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J&C Studios O Gauge Archive


O Gauge / O Scale Forums and Individual Blogs for Model Railroading

What is the J&C Studios O Gauge Archive?
(Guest)   JCS Archive   Great Bridges of O Gauge   new layout with many bridges
 
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new layout with many bridges
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted Nov 18, 2013: 
I'm New to o scale layouts this is my first layout that's more than a 4x8 with track screwed to it. A little about me. I have had trains pretty much my whole life. My father bought me an ho set when I was a kid and put it on a 4x4 sheet of plywood it had one switch and a engine house that was it I kind of remember a tree too. that didn't last long as a 6 year old kid. then he got me a n scale that was in a box that had plastic scenery and even a manual turntable and round house. it was called cannonball something. I later bought my own ho kits and build a 4x8 in the basement but a house fire ruined that for me. so as a teen I didn't do to much with trains. but in 2001 I bought a Santa Fe Flyer set from Lionel and went to the Lionel open house and bought a bunch of other rolling stock and another engine. that was used for a little while then put in the attic. last summer while in Michigan on vacation to see family I was given a new engine (not new but new to me) three of my uncles do o gauge also. One of my uncles has been collecting trains since he was a young kid. he just passed about a month ago at the age of 73 so as you can imagine it's quite the collection the family is still trying to figure out what to do with it all. but anyways I was given a 1957 Santa Fe f3 powered and dummy. which sparked pulling the stuff I had back out of the attic. since then it's been either a buying spree of building things to get a layout together. I have a spare bedroom in the basement which is where I put the layout. the room is 11 by 11. my wife wanted to help so she being height challenged didn't want 4X8 because she couldn't reach across so max width was 40 inch's around all 4 walls. me having 4 complete trains I wanted to run all 4 together. but the limited space only allowed for 2 main lines. and I left a space for a yard at some point. I bought a cab 1 tmcc for the layout even tho I only have conventional trains at the moment. one main is flat around the whole layout and the other has an elevation. this is where the bridge's come in. I have built now 5 bridges. and total investment has been about 10 bucks the first bridge I built was from a piece of pvc window jam I found in the shed. it's shapped like an H when you look at the end I cut 2 legs off of it so it would be a U shape then measured and cut doun the middle of the u to give me 2 l shapes then used the the first legs cut to length and glues then between the 2 l shapes to give me a basic girder bridge. I then cut 45 degree angles on both ends and glued a sliced down old credit card to the tope edges then sliced up an cigertte pack to make strips and glued them to the sides for ribs. I know this isn't making any sence but maybe pictures will help.

it's the 2 black bridges on the lower level in the pic. also the white one just above it the white one just isn't finished yet. there's another one elsewhere on the layout too that's 4 bridges and the big black one in the center on the top of that photo I built also the other two are Lionel's short extension bridges. honestly kind of cheap not sure I like them. but as you can see the layout is coming together it's only been in progress about a month now from bench work to scenery. over the weekend I was working on another area since the wife now wants to run a train of her own and dress it up kind of like Christmas snow and stuff so I added a 3rd line it turned out 14 inch's above the bench work just a simple oval. but it made for an interesting night . the bench work while standing on it the plywood gave way and I fell through the layout after a rebuild it was back together I have created a blog of sorts mainly a place to put pictures up. it's at http://mail.intergrated-it.com
you can see more pics there. but the main reason for the post is I am looking for that centerpiece bridge on the layout and I really don't know what to do for one? any ideas would be great.
 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted Nov 18, 2013: 
figured I would add a pic of the layout plan too.
 
t8afao
Joined: Jul 23, 2010
Topics: 39 Replies: 64 Topics: 39
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posted Nov 19, 2013: 
If you want more bridge ideas check out this guys work TIMW. http://www.jcstudiosinc.com/BlogShowThread?id=878 He posts a lot of his bridges on here. They are mostly done with foam if I recall. I like your plan, what are the minimum curves are you using. Its smart to keep you layout narrow so you can reach to the other side, I learned that the hard way. Show us more photos too, thanks. Nick
 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted Nov 19, 2013: 
the layout has many different curves I know for reading the bigger the curve the more realistic it is so I tried to put in as many large dia curves as possible but with that said i'm also only working in a 11x11 room so huge curves used everywhere isn't possible so I have 031, 036, 048, 072 and 084 all in fastrack I probably should have gone with gargraves track it probably would have made some of my areas easier to make. like there is one spot on the layout where the track in on a downward slop and at the botton theres a 036 curve but the track bed rests up against the wall so I had to week the track over alittle and push the tolerances of the track to make it around that turn without hitting the wall with the swing of my current engines now anything larger and I still might have an issue. there is accually 3 lines on the layout the lower line which is 031, 036, 048 curves the middle line is 036, 072, 084 curves and the top line is a simple oval with 036. to see more pics I have a blog site setup so I can share with my uncles in Michigan the sites address is http://mail.intergrated-it.com I own my own company and host my own mail server so I have the blog site running on that server
thanks John
 
JohnBoy
Joined: May 14, 2008
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posted Nov 20, 2013: 
Looks like a lot of fun John, and thanks for sharing. Please let me know if you'd like to exchange links with your Blog, we're happy to do it.

