3 steps forward 2 steps back

In the last post I talked about revising my goals and set out on a revised plan for the year. Well a few short days later I am having to re-evaluate these goals again. I wont get into the gory details as I feel I would be talking out of school, other than to state that change is inevitable when there is a change in leadership, and this is most assuredly true in the world of model railroad clubs. 

So the long and short of it is all the goals I had involving the club, are on hold until the dust settles.  I am in no way implying that I am metaphorically taking my ball and going home as I do enjoy the company of many of the members, I am just re-evaluating my situation and allowing the dust to settle before I make anymore goals or decisions involving the club.

One of the things that is leading to this re-evaluation is that the club voted to start construction of a permanent layout and depending on the route the club decides to go on trackwork I could be very busy over the next year as I am one of three guys that are advocating handlaying our turnouts. If we go that route my share would be atleast 15 #6 turnouts as well as anything else we might need. So on the bright side I will get to improve my turnout building skills but I might not have time for anything else. 

This decision also means that the modular layout, which is usually stored in an operational state where the new layout is being built, has been put in storage and whether it sees the light of day again is unclear at this time. A side effect of this is that until we get the track operational on the new layout that there is no where for me to run trains and test out any modifications and upgrades I make to any locomotives or rolling stock.  While I could still continue with the wheel and coupler upgrades I am currently also considering a reweigh as well. So until I decide on how I want to go about that and how to streamline the process so that the cars get shopped, re-weighted, and weathered and then stored in a box designed for storage in one shot, this process is on hold too.

Also I have hit a major snag on the YPG Lines and am having to visit the operational scheme a lot earlier than I intended.  The main reason for this is staging yard capacity and if if a staging yard of appropriate size will not fit then I will have to redesign the layout to accomodate one.  So until that is sorted out updates might be fewer and farther between.

That said I will still strive to update the blog atleast once a month and I am not above including some of the club layout construction in future blog posts. Hopefully by the end of next month I will have the issues with the YPG lines sorted out and be able to complete the planning of phase 2. But didn't I say that last month and the month before that. I just have to remember that this is a journey and sometimes even the priority trains have to go in the hole.

Re-evaluating goals AKA the First Quarter Report

I think everyone is familiar with New Years resolutions and how most people end up setting out on the first of the year with high hopes and motivation only to have this all peter out a week or so later. The same seems to be true amongst model railroaders and our goals for the year. Over the last week or so I have seen several blog posts dealing with having to refocus after life got in the way. Let me just come out and say it, sometimes life sucks and we have to adapt and overcome.  So here is my submission to the long list of model railroaders re-evaluating our focus after the first quarter of the year.

So lets start with where I have fallen short:

The building I am working on for my dad is no farther along than it was at the end of last year. The reason for this is I have reached a crucial element that has quite frankly overwhelmed me and I havent felt like putting the time in to get over this hurdle. It also doesn't help that I have been enjoying the journey of designing the YPG lines so much that I havent wanted to take time away from that to pursue side projects.

Model building has also fallen behind.  The biggest reason for this is financial. I have so much tied up in preorders of necessary locomotives and rolling stock right now that I need to be careful about expenditures from my hobby budget until after these orders have been filled. This has been the biggest reason I havent pulled the trigger on acquiring the needed shells and parts for either of my proposed locomotive builds. So the locomotive builds are on hold indefinitely. The best I can state is I will revisit this goal later in the year.

The bridge build has also been put on hold indefinately. The biggest reason for this is that through a combination of many factors, I did not get my hobby workspace cleared out enough to take on a build of that scale at this time. Also there was a possibility that a move could occur this last few months. While it does not appear that a move is imminent, the prospect of one is more of a reality than it has been previously.

Construction of TOMA modules is on hold for the time being as well. The biggest reason is that there is a project in my garage workspace that needs to be completed first, however the weather this winter has been less than optimal for working on projects outdoors.  Also as we entered the tail end of last quarter the outside temperature was already reaching triple digits.

So with all this doom and gloom, what has gone right?

The blog is the biggest success of the quarter as I am posting well more than my minimum one post a month goal. Thank you to all of you that read the blog and those that have commented either here or on facebook as the engagement with others was the primary reason for creating the blog. also the sheer number of people reading the blog and Facebook page encourages me to attempt to keep up with content.

Research has continued at a meteoric pace. I now have looked at 65 of 70 boxes of photos in the local archive and have developed leads to photos that might be in other collections.

