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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
I needed some light. Laying the first tracks by flood or flashlight was unbearable to say the least.
This is about half the lighting hung.
Laying out the staging yard track center lines. The "rails" used to hold all the metal studs together is a perfect 2.5" and make a great long straight edge.
Mocking up the staging yard ladder
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
I was able to completely lay the Staging-Malta Yard-Staging loop. Unfortunately because I'm relying on just rail joiners for the electrical circuit I can't actually complete the loop. The siding switches in Malta Yard have dead frogs rendering the track between them dead. But I was able to run from one end of Malta through staging then to the other end of Malta.
The video is 6+ minutes and slow, but so was the real thing!
I also tested the severity of the grades coming out of staging; the grade averages about 2.8%.
One Athearn Tunnel Motor was able to pull 7 Walthers Autoracks and a caboose up the grade. Theoretically 3 engines can therefore pull 21 racks with a caboose then. We'll see how this pans out.
The video is 6+ minutes and slow, but so was the real thing!
I also tested the severity of the grades coming out of staging; the grade averages about 2.8%.
One Athearn Tunnel Motor was able to pull 7 Walthers Autoracks and a caboose up the grade. Theoretically 3 engines can therefore pull 21 racks with a caboose then. We'll see how this pans out.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Friday, March 27, 2015
Rail work and a surprise
The rail crew managed to lay both the main and siding through Malta Yard today. Their day ended shortly after lunch though when they ran out of switches.
Not to long after the rail crew packed up and left, this rail fan was surprised by the first Westbound on the line. With more than ample power (SD40T-2 5405, SP SD40T-2 8521, SD50 5504) for this abbreviated auto-rack train I barely had enough time to snap these pictures before the train was out of site and in run 8 to the summit at Tennessee Pass.
Not to long after the rail crew packed up and left, this rail fan was surprised by the first Westbound on the line. With more than ample power (SD40T-2 5405, SP SD40T-2 8521, SD50 5504) for this abbreviated auto-rack train I barely had enough time to snap these pictures before the train was out of site and in run 8 to the summit at Tennessee Pass.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
Monday, March 23, 2015
Slathering some paint
March 20, 2015
The homasote for Malta Yard is all painted. This is as far as the plywood and homasote will go. From here sub road bed will be spline.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
Homasote and Malta Yard
March 18, 2015
Laying out the foundation for the staging yard
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
And here is the start to the Main Deck. This is the location of Malta Yard.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
Fast Tracks print outs glued to some heavy cardboard. These make great tools for helping visualize.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
Friday, March 20, 2015
Benchwork progress continues
March 15, 2015
The bench work for the staging level is continued around the walls. As soon as the trains will exit the yard they will gain elevation until they reach the area in front of the stairs and "enter" the layout at the Malta yard.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
The bench work is only 12" wide. All that will be supported is the risers to increase elevation out of staging and then the Main Deck bench work in the areas where the staging enters since the Main Deck would interfere.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
Metal benchwork
January 2015
I chose metal studs for a few reasons
This is how I'm cantilevering the bench work off the walls. While at this point the bench work is quite flimsy, once it's tied together with more track it becomes very solid and able to support quite a bit of weight.
Tying it all together. This is what strengthens the structure. This will also serve to attach the fascia to when the time comes.
The next three shots show the progression of the staging yard bench work.
I chose metal studs for a few reasons
- Weight. Metal stud work weighs next to nothing compared to wood.
- Stability. Metal studs won't warp or twist which makes squaring everything a dream.
- Clean up. There practically is no clean up. Everything is easily cut with tin snips and then bent repeatedly to separate the piece. No power tools needed, no saw dust created, no mess to clean up!
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
This is how I'm cantilevering the bench work off the walls. While at this point the bench work is quite flimsy, once it's tied together with more track it becomes very solid and able to support quite a bit of weight.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
Tying it all together. This is what strengthens the structure. This will also serve to attach the fascia to when the time comes.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
The next three shots show the progression of the staging yard bench work.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
Room prep
December 2014
The first order of business was painting the ceiling to help abate dust coming through the ceiling and make it disappear. At this point I've also dry-locked the basement walls.
The first order of business was painting the ceiling to help abate dust coming through the ceiling and make it disappear. At this point I've also dry-locked the basement walls.
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
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| From D&RGW's Tennessee Pass |
And so it starts...
December 2013
The start. The basement is L-shape and roughly 40' x 26'. Here she is on the day we moved in.
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