I have been trying to decide how to restart this thread after such a long time.  I have gone through the thread a couple times.  There are a lot of partial pages, missing photos, etc.  However, the last couple pages seem to be complete, and most of what is gone seems to be basics, building the bench work, fastening down the foam, track, etc. 

I have also gone through my photo memory cards and have transferred the photos I found into a folder on my computer.  I have grouped them in order as much as possible.  There are quite a few "holes" in the process, partly because I neglected to take any photos at times.  After the forum went down, I felt no real incentive to get out the camera to document the progress. Also, I have a couple different cameras, three to be exact, and I used whatever one was handy, or had the best lens for the photo I took.  Unfortunately, one of my memory cards became corrupted and I lost a great many photos when that happened. 

Stay tuned for the reboot of the D&N version 1.0.

Morning Jerry

Looking forward to the start up!

Take your time will be here for the grand reopening!

Jerry

Quote from: Jerry on March 11, 2024, 10:28:13 AMMorning Jerry

Looking forward to the start up!

Take your time will be here for the grand reopening!

Jerry

Jerry,

This is kind of a rehash to start. This way people can look back if they wish, but if not, this is a reasonable starting point, at least I hope it is.

I'm going to start this update by posting some of the background information covered in the beginning pages of this thread.


The prototype railroad was originally organized in 1904 as the Delaware & Eastern, and trains were running over the line by 1906.  The tracks connected with the New York, Ontario & Western in East Branch and with the Ulster & Delaware in Arkville, running for 37 miles along the East Branch of the Delaware River near the western edge of the Catskill Mountains.  After an attempt to extend the railroad to Middleburg, NY and a connection with the Schoharie & Middleburg failed miserably leaving the railroad awash in debt, the D&E filed bankruptcy in 1910, and emerged as the Delaware & Northern.  New York City bought the railroad in 1939 to allow them to build a dam at Downsville, NY, creating the Pepacton Reservoir to supply water to the city.  Today over half of the Delaware & Northern roadbed resides at the bottom of the reservoir, along with the remnants of the villages and farms that once occupied the valley.


Due to the available space my layout is a freelance version of the railroad, nothing close to the dream layout I wanted that modeled the railroad in a far more prototypical manner. I have done my best to incorporate the spirit of the real D&N. My motive power is light 4-4-0's similar to those of the prototype. I have used scenes from the prototype as inspiration for the villages on the layout, as well as its industries, and some of its structures.

After spending some time thinking about how I might build a layout, I decided the best approach would be to construct something easy to disassemble and move in the future, should my living situation change. I have settled on a module or domino system for construction using separate tables, each with its own complete set of legs. This was done so that I can assemble or disassemble the layout by myself without worrying about how to support a section that lacks all four legs.  I built it so the table tops detach from the leg assemblies for ease of relocation, thinking that would make it easier to move.  Each table is connected to the adjoining table with carriage bolts.  The modules measure 30" x 48", though I have added some additional width to some of the modules by using screws to attach these pieces to the basic modules. Each module has its own Masonite backdrop attached to the rear of the module using screws, so it can be easily removed from the module.


The layout is currently located in a spare bedroom on the first floor. The bedroom is roughly 8' wide by 17' long. The door is on one end of the narrow wall. There is a closet to the right of the door as you enter the room. Leaving access to the closet limits the layout to thirteen feet long along the right hand side of the room. The corner of the room behind the door has a chase for a heating duct. The distance from the door frame to the wall on the left side of the room (as you enter) is eighteen inches. I designed a small yard to fit along this space. This module is 18" x 5' (less a notch in the corner where the air duct chase is located).


The layout is wired for DC. Each module is wired separately using terminal blocks. Disassembling and moving the layout is done by disconnecting the wires connecting each section, and unbolting the modules from each other. I started initially with the layout in one corner of my dining room, then moved it into the bedroom where I added additional modules to fill the room.


The layout uses Atlas code 100 flex and sectional track. The turnouts are Atlas #4 or snap switches, most curves are 18" radius. I use Caboose Industries ground throws to operate the turnouts. I used this track because most of it was left over from a couple previous layouts. I also chose it because I was confident it would stand up well to the modules being taken apart and moved. Though I have only moved the modules once, this has proven to be true, at least so far.

Great to read a long, Jerry.

