Drivin' em In and Tyin' em Down!

I dug out my old digital camera and scrounged up a couple of batteries in hopes of getting a better close-up of my trackwork. And so, voi la!

     I'm learning a lot about spiking rail. Want to learn how to spike rail? Get the materials and give it a try. You will be learning before you know it. Rule one: spike one rail in straight (use a metal straightedge) and then gauge the second rail off of the first. Rule two: push the spikes in at an angle, so that the points of the spikes almost meet under the rail. Rule three: push the spikes in just a little back from the rail, rather than snug up to it. That way you can tighten up later when you fine-tune the gauge.
     I discovered that pre-drilling is rarely necessary. Push 'em in with the pliers. If the sleeper splits, then pull out and drill the hole wider. So far, only one split. Having them glued in makes the difference. And just like that, I'm laying track! It's great fun. So far, I give myself a B- in getting it right. It looks good to me, and the test truck rolls over it beautifully, but the gauge is tight in one spot, and it's too late to correct that section. Lesson learned. But seeing is how I've completed less than a foot of track so far, I'm quite chuffed at my success!

Staining Sleepers

     Taking a cue from our own Jim Lincoln, one of the great Jedi Masters of trackwork, I went to work on the sleepers with a stainless steel brush. If you lean in and go slow, it will gouge out some lovely furrows in the grain. Unfortunately, my little phone camera hasn't got the wherewithal to show that kind of detail, but it really does work. When you apply stain, it goes in the grain quite nicely.
     I experimented with alcohol thinned india ink, which gives a beautiful gray age to the wood, but still leaves it "blonde" underneath. Testors "Rust" thins down to a perfect redwood stain, but looks too fresh. The two together give a close approximation to what I had in mind. I had considered thinning Testors "Flat Green" to simulate a copper sulfate preservative that's popular out here in the west, but I think I'm happy with what I've got so far.
     In the picture you can see my various track gauges, tools, and materials. The bright sleepers are bare basswood, for comparison. I painted the rails with the same rust paint, less thinned. The spikes need to have the heads trimmed down, which you can easily do with your rail nippers. Takes a bit of time, but the way I see it this is a hobby, not a job. This is time well spent. Besides, I figure I'm about as fast as a scale chain-gang, give or take.

Gandy Dancing

Planning a layout is a lot of fun for me, but occasionally you gotta drop your pencil and build something, even if your plans have yet to be completed. And so it happens that I took a scrap of MDF baseboard mouldning, covered it in cork roadbed, measured out three lanes of track, and laid a row of ties (or "sleepers" as they're known in much of the world.)

     Before I tackle building stub switches, I want to get a feel for just plain "laying track." I have an abundance of Campbell HO basswood sleepers, a thousand Micro Engineering spikes, and a bundle of ME code 70 rail in 18" lengths. I'll need to pick up some Future floor wax for when it comes time to ballast (we MRR listeners know all about that) but for now I've got enough to get started: sleepers, rails, spikes, gauges, and endless patience.

     I used some old atlas HO sectional track to draw my guidelines on the cork (a sharpie works great) and sorted out a bunch of ties of similar dimensions. The old Campbell ties have a lot of variation, but I got them really cheap, so I don't mind a little fussing. In the future, I think I'll use match sticks instead. The dimensions are almost identical (though they're square in cross section) and they have a nice beat-up texture. Besides, they're soft enough to push spikes through without splitting. Basswood ties I'm probably going to have to drill. and at four spikes per tie, that's a lot of drilling.

     I glued them in with yellow carpenter's glue, letting it pre-dry a little, so as to get nice and tacky. Then I dipped the sleepers in one-at-a-time, eyeballing the spacing so as not to get them too perfect. In hindsight, I think I need to make an actual effort to jog them around a little bit, since I'm naturally meticulous. Once they dry solid, I need to sand the tops down to an even level. In some places, a lot of wood will have to come off.

     So far it's been a lot of fun and very relaxing, almost meditative in fact. The three-track yard is 31" long, and will comprise this stretch of straight track, a Fast-Tracks turnout or two, and right in the middle, my three-way, double stub-switch. In the end it will be a glorified test track, or maybe even a micro layout if I can surround it with some scenic backdrops. Mostly though, it's my practice yard for track laying. I'll keep posting as I go along.

My "Layout Nook"

     In other parts of the world, people have Layout Rooms. Here in San Francisco, we make do as best we can with the space we have. I never complain about my tiny apartment, rather I accept it as the home I have had these past seventeen years, and embrace my limitations of space at the existential level. This is my little part of the world!

      This sunny Saturday morning I cleaned out this odd corner of my tiny kitchen, which has always been a sort of "staging area" for incoming groceries, outgoing recycling, and anything else that I need to set out of the way until I can figure out where to put it. Before any of the clutter could jump back in, I moved in my stock of styrofoam sheets, my previously unseen N scale micro layout "test track," and the baseboard for my current project. And voi la! I now have a layout nook.

