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Scotts-dale Division Site
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This page is devoted to my Construction log. I write notes
about the building of the layout. The better notes will become the basis for
future articles. October, 2010 - Chief Dispatcher
Received my NMRA Chief Dispatcher AP award today, two down and five to
go. I've posted my paperwork here so that others working on Chief
Dispatcher can review to better understand how to do their own
application.
Also, I've added portions of the application to the Volunteers and
Operations sections of the web site.
While I haven't made much progress on the SDD layout, I have made
significant progress on the scenery for the DCC by Design Demo Layout,
in the process I've tried many of the techniques I'm going to use for
SDD layout scenery. Now I just need to finish the upper deck track work.
September, 2010 - Electrical
Received my NMRA Master Builder - Electrical AP award today, one down
and six to go. I've had the requirements done for a long time (and a
couple of times over), but this summer finally sat down and completed
the paperwork, along with some friends.
Also, completed a little more track work, specifically the interchange
track at Marsh Fork.
Submitted my AP Author paperwork as well.
August, 2010
Submitted my AP Volunteer paperwork
July, 2010 -
Submitted my AP Chief Dispatcher paperwork. Otherwise took the month off
from trains.
June, 2010 -
Submitted my AP Electrical paperwork.
March, 2010 -
February, 2010 - Mainline Operational Again
I finally fixed the mainline from the move in December and the kids are
very happy, because now trains can run on the layout once again.
December, 2009 - Layout Moved
In preparation for the holidays, the layout has been moved out of the
upstairs bedroom an into the new Train Room. The layout is back
together, but the pieces didn't line up exactly, so I'll be ripping out
portions of the mainline and redoing them.
In looking back, the first part of 2009 the layout made significant
progress, but the latter part of 2009 wasn't a very good six months for
making progress on the layout. Most of that was due to the success of
DCC by Design and focusing time on the associated work.
November, 2009 - Train Room Painted
The basement train room has been painted, I think the color does a good
job of match fall sky color in West Virginia.
October, 2009 - Layout Move
Our roommate for the past two years has moved out of our basement. The
good news, is that I can have back the "train room" we envisioned when
we bought the house. The bad news is that the layout needs cut apart to
move.
August, 2009 - Layout Progress
It has been a four month break from layout construction. During that
time for
DCC
by Design, I've
designed, built and tested two prototype layout lighting systems,
displayed at the Great Scale Train Show in Timonium, MD and built
numerous panels for clients. Now it would be enjoyable to work on the
layout again. The goal for this round of construction is to finish the
installation of mainline turnouts and their control panels. The turnouts
are operated by DCC controlled tortoises.
Completed the staging area today.
April, 2009 - Layout Progress
Inviting friends over to see your layout definitely spurs progress. At
the beginning of this year, I offered to host our train club meeting and
give a clinic. The clinic was on using JMRI Decoder Pro Software and I
wanted to have the entire mainline operational for the clinic. I'm happy
to say that I just made it.
January 3, 2009 - Layout Progress
It has been a bout 6 months since the SDD layout
construction started. At times it has been very slow going. Still, enough has
been completed to hold the first operating session today.
Full News
Update
September 11, 2008 - New FocusToday our
daughter was born. This new joy means I won't be working on the layout for
awhile.
- 1 Sept 2008
Over the past three weeks since train fest, I've been working a little most
nights, during this time I've been concentrating on preparations to lay the
track for the Scottsdale yard area and the Bluefield/Williamson staging
area. By Labor Day weekend, I had the foam in place and ready to start
laying track. Over the weekend I laid the west end of the staging,
Williamson turnouts, and the mainline, siding, and arrival/departure track
at Scotts-dale.
I also learned several what no to do's along the way:
1. My plan for turnouts was too complex laying out the track to locate the
tortoises and then cutting the plywood was time consuming. Next time, I'm
going to seriously consider not using plywood and just thick foam. Also, I
would use a different way to mount tortoises.
