Twin Mountain Barge & Navigation RR

[Opa George]

Thanks, Curt and Dennis,

It's good to post again.  Work has kept me quite busy, but am able to work some time in on the new layout.  Now that I have a substantial start on the sub-roadbed, I'm thinking it will start to move along quickly. 

--Opa George

[jerryrbeach]

George,


Looking forward to seeing you back to working on the layout.

[cuse]

I love the sound of this layout. I'll be watching...John

[Opa George]

Thanks for following along, Jerry and John.

Nice thing about taking your time is the daydreaming that brings up new ideas on how to do something.  The opposite return loop of the dogbone is "rural" backwoods swamp, and I've been thinking about how to lay the flex track through that type of terrain.  I like the idea of multiple spans of low trestles and piles, interrupted by small stretches of fill.

The solid fills will be strategically located where I need to anchor my loop to the surface to maintain proper radius and height of the flex track.  Everything in between will have the piles or trestles built in place to support.  I think it will work.

--Opa George

[Judge]

Way to go George!  It will be interesting to see how you design your track plan.   

[postalkarl]

Hey George:

Looks like A little more progress. I'm following along.

Karl

[Jerry]

Should be an interesting journey!!
I'll follow the tracks as you go forward!



Jerry

[Opa George]

A snow day from school, and a chance to get some work done.  I finished the main line on the new TMB&N.  Below is an overall view.  We're looking from the "big city" end, the port of Old Head, toward remote and lonely Ragged Edge (in the back).  Overall dimensions of the layout are 12' x 6' in a dog-bone shape.


The near end, Old Head, sits on the wider end, at 6' x 3.5' and accommodates the town's main industry and link to the mainland, the car float, below, a Walthers kit.  Today I just completed the subroadbed for the spur from the mainline that accesses the ferry.


Here we have the smaller end, at 4' x 3.5' and the hamlet of Ragged Edge, a backwoods town and eventual home of the line's engine terminal.  Not much happening here yet.  Great shot of the very messy workshop. When I tore down the old layout, I stacked everything wherever I could find room.


Another shot of Ragged Edge showing the mainline winding it's way through the swamp.  I'll be building up pilings, trestles and small trestles where the flex track is hanging out with nothing underneath.


And finally the line's main motive power for the moment, an old 0-6-0 from my early days in the hobby. I don't even recall the manufacturer, but it's from the 1970s and runs great. Here it is on the Thursday morning run, delivering a few cars of perishables and a coach from Ragged Edge to Old Head.


So that's where we're at.  The line's Board of Directors just authorized the laying of rail to the new ferry, so that will commence after a coat of flat brown paint on the plywood.

--Opa George

[PRR Modeler]

Everything looks great George. Is all the track going to be elevated?

[Opa George]

Thanks, Curt.  Not all, although at the moment, it DOES all exist about two inches from the layout base.  But the base (painted a swampy green) represents my water level throughout.  Some of the landforms will be built up even with track level, and a little bit will rise above and even well above track level (i.e. will surround the basement support column).

But a lot, maybe about 80%, will represent track elevated above or next to the wetlands and waterfront that it services. I finally had to acknowledge that I have a nasty and unrelenting addiction to buying waterfront structures.  Instead of fighting it, I decided to just start over and make the entire layout a waterfront/inland waterway layout. 

--Opa George

[Dennis Bourey]

George, That's a Beautiful job there sire....Dennis

[Jerry]

George looking forward to this just really like waterfront RR.
Looks great so far.


Jerry

[Opa George]

Thanks, Jerry.
I painted the subroadbed that goes to the car ferry. While waiting for that to dry, I started bringing back my structures from the old layout, and playing with placement. 

Below are several pics of various portions of the new layout with the major structures "in place."  Some are elevated to an approximate height on wood blocks while many others are "sitting in the water."  Nothing is fixed in place yet. Just getting a feel for what looks good where.



The Bandits Roost build will likely stay in this approximate position.  It fits well and creates good lines of sight.



Seaside Symphonium complex will probably anchor the Ragged Edge end.  This will be the more "rural" part of the layout and represents a destination from the town of Old Head.


Locomotive service facilties will be in this corner.  Need to run the rails down to this area.


The busiest section of Old Head will be this commercial neighborhood that borders the ferry area.  It will be elevated up slightly higher than the ferry and dock area.



Just playing around at this point. 

--Opa George

[PRR Modeler]

Love the car barge.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Lots of fun, George.

I like the look of the Bandits roost and seaside symphonia area.  Is the trestle over a small lake?  It seems to be higher up than the other water areas.

Cheers, Mark.