Time for Track on the Mascoutin Valley

Steps

1. Paint the Track.
2. Spike the Track.
3. After Spiking 3 feet of track, run rolling stock back and forth on the track for two hours and imagine trains running on your railroad.
4. Over analyze the size of the spikes.
5. Trim the spikes.
6. Spike more track.

Paint the track

I needed to paint the rails before I spiked them down.  I had this big idea of hand painting the rails.  So the first thing I tried was painting Model Master Rail Tie Brown on shiny, new Micro Engineering Code 70 Rail.  It didn't stick.  Next I tried good ol' craft store paint!  Burnt Sienna.  That worked OK but after a half an hour I only had 4 rails painted...at that rate I'd have my railroad done by 2047.  So I needed to switch to another paint...a spray paint.  So I chose this, Krylon Camouflage Brown Ultra Flat.  You can see the rail against the red Krylon Logo.  I also painted 16 rails in about 20 seconds.  One last thing about the rail.  I do intend on touching it up with Pan Pastels and other weathering techniques.

I really like this color.  Looks like real rail in the north woods.

Spiking down the Rail

Easy, right?  Kind of.  First the tools.  Two Code 70 Triangle gauges, one NMRA standards gauge and a good pair of needle nose pliers.  I took the rail stood it up on the ties, put my two triangle gauges on top of the rails in the area I wanted to work.  Next I grabbed a spike (Micro Engineering Medium Spikes) and put over half of the spike in the pliers before I pushed it into the railroad tie.  I made sure to spike straight up and down.  Its important to "choke down" on the spikes and go straight up and down if you don't, you will bend the spikes and start swearing! And I only spiked in every 6 ties or so.  I got the first 3 feet of rail done and this is what it looked like.

Spike heads are a little bigger than expected.  Not too bad though.  I like the contrast of rail to tie color!

Trimming the Spike Heads

Since I thought my spike heads were a bit big, I took to crowd sourcing (model rail radio facebook page) to get some advice on what to do with my over sized spikes.  Matt Newman (a facebook buddy - check out his blog!) and a couple other model rail radio chums chimed and mentioned to give them a trim.  So I took a side cutters and started trimming the spike heads.  This wasn't a precise process.  Put the spike head in the side cutters and snip.  The heads go flying if you don't shoot them into something so put your hand behind the cutter head to prevent them from flying everywhere. So WATCH OUT!  Here's my technique.  Its not the most exciting thing to do so I put on a podcast, A Modelers Life is a good podcast to listen to while doing this side project.  Just be sure not to stick your finger in the side cutter!

The Rail closest to the camera has the trimmed spikes.  Nice to have rolling stock on the rails!

Next time I'll be showing you how I create a turnout (switch) using Fast Tracks tools.

I want to thank everyone for reading! If you're on Facebook be sure to check out the Mascoutin Valley Railroad Page.  I put pictures on there and have discussions with anyone who posts!

Post any you comments or questions you have!

Till next time keep 'er in Notch 8!

"Tie"ing up 2015

I'd like to take a bit and review my model railroading hobby for 2015 and I'd like to show more progress on the layout!

Review of 2015

2015 was a big year for me in terms of model railroading.  I learned so much about this hobby its hard to describe it all.  I'll just hit a few high points.

Model Building

I hadn't built anything in 15+ years.  I had no idea what my skill level was.  So I took a Freight House kit that I built for my club module.  It had a really bad paint job and was barely weathered.  So I took it apart and started over.  And I repainted it.  I repainted everything.  Windows, Doors, trip, roof siding, and platform.  It went from an off colored orange monstrosity into a nicely weathered freight house that from a distance might mistake for a craftsman kit.  I must admit I did not finish it 100%.  I got it about 90% done.  The only thing that remains for me to complete is the interior and the lighting.  But other than that take a look and see what an ol' Tyco Kit looks like when you put a little elbow grease into it.

This is a nice head on shot of the Freight House.

DCC

In 2015 I learned what Digital Command Control (DCC) was.  Before I started back into the hobby I had no exposure to DCC.  All I knew about it was that you could control a locomotive with a magic hand held device.  I read a few books, watched a video or two and I caught on to it pretty quickly.  In no time I learned how to apply it.  I got so comfortable with DCC I started hard wiring DCC decoders into non DCC locomotives.  DCC is one of those things that just clicked.  I learned how decoders work and understood how a command center sends information packets to a decoder wired into a locomotive through wires then rails  Check out the link to a DCC decoder install video I uploaded on my Facebook Page for the Mascoutin Valley Railroad!

