CRESCENT LAKE IN SUSPENSE

With the roadbed panels built ( http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2014/09/crescent-lake-foundation.html) and the track formed ( http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2014/10/forming-crescent-lake-track.html), I moved on to installing Crescent Lake.  First up was installing switch machines and dropping feeders for the switch ladders already installed on three of the panels near the reverse loop throat.  I placed each panel on sawhorses so I had easy access to the top and bottom.  By now, Tortoise ™ has become straight-forward for me.  A wiring tail is soldered to the contacts and a new, thicker throw-rod used.  I am getting quite good at coming up underneath the layout to poke the throw rod through the hole in the switch throw bar.  I needed to remember which rail was which for the feeder color code.  The eventual turn-back loop at Salt Creek trestle exchanges the colors for the “aisle” and “wall” rails.

Initial wiring underway on a switch ladder panel for Crescent Lake.

The next task was to raise each panel to the final height—over seven feet up.  The first three panels were eight feet long and each had at least one edge that was to be supported by an L-girder ledger board attached to the wall.  I installed a temporary ledger “hook” that was used to catch the roadbed panel edge as I lifted the other panel end to the final height.  A temporary leg held the panel in place while I installed the threaded rod support into the unistrut ceiling mounts.

Temporary ledger “hook” installed on ledger L-girder.

Roadbed panel hooked onto ledger L-girder, ready to be raised to final height.

First roadbed panel in position with temporary leg supporting the free corner.

First roadbed panel installed.  Supporting threaded rods are just visible near the ceiling light and at the right front corner.

Unistrut ceiling mount.  Unistrut spans floor joists above.  Threaded rod is screwed into a unistrut nut above.  Fender washers and a conventional nut are screwed in above and below the plywood support arm for the roadbed.  This fixes the roadbed against gravity and bumps from below.

I continued this process by hooking the long roadbed panels to either the ledger L-girder or to an adjoining panel.  The staging yard switch ladder panel installed along the wall was swung up to the final height by first hooking it to that first corner panel and then moving it along the ledger L-girder to its final position.  A three-feet wide panel joins the two larger panels.

Switch ladder panel hooked onto corner panel, ready to be raised.

Switch ladder panel being moved along the ledger L-girder.  Temporary “hooks” are installed in the end panel sections, keeping the roadbed panel along the wall and on the L-girder.

Switch ladder panel and short joining panel installed.

The final task involved two major panels and one small joining panel that were completely supported—suspended—by threaded rod.  Neither of the major panels was long enough to use my hook and tilt installation method.  Both required use of brute force aided by my handy step-ladder.  Yes, it would have been good to have help, but I got the job done.

Corner panel being moved into position.  I worked one end up the back-side of the ladder and used several lengths of temporary legs at the other end.  The panel will be rotated from this position to meet up with the panel on the left.

Once the panels were up and suspended, I sanded the joints between panels to a common height.  Then I added cork filler strips across the joints.  This ensures a cork joints and roadbed panel joints do not line up.  With the cork installed and painted my usual gray, I could move on to track installation.

Corner roadbed panel suspended.

Roadbed panels installed.

Suspended Crescent Lake roadbed.

Crescent Lake roadbed panels installed.  Looking through the passageway to Eugene.

FORMING CRESCENT LAKE TRACK

With the roadbed panels built (http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2014/09/crescent-lake-foundation.html), the next step for the Crescent Lake project was to layout and form the track.  I used MicroEngineering flex track.  ME track has excellent detail, but is tougher to form than competing flex track.  That tougher track forming property translates into holding its shape once formed.  I chose to form the track while the roadbed panels were still on the floor.  This gave me a clear view of the underlying track lines and made it easier to form the track.

The first step was to transfer the track plan from the newsprint paper plan to the roadbed panels.  I overlaid the paper plan on the roadbed and then transferred key locations such as switches  to the cork below by punching through with a pencil.  This is one advantage of the cork sheet roadbed—it accepts such a punch-through indentation.

Paper track plan overlaid on roadbed panel.

