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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
 Posted - 06/21/2011 : 9:56:37 PM
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| Thanks, guys. Yes, Pete, I am fortunate in so many ways with respect to this layout project. Dad never got to visit the layout, but when I showed him in a PowerPoint slide show where I thought the clock would fit well, he gave me a conspiratorial smile and said I needed a teletype machine on a table underneath it. Little did I know that he had one in the shed in the backyard! Mom has arranged for it to go to the Kittatinny (Franklin County) Historical Society's museum collection -- just as well since I have no place left to put it. Don's deluxe "sounder box" will be as close as we come to setting up shop as a telegraph office (although I DO have a key and sounder around here somewhere).[:-eyebrows] |
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truckdriverskid
New Hire
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2011 : 11:58:07 PM
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Vagel,
The clock looks great, good spot for it too,looks right at home.Very nice.
Mark |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4607 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2011 : 06:58:07 AM
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Hey, Vagel -- if you find the key and sounder, I'll build you another sounder box, but without the lid and all the other stuff; just a straightforward copy from your photograph.
I wonder if we could build a modern equivalent of the signal from Western Union to keep your clock in synch with the observatory? Nowadays, you can buy receivers or electronic clocks for next to nothing. We'd have to find out the characteristics of the Western Union signal. I'll bet Bud Brock could help us design something.
I didn't know you'd done a PowerPoint show for your Dad; that was a very nice idea.
Don |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2011 : 11:24:19 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by AVRR-PA
I wonder if we could build a modern equivalent of the signal from Western Union to keep your clock in synch with the observatory?
Funny you should ask, Don ... there are a couple of websites showing how horologists have rigged up connections to observatory time via computers and the internet.
Thanks for the kind words, Mark.
Vagel |
Edited by - Vagel Keller on 06/22/2011 11:25:24 AM |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2011 : 01:09:13 AM
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Getting back to layout construction, I finally got started on the B&SGE's narrow gauge yard at Richmond Furnace this week. Here are a few pics of the pink foam base and early futzing with track arrangements:
That's a 8-ft sheet of 1" pink foam, and I've still got about 2-ft to go to the end of the peninsula. So, I think I'm going to change the turnout orientation on the near end to left-hand throws to lengthen the sidings in the yard. There's no need for a long yard here ... the longest trains will be 12 hoppers and a caboose (in HOn3-speak that's about 5-ft) ... but it'll be a bit more elegant than the present arrangement.
Note the CADboard 72-ft turntable mockup (red pin) near the two-stall engine house. In keeping with my pack-rat approach to layout planning, I bought this from a fellow EBT modeler, Steve Riddlebaugh, who has changed to a larger scale, and stored it away for future use. Another example of this approach is the scratch-built "Union Station," a PRR-style depot that I bought at a model railroad show many moons ago and has been collecting dust on a book shelf until tonight:
Well, we're finally off to the races, so stay tuned.
Vagel |
Edited by - Vagel Keller on 06/24/2011 01:09:50 AM |
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bullbrauch
Engine Wiper
124 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2011 : 01:43:49 AM
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Woo-Hoo! I like what I see so far Vagel, what kind of interchange are you planning between the narrow and standard gauge, are you planning any 3 rail? We're all settled into a new house here, basement's staying an apartment for now. (close to a college/ makes financial sense) I did aquire an office/train room and I'm planning a small layout more on that later. |
Brandan
Living in Colorado,
home of the Rio Grande |
Edited by - bullbrauch on 06/24/2011 01:46:33 AM |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2011 : 12:06:50 AM
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Slow progress, but progress nevertheless. After futzing with various arrangements for the narrow gauge yard at Richmond Furnace, I settled on the following configuration somewhat different than the first try:
The first thing to note, I guess, is the 180-degree flip of the access track to the turntable. Also, I reoriented the curvature of the yard, which moved the depot from within the junction between the two gauges to the side of the narrow gauge main line. Another thing (that will be more evident in the close up shots that follow) was that I didn't allow enough stand-off on the plywood sub-roadbed from the backdrop for the two coal loads in/empties out tracks to make a workable S-curve through it and still have room for the Buchanan Branch and the ore dump track. So, I'll have to cut a 1-1/2" thick piece of foam at Don's on Wednesday, which will serendipitously put it flush up against the base of the skip hoist of the blast furnace -- another incidence of random success.
As of this evening, I've cut and bent the track shown with rail joiners installed and gaps in place ready for soldering the power leads and connecting all to the power bus. In this configuration, using the turnouts I have available, I can fit only two stub-end yard tracks to the left of the main:
But, if I change the first turnout leading to the stub-end yard tracks from a LH to a RH, as in the view below, I can fit a third track, which would serve as a lead to a switchback, which would run under an old Whiteground EBT concrete coaling dock, a kit for which has been languishing in the closet, lo, these many years.
