It’s been a busy month here at the HVL. Unfortunately much of it focused on the business of making a living and not making trains. A necessary evil, I am sure that this too shall pass. Now off to the races.
Site 1: Brian Moore from Plymouth, UK – Quisling, CA
Brian has a set of images that are growing of his HO scale modules over at his Flickr site.
There’s 70 images in the set so far, and some great modelling to view as well. Enjoy.
Site 1: Switching/Shunting/Shelf “Small Model Train Layouts” (Facebook group)
Glenn Sanders runs a very tight-knit and helpful group over on Facebook. I’m pretty sure that you need to be a member of Facebook to view the group, and you have to be added by Glenn, but since joining I have found some of the best modellers on there. Ray O’Neill of HELM and 59th and Rust fame is just one of the great modellers on the group. It is also a great place to share ideas and plans for your industrial switching layout (ISL) too. If you get a chance drop by and see what’s going on. Very layout focused.
Site 2: End of the spur!
For those of you who might know Ray O’Neill through his 59th and Rust layout, he has another underway at the moment that I wanted to share with you. End of the spur is an industrial switching layout (ISL) set in an inner city industrial area, using combined motive power moved because there is no run-around as in the image left, there is a lot of switching to do and surprisingly a lot of space to get it done in with 12′ (feet) of run and 14″ (inches) of depth. There are some great ideas that I’ve seen in this build that I’ll be using on my layout too. Among them the switch frog polarity controller – which is genius.
Have a great Saturday.
Is there no end to designing a layout? I sincerely hope not, I’m having too much fun!
I’ve added a page to the 12 foot layout modelling project for the design process. It’s been really good to check the images from a distance (and not standing at the layout board) and seeing where things could be improved. I’m going to make changes and get to the Mk III design later this week.
It’s nice to know that I’m getting closer to an ideal layout design that will keep me happy switching and let me enjoy the layout for the next few years.
Keep an eye out for updates to the page later in the week.
I’m sure we’ve all got a an industry that we think we just cannot model. Today’s site seeing adventure amazed me on two fronts:
Watch the video. Look at the modelling possibilities…
I’ve added a new Modelling section – My 12 Foot Layout.
This will provide a Work-in-Progress report of what’s happening in the layout build process. For now there’s a front page. It provides my overall thoughts and a photo showing the proposed design (already laid out in track).
As I stated on the page there’ll be more coming in the future including:
Looking forward to getting this underway this month.
Small layouts can be as interesting and as fascinating as their larger cousins. Today we’ll focus on one such layout that shows how even in a small space, there is room to excel.
Site 1: Paul Marshal-Potter’s ‘Shelfie’
Paul’s blog site (Albion Yard) has featured before on this blog.
Recently I found a couple of posts and images of ‘Shelfie’ in a semi-finished state, before managing to get a copy of Model Rail #214 October 2015 from our local library service last week.
And what a difference between the in-progress shot and that shown above and in the magazine. If you’ve not read Paul’s blog before may I suggest that you do so? There is great modelling ideas and images aplenty there. Drop by and give Paul’s blog a read soon.
After I reblogged Rails West’s San Fernando Valley Branch post on December 7th I took a look around the web to see if there were other sites that had information on this very interesting branch line. Luckily I found one. I could not find a SPINS book in my stash of SP paperwork to cover the area however you could certainly find this information from many of the online dealers (found at the last link) today.
There’s a week’s worth of information here and I hope you enjoy reading through it all.
Site 1: Burbank Branch Industries, 1981
Bruce Petty’s website has some really fine information (including lots of photos) of the branch in the early 1908s that would of interest should you decide to model the branch or one just like it. It includes the names of the industries served and the car lengths of the spurs.
Site 2: San Fernando Valley Freight Station Photos
Another of Bruce’s pages this time with photographs of the freight stations along sections of the line. Nice if you wanted to model any of these buildings specifically.
