Mid March Update

This update is long over due... some significant progress has been made on the Dragonfly Sub in recent months.  I have focused on many things including building structures, scenery, operational changes, and adding/modifying industrial tracks.  Some on-going projects worth noting:

•  Eliminated towns, in favor of modeling two towns (Walnut, Illinois and Prophetstown, Illinois).  This major change will require modification to the Operating Plan.  It appears now that two local turns will leave Mendota (staging) with one traveling to Prophetstown and the other traveling to Walnut.  The turns will switch the respective towns and return to Mendota.  This scheme would work if multiple operators are available... if not...  then a single turn could be run to handle all of the work.
• Removed the Green River in favor of more Midwest style flatland.  My initial thought in including the Green River was to provide a visual barrier between towns (switching areas).  In the end, this was not effective and was more of a stumbling block, trying to tie two industrial areas into a "country scene".   It has been removed and replaced with flatland.
• Started to build structures and place them on the railroad.  This is a trial and error process.  A building can look very different if placed at various locations on the railroad.  With that in mind, some time has been spent moving structures around and determining if 1) Does the building look believable in that location, does if fit (both physically and conceptually) and 2) Can rail be used to serve it?  This has been a fun process and the moving about of the buildings seems to be about done.
• Added a coal unloading dock in Walnut.  This will add some coal hopper traffic from both the Q at Mendota and the CNW at Walnut.
• Added two additional industrial sidings in Prophetstown to generate more traffic.  The tracks will serve a grain company, warehouse, bulk oil dealer, and lumber yard.

As time allows, pictures of the various projects will be posted.
Happy Railroading!
Scott

Structures Update

I have been focusing on building some structures I received for Christmas.  This is my first experience in building structures for many years.  I have identified several Walthers kits for the downtown area of Walnut, Illinois and it is those structures that I am constructing.  A few pictures of the progress so far.

The last photo shows a small piece of styrene I added to the model to fill the gap left between the door and the building walls.

That's it for now.
Scott

Layout Update

I have developed the building/street layout for Walnut, Illinois.  Below are two photos showing the paper templates that represent the various buildings and streets that will make up the town.

 The long and narrow rectangular shapes represent the state highway (Illinois Route 92) and various side streets.  The highway will cross the mainline from the top left of the picture and turn west (down in the photo) to follow the tracks toward Prophetstown.  The larger rectangles to the right represent buildings.  The buildings are multiple story store fronts with the exception of the one closet to the foreground.  At this location a gas station is proposed. 

This is another view from "the air" showing the track arrangement relative to the town.  The track with the three cars is the interchange track between the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad (CNW) and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad.  The track from the lower right to the upper left (through the diamond) is the CNW mainline from Nelson, Illinois to Peoria, Illinois.  Although this at-grade crossing did exist, I cannot find any evidence that there was an interchange track located at this location.  But, since this is, my railroad and I wanted some additional industries to serve by rail (and an interchange track is a great industry because it can handle any type of car) I decided to use some modeler’s license and include it.

More updates coming!  Stay tuned for updates on building the structures that will become part of downtown Walnut!
 Thanks,
Scott

Scenery Progress

I have made substantial progress on the scenery around the Green River area.  For the most part I am pleased with the look, understanding that it is really just the base scenery and that a lot more detail will be added.  Items like trees, bushes, rock outcroppings, and other things will help make the scene look more realistic.  It is wonderful to watch the "fields of blue" foam slowly disappear!  I will post updated pictures soon.

On another portion of the railroad, I am laying out Walnut, Illinois.  So far, I have identified several structures that I will use and have cut paper to the size of each buildings footprint.  Using these footprints, along with 24' wide (HO Scale) paper roadway, I am developing the city around the railroad.  I will snap a couple of pictures of this process to include in the next update as well.

Happy Railroading!

Scott

Winter is Here in the Midwest

It has been a while since I posted to the blog. It has been a busy Christmas Season... family, food, and traveling have consumed the bulk of the last few weeks. With the turn of the calendar to January and the snow piling up outside, I am once again turning my free time to the model railroad.


I have been working on a few things. I have been building more structures. Currently I am working on the Standard Oil facility that will be in Walnut, Illinois. Once again, I have turned to a Walthers kit for the basis of this industry. I think I will end up using about 50% of the included buildings/tanks, mainly because of space limitations. I once heard a model railroader talk about how he placed buildings on his railroad. He would put it in a spot and leave it for a couple of days and see how he liked... if he didn’t he would rearrange the building(s) and try that for a couple of days. It was an on going process until he found what looked good and seemed believable. So with that idea in mind I will do that same thing. I have actually started doing that with Houghton Lumber Co. in La Moille. Time will reveal the final orientation for the buildings.

Another item I have been working on and giving some thought to is Ops. For me, this is why I am doing all this work and planning. I dream of having a prototypically operating model railroad. I am really interested in modeling the art of car movement and car operations. The model railroad itself is just one of the tools I am using to achieve this dream. I will post more on Ops as the plan develops.

I will post some pictures of various projects happening on the railroad soon.

Thanks for visiting,
Scott

Magnets, Buildings, and Pancakes. What do they have in common? Check out the latest update on the Dragonfly!

Time to update the blog with progress on the railroad. The wiring for the programing track is complete. I have also finished the wiring for the lift out section. I will post some pictures but for now I can describe what I did.

I mounted two magnets under the lift out section on the benchwork with the opposing plates attached to the bottom side of the bridge. I then attached wires from the plates through the composite bridge section (3/4" plywood and 2" of foam) to the rails on the lift out section. The magnets mounted on the benchwork adjacent to the bridge seat were then wired to the main track bus under the railroad. When the lift out section is in place, the contact between the magnet and the plate completes the circuit and power the track on the bridge. Seems to work very well and avoids plugging and unplugging jumpers... or worst yet forgetting to and then removing the bridge and the wiring too!

The Great Train Exhibit was in town this past weekend. Our son Carter and I decided to go! We had a great time! After a quick stop at McDonald's for some of those famous pancakes, we were off to the show! We went with very focused intentions- STRUCTURES. I had a list of structures to buy for the various industries on the railroad. We worked our way through the maze of booths and tables searching out and recording prices for the various kits. We managed to find some great deals and purchased 4 kits. We were able to find a petroleum facility for Standard Oil Company in Walnut; a grain elevator for L.D. Spaulding Grain Company in Walnut; and a lumber company for E.W. Houghton Lumber Company in La Moille. The boys had a great time!

Future projects on the list include:
Build some structures (something that I have not done... for a long time!)
Paint the fascia (probably Pullman Green)
Paint the track
Begin to fill out Car Cards and Waybills and begin trial operations! Yahoo!
Scenery (again, something that I have seldom gotten too on the last two railroads I have built.)

I am very please so far with the outcome of the railroad. Careful planning, patience, and proven construction techniques have built a railroad that is operationally solid. I am eager now to move on to the next phase... SCENERY. Check back often to see how that is going!

That's it!
Scott