DCC Decoder Video

2016 and Beyond

I'm not sure what the future will hold but I'm pretty excited.  I feel I have a good grasp of todays model railroading fundamentals.  I am eager to start hand laying my own track and developing a model railroad that can be running trains in the next few months.

Ties, Ties, Everywhere the Ties...

 We've got the track plan transferred to the homasote roadbed and that means its time to start laying ties.  I took the approach of a madman when it came to laying ties.  I took 3/32" square basswood strips and cut them to 8'6" scale foot boards.  Before you call the loony bin, I had help I used a Northwest Shortline "Chopper" with the length set to 8'6" and made railroad ties as I watched TV.

Once I got all of them cut, I loaded up a "Tie Jig" that I made.  Then I took some frog tape (green painters tape) and ripped it into a thin strip.  I then took the tape and laid it on top of the ties in the jig.  It gave me a "string of ties" that I could lay down.  I laid some glue down on the lines from the track plan, spread it out with my finger and laid the ties down on the glue.  Below is a picture of me laying ties down.  I used yellow wood glue to glue down my ties.

Notice the Frog Tape on the strips of ties.

Once I got all the ties down I stained them.  This is pretty self explanatory.  See the picture below.

 
Once the ties were stained I needed to start weathering them.  I wanted to give the impression that these ties were old, worn out and sun-baked ties.  I took an incremental approach to this.  Add the gray wash first then come in with white highlights when the wash dried.  I made a wash of cheap craft store gray acrylic paint and water.  See the effect it creates in the picture below.

Gray wash applied to a few ties on the lower siding.

After I added the wash I dry brushed some white acrylic paint on the ties.  See the effect achieved in the picture below.

White Dry Brush applied to achieve the UV damage.

Rinse and Repeat to apply it to the entire taconite plant!  I will continue to weather the ties, but this is good enough for now to get some rail laid.

Next time I'll be showing you how I prep the rail and get it ready to spike down and with a little luck we'll get a few feet spiked down.

I want to thank everyone for reading and be sure to check out my facebook page where I post pictures and videos specific to the Mascoutin Valley Model Railroad.  Facebook Page Link.  Post any you comments or questions you have!

Till next time keep 'er in Notch 8!

Taconite Tuesday

Hey Gang,

I know its been a little while since my last post.  I've been doing a little layout work, but most of my modeling time has been consumed by a couple of DCC installations I just can't seem to get right.  Off track right away.  Pun intended! 

Iron Clad Planning - The Taconite Plant

The first part of the Mascoutin Valley Railroad I wanted to get modeled was the Taconite Plant (see link for taconite definition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taconite).  But I had to decide where on the Mascoutin Valley Railroad system map was I going to put the railroads largest industry.  Usually mines, quarries and other massive scale industries have their own branch line that would tie into the main line somewhere at a junction point or yard.  My conceptual narrative said that the Mascoutin Valley Railroad would have ore traffic in the Northern Division going from Crandon to Iron Mountain and then eventually to the ore docks at Escanaba, MI.  Also picking Crandon as a potential mining operation isn't too much of a stretch of the imagination since it was slated at one point to be the site of a large open pit mine.

Bench work - The Short Version

Now that a geographical location has been established its time to build some bench work and trace down a track plan.  I'm not going to spend too much time on bench work construction.  Its a classic 1x4" grid and riser bench placed on 2x2" legs with bracing used that will also be used for shelving.  I screwed down 3/4" birch plywood to risers that I attached to the grid work.  Its pretty basic.  Its also pretty strong.  You have to make sure your bench work is solid and LEVEL.  I'm not going to be modeling functioning hand brakes on the cars so they better not be free rolling around.  That's really all the time I want to spend on bench work.  I'll post a photo or two that can illustrate what I'm talking about.

My Methods to My Madness - Track Planning

How do I plan?  A couple of ways.  First I take a plan and draw it out on butcher or used/discarded plotter paper.  I take that and tape it down to my bench work and see if its practical.  Note:  I may or may not pre-plan the design.  I've spent countless hours trying to come up with the "perfect track plan."  But I've got a secret to share with you all...THEY DON'T EXIST!  Instead of letting paralysis analysis take hold and prevent me from doing anything, I've opted to lightly plan while keeping my Givens and Druthers in mind. 

