I think I have settled on a trackplan for the Colton Diamonds area. The ATSF connection (upper left curved) can be treated like an industry, and no longer needs a direct route to the West Colton Yard. That allowed me to move a crossover, the diamonds, and the turnout to the connection over a bit. I like it, but will sleep on it. The local work track will be off the lower right turnout. So pick ups will be shoved back into one of those tracks building a train back to the yard. This local should have about 25 cars to work with a few three car spots and others more.
-
-
Did the original ops plan include Santa Fe traffic entering West Colton Yard behind ATSF power, JP? Just curious.
Looks like that will be a nice signature scene.Southern Railway Slate Fork Branch, March 1978
Old magazines can still be fresh sources of hobby information!
Nothing can ever be made idiot-proof, because the idiots are vastly more experienced.Comment
-
I sure hoped I could allow for the ATSF yard transfer, but I don't have the space. I would have loved to have some bluebonnets on the layout plus the extra action in the yard. Including an active connection would have made the diamonds less than 90 degrees. That was not acceptable, so the ATSF connection will simply be an interchange track with about four or five car capacity. I may work in some bluebonnets as pool power just as the BN locos were used.
Even with the crossovers next to the crossing and tower I think the scene will look good. Time will tell.
-
-
Comment
-
Comment
-
The little bit of progress on the layout is some single track subroadbed has been added to the San Timoteo climb. I am at a point where a decision has to be made to continue climbing and run around the entire system on an upper level or level off for a short climb/run. It may seem crazy, but I think I will opt for the much longer run. So a scenic narrow shelf above staging will have a longer San Timoteo run into Beaumont and Banning over the Kaiser Industrial area. Then a low desert white sands area into Indio/staging.
I also built the layout in JMRI Ops Pro and am tinkering with it. Building trains and routes and fine tuning. Why do this now? Because once I have the layout operational I want to hit the ground running and have the ops bugs worked out if possible. It is quite the rabbit hole with so many options.
The upper track in this photo will be behind a backdrop from the hidden turnback on the right until midway around the curve. One support left of hat. The RR will continue to gain altitude on a second level inside the "U" above Colton. Then run above the staging to Beaumont and Banning. They will be left of photo above the switching area with photo hanging on the backdrop. Then cross the walkway with a duck under/lift gate and across this scene on an upper level representing the lower desert. On the right it will curve away from the operator disappearing under a road overcrossing into Indio/staging.
I know it's as clear as mud, but you will see as I build. This will allow for a nice long run.
Comment
-
That's a nice option to have. I say that knowing of the hurdles some guys have had to negotiate doing things the other way around. You may not get much layout built for a while, but it will pay a dividend.Originally posted by john_plsn View Post
Southern Railway Slate Fork Branch, March 1978
Old magazines can still be fresh sources of hobby information!
Nothing can ever be made idiot-proof, because the idiots are vastly more experienced.Comment
-
I created another version of the rough trackplan which will change as I build. Admittedly most of my plans are proofs of concepts then when I build a section changes are made. I bet you never heard that from a model railroader. I think I will keep the classification tracks stub ended to make room for service tracks on the other end of the yard which has no track yet. The Old Colton Diamonds area has operational trackage, but have yet to turn the wide corner in front of the depot/drywall dealer.
This is the first level and the sandwiched staging.staging.
Last edited by john_plsn; 05-31-2025, 04:53 PM.Comment
-
Southern Railway Slate Fork Branch, March 1978
Old magazines can still be fresh sources of hobby information!
Nothing can ever be made idiot-proof, because the idiots are vastly more experienced.Comment
-
I was all fired up to make big progress on the layout, but I am now out of gas. At 3pm the heat is kicking in now with outside temps at 95 and the garage at 81, so far. The portable AC set at 60 has been running since 830am. I was determined to add all the flextrack on hand, but maybe tomorrow morning. 9 sections left on hand.
I had to do things in phases and began with this section that had track, but no wiring. That caused issues on the DCC system, but lets fix that.
First the game plan. I do not care to work under the layout on my back or with my head turned in painful and awkward positions. So I added a couple cleats to hold two sections together, unscrewed the table top and tilted it up.
Feeders and Cobalts wiring was added and bus wires readied.
I successfully put the section back into position and plugged in the wiring. It is still further away from the current command station set up but it only had a 1 volt drop at 41' with a 1 amp load(tail light bulb). Trains run, nice.
I then moved on around the peninsula to the beginning of the San Timoteo grade and single track mainline. This includes a helper pocket and good sized elevator. The tracks at the end of the peninsula around to the single track are not wired yet. The structures are stand ins.
Note the subroadbed above the structures sneaking around the corner. More to come, but not today.Comment
-
​​
I added feeders and the ground throws to these turnouts, but when I turned on track power I had a bad short. The issue had to be in this area and it was. I had a couple PCB tie gaps get bridged. All seems well now.
This is a good example of becoming over confident. A simple continuity test would have shown the faults before the turnouts were installed making it easier to correct.
I only ran a loco, but it was kinda cool running from the base of the helix all the way around to here. I have a couple points to adjust and will build a train to run out and back. Just for giggles.Comment
-
​
The Little Rock Line Blog
Rule #1 of model railroading.
It's probably responsible for the greatest number of shoddy layouts because no one feels compelled to improve themselves. Meh, good enough...​Comment
-
Comment
-
The quad diamonds are in at Colton.
Comment
-
I like this spot as the train snakes its way over the Santa Ana River and through a part of Colton. The foreground section will be a girder bridge.
Comment
-
I have been sidelined a bit with a catheter, but I will try to not allow the curmudgeon in me to sideline some kind of progress. So I will change my focus from developing the second level to developing the east end of the West Colton yard. I think its 17 or 18 turnouts that will need to be built.
If you refer to post #52 in this thread you can see the changes. I straightened the tail track as it will likely be needed to shove cars. I also put Pepper straight so I could add a mirror to extend the scene on a straight backdrop. Straightening the loco heavy shop gives space for a tanker track that I may or may not put in.
Comment
Comment