nycjeff layout

[Bernd]

Nice job on that engine facility. Looks great for the space it had to fit into.

Bernd

[nycjeff]

What a layout Jeff , lots of details even if it looks like it's a very large layout, keep the photo's coming.

Hello Jan, thanks for the nice comments. I'm always trying to add more details to my mini-scenes. I will keep the photos coming, I haven't even gotten to the upper level of my layout.

Excellent modeling Jeff.

Thank you Curt and right back at you, I'm really enjoying your layout thread.

hey Jeff:

Great pics of the layout. Really like the turntable area.

Karl

Hey Karl, thanks for looking in.

Continuing on...



The track nearest the edge of the layout is a supply track. At the end boxcars are placed to deliver sand for the locomotives. The sand storage bin and adjacent building are parts of a Walthers kit. I scratch-built the dock next to the storage bin.



The second track in is also a supply track. First on the track is the ash dump/ removal tower, another Walthers kit. This track is also the supply track for coal hoppers for the coaling tower.



Sorry about the sideways picture, it shows up correctly until I put it into this post. This is the third track in- the inbound steam track. Engines dump their ashes and then move onto the service pad- better shown in the previous photo. They then move under the Walthers coaling tower. The coaling tower was a fun kit to build.



After topping off the coal, engines pull forward to the sand tower from the Walthers kit. This tower spans both the steam inbound and outbound tracks.



A better view of the coaling tower and the steam service tracks.



Engines then pull onto the turntable to go into the roundhouse if necessary or just to be turned around for their next job in the yard. I installed strip-wood on the turntable platform after seeing the great job that ACL Tom did on his. More in a minute

[GPdemayo]

Great engine facility Jeff.....

[nycjeff]

Nice job on that engine facility. Looks great for the space it had to fit into.

Bernd

Hello Bernd, I had to do quite a bit of trial and error planning to get everything that I wanted into that space. Thanks for stopping by.

Great engine facility Jeff.....

Hey Greg, thank you, I'm lucky that I had the space to do what I wanted. I know that most modelers would like to do a larger engine service facility but just can't due to lack of space. The problem is that there are so many great kits out there for this type of area.

Continuing on...



The next track over is the diesel service track for both inbound and outbound engines. All of my inspection pits are from Peco. I kit-bashed them to fit my space and added all the details that I could think of. You can see the top of another sanding tower at the bottom of the picture for the diesels.



A view from the other direction of the diesel service area. Some of the parts shown here are from a Walthers diesel service kit.



The next track over is another supply/ storage track. You can see a tank car spotted at the end for diesel fuel delivery. The large black tank is for water for the facility. I didn't mention it before, but I have at least three of the Tichy water columns in this area. Two on the steam service tracks and one at the entry area for the facility. They are fun little kits to build and the Tichy quality makes it easy. You can also see the seventh and last track here- it is the track that runs through the car repair shop.



A closer look at the diesel fuel delivery area. The tank is from a Walthers industrial tank kit and the pumping platform is scratch-built.



This little service platform caught my eye when I saw it. The kit came with two platforms, I think, at least I know I have two on the layout. Another senior privilege moment here.



Another look at one of the service platform/ pit areas. These areas provide a lot of opportunity for detail and they look so good.  I had a lot of fun planning and building this engine service facility. It is probably my favorite area of the layout. There is so much to see in areas like this. We can never get enough access to the real thing, for some reason prototype railroads don't like strange men with cameras roaming around their properties.

That completes the tour of the lower level of my layout. Next up is my helix and then on to the upper level. I'm enjoying putting this layout tour together. The only problem is that taking all of these pictures shows me how much work I still have to do. That's it for now, more later.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Nice engine facilities, Jeff.

Terrific stuff!

Cheers, Mark.

[nycjeff]

Nice engine facilities, Jeff.

Terrific stuff!

Cheers, Mark.

Hello Mark, sorry it took me so long to respond. Thank you for the nice comment and for looking in. Sometimes real life gets in the way of our hobby. The good news is that my wife and I both got our second vaccine shot the other day. One of the few perks of being old and partially infirm.

[postalkarl]

Hey Jeff:

Beautiful job on this portion of the layout. Keep the great pics flowing. I very much enjoy your work.

Karl

[nycjeff]

Hello Karl, thanks for looking in and for the nice comments. I plan on continuing soon. Sometimes real life gets in the way of our fun.

[postalkarl]

Hey Jeff:

that it does. Looking forward to more photos.

Karl

[nycjeff]

It's been awhile since I've added to my layout tour thread, I've been busy with building structures. Last time I finished up the tour of my lower level, so now I wanted to show you my helix. First a little information. My lower level height is 41 1/2 inches and the upper level is 63 1/2 inches, so I had to build the helix to rise a total of 22 inches. The track in my helix has a 30 inch radius and there is a 4 inch rise between loops. This gives me, according to a grade graph from a track planning book, a grade of 2 %.



