The next photo shows where the yard throat will curve toward the layout room, the entrance to which can be seen toward the upper left hand corner of the picture. Also visible in the photo is the lift-out section across the sliding glass door that carries traffic from the layout room on the left to the 12 staging tracks on the shelves to the right.
This past Friday I finally got the motivation to start on the project. in just under two hours, almost all of the initial scenery removal had been completed. Below are the before and after shots of the area.
As you can see from the photo above, the first thing I found when I removed the drywall where the line was going to go through the wall was a stud. I'd forgotten how much fun this part of layout construction can be. At least it wasn't a water pipe. After reviewing the plan for the turnouts in the yard throat that had already been drawn, it became apparent that I could push the entire throat back several inches without any problems. This meant I could move the entrance to yard several inches to the right and avoid taking out a section of the stud. This isn't a load-bearing wall so removing a portion of the stud wouldn't have had any impact on the structural integrity of the house, but I wanted to avoid this if possible. The photo below show the new approach to the staging yard.
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The main line will cross a 50' deck girder bridge over a small stream that will curve around and disappear behind a hillside that will be in the middle of the photo. The photo below shows how the main line will curve slightly after crossing the bridge as it enters the staging area in the other room.
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The slight curve will actually make it more difficult to see through the tunnel, an added benefit as there will be no scenery on the other side. The arrangement has worked out much better than I originally anticipated. If I can't be good at this kind of planning, I'll take being lucky! And with a little additional luck, I might even have some new staging track in place by the next operating session.
I believe there is nothing worst than changing a completed scene on the layout. Good luck on the changes Tom!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you, Shannon. But there was just too much in this scene that didn't work. The trees were left over from another layout and I've found a much better way to make poly fiber trees since I installed these in the mid- 1990's. Because of the depth of the scene, I couldn't change all of these. The bridges are too long for a 30" radius curve- I should have used two shorter spans. And I never really warmed up to the double track tunnel portal when every other portal on the layout is single track. And it didn't help that most of this came about because I didn't plan properly and follow the advice of others who had made these mistakes before me.
ReplyDeleteTom
Hi Tom,
ReplyDeleteYour New Year is off to a busy start. I must admit that from the posted photos the bridge scene was one of my favorite on your layout. However I look forward to seeing your new gateway to staging which I am sure will make operations much more interesting. In looking at the lift-out section by the patio door it looks as if there is a ramp sloping down. Will staging be split vertically into two separate six track shelves? It looks pretty nifty regardless.
Gerry
Gerry,
ReplyDeleteA number of people have commented about how much they liked that scene. In reality it was a good looking diorama, which was fine when I was just building stuff. But now that I'm operating it had to go. You are correct about the split staging. I had originally intended to have one shelf represent locations east and the other locations west. The connection to the top shelf would have come from the line that entered the double track tunnel and then ran around the perimeter of the room. This connection included way too much hidden running in addition to being inaccessible for maintenance purposes. So now the two shelves will represent points east and the new staging yard will repesent points west.
Tom