The key points were joined using curve templates and straight edges.  I augmented my hardboard curve templates with “SweepSticks” curve templates from Fast Tracks (http://www.handlaidtrack.com/).  These tools show in the photo above.  They have centerline slots that can be used to lay out the curve.  Later, they can be used to form the final track curve.  My track plan for my SP Cascade Line has twelve-track staging yards at both Crescent Lake (upper) and Eugene (lower), each with three sets of curves for the twelve tracks.  It was worth the modest investment to get curve templates for the broader curves of these yards.

Laying out and forming the track involved forming the curves in the appropriate locations.  A handy tool for this is the track laying tool by MLR Mfg. (479-5001).  This basically is a block of plastic with grooves cut for the rails.  One simply places this on the flex track and push to form the track to the desired configuration.  This saves fingers and sanity!  Once the track is roughly formed to the desired curve, I finish with a curve tool such as the SweepSticks noted above or the aluminum tools made by RibbonRail.  I have a selection of both, with radii below 48” available from RibbonRail.  I prefer these, as the aluminum plates slide easily in the flex track.  The wood SweepSticks get the same job done, but require more force due to their wood construction.

Track forming tools: RibbonRail templates in the foreground, MLR Mfg. track forming block in the middle, SweepSticks in center and above.    Maxon Rail Nippers complete the primary tools.

I laid out the track starting with the switch ladders.  Once they were located, I drilled throw bar slots and then attached the switches using Dap Alex 230 adhesive caulk.  This provided a firm base from which to lay track.  I loosely laid and formed the track around the loop, leaving a straight gap to be filled later, once the roadbed panels are installed and track permanently laid. 

Crescent Lake switch ladders.  Each side of the reverse loop has two five-switch ladders.  These will be joined by another switch before the throat switch for the loop.

I modified my original plan for Crescent Lake by consolidating the “left hand” switch ladders (center-right in the photo above) closer to the “right hand” switch ladder against the wall.  This greatly extended the reverse loop tracks.  These tracks are now 36-40 feet long.  I will wire them as two separate blocks so I can split them later should I chose to do some tandem staging of trains.  With the extra length, I ran out of track, so I chose to leave the inner pair of staging tracks until I gain a resupply.  These will be easier to reach from a ladder, which will be the access method once the roadbed panels are elevated.

I soldered adjoining pairs of flex track segments to each other.  This makes for easier handling right now, assists curve geometry formation and retention, and will provide a layer of redundancy to the track wiring when I solder feeders to each individual track segment.  Finally, I labeled the track segments and removed the loose track from the roadbed panels.  With that, I am ready to move on to elevating the roadbed panels.

Track formed and labeled.  

CRESCENT LAKE FOUNDATION

I’ve begun at last the capstone project for my railroad—the upper level staging at Crescent Lake.  My Crescent Lake will feature a twelve-track reverse loop staging yard, much as the Eugene Arrival Departure Yard will have for the base level below it.  I need to build and install Crescent Lake and get it wired while I still have full access to the floor below.  Future access will be more limited once the Eugene complex is built below. 

The test operating sessions conducted so far point strongly to the need to expand the mainline track and get more of Eugene built.   This is so vital that I cancelled a previously scheduled test operating session to make way for construction.  Step One is to get Crescent Lake built and installed.

The basic structure for Crescent Lake consists of open grid panels topped with plywood and an upper layer of cork.  I used my standard nominal 4 inch deep plywood strips for construction, as this will extend below the Tortoise™ switch machines that will control the switches.

Crescent Lake benchwork panels under construction.  They overlay the track plan on the floor.

The panels are topped in my usual fashion for yard areas—3/4 inch plywood with ¼ inch cork laid on top.  I left gaps in the cork at the panel joints.  These gaps will be filled with cork sheet once the panels are installed. 

Crescent Lake roadbed panels ready for track line layout and switch installation.  Most of the two switch ladders will be on the two panels in the upper right, with two final switches located on the corner panel in the lower right.

