Play-Dohs Yard

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Play-Doh

Member
May 12, 2006
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Portland OR
Hey Folks

Well its been far too long since my last 4X8 layout, but the wife has promised that if I stop moping around about not having trains, she will let me have half the bedroom to build my long awaited rail yard. So, over the next month or so, I will use this thread to show the progress on my yard. I have some of my supplies, im heading to the lumberyard today. So hopefully by weekends end ill be laying roadbed.

Here is the yard diagram

yard.jpg


Nothing too complicated ( I hope ) I have the turntable constructed and a roundhouse (that I hope will work). Even better I found all my remote switches for a steal on ebay. So, follow me along the next few weeks as I make progress!

TJ
 
Not allot to update, but im hard at work thats for sure.

I built the 4X8 Frame....came up a little short...not sure why. Doesnt matter though, the frame is just to prevent the plywood and soundboard from warping. Eventually it will be removed and placed on permanent benchwork.

So anyway, I got to work. I attatched the plywood and the soundboard and started planning everything out. I realize that everything has to revolved around the turntable...so I started there. For the life of me I cant get the whole right...my dremel dying on me constantly isnt helping either....I need a corded one.

Here is my completed turtable. I havent put the track on yet.


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And here is my yard so far...not much to look at...but at least im starting. As you can see, it takes up most of the bedroom....my wife is VERY understanding. The mainline has roadbed layed...felt good to lay some roadbed...havent done that for a year or so.

DSC01769.jpg


More updates tommorow!

TJ
 
Gee, you could scratch build a 130' turntable for a big boy or a 4-12-2 ;-)

Your trackplan looks a little bare. Do you plan on adding additional tracks or adding industries? You might want to consider sliding the engine facility to one side or a corner to have a more prototypical yards...even if you start out with just a few tracks as drawn, you might want to consider expansion potential. Also, pretty engines look nicer sitting on tracks next to a 3 stall enginehouse (as you have) than sitting inside a 10 stall roundhouse.
 
nkp174 said:
Gee, you could scratch build a 130' turntable for a big boy or a 4-12-2 ;-)

Your trackplan looks a little bare. Do you plan on adding additional tracks or adding industries? You might want to consider sliding the engine facility to one side or a corner to have a more prototypical yards...even if you start out with just a few tracks as drawn, you might want to consider expansion potential. Also, pretty engines look nicer sitting on tracks next to a 3 stall enginehouse (as you have) than sitting inside a 10 stall roundhouse.
Click to expand...

I realized the bareness as soon as I started laying rail the other day. You are right, it is a little light. HOwever while designing the yard, I wanted to keep in mind that this was a small yard serving a small town. And, ive always been drawn to lots of structures so I wanted to have plenty of room.

However, It still was too much wasted space. I have since altered my track plan and added to more stretches of track on the right side. And yes, some engine facilities could be excellent. Or even some storage tracks.

Itll happen!

Thanks
TJ
 
If only we all had room for a turntable, the world would be a better place. :mrgreen:

This is a great layout to start with and build off of later if you have the room.
 
Hmm, Play-Doh...I think you should take a look at some of the DSP&P/C&S small yards. They had several towns at the end of the line in which there were just a few buildings plus a turntable to turn locomotives...
Here:
This is an early picture of Morrison, Co. The turntable is visible beyond the station and a little to the right. Later they added more yard tracks and this branch survived well into the 20th century. I can't find pictures online, but Black Hawk also had a similar set-up. Both towns had branchlines leaving town too. I mention these because they are similar to what I'm picture as you describe your yard. turntables w/roundhouses were uncommon for small yards serving small towns.
 
Thanks for your input everyone. I will have a proper update tommorow on my progress.

And yes, I considered that a roundhouse and turntable would not be common for a small town. The area I model (not prototypically (sp?)) does not even have a turntable.