Note the hole in the backdrop for the loads in/empties out arrangement; a covered tram going to the top of the coaling dock from the off-scene coal elevator that serves the coke ovens for the blast furnace might be a neat way to hide that hole ... a variation on the old covered bridge theme used up at Cowans Gap.
Well, that's the thought for now. More when I get a chance ...
Vagel |
Edited by - Vagel Keller on 07/14/2011 01:27:25 AM |
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bullbrauch
Engine Wiper
124 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2011 : 12:49:04 AM
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Vagel,
I pose a couple of questions. What is the dual gauge (DG) track used for? Is it to get narrow power down to the mill and bring standard up? Is it to get narrow to the spurs on the left rear of the DG track? I can't speak for the Eastern prototypes here, but my looking around has shown that if a town had 3 rail it was almost all that way. The 12" to the foot guys found what I've found in my designing, if you put a track there you may want to get both gauges there at some point. Just some thinking I was doing as I looked it over plus I'm curious to learn for my future designs aswell. |
Brandan
Living in Colorado,
home of the Rio Grande |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2011 : 12:26:14 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by bullbrauch
What is the dual gauge (DG) track used for? ... my looking around has shown that if a town had 3 rail it was almost all that way.
It's a fair question, Brandan. You're observations are generally correct for eastern narrow gauges, too ... ET&WNC at Johnsonburg, TN; EBT at Mt. Union, PA; W&W at Washington, PA. Not sure about the southern end of the W&W at Waynesburg, PA, where the std gauge Monongahela RR (jointly owned by PRR and P&LE) arrived just a few years before the narrow gauge was abandoned, though. OR&W was probably an exception; at least at the Zanesville, OH end it had third-rail trackage rights to access the PRR passenger depot, otherwise never had a physical connection to std gauge as far as I remember, although it interchanged with standard gauge rr's at St. Clairsville, OH on the Ohio River opposite Wheeling and somewhere along the line inland.
Actually, I kind of got carried away with the PhotoShop eraser tool, and extended the dual gauge trackage too far. As currently planned, it ends just shy of the turnout leading to the down ramp. At this time I plan to just use this dual gauge track as a sort of joint-use siding, as well as to transfer milk cans between B&SGE reefers and an express reefer in the consist of daily std gauge passenger trains.
Otherwise, there's not a lot of traffic to exchange between the gauges -- it's 1938 and there's a paved highway, PA 75, paralleling the whole Path Valley line to support the burgeoning over the road trucking industry. B&SGE primarily handles coal for the coke ovens, the mail contract w/ coincident passenger and express traffic, and other bulk shipments such as milled hardwood from the real life Rosenberry Lumber Co. and agricultural products.
We'll see occasional std gauge cars on narrow gauge trucks via interchange with the EBT and the Cumberland & Susquehanna, and I'm toying with the idea of modeling the same type of truck exchange on the single dual gauge track here just for gondola loads of pigs destined for the EBT's foundry in Rockhill, since their blast furnace has been gone for 20 years by now. |
Edited by - Vagel Keller on 07/13/2011 12:37:10 AM |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
USA
4607 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2011 : 06:07:24 AM
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Hi, Vagel --
Nice to see all the progress!
Don
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2011 : 01:07:11 AM
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Thanks, Don. Even though our regular Wednesday work sessions are on hold until you've been carried back on your crumpled bike frame to Pittsburgh from le Tour de l'Etat d'le Sudsidie' du Biofuel et Primaree' politicale' ad nauseum, it was great to get together today at the Slaughter House to cut the foam ramp and fill extensions for the next step in connecting the PRR and the blast furnace to the B&SGE.
And, Brandan, I had a back-channel email on eastern dual-gauge interchange from friend Brian Budeit, who is a scholar of eastern narrow gauges far beyond my short-term memory, that substantiates my gut feeling that there are plenty of examples of narrow gauge railroads in Pennsylvania that had limited or non-existent dual gauge trackage at their interchanges with the standard gauge. Two examples, both of which would have had direct or indirect connections with the B&SGE: Tuscarora Valley RR, which connected with the PRR at Port Royal, PA had no dual gauge trackage at its interchange point, and Newport & Shermans Valley, which had some dual gauge trackage where both gauges served a single industry but which exchanged cargo between the two lines from adjacent sidings of different gauges.