Planning of the YPG lines has also moved along at a good clip I should be wrapping up the planning of phase 2 in the next couple weeks and start planning phase 3 shortly. The plan is still to try to complete the planning of the "million dollar track plan" by the end of the year.

A series of unplanned events

When I wrote the goals for the year in January there were many things I did not anticipate, nor could I anticipate them in some cases, but that is life. One thing I did not anticipate was my wife willingly letting me have my last day of vacation to go spend an afternoon visiting a layout. As I only get 1 to 2 weeks a year to see family I was surprised my parents went along with the idea as well, although my dad, being a model railroader himself, was not too hard to convince. There are two types of layout visits, the completed layout and the under construction layout. From a planning stand point I get more out of visiting an under construction layout than a competed one. I am not saying that visiting a completed layout is not enjoyable, but rather that most the educational points of a finished layout are covered over with the scenery we love. 

As I alluded to in the last post I recently had a chance to meet Mike Deverell and see his layout in person. While Mike has some beautifully done scenes, and they are impressive, a large portion of the layout is still bare benchwork.  There were a couple big take aways I got from this visit and a few Ah-ha moments.

The first take away was just how well a narrow shelf works, I have read about this concept but not seen it put to use other than bare benchwork.  One of the first scenes encountered upon entering Mike's layout space was a stunning bridge scene, and it is only about 12 inches deep. Those of you who have watched Mike's videos will know the scene, the bridge itself is a "simple" bridge over a small stream, but it grabbed my attention right away. I had to get right up to the benchwork fo notice that the scene was as narrow as it was. Everything from the foreground to the backdrop just blended so well, and Mike's technique for clouds was so subtle that I did not notice them until he pointed them out. The scene just worked! 

The second take away was setting. All the towns on his layout have station signs hanging over them, no need to take your eyes off the train to figure out where you are.  Also like the clouds the signs are subtle; there when you need to read them but blend in nicely when you are focused elsewhere. Mike also uses sound to set the scene; the layout is set in 1956 and when we walked in music from 1956 was playing. Like a movie soundtrack, the music was there but not overpowering and definately helped set the scene for railroading in the 1950's.

The ah ha moments were on design issues such as curve radius as an operating challenge, layout height as well as fascia track diagrams. Mike's layout is high by "normal" standards, but this high layout with a cantilever design made the aisles seem wider than they were and made it very easy for people to pass in the aisles. Mike's fascia mounted track diagrams not only show track arrangements at various locations, but also state what authority each track is under such as yard limits and CTC. Using curve radius as an operating challenge came to me as Mike talked about limiting certain cars to certain tracks. On the way to Mike's house we drove along the combined BNSF/Union Pacific mainline on the Tacoma waterfront and there was a sign limiting certain passenger equipment to a specific track. Therefore I can cheat on my minimum radius on sidings and restrict lomger equiement from these tracks and still be prototpical. This should also keep dispatchers and crews on their toes when scheduling meets.  I enjoyed meeting Mike and his family and learned a great deal that can be applied to my layout design.

The second unplanned event occurred shortly after I started making arangements to visit Mike. I called my dad about something and recieved a tirade about how he was done in the hobby, because everything quit working suddenly and he didnt have the time or the desire to trouble shoot the problem.  So one day while I was up visiting, I took it upon myself to trouble shoot his layout for him. Turns out all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about new fangled technologies boiled down to a problem as old as model railroading itself; dirty track and dirty wheels. So I set about cleaning his track and locomotive wheels.  Then to prove I was successful I had to perform the unenviable task of test running said trains (oh poor me). Everything was going well until I ran afoul of one of his two magic silver switches (if you dont know what I am talking about listen to more AML). This was however the first time I had actually run a train in over 9 years and doing so kind of made me want to get some of my ideas off the drawing board a little faster. It also made me realize that a large layout needs a plan for cleaning track especially if there are hard to reach places. For example my dads layout has a turnback curve over the staircase which meant cleaning that portion was not only a contortionist act, but a tight rope walk as well. So now I need to sit down and budget the funds to acquire the necessary cars for a track cleaning "work train".

