Terry's Standard Gauge Layout

[Terry]

You all keep asking me what the white posts on the O gauge layout are for. The standard gauge goes up there.

The goal with the standard gauge layout is to showcase the neat Lionel trains and accessories from the classic period. Basically  the brass trim items from 1924-1935, but I do have a few later nickel trim trains and accessories. 

The layout will be tiered with a pair of wide radius ovals around the outside with parking sidings on the long faces, and then about 3.5" higher two smaller layouts with a river separating them.

You can see the wide radius curves in the lower photos. That's 72 and 84 inch diameter track with a 72 inch MTH switch.

The smaller layout closer to the stairs will have the Lionel Plots and 922 scenic park along with a big station and stuff.

The farther smaller layout will have more industrial stuff like the roundhouse and power station.

All the wood is cut, drilled and painted before going downstairs which adds a lot of time. The wood that is currently up is the used wood from my dad's layouts. A lot of it is warped and twisted and can't be used in long spans so I cut it up for a shorter spans.

Here's some pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's some of the lights and such for the layout with the 3 sections of the 920 scenic parks below:
 

Here's a shot of the work in the garage. That's new lumber i bought today for the longer runs. That will do the raised yard and industrial area.

 

I should have the layout decked by the end of the month.

I don't know what I'm looking forward to more. Either getting the boxes of trains that are piled up everywhere emptied, or running the big trains.

[pjdog350]

I would have allot of trouble covering up that beautiful O gauge layout. But you are a great planner with all your train activity. I know what you are doing is going to be top level stuff. The folks I’ve met on this forum really are impressive. Looking forward to seeing it come together.

Thanks for sharing your progress.

[starfire700]

Agreed about covering up the O gauge layout.
Terry, is there a way you can design your track plan for standard so at least some areas are on an open grid of supports, so the layout below is more visible, especially at edges and corners?

[Terry]

It's high enough that you can see everything. I also like the idea of making people work to see everything. I have planes and a blimp to hang from the wood to block sight angles.

On Miles Butler's layout, I spent years adding small details like moving clowns and working windmills. Miles would walk people in the door, start the trains running and then walk them around pointing out each detail. I used to joke with himthat we'd hang arrows from the ceiling to point at interesting things.

This is Miles' layout:

https://train99.com/layouts/miles-butlers-dream-high-rail-layout/

Looking at the pictures of Miles' layout reminds me how much I learned on that. We spent months figuring out how to do great lighting for night scenes. I spent 2 or 3 nights a week over there for 8 years.

[starfire700]

Some great landscaping, level transitions and especially like the engine yard, TT and roundhouse.

[Terry]

Miles had me helping him because he'd broken both knees in WW2 and 50 years later he just couldn't walk anymore.  He used an electric scooter.

The roundhouse is one huge building - it had a full interior that wasn't visible - on a sheet of plywood that fit into a cut out on the layout.  Miles built it from a Buildings Unlimited kit and some extensions on a table in the workshop next door. Then we used the scooter to bring  it in because it was too heavy to safely carry and shift through the doors. It was a full four hours to put that one building on the layout.

The turntable was by Diamond Scale and had a Bowser indexing kit. You turned a rotating selector to the track you wanted, selected the direction of travel, and pushed start. It would grind it's way around to the right track and stop.

 

[pjdog350]

That’s real impressive. You must have been real happy to work on such a layout!

[Terry]

Here's this weekend's progress on the standard layout. I ripped wood with the table saw and then painted it on Saturday so it doesn't look like much happened, but on Sunday I put all the sticks in.

 

The two sides of the layout are divided by a river. The river will run at the lower level with the two hellgates on the raised level.

 

The front edge of the layout will have two thru tracks and a long passing siding I can park a long freight on. Should be 16-18 feet of straight siding there.

 

I decided to add a siding along the west edge so I can park a work train on it. This will be the only parking siding with a bumper.

 

Here's a view from where the hinged bridge will be into the control area. The two lower loops go over the hinged bridge and along the wall where the TV and tools are now.

 

I need to add some cross braces in areas where I will be climbing up when trains derail. Then I can put the sheeting on. 

[pjdog350]

Thanks for the update. Looks like a real professional job. Still hate to see the o gauge get covered!

[pjdog350]

How is the Standard gauge addition coming along Terry?

[Terry]

Here's some progress pictures. I'm trying to figure out a guardrail system. I'm afraid that if a 402 or a 400E drops the cars and flys off it could hurt the dog or break the window. I ran a 402 off a layout once and it punched a big hole in the drywall. The blue loco is a 402 from about 1924.

I was thinking of cutting plexiglass into strips, but found I can buy tempered glass shelves for $2-3 a foot. The corner areas on the upper levels will ahve dowels like the little fences shown.

Here's a shot from the stairs. Cardboard sheet is about what a glass sheet would be.

 

Long sidings against south wall. The track in the air will get a hinge up bridge.

 

 

Longs sidings from other end.

 

The front face with the Hellsgate. Three tracks in front with the rear being either one or two sidings. The 72" curve switches take a long run to make a siding so I don't know if I can park a train on the shorter siding. The MTH 72" switches require the cutting of the rails and repositioning of the ties.

 

Here's the west end. The east end has the upper curve as a 90 degree curve. Here I'm doing two 45 degree curves with a straight section between them. Makes it a little different.

 

I put away all the tools and cleaned up. Then I put the couch whre it goes. Sitting on the couch you get a great view of the front of the O gauge layout. With the handheld I can run the trains from the couch.

 

 

I bought wire the other day. I wanted 16 gauge stranded, and the Lowes website said they had it. They didn't have it, and ordering it online to pay with cash at the store was a hassle so the manager sold me 14 gauge for $12 off a roll.

When I got home it turned out I'd been usunbg 14 gauge wire all along!

[pjdog350]

Looks good Terry. I’m real happy to see the view of the O Gauge from the couch.

Your track all looks new. SO does the O gauge track. You must have come into lots of cash for that!

Looking forward to a video of the standard gauge in action!  you do real good work!

[Terry]

The track looks new because it is. The O gauge came with a large hoard my dad bought in the 1990s. Many Dealer cartons of O gauge track with different curves.

The standard gauge track was made by Richie Bimmer of Antique Trains in NJ.  My dad was a stocking distributer in the early 1990s and I have a few cases of it still unopened. That's in 42" and 72" circles. Plus the straights with widely spaced ties. The 84" circles are MTH. They sell on ebay for $250-300 a circle. I bought a circle from Walthers for $120 postpaid last spring.

I think I found some more of the xtra tie straights. I was going to cut wooden ties or move ties from one section to another to add them, but if I can buy the sections and then sell the wide ties to recoup most of my money that will be easier.

Tonight I ran some wire and spent some time looking at the control area. I'm going to run buss wires under the layout for each center rail, and then pull from them with relays to energize the track sections. Each circle of track gets it's own buss wire. This way, I have a relay for each block that I can also use to work the signals.

Tomorrow I'll build the control panel and paint it.

I also spent some time pushing trains back and forth to see if they'll hit. Here's some pictures of that. I didn't dust the trains when I packed them so some have dust on them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey look! There is already a slot on the loco for a coupler.

 

 

[pjdog350]

You do impressive work Terry. Looking forward to some Standard gauge videos.

[CNJRR]

Looks like it will be fun to wire in the top level?
Do you plan on adding a lot of items on top that will need to be wired in?