Counting the days. . .

Why go to Australia? For the Bulldogs! Lance Lassen photographed this quad set in 2007 on the north coast working a QR National Melbourne-Brisbane train.

. . .now until Lance Lassen and I climb aboard a Qantas 747 and head off for two weeks of railroad fun in New South Wales. The trip has been discussed for well over a year; got down to starting planning it last November.

Bloody Oath! we're looking forward to it!

We leave Texas on Thursday 9 April and return two weeks later, on the 23rd. It'll be a pretty intense two-weeks. . . no bludging on the beach sipping drinks with little paper umbrellas stuck in them for these boys.

We've been extremely fortunate to been assisted every step of the way by our on-line friends from Australia, all of whom have been a great boon in helping us decide where to go and what to see. Each time we discover something we "must" see, invariably something else comes up. Two weeks? Crikey. . .we'd need more like two months!

We'll be confining ourselves to New South Wales, and just a portion of it. To see it "all" would be impossible. We're juggling our time between visiting hobby shops and loading up on those bits and pieces for the model railways that are impossible to discover on-line, doing a little data gathering on the prototype locations our model railways are based upon, and driving all over hell to watch trains.

We're hoping to chase an RTM special back from Parkes behind vintage NSWGR diesels. . .watch 48 Class hauling wheat wagons on a rural branch line. . .observe the spectacle of triple 80 Class blasting away in banker service on the Ardglen grade. . .absorb the wide-open spaces west of the Great Dividing Range watching a variety of freight schedules and locomotive classes. . . photograph (fingers crossed) the final days of the beautiful CLF/CLP bulldogs in service on the QRNational MB7/BM7 before they're replaced by new EMD's out of EDI shops. Above all, though, we want to experience Australia for ourselves.

Lance has been before; this will be my first trip. We're looking forward to actually meeting all these guys we've traded e-mails with for over a year and to call 'em "mates" face-to-face and return the shout. I'm sure we'll walk around the Circular Quay and take some nice tourist photos of the Opera House, but it'll be just as cool to join the crowd at Leichhardt stadium and watch the West Tigers scrum it up against Melbourne.

We'll be on our best behaviour. We promise to reign in our bignoting as much as possible. We'd like to be invited back. But only after we find a way to jam all the books and model parts and memories into our suitcases for the trip back home.

So, if this blog has seemed a big sparse on new posts lately, now you know. Believe me, come next month this thing will seemingly be updated daily!

The Layout Design Element

Nice and clean: 44, 47, 49 and 442 class rarin' to go. . .

US modeling Guru J. Anthony Koester created the term "Layout Design Element" as a way to more readily incorporate prototype track plans into our model railways. Essentially, an LDE is a chunk of prototype track arrangement inserted almost "building block" style onto a railroad--the thought being that it is, afterall, the prototype railway that best knows how to design trackage for specific needs. These LDEs can then be rotated, compressed, expanded and edited somewhat to fit in available space while retaining the "flavor" of the prototype and, most importantly, their operational functions.

I'd guess most modelers who base their layouts on a specific prototype do this without giving it a second though--for me, being lazy, I figure why should I do all the hard work of designing trackage for a depot, station or terminal, when the prototype as already done it for me? Compromise must still be made, of course, and while my North-West layout is based on the prototype, I've taken several liberties in order to shrink it to fit in available space.

Here's a look at three stations on my layout: Wee-Waa, on the Narrabri West to Walgett branch; and Edgeroi and Gurley, between Narrabri and Moree. All are based on their prototype, but each have compromises, compressions and omissions in order to get them to fit--hopefully without affecting their operational interest much. Grain siding are long enough to hold five FWH-type hoppers (or six RU's, in the case of Wee Waa). Please excuse the extreme free-hand nature of the drawings.

While the prototype Edgeroi is on a long straight, the model version had to fit into a corner. A strict adoptation of the prototype plan would put the big grain silo complex along the front of the layout, effectively blocking everything behind it. I flipped the track plan 180 degrees to put the silo in the back, where it would form a natural backdrop. Space was at a premium, so I consolidated the stock and goods track, and, again, due to space, eliminated one crossover serving this track and the silo siding. The goods/stock track access is contained entirely between either end of the platform road (crossing loop).

Gurley is a more faithful representation, the main exception being the silo switches are entirely on the downside of the crossing loop--this provides a bit more flexibility for a train switching the silo siding to then either clear up on the crossing loop or depart on the main after their shunting work. To save a bit of space, however, I moved the silo siding inward so the up end of the silo siding is between main track switches.

On the layout, Wee Waa is the end of the branch, rather than just a station in the middle of one. Still, most of the trackage is faithfully presented, with the exception of the Namoi Cotton siding and one set of crossovers. I left the Perway siding in place; I plan to use this as a place to stable the 400 class motor car/DEB set during its layover in town. I suspect this is what this track was used for on the prototype as well after the loco depot and turntable were removed.

