Nelson Moyer returns with another installment on his layout developments.
With a substantial part of the benchwork in place, I turned my attention to the right of way. I want bulletproof track. I’ve operated on layouts where derailments are common, and I find that they steal my joy. I want quiet track, so that I can hear decoder sounds at reasonable levels without blowing out my operator’s hearing aids.
Continue reading Roadbed and Track – Layout Design with Nelson Moyer, part 3
Nelson Moyer returns with another installment on his layout developments.
My inaugural post provided a capsule history of how I arrived at the decision to build a model railroad, and it described the evolution of the track plan. While the track plan captured my dream with surprising fidelity to the prototype, I have only 312 square feet to model a mile long yard in Burlington and the 53 mile branch line to Washington. The full realization of what this would entail hit me when I counted the number of rooms that the railroad must occupy, and the engineering marvels that would be required to make it happen. It’s easy to draw your ideal track plan, but quite another thing to actually design and build the benchwork. This month, we’ll look at overcoming some of the impediments my house presented to the fulfillment of my dream. Sometimes you just have to play the hand you’re dealt.
Continue reading Overcoming Adversity – Layout Design with Nelson Moyer, part 2
Frank Hodina asked if I would be interested in writing a monthly series of blog posts on planning, designing, and building my model railroad. I quickly agreed, despite the fact that my layout is still under construction, and it could be another year before it’s fully operational. Over the course of the series, I’ll describe the planning and execution of what is becoming the Burlington-Washington Subdivision of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.
