The HARRISON & PEAU~DUNQUE RAILWAY

[kyle creel]

Welcome to the continuing saga of Mr. KYLE (I need a new project) CREEL and his newest undertaking...         ......The HARRISON & PEAU~DUNQUE Ry.                 .......

KYLE CREEL
HPD Ry.

[Jerry]

Is this one going to get finished?
Or like me we just like to keep things interesting!!! 

Jerry

[kyle creel]

                    Before anybody gets too pissed at me; allow me some leeway....   ...the IMMR & T RR was progressing along just fine until I got ambushed, yes AMBUSHED ...by the fact that the TT was WAAAAY too big, the scenery was WAAAAY to tall, and there was, in actuality, very little room for the structures, to not be crammed up against a mountainside, looking very TOY~LIKE....on top of all that it began to gnaw at me that no matter how 'gussied up' I made it look.....   ...it was and would always be.... a "Twice Around", John Allen inspired loop of track....and without the scenery, structures, and TT actually 'fitting in'....it would always look 'not-very-real'...at least to me...and I'm the one responsible for creating it and having to look at it till I eventually get fed up and chunked the damn thing, and might not build another.....           .....

"But wait there's more"...         ...I decided to use the base and all the materials to build a 'scaled -down version of the railroad Mark and I built for the 2022 O SCALE show in Ft. Worth, the one that the incredible BARRY BOGS showed up to; at my open house, and floored me with the comment; "Wow Kyle, I REALLY love the track plan; you put a lot of thought into the design; and the scenery and structures are fantastic."          I was floored....   ......the track plan was just an oval with a reversing loop 'cutt-off'; and some very cool mountains, tunnels and a ravine spanned by a scratch built 20" long Warren Truss bridge..   along with a very small 'whistle stop' town at the opposite corners diagonally....the whole thing was really just a re-build of the center 'peninsula, portion of the Grizzly & Dilapidated Ry. out in the garage....but I always loved the track plan...

I didn't even consider that a 'scaled down' version was an option; especially with the new dimensions being basically 40" by 6' with an extra 12" on the back left corner.....but to my surprise, it worked....18" radii on the outside curves and appx 16" to 17" radii on the 4% grade up to the @4-1/2" elevation of the 'upper area' where the mine, processing plant, and small engine shed for the 2-6-2T, are located....the scenery isn't as overwhelmingly huge and I also figured a way to 'cut down' the 16" dia. TT and build a 12-1/2" Sector Plate for turning the Bachmann 2-6-0, and the Bachmann 2-8-0 OF locomotives...both of which will handle all my radii.....(I checked them out - on some 16"-17"-18" radius curves)......I've been busy tearing apart the IMMR & T RR,..       ...and have started on the new project, I have the east end 4% curved grade laid out with WS inclines, and started stacking up the 4" to 4-1/2" elevated area....       ....so far all the measurements have 'jived' perfectly with the track plan....         ...Here's what is happening......

the plan.......(of course)..        


and the progress.......               .....




That's it for now hope ya'll will hang around and see what developes......thanx again for the support, suggestions, comments, AND patience.....................

KYLR CREEL
HPD Ry.

[kyle creel]

Is this one going to get finished?
Or like me we just like to keep things interesting!!! 

Jerry

Thanx for the visit to the project Jerry; and I been told that a model RR never gets finished; BUT- I plan to get this up and running in short order, it seems the 'stars all aligned' in order for me to do this ....I must say, I've  had in the back of my mind on every RR I've tried (since the 2023 NMRA Apartment RR) that I've been cheating myself somehow...but (happily) not this time...     thanx again so very much for the interest.......

KYLE CREEL
HPD Ry.

[Larry C]

When I saw the new thread I thought "Yup, Kyle's done at it again." Now I'm by far no expert but I have to say I really like your track plan. One observation though; the curve on the elevated track looks to have a "nasty" curve but I'm sure you'll sort that out. Also I've seen many small railroads using "sector plates" instead of TT as they tend to take up much less real estate. I'll have to follow along just to see what kind of progress you're making...good luck.

[kyle creel]

Thanx Larry C*.,

I'm so glad you stopped by, Jerry stopped by a little while ago, and was wonderin' if I'll finish it     or like him...just keep things interesting   .....they're never finished are they?....oh well ...

