Connecting the Peninsula

One of the first tasks after installing the new corner section was to lay the track connecting the peninsula to what will be the yard.  I actually laid the connecting track first, before laying the yard, so the last post was jumping the gun a little bit.

 This was the initial attempt.  Notice the lack of homasote at the back.  This would be filled in later.  One great advantage to homasote is that you can easily make changes to the design.  I was not happy with this attempt, I wanted to maximize the length of the run around track, and I did not like the flow into the industry sidings.

 Take two.  By relaying the switches I was able to gain another car length in the siding.  Also the flow is much better.  The missing piece of homasote is now installed.  The siding to the left will be used for a small industry, and is positioned to allow for future expansion down that wall as well.

A view from the other side of the peninsula.  The switch to nothing is intended to access the ramp to the coal dump.  I have not decided if I like this industry or not.

A view from the end of the peninsula.  I've tossed a few buildings around on the layout, but nothing is for sure yet.

Front End Friday - 07/27/18

Wordless Wednesday - 07/25/18

Oh Look, A Yard...

As I alluded to in my previous post, I've also been able to get the connecting section built, and began laying out what will become the primary yard for the layout.  Trains will arrive here from staging.  A switcher will break the train down, and set up the locals originating out of the yard, both east to the peninsula, and west to Dragon Cement.  Because of the peninsula, I was limited for space.  There is approximately four feet between the peninsula and the adjacent wall.  Therefore, I opted to make the yard section about a foot in width.  This is sufficient space for four tracks, which should be adequate in size.  Train sizes will not be large, and there will be enough space for multiple trains to sit in the yard as well as any overflow.



Looking Railroad East, with the peninsula on the left.

 Now looking Railroad West, as the yard begins to form.

Sideview Saturday - 07/21/18

Wordless Wednesday - 07/18/18

Out With the Old, and in With the New

Very quickly, I became unhappy with the engine house section.  Too much track, too tight curves, and ultimately, the four foot depth was too great.  Even though I am fairly tall and the benchwork was relatively low, my comfortable reach was only about 30" deep.  With the trackwork all funneling through the back 6" or so, I did not want to be in the position of climbing over the benchwork for maintenance or recovering derailed equipment.  So the decision was made, it would be removed.

 And poof, its gone.

 To build the replacement section, I picked up a sheet of my standard 3/4" plywood and a sheet of homasote.  I cut the plywood down to 4'x6' to match the size of the section I removed.  I next layered a similar sized sheet of homasote over it.  The sheet was a little, narrow, but there's a reason we will get to later.  Next, I laid out the cutout I wanted to provide access all the way to the back wall.  The results can be seen below.

The next step was to build a frame to keep the sheet rigid.  Out came more strips of 3/4" ply, and within an hour, the frame was together and the module was ready for install.

 A nice view of the underside.  With the 3/4" sheet, very little framing is needed.

 A early from departure from work for a day without family distractions, and the section was in place. 

 Meanwhile, the missing strip of homasote makes its appearance in the form of the future yard, which bridges the gap between sections.  Finally the benchwork is connected.

And of course, I wasted little time laying track.  This new section jumps the radius from the yard to the peninsula from 18" to nearly 28".  A big improvement.

Why Pick the Rockland Branch As Inspiration?

So I've been talking a lot about what I've been building.  But I've said very little as to why, and what is inspiring me.  Why am I departing from my Somerset project, to the Rockland branch?

The Rockland concept grew from a series from a series of conversations with Brandon K.  He is a good friend of mine, and is an avid Maine Central modeler.  He noted that the arrangement of the yard and peninsula was much akin to the design of the Maine Central at Rockland.  Trains enter town passing Dragon Cement, and entering a yard on the outskirts of town.  From there, a branchline ran down to the waterfront and a series of industries.  A large cement plant is an industry I've been interested incorporating into a layout provided extra motivation.  Another factor is that the port of Rockland in my scenario is served by the Somerset, through affiliate road Northern Terminal.  Ironically, this is the line modeled by Brandon on his home layout.

So with a prototype for inspiration, why not freelance a port served by the Somerset?  My motivation was, and still is, to keep this layout freelanced.  Motive power and rolling stock is fair game.  Sure, I want to keep everything in a set period, but that period is flexible.  One of the great things about modeling scenes in Maine is that change is slow.  However, for now, I am centralizing the Atlantic Branch on the fall of 1980, the same period of time for my Somerset project. 

For the overall scope of my Somerset Line, was modeling the section connecting the Canadian Pacific to the Maine Central.  To that end, I have collected a small fleet of equipment for both of those lines. 

With a location and associated equipment for a period of interest, I was off.  But recently, I acquired a beautiful Morristown and Erie C424 from another friend.  This unit was used by the M&E on the Rockland branch when they held the lease on the line during the mid 2000s.  Will this drive a change in era?  Stay tuned...

Now What?

With the layout in place, now what am I going to do?  For starters, I had a lot of layout that needed restoration to operating condition.  Also, there was an almost eight foot gap between the two sections. 

Looking down the aisle.  The gap is to the right, what will be the peninsula to the left.  The section against the back wall held the engine house and featured a spaghetti bowl of track.  First step was to remake the connections between these two sections.  The remote section on the other side of the room would have to wait for now.

Once some connections were made, I broke out some rolling stock and started putting the layout through its paces.  I quickly found that the existing wiring was poor, with many dead spots, and I really noticed the reliance the previous owner had for tight radius corners to create the mess of tracks.  I also found that to get from point to point on the layout required the use of several switch backs.  As a modeler who prefers operations to viewing, these were not satisfactory.

 So, I began ripping up track.  Yeah, that sounds crazy.  I get a layout that's already built, and the first step is to start by ripping it all out.  I must be a lunatic.

 

On the peninsula, I reworked all the leads to the switching spurs into a single lead.  Down from five. Yes, you read correctly, five leads onto the peninsula.  Its a start.

Moving Day

Moving day finally arrived!  Ok, in reality it was only a week or so, but it felt a lot longer.  That morning I met friends Matt M. and Kevin S. at the house where the layout was.  We proceeded to label wires before making cuts, and general packing up the layout and the remaining train collection.  Everything went smooth with one exception.  We attempted to move the long shelf, seen along the back wall in the photos below. 

 

 

When carrying the section out of the basement bulkhead, we found that the hill on the end with the turnback loop didn't fit!  Then, as we jostled the section around trying to fit it through the door, the section snapped in half.  What initially seemed like a major issue, actually turned out to be a benefit.  With the back shelf in two pieces, it fit easily out the door.  Everything else went smoothly, and in about 7 hours, the layout was standing in my garage.