Author: sudmodrail
Additional progress has been made on the farm and countryside scenes above the box culvert. This finishes off the remainder of the layout sections requiring scenery and details.
Additional details around the engine facility and yards:
A bear and cubs watch a train go by:
And some stools for young visitors to get a better look at the layout:
The trestles are completed and installed.
Lots of progress on the town site:
A miniature version of Prescott Park (the Museum House):
The engine facility:
Updates to the staging area:
And of course, more detailed scenes:
On December 7, 2016 the Sudbury Railway Modellers held a meeting at the Heritage Center to discuss club activities and management of the layout. The photos below were taken during this meeting and show the enormous progress on the layout over the past 8 months.
These photos are also available in the following Google Photos Album.
Display cases as you enter the train room:
Sawmill area in the turnback loop near the doorway:
Bridges help with grade separation:
Lots of industries and detailed structures:
Small scenes add interest:
Yard Area:
Roundhouse area:
Town scene currently under construction:
It’s been a while since the last update, but a lot has happened over the last 8 months. An effort to re-start the local Model Railway Club resulted in a meeting of interested individuals at the Heritage Center in December 2016. Comming soon – December 2016 Layout Tour.
April 5, 2016 – Scenery installation has started. In the following photos we see Richard Lefebvre installing wadded newspaper and plaster cloth to form basic landforms around the elevation transitions.
Once finished this blends the two elevations together nicely.
Now that the main line and major yard track has been laid and trains can cover the whole layout on the two main lines, the necessary wiring connections have begun.
Placement of additional track to such things as industries, roundhouses and the like has also begun. On March 22, Ian Clegg and Garth Harris were well along with placing track that will be within the large roundhouse. The specific placement of the already built industrial buildings is being verified.
This is the group setting up the installation of an ashpit for the large roundhouse. The piece in the foreground is a popout hatch which, will be the site of a car shop with transfer table (on the cutout in the foreground). Ian is currently working from the hole it will fill.
Test layout of the sawmill buildings near the entrance to the layout room.
Track laying has started. The photo below from March 8, 2016 shows track being installed in the lower yard.
Installation of the bus wires beneath the layout is also in progress.
By working session on March 15, 2016 most of the mainline track has been installed. The photo below was taken at the start of the work session. During the session, the turntable in the foreground was put in place, track around the post in the right background has been positioned to make it possible to locate both bridge spans and tunnels in the right places and with the right clearances in the future.
By the February 17 working session the majority of the benchwork was complete, the plywood and homosote was installed, and track centerlines were being laid out.
Installation of the homosote on the turn back curve near the entrance to the layout room, including the grade up from the lower level to the upper level:
Planning and test fitting the bridge where the upper tracks will pass over the lower tracks:
Continuing around the layout. This is the straight section between the turn back curve and the first corner:
Laying out the curves at the first corner. A tunnel was originally planned here, but the vertical separation of the two levels was not sufficient. So the plan is to install a couple more bridges instead and maybe a quarry or other industry at the back of the curve:
Section between first and second corner:
Second corner. This is the entrance to the yard and will likely contain an engine facility of some kind:
The Yard section along the far wall:
Yard section near the culvert. This area will contain the roundhouse.
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View from other direction, with grade back up to elevated section:
Center peninsula:
During the early working sessions the work crew experienced some issues with the electrical power supply in the layout room. January temperatures required some space heaters to be used. Benchwork construction required the use of various power tools, all which draw lots of power when in use. The existing power supply was only sufficient to run one item at a time without blowing a fuse! After the lights went out a few times it was decided that an electrical upgrade was needed.
With the help of Paul Parent and Al Melanson the existing electrical power supply of the Heritage Center was reviewed. They suggested installation of a 100 amp pony panel with multiple breakers to supply power to the workshop and layout room in the basement. This would provide adequate voltage to run power tools as required, appropriate heaters, and provide separate power supply for the layout itself.
The electrical upgrades were approved by the museum board and installation proceeded. A hole was cored through the concrete floor for the power supply cable to the pony panel in the basement workshop. The new panel was installed and then new wiring installed. This work was completed by Paul.
Electrical wiring has now been extended to the layout benchwork and multiple electrical outlets installed at various locations.
In the foreground of the photo below, Paul discusses electrical upgrades with someone off camera. One electrical drop from the ceiling to the layout can be seen in the background between Dale and Wayne.
By the working session on January 30, 2016 the construction crew had made good progress on installing a plywood base over the majority of the benchwork.
Track centerlines were drawn for the tracks on the turnback curve near the entrance to the layout room, and creation of the roadbed grades to elevate the tracks to the rear of the layout was started.
Plywood installed on layout sections:
Some homasote installation has begun:
Adding planned track centerlines to the plywood and homosote. These will help to determine the section of the plywood that needs to be raised.
Turnback curve in center peninsula was raised to allow installation of temporary trackwork so mainline tracks can be wired and tested. (the trestles and bridges will be installed here at a later date)
Cutting the plywood to install the grade around the turnback curve:
Riser installation to support the roadbed grade:
The completed roadbed grade:
Top end of grade around turnback curve:
Testing the clearance at the bridge location where the mainline track passes over itself:
NORMHC Layout 