I really worked quite a few hours on this plan; in fact this one is actually the 5th version...   ...I had so many requirements regarding radii, elevation grades, track spacing, and room for all the structures; I only had room for the very best of the bldgs. and I was determined to not skimp on the scenery.  That was a bit of a challenge, because I have this really cool rock formation (Dave thinks it looks like some kind of 'Wizard Hat') that I was not going to leave out; yet I wasn't going to have the scenery get "out of scale proportion" to the rest of the layout..       ...I want it to look like a 'slice' out of an area...not like a whole planet in one little model RR...           ......Let me know how it looks from time to time, and also all the radii on the 'elevated portion' are at least 16-18 inches...that was one thing that took so long and demanded ssoooo many versions; getting the radii and clearances right.... .....

Thanx again for stoppin by.....stay tuned.....see ya.............       ........

KYLE CREEL
HPD Ry.

[Philip]

Still following your journey!

Your journey in song.

[Philip]

I want to add this type of incline to my layout~ I wonder if it would work and I would assume the framing would be difficult?

[kyle creel]

Hey Phillip;

"Welcome to my nightmare"       ...to quote Vincent Damon Furnier (pronounced Fernyea)..   AKA.....ALICE COOPER       ...

That's a great Billy Joel song; my favorite is "Angry Young Man" off of the  Turnstiles album      ...so cool...

That's also a very cool tram car.....the framing probably wouldn't be all that hard; it's basically 3 boxes mounted on a flatcar at what ever angle your mountain side grade is, with a roof and window frames on the 'top box'...however to quote Mr. Spock.. "Captian, that may be easier said than done; however it is entirely feasible, and quite logical..."           ..............

Thanx to everybody that's stopped by....it is very inspirational....   ....I was moving along with installing the grades, when I remembered, that a while back I did an informal study(very informal)of the best use of my available floor space...and after looking at the different furniture and layout location possibilities           ...I figured that if I wanted to get the absolute most "bang for the buck" ... .., I will need to take down the backdrop and move it to the opposite wall and reinstall it exactly as it was when mounted on the previous wall....move the desk and tall 5 drawer dresser (both are 41" tall) to the opposite side of the room UNDER  the layout, flush with the front edge, and supporting the front half of the layout...with shelf brackets located in strategic spots for support on the back side..       ....here is the original idea from back in July.....which is what I went with.....


This is the option I now prefer.......


Here's the rub...         .....this is going to take Gage and I a lot of work; I figure about 2 hours just moving and reinstalling the backdrop, then a day working on the bottom of the backdrop to finish it out and blend it with the new layout design before moving the furniture....

But first the layout has to be completed up to a certain point before moving the backdrop, any furniture or the layout into it's new home       ....so that I know 'exactly' what the land features, locations and elevations will be on the layout, in order to 'blend it in'.....this will entail 'shifting' the layout (it's on wheels) over to the new spot a few times to work out the details in the backdrop / layout blend....the bed also folds up and slides easily out of the way while the changes are being done....I think it'll take a full week or 10 days to get the preliminaries done, then everthing moved into its' position...but it's gonna be soooo cool looking     .....NEXT..........

In order to facilitate and speed up the project, I've simplified the layout; same overall design, but no 'upper level' and no grades to screw with...     ...just put the track down and build the scenery before the layout has to move to the new spot, working back to front (a lot of the work  on the forefront can be done after the move) and get the trains running smoothly...         ....
here's the current plan...............

here's the simplified version........

The curved turnouts (which I already have) are Peco code 100 HO scale 19"/17" radius curved turnouts...and I've used them for years, they function flawlessly and are 'bulletproof'...they also work very well in an 18" radius curve.. ...The fact that the entire layout will now have no track elevation changes is ok with me; I plan to add another 2" layer of pink foam for extra support and to allow for a few ravines and gullies before the move......       ....I'll continue working on the track work and scenery 'construction' so I can get this thing to the "let's run some trains" stage....the final build/installation before the 'relocation' will be the 12-1/2" sector plate project; I marked the cut lines on the 16" TT and deck/bridge last week and will work on it when I get tired of track and scenery, I have to keep it interesting by switching up from time to time...

That's about all for now, onward and upward     thanx again for checkin' out the HPD Ry. build....ya'll help make it fun, and are a huge source of inspiration and support; thanx ....       .....see ya.........        

KYLE CREEL
HPD Ry.