The CR&E has a new home!
On Friday, July 19, 2008, the CR&E officially got a new home. The new place is closer to family and to work, in addition to having a great space for the construction of the future railroad.
Although the number one priority will be getting the house upstairs situated for living, construction of CR&E 2.0 is set to begin very soon. I'm planning to kick off the room preparation and benchwork construction in early October.
This "Version 2 Progress" page will be the location of construction updates. I'll add the newest information first to avoid having to page through lots of history to get to the latest progress.
With that in mind, let's get started!
Update #7 - Last of 2008 (12/31/08)
I spent my New Year's Eve 2008 working in the basement and enjoying time with my family. I also had the opportunity to take a few pictures of the progress that has been made, including a few staged shots with a train in them.
First up is a shot of my tireless companion, my nephew Benjamin, as he stood at the Greenbrier River bridge patiently watching a train go back and forth between Lewisburg and Caldwell. I don't know how many times that I reversed direction of this train during the hour and a half or so that he stood in several places watching it go by. In the meantime, I tinned some feeder wires and did some other small projects in the layout room. I'm happy to say that, so far, he doesn't touch the trains. He knows to keep his hands back and even told "Papa" not to touch when my Dad was looking over the progress.
Trainmaster Benjamin is keeping a close eye on the crew test running a train over the Greenbrier River. We must have been short on power and confiscated a couple of CSX engines to do our testing.
Some home road power is in charge of an eastbound on Main One at Lewisburg. Although it's still early, I'm beginning to visualize a few places on the railroad. Creating a new CR&E sure is exciting.
Here's the current westbound shot approaching the Greenbrier River. The head end is about to cross the river, while the rear of the train is passing through Caldwell.
Here's an overall view of the Glace/Loops peninsula is it was on the last day of 2008. The mainline is in from West Glace to the first intermediate signal on the mountain east of Glace. The rough alignment for the east end of the siding can be seen at Glace, as well as the middle track. I purchased a 120 inch quilter's tape measure to check distances along the mainline. This helps for calculating the height of risers for track on a grade and also to figure out distances for such things as signal locations. In this photo I was measuring the distance between the control point at the east end of Glace and the intermediate signal east of Glace.
This view looks toward the west end of Glace (just below the tall riser for some of the Loops alignment) and Archer Fork (where the mainline is incomplete in preparation for bridge installation.) Shaver Wood Products will be located in the foreground here at Glace. Roanoke Cement will likely be located in the open space behind the mainline alignment. Cork roadbed is installed for the middle track and most of the passing siding at Glace.
Looking east at the same location, with Shaver Wood Products in the foreground near the date stamp. The 2X2's laying on the benchwork mark the approximate location of the backdrop that will separate Glace from the Loops on the other side of the peninsula.
An eastbound has been staged at Glace and is rolling through the S-curve near Shaver Wood Products.
The turnback curve at the end of the Glace peninsula takes the mainline around to the Loops. Viewers standing on this side of the peninsula will see two levels of track. The upper level of track here (with subroadbed not yet placed) will carry the mainline around to the narrow shelf above Glace that will complete the climb to the upper level.
This view shows the staged eastbound climbing the 2.5% that begins at the east end of Glace and will carry the mainline through the Loops to the upper level. The head end is passing the future location of an intermediate signal between Glace and Ridge sidings. When completed, the curve the train is approaching will be a full horseshoe around a geyser, similar to Andrews Geyser in western North Carolina. The upper level of the Loops will block the view from this angle.and will pass over the lower level just behind the rear of the train.
Update #6 - Eastward toward Glace! (12/15/08)
I have been very busy working on the CR&E during virtually every free moment I've had recently. That said, I've also somehow figured out a way to balance life so that I don't miss out on too many other things. Man it's nice living within 7 minutes of work and 10 minutes of my family and friends!
