Mid September Update

I blinked and the summer was gone... June, July, and August all flew by at astonishing pace and now here we are in September. Over the past few weeks quite a few projects have been happening on the "Clair".

Project #1 - Rolling Stock Reliability Program 2014. 
Inspired my Mike Confalone's Allagash Story and Mike McNamara's car maintenance post I took a hard look at my fleet reliability and realized it was outright pathetic.... While I had made large progress at converting 100% of the operating fleet to Intermountain 33/36 metal wheelsets; what was operating hadn't been cleaned, plastic knuckles failed, and some truck bolsters just needed outright adjustment.

Gridlock...? Nope just cars and power that have completed RSRP awaiting movement to the storage cabinets.

Solution - R.S.R.P.  "The Program". Over the past two weeks I have been averaging 8 cars a day to go through a rigorous preventative maintenance program.
  #1 Clean wheelsets - use a cotton swap to apply alcohol to the tread of the wheel softening up the "gunk"
                -Once on I then use a dremel tool with brass wheel brush on the lowest setting.
                -Keeping friction on the axle as to not melt the truck or wheel I lightly clean the wheel which                           removes the buildup.
  #2 Ream out trucks for better rolling.
  #3 Replace plastic couplers with Kadee #5 - only exception is the shelf style coupler on Athearn tankcars.
                - Check coupler height with Kadee gauge and adjust with Kadee shims accordingly.
  #4 Truck Bolster Adjustment - allow only one truck use the "B" end or brake end to move on 3 point axis
                - A end truck is only allowed to swivel back and forth horizontally.
  #5 Fix any parts on car that either had come off or were loose.
  #6 Enter car into excel database for future preventative

So far 72 cars have been completed with another 40-50 to go.

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Locomotives are also going through a similar program at the rate of 1 or 2 a day which includes wheel cleaning using the TRIX HO brass wheel cleaner and repair of any detail parts that came off while operating. One item that will be added to the locomotive process will be Decoder programming to be speed match and operate locomotives of all brands together. The Allagash Story provides some great insight to consisting and locomotive CV parameters for realistic operation.

So far 6 of 27 locomotives have been completed.

The Clean line.... 1 MP15DC, 3 GP38-2s, 1 SD70ACe, and 1 3GS21B

Project #2 - Lift Out Section Improvements
After my last two operating sessions I realized and got operator feedback that I needed a way to better secure my lower level lift out piece, because there wasn't really one other than sheer luck....

Solutions.... Lock It Up. Using sliding bolt looks from the local home improvement store the lift out section now has three securement devices. There is a little play but not enough to send a passing train to the deep abyss below known as the floor.

Top Slide Lock - Will be hidden by BLMA shed once scenery is complete. This lock provides a tighter securement keep the tracks on the layout and lift out section aligned.

Bottom slide lock - one on each end, keeps it from falling to the floor.

Project #3 - Backdrop Install
Les at Sceniking has been great help working toward getting backdrops installed on the Clair. I started out with three kits which one I had already installed for the Saginaw River Crossing Scene. The other two I hadn't used yet were a hardwood forest and soybean fields. Sunday provided the opportunity to install both of them with relative ease and a lot of enjoyment. Making sure that your backdrop is already painted, glue stick and a good pair of craft scissors always make the process move by even quicker. There is alot of debate out there on backdrops - sky, no sky, photographic, painted, etc.... I decided to go with Sceniking printed backdrops over-layed on a latex painted backdrop. This means that I cut the sky out of the scene and I am greatly impressed with the results. Looking forward to purchasing more and getting the ones I have up fully blended into the scene.

Hardwood scene at Bay Yard - for all you familiar with HESR's Wenona Yard I think its a good comparison

Soybean field scene at east of Grays Lake - angle up view.

Same view closer in with MCIS 4571 (SD45-2) rolling by on the siding.

Angle down view - will scenic from backdrop up to tracks with Soybean crops.

Everyone have a great month - look for my next post toward the back end of the month.

GM

Bay City Industrial Spur

The past week I have been working to rough in the industry and track arrangement for the Bay City Industrial Spur. Last night the final arrangement was made and decided on.

The area consists of two industries which are reached through four #4 turnouts and  a diamond crossing. One goal of this area was to not overdo the amount of trackwork or turnouts in the area - wanted it to feel "real". The area will be served by the Y-BA04 which also works the other two customers in Bay City.

Huron Milling

Inbound: Corn, Wheat

Outbound: Flour

Inspiration gathered from mills in Chelsea, MI, Frankenmuth, MI and Saginaw, TX. 

Huron Milling - flour mill on left and unload facility on right

Straight on view of Huron Milling

The unload facility is located in the foreground where the product will travel over the tracks to the silos adjacent to the mill. The mill itself is a kitbash of Walthers, DPM, and PVC pipe.

Fort Mackinaw Paper - Corrugated Div.