     It's a sunny window, and there's an outlet at counter-top height just behind the fridge.  Actually, I don't envision operating in this space, nor do I think I'll do much modeling in here. But it seems right to have a place where work in progress can sit level while I'm not working on it, but don't want to properly put it away. Having it "out" makes it available and inviting. So when I come home and see it sitting there, I can move it to my modeling table (just two feet to my right as I took the picture) and tinker away to my heart's content.

Stub Switch

     Here's an amazing bit of trackwork I found in an old MR magazine. It's a three-way stub switch that functions as a double slip! It took me a while to puzzle out just what happens when you throw it, but it's actually really simple when you finally see it. Here we see the turnout in its center position, acting like it's not  really there (upper and lower routes go their own way.) Pull the throw downward, and the straight line goes through. Push it upward, and the curving line goes through. Genius! I'm considering making it the focal point of my new layout!

     Of course, we all know why this sort of trackwork went extinct a long time ago. Any route that isn't selected is a perfect derail; both rails lead off into the weeds. From a modeling standpoint, I don't see that as a problem. I'm talking about a micro layout here, not a mainline run. Switching is much of the fun, and this makes switching just a little more interesting. You see, I'm of the school of thought that says it's bad form to run your trains through an open switch. Just because there's a spring in there that allows a train to back through without derailing doesn't mean that's the way it works in real life. If the train's a-coming, they throw the switch. (I know there are exceptions, such as fixed or sprung points, but that's another story.)

     This arrangement also gives the opportunity to build a signal system showing which routes are clear and which are dead. Also, there's the problem of how to index the three-way throw. Electronic and mechanical challenges, Oh Boy! It just gets better and better =)

Godzilla-Board!

     Having disposed of the "surf-board" benchwork of the first attempt at realizing the T&D, I cast about for the right place to begin anew, and at home. Listening to some of the recent MRR podcasts, I heard someone (Terry Terrance, if I'm not mistaken) muse on the possibility of making your own heavy duty Gatorboard. Since I have the materials readily available, I decided to experiment. The result you see below.

     While it's not proper extruded polystyrene, the foam dollhouse packing that I recycle is tight enough to hold up under a number of modeling situations. The standard thickness is 1 1/8" and the sizes vary greatly. I selected three matched blocks and lined them up to form a 16" x 39" slab.  I cut code 80 chipboard (available and affordable at the art supply store) for the laminate, and spread an even coat of yellow carpenter's glue over the entire surface. Laid flat on the floor, I set my drawing boards on top (to spread the weight evenly) and loaded up my 2 foot stack of MR magazines, plus lots of books, then called it a night and went to bed. Next morning, I did the same for the other side, and tonight my home-made Godzilla-board is ready to go!

     While the surface is sturdy, you could dent it with a knee or elbow. With my drawing board flat on top on top, I actually sat on the pile of magazines with no hint of compression. The whole slab weighs a pound or two, but I suspect it will lighten up a bit as the glue moisture works its way out of the chipboard (which feels slightly cool, as that's where the water went.) It's as flat as my hardwood floor, which is as flat as I need it to be, and perfectly rigid. I plan to use it as the baseboard upon which I will build everything else. No holes or openings are planned, as wiring etc. will be built into successive layers. In the end, I plan to finish the outer surfaces with chipboard, prime heavily with acrylic gesso, and paint in some sort of faux finish to suggest rusty steel.

     But first things first! The slab dictates the dimensions, so my mini-layout now has a specified area. Since I can't model a whole railroad, I'll focus on one scene from the T&D. This is my favorite part of the process, figuring out a track plan, designing the scenery, and fitting it to the narrative. There's room for a few switches, maybe a runaround, and a structure or two. With a layout this small there's no reason not to spike every tie, weather every board, and detail every figure.

     I drool with anticipation =)

Unofficially Official

Bigger than the U.S. Capitol rotunda!

     It appears that I will soon be moving to a new workplace, above ground, in an executive office. I've seen the workspace for my group (which is still being corralled) and it's nice. View of the City Hall rotunda, brand new Mac computers, carpet, water cooler, and for once in my life, I won't be overdressed. Hooray!

     Unfortunately, it means that the Topdown & Drywater Railroad, as it currently exists (in the benchwork stage) must be abandoned. The shakeup comes at a good time, before I have spiked a single rail, and having laid only a few strips of cork roadbed. I did learn a lot about fine-tuning grades, so the experience is far from a loss. Besides, it was fun! And the fun doesn't stop just because I'm shifting digs. So I will take the 8' shelf layout to the junk heap (they have a great junk heap out back of the toy shop) and I will take myself downtown!

     So what's to become of The Delirium Route? It will simply have to be realized in a smaller space, that's all. I can manage a smaller shelf on a foamcore base, something that can be moved around the apartment and stood up in the closet when needed. I'm sticking with HO, so I can continue to build my roster as I have begun. I think I'll focus on operations at the Topdown Delirium Mine No. 3, and include some switching in the Drywater yard. I've been re-visiting Carl Arendt's Micro Layouts Website for inspiration, and there is much to be found.

     Another benefit to the shake-up is that I will receive a substantial pay raise. In future, the T&D will be much better funded. Not that that means bright and shiny new engines--far from it. Dilapidation and unchecked rust will still be the uniform of the day.