In my solo work sessions (2-3 hours a night most nights during the week), I've been installing risers and subroadbed and then laying down cork roadbed and track in sections. Currently the mainline is complete from the hole in the wall at KD (west end of Lewisburg Yard) to the approach to the John R. Comita Bridge over Archer Fork just west of Glace. Those familiar with Version One will have an idea of the lay of the land, only this time the distances are stretched somewhat. Although I haven't measured exactly yet, I'm approaching 50 feet of mainline installed as of this evening.
In the week ahead, I'm planning to make it just past the west end of Glace with the mainline trackage. After that, I'll be cutting subroadbed in earnest again, with a goal of having that installed up through the Loops by the first of the year if possible. Roadbed and track for that portion will come a little later, as I will have to order more before I can continue past Glace.
Here are progress photos taken this evening. I had to use a different camera this time due to a problem I'm having with my SLR lense. I think you'll still get a pretty good idea of what's taken place.
My three-car test train is sitting just east of the control point at KD, the west end of double track at Lewisburg. The hole in the wall is for entry into the laundry room, which will serve as a pass-through to the staging yard and the K&N branches that will be built in the garage in the future. All of that empty foreground plywood will be taken up by Lewisburg Yard someday.
In this view looking east through Lewisburg, the switches to the freighthouse spur (SJ Neathawk Lumber) and to AmeriGas and Greenbrier Valley Printing can be seen. The cork roadbed is not yet complete for Main Two, which will stretch to the crossover at KD behind the camera.
Looking west at the other end of Lewisburg near Lewis, the position of the Ricketts Furniture spur can be seen. The east end of Lewisburg Yard will be here. Only the roadbed for Main Two has been installed at this point.
Here is the control point at Lewis, the east end of double track through Lewisburg. The Atlas #10 left hand switch looks nice here. The insulated rail joiners for the gap to isolate this control point for CTC installation can be seen on either side of the turnout. I used a template to carefully locate this switch and the crossover at KD so that benchwork framework does not interfere with the position of the Tortoise switch machines.
Here is the current sketch for the east end of the yard. I've had suggestions to double-end the yard, which I can do by making some changes and reconnecting to Main Two west of KD if I decide to. This yard design is in its very early stages and needs to be reviewed closely. The plan is for trains working at Lewisburg to use Main Two whenever possible and never foul Main One during their work. As noted on the sketch, this is complex!
A 1.5% eastbound ruling grade begins just east of Lewis. The grade levels out as it crosses the Greenbrier River, then resumes for the run to Caldwell, where it again levels out briefly before climbing again toward the bridge over Archer Fork. I used only N Scale cork roadbed for the mainlines through the yard, but I am using HO cork under N cork for the rest of the mainline. The transition between the two is achieved by cutting and layering sections of thin cardboard to make a ramp between the levels. The first ramp I built can be seen between the first and second exposed benchwork cross-supports. This is a trick I learned from Bruce Faulkner. The yard lead will run in the foreground here.
Here's the bridge over the Greenbrier River. I built an Atlas Code 55 bridge to go here. Once the Lewisburg yard lead is installed, it will also cross the river here on a lower bridge. The bridge will be the switching limit for the yard crew, at which point the Old Main Line begins. The Old Main Line will be operated by the Brushy Mountain Railroad, a shortline that will have some switching to do on the way to and from Lewisburg every day.
Here is a view looking east through Caldwell. The switch in the foreground will access the Greystone Quarry and Greystone Block. The next switch will access Greenbrier Ready Mix. The Brushy Mountain will also run through here and will serve Boggs Scrap Metal. All of these are actual industries between Lewisburg and Caldwell, WV, but are not rail served in reality. The S-curve in the background will lead to the bridge over Archer Fork and the Brushy Mountain Railroad as it heads to staging.
This view looks west from Caldwell, showing the curve that connects Caldwell and the Greenbrier River. The glue bottle stands in the corner where the Greystone Quarry will be. The signals at Caldwell will someday be at about where the track goes out of sight on the right side of the picture. This is about 13.5 feet from Lewis and about the same distance from the future west end of Glace.