The panels will be raised to their final location over seven feet above the floor.  Edges along the walls will be supported by ledger L-girder, similar to the lower L-girder on the back wall in the photo above.  Out in the room, the panels will be hung from the ceiling.  Our house uses open truss floor joists for the main floor formed from 2x4 on the flat—broad—face.  This made for a wider target to locate for the suspension lag screws.  The lag screws hold “superstrut” pieces, which provided a way to span between joints and provide a nut for a threaded rod to be inserted.  “Superstrut” is formed steel channel often used by electricians and plumbers to route and support conduit or pipe.  Jerry B. used his power hacksaw to help me cut the “superstrut” pieces to length.  Thanks Jerry!  All are now installed on the ceiling.

“Superstrut” installed on the ceiling, attached to floor joists above.  Each strut in this picture has a special nut installed within the channel to take the threaded rod.  The upper level wall ledger L-girders are visible along the side wall.

More to come…

FLANGER!

“Call out the flanger!” was a call on Southern Pacific’s mountain lines such as the historic Donner Pass or the Cascade Line that meant snowfall was beginning to slow down operations.  SP employed four levels of snow removal: pilot snowplows, flangers, Jordan spreaders, and a rotary snowplow.  Pilot snowplows have been fairly effective at removing modest snowfall from the tracks.  Operations could proceed at nearly their normal pace as long as the pilot plows could keep up.  As snow levels rise and ice forms along the rails, the flanger would be called.

A flanger is a dedicated piece of snow removal equipment.  It employs a pair of plows mounted under the carbody that can be lowered between the rails allowing it to clear out snow and ice accumulated there, particularly along the sides of the rail—the flangeways.  This is where the raised flange on a railroad wheel rides, keeping the wheel on the track.  The close-to-the-rail geometry must be maintained, so the flanger rides on trucks with no springs—a solid (and bumpy!) “ride.”  Flangers typically are operated at or above posted track speed, as they work best when running fast.  As a result, flanger operations do not slow down railroad operations by much.  They are seen as just another train, albeit a speedy one, occupying the track.

The heavy-duty snow removal equipment—Jordan spreaders and rotary snow plows--impact the pace of railroad operations, as they operate at much slower speeds and can not be passed or run-around when they are in use.  The railroad operating department tries to keep ahead of a snow storm enough to not have to call out either of the heavy-duty snow removers.

Flanger operations have long been part of my planning for my dream model railroad.  Their operation screams “mountain railroad” to me.  I have a Lambert Models flanger model, representing an SP flanger with a wooden car-body as operated into the 1960s.  A steel-body flanger has been on my wish list.  Albrae Models ( http://www.albraemodels.com/) just imported brass models of rebuilt SP flangers, including the one routinely assigned to Oakridge.  I just received mine!

My new flanger sits on the snow equipment track at the end of the Oakridge wye (right foreground).

Close-up of the flanger. 

Close-up of the other side of the flanger.  One of the highly curved flanger blades can be seen underneath the car-body.  Albrae Models version is pre-painted and lettered and comes equipped with Kadee couplers.  It’s ready to go!

TRACK INTO McCREDIE SPRINGS

With the subroadbed built, I moved on to installation of cork roadbed and track installation for the mountain extension into my nook space.  Track laying is very satisfying as it provides visible, tangible evidence of an advancing railhead.  Major tasks of switch machine installation and wiring remain to place the track in service, but the extension into the mountains is taking shape!

As I worked with the cork roadbed, I dealt with several height changes.  Secondary trackage ends up mostly on thinner N-scale cork roadbed.  An extra strip of the N-scale cork provides the needed width for HO-scale.  I created ramps out of balsa to transition the heights.  I used a Stanley Surform ® for the primary shaping of the ramp, followed by coarse sandpaper.  The Surform ® made quick work of the ramp.  I then had the idea of using it on the cork to finish the transition once the cork was glued to the ramp.  This also was fast and very controllable.  I’d forgotten just how handy that tool is!  I also checked side-to-side level throughout the construction process—when sanding the spline for a smooth surface and for smoothing the cork after gluing.  I even checked the side-to-side level as I laid track.  Yes, I had an issue on earlier track, so I now check continuously.  

Take a look at the new track expansion, beginning with the climb up out of Oakridge.

Climb out of Oakridge.  Salmon Creek Bridge is just visible in the distance to the left.  The foreground curve will provide space for Rooster Rock and Tunnel 21.