The final unforseen event was the county fair. I knew the club was going to have a layout there but I did not think I would get much of a chance to run anything, especially since most of my models have been in storage since March of 2008. Granted the latout is a simple roundy roundy display layout so there wasnt much to do other than take the throttle and set it and forget it, but running trains is running trains. In all the previous clubs I have been involved in, only two trains were allowed to run at a show or open house and only equipment that had been checked out for operation prior. The first night of the fair I was asked why I hadnt brought anything to run, so I explained that I had not had a chance to tune up any of my equipment, which brought a loud laugh from the rest of the crew and they told me to bring some stuff and we could trouble shoot it there if a problem developed.  I have to say I am enjoying this minimal drama approach to a model railroad club. Anyway this caused me to go through my storage and locate about two and a half trains worth of cars and some locomotives 3 dcc and 1 ABBA set of F units which were still dc. Other than a few minor issues and one bad derailment (stringlined a curve with 2 of my double stack cars) that lead to a bad order car my equipment performed flawlessly. Also since everything I brought was assembled from a kit and I had done the dcc installs myself it reminded me what I am capable of as a modeler.

So with all of this in mind I feel it might be important to re-evaluate my goals for the year. Although some of the original goals may still be met, I felt that adding a couple more cost effective and achievable goals might help me keep from getting frustrated and help me move on to my original goals.

Additional goal 1:

Go through all my storage bins and boxes and locate all my unbuilt kits and get them consolidated in one location. Since one of the biggest hurdles this year has been finding the finances for the hobby (as I finish this post I am in the waiting room at the auto shop for some unplanned maintenance) I can get some modeling done by building kits I already have as opposed to getting no modeling done because I am trying to scrimp and save to get the needed parts for a locomotive build.

Additional goal 2:

Assuming a move does not happen in the next year I will have the county fair to look forward to. Since it closed yesterday that means I have 51 weeks to get some trains ready to run. By this I mean two to three trainsets tuned up and ready. This will include:

1. Couplers changed to Kadee on all equipment (possibly scale heads)

2. Metal wheels on all cars

3. Covert those F units to dcc with sound (possibly motor the 2 dummy B units) possibly upgrade the decoders and lights in the other locomotives I took this year

4. Weather all the rolling stock to some degree

5. Proper storage and transport system for the rolling stock (possibly Fast Tracks Freight Crates).

The first locomotive I ever attempted to super detail (while in college) heels into the curve on the Yuma Model Railroaders layout at the 2017 Yuma County Fair (module by Lee Stoermer, Morgan Pavia Photo)

I figure if I can stay on pace with what I am already doing and complete these additional goals then I can rule this year a success even if I do not complete all of my original goals. Remember this is a journey and sometimes you have to take the fork in the road.

Scope and Scale

Well here I sit bored on a flight to Seattle, I was going to listen to A Modelers Life on the flight but my wife forgot her headphones and so being the good husband I am she is using mine.  But I digress, this is supposed to be a blog on model railroading not a travel blog. Although by the time I post this my travels will have taken me to see Mike Deverell's Colorado Front Range Layout. I am looking forward to not only meeting Mike, but getting to see his fine layout in person.  For those of you not familiar with Mike's work, he has a Youtube channel where he provides layout updates and instructional videos. You can find his youtube channel here.

Mike's layout is in an out building which is the route I want to go however his building is significantly smaller than my proposed project and this is one of the one reason I wanted to visit, to see if there is any way I could conceivable shrink the footprint of the YPG lines and still maintain the feel I am going for. While I am not saying I will shrink the layout alternative ideas do still intrigue me, for instance years ago I developed a track plan for the Somerton Branch that would fit in a spare room we had, however I was never truly happy with it and, a move made it a non-starter.

Recently, I have had conversations with a couple model railroaders who I respect the hell out of. The first being my dad who as I might have mentioned before models the Great Northern electric operations  over Stevens Pass in 1955. His layout is in a roughly 20' x20' room over the garage but his useable space for a layout is less as he has carved out a roughly 4' x 15' alcove for his workshop and staging. His main layout is HO but he also has loops underneath for Scale O, O27 and S Scale.  He and I were discussing some of the maintenance headaches he has been having and how since he is now in his mid 70's he may have built too much railroad, especially since his helper monkey (me) moved 1500 miles away 9 years ago today.

My dad in his train room. The lower deck foreground is S and O27, the foreground top deck is HO. The lower deck in the background is Scale O with two HO decks.

The second individual is Jeremy Dummler, while I dont always single people out, I felt I should just so Jeremy knows I appreciate his being a straight shooter with me. For those who dont know Jeremy, he models the Yosemite Valley Railroad (thats Yo-Sem-It-Tee, not Yo-Sem-Might), yes you read that right, the same railroad his friend and MMR Jack Burgess models. If you get a chance, visit Jeremy's informative blog here.  Jeremy is also very involved with the LDSIG and serves as a research editor for their magazine, The Layout Design Journal. So when it comes to issues of design I do take what Jeremy says into consideration even if I dont follow it.

