Hi all,

For those who have been following the progress of my current layout project I thought it was about time for an update. For those who are seeing it for the first time, I'm building a 3200 sq. ft. layout dubbed The Northwest Trunk Lines (NWTL). The layout is a freelanced track plan that is designed to run through recognizable real life locations. The layout's owner has collected motive power and rolling stock from nine western railroads in the US and Cananda.

The first section of the layout to receive major scenery work represents Kicking Horse Pass near Field, British Columbia. The Canadian Pacific RR crosses the continental divide at Kicking Horse, which is also the boarder between BC and Alberta. On the BC side the CP dug two spiral tunnels to gain enough elevation to make the pass and keep the grade to 2.2%. There are still a lot of trees to plant but things are really starting to take shape.



Eventually the tree line will look more like this.



Bit by bit the detail work is being added.



One of the truly beautiful locations near Kicking Horse pass is Emerald Lake. Like most other glacial lakes, Emerald Lake's water is filled with all the dirt and filth that has fallen on its glacial source over thousands of years. The result is a merkee water that reflects an iridescent blue/green color.



This week we started to pour our own version of Emerald Lake. The base color is a little too strong, so the layers of EnviroTex we pour next week will be slightly lighter.



Kicking Horse Pass has been a work in progress for several months but it's hardly the only thing we've been working on. The deserts of Arizona and New Mexico are also starting to take shape.






The last few weeks we have been working at a fevered pitch to prepare the layout for our second operating session. This was the first time we've really put the new section of the layout through it's paces. My brother, Ted, organized the operations plan for the session. We had over 30 people visit during the session and more than a dozen were actively involved in running trains. Ted served as dipatcher and ran the orientation meeting to get things started.





Ted planned out a fairly busy operating session. CP and GN passenger trains ran around the single track continuous loop mainline in opposing directions. That forces you to plan your meets at yards and sidings.



The passenger operations ran pretty smoothly. However, a long road freight had to work its way around the layout dropping off and picking up cars in Butte and Anaconda, MT. Thank goodness for Challengers!





Butte is a pretty busy place. The Passenger trains used Butte for a meet and the freight had to both drop off and pickup cars. To keep the mainline open and speed freight operations Butte was assigned a switch and crew to assist movements.



Coming out of Butte trains can climb a 2.2% grade over Homestake Pass or a 5.5% grade up the "big hill" to Anaconda. Ted ended the operating session by routing the CP passenger train up to Anaconda. To handle the grade the Butte switcher crew worked as a maned helper. Buy pushing on the rear the Butte crew was able to uncouple on the fly and return light to Butte.





As they say, a good time was had by all.



The day after the operating session I couldn't resist playing with the lighting system a little.

Wow, 3200 feet of trains. It looks great and will only look better and better as time goes on. How many hours a week is going into this monster?
Cant wait to see a track plan.

Bill

Now? .... who is this guy??? Dave, you the man! Can I find a better paying job and get something built for me. Very inspirational to say the least. Thanks for keeping us posted, Joe

Can you give us a ballpark estimate of how much and how long a project like that would be?

Hi guys,

Bill, I'm putting in 50 to 60 hours a week myself (more like 60+ leading up to the op session). I also have some college student assistants. With classes in full swing I only have one of them who's putting in about 12 hours/wk, but through the summer I had them full time (40+hr/wk).

Joe, if you get sick of NY winters you can always come work for me. At least as long you're NOT a Skankees fan. Seriously, I'm glad you're enjoying the layout progress. My hope is that people get inspiration and ideas for their own projects. It's a real privilege getting to build the NWTL and I really enjoy sharing the experience with all my forum friends.

Bazonkers, I hate to talk money on-line, but it is in the six figures. I spent over a year (not full time) fussing with the track plan while the basement was being built. Originally the house only had a crawl space. We started construction a little less than two years ago. We should have the serious bench and scenery work done in about six or seven months. After that we'll probably spread a series of "super detail" projects out over another 3 to 5 years.

There are a LOT of things about the NWTL that have added to the complexity and time line that other projects wouldn't have. Not the least of which is the fact that the layout can unbolt be removed in sections that will fit through a 32 inch door and up a set of stairs. Every electrical connection is made with screw terminals or quick disconnects.

Tortoise motor switch wiring


Everything is color coded and documented.

AIU and Atlas switch control boards in enclosure


All along I have been keeping notes and writing a disassembly instruction manual that tells you how to remove each section and in what order. EVERY bolt and screw that holds the layout together is photographed and included in the manual.