Thanks to Gavin Potter's great website for the basis for much of the prototype track plans.

Hitting the "March Deadline". . .

Man, that static grass looks great! Actually, a Photoshop effort combining a photo of the 442 on a grain train photographed on the new lower level with a landscape photo from the North-West gleaned from on-line. Not quite up to the Ray Pilgrim level, but getting closer. . .

I'd set the beginning of March as sort of a deadline to have the lower level benchwork and backdrop up, and last night, I finished painting the backdrop. It's been a month since I'd updated this blog; it's been a busy month on the railroad as I pushed to get as much done on it before my son's baseball season starts up.

I wanted to get the "unsexy" stuff out of the way: benchwork, backdrop, some of the roadbed. I was able to even put much of the lower-level mainline in place--albeit held down with track nails rather than anything permanent--as I explored track plan options.

There's no wiring on the tracks--I've run trains back and forth using a power pack and alligator clips. There's only the points at each end of the Edgeroi and Gurley loops, and I've got what seems like a kazillion #5 points to make to finish the yard at Narrabri West as well as the lower level points to access elevators and goods sidings. I did get the lower level lighting purchased and in place, and the benchwork, lighting valance, and roadbed for the branchline terminal at Wee Waa is in place and, in fact, connected with a section of track to the "rest" of the layout. the CVP Easy DCC is still in the box, awaiting installation.

But, now I don't feel so bad slacking off for the next couple of months while the kids play baseball, I get the taxes done, get a jump on yardwork (Spring has sprung: 85 degrees here yesterday!) and, oh, yeah, take a trip to Australia for a couple of weeks in April.

Now I've just got to dust the layout--cutting ceiling tiles creates a God-awful mess, even after wetting it down with a spray bottle--and put tools and other items away.

In the meantime, here's a couple of photos of the lower-level and a grain train: Jumbo 44203 moves along between Edgeroi and Gurley. I'll present both an "as photographed" view of the layout as it is now, with undulating, bobbing, wobbly temporary trackage, and after running through the Photoshop ringer (top of the entry). Oh yeah--that Jumbo is new to the railroad, too, as I took the feeding frenzy plunge and won one on e-bay; it'll be fun to detail and weather.

Next post will look at Edgeroi and Gurley, the prototype track arrangements and the compromises I made to fit them onto the layout while still retaining recognizable elements.

A bit more true to what the lower-level looks like at this point: 44203 pulls a train of grain empties out of the siding at Edgeroi. The cut-in chunk of fillwork under the locomotive will at some point become a small pile trestle.

Upper Deck Benchwork completed. . .

Here's a rather crude panorama view of the layout room (click on the photo for the "big picture") with the upper level and lighting valence in place. I'm still waiting for a couple of the T4 ultra-slim lights to be delivered from LightingXP (they've got a new website; same great service and prices, and free shipping in the US for orders over $75). I haven't painted the backdrop on the just-built helix "blob" blue yet. Lance was over and we sorted through the remnants of lumber and decided what to keep and what to consign to the dump.

We should be ready to start with the lower level benchwork next week. I'm still hoping to get the lower level benchwork in place by the end of February; at this pace, we shouldn't have any problem meeting that self-imposed deadline (I want to get that done before the boys start their spring baseball leagues in March--time will be at a premium then).

Making a home for the big silo. . .

Photo by &Drew via Flicker of Pacific National grain train loading at Narrabri "A Silo".

"Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made."
-- Otto von Bismarck

And for that matter, so is model railroad benchwork. Some modelers, I'll admit, are fabulous benchwork-builders--it's almost a shame to cover up their amazing spline-roadbed creations with trackage and scenery. I don't fit into this category. I take a little open grid here, a tad of l-girder there, and eventually, I get something that works. Like that helix--it was like wrestling with a pig, but finally I ended up with something acceptable.

Lance and I tackled the railroad above the helix last week: this will be the location of the large circular "A191 Silo" grain elevator which on the prototype is on the south side of Narrabri, near the triangle leading to Narrabri west. The actual elevator complex is really three components: the large circular "A191 silo", built in 1955; a two-silo-plus-headhouse elevator, added at a later date, and a large metal grain storage building. I'm modeling the first two. (Kieran Ryan's Silo Data page has a rundown of all circular "A" silos constructed.)



The helix has a lid, which almost floats above the helix structure itself, attached at four points to the helix frame as well as to the wall.


View of the silo area looking into the helix hole. Big "A Silo" elevator will fit into the semi-circular hole.


Better view of the trackage on the helix blob. The single track to the left will serve a Superphosphate distributor and oil jobber.

I don't yet know the actual dimensions of the prototype A Silo; in scaling off of photos, including Google Earth and Google's "Street View," it appears there's 18 cylindrical silos arrayed in a circular shape; i'm guessing the structure is around 250-300' in diameter; I've left an 18" radius half-circle cut out in the middle of the tabletop atop the helix, which I will be able to build the silo on at the workbench.