Site 3: Bruce’s layout page
Bruce has a model railroad covering a portion of the branch that was featured in the 2007 Great Model Railways (Kalmbach Publications). Take a good look around and take a look at some of the links on the page for the modelling articles there. Really goo stuff.
Site 4: CLIC, SPINS, ZTS: Zones, tracks, spots Identification
Some solid information on the different forms of track and spot identification. Main site is in German but the page is written in English.
Site 5: An overview of SPINS and the TOPS system that underpinned it
A great site with a huge range of detail and links about the SPINS system and the TOPS system. And yes UK modellers that is the same system BR purchased from the SP in the 1960s.
It is spring in the southern half of the world, and as a result everyone is coming down with seasonal allergies after a very long (well it seemed that way), cold (no it really was as cold as charity according to the weather bureau) and miserable winter.
Today is also marks my brother’s birthday – so Happy Birthday Scott. Hope that you get the message. More importantly I hope that you are reading the blog! But enough of me and onto the site seeing!
Site 1: One turnout layout variation
I’ve mentioned Chris Mears’ site in the past. His current post provides some interesting thoughts on variations among other thoughts on the “One turnout layout” posited by Lance Mindheim in the May 2013 edition of the Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine.
Read the article, and then read, and take part if you’re willing, in the discussion at the end of the post. It’s been thoughtful reading. Not saying that I agree with it all, but it has been thought provoking.
Yesterday was all about passenger service; today is all about freight. Chris Gilbert pointed this video out, on his YouTube page. However the producer is ChicagoJoe28. But enough words let’s get to the video.
Site 1: Mike switches Batory Foods Chicago Terminal railroad
Video 1: Batory Food Switching on the Chicago Terminal
A little history
Located at 2234 W 43rd St, Chicago, IL 60609, Batory Foods began trading in 1979 when Abel Friedman opened Chicago Sweeteners. As a single source supplier of basic food ingredients such as sugar, flour, salt, starch, milk, oats, honey and corn syrup. Chicago Sweeteners expanded its product offering over time, as food manufacturers sought to develop healthier products.
With success in the greater Chicago market, the Company brought its broad line model to food manufacturing centres around the country. Some of the growth came with the original business; some by way of acquisition with:
Recently, the various names were consolidates into the single name: Batory Foods.
The layout idea
The site’s switched as an Inglenook. The two on-site spurs lead to undercover augers (I’m assuming here of course) for unloading powdered or granulated product.
Image 1: The unloading spots (courtesy of Bing)
The storage track goes to other industries further down the track, but does not show recent use from my quick look. The loco has to push the cars into the site so you have a simple, prototypical Inglenook that won’t take up too much space. It is small enough that you could model any date from 1979 on in HO, S or O scale.
SCORE! What are your thoughts?
Thanks to Chris Gilbert for the vision, and to ChicagoJoe28 for filming it.
Just the one site to see today, on YouTube, and the background idea for a future layout design. Let’s away!
Site 1: Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Whenever I travel to Melbourne on the train I pass through Bacchus Marsh (it’s around the halfway point between Ballarat and Melbourne). I recently found a new channel on YouTube featuring Trams and Trains from around Melbourne. Watching the operations in the video below at Bacchus Marsh led me to thinking about an exhibition layout. With the wealth of Ready to run (RTR) rolling stock available and the intensive working of the passenger service (especially the storage of train sets) this could have the makings of a great medium-sized exhibition layout.
First watch the video and then take a look at the signalling diagram below.
Video 1: V/Line Variety at Bacchus Marsh Railway Station in 2012
Image 1: The Bacchus Marsh signalling diagram & Tram layout
I think that there is plenty enough in the track layout to keep an exhibition crew going all weekend. With the station being both a single platform terminus and through platform (with the right hand side going through to Ballarat and beyond) this could be nirvana for DMU & Loco hauled railway modellers. Your thoughts?
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