It's 1943 and the country is at war. Allied victories are turning the tide of the war and America's industries and the country's railroads, big and small, are doing their part. The Maryland & Pennsylvania RR (Affectionately known as The Ma & Pa) might not have been as busy as the big RRs, still played its part in contributing to the eventual Allied victory.
Come and see this all relived again as I build an HO scale version of The Ma & Pa, 1943.
I attended the Railroad Prototype Modelers Meet-Valley Forge PA and I gave a clinic on the Ma & Pa and how I'm modeling it in HO scale. I'm pleased to report that despite the late clinic time, 10pm, it was well attended, and I think well received. I had a great time giving the clinic and a bunch of my friends gave up some bar time (though they seemed to bring the bar with them ;) to support me, and give me some lighthearted ribbing.
Tom Schmeider, Craig Bisgeier, and Ted Pamperin settle in with their drinks for the clinic.
Jim Schwietzer joins the others.. by the looks on their faces nothing good can come of this..
I did have my Stoli Martini, straight up, with a twist. Jim is doing his best "you looking at me?"
The guys busted me a little during the clinic (payback is a b**ch) and even a few total strangers got into the act, but it was all in good fun, and it made for a humorous, and hopefully informative clinic. I received a lot of positive feedback, and I made some new connections for Ma & Pa information.
When I returned home, I continued to work on laying track on the helix and I have about 3/4ths of it installed. I also took time to experiment with some inexpensive plastic flashing material used I think for installing gutters. I used it as a guard rail to keep derailed trains from plummeting to the floor inside the helix. I think it works well, and it was only about $4 for a ten foot section. A relatively inexpensive solution.
Track laying is progressing down the helix.
To protect derailed trains from plummeting to the floor, I'm trying out some inexpensive plastic flashing material screwed to the side of the inner roadbed, not that I'll ever have any derailments in there...
For anyone interested, I'll be giving a clinic on modeling the Ma & Pa RR at the Railroad Prototype Modelers Meet-Valley Forge, 10pm Saturday night March 24th, 2012
I'll basically cover a lot of what has been posted in this blog. It could be interesting being that the 10pm clinic time is prime time at the bar for my group of friends, so there could be some interesting audience participation (read HECKLING). I might just do the clinic while sipping on my Stoli Martini (straight up, with a twist).
Stop by and say hi at least if you're at the meet. :)
After a one week delay, a few of the guys were able to come over to help me get the grades on the helix adjusted.. hopefully for the last time. As I stated in an earlier post, I tried doing this before on my own, but with a Masonite backboard separating the inner and outer loops, it was nearly impossible to get it right.
Tom Callan, Jim Fawcett, and Ralph Heiss came over and we discussed our plan of action (where have you heard that one before..) Tom came up with the idea of drawing a chart/graph to plot out what the present grades were at 1/8th intervals around both loops using the iPhone app.
Here Tom holds up the initial chart we made, and is pointing out the fluctuating grades.
Tom went back and took two legal size sheets of paper, and redrew the graph to help us better understand where the big fluctuations and discrepancies were in the grades.
If we were to actually draw it out like a prototype grade profile, the helix would almost look as bad as this Ma & Pa grade profile chart.. OK maybe that's a slight exaggeration..
We started from the bottom of the helix and used the iPhone app to help with the adjustments. We loosened 1/4th of a section of loop at a time and re-adjusted it to get the 2.1-2.3 range we were looking for. We methodically worked our way up the helix till we reached where it joins the upper deck. Now the entire helix climbs at an average of 2.1%, and I feel comfortable laying the rest of the track and wiring it up so I can run test trains up and down it.
The original scene of the crime.. The spot where I first used the iPhone grade level app. Here the grade was originally 5.7%, and now is 2.1%.
It really took a group effort to finally straighten out the grade problems on my backbone helix. Even with the extra work and trouble, I still feel what I gain in extra operation and scenic elements, more than makes up for the aggravation trying to get the grade right. If you're going to build a backbone style of helix, make sure you have some help. The extra eyes and hands will make it easier to build than trying to do it alone. Unfortunately, my problems have dissuaded Jim from building a double deck layout, though if he built a traditional helix, it would go a lot easier for him.
And now for your viewing pleasure.. The original Bugs Bunny cartoon episode, Hair Raising Hare. Enjoy! :)
OK I have a few days till the guys come over to help me straighten out the issues with the helix, so I'm trying to keep my sanity, and I decided to work on something else before I take a sledge hammer to the monster..
I have only finished off a few of the turnouts I've built for the layout, so I spent the day working on the rest. About 20 or more needed to be gapped (the frog and PC ties) and they all need to have the Fast Tracks Quick Sticks glued on so they can be ready for installation. Working on the turnouts was a welcome change and I really want to start on some of the other sections of the layout so I can progress towards getting something running.
Cutting the gaps in the frog and the ties.
Gluing the turnout to the Quick Sticks. "There is nothing like the smell of Pliobond in the morning..."
One down many more to go..
As I cut the gaps today, I thought about some of the developments that are coming down the pike in our hobby in the very near future. A couple of different sources are coming out with battery powered DCC control for locomotives and I'm hesitating jumping into wiring the layout. The Stanton Cab by Northwest Shortlines is out there now (See Bernie Kempinski's post on it in his blog at http://usmrr.blogspot.com/2012/02/update-on-stanton-cab.html) but I'm leaning towards something being developed by my friend Duncan McRee from Tam Valley Depot which utilizes the DCC system I already own. You may have seen this video already but if you haven't, take a look.
One certainty is that Model Railroading is advancing fast.
"To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence." Mark Twain
There I was.. all smug and confident that I had this whole helix grade thing figured out. I measured and divided and was careful (so I thought) the second time setting the grade. I got all the sub-roadbed installed, the cork roadbed laid down, started laying track and I even ran an engine a short distance on the top loop. All was well and right with the world.. until I got my new iPhone..
I've been exploring all the features and apps available and I downloaded a bunch of model railroad related apps. One of which was a gradient level developed by Kevin Snow at MynaBay.com:
http://www.mynabay.com/gradient-level
I knew I had some slight variations in the grade but I figured they were minor. I started checking the spots that looked a little steeper than the others and I found short sections of 4% or more (by short I mean about one foot in length). Most of the grade coming up the helix were within 2% with a few spots less than 1%. I was devastated and even now I'm not totally sure where to go from here. If I hadn't upgraded my phone, and picked up this app, I wouldn't have known. I'm thinking of laying the rest of the track and testing a full 12 car train with the heavy 2-8-0 to see if it has a problem with the short steep sections. After these sections the grade levels out considerably so maybe it will be OK. If not then I'll have to loosen up the loops and try to even them out, AGAIN.
