The Grizzly & Dilapidated Ry.

kyle creel · January 11, 2026, 11:14:07 PM

Hey fellas

I'm back at it

......

Today (Sunday) I added the two pieces of real estate to the layout to facilitate the 2 return/reversing loops

It was harder than I figured.....'cause I FAILED WOODSHOP in 9th grade (freshman yr.)

....I mean a FLAT 'F'....no credit points towards graduation at all

...OH well I took civics and typing to make up for it (I nearly failed typing) and still graduated with a solid 88 or 89 avg.-that was a B+.....I would've graduated with an A or an A- if not for 'woodshop'....I still can't cut a straight line - even with a circular saw

........

Anyways, I got it done; next will be making the modifications to the areas to be altered

...I'll probably start on that later this week....I'm "bushed" as my dad used to say.......I worked on this damn thing from 10:30 AM till 9:30 PM with only about 2 hrs. off for 1:1 stuff.......

.......

Here's some shots for ya'll to check out - hope they look OK......

Dilapidated-
before.................with the fascia removed...

after..................with new fascia.....

Grizzly.......
under construction..................

after the deal's been done..........

before........(the other side)........

after.........

Well I hope ya'll liked what I was able to 'cobble together'......

....that's about all for now...thanx again for stoppin by, and ya'll stay warm and have fun.......see ya....

KYLE CREEL
G&D Ry. Co.

PRR Modeler · January 12, 2026, 06:44:20 AM

Great job Kyle.

Larry C · January 12, 2026, 07:14:52 AM

Kyle nice rebuild. One question though, from your photos do you have any support under the foam? Otherwise I wouldn't put much of any pressure on it or it'll end up on the floor; as in a massive gorge.

Jerry · January 12, 2026, 09:04:29 AM

Looks good Kyle.

Jerry

friscomike · January 12, 2026, 09:31:08 AM

Howdy Kyle,

The bumpout mod looks great. Looking forward to scenery, etc.

Have fun,
mike

kyle creel · January 12, 2026, 11:53:14 AM

Thanx Curt, thanx Larry C*., thanx Jerry, and thanx Mike;

I was having the same concerns Larry C*.

.... I knew when I finished it that instability was a real possibility

, but I crossed my eyes and hoped it'd dry (liqiud nails) and be solid enough

... it was more secure this morning -but not enough for me ....

so....I re-did the whole thing

....I had used some some shelf brackets mounted underneath on the first try - but looks like they weren't enough

.....so...the rule of thumb (for us woodshop flunkies) is and I quote ...."No matter how it turned out the first time....IT'S WRONG" !!!!!

.........so I did it again A BETTER WAY......I don't know if it's THE RIGHT WAY or not.....but it's a hell-of-a-lot more secure now

........

I sure do appreciate all the comments and suggestions ya'll.....

.......here's some shots.....

New support.....and NO foam...........

That's about it, .......I gotta go do some more 1:1 stuff.......

......as always thanx for stoppin' by, and ya'll have fun.......see ya.....

KYLE CREEL
G&D Ry. Co.

Larry C · January 12, 2026, 08:22:24 PM

Kyle I was wondering when I mentioned the sturdiness; that looks much better.

kyle creel · January 13, 2026, 02:43:25 PM

Thanx Larry C*., and everyone else that stopped by...just for a peek.....

much appreciated....

Today (Tuesday) I got up and decided to do it AGAIN

...I BUILT IT IN THE WRONG SPOT TWICE !!!

......I guess I'll never learn .....

.....It's tooo damn close to the doorway entrance to the room....
"But in my defense YOUR HONOUR...

I didn't have a workable track plan or configuration that I could make fit in this new particular location

.....till now

"......."So... (with the courts' permission)... I'm just gonna move it over a 'smidge".....

.....In the words of the 'inimitable' CURY HOWARD... "Dis outta WOIK...nyuk,nyuk,nyuk" ..

.....here we go...........

So from this.....................

to THIS..........................the size of the photo is a bit larger, for better clarity....

This will make things a lot more "ergonomic"??

IT'LL FIT THE ROOM BETTER!!! Ihate that 'ergo' word

.....

anyways, there you have it ....I should have it all done this evening.....I don't have to RE-BUILD IT....just move it.....

All for now, thanx again for stoppin' by .....ya'll stay tuned.......see ya....

KYLE CREEL
G&D Ry. Co.

Philip · January 14, 2026, 07:34:50 AM

Nice work!

kyle creel · January 14, 2026, 02:13:49 PM

Thanx Phillip, and everyone that grabbed a look-see....