This view is from the front of the room, standing in the Caldwell/West Glace aisle, and looking toward Lewisburg Yard on the back wall and in the right corner of the room. West Glace will be near the camera, while East Glace will be down near the far end of the peninsula on the right half of it. The bulge in the benchwork in the foreground is going to allow for some nice winding curves at Glace. The pusher spur with coaling tower will be about where the date stamp is. Shaver Wood Products will be in the wide spot at the right, and Roanoke Cement will be down toward the east end of the siding at Glace. After passing East Glace, the mainilne will enter the Loops, which will be built on the left side of this peninsula.
Looking toward the front wall, with Caldwell in front of the windows. Archer Fork is the current end of the subroadbed and mainline progress in the right front corner of the room. The Glace/Loops peninsula is seen in the foreground of this shot.
My nephew, Benjamin, has been building his railroad too. His railroad even has a tunnel. Make no mistake, that is indeed a pusher on the rear of the train. Every train he makes up has one! :-)
Update #5 - Benchwork, roadbed, and first hole in the wall (11/30/08)
After painting and enough of the initial room refinishing had been done to make layout progress possible, I began moving in sections of benchwork from the old layout and positioning them around the floor to get an idea of what would fit where. After determining which sections I could use in their previous configurations, I did some framework modifications to give me more consistent spacing of cross-supports and then I screwed the sections to the walls.Temporary 2X2 legs, also from the old layout, were used to basically level up the shelf portions of the benchwork around the walls. I intended to use brackets attached to the walls rather than legs, however, so after considerable struggling with how to make that all work out I have actually made progress on some of the permanent supports.
On 11/30/08, the temporary legs came down for the Lewisburg section of the railroad, replaced by 2X4 brackets attached to the walls and benchwork at 45 degree angles. These brackets are spaced at approximate 48" intervals. Everything seems quite sturdy.
A 3/4" thick plywood tabletop has been secured to most of the Lewisburg framework. I have a small portion to add at the far west end of the yard. I left that for last because I still had to bore through the wall into the laundry room for access to staging and eventually the Kanawha & Northern branch territory that will be in the converted garage.
I was so excited by the progress at Lewisburg that I couldn't help but to start gluing down cork roadbed for Main One and Main Two through town. I have most of that done, except again at the far west end near the hole in the wall. The mainlines take a meandering path through Lewisburg, occupying the background so the yard can be easily worked in the foreground. I have something against straight track, so I try my best to weave my route along the benchwork. I have determined the location for several industries that will be served by a Lewisburg Switcher crew during operating sessions. I've taken care to locate these industries in places so that an operator assigned to that local job will not interfere with the yardmaster/yard crew working the yard.
Finally, I cut the hole through the wall into the laundry room. I'm planning to angle the tracks through the wall so I can keep the shelf as far back away from the washer and dryer as possible. The 44" high shelf will easily clear the 42" tall appliances. I plan the shelf to be no more than six inches wide. I am planning to cover it with Plexiglas to protect it, along with the rails and trains, from the humidity of the washer and dryer.
In keeping with my promise of "trains running by Christmas," I plan to have Main One laid through Lewisburg within the next few nights. I will power that stretch of track up so I can at least run an engine and a few cars around to be able to say, "I did it!"
I have included a few photos of the progress through 11/30/08. I apologize for the lighting, as I'm still just using the two temporary light bulbs in the room for now.
Here is the soon-to-be-famous "First Hole in the Wall," not to be confused with the already famous "What Second Hole in the Wall" on the Peconic Rail Road. :-) The 1X4 is positioned temporarily so I could get an idea of how I could angle the tracks through the wall into the laundry room. The crossover at KD will be positioned about where it is shown. As much as I like the Atlas #10 turnouts, putting two of them together here was going to take up too much space. I decided to use #7 turnouts here instead. Trains working at Lewisburg will usually use Main Two (left-hand track) between KD and Lewis. That track will be under Yard Limit rules under the control of the Lewisburg Yardmaster. Eventually, Main One (right-hand track) will be CTC under the control of the East End Dispatcher. The double track will extend into the laundry room so that Main Two can be used as a switching lead by westbound trains.
