Well, it has been four years since I last posted. However that's not to say there hasn't been activity. It started with the Ramcke family moving into a new house. We're now downriver, in a small house located wonderfully close to an active railway line. In fact, here is a sample of what I get to enjoy pretty much every day when I walk the dog:
"But Carsten," you say, "What has become of Carstenbahn One?" Well, that's a good question. Turns out I'm not the only one who moved. My parents have also moved, and to Florida. The condo in Auburn Hills is sold, and as you can imagine, the Carstenbahn One layout is no more. On the bright side, the new house has a fully-finished basement, and there is a good spot for a modest 1-scale layout. You would think that, after four years, there would be a bunch of progress and I'd be able to show off pictures of trains running around a layout in similar condition to the Carstenbahn One layout in my parents' basement (after all, that was four years, too). Well, actually the space was a basement for our daughter for a couple of years, so I have only recently begun to build. However I'm pleased to provide some progress and share some information on the new layout.
First, a picture of the available space, roughly 21 feet x 18 feet:
See that table in the back? That's actually one of the frames from the original layout. Although the space is significantly smaller, I used all the benchwork in the new space. I built the new layout's benchwork using two 3x6-foot sections for every 6 feet of the new layout. One 6-foot section to be used for stabilization and storage, and the other as the actual layout benchwork:
The bottom then gets covered by a sheet of plywood and acts as a storage shelf for boxes, tools, stored trains, etc, while the top contains the actual track (the entire layout will be built using an open benchwork concept).
I designed a pretty optimistic track plan, in that it is a triple-level dogbone main line, with a station on the top level featuring two passing sidings, a small yard and a branch line three-track station staging yard. The first level down from there is a two-track staging yard and one of the dogbone returns, along with a parade section that goes down to the bottom level, which is the other end of the dogbone and a three-track staging yard.
I laid out the tracks on the tables, at least for the two staging yards, to see how everything would fit:
The post-it notes in the image above show the necessary elevations for each section of track. I was surprised to find that I could go with a reasonable 4% grade on most sections of the layout, with 5% necessary in just a few places, and always on straight sections.
Finally, here are a few more images of the benchwork with the tracks provisionally laid out. First, the raw layout:
Next the three-track staging yard on the bottom level. The diagonal track that represents the 'return' of the dogbone is not laid out, as it crosses the center of the layout. The two tracks on the outside of the staging yard (on the far right) represent the ascending tracks from the staging yard to the intermediate level parade line and top level station.
In the image below you can see a curved track ending at the edge of the table near the top-center of the photo. This is the return of the bottom level of the dogbone. That track, and the one at the start of the staging yard (not visible) make up the two tracks on the inside of the left side of the benchwork in the image below. That one 'lone' track on the outside left side is one of the two that will make up the parade line, which is actually the next loop of the two tracks next to it.
Finally here is a view of the benchwork where the bottom-level staging yard sits. Note the cut in the benchwork at the top of the image to allow access to the egress window:
I know the explanations above are confusing, but will try and post the actual three-level track plan in the next blog entry.
More to come, hopefully soon!