You'll notice that all the TIU's, AIU's, switch control panels and wiring are mounted on plywood. The plywood panels are anchored to the concrete wall with screws. Each wiring connection off the wood panels is either a quick disconnect or screw terminal. When the time comes to move the layout the wood panels can be unscrewed and moved as an assembly.

I figure all the extra work to make this thing mobile has added at least 50% to the complexity of the job.

Dave, Very nice... Really like the muted color effect on the back drops. Anything in the way of technique you could share, or is it a matter of dilution with matte medium and lots of light washes.

Have a 4 by 12 ft one to do here.

Bill D

Dave,

Is this layout in the Seattle area? I'll email you offline but if you want to pay for an extra pair of hands that are intelligent, fast learning, and knows O scale trains, I might be interested in helping out. I'm always wanting to learn more about layout building.

The layout looks great!

quote:

Originally posted by dave hikel:
Joe, if you get sick of NY winters you can always come work for me.

Dave, although I respect you very much, don't ever say this again! I'll pack my bags and be there tommorrow. Good luck and keep rollin',
Joe

Hi guys,

Bill, the backdrops were painted by Andy Eccleshall of Model Train Backdrops and The Mural Works. Andy worked from hundreds of photographs, soil samples, rock samples, and foliage samples I collected on location over the last two years. Once each section of the backdrop was completed it was covered with a flat UV inhibiting varnish. The varnish really didn't change the color, just the surface reflectivity. One other thing that I think helps the look is that the backdrop is mostly painted on canvas. The canvas has a nice smooth finish that looks consistent all the way around the room. In fact, the canvas is adhered with an adhesive similar to post-it notes. It can be peeled off the walls and transported with the layout when it moves.

BTW Bill, your Fibre Decore material has been working out beautifully. For those who don't know, Bill sells a modeling base material through the website shown in his post. I bought some and tried it for the first time earlier this year. The Fibre Decore is used in many of the same applications as hydrocal hardshell scenery. The advantage is that it is reversible. Get the stuff wet and it can be reshaped or removed for reuse. We're using Fibre Decor to bridge the scenery from one section of benchwork to the next. We built a test seam with the Fibre Decore and let it dry (about 2 days). We embedded a piece of fishing line in the Fibre to act as a tear string. Then we covered the seam with the same dirt as the adjoining sections of scenery. When finished you couldn't tell there was a seam at all. A few days later we moistened the seam with water, let it soak in for about 10 minutes, and pulled out the fishing line. The result was exactly what we were hoping for. We only tore up the scenery about a 1/4" either side of the joint. It's giving us a lot of confidence we'll be able to move the layout in the future with a minimum of damage to the scenery.

Bazonkers, the layout is in Medina, about 15 minutes from Eastside Trains. Drop me an e-mail. You're welcome to come check it out anytime during the week when I'm working.

Joe, if you're ever in Seattle I hope you'll let me know. You have an open invitation to see the layout.

Dave, two questions. Why does the layout have to be built to be moved? Why is it so high? Seems guys are looking up at it.
.....
Dennis

quote:

We embedded a piece of fishing line in the Fibre to act as a tear string. Then we covered the seam with the same dirt as the adjoining sections of scenery. When finished you couldn't tell there was a seam at all. A few days later we moistened the seam with water, let it soak in for about 10 minutes, and pulled out the fishing line. The result was exactly what we were hoping for. We only tore up the scenery about a 1/4" either side of the joint. It's giving us a lot of confidence we'll be able to move the layout in the future with a minimum of damage to the scenery.

Dave, that is a great idea and an unseen benefit when using Fibre Decor. I will definitely add that to my bag of tricks.

And that is going to be one spectacular layout when it is finished. Kudos, Dave!

Dennis Brennan

Dave,
Great work, as always!

I noticed that the ceiling is not finished, (not suspended, or drywall.) Was there a reason for this such as low overhead clearance? Or perhaps the layout is intended to be moved to another location as may be deduced from the construction style?

The reason I ask is that I plan to add a suspended ceiling to the basement in my ‘new’ house when we move there in a year or so. But if there is a good reason to skip doing it, I will. I do have 9-ft clearance in that basement, so the ceiling can easily be 8-ft high. The bottom of the lowest air ducts is 98”, so clearance under the duct enclosures may be just under 8-ft.

Thanks for sharing your progress, and please keep the photos coming!

