Let the building begin

Let the building begin. (well the pre planning bit anyway)

After the demolition of the old D&H 2nd Sub, I have now cleaned up the room, and stored the timber from the old layout.

Once the room was given the once over with a broom and the temporary carpet was lifted up and also stored, it was time to map out where the new layout will go and get a feel for the space and the width of the isles etc.

I used some masking tape on the concrete floor and mapped out the isles and the dividing wall that runs along the peninsula's.

There are still a few things in the rool that line the wall due to lack of other places to put them.

Then I placed the retained staging in it place to see how things fit..

While things will be a little tight, I'm sure things will work out well..

Until next time..

Demolition Complete

Demolition of the D&H 2nd Sub is now complete.

In readiness for the new layout, the old layout needed to be demolished.
This week has seen the completion of the demolition work.

The D&H 2nd Sub is now a fallen flag.
The layout design was started back in early 2008 and took a few years to complete before it was placed in storage while we built our new home and the new shed.

It came out of storage in 2013 and the signalling work was completed in time for the 2013 N Australian N scale convention here in Melbourne. The layout was well received and I received many nice comments about the work I had done.

But alas, time moves on and the new 7.5m x 6m shed is calling to be filled with a new layout. Therefore the old D&H 2nd Sub had to go.

I completed the removal of all the electrical components last week.
Here are a few progress pictures.

Then it came time to start reclaiming the Atlas Code 55 track.

Her is the first piece of track being lifted.

Work continued at a fever pace and before long 4 modules had been completely demolished and all track recovered.
Then finally the main yard on the 5th module was started.

Then before long the final piece of track was removed.

Then the final module, like its 4 sisters was reduced to a pile of timber.

All that is left is the old staging yard that will be reused on the new layout as it is, all be it longer.

Now all the wire, track and parts are in the piles ready to be cleaned up and reused.

 

Good bye to the D&H 2nd Sub.. I learnt a few good lessons in the last 5 or so years that will be put to good use on the new layout.

Stay tuned for the next update on the progress of the new layout.

Time for a new lease on life and a new name

Whats in a name?

With the commencement of the demolition of the old D&H it was time to also bring this blog up to date with the new name for the railroad.

The old layout was based around Oneonta, therefore is was on the 2nd sub of the D&H.

The new layout will be based around Whitehall in the north of New York State.
Whitehall is the dividing point between the 3rd and 4th subdivisions of the D&H, however I like the Champlain division the most and the layout will feature key scenes from the 4th Sub on Lake Champlain.

Therefore the new layout will be called. D&H 4th Sub Champlain Division.

And it was so..

The blog has been updated and away we go.!

New Layout Design:
In terms of layout plan, here is the current plan.

I'm getting closer and closer to locking it in..

This is the main level with industry names.

This is the staging level.

 

 

As you can see things are well progressed..

Now for Atlas to start making N scale Code 55 turnouts and flex track!..

I have enough to build the main line and all the staging (I think) with the use of some ME code 55 in the staging sections also.

Time will tell.

 

Stay tuned..



Demoltion time

Time to pull up stumps!.

Well, the time finally came this week when it was time to say good bye to Oneonta and the old D&H.

With the new plans well and truly on their way, it was time to start to disassemble the old layout.

First the signals were removed, the last train was packed up and then it was time to get stuck in.

Per the picture, there is a heap of wring and electronics under the layout so what better place to start.

I have not finished it yet, but the first 2 modules are all but devoid of electronics and wiring.

I will do the other 3 and then it will be time to get the sharp knife out and pull up the track for later use.

I will keep the blog updated with a few pics along the way of the old one..

Hopefully, before long the new layout will be under way.

Revisions and more revisions

Revision time!.

Since my last post I have been pondering over this plan for a week or so now and after a few suggestions from friends and also from "The Rail Wire" forum, I made a few changes to get the isle widths wider than I had them.

I made a slight revision to the staging and am now happy with the way Whitehall is looking also.

I now have a branch line to Corinth and reversed the town names so they fit in better.

Here are the revised versions..

Here is the main deck.

And here is the staging level.

The dispatchers desk has been included.
Also the height from the floor to the main level is 1400mm. In some places it reduces to 1320mm and staging is at 1100mm.

In most cases the isle widths is around the 800mm or more mark.

Now to find someone with a A0 plotter to print it 1:1 for me..

Anyone?

Moving out of Oneonta and heading for Whitehall.

Time for a change of location!.

After my last post and a great deal of thought and discussion with Rod, Ron, and Greg, and after receiving a new D&H book called "Delaware & Hudson Bridge Line Freight 1960 - 1983 Volume 1 the North end"..
I decided that the Champlain division was calling and some of the scenery possibilities that the location afforded me was too good to pass on. (besides, Ron has always suggested that the North end of the D&H was the place to be due to lake Champlain!)..

After reading through the new book by Dominic Bourgeois, and finding so many possibilities I decided it was time..

So once the existing layout is dismantled, I will say good by to the Penn Division and hello to the Champlain and Saratoga Divisions.!

Now I have a location and many industries, I reviewed my floor plan with Rod Warren and we decided that a shed measuring 7.6m x 5.8m was big enough to handle 3 peninsula's rather than 2.

So I set to work using AnyRail to replan the shed and the peninsula's and the track plan.

I stuck with the given of NO Duckunder and it worked.

I also stuck with the given of plenty of space between the main deck and staging and have managed to achieve 300mm at the main staging yard point while maintaining a grade of no more than 2%.
The min radius is a much better 443mm (16 inches) compared to the much tighter current layout.

My other givens are already listed in earlier posts such as train length, full CTC etc etc.

Here is a draft of the main deck (things may change slightly in towns but the main floor plan is now about right)

Here is the draft of the staging level.

Im not completely happy with the track plan in Whitehall so will keep working on that.

Please post any comments or suggestions.

Planning for D&H Version 3

Planning for D&H Version 3
Now that the convention is complete and the layout is back in the shed and operational, I can now start planing the next version of the D&H to fill my 7.5m x 6m shed.

As mentioned in earlier posts, I plan on reusing as much as I can from the old layout in the new version.

During the convention I had the pleasure of helping to run Rod's and Bruce's layout. The one thing that struck me was the use of a duck under to enter the room. I had been planning on using one but after reading a few things in forums recently and operating the two layouts, I decided that a walk in layout needed to be on my given's list and not just a druther.

After a heap of thinking and some help from Duncan, we have come up with a foot print that I really like and will become the new layout. This new foot print doe not have a duck under and is a walk in layout. It is very similar to Ron's layout with a change in terms of one of the peninsula's.

I have also done a heap of work and thinking about the isle spaces to enable people to pass and operate the layout with plenty of elbow room.

In the second picture the dimensions are included.

Per this plan the main yard is starting to take shape but not yet finalised.

The plan is for the main layout to all be seen with trains entering hidden staging via the loop at the bottom and also along the edge near the door. The staging or hidden track will then continue around the wall under the layout and descend up to 400mm to the 7 or 14 track staging yard below the layout along the left wall. Then the staging will continue towards the main layout via the peninsula that is against the lower wall.

As trains on the new layout will be 2 loco's, 20 x 50ft cars and a caboose, towns and yards need to be longer than what they are on the current layout. So its now all about planing..

Stay tuned and we plot out the track plan for the new layout..