The cork roadbed for Main One and Main Two through Lewisburg is mostly in place! The Amtrak station will be located on Main One at the far left of the photo (part of a staple gun can be seen in this general area). A switch to the freighthouse, leased by SJ Neathawk Lumber Company, has been temporarily placed at its location. Just past the freighthouse to the east will be a couple of spurs serving Amerigas (directly under the window) and Greenbrier Printing (the building in the corner). The classification yard at Lewisburg will occupy the entire foreground. Amerigas is a new industry for the railroad and will receive LPG tanks. It is an actual business in Lewisburg, as I discovered by seeing a label on a propane tank while railfanning at Thurmond, WV.
The east end of the Lewisburg Yard benchwork is shown above. A sketch leaning up against the wall depicts the current plan I have for the multitude of east end switches. That complex won't be built for some time, and definitely not before discussing it with my Terminal Superintendent. :-) The double track will extend just off the far right of the picture, where the switch at Lewis will return the mainline to single track. Ricketts Furniture, an industry named for my grandmother who spent most of her career selling furniture, will be located against the wall here.
Most of the open grid benchwork has been installed from Lewis (lower left corner of photo) through Caldwell (along the window wall.) A small section still needs to be built where the mainline and the Brushy Mountain Railroad (Old Main Line) will cross the Greenbrier River. That open section can be seen just past the end of the plywood strip laying on top of the benchwork. The Old Main Line will serve as the yard lead up to the river, at which point maintenance and control of the track is by the Brushy Mountain Railroad. Tracks serving the Greystone Quarry will run into the corner from Caldwell. A few other mainline industry spurs will be located in front of the window as well. The Brushy Mountain will serve at least a couple industries on their trackage.
It's a mess now, but the benchwork in the middle of the room will be modified to create the peninsula that will allow the rails to climb through the Loops to the upper level of the railroad. The benchwork section attached to the paneled wall will have Archer Fork on the left end and one of the turnback curves of the Loops on the right end (see the plan for clarity.) The siding at Glace will be on the left side of the long peninsula, wrapping around toward the Archer Fork benchwork. The Loops themselves will be on the right side of the long peninsula and will be the first thing operators see when they walk in the room.
Update #4 - Paint and first benchwork! (11/14/08)
Less than two months after closing on the home that will house the new CR&E, I am happy to report that I have made the first step in the transition from layout room progress to layout progress! The time between the first destruction of Version 1 and the first construction of Version 2 was one week shy of five months.
Tonight, after my mother completed the first coat of sky blue paint around the upper half of the walls of the room, I could hardly wait to make my first bit of progress on the railroad itself. It's a very small piece of the puzzle, but it is progress nonetheless.
Below are the first photos of CR&E 2.0! This is a reused 18" wide by 6' long piece of benchwork that will support the east end of Lewisburg Yard. Although not perfectly leveled yet (front supports will take care of that), the first piece of CR&E 2.0 benchwork is screwed to the wall.
CR&E 2.0 is born! Here's the east end of the Lewisburg Yard area, which will extend along a portion of the long side wall of the room. The east end of double track at Lewis will be against the wall on the right end of this benchwork section.
The majority of Lewisburg Yard will be on a 24" wide shelf along the back (window) wall of the room, as shown above. Some benchwork from Version 1 will be used here too, allowing me to quickly add the plywood "tabletop" for the entire yard area. The piece of benchwork installed tonight is 24" out from the back corner of the room. I expect to be placing the 24" wide Lewisburg benchwork in the next few evenings. I'm sure I'll return from the ShenDiv operating session with plenty of inspiration! :-)
Update #3 - Walls and ceiling return (11/9/08)
Saturday, November 8, 2008, was the second CR&E Version Two work session. This time I had the help of Tim, Larry, and Mike as we finished up the sheetrock walls and reinstalled the suspended ceiling grid. I want to thank all three of them for their help. I feel like we have made an incredible amount of progress in a short time.
