Current Projects
Page 2
Go to current projects page 3
Some benchwork is getting done! This is both the beginning and the end of the layout.
There is only about 2000 feet of track to lay between these two loops. Duluth is
on the lower deck and Ft. Francis, Ontario will occupy the upper deck. All of the
track is Atlas flex track. It is code 148 on brown plastic ties. We are laying the
track on Midwest cork roadbed that is glued to 3/4” plywood subroadbed. All of the
lumber is ripped from 4 X 8 sheets of 3/4” AC plywood; the exception being the joists
on the lower level. The angle of this photo is actually looking at an area that
will be against walls in a corner of the room. The aisle is along the upper portion
of the photo. Our space is limited for a layout this size so we build than disassemble
all but the adjoining module to continue building into the next run. These sections
are now in storage waiting for delivery and installation on-
An update: like many pikes this one has evolved and these loops are no longer as seen. The upper loop has been eliminated and a new reverse loop is now located in the upper North West corner of the building.
This photo is looking along the lower level as it enters the loop. Some of our construction
methods are seen here. The L-
Looking down at the upper level; some of the Atlas switches can be seen. The majority
of the switches will be thrown by hand using Caboose Industries switch stands. The
Atlas switches are not designed for this set up. There are no long headblocks so
we are cutting out the plastic ties on either side of the throwbar and gluing wooden
switch ties to the roadbed to support the switch stands. This can be seen clearly
in the photo. The RS-
Our first trip to Nebraska with the initial installation. We have since made three additional trips. We filled a 26’ Penske truck with modules. We assembled what amounts to 250’ of benchwork in 4 days. We also decided that we would further standardize the benchwork for the remainder of the project. The photo above gives a fair idea of the number of pieces brought out. As our Denver shop is much smaller than the layout building, we have to build a portion than bring it to the location to make room for us to build the next segment. The wall on the right of the photo is 98’ long.
Above is looking from the East end of the building towards the entrance. Some notion of the length one must walk to follow a train is given here. Staging yards are to the left side on the lower deck and the Duluth depot and tracks to West Duluth are to the right. With the new plan the upper level to the left has been lowered 6” and greatly simplified.
The photo left is from the reverse loops looking East. We have yet to mount the upper deck beyond the loops. The beams that support the roof are rather low at the wall which dictates some of the layout planning. This aisle is a very generous width, but we are planning to narrow it a bit with additional sidings and a newly configured upper level.
The first change made on the second trip was to remove the upper reverse loop. This opened up the lower loop area enough to add some locomotive storage tracks that stand in for the prototype Rice’s Point yard.
West Duluth yard was installed. The open foreground area is for the turntable and roundhouse.
Here’s the back side of the roundhouse; a six stall conversion of an Atlas roundhouse kit. It is 2 3 stall kits assembled into one six stall. The brick color on the prototype was tan.
This is the base on which the West Duluth trestle will be built. Jeff McDonald, long time O scale modeler and friend of the client is putting the trestle together to be installed on a later trip.
Return to current projects page 1