Robatron86 Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 (edited) You never stay away long do you? You always come back to the dark side...  For the last week, I have had an urge to return to NA railroads. The narrow gauge adventure I have been on has been fun, a learning experience, and a chance to actually build things. But my heart yearns for spurs, not sidings, for switchers, not shunters.  Anyway, the real kick up the a**e to get on with it is the sudden loss of Jack. A man who inspired so many, and built more small and micro American layouts than I ever will. It made me think "Life is short, so do what makes you happy before you lose the chance". So this evening, I fired up the laptop, got Anyrail on the go, jumped onto eBay and bought a beautiful Proto 2000 SW9 in Southern livery, and let the designing and testing get underway. Let's see where this goes!  I have the wood I need in the shed. Size? 5"2 by 13 inches. Nice slab of 6mm (or maybe 8mm?) mdf calling out to be used. I'm still moving track around in Anyrail at the moment, so no plan yet, but it will be here soon enough.  It's good to be back. Edited November 18, 2020 by Robatron86 9 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcanman Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Good to see you've returned to the 'dark side'. Â Â Jack's loss has made me have similar thoughts so I'm also going to spend some time with Anyrail and see if I can come up with another small US switching layout. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prof Klyzlr Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Dear Rob, Â Good to see you back. Agree and strongly suspect we'll be seeing a minor explosion in "kick in the butt" micro/small layout builds within the next 12 months or so, for all the same reasons... Jack would be proud that words are turning into modelling-action, and that he's (still, continually) able to encourage fellow modellers... ;-) Â Can't wait to see what your Anyrail musings spawn from here... Â Happy Modelling, Aim to Improve, Prof Klyzlr 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 Thanks for the encouragement gents, I'm really enthusiastic about it.  I also suspect that a lot of the new micro/small layouts that will appear, will have at least one nod to Jack on it somewhere. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted April 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27, 2019 Good news for your return to the NA scene, any water involved? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 5'2" is about the length of a 3-2-2 Inglenook for approximately 50' cars and is relatively easy to manage in a larger car, but there are additional possibilities for extra tracks or going a bit smaller.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 1 hour ago, 298 said: 5'2" is about the length of a 3-2-2 Inglenook for approximately 50' cars and is relatively easy to manage in a larger car, but there are additional possibilities for extra tracks or going a bit smaller.... Well Tilley Yard South was 5'2", so I know that it's a good size, the board is an inch wider than the last one. I'm leaning towards another inglenook. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 3 hours ago, Northroader said: Good news for your return to the NA scene, any water involved? No, still no water... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 (edited) I spent yesterday building the baseboard, usual construction method of MDF on a pine frame, although I was completely wrong on the thickness of the MDF, it wasn't 6mm, or 8mm, it was 18mm! I did a lift test after I put it together and the weight isn't excessive, so not a major issue. More Anyrail playing tonight to finalise the plan. Edited April 28, 2019 by Robatron86 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcanman Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 I've been baseboard building today. My usual method of 12mm MDF on top of my 20 year old 3 x 1ins timber frame,  topped with cork tiles.  Anyrail tomorrow to finalise the plan. We seem to be mirroring each other's work, it'll be interesting to see what evolves.  Mal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted April 28, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 28, 2019 Good to hear you are back Rob. Look forward to seeing what you have in store. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 58 minutes ago, Alcanman said: I've been baseboard building today. My usual method of 12mm MDF on top of my 20 year old 3 x 1ins timber frame,  topped with cork tiles.  Anyrail tomorrow to finalise the plan. We seem to be mirroring each other's work, it'll be interesting to see what evolves.  Mal That is spooky Mal, we appear to be progressing at the same speed.  I'm only really looking at a simple 3-2-2 Inglenook design.   Nothing special at all, but it works, and I can use all the surrounding area for structures and details. I'm not 100% committed to this plan yet. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendell1976 Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 On 26/04/2019 at 18:21, Robatron86 said: "get on with it" "Life is short" "It's good to be back."Â Hey Rob, it is good to see that you are involved with model railroading once again. I had really enjoyed seeing and reading about your former HO scale Tilley Yard South layout. About "getting on with it" and "life is short", this is one of the main reasons why I love small/micro layouts that are within sixteen(16) square feet. https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/30394 Â Wendell Idaho, USA 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 Thank you for the kind words Wendell. I'm glad the Tilley Yard South was such an inspiration to you.  So board complete, cork laid. Now, I don't usually use cork, but the company I work for was throwing a load out and it would have been rude not to take it home.    My single piece of US code 83 I have left, a #4 wye. This will be incorporated into the plan. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted April 29, 2019 Author Share Posted April 29, 2019 The track plan has been printed off and attached to the board.   50 ft boxcar for scale. My SW9 should arrive by the end of the week. I shall be using my time before being able to get the track to mock up some buildings in card and have a play around. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Is there room for any more track? Although less is more, one problem I foresaw with a 3-2-2 Inglenook is all of the trackwork is used during switching (especially if you aren't using a fiddle yard), and there is no spare room for additional stock storage or swapping anything over out of sight of the main layout.  Just a thought.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 Potentially. I was thinking about maybe a length of track from left to right in front of the lead track, and placing a few cars on that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted May 2, 2019 Author Share Posted May 2, 2019 Well, she's arrived.  7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Is it staying in that Southern livery? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted May 2, 2019 Author Share Posted May 2, 2019 Yes it will be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickBrad Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Welcome back to the Darkside Rob and also, Happy Birthday!!!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 On 01/05/2019 at 16:06, Robatron86 said: Potentially. I was thinking about maybe a length of track from left to right in front of the lead track, and placing a few cars on that. I did that on my inglenook and I'd consider that aspect at least to have been a success. Obviously you can't use it for operations, but it allows a bit of car storage and you can model another industry if you so wish. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 Welcome back. Jack would be proud. Â I'm thinking of doing something similar in his honour. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 (edited) Good news! The track for the layout is on its way and should be with me tomorrow, then I can start the usual dilemma of point motors or mechanical point switching. We shall see, although I suspect the latter as it is cheaper and less complicated.  I was going to mark out building placements and the like while waiting for the track, but the other two micro layouts have been occupying my time. Edited May 22, 2019 by Robatron86 Typo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted May 24, 2019 Author Share Posted May 24, 2019 The track arrived today, so this evening it was laid, wired up and mechanical switch control is in place. Nothing fancy, just some pine dowel and 0.5mm brass rod. And it all works!  I have a few ideas in mind that I want to try out on this one. And I'm leaning towards Atlanta as a location. Watch this space...   Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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