The Saga of My Ever Shrinking Railroad

[vsmith]

This is an update for some, for others this may be new, if so you can catch the full history of my on-off-on-off-on-off saga of trying to build a large scale RR on GR, MLS or LSC forums, theres no way to relate 10 years of history leading to my current status, so the rest of your will just have to jump in at this point, suffice to say after 9 years of struggle to build a layout outdoors, moving indoors into the garage then last year tearing out my 10 x 20 foot fixed laout, I ended up last summer with a 5x6 mobile layout with folding wings that made for a 5' x 9' layout...

...well the fold downs turn out to be a real hastle in actual operations, way too much fiddling around with took too long just to get one side set up, so I just left them up, then the misses started fussing about how much room the layout took up and it did take up quite a bit of room so I did some pondering and reevaluation and eventually came up with this reworking

Revised right side with fold downs removed, back to original configuration:

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/Portable Layout Revised 5x5 Scenery001.JPG.JPG < Link To

Reworked front
http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/Portable Layout Revised 5x5 Scenery002.JPG.JPG < Link To

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/Portable Layout Revised 5x5 Scenery004.JPG.JPG < Link To

Revised left side, fold down reduced in size and fixed in place

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/Portable Layout Revised 5x5 Scenery003.JPG.JPG < Link To

Revised left side new tunnel face

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/Portable Layout Revised 5x5 Scenery005.JPG.JPG < Link To

Still have a nice outside loop to run bigger equipment on but now have a fixed platform without the hastles of the folddowns or the space problems of the former layout. Plus I can use the outside track as a point to point for the LGB Auto reverser I have and have been trying to intigrate for a while now. This will be getting scenery very soon now.
http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/Portable Layout Revised 5x5 Scenery005.JPG.JPG < Link To
BTW total size 5'6" x 5'6"

 

[coyote97]

Thats one of the smallest G Scale layouts i´ve ever seen.
You are an artist of dimensions!

Frank

 

[vsmith]

I got the 2-pole switches installed and aside from one dumb wiring move (connecting a feeder wire to the wrong rail, D'oh!) its now completely operational, next step will be to add the LGB Auto reversing unit to the outside track, if I can find them. Time to clean off everything and fiddle with the foam scenery at the new tunnel portal

 

[vsmith]

Well I tore up the layout today... no wait, that should be I tore everything OFF the layout, and then tipped over, well on its side.

The reason for this wonton destructive behavior was so I could remove the 2? wheel castors and replace them with great big honking 4? castors. This was necessary as I have fairly large control joints in my garage slab that the contractor provided with ½? rounded edges, so whenever I rolled the layout around with the 2? castors (price effective at the time) when they hit those joints it was they dropped into the Grand Canyon! And everything on the layout got a nasty jolt. Well I just got plain sick and tired of it so after a pricey trip to Home Despot, it was off with everything! It took more time to remove everything than it took to knock it over, replace the castors, and tip back upright. But the upshot is that that now not only does the layout roll over the joints with just the slightest of blips, it now turns and rolls with [/b]far less resistance, and the deck gained 2 inches in height!
BTW 99% of the stuff is back on the layout

 

[vsmith]

Its been a while since I posted anything on this but I have been working on it

Some progress pics:

The mine completed:

Water tank finally painted and weathered

Gas station begun:

Beginning to get the scenery finished:

More pics as I work around the layout

 

[casey jones snr]

My my what a difference.

 

[vsmith]

Some more progress pics:
Cut out a section to add a trestle, its the last major Item the layout really called for.

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/Portable Layout Revised 5x5 Scenery010.JPG < Link To

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/Portable Layout Revised 5x5 Scenery011.JPG < Link To

I ran out of blue foam so I thought I'd try an experiment, using spray foam insulation mixed with what few blue foam peices I had left. The initial results were, well, quite scary!

After some, alot, of cutting, tweeking and using caulking in an almost sculptural way, its getting better. Paint will cover most of the odd looking connections

More pics as I progress.

 

[C&S]

Interesting geology! Look forward to seeing the trestle as it is built; at least planting the bents into the rocks should be no problem.

 

[vsmith]

Interesting geology! Look forward to seeing the trestle as it is built; at least planting the bents into the rocks should be no problem.

Its the footings that I have to figure out, I can at least cut them straight into the foam. I have a pair of LGB short truss's I'm going to use under the track, and make a pair of girder plate spans on either side its now just the the piers to figure out.

 

[vsmith]

The Borracho Steel Works in action:

The new steel high bridge over Borracho Gulch mocked up in the shops

In place, with additional plate girder deck sections on each side (cut up Lionel O gauge bridge)
More pics:

Track inspection:

The piers are 1x3 lumber w/ basswood sheets added to create a widening effect ner the base

Installation complete:

This is probably the last major piece of construction I had wanted on my layout, now just to finish scenicing the rest of it.

 

[C&S]

Nothing like a bridge to add a bit of drama, but I don't know how you're able to fit it all in!

 

[dragon]

Nothing like a bridge to add a bit of drama, but I don't know how you're able to fit it all in!

You seem to have more detail in that tiny layout than I have on my own in the garden. Well done.

 

[seanlisle]

Fantastic ! I`ve got as far as getting a 12ft x 8ft shed up. Next step is the baseboard and then the layout. I have had several layouts over the last 30 years and I must admit the most enjoyable have been the small one`s.

 

[C&S]

Fantastic ! I`ve got as far as getting a 12ft x 8ft shed up. Next step is the baseboard and then the layout. I have had several layouts over the last 30 years and I must admit the most enjoyable have been the small one`s.

How much are you planning o get into the shed? I did try to plan for a shed, but with only a small London garden already full of shrubs and trees, an indoor line was the easier option.

 

[seanlisle]

Well I`ve got 120 feet of garden, but for reasons including money and wife and small children and a massive dog (Collie / Foxhound cross with a small horse) I am planning to have most of the railway in the shed with a small extension going outside. I will use R1 or the Peco setrack (prefer the latter for the look) and cram in as little as I can ! I like the Welsh rail gauge scene with the railway crammed into high walls and small spaces between terraced houses so the smaller the better really. I will post pictures as I get under way.

 

[vsmith]

Finally ballasted the track last week, using my patented "kitty litter" staining technic with consists of simply dipping the litter in a strainer into a small bath of water/acrylic paint mix, then setting that onto a plywood sheet to dry in the sun.
Main town area:

High Bridge area:

Fiddle yard area:

Mine spur area:

Cleaning the glue residue off the track after was a pain but so far everything is running well again.

 

[C&S]

Looking good. Talk about selective compression! Always enjoy seeing your mini-locos.

 

[royale]

Amazing - and very well done. With all that rock work you must have found Geology 101 a snip!

 

[trammayo]

How come Mr Smith's pictures hardly ever (if ever) show on my screen? These are the only ones that do not appear. After seeing people's comments I begin to wonder if I am missing something

Mick

 

[Glengrant]

I just think that goldarn layout is so clever, it is just brilliant, artistic yeah?