Vagel |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2011 : 5:48:36 PM
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Well, the bulk of the narrow gauge trackage in the yard at Richmond Furnace is fixed in place and wired. I have a few more pieces of foam to cut and fit under the ore dump track, and the storage yard and engine servicing trackage is still evolving. But we are very close to being able to conduct meaningful operations on both gauges centered on the blast furnace facility.
Here's an overview of the B&SGE yard from railroad north. From right to left, the std gauge ramp with a switchback into the transfer yard leads to a dual gauge stretch (EBT Business Car 20 sits on that track). Next, the B&SGE main winds past the station, with the passing siding nearest the station platform. The escape track from the future turntable diverges to the left at the north end of the passing siding.
This tighter shot provides a better perspective of the south end of the yard. The ore dump track diverges to the right off the main just beyond the loco in the distance, while the coal sidings to serve the coke ovens (off-scene) diverge to the left of the passing siding and punch through the backdrop in the loads in/empties out arrangement. The single spur diverging to the left just beyond the station platform fills in for a future 2 - 3 track stub end classification yard, beyond which a switchback will lead to an engine servicing track and turntable access. I'm toying with the idea of building the White Ground kit for the East Broad Top's concrete fuel bunker for that space, which is represented here by a copy of the template provided in the kit pasted to a cardboard base. Because of linear space limitations it'll be served by a long tram from the coal transfer facility at the off-scene coke ovens.
This view of the freight transfer yard shows the wonderful contrast in size between the two gauges. That Gorre & Daphetid boxcar will return to Great Divide, CA, via the PRR, UP, SP & GD with a load of milled hard wood for Allen Furniture Co.
Lurking behind the cars is one of the latest motive power acquisitions of the B&SGE: C-19 No. 2, a new Blackstone release, which recently posed with her crew on Reed Trestle:
That's all for now,
Vagel
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Edited by - Vagel Keller on 08/03/2011 5:43:26 PM |
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rickb326
Engine Wiper
USA
174 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2011 : 6:11:08 PM
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Vagel,
Everything looks great! If it's possible sometime I would love to stop in and say hello. What did you use for the narrow gauge track?
Rick Bennett |
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bullbrauch
Engine Wiper
124 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2011 : 8:37:19 PM
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Vagel,
Looking very good Sir! Aren't the new C-19's Awesome! I really like how this is turning out, if I get out East this fall it'd be fun to catch an operating session.
Thanks for the info on the Eastern railroads with minimal to no dual gauge track. Planning to model Alamosa, Colorado I have 3-rail on the brain [:-crazy] |
Brandan
Living in Colorado,
home of the Rio Grande |
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Vagel Keller
Crew Chief
USA
722 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2011 : 8:38:01 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by rickb326
Vagel,
Everything looks great! If it's possible sometime I would love to stop in and say hello. What did you use for the narrow gauge track?
Thanks, Rick. I sent you a private message about coordinating a visit. Beside what I said there, this Sunday afternoon is now uncommitted.
As for track, up 'til now, we've used MicroEngineering HOn3 Code 70 flex track and LITCo hand-made turnouts with Tortoise machines for control and power routing. I prefer the ME track over the Shinohara, because I find it easier to work with. However, the last nine feet of the Buchanan Branch into the Richmond Furnace yard and the yard itself are laid almost exclusively with Shinohara track sections that Don and I salvaged from an unfinished layout that a friend bought from an estate. I had enough 2 - 3' sections of useable track, along with some shorter pieces from which I trimmed "spacers" in those areas with multiple turnouts that I only needed one of my horded ME full-length sections to finish it. I'll continue to use ME flex track for the rest of the layout unless track elves leave something else on the porch.
For turnouts I changed to the new MicroEngineering "DCC ready" HOn3 No. 6 Code 70 turnouts, which have built in springs to "snap" the points against the stock rails for good continuity. I'll go back and install Caboose Industries ground throws just for ease of operation and to prevent errant fingers from disarranging the point rails when manually throwing the switches from between the rails themselves. I'm going to stick with these turnouts wherever the track is close to the aisle, but it looks like we'll have to revert to LITCo and Tortoise machines for the stub end yard and engine servicing switchback.[:-shake]
Don't get me wrong about LITCo; those turnouts are fantastic products; you actually bend the rails instead of hinged points -- real prototype appearance -- and the quality control is excellent. It's just that you really need to use a Tortoise or one of those new manual machines with the DPDT swtich built in for power routing through the frog for reliable DCC operations, and if you go back and read the posts in this Blog dealing with my adventures with Tortoise machines on the Buchanan Branch (not to mention my newly diagnosed back problems) you'll understand why I've followed the path of least resistance when it comes to under-the-layout engineering projects. |
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New Home for the Blacklog & Shade Gap Eastern