East McCredie Springs.  The beginnings of the rock bunker for the quarry I added are seen in the corner in the top center of the photo.  The mainline and siding curve around to the right.

McCredie Springs depot area.  The house track is nearest the aisle, followed by the mainline, siding and “Track 3” back towards the wall.  The train order station will be close to the aisle and company housing for train order operators will be towards the rear of this scene.

West McCredie Springs.  The track has climbed 13 inches above Oakridge.  The mainline descending from Cascade Summit overhead is 24 inches above.  Both tracks will curve around the corner toward the main east wall of the basement.

Continuing the tour from the upper end of the railroad at Cascade Summit, we first encounter Trapper Creek at the immediate RR-East end of Cascade Summit. 

Trapper Creek Bridge.  The bridge abutments and plywood base are much deeper than needed.  The creek will be much closer to the bridge when completed.  The bridge is a Micro Engineering 50 feet plate girder with a ballasted deck fabricated from Evergreen styrene strip and sheet on top.  The abutments are built up using Evergreen sheet and strip.

Continuing beyond Trapper Creek, the railroad enters the future site of the summit tunnel.  The tulle (veil material) sandwiched between the cork roadbed and plywood subroadbed is very evident in this photo.

Descent from the summit begun.

Descending mountain grade sweeps around the nook corner.  Part of this area will have a long open-gallery rock shed as can be seen on the prototype line even from Highway 58.

CLIMBING OUT OF OAKRIDGE

With the central core of the railroad settling into operations, I have begun construction of the rest of the railroad.  I previously posted on Cascade Summit. http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2014/07/laying-out-cascade-summit.html

http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2014/07/cascade-summit-track-laid.html

Now, I have begun the mountain climb up out of Oakridge. 

Continuing on from my first foray into spline construction (http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2014/01/expanding-world.html), I built supporting benchwork and laid spline up the wall and around the corner into McCredie Springs.  I use “traditional” spline cut from nominal ¼ inch thick hardboard.  Yes, it is messy with the glue, and it takes a bit of time (each successive spline layer needs to be clamped while the glue sets), but the results are good and utilize materials easily obtained.  The resulting subroadbed has very natural, flowing curves and is quite strong.

Mountain grade spline construction.

Around the corner and into the nook, I am building McCredie Springs on plywood.  McCredie Springs features a standard SP company “village”--train order station, operator houses, section chief and section crew housing and a signal maintainer’s house.  I will add a rock bunker in a corner of the nook.  Though quarries in the area were not rail served, there were quite a few.  I chose to bend history and add a rail-served quarry with its rock bunker.  With all of these structures and extra tracks, I chose to use plywood for the subroadbed to cover the needed space and provide support.  The center spline of the mainline subroadbed keys into a slot cut into the edge of the plywood. 

Overview of construction in the Nook.  McCredie Springs is on the lower deck plywood.  Two-plus feet above that is the roadbed for the grade descending from Cascade Summit.

I use Midwest Products cork roadbed.  On the spline subroadbed sections, I sandwich tulle fabric (bridal veil material) between the cork and the subroadbed spline.  This serves as an equipment catcher during construction and testing.  Later, it will serve as part of the scenery.  The cork is glued directly to the plywood where the ply serves as the subroadbed.

Mountain grade up out of Oakridge (off the left).  Cork roadbed has been glued to the hardboard spline.  Tulle (veil) fabric is sandwiched between the roadbed and subroadbed.

Roadbed entering McCredie Springs, up from Oakridge.  The rock bunker will be located in the corner to the right of the photo.

As I laid out McCredie Springs, I eventually went back to primary research material for the track layout.  This was after I had plowed ahead with what I “thought” the track pattern was.  Inspection of the few historic photos and the SP valuation maps quickly showed I had missed the correct location of the house track and an additional “track number 3” on the outside of the curve.  I ended up adding a bit more plywood to expand the supporting “ground.”  Lots of splice plates and biscuit joints were added!

Revised track schematic for McCredie Springs.

In addition to the revised schematic for McCredie Springs, I revisited maps for Wicopee and Cruzatte—my remaining mountain sidings.  Revised schematics for all three mountain sidings have been posted into the station schematics tab of this blog.

