Model Railroading > Southern Transcon - New Year Update

Howdy all!

I find myself in an odd position of having a little time for stuff I've been meaning to do. Update Trainorders with the latest on the Southern Tanscon is one of them. I'll break this update down by location this time.

Vaughn, NM 

1. With the bench work completed, it was time to cut and glue the roadbed. Using templates that were printed out using AnyRail, we marked out and cut each section of roadbed. Once the glue dried, everything was attached to the bench work or put on risers. The tracks start to climb at a 1% grade past where track 3 starts.

2. More progress at Vaughn. Most of this is on risers as the tracks need to climb enough to clear the SP. Which crosses under about halfway to the end of this straight section.

3. Cork and track was added to the roadbed. This is the bridge at Ft. Sumner, NM. Once we get the bridge built. This will be removed and the permanent bridge will be installed.

More to come...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/25 20:09 by djh4d.

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4. Speaking of the SP, here's where they cross under the Transcon at Vaughn, NM.

5. More progress with the track and signals. This is the end of the triple track at Vaughn.

6. Still more progress with the signals. A lonely pair of intermediate signals between Vaughn and Ft. Sumner. Not visible is the track and signal wiring. All the track, switches, and signals were wired up and all that's left is to paint and weather the track.

More to come...

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El, Dorado, KS 

7. The track and cork was laid and this connected the existing track at West Chelsea and El, Dorado, KS. Around the curve is where all the chemical plants start.

8. All the track for the main was laid and wired up. The switch machines and DS74s were also installed and programmed.

9. Yet more signals. All the signals between Chelsea and El, Dorado were installed. Also installed were the SE74s and corresponding wiring. We also took time to program their address so RR&Co can control them.

More to come...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/25 20:11 by djh4d.

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Layout Lights. 

As foam cover and roadbed started to cover the upper levels, the lower level really took a turn for the dark side. We opted to use 5000k LED shop lights mounted on the front of the layout facing to the rear. You can chain up to 4 of these together on the same 110v source. They come in 2', 4' , and 8' lengths. However, I found that they use much more amps than what they're advertised. So I had to run several 110v circuits in order to power them and keep the draw within the wire and circuit breaker rating. So far we're happy with the results.

More to come...
 

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Augusta, KS 

14.The rest of the main for the interchange and diamond with the BN. Also installed were the track wiring, switch machines, DS74s and signals. You can see the tower starting to take shape.

15. A view from the other direction. You may notice red clips by the side of the track. "What are those for?" I use those as stop markers while I calibrate the computer ran trains. They mark where the train is stopping when the computer need to stop them for a signal. Ideally, it's 6" from the signal.

16. An older pic, but it shows the tracks going around the curve and heading off towards Curtis hill. The Douglass sub runs parallel for a short bit before curving off, just like the real railroad.

That wraps up this update. There's more progress, but I'll save that for another update. Until then, let me know if you have any questions, comment, or complains.

Enjoy,
-Dave



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/25 20:12 by djh4d.

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Thanks for the update. I'm glad to see you have plenty of help. I can tell this took a lot of planning.

Victor Baird

djh4d Wrote:
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> 5. More progress with the track and signals. This
> is the end of the triple track at Vaughn.

Looking good with the concrete ties.  Looks like you still have time to change the wood ties at the insulated joints to 10' ties like on the prorotype, if you're so inclined.

Looks great, pardon my ignorance but how do you paint/weather the rail with the concrete ties.
CR

WM1977 Wrote:
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> Looks great, pardon my ignorance but how do you
> paint/weather the rail with the concrete ties.
> CR

Step 1: spray paint the track with aged concrete color spray paint.
Step 2: paint rails with weathered black paint pen from Woodland Scenic
Step 3: mask ties and air brush rails and tie plates with Tru-Color rusty rail brown.

You can wipe a little oil on top of the rail to make cleaning easier. But, that's the gist of it.

Let me know if you have any other questions,
-Dave

WOW, this s big. How big is it and how many ft of main line running is there? Where abouts is this layout. First time I'm seeing anything about this. Looking real good. upkpfan

upkpfan Wrote:
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> WOW, this s big. How big is it and how many ft of
> main line running is there? Where abouts is this
> layout. First time I'm seeing anything about this.
> Looking real good. upkpfan

How big is it?
The layout room is 40' x 100'

How many ft of main line running is there?
1,600' of main line and can run 26 trains at once if no locals are running.

Where abouts is this layout?
Columbia, TN

Looking real good.
Thank you,

-Dave
 

That's quite the project!

There is a guy here in northern Virginia building a similar sized very large layout.

Lots of blue paint but impressive to say the least!

NiagaraMike Wrote:
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> Lots of blue paint but impressive to say the
> least!

I would have gone with a much lighter shade of blue.  If you look at the sky on a clear day, the blue closer to the horizon is much lighter.

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
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> NiagaraMike Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Lots of blue paint but impressive to say the
> > least!
>
> I would have gone with a much lighter shade of
> blue.  If you look at the sky on a clear day, the
> blue closer to the horizon is much lighter.

It looks overwhelming now, but it's just the first color on the canvas. It will be fine.

That blue does look intense.  For my sky blue, I went with Valspar Clear Blue Sky from Lowes.  It's considerably lighter.  If that is gone over with some white or white mixed with blue, for haze. it should knock down the intensity.