It's great that this site has reopened - but there has been very little activity.  I'm afraid I'm not at all interested in discussing the weather or what I had for breakfast - which is unfortunately where all the activity is!  I'm please you have just jumped back in.  It's very easy to procrastinate, trying to get the story just so.  I believe that threads such as this with daily or weekly updates are the future of the forum and the way to entice new members.  If there is no new daily activity no one will want to join.  I get disheartened when I post major updates and get no comments.  I need to do another...

I'm wondering whether carriage bolts are the same as coach bolts - which is what I used to join my layout sections together?  I'm guessing they are.

Keep up the updates - I'll be watching and reading along.

Cheers, Mark.

Mark,

Carriage bolts have a square shank next to a rounded head.  The square shank pulls into the round hole "squaring it out".  The theory is that the square shank holds the bolt while the nut is tightened or loosened.  In my experience they work well as long as they do not rust.  Then the square shank will turn in the hole while the nut stays rusted in place.  Then you have a problem.

I have been trying to plan how to revive this thread in a way that did not require the readers to try to make sense of the first few pages that were corrupted prior to the initial demise of this forum.  This is what I have decided to do, a rather lengthy intro to bring people up to speed, then proceed showing the progress photos I do have available.

Thanks, Jerry.

Yep.  Same thing.  I used 12mm coach bolts (carriage bolts).  No doubt in England (hence New Zealand) they were known as coaches, in the USA carriages.

Cheers, Mark.

Just went through the last few pages , will be following along and hope to see some of your progress.

Jan,

Thanks for checking out the thread.  There are some pretty big gaps in the photos.  I hope there will be enough continuity for people to follow along reasonably well.

With the basic background information out of the way, I thought the next logical step would be to post some shots showing the basic layout configuration as well as the mainline track.  That is, of course, if a short line railroad can be said to have a main line.

I've never really been able to do a decent job with the photo captions on this site.  Rather than make myself completely crazy, I'll explain the photos as part of the post itself, and trust everyone to follow along.  I know none of you can hear me screaming at my computer when I cannot get it to do what I want, you'll just have to trust me when I tell you I am a professional in that regard.

If something is not clear, I'll do my best to clarify, and answer any questions you might have.  Two of the photos are taken from near the entry door. The bedroom closet is to the right of the entry door, and the space at the end of the loop in the first photo is to allow access to the closet.  The third photo is taken looking toward the door so you can get an idea of the yard.  These photos were posted earlier in the thread, so don't be surprised if they look familiar.

Looks good Jerry, lots of space for some neat scenes.....

Clever to paint the room the sky color.  Sturdy appearing benchwork as well.  Looking forward to your progress on the layout.

Jeff 

Quote from: GPdemayo on March 12, 2024, 09:49:12 AMLooks good Jerry, lots of space for some neat scenes.....

Greg,

Believe it or not, even at this early stage of construction I was referring to photos from the prototype and figuring out how I might build similar scenes into the layout. 

Quote from: Zephyrus52246 on March 12, 2024, 10:27:10 AMClever to paint the room the sky color.  Sturdy appearing benchwork as well.  Looking forward to your progress on the layout.

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff.  Previous layouts had much lower backdrops and I noticed when I took a photo I saw how distracting it was to have a green or yellow wall that was a distraction from the backdrop. 

Let's start moving forward.  I think anyone that constructs a layout finds things they wish they had done differently during construction.  When I initially planned the layout I thought building it on one inch foam would allow me enough depth to have some depressed scenery in the area of the tracks.  After beginning to add some of the terrain features in the photos I realized that building on two inch foam would have allowed me to have a broader range for elevation changes when I began building scenery.

The first photo shows when I really started to think about what I might do to change the layout as built form a mid-western prairie layout into something ore resembling the northeast.  You can also see one of the small additions I made to the side of one of the modules.  I did that partly to obtain more real estate for the layout, but equally important was the fact that by adding some curved sections it made the layout "flow" in the room and look larger than its actual size.

The second and third photos show the small hills I made in the far corners of the layout from the door, as well as the cuts the track passed through.  On a small layout I believe it is especially important for the train to disappear from sight as it traverses the layout.  In my opinion, losing sight of the train, even briefly, adds to the feel of the train passing through the scenery, and helps disguise the layout's small size.