Model Railroading > What background work goes into building a large layout...2019 PC

I thought I'd share something with everyone. 

If you don;t already know this, I am a naval architect who designs oceangoing tugs and barges. So naturally in building a large layout like the 2019 Penn Central, I do tend to "design" things more than some might, and I use CAD to do that. 

We are now tackling the under-layout staging and I have designed the helix table, and the pine structures that emanate from the bottom of the helox and spread out under the railroad to support the staging yard. 
The staging yard tracks can hold 302 50 foot cars and that does not count the space on the running tracks or reverse loop. If I add 1 runner and the reverse loop, the capacity added is another 140 cars.  So, making all that fit in the envelope it needs to takes some engineering.
I also have to go back now and retrofit the planned access holes into the Helix table from below. (the helix is to be encircled by a backdrop all around) and given scenery work will begin on that peninsula,  it is time to button up the helix and.access it to add feeders, solder rail joints, etc .

So part of that is to cut the access holes into it from beneath. Not to worry....there is a plan.....in fact there is actually a detailed plan for the entire staging structure. Here are a few examples of the drawing work that went into planning it.  Not everyone needs such things done beforehand - but being the engineer I am, I do so out of habit.  So here are a few images for the first phase of the staging yard install....

Picture 1 - The overall staging yard arrangement plan and track polarity plan, showing the general routing of things from the helix, down to the return loop, and the tracks in between. 

Picture 2 - A detail of the helix table with the cuts to be made in it to access the inside of the loop....the top is 3/4" plywood framed by 2 x 3 pine beneath and 2 x 3 legs. The cutouts are designed such that I,  or someone about my size -  can get in there and reach any derailments, wiring issues, etc...etc...which of course,  NEVER happen until you enclose the helix completely. 

Picture 3 - This is the design of the template  I will cut from MDF to use to trace out the cutouts onto the underside of the hlix table before cutting them out.

With only two more peninsulas needing to be built - space to set aside to stage/construct things is rapidly disappearing...in fact the entire Port Ogdensburg  peninsula will be built down in the foyer and carried up in 3 manageable sections. 

Bob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/19 07:50 by navarch2.

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Picture 4 - Finally, this image shows cutting oinformation for the pine subroadbad that will support the staging yard as it exits the helix..

Picture 5 is the section through one side of the helix table showing and detailing the supports that will be pre-constructed and spaced every 2 feet under the pine sections. Note that the cork roadbed on the helix and the lack of it on the pine, is accounted for in creating the pine sections. 

More updates to follow this weekend.....

Bob

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Will it float and stay together in 8' waves? Oh, right, that's specs for the other job.

The plan looks well thought out and the drawings should be good to work from.

Imagine no CAD - ouch!  Back to a slide rule and drawing board.

First of all, GO NAVY. My daughter is currently a Nuclear Machinist's Mate going to Japan in February on the USS Ronald Reagan so I understand your using CAD like you do. Secondly, PC is my favorite eastern road so I have been following your posts from the beginning. I love what your doing and would love to see it when you are finished. I anxiously await your next post and pictures of what you are doing. 

Cool post, but I have followed your posts on here for a while now and I have seen the amount of rolling stock you have.  You can never have enough staging and with 302 cars of staging I fear your going to want more.  Keep up the good work look forward to the next. 

Amazing work!

Posted from iPhone

Looks like you might have more fun designing this layout than you will rulnning trains.  
RB

Just a suggestion:
Put a little bend in some of that tangent.  Break up the linear look.

fbe Wrote:
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> Will it float and stay together in 8' waves? Oh,
> right, that's specs for the other job.
>
> The plan looks well thought out and the drawings
> should be good to work from.

I did this kind of production drawings on the entire benchwork design...and so far...everything fits exactly as drawn :)  So far...lolol

Bob

boejoe Wrote:
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> Imagine no CAD - ouch!  Back to a slide rule and
> drawing board.

I'll tell you what....I loved drawing in pen and ink on drafting film....just loved doing it.  I drew entire EMD diesel engines that way too....there were no CAD files to cut and paste into the engine room.....and the slide rule?...I learned on it.  There were also planimeters, and integrators to learn on, and then mechanical calculators the size of a small cash register.....and using wood splines and ducks to draw long, fair curves....they were fun to learn at the time, and it really felt like you were DESIGNING something.....BUT....there is no way I'd ever want to go back to that.

