Simplify.

In the previous post back in March, I was considering my options for what to include in the layout. I've had a very busy year and don't expect things to slow down anytime soon, so I think the buzzword is "simplify".

Mainline west of Prince at this time will go to staging under Raleigh, along with a return loop to allow continuous run (perhaps I'll have this layout on the Piedmont Pilgrimage someday?). The Piney Creek branch will go to Raleigh yard, and eventually may reach Pemberton for that junction with the Virginian. Eastbound on the mainline past Quinnimont will temporarily go to a return loop until the design for that end of the layout is finalized.

The most recent work has been simply trying to make headway on organizing the room. Lots of shelving for books and other curiosities under the layout makes it feel more inviting and less like a storage room.

The desk/workbench in the foreground is attached to the wall and the work surface can fold down out of the way when working on the layout.

Which direction to go?

I've been playing with track planning and whatnot tonight, and I'm coming to a fork in the road with this layout. I've kept aisleways huge and compression very minimal so far, and in some ways that has come back to bite me. There's two ways I can take the design from here, and they're explained below.

1. Increase level of compression dramatically for future additions, add helixes, and increase grades on the layout. Hinton yard would be awkwardly crammed into a corner over the washer/dryer. Meadow Creek would also be seriously crammed into who knows where, if I could fit it at all. Its branch would be nothing but a staging stub. Thurmond would be just a little stump of a layout segment bereft of its yard, or at most a couple stub-ended tracks tucked under another scene.

2. Maintain the current open-room feel and linear flow to the layout, but some iconic locations (Thurmond, Hinton) would be present in name only as staging areas. Beyond the current Prince and Quinnimont segment, I'd have Piney Creek branch up to Raleigh yard, the wye, staging for the branch going towards Beckley, and a continuation of this end of the layout across the VGN diamond at Pemberton, WV (complete with display loop for VGN trains) to the jointly-served Affinity mine. I'd probably have room for a decent representation of Meadow Creek and may be able to include some of the NF&G in reasonable form as a second deck or "mushroomed" area.

I started out with a LDE based on a location near Hinton, but soon switched to Prince and Quinnimont as being center stage for the layout since that area along with the Piney Creek branch could stand alone as a decent layout. I still have the CW Cabin (Hinton) LDE, it has suffered some storage wounds but would be ready to go with some minor repair and track cleaning. But on the other hand, I could gut it for its switch motors and such, and call it an experiment that is now over. There's only so much I can fit in half a basement (other half is the garage, and that's a whole 'nother ballgame... not even my layout is allowed to take over the garage!)

DCC equipment install

I rolled around a few ideas for what to do with the DCC system components. I wanted something elegant and "built in", not just the command station and related items stuffed on a shelf somewhere. Originally I had settled on a small wall-mounted 19" IT/telecom rack, but last night the design for this simple beauty hit me. I sat and pondered it a while, and this morning I went to get some lumber and put it all together. It beats the cost and unnecessary complexity of the rackmount idea.

This is located under the Prince, WV portion of the layout. Removal of two screws allows it to swing down for service. I wanted a single power switch for the entire layout. That's on the left side, light switch with indicator light. I built this with two holes for Digitrax boosters, although I only have one at the moment. I plan to add a DCS100 and split the layout into two power districts. Also visible is the Locobuffer USB, I mounted it to be visible because of the status LEDs on it. Originally I'd planned to use a dedicated Linux PC as a JMRI server, but since I have another machine just a few feet away (and it's on almost 24x7), I'll just use it instead. Just need to round up about a 12-15 foot USB A-B cable.

Putting on a pretty fascia

The Piney Creek branch received its fascia today.

Also in the left of this pic, you see I have completed benchwork to the corner, just beyond which will be Raleigh yard. Underneath that yard the mainline will continue towards Thurmond. Ignore the mess, please.

Next, I have a detail shot of the fascia showing Digitrax UP5, New Rail Models throttle pocket, notch for the creek bed, and the "portholes" for viewing/accessing the mainline. Of course, the top of the fascia is not cut to its final profile... that'll happen as scenery begins to take shape.

That doesn't go there... or: Square peg, round hole.

Hmm. I don't think that goes together that way.

I know, I'll just use a saw and make it fit.

Earlier I mentioned the basement of the new house is shaped a little oddly, and the east end of Quinnimont yard would not fit without some re-arrangement. I thought about just shortening the yard by a couple feet to make the turn, but I've decided to bolt it together at a 90 degree angle and make the tracks round the corner. There wasn't any track down here yet anyway. Shown in the picture is some 20" radius Atlas sectional track approximately where the westbound mainline will be. This does shorten the yard slightly, but not by as much as keeping it in a straight line would have.


Oh, and here's another picture. The Piney Creek branch has track across the New River!

For space savings, I have represented this span with two through-truss kits, whereas the prototype has three through-truss segments of two designs, plus a deck girder at one bank.

Vertical space

I was worried about having enough vertical space for scenery along the Piney Creek Branch, but it looks like I can make it happen. The boxcar is on the "hidden" mainline. Above is the creekbed. Behind will be a bridge over the creek.

The further up the branch you go, the greater the vertical separation will be - and thus, less worry about how to make things fit. 

So much track, so little space

I wanted the Piney Creek Branch to occupy less than 12" of layout depth to not eat up so much room space. I'd like to have a tv/reading nook in this area.

As it turns out, 12" for this branch is going to be quite crowded considering what else passes through this section of layout. There's Piney Creek itself, there's the C&O branchline and its associated mines, and as the infomercials say, "but wait, there's more!".

I've laid out a few pieces of flex track to show what's where. Far left against the wall will be two tracks of hidden staging representing the Terry mine (joins the branch just off the right of this photo) and top center is the branch itself. The two at bottom right are the mainlines west of Stretcher's Neck. Going west from Prince, they enter the tunnel and will be obscured by a low backdrop as the branch crosses the river. They descend as the branch ascends, finally reaching sufficient height to cross over at this corner. The mains return to view for operator confidence, but only as a slot in the fascia providing access for derailment cleanup and track cleaning. They continue like this until at least Raleigh where I may return them to a true lower level with scenery. All hidden / non-scenic track will be Atlas Code 80 for cost savings whereas the rest of the layout is Atlas Code 55.

Piney Creek branch teaser

The Piney Creek branch is finally going somewhere... across the river and up the holler towards Raleigh!

I'm using two Atlas through truss spans to represent the crossing of the New River. Behind, the mainlines (hidden after entering Stretcher's Neck tunnel) will begin a slow descent towards Thurmond. In the far corner will be a spur disappearing behind scenery to a small staging area to represent the Terry mine. 

New year, new inspiration... or, ten pounds of layout in a five pound basement.

Hmmm... double deck? Originally I wanted to avoid that, but I'm coming to the realization that I will not be able to fit everything I want in this space without it.

Here's another idea for the Piney Creek branch and mainline west of Prince.

I seem to recall a layout design concept called the "nolix". It's a helix that isn't a helix. Take a helix and stretch it out straight. In this case, the mainlines west of Prince (top right) disappear into Stretcher's Neck tunnel and don't reappear to the operator (except for operator confidence viewing / access) until it winds around this corner, under Raleigh, and pops out of the scenery near Thurmond (off this drawing to the lower right). In that distance, I figure I can descend a good 3-5 inches with only a 1% grade. The branch may have a steeper grade ascending (and may yet have a helix somewhere) to give true double deck separation.

This "nolix" results in narrower benchwork at the Piney Creek branch crossing of the New River, as seen at the top center compared to the drawing in the previous post. Also reduces mainline grades and simplifies construction.