I dug into some old layout construction pictures and found a couple of the helix being built. My helix is at the end of the center peninsula of the train room. I first extended the lower level benchwork, then positioned the plywood for the lowest staging yard return loop. Then, using 1x4 pieces cut to the 4 inch rise I positioned the second loop, which is the return loop for the higher staging yard. These are the first two loops visible in the picture. Now I could start the actual helix. You can see the helix approach track at the bottom left of the picture, this leads onto the first helix loop. I knew that the start of the second loop would be 4 inches above the start of the first loop so I cut the 1x4 riser pieces to get me to that elevation. In the picture you can see that I am about halfway through the second loop. The square wood structure in the middle of the helix provides what will be a base for  the top level benchwork.



Here you can see the upper level benchwork framing at the left and a little of the painted backdrop.



Another view of the same stage of construction, I didn't take a lot of pictures at this time, I didn't even know that things such as the forum existed in 2009.



This is the actual start of the helix. The track on the left goes to a staging yard and the track on the right is the approach track to the helix. This approach track is 18 feet long and is really the first loop of the helix straightened out. It has the same 2 % grade as the helix loops.



My NYC streamlined stainless steel passenger car train is on the approach track here.



Another view of the passenger train on the hill, led by a NYC E-8. More in a minute.

[nycjeff]

Continuing on...



Here the train is approaching the end of the helix hill.



The approach track ends where it goes through the backdrop. I fashioned a tunnel portal from carved foam painted to a rock color. After this point, the track is off-stage and inside the helix. My painted backdrop wraps around this side of the helix, the back side of the helix is visible as it is next to the staging yards on the backside of the center peninsula.



This is a view of the inside of the helix, it has a 22 inch square opening at the top so that I can stand up inside the helix. You can see all of the helix levels here. The first two are the staging yard return loops and the next four are the helix loop. The plywood track base pieces are 6 inches wide and about 4 feet long. I laid out the 30 inch track radius on a piece of cardboard and then drew out the template for the plywood, leaving 2 inches on each side of the track. I then used the cardboard template to get as many pieces out of a 4x8 piece of plywood as possible. When laying track on the helix I first glued down cork roadbed and then spiked the track to the cork. I attached feeder wires on every level of the helix.



Here is a closer look at the helix trackwork and the risers I used between loops.



This is a view looking down from the top of the helix. The opening in the top of the helix is not really visible when standing next to the upper level, remember that the upper level is 63 1/2 inches high.  More in a minute.

[nycjeff]

Continuing on...



This tunnel portal is where trains exit the helix, Here trains have gone around four loops that are all 18 feet long and with a 4 inch rise, this means that trains have gone up about 20 inches at this point. Above the retaining wall in the picture you can see the upper level track.



This view is from the end of the upper level exit track. This section of track is 12 feet long and acts as the final loop of the helix, also straightened out. Overall I have 102 feet of track to get from the lower to the upper level. There are 18 feet in the lower helix approach track, four loops of 18 feet each and the upper exit track is 12 feet long. Trains make there way up the helix easily with the 2 % grade and I can keep an eye on them when they are inside the helix from the exposed backside. It took a lot of planning, but everything came out well. I got the idea for the construction of the helix from an old Model Railroader magazine article. That's it for now, more later as we start to go around the upper level of my layout.

[GPdemayo]

Love seeing all those NYC passenger trains Jeff.....looks great. 

[nycjeff]

Hello Greg, thanks for looking in and I agree with you- the NYC passenger trains are beautiful.

[nycjeff]

This is a drawing of the upper level of my layout. The helix is under the end of the center peninsula and the helix exit track runs along the top of the peninsula. We will start the tour of the upper level where trains come off the helix exit track and move towards the upper left corner of the track plan.



This is a track level view of the start of the upper level track where the exit track from the helix reaches the upper level benchwork.



As the track nears the city  it first comes to a small wooded area. The large tree is from Scenic Express Super Trees. I ordered the starter pack to try my hand at what I have seen to be very realistic trees on other layouts on the forum. Some of the trees came out really well, like this one, but more than a few were lacking. I'm sure it was my fault and lack of experience. I will try some more of these in the future, they look so good when they come out the way they are supposed to.



The first trackside structure is my scratch-built version of a CCK rural post office kit that I liked the looks of. ACL Tom did a very nice build thread of this kit and I decided to build my own version of the kit.



Here is a drone view of the area leading into the corner of the layout.



The next structure is a Life Like general store kit. The fencing around the store is from Central Valley. They offer a reasonably priced fence assortment package that I have used quite a bit on the layout. More in a minute.