A logging layout? Have you gone mad? No! I'm working on inspiration. Also, sign up for the Bay Area SIG meet!

It's been a while since I've posted and it may be quite a surprise to read that in the interim I have been making good progress on my logging layout!

What???

That makes no sense. This blog is about building the B&OCT in N scale.

Bear with me. 

The past year has been littered with a number of events that got me off my main thesis.

In November 2021, I had rotator cuff surgery. It was when I was spending hours icing my left shoulder that I took a dive down the Japanese railroad and model railroad rabbit hole on Netflix and YouTube. I have a layout plan in the works. 

I was making good progress in the shoulder surgery recovery, when in March 2022, I was hit by a car while riding my bike. That sent me back to the recuperation zone. I was not doing a whole lot of anything.

A cortisone shot in my right shoulder in early August accelerated my recovery. It opened the door for me to resume more than arm-chair model railroad activities. I participated in an ops session on the Central Vermont and discovered that my ops skills were horribly rusty. Nearly fossilized. I had to do something to rebuild those skills. It was embarrassing. 

Around this time, I started to work on the final testing of the Barr Staging. I was snake bit in that I could not find an Atlas locomotive in my roundhouse that could be used for that task. I had four locomotives ready at hand -- each one had some kind of problem. Fixing those turned out to be beyond my abilities. I needed some outside help. I got bogged down and lost momentum.

Concurrently, planning for the 2023 PCR San Francisco Bay Area Layout Design & Operations Weekend Meet was ramping up. I'm the clinics chair. 

With all this my the plate, the feeling was of shoveling sand against the tide and losing.

I needed a win. 

That's what brought me back to the long-idle HO logging layout. I originally pulled this 12-inch by eight-foot layout together in 2006 when living in an apartment after my first marriage fell apart. I have a thing for Shays. The pike would feature this locomotive engaged in slow-speed switching. Lots of fun to watch the operations and the locomotive do its thing.

The layout reached the final stages of track work. But, life interceded -- a new marriage, moving to a new house, raising kids, work, another layout (N scale), etc. 

The logging layout (seen on the lower right) once occupied the space where the shelves were installed on the far wall.

16 years later, the logging layout was occupying space intended for storage shelves in the garage. It had to be moved. It was put on shelving brackets that will not see B&OCT benchwork for years. That move brought the layout down to a more accessible level. And the lightbulb lit!!!

Here was my "WIN"! 

Could I get this in shape to host an ops session for the SIG meet? Possibly. 

My goal: create a good-enough layout that will be fun to operate. 

My favorite steam locomotive - the Shay - at rest on the locomotive service track.

I checked out the track and it was mostly working. There was one spot where the Shay regularly stalled and another where it regularly derailed. Both problems have been resolved. Check!

Looking down the length of the logging layout from the yard. This is a small, but busy railroad.

The hills are coming alive. A look down the layout from the log loading area. The aluminum foil tacked to the bottom of the above shelves will help reflect light from to-be installed valance lighting.  

How about the scenery? Initial landforms were in place and a first coat of Sculptamold was in place. This was a good base from which to start. I had plenty of scenery material on hand. Check!

How about structures? They need work. The basic forms are in pieces needing to be painted. Cold weather has temporarily shut down spraying operations. 

The ops plan? It was an idea in my head, not formally fleshed out. A couple of visits with Jim Radkey resulted in the creation of a challenging ops scheme. This should be a fun layout for one or two SIG meet operators. 

LET'S PAUSE FOR A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS:

The PCR and Layout Design Special Interest Group will be hosting a meet the weekend of Feb. 3-5, 2023. That will not interfere with the end of the NFL playoffs because the event will be held on the bye week between the conference championship playoff games and the Super Bowl. 

The meet will be hosted in person at the Golden State Model Railroad Club in Point Richmond, CA. On Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, the meet has a tour scheduled at the Richmond Pacific Railroad. That will be followed by a dinner featuring a presentation from Justin Fox, president of the Southern Pacific Retired Executives Club. 

Saturday, Feb. 4 will feature at day of clinics and a layout design challenge at the Club. This activity will be presented in person. It will also be available virtually for folks out of town or who are not comfortable coming to a large gathering. That will be followed by layout tours. Those attending in person will get a box lunch -- provided in the registration cost. 

