Model Railroad Blog

Bridge Over Troubled Water

The new removable extension bridge on the LAJ. Wow, that’s a long drop to the floor if things go sideways!

Over the past year, I’ve become more aware of what I call “long handle” car spotting. By that, I mean when the switch job is spotting a car, but there is a long “handle” of other cars between it and the locomotive. It’s a practice that might make for an interesting scenario on the LAJ. The problem is that the layout is relatively small and doesn’t lend itself that well to long strings of cars.

Here we see York Rail spotting a reefer inside a logistics warehouse. It has a “handle” of six cars between the engines and the car. That’s almost a full football field in length.

For some time I’ve toyed with the idea of running a removable bridge across the doorway of the room to add three feet of run length to work with. The idea is simple enough. The challenge was coming up with a support system that would be pretty innocuous. The bridge would rarely be in place, and I didn’t want to be looking at clunky support brackets every time I walked into the room. Eventually I figured something out.

Here’s the pad on the layout side. It’s a 1/2″ x 3/4″ block that the bridge rests on. You have to pay attention to your plan of attack with “bottom support” methods such as this. If the pad location puts the bridge just a hair too high, it’s impossible to adjust, and the rail heads won’t align vertically. However, if it’s a bit low, adjustment is simple via a shim. I intentionally mounted the block a little low and then shimmed it upward with the strip of .040″ styrene you see on top.

A view with the bridge extension in place.

The wall side of the support was where I struggled with coming up with a method that was virtually invisible when not in use. I drove two pins on the side and then fabricated a small, popout lateral beam that sits on the pins. When the bridge isn’t in place, which is 99 percent of the time, the beam is removed and the pins are barely noticeable.

Here’s an updated track plan to put things in context.

Photo of the Day

In my August 10th blog, I discussed the heartbreaking reality of historically priceless images being lost to time forever. Specifically, slides, negatives, and prints that disappear when the photographer passes on. However, once the image is digitized and put on the net, the chances of preservation improve infinitely. Buying the image and not uploading it just moves it from one closet to another.

While looking for something else, I tripped over the fantastic photo above, bought it, and had it scanned. The only information given was the date of June 1972. No location mentioned. Photographer unknown. Note the three very happy faces. If the boys were around age ten at the time, that would make them approaching retirement now. It’s a good guess they still remember that day!

The full format version is in on my prototype/railfan album on Flickr. Feel free to download, enjoy, and distribute.

The Next Book

Model Railroad Track Plan Books

On the left is the cover of the original edition of my book on track plans for a spare room. On the right is the significantly upgraded second edition, which I will release next month.

Restoration is an uplifting concept. Whether it be a car, old photograph, or structure, there is something uniquely satisfying about taking something with “good bones but needs a facelift” and breathing new life into it from the ground up.

It never occurred to me until now, but the same concept applies to books in the form of second editions. Back in 2009, I published 8 Track Plans For a Spare Room. Your typical spare bedroom is the most common footprint I encounter in my job. Clearly, there is a need for plans for this type of space. The concept was sound, but being only my second effort, it was a little rough around the edges. I’ve learned a lot about design, layout construction, and publishing in the seventeen years since.

I’ve taken the first edition and put it in the shop for a total makeover, which includes:

-Four entirely new plans.

-Tweaks and re-designs of most of the original eight plans.

-Increased the page count from 50 to 80.

-Added commentary on space utilization.

On the left is one of the designs from the original book. On the right is the redesign for the second edition. The second version is leaner in terms of turnout count, cleaner overall, and has longer sidings to make operations run more smoothly.

The second edition is finished, but I’m going to wait until summer is over before releasing it (late September probably).

Miami River Blues

Thanks to Tolga Erbora for bringing this excellent Eric Brown video to my attention. It illustrates the fascinating process of getting long ships up the narrow and winding Miami River.

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the oddest experience. I’d just landed in Miami and started the day by the Miami River (which is right next to the airport). I stood on the riverbank and was struck by how narrow it was. I then drove to the other side and started shooting the Downtown Spur.

Then the weirdness. Smoothly and silently, a massive structure, a cargo ship the height of a five- or six-story office building, began drifting by. How on earth could something that gigantic get up a river that narrow and with so many twists and turns in it? And then the bigger question: how did they get back out since there was no turning basin at the end? Eric Brown’s video at the lead answers the question. Tugboats pull the ships back out. It’s another case of “only in Miami” and why it makes for such a compelling modeling subject.

This is where I was standing when the “floating building” drifted in front of me. You wouldn’t even know the river was there if you weren’t looking for it.

The bank-to-bank distance at some points is about seventy feet, or perhaps a little less!

Looking northwest up the river. The Downtown Spur is just out of view to the right.

My recent book, Modeling Miami, details my efforts to capture this fascinating theme in miniature.

This photo, taken in front of Antillean Marine, gives a sense of the size of the ships that ply the Miami River.

The Miami River on my layout.

This Miami Vice trailer was filmed on the river behind FP&T at the lift bridge.

An aerial view of the one-mile stretch of the Downtown Spur that parallels the river.

Shelf Bench Work Dimensional Guidelines

Shown above are the “best practice” guidelines I use for dimensions and spacing on the shelf layouts I build. Guidelines are just that: a starting point.

I generally shoot for a shelf width between 18″ and 22″. Although I do commonly go to two feet if a yard is involved, in most other cases that begins to feel too wide. If you have a stub peninsula extending into the room, you need some width, say 18″ to give you stability.

Once the shelf is in place, work back to front. If you run out of room at the front you can always add a lip or bumpout. However, if you run out of room towards the back you’re stuck.

In my most recent book, I go into depth about the width of background structures and how visually jarring it can be if you go “too thin”. For a one-story structure tight against the backdrop, I shoot for at least four inches of depth.

In HO, you need 1 inch between the track centerline and the face of the structure or loading dock.

In yards I set track spacing at two inches. However, for spurs I widen that up to 2.5″ to 3″.

I allow three to four inches between the fascia and the front track. My thinking is that if you have a derailment, this distance gives you at least some insurance against things falling to the floor.

Sample bench work widths I’ve used in the past:

CNW Alco Line: 22″ in most locations. 25″ in yard areas.

Downtown Spur: 20″

East Rail 2: 19″

LAJ: 20″ and 13″ respectively.

I misjudged the bench work width I would need on East Rail. Simply screwing a 1×2 to the fascia gave me the necessary depth I needed.

Bumpouts are an easy way to create a platform for an industry without increasing the bench work width for the entire layout.

Overhead view of East Rail 2. Notice that I don’t use paper-thin background flats.