Ogden & Cache Valley RR

[Onewolf]

After caulking the seams and painting the foam base. This paint color (Nightingale gray) is mostly to just hide the purple foam but it will also provide some color for underneath the track that will be installed directly onto the foam.



The city of Ogden will be built above the lower return loop and 5 staging tracks .



I installed 1.5" tall masonite fascia along sections where I want access to the lower return loop underneath and 12" tall fascia where I can access the double track mainline from underneath the benchwork.





The tunnel portal for the double track mainline and entrance to the lower return loop will be located somewhere around here.

[Janbouli]

Your bench-work is the best I have ever seen, and I wonder if that room will stay as tidy as it is now 

[PRR Modeler]

Great work. Very professional. I also like the different color blocks on the floor.

[ACL1504]

Doug,

The bench work and layout are coming along nicely. Well done.

Tom

[jerryrbeach]

Doug,
I have been amazed at the complexity of your layout design from the first time you posted.  I would never attempt something this involved, the frustration when things didn't fit as I had envisioned would have driven me crazy.  Kudos on the concept, and the quality of your construction. 

[Onewolf]

I have finished installing all of the track that will service Ogden (and connect with the staging yard in the model workshop). This area on the right will be a highrise downtown city scene with large buildings up to 40"-44" tall.



I combined two Downtown Deco 36"x2" warehouse 'flat' kits along the wall as a proof of concept. I plan to have about 14-16 ft of narrow depth/flats warehouses/industries along that stretch of wall.This combined warehouse kit is 72" long.





There's plenty of space along the wall for more structures/flats.





I ran a 12ga track power bus and a bunch of track feeders for all the track in the city. I also connected to the track in the model workshop, and I was able to run trains in/out of the model workshop form the main layout room.

[ak-milw]

It's always good to run trains, even for a short distance.

[PRR Modeler]

Awesome, and like Andy said it's good to run trains

[Onewolf]

I've been test running lots of trains over the last month.  The complete loop from the lower return loop, along the mainline, thru the helix (1.6% grade) up to the middle level, the nolix climb (1.95% grade) up to the upper level, and the upper level return loop have been thoroughly vetted.

Last weekend after connecting the main layout to the model workshop staging yard I put together a 34 car train composed mostly of cheap train show rolling stock I've purchased over the last year (avg price $6-$7, no boxes, they've just been sitting on the staging yard in the model workshop) pulled by a Proto 2000 SD-60M.  It was basically the maximum length train my layout is designed to handle (225" long).  Even with some questionable wheelsets and couplers it made it all the way to the Nolix (1.95% grade) with no problems.  However once about 2/3-3/4 of the train was on the 1.95% grade the loco stalled/slipped.  It's a good thing it's a designated helper district.   After disconnecting the back 10 cars the rest of the train (24 cars) made it up to the upper level return loop and all the way back down to the lower return loop.

[Zephyrus52246]

Sounds like you're having fun running trains.  I had an issue recently where although I had run short steamers and diesels over the layout without problems, a 4-8-4 had problems on one curve and a couple of turnouts.  On one spot, only the first and last drivers were on the rails, and the loco was spinning in place.  I'd suggest, especially if you have one of the UPs 4-12-2s, running some long wheelbase steam over the layout to look for issues. 


Jeff

[Onewolf]

Starting to work on enclosing the helix. First I installed additional wood framing for mounting the 1/8" masonite panels.



This is where the helix display/control panel will be mounted.



I mounted additional vertical 2x4s to provide more support for achieving a smooth curve of the 1/8" masonite panels.



All the 1/8" panels are mounted andnow I'm working getting the screws counter-sunk appropriately in order to patch/fair them.







First step of patching/fairing the screw holes and seams.





The helix as viewed thru the opening where the helix display/control panel will be located.

[rpdylan]

awesome, awesome work! Thanks so much for posting in such detail!

[PRR Modeler]

Very well done. If in the future you need to access the helix will you slide under the Masonite and stand up in the center of the helix?

[Onewolf]

Very well done. If in the future you need to access the helix will you slide under the Masonite and stand up in the center of the helix?

Yes, there's about 36" space beneath the helix structure to 'crawl' under.  Once inside there's enough room for a Barcalounger to stretch out. 

[S&S RR]

Now that's a helix - great work.