My father and I had begun installing the sheetrock during the week prior to the work session. By Friday night, 11/7, we had almost all of it installed. My mother helped on Friday night by applying the first coat of joint compound to the sheetrock we had finished. As always, I appreciate the help and support of my family as well.
An hour or so into the work session on Saturday, Larry and I had all of the remaining sheetrock in place. Tim was a big help in getting all of the old paneling removed from the room so it could be carried off. Having that big pile of paneling out of the room has already been an improvement. While Larry began applying joint compound to the remainder of the walls, Mike and I started hanging the suspended ceiling support rails around the walls. Tim moved from paneling duty to cleanup duty, removing a lot of the debris from the construction thus far. After a break for lunch, all four of us returned to hang the suspended ceiling grid and some of the tiles. We wrapped up around 4:00PM.
On Sunday morning, I sanded the first coat of joint compound. Later in the afternoon I applied the second coat. It will be ready for sanding on Monday night, at which point I will have to decide if a third coat is necessary. Once all of the joint compound is sanded and ready, I will be applying a primer to the walls in preparation for sky blue paint in the week or so ahead.
I will soon be installing the two 2X4 foot fluorescent fixtures that I already have. These came with the house and will at least give me enough light to work with during some of the construction phase. Once the benchwork is in place, I'll be able to determine where I need more light and will install more fixtures accordingly. We had some discussion about lighting during the work session and I have a rough idea of what I will do.
The room size is now about 11'3" X 22'5". I still have plenty of room to do what I want to on this side, despite losing a little space for the stud walls.
Here are some photos from the work session and afterwards...
Larry is practicing the fine art of muddin' the sheetrock. What a chore!
Mike said he did his ceiling in his basement. That means he was put in charge!
Here's Tim, a CR&E dispatcher, on cleanup duty. Times are tough. Thanks Tim!
The back wall of the room, where Lewisburg (lower level) and John's Creek (upper level) will be, is ready for another round of sanding and inhaling dust particles. I can't wait! The outlet boxes will include (left to right) a phone/Ethernet outlet and two power outlets.
Here's about half of the long side wall and the front wall of the room that will represent Caldwell (lower level) and most of Paint Bank (upper level).
The door on the left is the entrance into this room. Viewers walking into the room will walk into the scenic loops climbing between Glace and Paint Bank. The door on the right is for the half bath/laundry room that will serve as the future connector between both sides of the basement.
Todd said I needed to hang a centerfold on the wall. "Why? Because you can," he said. Well I couldn't find a centerfold right away but here's a poster I was given by the owner of a Japanese restaurant. Good enough for now?
Update #2 - Room "unfinishing" and refinishing (10/18/08)
October 18, 2008 marked the first work session for the construction of CR&E Version Two. Instead of building benchwork, however, we had to start with work in the finished layout room.
Although the 11.5 X 23 foot room was finished by the previous owners, they had not put any insulation behind the paneling to help with climate control. The room is heated and air conditioned, but the thought of a concrete wall behind the paneling with no insulation was beginning to concern me. After discussing the issues with friends, particularly with Mike Pennie who has a beautiful N Scale railroad in his basement, it was clear that insulating the room was the way to go.
I began ripping out the paneling on my own in preparation for the construction of stud walls. The suspended ceiling also had to be removed, as did the fluorescent light fixtures. With the help of Todd Arnett, Larry Keller, and my father, we removed everything that had to go on 10/18/08. We were left with 1X4's that had been nailed with their faces against the block wall by the previous owners, as well as a plastic vapor barrier that they had installed.
Larry, Todd, and I assembled two eight foot square sections of stud wall in the first two hours of the work session and secured the framework to the floor joists above the 23 foot long wall. We installed these sections at both ends, leaving the middle for "engineering" after lunch, since we had to clear some overhead ductwork on that section. After breaking for lunch, Larry and I returned to complete the seven foot long section that was about 7-1/2 feet tall, clearing the ductwork overhead. The room will have a seven foot ceiling, so no harm was done by not having the wall extend as high.