I still have some of those tools....and things like triangles and protractors....I show all those things to engineers I hire...when they complain that the CAD software we use is too "slow"...lolol.

Bob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/19 10:18 by navarch2.

Thank you very much and thank you to your daughter for her service.. I've made a lot of friends in this hobby over the years....and have learned so much from them. My goal is to make the 20xx Penn Central  a layout to be proud of.  :)

People are always welcome to come visit.....just drop a line to me here on T.O.  if you are ever  in the Boston or Providence area,,,and I'd be happy to show you the layout, and the club layout in Providence, R!. 

Bob

gandydancer4 Wrote:
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> First of all, GO NAVY. My daughter is currently a
> Nuclear Machinist's Mate going to Japan in
> February on the USS Ronald Reagan so I understand
> your using CAD like you do. Secondly, PC is my
> favorite eastern road so I have been following
> your posts from the beginning. I love what your
> doing and would love to see it when you are
> finished. I anxiously await your next post and
> pictures of what you are doing. 

Once we get to running operating sessions, the layout will need to have a limted amount of power anf rolling stock on it.  My father worked in Selkirk, and I remember as a kid seeing that there were days the yard was " relatively" empty (early in the week) and so I am going to plan operating sessions that will reflect that - "Tuesday" operating sessions will have a lot less cars on the railroad than a Friday or Saturday one... This is why I save all the boxes and store things under the layout.  I still have about 60 shelf units here to build but it works as a way to store things....the real fun comes when I have to create a system to organize those shelves...but there is a plan to deal with the overflow....executing it? ....that is another story.... :)

Bob


pal77 Wrote:
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> Cool post, but I have followed your posts on here
> for a while now and I have seen the amount of
> rolling stock you have.  You can never have
> enough staging and with 302 cars of staging I fear
> your going to want more.  Keep up the good work
> look forward to the next. 

 

Thank you for the compliment......I've got a long long way to go :)

Bob

atsf121 Wrote:
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> Amazing work!
>
> Posted from iPhone

On the contrary....I run it quite a lot - too much in all likelkhood..:) at least an hour or too every day when I am not working....it was designed to be built in operable "pieces"  I began running trains on it within a week of having half of St Lawrence Yard's track down. ..

But there is NO doubt....i love designing things....I work well well over 40 hours a week designing boats.....I average about 70 hours a 7 day week right now. - but still make time for the railroad. I average 7 hours of sleep a night. Still leaves time to run the railroad and build it :)

Bob

up833 Wrote:
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> Looks like you might have more fun designing this
> layout than you will rulnning trains.  
> RB

The overall view you are looking at in the original post, is the staging layer only, which is under the main layout. There is a lot of tangent track on the layout but that is by design and there is not nearly as much as the staging has . There is a 61 foot long integrated steel mill on one wall and a 61 foot long yard on the opposite wall....in between is a lof of variety in shape and geography.  The picture below, in THIS post,  is the overall view.....The staging diagram in this post is below the two large circles you see.

Bob


KA7008 Wrote:
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> Just a suggestion:
> Put a little bend in some of that tangent.  Break
> up the linear look.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/19 20:23 by navarch2.

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Railroads look at an mty (clean) yard as a good thing. A full yard shows a lot of cars standing still instead of moving and earning revenue.

Impressive work....what CAD software do you use?

Nomad Wrote:
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> Impressive work....what CAD software do you use?

I use the CAD portion of SolidWorks, called  DraftSight. Inexpensive and an stand-alone product ..... 

https://www.draftsight.com/?utm_medium=Search&utm_source=Google&utm_campaign=DraftSight_Paid_Search_2019&utm_content=GA_LBM_2019_&utm_term=link-text&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvfvC_OLq4wIVx5-zCh1QDAICEAAYAiAAEgKyf_D_BwE

I use Draftsight Professional as it has 3D design as well....and only about $500.00 ....

Bob 

 

fbe Wrote:
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> Railroads look at an mty (clean) yard as a good
> thing. A full yard shows a lot of cars standing
> still instead of moving and earning revenue.

Oh yes....TDT (Terminal Dwell time).....but that is whay we want to do "day of the week" operating sessions....a Monday or Tuesday session will not have as full a yard as a Friday one.  StLawrence Yard on the 2019 PC, has to deal with a lot of mineral unit train traffic for Adirondack Specialty Steel's St Lawrence Works... The staging yard is designed around expected traffic levels on a Friday/Saturday session. 

Bob