Jeremy and I were discussing staging yard size, as I had posed the question on the YPG Lines Facebook page "if there was such thing as too much staging?" Jeremy pointed out that a 12 car staging yard on both ends would be 22 trains originating in staging during an op session not to mention those trains that originate on the layout or in one of the other staging yards along the way. This means to have a full opperating session would require almost 30 crews not to mention dispatchers and yard masters etc... Also Jeremy pointed out that this would require over 100 locomotives and 400 freight cars. Truly a layout of epic proportion akin to something out of a Cecil B. De Mile movie although hopefully with out as many deaths (although if someone ever produces the Jim Lincoln dead in the weeds figure it will probably find a home somewhere on the layout).

So lets discuss the scope and scale of this layout. First the current track plan I am working on is what I call the million dollar track plan, where space is not an issue and budget is not an issue. This is my dream layout, the final product may be this, it may be greatly reduced but I doubt it will be larger. This layout is essentially 3 layouts in 1. Colton to Yuma is one Layout, Yuma to Tucson is another, and Yuma itself is a very respectably sized switching layout with industrial and branchline trackage. The idea is that these layouts could all operate independantly or as a unit depending on available crew size, although I still havent figured out the west end staging for the Tucson Division as my middle staging is actually between Yuma and Wellton, not at Yuma.  Then again I havent even started on planning for the line east of Yuma as I am still working on Phase 2 which is the line from Colton to Yuma.

The biggest issue I see with yard capacity is making sure all trains have a place to terminate. Perhaps instead of staging yards, I need to refer to them as receiving yards as these yards need to have the capacity to receive all the trains on the layout as very few terminate midway. This was a busy line especially during beet season and the perishable season.  In am still researching traffic volumes but 10 trains each direction that traverse the entire layout does not seem too unreasonable for a full operating session. There would also be 3 to 5 trains originating at El Centro, 2-3 each direction originating at Phoenix, possibly a copper train originating between Phoenix and Tucson, the Iron ore train originating at Ferrum. Then there is the trains that originate at Colton or Tucson and terminate at a point on the layout such as Yuma, Phoenix, El Centro or Ferrum. Throw in a triweekly Amtrak on occasion and any other special moves and that is a lot of trains and we haven't even figured out how many trains originated at Yuma yet. Add the yard crews, one of which can work the Somerton Branch, a yard master for Yuma and possibly two dispatchers and thats a lot of operators. Oh I forgot helper crews because not every train out of Colton will run "single to Fingel". Yes the scope of the layout is huge and so the scale is huge as well (we will get into that in another post).

So why would I decide to take on this monstrous task, am I certifiable? Wait dont answer.  Here are a couple factors that have influenced my decision.

1. I personally do not like switching, but I wanted this layout to have something for everyone. What I enjoy is watching long trains get over the mainline. This is why most of the switching will be confined to the Yuma portion of the layout. I am also designing the layout so it can function with out cars being switched at Yuma. Even though there is a lot of square footage in the layout space I tried to minimize the number of switches and extra track to provide a long mainline run. I also tried to minimize turn back curves as the prototype, with the exception of San Timiteo Canyon is vitually straight from Yuma to Colton. The Tucson portion has more curves but most of these are just for gradual alignment change. Even if I reduced the scope of the layout to cover say just Beaumont Hill most these trains would still traverse the area modeled so it would not cut down the number of trains that significantly.

2. I am a builder and I do not want to reach the point of a finished layout too quickly.  Also by using the TOMA approach I can have a fully operational layout while I work on the next section. If I dont finish it all the layout will not suffer.

3. The final piece of the puzzle is that I face an early retirement. I have 13 years until I am eligible to retire, and 20 until mandatoty retirement at age 57. This means I am going to have a lot of free time a lot sooner than most of my peers. Also people in my line of work tend to die with in 6 years of retirement unless they have an active hobby to pursue. What better way to ensure that I can annoy my wife into my 90's than to have a layout that will take me that long to build.

So while I am aware of how large and crazy this layout is, I do appreciate feed back and will take peoples suggestions into consideration. So if I pose a question on the Facebook page feel free to comment, sometimes a few extra sets of eyes are all I need to get over a hurdle I have encountered. Remember this hobby is as much about having fun with the process as it is with enjoying the final product. This is a journey and like college I plan to make this journey last as long as humanly possible.