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T O P I C    R E V I E W
Vagel Keller Posted - 09/04/2008 : 10:56:25 PM
This is a second edition of the original post that introduced a thread chronicles the progress on construction of a new layout for my HO/HOn3 Blacklog & Shade Gap Eastern. I inadvertently deleted the original post. I maintain a website for the B&SGE, and the URL appears in a later post.



The original layout resided in the partially finished basement of our 110 year-old victorian house in the East End of Pittsburgh, PA. It was cold in winter, damp at all times, had exposed floor joists above, and the layout shared space with a very noisy forced air heating and air conditioning plant. Moreover, it had begun to suffer the encroachment of spousal detritus, such as out-of-season artificial floral arrangements and exercise machines. Here is a scene from the old layout:



Beside all the liabilities listed above, there were a lot of things wrong with this layout. I didn't solder the rail joints, with predictable results (magnified in HOn3). The benchwork was of the table-top variety, with 1/2 inch homasote over 1/2" plywood, which resulted in lots of track irregularities in that damp environment. The last operating session occurred during an open house for the NMRA MCR regional convention in 2004. After that, the layout was ignored for a year and a half as I concentrated on finishing a Ph.D. dissertation. When my attention returned to model railroading, I found a layout covered with dust and soot and trackwork with so many issues that I threw up my hands in despair. There matters lay for two years.

In October 2007 new life was breathed into the B&SGE when we were able to buy a three-apartment building across the street from our home. It's newer than our home, having been built ca. 1920, and one of the apartments was an open L-shaped space that had been used as an architect's office. It proved perfect for a layout space. While our contractor renovated the other two apartments for tenants, I got to work preparing the "office" for a new, greatly expanded version of the B&SGE.

Here are some before and in-progress shots of the interior:





The age of this building and the architecture of the space gave me a unique opportunity to place a layout set in the 1930s in a space from the 1930s. Thus, the 2-tone green office scheme; friends with memories from the era tell me I've nailed it. The "after" view here is a bit busy, cluttered as it is with various module projects for contribution to NMRA MCR Div. 2's FreeMo layout (SEE Don Reed's posts on this topic at http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22539)





Enjoy the rest of the chronicle,

Vagel
15   L A T E S T    R E P L I E S    (Newest First)
Vagel Keller Posted - 09/07/2010 : 5:43:38 PM
Thanks, Rick. As Don indicated, this bf is a bit of a dinosaur, as it represents a state of the art from around the 1910s. So it makes cold pigs for sale in the merchant pig iron market; the customers that keep it in business at this late date (1938) are firms like Chambersburg Engineering (drop forge hammers), Wolfe Co. (roller milling machinery), and T. B. Woods (Pulleys and Gears) nearby in Chambersburg ... maybe the Frick Co. (portable saw mills and other machines) in Waynesboro. Richmond Furnace gets its name from the last owner of a charcoal iron furnace at the site in the mid-19th century, and the ore really did come from banks along the road to Cowans Gap, which essentially became the grade for a logging railroad later on, then reverted to a CCC road and is the grade for my Buchanan Branch. So I'm playing fast and loose with history, but it's not fantasy land.
AVRR-PA Posted - 09/07/2010 : 2:45:47 PM
Hi, Rick --

I'm sure you'll get a more detailed answer from Vagel but he has explained to me that the furnace dates from the "iron age" on the EBT.

Once Vagel has things planned out, I'll be building an extension on the benchwork to accomodate the furnace. Fortunately, there is enough room in that area for a bit more benchwork without making it crowded for two or three operators. As long as they don't exceed Plate C.

Don
Harsco Posted - 09/07/2010 : 06:55:13 AM
Great looking BF complex, Vagel....I know what you mean about trying to find the right combination/positioning for everything..I'm still trying! What will Richmond Furnace be making?
Vagel Keller Posted - 09/06/2010 : 5:32:36 PM
Hi, all. Thought I'd post a short update on what's going on with the Richmond Furnace area. I've been having a real hard time trying to figure out how position the various facilities of the blast furnace complex and run tracks to them. Over the long Labor Day weekend I finally cut and fit a cardboard form bringing the narrow gauge branch down behind the complex to the edge of what will be the B&SGE terminal. Today I put in a bunch of risers and a foam board base for the complex and started to play with positioning the blast furnace facilities. Here's what it looks like currently:





My original plan brought the PRR branch into the narrow gauge interchange by passing in front of the blast furnace, but now it looks like it'll have to pass behind the blast furnace. More to come ...

