Implausintransigence

A new word for the day: Implausintransigence. That’s the act of asking a question on an Internet forum and then steadfastly refusing to be swayed by factual answers that are contrary to whatever crazy thing the questioner wanted to do in the first place.

Bottom line, your railroad, your rules – do whatever you like and save everyone the trouble. Why waste your time arguing with people making the effort to provide you with facts that you're going to ignore anyway? SMH, as the cool kids say.

Switching Operation Design Challenge; LDJ-59

A new layout design challenge was published in LDJ-59 -- anyone may submit a plan and a story for possible publishing in a future Layout Design Journal. The concept this time around is to design a layout focused on switching operation for a roughly 10’X11’ space (with some obstructions).

Any scale, gauge, era, etc. may be used. Traditional freight switching layouts are great, but other concepts are also welcome, such as engine terminal, passenger switching, etc. Target date for submittals is January 31, 2017. [The challenge window has closed, but previously received entries are being published regularly in the LDJ.]

Speaking of LDJ-59, it includes some clever responses to our earlier design challenge, which focused on mountain railroading in a bonus room. The three 16’X22’ Mountain Challenge articles were: HO Northern Pacific focused on 1953 passenger schedule and informed by John Armstrong design principles; three HO multideck track plans for Norfolk and Western 1970s Pocahontas Division with intermediate climbing decks; N scale Burlington Northern Crawford Hill. And more!

Click here to download free “Samplers” of a few pages of LDJ-59 and other issues in Adobe Acrobat format.

Click here to begin or renew your Layout Design SIG membership. Each membership cycle includes four issues of the LDJ.

Clinic References from Indy 2016

Another hectic week at the NMRA Convention! It was great to meet with folks from across the country (and around the world) to share ideas on layout design and operations.

Most layouts in the area are located in basements – it’s no wonder that the Midwest is a hotbed of model railroading – a dry basement is the perfect environment for a layout. Those of us on the west coast could be forgiven for feeling a little envious!

Handouts and/or slides for my clinics from the week are found here.

LDJ-58: Going Vertical, Mountain Mushroom, Sectional Switching, and More

Layout Design Journal #58 (First Quarter 2016) was quite a bit behind schedule, but is in the mail now and print subscribers should receive it during June and early July. Subscribers for the on-line downloadable version have received email notices.

This issue includes: Going vertical in 13’ X 13’ provides more towns to switch in an HO multi-deck layout set in 1944 in eastern Washington and built in a room constructed inside a garage. Mountain Challenge entry: Coal-hauling mountain mushroom-style multi-deck in S scale plus ideas on supporting upper decks. Steps in designing a sectional N scale switching layout of the Western Pacific’s San Jose branch in the 1960s based on prototype documents. Unique railcar storage idea keeps cars and paperwork together, secure, and accessible. LDSIG Board of Directors election and Indy NMRA 2016 plans.

Download a free “Sampler” of a few pages of LDJ-58

To begin or renew your LDSIG membership, visit this link

Adapting Armstrong, Mountain Challenge, LDE, and more in LDJ-57

The latest Layout Design Journal is #57. It includes:

- Adapting and building a classic Armstrong design from the ‘50s

- Mountain Challenge: New Mexico Logger plus ATSF

- Prototype documents to create LDEs

- Three room-sized N scale switching layouts: 1960s, 1970s, 1990s

- Ideas from LDSIG tours
Download a free sampler of this issue

To subscribe for paper or on-line delivery, join the LDSIG today!

Layout Design Journal Update -- in Color!

The Layout Design Journal of the Layout Design SIG has had some important improvements since I last posted about it here. Beginning with LDJ-52, the LDJ is now published in full color. In addition, a new low-cost option allows LDSIG members to receive the LDJ via Adobe Acrobat download. (Print memberships are still available, of course.) There are lots of great ideas in every issue of the LDJ -- just check out the free downloadable “Sampler” links here to see more -- and join the LDSIG today!

Layout Design Journal #56
- Designing for Passenger and Freight Interchange on the Yosemite Valley
- Staging yard evolves to full-featured yard
- Pulp Mill as an HO Layout Design Element
- Room to roll for realism in bulk commodity industries
- Panel: “What would you do differently?”

Layout Design Journal #55
- A sectional HO design for former interurbans turned freight feeders in California
- Designing a Great Northern branch junction yard based on the prototype using “dimensionless sketching”
- A spare-room-sized HO track plan based on the Midland Continental, a real-life shortline and bridge route in North Dakota
- Building a freelanced freight yard based on best practices

Layout Design Journal #54
Track Plans Based on a Single Industry
- Paper Mill Variations
- Steel in 32 Square Feet
- Cement, Cars, and a Little Beer

Layout Design Journal #53
- Looking Forward to New Mistakes in Designing a Coal-Hauler
- Exhibition “S”witching Layout
- Lighting and Benchwork Ideas from SIG tours

Layout Design Journal #52
- Designing a Narrow Gauge Railway for Operation in On30
- Let's Railroad Like it's 1999! (California UP in HO)
- A Theatrical Approach to Backdrops
- HO Switching Variations in 2' X 9'
 

Layout Design Journal #51
- Amargosa Railroad Rathole Sub
- 7 Compact Rail-Marine Layouts
- Lessons Learned: The Multi-deck St. Paul Division
- “Nose-to-Nose” Staging
- 32-Square-Foot Design Challenge, Part 3 (mountain mainline to copper to coal)

Layout Design Journal Update

The Layout Design Journal continues to be a great source of model railroad layout design ideas and inspiration. That web page includes links where you may download a sampler of a few pages. Join the Layout Design SIG today to receive future issues and other great benefits. Back issues are also available.