Sunday, Feb. 5 is a day of operations.

The early-bird in-person price is $35.00 until January 1, and $40.00 after. In-person tickets include box lunch. Because of space limits at the museum, in-person attendance is limited.

The early-bird virtual price is $15.00 until January 1, and $20.00 after.

You can register here: http://www.bayldops.com/

Circling back -- how does this logging layout relate to the B&OCT in N Scale or the Takadanobaba in Alameda? I got some easy wins. The scenery is coming along. A number of easy detail projects are mostly done. The layout is workable. The model railroad juices are flowing. I'm more prepared to tackle those larger projects than I have been for a while. 

Hope to see you at the SIG meet.

Progress report -- the organizing continues

Sometimes when straightening a mess you have to make a bigger one.

That's the case currently. I'm making a lot of fine-particle sawdust -- as I cut plywood to make wall-mounted cabinets and drawers for on-going projects.

The idea: build some temporary, but desperately needed storage units. These units will be two-feet high, 16-inches deep and range in length from two- to four-feet. They will be mounted on the wall, at ceiling level. Should they be more permanent than temporary, they will be ideal to hang layout lighting above the top level. 

This project consumed a 4'x8' sheet of 1/2-inch plywood that has been hanging around in the garage, getting in the way. I'm cutting up other sheet lumber to add to the project. It's a two-fer. I'm getting rid of sheet lumber and adding more storage. Getting rid of the sheet lumber will give me access to some stored rolling stock and locomotives. I'll use a locomotive for track testing. (more to come on that.)

One of the wall units will have a section for drawers housing on-going project kits. The drawers will keep rolling stock projects, track work, fasttracks switch assembly, structures. The drawers will have all the needed tools and supplies. Easy to find, pull out, set up and when done, easy to put away. 

Next up -- cut some 1/4" plywood for drawer runners and stabilization blocks. 

One other update -- all the helix sections have been trimmed and are ready to be assembled -- once the storage cabinet project is done. 

Here are a few in-progress pictures:

Trimmed helix sections -- ready for installation.

Framing for project kit drawers. They will have either hardboard bottoms or 1/4" ply bottoms.

Sheet plywood cut to make wall storage units. Next up -- sanding and assembling. 

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Organization -- Not always my strong suit. A new learning opportunity for me

An empty box of possibilities? Really, an empty box that once held stuff now stored, categorized or tossed. One step in the process of organizing the layout work space.

Building a model railroad requires participating in a multitude of hobbies. The larger the layout, the broader that multitude. 

The B&OCT in N scale is the largest layout I've ever attempted: multiple levels, several helixes, multiple yards, interlockings, signals, DCC, urban scenery, multiple operators (some of them likely participating remotely). There's a lot for me to learn.

Historically, I'd take a scattershot approach to working on trains. It was not always satisfying. In approaching a project of the size that I am imagining -- and it's by no means a huge layout -- I can't be scattered. 

There needs to be method and structure to the madness. Projects need to be identified, prioritized and executed upon. There needs to be accountability.

In the past, my workspace would be cluttered and overwhelmed with started and not-quite-ever-completed projects. I'm looking to make a change. I'm trying to keep a diary of layout projects. It's online -- so easy to access from my computer, tablet or phone. 

One of the first priorities is organizing my layout space. And that's the significance of the top photo. Big whoop, its an empty box. Its a box of things that have been sorted, organized, stored or trashed. I have to get the garage cleaned. Building storage over the layout is on my to-do list. Under layout storage really isn't an option until my construction is further along. 

Next up -- dust mitigation. The garage is a home for the dust stirred up by the mow-blow-and-go landscapers. I'm looking into better weather stripping for the doors -- as a start. I need to reduce the dirt that gets into the layout space and settles on the track, rolling stock and other flat surfaces. 

To mitigate dust created internally I'm trying to move most of that work to the outdoors. 

Tied to dust mitigation is cleaning the Barr Staging track, again, along with locomotive wheels. I'm nearing the end of testing the track -- just need a couple of Atlas locomotives back on the front lines. Another task to put in the diary.

Anyway, until next time.

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