Continuing upgrade (RR-West) through McCredie Springs.  The house track branches off the mainline to the right.  Further back, track number 3 branches off to the left of the siding.

Benchwork construction techniques are illustrated in the photos.  McCredie Springs sits on two pair of L-girders plus additional wall brackets.  The upper level roadbed rests on simple wall brackets, reinforced with steel corner brackets.  The corners use a basic box grid with a diagonal brace—better aligned with the curve being supported.  The mountain grade now features both a descending upper line and a climbing lower line.  The two lines are about 24 inches apart in height at the RR-West end of McCredie Springs.  They will join on the turn-back loop that will be supported by Salt Creek Trestle.  Salt Creek Trestle is a signature scene.  Photos I shot there are what I use for inspiration and as the background for this blog.

THE RAILROAD AT YEAR TWO

Prompted by a recent post on friend Bruce M’s SP Santa Barbara Sub blog (http://spsbsub.blogspot.com/ ), I was struck by how much work has been accomplished on my layout in the past year.  Last year’s review can be seen at: http://espeecascades.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-railroad-at-year-one.html  Herewith a photo tour of my HO scale SP Cascade Line as it stands at the beginning of August after two years of construction.

RR-West end of line.  The climb out of Oakridge is a bit more than a train length.

SP X8572 East crosses Salmon Creek on its way downgrade toward Oakridge.  A pair of industry spurs hold cars for the Pope and Talbot lumber mill geographic east of Oakridge.

SP X8572 East meets SP X7474 West at the RR-West end of Oakridge.

SP X8572 East proceeds on the siding through Oakridge.  A stand-in depot (an American Model Builders SP Type 22) serves Oakridge until a proper hipped-roof version arrives.  Tracks for the steam ear engine facilities and turning wye are in the foreground.  In my world, those facilities will remain to serve diesel helpers.  An ALW Lines boiler house stands at the end of the oil spur.

SP X8572 East rolls through Westfir.  The Western Lumber Company mill will be represented by Walthers sawmill kits plus round-roof warehouses from Reiten Models.

SP X8572 East rolls past the Marcola Branch.  The foreground boxcars are interchange traffic for Weyerhauser.  The tank cars seen end-on are spotted for a wood resins plant.  The background covered hoppers serve agricultural interests of the Mohawk Valley.

Rolling into RR-West Springfield, SP X8572 East passes a pair of tracks serving Rosboro Lumber on the geographic north of the mainline, while the hopper cars to the left (geo-south) are spotted at Springfield Rock.

Proceeding down the mainline in Springfield, Clear Fir is on the left and four tracks serving the large Booth Kelly mill (later Georgia Pacific) are on the right.

SP X8572 East is at the RR-East end of Springfield.  Borden Chemical is in the foreground.  A fictional oil dealer is in the background.

SP X8572 East crosses the Willamette River between Springfield and Eugene.

SP X8572 East enters Eugene on the mainline.  The car shop serves as a temporary engine facility, pending completion of the planned facilities inside the RR-East staging loop (and arrival/departure tracks).  A consisted pair of switchers waits on City Yard track 2 awaiting more work.

SP X8572 East completes its journey, holding on the main in front of the Eugene depot.  The RR-East end switcher waits in the foreground.

A foretaste of coming attractions is provided by the following views of Cascade Summit:

RR-West end of Cascade Summit, including the turning wye.

RR-East end of Cascade Summit.

Benchwork is in place for the summit tunnel.  The railroad will start descending from this point down the wall to the right of the picture, loop back on Salt Creek trestle, reemerge on the lower level behind the storage and moving boxes where McCredie Springs will be built, and connect to the line up out of Oakridge just visible at the left of the photo.  The operator platform for Cascade Summit is in place.  The Oakridge wye tail track is on the green-painted section in the foreground.

The railroad clearly is under construction as evidenced by the many tools and bits and pieces scattered around the layout.   Also evident are a number of “fix-it” tags at spots identified during operations.  “Operations” is a key word, as I have now held three test operations sessions on the current railroad.  This helps me find spots needing work.  It also helps me develop the operating plan in advance of completing the railroad.  The vision and dream are becoming reality!