The next part of my planning is I try it out.  I make a mock up.  As you can see here I got the Ore Jennies out and an old Walthers New River Mining Company load out tower.  I put them down on the paper and to see if my hair brained scheme will work.  As you can see here the Taconite Plant can take a train of about 12 cars at a time.  It also has a run around that can accommodate 12 cars as well.  The plant branch itself is about 10' long and has a couple of other spurs for Bentonite (a key component in making taconite) and coal unloading.  As well as a spur for tailing-to-ballast operation.  Take a look at the picture below to see how I make a mock up.

Planning Stages of the Taconite Plant

Trasferring the Plan

Once I get the track plan in place I cut a sheet of homasote and add it to the top of the plywood.  Then I transfer the track plan in the picture above to the homasote roadbed.  If you look at the picture below you'll notice that I made some mistakes.  Don't Panic!  You're going to make a lot of mistakes in building your model railroad.  I know I sure have.  As you can see here I added the entire taconite plant track plan to the homasote.  One tip I want to share is drawing in the turnouts (switches).  I used a bunch of old Atlas Snap Track switches I laying around to mock up their placement on the railroad.  I had #4 and #6's.  At the plant I wanted #5's.  SOL right?  Nah.  I used the #6's to get a feel for what the maximum size of my turnouts would be.  Below is a link that can explain the number or size of a turnout.

 http://www.nmra.org/beginner/track 

Side note: One rule of thumb in track planning...always over estimate. The reason I used #6's when I wanted #5's is I give myself a little extra room for making a mistake.  Its my experience that plans drawing on the bench work seem to shrink when its time to lay the track!  I give my sidings an extra inch or two.  Because nobody wants to pull a train to the end of a switching lead and have the last cars wheels on the points of the turnout!  When making a runaround lead make it the size of your largest engine.  I use an SD-40-2, its the biggest/longest I'll ever run on the Mascoutin Valley Railroad.

Getting the Final Track Plan Established

One last comment on the picture above.  I made another couple of mistakes.  I didn't seal the homasote in this picture.  And I also didn't smooth out the joints in the homasote pieces.  I actually smoothed everything out so it's as level as possible then I painted over it with some cheap latex paint that got from Ace Hardware.  Side store about the paint - I actually asked them if they had any mixing mistakes that were dark brownish taupe color and I got a quart for two bucks!  It really doesn't matter its going to get covered anyways its main purpose is to just cover and seal the homasote so it doesn't disintegrate when it gets wet!

Alright folks.  I'm going to stop here...that was a lot of information.  Next time I'm going to talk about final planning stages, drawing turnouts, and laying some ties!

Till next time keep 'er in Notch 8!

G's and D's

Hey Gang!

So we have the concept down.  Now its time to start filling the space.  Right now I have a room in my basement that is 11 x 16 feet.  So how do I start filling it?  What part of the Mascoutin Valley ends up on my model railroad?  Its time to make a list and do a little planning before the first parts of the benchwork get constructed.  Its time for the dreaded GIVENS and DRUTHERS!

The Givens and Druthers list that is not a new concept.  Its been around since the first cavemen made the made the first model railroads out of rocks and sticks.  Its a list of things your railroad must have, can't live with out (Givens)! And a list of things that are nice-to-haves (Druthers).   This list will be the starting blocks of how I will construct my model railroad.

Givens:

• Aisle space of at least 30 inches.  Even though I'd love to just fill up the room with gobs and gobs of track I don't want to be sucking in my gut just to operate trains!
• Must have an Iron/Taconite Mine.  I am a sucker for those little ore jennies.
• The sub roadbed must be 3/4 inch plywood.  This may seem a little ridiculous but I've started two layouts this year and both had 1/2" plywood.  Both were warped twisted and now in the garbage.  Plywood that is 3/4 inch has more plies so it is stronger and less opportunity to warp and bend.  
• I must have a staging yard.  
• My locomotive roster will be made up of prototypical engines.  Either bought or leased from existing railroads or second had locomotive dealers.
• Construction will be done in a modular fashion.  Baby steps to keep it manageable.  Don't break off too much layout at one time.  

Druthers:

• A second major industry - Paper Mill?
• Hand Laid Track except in staging.
• Variation in Rail Traffic.  Not just Ore Trains.
• Yard Switching.
• Prototypical car movements and train documentation.

With this list identified we can get started with construction.  The first section of layout we'll be constructing is the Iron Mine/Taconite Plant.  I'll discuss that in the next posting.

Till Next time keep 'er in Notch 8!

Concept Continued

Hey Gang!

I want to post a couple more thoughts about concept.  This railroad is a "proto-freelance model railroad"  It basically means that some of its real and some of its totally made up in my brain! 

