Subject:
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Re: Track layout for next show.
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lugnet.org.ca.vlc
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Date:
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Thu, 7 Jun 2001 03:07:00 GMT
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{robinsather@hotmail.com}AntiSpam{}
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> Next filename is 2-K0004R.tdl and .gif.
The layout is beginning to come together!
I had hoped to have some time to commit to this over the past few
days, but it wasn't to be, and I'm gone for the weekend. I'll just
shoot in a few comments here.
> North end of bridge - better if we can have 1 straight section before the
> switch as space for the bridge footings. Can't see how to fiddle that,
> though.
Yes, I noticed that too. We may just have to raise the track ever so
slightly in that section (switch and all), to provide some foundation
for the bridge. I think we have enough room for it. If we were to
raise it to even a one brick height, I think we'd be fine. The bridge
"end" would actually be beside the track on the table. I think we'd
be OK.
> Hogwarts area and gondola - excellent! Pretty small station but we can make
> it a short train.
Small station, but the engine and tender can stop around the curve,
while the car(s) are actually at the station. At least that's kind of
the way I pictured it.
> Does anyone have green train doors?
The train itself (as I see it anyway) will have the engine, tender,
and two passenger cars, with the front car being half passenger, and
half baggage/staff/etc. (like in these pictures):
http://www.hpgalleries.com/mgallery5.htm
The colours will be primarily red, with black, and perhaps a tiny bit
of "gold" (yellow, probably) highlighting.
> Water area - low table if we get it from the venue will probably be 30" by
> 96" so it's going to either extend outwards from the layout as catalog and
> flyer space (I really would like to have some layout space like this, I
> think leaflets and catalogs on the layout itself looks messy) or further
> into the center, not very usefully. Alternatively we could use my folding
> table which is 48" long so we'd lose one row of baseplates.
I'd like to see a Lego stand (or stands) for the flyers, etc. Then
they would "fit" better as an extension of the display
> Main passenger stn - I had the building at the front so it could be cutaway
> and people could see the inside and access to platform 9 3/4, but I'm not
> wedded to the idea. Having it at the back does give more space. The rear
> platform could extend another baseplate west, too. I thought initially that
> the space between tracks wasn't enough for a platform (that's why my
> original layout had a track pair spread apart) but in fact there's 8 clear
> studs between tracks so we can put a narrow platform in there, 8 or maybe
> only 6 studs wide.
That's how I saw it.
> Aerodrome and drive-in area is good. How about a seaplane station on the
> water right next to the aerodrome?
Excellent idea!!
> Freight yard - we could have a freight house built over the little central
> spur, which would look good. The moving (?) crane can then run back and
> forth along the 5 road baseplates East of it.
Another excellent idea! I think this was perhaps in my subconscious
when I threw that spur in there ...
> Eastern town area - I would really like us to have at least one city block
> which is not cut up by tracks, rail or monorail. We can do that by moving
> the roads so they are under where the monorail tracks cross. OK, I
> rearranged the roads and extended the monorail track 1 section North, so
> that we have one city block with no breaks or interruptions at all, another
> with monorail just at one edge, and one with tracks only at the back. I also
> extended the Northernmost road so that it crosses the tracks quite neatly
> and goes into the freight yard.
All in all, fantastic. You didn't like my overpass idea though?
> I also changed the roads in the SE corner so we don't have curved track
> crossing a curved road, which is impossible to make look like a proper road
> crossing.
Looks great. I was just trying to give the maximum possible display
space for town buildings.
> I'm not sure if the PCC car could be converted to 4.5v (those motors are pretty
> big and can't be used underneath a car like the 9v ones, right?).
Is that the trolley we're using? I had pictured Dean's little one.
No matter. Obviously 9v would be best, but I suspect that either
could be "retro-fitted" for 4.5v. The 4.5v motors are about twice as
high as the 9v, give or take. The real kicker is locating the battery
pack somewhere. Having just remembered that, I think we've got to
make the 9v solution work.
> The trolley tracks could also extend further west to link better with the
> passenger station.
I purposely placed the trolley "station" a little further away. My
idea was that the trolley "station" would really just be a platform,
without any real building, or even a covering. What does everyone
else think. (I think I'm mostly thinking of how much building needs
to be done, and was trying to make is easier).