Alex

2 Words - Holy Cow!!

More words... After skimming the article, I have go back and read it

Dave, I have been to Seattle a couple of times, back in 86 or 87 with the Del Fuegos, and on a vacation drive all the way up the west coast, etc. I probably won't make it back anytime soon, but I really appreciate the invite. Joe

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in responding. Work has been busy. As I type this I'm wearing a respirator to protect from EnviroTex fumes, but I may still be a little loopy.

Dennis asked...

quote:

Why does the layout have to be built to be moved?

The layout's owner, Peter Hambling, has three sons high school age and younger. Peter figures that when the last of the children is grown and off to college in about ten years he and his wife won't need or want a larger house anymore. However, there is NO way he's going to leave the trains behind. The plan is to buy a smaller house on acreage and build a separate building for the layout. Thus, it must move.

quote:

Why is it so high? Seems guys are looking up at it.

The layout is rather high, but most of the photos above show the highest portion. Part of this has to do with how the basement was created. Originally the house just had a crawl space. Contractors came in and dug out the dirt inside the foundation footings. To make this process economically feasible the existing foundation was left undisturbed. They dug down from the footings at an angle until they reached a depth of nine feet from the overhead floor joists. They then poured a retaining wall inside the original footings, back filled the wall, and caped it with concrete. That gave us a 48" high, 33" deep shelf all around the room and 8 foot ceiling. This photo gives you some idea of the profile.



Add a few inches of structure on top of the concrete shelf and it gives a nominal height of 52" for much of the layout. However, we wanted an entrance into the layout that wouldn't require a serious duck under. One side of the room is dedicated to reaching an elevation of 77" (railhead) and descending back to 52 inches. The Kicking Horse loop is part of this "mountain" district. This photo looking down the center of the room gives you an idea of the difference in elevation. 52" Clovis, NM yard on the left vs. 77" Kicking Horse/Homestake Pass on the right.



The entry to the layout under the pass is another neat feature. The doorway started out as normal rectangular opening in a concrete wall. I built the door into a tunnel which Andy Eccleshall finished with his fine paint work. The railroad passes through a summit tunnel which is open inside the doorway tunnel. It's just one of the fun details that make the layout unique.

Doorway seen from the layout side.


Doorway seen from the entry side


Close-up on view inside summit tunnel.



Alex posted...

quote:

I noticed that the ceiling is not finished, (not suspended, or drywall.) Was there a reason for this such as low overhead clearance? Or perhaps the layout is intended to be moved to another location as may be deduced from the construction style?

The reason I ask is that I plan to add a suspended ceiling to the basement in my ‘new’ house when we move there in a year or so. But if there is a good reason to skip doing it, I will. I do have 9-ft clearance in that basement, so the ceiling can easily be 8-ft high. The bottom of the lowest air ducts is 98”, so clearance under the duct enclosures may be just under 8-ft.

If you can do a suspended ceiling go for it. Unfortunately, it was cost prohibitive for the NWTL. Local code requires a house the size of Peter's have fire sprinklers. Peter didn't want to drywall the ceiling because there's too many pipes, ducts, etc., that need to be accessible (that's already proven a good judgment - bad story ). However, a drop ceiling counts as two spaces that must be sprinkled (below and above the tiles). That would have required quadruple the number of sprinkler heads. The next best thing was to leave the ceiling open and paint it black. If I could change one thing about the basement space it would be the ceiling. But, like any other layout, we're working within the limitations of the space.

Here's one more fun detail that looks good and aids function. ScaleTrax switch machines and Tortoise motors both lack color position indicators for each switch. Because so many people come and visit the layout it's very helpful to have such indicators. The current solution is to adapt Ross #50 illuminated switch stands to work with ScaleTrax. One of the key modifications is to knock out the red and green lenses from the lantern. We then replace the "grain of rice" light bulb with a red/green bi-polar LED. The lantern still moves around the LED, but your view of color isn't dependent on viewing angle. It's slightly less prototypical, but FAR more useful to operators standing along side the track rather than looking down the track.





I'd like to find some non-illuminated operating dwarf switch stands with aspect flags for yards and spurs, but all the ones I've found are either non operating or quite tall. If anyone can make a recommendation I'd really appreciate it.

Hi all,

Here's another brief update. We completed the Emerald lake pour this week. Four and a half gallons of Enviro Tex later we have a pretty nice glacial lake. The trick of the project is that the lake sits on top of a couple access hatches so it needed to be removable. That's why we lined the lake bed with painters plastic. Here's the lake coming out and the removal of the plastic.





We've got some work left to do planting more trees but it's already fun to look at.

Hey Dave! lookin real good. Be real nice to see a Selkirk pulling some Heavyweight cars thru the Pass. Hope you are doing well. Al