The real parts I chose was the basic setting.  Time and place.  I wanted the railroad to be set in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.  I want the railroad to haul Wisconsin and Upper Michigan products.  It should haul lumber, pulpwood, agriculture products, processed food, paper and iron ore.  I'm not going to exclude other traffic, but I want to primarily focus on these times.  I picked real cities in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, but I'm going to tweak their histories a bit.  For example Poy Sippi...not sure if a railroad ever existed there.  But it sure does on the Mascoutin Valley!  We will explore each of the cities in detail as we progress through this blog.

Every good railroad needs a name.  The Mascoutin Valley Railroad.  How did I come up with that?  With a little help from my wife, I choose the name based on a couple of factors.  I wanted to capture a local theme.  I used some local Native American history and a current day recreational trail name - The Mascoutin Valley Trail.  Oddly enough the Mascoutin Valley Trail was a rails to trails program that used right of ways that appears on the Mascoutin Valley Railroad today!  Apparently we didn't get the memo.  

With the basic geographic area selected, the name of the railroad decided and what I want to haul on the railroad it was time to make a system map!

Here's the System Map of the Mascoutin Valley. 

Over all the Mascoutin Valley Railroad covers over 200 miles and serves as a connector railroad to the CNW, WSOR, E&LS and Wisconsin Central/CN.  The Railroad is divided into 3 separate divisions - Northern, Central and Southern.

Lets break the divisions down.

The Northern Division primarily runs east-west.  The Northern Division concentrates on Iron Ore traffic and Wood Products (Pulp, Lumber, Wood Chips and Paper.  It connects with the CNW in Rhinelander and the E&LS and WC/CN in Iron Mountain.  Ore traffic goes back and forth between Crandon and Iron Mountain.  While logs, chips and paper gets hauled between Rhinelander and Iron Mountain.  With the Goodman Lumber Mill and a sizable paper mill in Iron Mountain the Northern division is a major source of revenue for the Mascoutin Valley.

The Central Division is the connection between Northern and Southern Divisions.  It is the main artery for paper and lumber traffic going south and grain and processed food heading north.  With a major division yard in Clintonville the central division sees an immense amount of through traffic.  Small industries keep the central division locals busy with various agri-businesses providing most of the revenue.

The Southern Division is a the most industrious and has the most diversity in terms of traffic.  Ripon is the major connection point for the railroad.  Ripon takes traffic from the north, east and west.  Ripon also provides a connection with the Wisconsin Southern Railroad.  Major Industries on the Southern Division include Princeton's Tiger Brewery, Ripon Good Cookies and Power Packaging.  Other smaller industries provide a large amount of traffic almost on a daily basis.

With the concept down we can start filling the space.

Till Next time keep 'er in Notch 8!  

Radical Sabbatical

Hello Gang!

I’ve been back in the hobby of Model Railroading for about a year now after taking a long break from it (15 Year Sabbatical).  The "Radical Sabbatical" was inspired by the usual suspects.  Sports, Cars, Girls and College pretty much consumed my teens and twenties.  But now that I'm at the ripe age of 34 its time to have "Real Fun."  Its time to come back to the hobby.  So what do you do when you get back into model railroading...build a layout.

 *Insert Pictures of Beer Cans and party scene*

The point of this blog is I want to document my journey.  This is the starting point.  There will be mistakes.  There will be improvements.  Not only to the blog but my modeling.  There is one and only one rule of this blog...HAVE FUN. 
 

The Concept

I feel that it is important to define a concept of the model railroad that I want to construct.  The world I want to create.  I have have to credit Mike Confalone and his Allagash Railway for giving me this idea.  If you haven't seen any of his work I would really recommend that you check him out.  Either through Model Railroad Hobbyist or Trainmaster's TV.  It is a wonderful model railroad.  And I think it is my favorite.  (Gushing and Digression Aside) The Mascoutin Valley Railroad is a proto-freelanced HO Scale model railroad based in Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan.  It's set in the early 1980's.  I chose this because...I know it.  I lived it.  I grew up with the Chicago and Northwestern Marshline Branch Line in my back yard!

My Space - For a Railroad

Picture 1 - The Room Space

Picture 1 shows the space I have.  It is an 11x16 foot room in my basement.  It is a cinder block basement wall painted tan? Its lit by a dual lamp ceiling fixture and has an exhaust fan in it.  It is has an cigarette smoke outline of a dartboard on one of the walls.  I'm building a model railroad in a former party room?!?!?!  OK, I know, the room needs work. 

 

So that's it.  That's where we're starting.  We have a room and a concept!

Till next time, keep 'er in notch 8!