Also after lunch, Larry and I tacked one of the 11.5 foot long walls. We had to work around a window, which was at first puzzling us. However, we started thinking as if we were building benchwork, only vertical instead of horizontal, and it all came together. A framed box on all four sides of the window did the trick!
I was really pleased to get this far today. I miscalculated by need for 2X4's, so I need about a dozen more to complete the back wall. Basically we had about 5-1/2 hours work in this today. The back wall should take around two hours to complete.After the stud wall is up, I'll be doing some extra sealing work along the cold joint between the block wall and concrete floor. Then I'll run wiring around the lower portion of the walls for outlets, followed by insulation. I'm pretty excited about making this much progress in one day, so I am pretty sure I'll be back in the basement again tomorrow!
My sincere thanks to by Dad, to Todd, and to Larry for their help today. Photos of the progress can be seen below.
Here is the "Lewisburg end" of the railroad. The ladder marks the position of "KD" interlocking, where the mainline will pass through the wall into the adjoining room. The upper level here will be an area along John's Creek in a remote part of Virginia between Paint Bank and New Castle. The previous owners' vapor barrier and 1X4's can be seen attached to the concrete block wall. The stud wall here should be able to go up in a couple hours' work.
In the above photo, about half of the stud wall along the 23 foot long wall can be seen, as well as the front wall of the house. Caldwell will be on the lower level between the broom and ladder. Archer Fork will be to the right of the windows. Paint Bank will be on the upper level in front of the windows and wrapping around to the long wall.
Update #1 - A rough plan and initial photos (9/19/08)
An initial rough plan of the lower level of Phase One is shown above. This will be the section from Lewisburg, WV, through the Loops and past Paint Bank, VA. Not all details have been planned out here yet. The upper level locations of Forester and Paint Bank will be located along the short wall (photo left) and partially along the long wall (photo bottom). The overall space here is 11.5 X 23 feet. Lower and upper level connections to the rest of the layout will pass through a small laundry area/half bath accessed from the area of KD (photo upper right corner.)
The above photo shows what will be the Lewisburg end of the layout. "KD" will be crossovers located at the west end of the modeled portion of Lewisburg Yard. At KD, the mainline will pass through the wall, then through the laundry room/half bath (gray room), and finally into the other side of the basement (currently garage space.) Lewisburg Yard will be along the 11.5 foot wall here and will also extend partially down the 23 foot long wall. A peninsula in the middle of the room will serve as the access between the lower and upper levels via mountain climbing loops. The upper level above Lewisburg will be an area of middle-of-nowhere mountain scenery, something I really want to highlight on this railroad. This will all be built in this 11.5 X 23 foot room.
Above is the opposite end of the 11.5 X 23 foot room. On the lower level, Caldwell will be located along the wall from the left corner to the window area. Archer Fork will be in the right corner of the room. An "L" shaped peninsula will come out into the room just to the left of the doorway and then turn through the center of the room to produce the locations of Glace and the Loops climbing to Paint Bank. Forester will be on the upper level roughly above Archer Fork. Paint Bank will be on the 11.5 foot long wall in front of the windows as well as on the long wall on the left side of the photo. Visible through the doorway is a an area under the stairs that will either serve as the dispatcher's office or a workshop area.
The garage side of the basement will someday be converted to additional layout space. I have not finalized plans for this area, which is about 19 X 23 in overall size. The lower level will represent the Kanawha & Northern District branches, while the upper level will represent the CR&E mainline from New Castle toward Roanoke. The garage door will be replaced by a wall and external door to allow access to the lower level of the house. Access to the currently finished room is through the doorway on the left side of the photo. The sofa was a gift from my sister and nephew. It was a real challenge to get upstairs. Thanks to Jeff, Tommy, Josh, and DJ for the help. And of course, lots of thanks to Jennifer and Benjamin for the very comfortable sofa!
Another view of the garage side. Hopefully the next time I post a photo of it, it won't look anything like this!