Vagel
Vagel Keller Posted - 08/24/2010 : 5:33:59 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Dutchman

They would never be able to negotiate my 22" curves, yet just having one to run on a club layout would be neat. (But I'm not hearing the whispers yet!)


You know, Bruce, these things are advertised to handle a minimum 22" radius. Whisper, whisper, whisper ...
Dutchman Posted - 08/24/2010 : 5:23:39 PM
Vagel, when you hear the whispers in your head, you just have to give in.

They would never be able to negotiate my 22" curves, yet just having one to run on a club layout would be neat. (But I'm not hearing the whispers yet!)
AVRR-PA Posted - 08/24/2010 : 3:40:30 PM
Another interesting wood-working project for the B&SGE. Vagel wants a box to (1) hold the Digitrax components in the layout room and (2) carry them along to narrow gauge events where we set up our ng/dg modules.

He sent me this picture of a telegraph sounder:



We'll build a box that will sort of resemble two of these fitted together. The hinges will allow the lid to be opened and then removed and set aside. We'll use some nice scrap hardwood - maybe mahogany - and solid brass hardware. Dovetails? I think there are limits to my insanity and I draw the line a bit short of handcut dovetails.

Don

Added: here are a couple of pictures of the process of "rebuilding" cherry scrap into new boards. First, a bunch of scrap that has been brought to a uniform thickness on Garth's new Grizzly spiral cutter head planer. Then a picture of one of the many glue-ups. After everything is glued, they'll get a couple more trips through the planer to remove uneveness and bring them to final thickness.
nhguy Posted - 08/24/2010 : 1:49:25 PM
Well, look at it this way. You can always just use them in helper service.....as long as the tunnels are straight!
Frederic Testard Posted - 08/24/2010 : 12:45:26 PM
This is indeed an engine coming from the hell, Vagel. Be extra careful!
MarkF Posted - 08/24/2010 : 09:26:05 AM
They are gorgeous. I saw them at the local hobby shop and SteamNut got one. All I can say is WOW!
George D Posted - 08/24/2010 : 08:03:55 AM
Wow! That’s a long locomotive - but beautiful.

George
jbvb Posted - 08/24/2010 : 07:59:35 AM
Anything that the prototype had to put that kind of a taper on is going to be tough to operate on a model. Reminds me of the story from the MIT club of how two proud alums brought their brass articulateds in on the same day; they met boiler front to boiler front on a double track curve...
AVRR-PA Posted - 08/24/2010 : 06:09:01 AM
Vagel brought them over to the Quilting Bee on Sunday afternoon. They are truly grand! The sound is way cool, too! OK, so they're a little large - but I totally understand Vagel succumbing to temptation. What I don't understand is how he got Debbie, the CFO, to fall for his spiel.

Don
Neil M Posted - 08/24/2010 : 05:41:05 AM
That's an awfully long wheelbase! Very impressive locomotives Each one looks nearly twice the size of the F unit in the second photo
Vagel Keller Posted - 08/23/2010 : 11:17:50 PM
And the Broadway Limited Imports website spake, saying, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, for this day a container ship at Jacksonville has delivered of itself a shipment of Baldwin Centipedes." And his LHS owner, like a serpent, didst whisper in his ear, "G'ahn. You NEED this." And, though he knew that it was wrong and didst exceed his design parameters most grievously, as set forth in the Gospel according to St. John, the Strong of Arm, he didst succumb, yea, he partook most ardently, even unto gluttony. And even his wife and helpmate, the erstwhile keeper of the purse, didst conspire to enable his whim, foolishly believing the LHS serpent when he said, "This will be the last ..."





They look, sound, and run GREAT! But what did I mean by exceeding design parameters?



Folks, this is a 42" radius curve!

But, hey, what HO-Scale PRR museum would be complete without a set?!

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