Inbound: Rolled Paper

Outbound: Recycled Paper

Facility hosts a double track inside arrangement that can hold 3 50' boxcars each. The roof will be removable to view interior which will have a balsa or plywood simulated dock level with the rail and truck docks.

Fort Mackinaw Corrugated and switch back for serving Huron Mill flour and unload tracks. 

 I hope to install the cork base and trackwork this week.

GM

Early July Update

First post for July showing some of the happenings around on the "Clair". While work did not progress as quickly as I had hoped.... life happens a.k.a. sometimes you just get exhausted having a toddler and no matter how tempting the train room is with all of the beckoning projects sometimes my eyelids win.

But what progress made was keeps pushing the layout in the right direction of getting finished and closer and closer to scenery. Notably Main Track 2 (Concrete Ties) continues to progress towards the WSS (West Siding Switch) where it ties back into Main Track 1. I had originally planned foam board based scenery for the area between MT 1 and the backdrop, and do not want to fill every single area with track but based on the mini-operating session this extra main which could be used for run-arounds, meets, and or holding trains was critical. Even with the additional track just out of picture is a good 2-3 inches of space that will be scenic'd along with this 1.5 inch area you see in the picture below.

Sceniking Backdrops and static grass on a 1 inch foam base will fill the gap between the tracks and backdrop on the east end of Bay Yard.  

Switch on MT2 in the background leads off to the East Industrial Spur which will serve Northern Arrow Logistics and Huron Milling. You can see from the picture the lightweight / simplistic nature of the upper level benchwork.

The Bay Yard east end ongoing work is to add operational interest to my next operating session. Finally my operators will have a customer to switch - Lakes Forest Products. All of the siding switches were cut in as mainline line was laid but the focus has been on getting trains running versus just switching.

A centerbeam flat spotted at Lakes Forest Products awaits pickup for return back to Montana for another load of lumber. Trackwork will be embeded in concrete (Sheet Styrene) since it is on N scale cork with the area around it HO scale cork sheets. 

Updated view of Chessie Junction. Foreground track is East Yard Lead follow by Main Track 1, Main Track 2, and LSRC Connection (not connected). You can see the switch and spur for Lakes Forest Products just below the caulk gun.
For readers who are keen they will realize the switch and low relief warehouse is gone. I felt that the scene was over-loaded and decided to move the warehouse over to the East Industrial Spur next to Huron Milling. This area will only host scenery to help balance the amount of trackwork.

Be sure to check out my second post published today showcasing the MCIS network map.

GM

Layout Update

My last update was on March 30, 2012 over 8 months ago. I do however have results to show regarding layout construction that has taken place during this time.

The biggest improvement completed over this time was the benchwork, mainline, and upper staging yard completion.

 The left side of the layout above taken from the room entrance shows the mainline banking into the super elevated curve heading toward Gray Lake, Gerhard, and Port Huron staging.

Right side of the layout from the room entrance showing the helix exit onto the upper deck leading through the Upper Huron Wye and over the Quanicassee Creek heading east. Soon a backdrop will hide the helix opening and the staging / through tracks along the back of the room by the poster.

Bay Yard Update

Having a few days off, figured I would showcase some of the work being done on Bay Yard. This really is the focal point of the layout as all traffic flows through it. By the numbers the yard will have six body tracks which can be used for anything from classification to arrival/departure, a throughfare track, and engine servicing top it off. By design it can be switched from both ends since it has double ended capability, but the east end has the longest lead to work with.

Looking west from the start of the East yard ladder. The super reefer is spotted over at BayView Fresh Foods.

Left to right (switch at DSF, tk 7, tk 6, tk 5, tk 4, tk 3, tk 2, tk 1, main, and Bayview Foods siding)

Looking east towards yard - tracks in foreground are switch to North Spur off main line veering to the left, and right switches are the beginning of the West yard ladder. The piece they are sitting on is removable to access the room.

Another picture of the West yard ladder just this side of the DSF.

Layout Update

Here a few pictures of the work that has been happening around the layout recently. From the photos evidence of foamboard, fascia, backdrop, and lighting installation seem to be well at hand.

The first picture was taken from the french doors walking into the room looking to the right which will feature local Bay City industries and Bay Yard creating the focal point for the layout.

Picture number two is looking at the same area on the main deck but from the back of the room looking towards the door. Under Bay City and Bay Yard is a 4 track staging yard capable of holding around 50-55 cars or in my case 3 manifest trains and 2 locals. Below the staging yard are two four drawer storage cabinets from IKEA that I use as off layout staging / storage. My Digitrax Zephyr and PR3 sit on a pull out shelf about the cabinets.

This last picture is from the center of the future helix facing towards Bay Yard and the computer desk. The helix once constructed will be accessible from the inside via duckunder. Behind the unpainted backdrop is a 4 inch gap which houses the 2.5% grade two and from lower level staging.