Notes on Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads
A hobby adventure
The Wheeling Freight Terminal layout hosted another op session recently, which prodded me to continue the freight car movement discussion. The photo above is similar to many team yard images I’ve seen from the Teens through the 1940s. These have inspired my layout work. Click on any image here to review a larger size.
Continue reading “B&O Wheeling Freight Terminal operations – Pt 2”
The first B&O Wheeling Freight Terminal operating session of 2015 was held on January 30th. Mike came in from Las Cruces to participate. I think this was the fifth session since operations began in late June 2014. While the layout is not large, we did move 71 freight cars in a three hour session. Some of the operating methods have altered since the first session and I wanted to share these ideas. This will probably end up as two or three parts so I don’t bore anyone with too much detail in one sitting.
Continue reading “B&O Wheeling Freight Terminal operations – pt 1”
I moved to El Paso, Texas, in the summer of 2012 and began to seek out local model railroaders. I attended a local NMRA meeting and met Mike who was building an HO scale home layout in nearby Las Cruces, NM. His layout had progressed well and he hoped to begin operating soon. I offered to assist with any tasks to keep the progress rolling and ended up visiting a couple of times a month. Over the next year, the mainline was completed, a yard was installed, an industrial branch was installed, and operating sessions were set up. Mike now hosts once a month sessions on his layout and a few local model railroaders participate. Click on any image here to review a large size.
My B&O Wheeling Freight Terminal layout has reached the point where I can hold an operating session. All of the track switch controls have been installed and adjusted to proper working order and a few track gauge issues have been corrected. It was time to make the leap of faith. My friend Mike committed to the initial shake down session so I was now locked in and needed to prep. This will be the first op session on a layout in my home since the summer of 2001. Where have the years gone?
Continue reading “The first op session for the Wheeling Freight Terminal”
I just wrapped up the installation of some feeder wires on a layout section and I wondered exactly when I began this project. A quick review of the time stamps on the photos I’ve taken reveals an August 31st start date for the first two benchwork sections. My wife and I moved to El Paso on July 3rd, and I posted about surveying the new hobby space on August 3rd. A few weeks of design contemplation and the sawdust began to fly August 31st.
And here we are with about 85% of the track installed, buss wires installed on all layout sections, and feeder wires installed on four of the eight sections. In the plan below, all that remains to install are a few tracks at the freight house on the left leg of the layout. Click on the image to review a larger version.
I had a goal to operate by January 1st. A digital command control system is still a few weeks away from installation, so a real session will have to wait. Until then, a nine volt battery provides the power to move a locomotive and a string of cars. I’ve already worked out a few methods to switch seven or eight freight cars in the team track yard and it’s been lots of fun watching the trains glide smoothly along the trackwork. Am I cheating? I’ll leave that up to you, but remember I am pulling and spotting freight cars with a locomotive. The fun I have with a simple nine volt battery encourages more layout progress.
Your comments are encouraged. All comments are reviewed and approved before they appear here.
Happy New Year to all!