But I WANT a turntable! So I think my only choice is to expand the town and the yard. That means more structures and rail! Oh geez....twist my arm! :D
 
I do have some (not much) for updates. Im actually not making allot of progress on the layout itself..im doing the tedious things like painting rail and installing uncouplers. But I should have some more railed this evening. Here are a few more pics.

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I love a good messy work area!!

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This is the right side. As you can see I added another switch and yard length.
 
Play-Doh, thanks for posting pictures. There's a prototype for everything if you look enough! So why bother? I was just suggesting the DSP&P/C&S because they had exactly what you described (minus the engine house).

The only thing that is odd is the location of the turntable. It would usually be over where the pack of atlas track and switch machines are sitting...it just looks very odd to me with where it is...but if it looks fine to you...then it's location is perfectly fine. For further explanation of decisions on YOUR railroad...I love Doyle McCormick's website. I absolutely love it. Btw, Doyle is the man behind the curtain for the SP Daylight...GS4 4-8-4 #4449 of Freedom Train fame.
 
nkp174 said:
The only thing that is odd is the location of the turntable. It would usually be over where the pack of atlas track and switch machines are sitting...it just looks very odd to me with where it is...but if it looks fine to you...then it's location is perfectly fine. For further explanation of decisions on YOUR railroad...I love Doyle McCormick's website. I absolutely love it. Btw, Doyle is the man behind the curtain for the SP Daylight...GS4 4-8-4 #4449 of Freedom Train fame.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the website...ill certainly check it out. Sadly ive already cut the whole for the turntable, so im afraid it has to stay. But like you said, it only has to look righ to me! Thats the beauty of this hobby. I am however gonna move the engine house to the right side. That way I can watch my engines come out! Thank you for all your insight! I appreciate it!

And rhtastro, as far as the weather in Oregon, im not sure. I went ahead moved myself to Montana a few months ago to take a job after I got married. Looks like my profile is one of the few things I did not change in the last few months!

Thanks for all your help! More to come!

TJ
 
One more thing. I actually ripped off this yard design (well, most of it anyway) from a prototypical one I spotted in MR over a year ago. It had the turntable and everything. I will do some digging around...might be a fun one to research!
 
I'll cut and paste Doyle's defense of his 1:1 scale model railroading plans. Doyle's an all life NKP fan. He's talked about wanting to restore my favorite engine, the NKP 170, and he got his start with the NKP 759 crew. A few years ago he managed to repatriate two of the last four surviving PA-1s from Mexico. One goes to the Smithsonian and he gets to keep one...it took both to pull the deal off. They were AT&SF engines so many think his should be AT&SF...others think it should be SP Daylight to match it's engine house sister...the 4449. Doyle's decided to paint it up for his favorite railroad...and that's bothered a few people. His response is perfect for anyone's justification of their model railroad...

"
  1. Why paint the PA in Nickel Plate colors?
    Doyle says: "Because it's mine and I want it that way."
  2. Don't you think that Warbonnet/Daylight/(insert favorite road name) would look better?
    No. If that were the case, it wouldn't be NKP190, it would be ATSF62.
  3. But the locomotive is originally from the Santa Fe. Wouldn't that be more appropriate?
    Yes, no—doesn't matter. See question #1."
 
Its been too long since I have updated you folks on my progress. Belive me, I have been busy! I am happy to say that the final rail of the yard has been laid, and now I am mid wiring. Here are some pics for you!

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As you can tell, I painted the base board brown for a base color for the future scenery. I have not yet installed the roundhouse, that will be down the road. Also, all the wires you see sticking up around various parts of the layout are jumper wires that will be pulled down and wired to the BUS wires underneath.

Looking forward to getting this thing wired and tested!


TJ
 
Thank you for the update TJ.

It looks like you'll be able to have some fun switching...especially with the two small run around tracks which you have. I actually built a similar yards at a coal mine a few years ago. It is nice to have a single ended yards so that you have to work a little to switch it.
 
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