Layout Design Journal #50 includes:
- Southern Pacific’s Santa Barbara Subdivision Multideck HO
- Thin Walls: a New Structural Support
- Design Considerations – Realistic Waybill Boxes
- 32-Square-Foot Design Challenge, Part 2 (seven layouts in HO and N)


Layout Design Journal #49 includes:
- Northern Pacific St. Paul Division – an Armstrong-inspired plan
- The Chicago & Mackinac, Part 2: same layout, half the space
- Designing for Train-Handling Challenges on the Calamity & Uproar
- 32-Square-Foot Design Challenge, Part 1 (five layouts in HO, N, and TTn3)


Layout Design Journal #48 includes:
- Layout Design for “Slow Ops”
- The Chicago & Mackinac, Part 1
- Layout Design SIG at 30 – Personal Reflections by the Founder
- Feeders for “Doorminoes”
- Controls & Human Factors Ideas from SIG Tours

"105% Solution" in Model Railroad Planning 2013

I always enjoy having one of my custom model railroad layout designs published in the commercial press. This time, it’s my HO track plan for the Clinchfield Railroad in about 12’X13’ in Model Railroad Planning 2013.

My client wanted the longest possible mainline run for model railfanning and also some resemblance of modeled locations to real-life places. In about 150 square feet, I was stuck for a bit until we hit upon the idea of combining multiple decks with multiple passes around the room. This “105% solution” wound a healthy 2.5+ scale mile mainline into the space.

There was only room for one “blob” (turnback curve), so I doubled up by using the visible layout for a modest suggestion of the famous Clinchfield Loops with a hidden staging loop below. Some scenes, like the yard at Bostic, North Carolina, were fairly accurately rendered, while others don’t resemble their real-life counterparts. Modulating fidelity in this way provides some accurate scenes while allowing more railroad to be packed into a given space.

Click here for a larger view and check out MRP 2013 for the full story.

We even found room for the large desk/workbench the client desired to share the room. The only downside was multiple crossings of the door, but this was OK for him. The layout is now well under construction, with photos published in the article, along with a number of great prototype scenes photographed by MRP Editor Tony Koester.

Sigh … Asimov was Right

How often have you seen this? An enthusiastic newcomer to model railroading shows up on an Internet train forum on a Thursday, full of fundamental questions. These are patiently answered for the struggling newcomer over the next few days.

But then, a miracle occurs! (Or not.) By the following Tuesday, our newbie considers himself an expert and begins offering pages of (bad) advice to others. In the process, he misuses or outright contradicts the meanings of standard hobby terms and concepts, mixing his turnback loops with his reversing connections and his selective compression with his scale ratios. Talk about the blind leading the partially sighted!

What's more, our newly-minted modeling maven petulantly defends his bogus advice as valid, since it’s "his opinion."

It seems that Science Fiction writer Isaac Asimov was predicting Internet forum discourse when he said:

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States*, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

From a Newsweek magazine column, January 21, 1980

*And Canada, apparently

S-2-pendous!

One of the major gaps in model locomotive rosters has been a quality mass-produced N Scale Alco S‑1/3 or S‑2/4, a fact with which I have bored readers before – and before that. S‑2s, in particular, were on hundreds of different railroads' rosters from 1940 to the present day.

So it was extremely welcome news from the National Train Show yesterday when Atlas announced its upcoming model of the Alco S‑2. In an embarrassment of riches, Bachmann also announced an S‑4 model in N scale at the same show. I would have made do with either, frankly, but the S‑2 is terrific. (Yes, some may grouse that one of the manufacturers could have kicked us down an S‑1/3 instead of similar-appearing S‑2 and S‑4 models – but let's not be bitter.)

 Depending on road names and liveries, I'll have some S‑2s on order as soon as possible. And maybe an S‑4 or two for good measure – they fit my 1955 modeling era as well.

But it does raise a question for me. I had considered modeling the prototype Alameda Belt Line (ABL), which was exclusively S‑2 powered in my era. But partially due to the lack of a mass-produced model of the Alco switcher, I developed a proto-freelance theme instead. Atlas is doing different versions of the S‑2, so one of them will probably be pretty close to the ABL's units (after some custom painting, of course)

So now … stay proto-freelance? … or ABL?