DFW Portable Layouts -- Mainline and Traction

[rogruth]

Very nice. I didn't miss the audio at all.
A lot of variety in cars and, to me, a good bit of appropriate scenery that would not take too much time to set up at a show.
The operators(?) of the layout seem to be very confident as they hardly even glance at the moving cars.

[R.K. Maroon]

The operators(?) of the layout seem to be very confident as they hardly even glance at the moving cars.

Yes, I noticed that too. This is what happens when operating what amounts to a round-and-round operation, though in this case it's balloon-track-to-ballon track. Everybody is paying attention (and nobody shoots video) at the beginning when you are troubleshooting all the problems, but once a train will go around reliably everybody relaxes. Now, having said that, you will notice that in parts of the video there are a lot of individual trolleys operating at once. This can be done with one throttle, set at a nominal speed, as long as you have the layout wired in multiple blocks. Not really shown in the video is one or more operators sitting at one or more control panels, shutting off various blocks as needed to keep the trolleys spaced out. The only downside is the sudden stops and jackrabbit starts of removing or applying throttle power with a switch. I won't operate my equipment this way, as it can't be good for the drive train, and it's not very prototypical to boot. Nonetheless, having a half-dozen or more trolleys going at once must be pretty cool to watch.

Jim

[R.K. Maroon]

The DFW O-Scale club has been busy this year. In addition to building a portable traction layout we also added a second mainline track to our "Class 1" portable layout. We got the new "inner" mainline (Track 2) running just in time for last weekend's local all-scales show. Here is the first revenue run:



On the side of the layout shown above, the two mainlines run together. On the other side of the layout the lines diverge, as can be seen here:



The "outside" mainline (Track 1) is the second track from the left in this photo.

The CLW GP38-2 was purchased online by a club member from the recent Stout auction. It arrived the day before the show. It's a great build and custom paint job and it runs like a CLW should. As you can see, it needs headlights and number boards but the new owner is otherwise thrilled. This paint scheme is not found very often so it's a real score for a hard-core Rock Island fan.

More to come
Jim

[rogruth]

I recall reading about this layout but I think this is the first time I have seen it assembled.
Looks good. Will there be scenery eventually?

[R.K. Maroon]

Roger, the layout will eventually get scenery. We decided to finish all the trackwork before starting in on scenery. We have two more trackwork phases to complete: Add a switching area and rebuilding the yard modules to move Track 2 of the mainline to parallel Track 1. I think we are two years away from getting all that complete.

Another issue is the need to build storage and transport cases. Until recently most of the modules were transported to the show by stacking them on top of each other, which makes scenery impractical (to put it mildly). We will need four cases eventually and we have just recently finished the second one.

Friday is setup day for the local all-scales show here. Most everybody is setup by the end of the afternoon, but the show organizers stay until 9:00 PM to accommodate out-of-town vendors. This year one of our club member suggested we take advantage of the extra hours to test some locomotives and run some trains. Sounds great to me. I had several locomotives ready for test. Here is the first:



I believe this is an original Varney Ten-Wheeler. The boiler casting is rough, which is one tell, and the locomotive came out of an estate where many of the models were marked 1947 or 1948, and none were marked later. The finish on the tender was a disaster. I stripped and primed it, as can be seen. I also had to cannibalize another Ten-Wheeler for a few critical parts, but the resulting model runs great. More on this one later.

Jim

[rogruth]

I will be watching for this.Thank you.

[Nortonville Phil]

The North Shore Line Electroliner and the Flying Yankee both made special visits to the DFW O layout this past weekend. These two streamliners are some beautiful models. It was quite enjoyable to see these run on the layout.

[urlDSCN3822 by Phil Randall, on Flickr][/url]

[url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2bzkGyY][/url]Flying Yankee by Phil Randall, on Flickr[/url]

[url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2bzkHHG][/url]DSCN3813 by Phil Randall, on Flickr[/url]

[url][url=https://flic.kr/p/PvJTb1][/url]DSCN3817 by Phil Randall, on Flickr[/url]

[url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2ag5jc2][/url]DSCN3819 by Phil Randall, on Flickr[/url]

[bob turner]

Nice. Not a fan of small talgo passenger trains, but the paint on that North Shore is spectacular.
It is strange that many of the early steam doorstops seem to run so well.

[De Bruin]

Great stuff Phil and Jim.
The pan shot on that ten-wheeler is great!
Unlike BT I like articulated passenger trains from the late 1930's a lot; the Flying Yankee and Electroliner are gorgeous (good photos too Phil)
Feel the same way about that LW Pullman set, Zephyr, Rocket and SP articulated cars too. I look forward to tackling one of those BC-Models SP twin-coach kits someday soon.
RE Talgo's
Keep hoping MTH will break down someday and do either the B&M-Talgo or the NH's John Q Adams, love those FM Speed Merchants.
MTH did a creditable version of the Aerotrain, enough that I would re-consider my prohibition on all purple boxes given the opportunity and decent price.

Phil, that open platform B&O coach? can you share any details about the model, it's a beauty too.
Looks like you guys had a great show.

[E7]

The late editor of the late O Scale News 48/ft, Greg Heir commented that the Electroliner would reach speeds of 100 mph out in the open country.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Phil, that open platform B&O coach? can you share any details about the model, it's a beauty too.

Caboose in front of it is as well; another caboose in front barely visible?

[De Bruin]

.....Greg Heir commented that the Electroliner would reach speeds of 100 mph out in the open country.

Indeed, north of Oakton in Skokie to South Upton Junction the road was built to a 90 mph track speed with no curves to speak of, heavy rail, slow timed gates and compound catenary etc. As kids we were fortunate to witness an Electroliner accelerating through Dempster St station to track speed while waiting for a local to Waukegan (Lake Bluff specifically). They had a distinctive scary howling whine at speed and it surprised us, sure scared the sh** out of me. Unforgetable.
I understand the tangent "Four Mile Road" section between Kenosha and Racine was another race-track for CNS&M crews making up time.

[bob turner]

I do like the SP articulated coach. Mine was to scale, but wouldn't take a 74" radius curve without an extra 1/16" between coach halves. Still looks ok.

[J. S. Bach]

Phil, that open platform B&O coach? can you share any details about the model, it's a beauty too.

It looks like the MTH 64' wooden coach, I have a couple of PRR ones converted to two-rail.

[Nortonville Phil]

Phil, that open platform B&O coach? can you share any details about the model, it's a beauty too.

Caboose in front of it is as well; another caboose in front barely visible?

To answer the question on the open platform B&O coach. It is an MTH model. I converted it to two rail and scale couplers. I have three more to make a train with. I hope to head the train with the Ten wheeler that Jim showed in his post about the show. I am not sure about the side door caboose. I just noticed it. I will have to get a picture of it next time I see it. The second caboose is I believe a Milwaukee Road bay window. Maroon would have to tell you more about it.