> Do we want the switches in the monorail track, especially the one right at
> the front of the layout that we can't reach?
Like I said, I suspect that there will probably be someone out there
much of the time, simply because we can't reach the front of the
layout from inside. What happens if a train derails out front, or
little fingers start pulling the skirting, or the glass falls off,
etc. That's the one area where that we can't control from in the
middle.
> How about just having one
> monorail switched loop near the centre of the layout, as shown, and remove
> the other and pull the mono track itself back from the very edge
> (remembering last time...).
Good point!
> We can still have a station even if there isn't
> a loop. I've done that.
Yup.
> Where I've left the switched loop, maybe we need
> another control section in the straight part as well as the loop part
> (done). There's also a very complicated place from a track-support POV,
> where the monorail track comes together in the centre over a section of
> curved 9v track AND a road crossing :-) I simplified it, which also pulls
> the monorail track back behind the 9v track crossing (Dean's lit up one) so
> it doesn't obscure it, and clears the front half of that city block for
> buildings. Feel free to put it all back how it was.
I think either will work. You know me. I'm always trying to think of
"how it will look". I kind of liked the idea of a really "busy" area
right at that point, with some cleverly designed supports. But you're
right, let's minimize the complexity and just make it work, first.
> NE corner industrial area - my factory is on a 48x48 baseplate so should fit
> up there. Remembering that the tanks need road access though, they probably
> won't fit up there as well. Maybe west of the freight yard, S end of the
> bridge, or in the curve of the trolley tracks at the S end.
We can always give them road access, even it we just put some grey
plates down and make our own road. Or we could use those grey "dock"
pieces to build a little raised bridge to it over an imaginary
"ditch".
> Between the N and middle roads, left edge beside the central open area, my
> house backs could back onto the tracks there - they should just fit if I
> leave one garden open for the 9v switch control plate and there will be room
> for the monorail behind their roofs. I've put yellow plates there. My other
> current buildings - V House, corner store, school, and airport hotel, can
> fill in smaller areas so we can have a complete city block on the 2x4
> baseplate area. (Maybe built in 2 sections for ease of transport).
I noticed you moved more monorail track out front. I had it go out
and back to be less obtrusive to the eye (there's "the look" again),
so that we could present the main street on its own, with just the
trolley going back and forth. Does anyone else have an opinion?
> Some of the baseplates shown as green won't be green because they will be
> completely built over with buildings anyway, BUT I expect to have a LOT of
> green baseplates available by the time we do this. Something like 60. Also
> on the subject of baseplates, there's now a lot of T-junctions in there, we
> may have to have some green roads/junctions, maybe at the south end of town.
Excellent! I haven't got a count of my T's, etc., but I suspect we'll
be OK.
> Bridge - big improvement there Robin! I'd like to see a really big one too.
Fantastic work, Kevin! I'm getting excited about this thing!
I'd sure like to see some other ideas, opinions, and suggestions here.
The lack of involvement here is a little unnerving, I don't mind
telling you. It's going to take lots of work to pull this off, and I
know that I don't have the time to do all that's needed. We haven't
even really begun to talk (on the forum) about all the rest of the
logistical stuff (tables, skirting, sign poles [or whatever], etc.).
So let's do this thing! I know that this will be a fantastic layout,
and you're going to feel very proud to have been a part of it. Jump
in!
Talk to you guys next week.
Robin
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Track layout for next show.
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| (...) I've been reading all the posts. It's going well. I'll review the layout for my electoral needs and get back to you guys... Also, it's fine that the larger cable car is to be used. I plan on making my old one abandoned on some old 4.5 track. (...) (23 years ago, 8-Jun-01, to lugnet.org.ca.vlc)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Track layout for next show.
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| Robin Sather wrote in message <3b19ad33.14192695@l...et.com>... (...) OK, I had another go at this - it's looking way better! You did a great job improving the track layout, Robin. Next filename is 2-K0004R.tdl and .gif. Here's comments: North end (...) (23 years ago, 3-Jun-01, to lugnet.org.ca.vlc)
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