I finished the re-do last night (Tuesday) @ about 10:00 PM it took about 3 hours.....

, I was sure glad when the last screw went in.....

..I did sorta re-build part of the thing

...but that's the way it goes

....

I had to rethink the track arrangement, and include the std. gauge interchange as an integral part and not an 'oh yeaugh' afterthought...

....in the end it workrd out better because the crossings of the G&D loop by the G&D roundhouse lead and the yard lead are both now at 90 degrees......I'll use the small crossing section pieces that have appx. 3/4" 'approach track'.....that'll make the crossing smoother......I'll custom cut and fit the section that contains both crossings....they are only about 3" apart, so I'll build it as a 'one piece unit' of track

.....the std. gauge crossing will be a dummy track, probably made fronm styrene at the crossing point...although if it's not powered I guess it won,t matter

....I'll have the std. gauge track coming right into the dock/platform @ the Grizzly depot- which should look pretty cool

lots of 'freight 'n stuff' all over the place

Here's what it all looks like now....next up track work.......

Here's the plans.....................
Red arrow is the std. gauge trackage....Yellow arrow is the depot...Blue is Hanks' Salvage....Green is Tooter Phuknuts' Tractor Repair

This is how it turned out..................Only the depot is in it's proper(appx.) position...everything else is still just scattered about from the re-do................

a little closer......

here we are.................

from the other side........................

That's about it...hope it all makes sense.....I really am looking forward to the way the RR will run ...CONTINOUSLY

...after all the changes are made.....then I can work on the RR while it's RUNNING

......ya'll stop by anytime......all the comments and suggestions are really appreciated....see ya....

KYLE CREEL
G&D Ry. Co.

Larry C · January 14, 2026, 03:29:17 PM

Yup, that should work nicely.

KentuckySouthern · January 14, 2026, 06:49:31 PM

I'm impressed on how you can do all the great work on the layout and keep it looking so nice and clean!

kyle creel · January 16, 2026, 09:37:25 AM

Thanx Larry C*., thanx Karl,

Gage and I went to my favorite train shop yesterday(Thursday),

and I picked up some things I will need, cork roadbed, and three 90 degree crossings; they (the crossings) 2 were only $3.99 and the other one was $4.99, they were old (still in the orig. pkng.) brass Atlas and Model power track pieces...

.... the cork roadbed was $2.99 per strip, I guess that's a good price,

....I've not bought any in a while.......

...I also picked up two 4pk. pkgs. of some old vintage Atlas brass short 18" radius curves still in the original pkg. to use between the crossings

they were $7.99 each.....

I left Bubbles in charge of moving all the bldgs and stuff from Grizzly to the rest of the RR.....

.....here's some of her fine work.........

Next up I'll get to work cutting down the crossings, and 18"R sections and fitting them together.to fit in the loop

...that's about all for now, thanx again for checkin' in on the G&D Ry. Co.

....it's much appreciated

....stay tuned......see ya.....

KYLE CREEL
G&D Ry. Co.

labdad · January 16, 2026, 12:07:33 PM

A HOBBY SHOP?

??
Where is this mystical place you speak of?
You are one lucky guy.

MJinTN

kyle creel · January 16, 2026, 05:22:12 PM

Thanx MJinTN;

I am truly lucky; within a 30 mi. radius of where I live- west side of Arlington, Tx 'smack-dab' in the middle of (DFW).,...there are... (counting the 4 Hobby Lobby locations) ....9 'hobby stores'

.... 3 are 'just train' stores,

2 are Hobbytown USA ...the other 4 are Hobby Lobby

....understand...The DFW Metroplex covers 9,286 sq. miles......

and I'm mentioning only the area where I usually shop.....I'm usually able to find whatever I'm looking for without having to venture too far away......

....including two of the three train shops that have 'old stuff'- still in the original pkging.

......

Today (Friday) I laid out some track and did some measuring; it's always different when the track starts to hit the surface

...the 'track plan' in full scale somehow isn't always exactly like the 'track plan' on the paper...

.....so I've learned to lay it out, and measure it, then go back and correct the paper plan (always done in pencil) so I'll have a decent 'road map'

to go by.....

Here's what I came up with.......

..I still need to get a #6- 3-way turnout to 'connect' the the ends of yard tracks................

I really like the way it's going,

...I know there'll be a few bumps along the way

(not in the trackage)

but that's what makes it interesting

......

Thanx again to all who dropped by and took a peek at the project....

it's much appreciated, and as always... comments, questions and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged......all for now..... see ya....

KYLE CREEL
G&D Ry. Co.