 12 inch cylinders can maintain 180 pounds working pressure.
The beloved Dixie was dubbed Roaring Camp Engine #1 because it was the first locomotive acquired by founder, F. Norman Clark, who inaugurated steam train service from Roaring Camp on April 6,1963.

Triplex on the move

Well, I finally get the Triplex 2-8-8-8-2 rolling! A friend from work had an MTH power supply and controller tucked under his layout and passed it over to me when he found out I was dragging my feet on getting this baby rolling. He said that I'd really love seeing this big guy rolling and he was right - it's a really fantastic machine.

Funny - I wasn't familiar with the system, so I spent a while banging my head against the wall trying to get this guy to just...move. hehehe  I wasn't aware of the "NEUTRAL"  mode and having to switch out of it to get it going. But, once we got it down a bit, it was a lot of fun.

The big thing right now is just getting the track and curves. The radius curve for this is HUGE and I'm not 100% sure where I'll be able to set up for running. For now, I have 18 feet of track I can play with this one and I have to say...it's still a load of fun.

My 5 year old had a fantastic time running it as well. Once I get more track and I can let her loose a bit more (I won't have to worry about the thing flying headlong into the wall!) I'll feel a bit better about letting her go on the controls. :)

What I need to find is some estate sale where they are trying to unload a bunch of Lionel track! hehe

2-8-8-8-2 Triplex in O scale from Malcolm Johnson on Vimeo.


I found this info on http://www.trainz.com/t-fastrack_guide.aspx

O72--16 sections to a circle (#12041).  One section makes a 22.5 degree turn.  Each half section (#12055) make a 11.25 degree turn.

Note that O36, O60, O72 and O84 track sections are made where multiples of 8 make a full circle, which makes it easy to make these circles symmetrical and work together on a layout.  This is because the curved sections are all made to where they are either 1/8 of a circle (45 degrees), 1/16 of a circle (22.5 degrees), or 1/32 of a circle (11.25 degrees).  However, O48 is made where it takes 12 sections to make a circle (30 degrees). This makes it a bit of a challenge to make O48 work in a layout using multiple curve diameters, because the angle of the curves does not match the other curve sections when making partial turns.

A gift from my Uncle

I got this amazing gift from my Uncle recently. An O scale Triplex Steam Engine. My Uncle knew that I liked it and he packaged it up and sent it over to me from Maryland. A truly amazing gift!  Not only did he sent the engine, but he sent some cars to go with it plus some track to display it on.

I love it!!!! I'm not sure where I'm going to run this - maybe the garden? It's HUGE! As an N scale guy, seeing something like this is mind blowing. I still need to get a power source - evidently, the sounds on this are remarkable.

It's really a beautiful engine. My Uncle is a collector and doesn't have the space for an O scale layout right now, so when he saw how much I loved this engine, he thought he'd pass this along to me to love. :)

I mad up a little video, too.


NRAIL the Gift from Malcolm Johnson on Vimeo.