As of this afternoon, trackage is mostly down; the connection to the helix has been made; backdrop is up but not yet sanded or painted, and i'm ready to put the lighting valance over the top. Later will come fascia material enclosing the helix in a tidy sheathing with an inset DCC control station built into it.


Great view of the 19,100 ton capacity "A191" silo at Narrabri by Moximus via Flicker

After a Holiday Break. . .

I'd not done hardly anything to the layout in the past three weeks. E-mails have gone unanswered, projects half-completed on the workbench are buried under other bits of correspondence. . .it's really a tough time of year to get anything done.

But this too will pass after January 01.

I'm looking forward to getting back after it.

I did solder in drops for as much of the layout as I have track laid for, and amused holiday guests by running a loco and a few wagons back and forth.

And I decided, in the interests of expediency and overcoming decision avoidance to just stick some N-scale Caboose Industries ground throws on the layout, until such time I really honestly decide how to throw my points.

Now, back to the never-ending party around our house. Be back after the New Year!

Decisions, decisions. . . .

DON'T make me use these!

Model railway design should encompass more than just benchwork, wiring, track planning and equipment--one should also consider just how the railway will be operated. The method of operation and its various nuances will influence things like how (even with DCC) electrical blocks are divided up, and how points will be thrown.

For lack of anything cheaper, easier to use, or more elegant in design, previous layouts I've built have used Caboose Industries ground throws to align the points. They're certainly cheap and easy to install, but there's no getting past that they're large, shiny, plastic lumps in an otherwise prototype-driven world--it's the price one pays for cheap and easy.

There've been lots of home-grown alternatives as the best way to throw points manually (i.e., without resorting to electric motors), ranging from hand-bent springs above the benchwork to inexpensive Radio Shack switches mounted below, attached to the throwbar with a piece of stout wire and manipulated through the fascia of the layout with a wire or dowel. One non-electrical solution is the Blue Point controller, which installs much like a Tortoise motor (and almost costs as much!) but is manually operated; another option for manual control is offered by Modratec using "wire in tube" connections. My preference is for manual control of points whenever possible--it just seems more realistic, from an operating standpoint, for train crews to actually throw points rather than just flipping an electrically switch to do the job.

Understanding "how" the New South Wales Railway operates should guide my decision. My cursory and admittedly flimsy understanding so far of NSWGR safeworking has led me to believe that nearly all mainline points are manipulated from a grouped "lever frame" where several points are thrown from one area. In some locations, these lever frames are located at the train station or staff office, and thrown by a station employee; at outlying areas at a station, train crews throw the points. Unlike US railroads, where train crews use a universal switch key to open locks at individual turnouts to set the points, the lever frames are unlocked using a "key" integrated into the same staff that gives them their authority to operate within a mainline track segment. . . thus, to be most realistic, I'd not use the Caboose Industries ground throws (which look horrible, anyway), and would opt for a model simulation of a ground frame (exactly what Modratec offers), or, barring that, at least grouping my point levers to locations on the fascia that would emulate what the prototype would do. . . ideally, they'd need to be unlocked using some sort of staff that also allows movement on the main track. Within shunting yards and away from the mainline and loops, single points are thrown, however, from levers adjacent to the points, much as in the US practice. And that's just the mechanical end of things--the modeler in me would of course want to feature the piping and levers and all that other stuff on the layout, even if static in nature, just to "look right." Then there's the issue of catch points, and . . . . .

This striving for prototype duplication leads somewhere else, too: how would one best model the staff system on a DCC layout? In reading descriptions of the operating rules and various scenarios on how trains were worked in the modeling press (and on line), it's clear that the staff safeworking system used in New South Wales is waaaaay different from what us Americans are used to. It would be easy, as a modeler living in the US, to just gloss over this difference: after all, if the trackage is based on Australian prototype, as are the structures and all the railway equipment, what harm will it do to run them just like we would here in the States? Modelers in the US are, after all, used to running trains a certain way. . .to learn a different way of doing so would really be a mind-blower! But if one does, indeed, strive to emulate the prototype with realistic track planning, judicious purchasing of equipment to match a specific time and place, the tabling of trains for operations to match what the real NSWGR did, etc., isn't it just dropping the ball NOT to model the safeworking system as thoroughly as possible?

These are the things that keep me up at night.

So while I go over and over in my mind on how to control the points on the railroad, let alone how I can create a model of an operating staff system, at some point, in order to get the damned thing operating, I'll have to make a decision. . .should I judiciously study if further, or just bite the bullet and go for a cheap, quick (temporary) alternative to use until the lightbulb goes off over my head, the "ah HA!" moment strikes, and I figure out the best way to deal with this?

Aussie modelers: what do YOU use to control your points?