Hope you will share more of your photos and experience with us.

Cheers,

John
 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted Nov 20, 2013: 
sounds good and thank you it has been. I never knew I would enjoy artsy things as much as I have. last night I made my first plaster mold and cast very basic tunnel portal. how I did it was I had a sheet of foam board. drew out the tunnel portal which was pretty easy 4 years of drafting class helped there 20+ years ago tho. but none the less I drew it out then took 1/4 square dowel rod and framed in the drawing for the round parts I used a spray paint can cap cut to fit glued it all down with ca then came back with hot glue and sealed the outside edges. took some Vaseline put a thin coat on it for a release agent and mixed up the plaster of Paris wait for it to dry and popped it out. it's very basic no detail but now I know it will work the way I thought so now I can add details and make better and better ones. I also designed a wooden trestle for one curve and built it now I just need to make the bends. that's for the wife's section she likes rustic I like modern this should get interesting on the layout to see who win's
 
t8afao
Joined: Jul 23, 2010
Topics: 39 Replies: 64 Topics: 39
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posted Nov 21, 2013: 
I just checked out your site and you layout progress looks great. You have a lot of pink foam in use. Its great stuff to do mountains and elevation changes. The majority of our layout is covered by the stuff. I am looking forward to more photos of the station that you started. It looks impressive.
 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted Nov 21, 2013: 
here is where I got the plans http://www.scalemodelplans.com/smp/pgs/catalog.html this is the plan name
Plan 2062 - CNoR 2nd Class Station.
thank you I am enjoying building it.

 
JohnBoy
Joined: May 14, 2008
Topics: 110 Replies: 517 Topics: 110
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posted May 28, 2014: 
Any new updates for us John? This is a really cool layout...
 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted May 28, 2014: 


 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted May 28, 2014: 
yea I took that layout apart it was nice but there was flaws. so I rebuilt a new one .


 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted May 28, 2014: 






























 
JohnBoy
Joined: May 14, 2008
Topics: 110 Replies: 517 Topics: 110
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posted May 29, 2014: 
Wow! That's great! Thanks for the update.

How did you do the water?
 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted May 29, 2014: 
bought some stuff from scenicexpress
http://www.sceneryexpress.com/ENVIROTEX-RESIN-8-OZ-KIT/productinfo/EN2008/
 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
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posted May 29, 2014: 
to keep sound down with fastrack I'm using indoor/outdoor carpet but still want realistic scenery so I am trying to mate the carpet with regular ground foam also ballasting the track with carpet under it. it's kind of different.
 
JohnBoy
Joined: May 14, 2008
Topics: 110 Replies: 517 Topics: 110
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posted May 29, 2014: 
Sounds like some neat ideas there. Does it keep it quiet?

Looking forward to your updates...

Cheers,

John
 
jhainer01
Joined: Nov 18, 2013
Topics: 10 Replies: 41 Topics: 10
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posted May 29, 2014: 
yes it does just like running on a carpeted floor. some spots I have the bare table top (1/2 osb board) and you can hear the difference between the bare area and the carpeted area.




in these two pictures you can see the transition between regular scenery and the carpet.
 
Mark Boyce
Joined: Nov 3, 2012
Topics: 0 Replies: 17 Topics: 0
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posted Jun 13, 2014: 
John,
I have been following you on the OGR Forum too. Your comments about the carpet interested me. Having modeled in HO since the late '60s, I have always used cork for roadbed. The green carpet (or white for Christmas) always seemed like it would make a layout look too toy train like for my tastes. Nothing wrong with it, but I am used to making scenery out of plaster or foam. Foam is loud right under the tracks, so I put cork on top of that. I can see here where you have carpet cut just a little past your ballast and then have other scenery. I will have to consider the carpet under my track. Noisy track is okay for post war trains, which I have a couple. However, I having 4 modern engines with sound, I want to keep the track noise down to hear the sound systems. I don't know which I want to get. I have been trying different varieties on small test loops. Right now, I am thinking GarGraves or Atlas with Ross switches. That may change. Thank you.
 

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