2. Carpenter's glue (Yellow glue) does not hold track on curves well while
the glue is setting. It has too low a viscosity (too runny). However, it
works well for straight track.
- 11 August 2008
I'm happy to say that TrainFest was a complete success. First, because I had
organized tools and supplies in advance, I had no trips to the LHS or
building supply store. Second, because I had multiple work stations, I was
able to keep working on some facet of the layout.
On Friday night, when I started, I had completed the L girder portion of the
benchwork. Over the weekend I cut the plywood subroad bed, moved furniture
out of the train room, moved the benchwork from the garage to the train
room., fitted the plywood and tacked it down. In addition, I laid the
roadbed for the yard scene and staging. I also soldered feeder wires to the
first dozen track pieces.
While this might not sound like a lot to do in one weekend, it was by far the
most I've managed to accomplish in a short period of time. In addition, some
of the work was completed while taking care of my 2 yr. old son. One of the
best moments was him sitting on my lap watching while I glued the roadbed
sheets for the staging yard. He also "help" with putting together the
benchwork in the train room. Evidence of his help still remains.
- - Early August 2008
My wife and I have finally picked the date for "TrainFest Summer 2008". What
is TrainFest? It is the occasional large blocks of time that my loving wife
gives me to work on trains, frequently to get a new layout jump started. In
the past, I have not done much preparation for these TrainFests with bad
results. Normally, I get a big block of time to work on trains, but then I
spent most of the time getting organized, or even worse finding I need to
buy stuff for the next step of the project. This results in 50-60% of the
time being wasted on preparations and planning.
But this time is different. Knowing that TrainFest is coming, I started
planning the construction steps during my lunch hour more than a week
before. I planned my worked envisioning how the layout would go together and
what challenges I might face. Each night I went home and organized my
tools and supplies (This was especially important as there was no one train
room and the train stuff went to three different rooms in the new house). In
many cases, my first idea was not viable due to lack of tools or right type
of supply. I made list of needed items and prioritize them to fit in my
budget. Then I developed work arounds for the items I couldn't afford.
One of my biggest realizations was the impact of glue set time. When you
work a little at a time, it is easy to glue and item and leave it to set.
However, with a large block of time, it is critical to have not related
tasks. When one area is waiting for the glue to set, then it is useful to be
able to work on another project.
Another key realization, is that I loose a lot of time cooling off when
working on benchwork in the summer. In the heat and humidity it is necessary
to take frequent breaks and without something an indoor project, these
breaks can add up to be a lot of lost time. By having another work area
inside, the "break" can be an indoor project.
Thus, I took the time to organize three different work areas: woodworking
(where I can finish the benchwork), gluing (where I'm laying the roadbed on
the foam), and soldering (where I'm adding feeder wires to track).
Hopefully, on Sunday, these projects will merge as the benchwork is
completed, and the track is laid.
- Tonight, I began laying the foam roadbed on the foam panels. One might
find this surprising, as I haven't finished the bench work. However, it will
allow me to get more work done over the upcoming "Trainfest" weekend. I use
glue to hold the roadbed and track work in place and glue requires setting
time. Thus I set up a workstation to lay roadbed inside and separate from
the benchwork. Thus I can glue a section of roadbed and leave it to set,
while I work on the benchwork. Also, it will give me something to do inside
during portions of the heat of the day.
- - 6 August 2008
Tonight, I set up a work area for laying the foam roadbed. For once in my
life, I took the time to plan the construction sequence, layout a work area
with good access, and organize my tools and supplies for the job in
advance. Normally, I get a big block of time to work on trains (courtesy of
my loving wife), but then I spent most of the time getting organized, or
even worse finding I need to buy stuff for the next step of the project. The
result is 50-60% of the time is wasted.
- - July 2008
Sometime about 10 July, I began working on my new Scotts-dale Division (SDD).
This is the second SDD layout, although no trains ever ran on the first, as
it was dismantled for a move shortly after it was started. The bench work is
traditional L girder style with cookie cutter plywood top.
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