So Much Has Changed In Two Plus Years!!

Why today after two plus years - 'cuz once again I was reminded how short life is! A very close family friend passed on Tuesday evening and I am so glad we had him over on Christmas Day for dessert with us and to meet the boy's girlfriends. Timing is everything and our time is too short! John - God bless you and keep you close at hand.

The Rutland Railroad

Since I last posted - the railroad has been substantially built and then dismantled (portable is NOT a good word for this layout) as our basement was transformed into a railroad/family room/office by the nice people at Owens Corning. Thank goodness for our boys and their brains and muscle! The railroad survived the move out and back into the railroad room. It spent the winter of 2009 in the living room upstairs sitting atop desks, bookcases, and various other furniture from the basement. The Queen (Doneccet) staked out a perch for herself on the layout and has yet to relinquish it much to my dismay! Cat hair wrecks electrical pickup on engines and fouls journal boxes on rail cars.

I have attached recent photos that are updates to the ones I posted in my last entry here plus a few other shots. I hope you enjoy them.

Changes since March 2008

Hard to describe the number of changes on the railroad. Several buildings are now glued in place, the downtown streets are finished, all the street lights are glued in place and operational, the River Street bridge is complete and most of the streets are done on the hill up to the bridge.

The Car Shop, Roundhouse, and the Boiler Shops are all in place with all tracks secured to the turntable. The tracks are all indexed on the turntable so that it stops at each track automatically. The tracks to all these buildings are not yet powered but are ready to be. I need to move everything stored under the railroad to get under it so I can solder the track bus extension to the main bus and then solder each individual track to the track bus extensions. It is a lot of upside down work in a tight dark space. Oh, well - what is done in the name of progress!

The last trackage on the main layout table - the spur to the freight house and the Swift Premium Plant has been laid and is operational. The next step is to construct the Swift's building. Thus far I have painted all of the pieces in preparation for assembly. This building kit is a laser cut wooden structure. It is my second laser cut wooden structure - the first being the dairy barn I built a couple years ago. I am looking forward to constructing this building. It is the American Model Builders, Inc. kit "F. Bruckner Woodworking" shop but it is a very good representation of the Swift Premium building that was just south (like 10 yards!) of the depot in Rutland for many years.

I have begun to add the ballast (the stone used for drainage and to support the wooden ties upon which the rails are spiked) to the track. I have put a heavy coat of fine cinders in the area of the ash conveyor, a combination of fine mixed gray ballast and fine cinders around the coal dock and a light coat of fine light grey ballast on the passing track behind the Car Shop. I have also used some course grey ballast on the tracks leading from the turntable to the Car Shop and the roundhouse. It is meant to be a base to fill some very big spaces below the tracks as they come off the turntable. Course ballast is inappropriate for regular ballast in HO scale modelling but i happened to have a bunch around so I used it to fill the voids. I will cover it with the more appropriate fine ballast in the near future. Much of the yard and shop areas in steam railroading were ballasted with cinders from the coal burned in the locomotives. A suitable product for drainage and support of the tracks in these areas as they were not high speed mainline trackage. Best part was that the cinders were a free byproduct of the steam locomotives! Railroads - especially one as poor as the Rutland used everything until is was well past "used up'! Mostly I am experimenting with how to spread and attach the ballast. It has been years since I have had track that was worthy of being ballasted so it's all new - seems to be like riding a bike - you never forget, you just need to start riding it again!

Strongs Ave. and Wales St. to River St. Bridge

Construction has begun on the hill leading up to the River Street Bridge which spans the south leads to the Rutland yard and the main headed for Bellows Falls - the Bellows Falls Subdivision and the main headed to Chatham NY. - the Corkscrew Subdivision.

Layers of 1" polystyrene insulation glued together in the approximate shape of the hill. Then is is carved with a hot wire foam cutter. A new skill learned with the foam cutter. My son Jason did much of the initial carving - much more patience than his Dad! The carving is almost finished and the roadway has been laid in front of the firehouse on Strongs Ave.

Detail work begins: Depot Park, Streetlights, Bank Interior

The above photos show some of the changes to the Rutland. Top photo is of the new Walther's Built-up 90 ft. turntable. In a previous post I showed the old turntable salvaged from the last Rutland layout. Never worked well so I bought this one. Totally amazing craftsmanship. It is programmable for 60 stops.

The second and third pictures show Depot Park as it becomes populated with grass and trees. The white sticks among the trees and on Center and Washington streets are the locations of the streetlights. The lights have had their electrical connections lengthened and are about ready for installation. The bottom two pictures are of the bank building on the corner of Merchants Row and Center Street. Cannot remember the name of the bank but will research it. Many hours have been spent detailing the interior of the bank. Unfortunately the picture is very blurry but you get the idea. The structure has lights, shades in the windows and interior walls. It looks really good up close. I am not a great photographer but will endeavour to get a better picture of the bank. There are still two storefronts that need to be detailed. That's for another day.

Continued Progress - almost looks like a city!

Depot Park with the base coat of earth tone (covers the gosh awful pink layout foam base) and one section of grass with a couple elm trees. The color of the grass is a little too bright for October and the trees too green. May have to change the date to mid -September. Turntable is in place and operational! Engine terminal is looking better. Water tower has returned to it's proper position next to the coal dock. In the back ground is the workbench and the AFC Championship game is on the TV to the right of the chair . GO PATS!!
The interior of the roundhouse is way too clean but there is more to do here. The center track is in place but the two outer ones are awaiting attachment to the floor. The roundhouse workers are getting ready to service the big steam engines that will soon be coming in after their runs over the road.
Now it is time to run a few trains just 'cuz I can! Then it is on to completing the City Hall / Fire Station section of Rutland and build the hill that will lead up to the River Street bridge over the south end of the yard. Also to finishing Depot Park so I can get the yard raised and operational!

More to follow.

New York Football Giants are going to the Super Bowl! But still I say "GO PATS!!"

Progress on the Rutland

The pit for the turntable has been cut with rough placement of the car shop, round house and engine house (left to right) Notice the water tower on the concrete pad in front of roundhouse! In the background to the right of the cream colored building with the green trim is the beginnings of Depot Park. Merchant's Row is taking shape below. The roadway has been laid from Center Street(on left) to Washington Street (on right). The sidewalks are in place in Depot Park as is the driveway which will be in front on the depot. Covered station platform is at the bottom between station track and the Main Line. The blue tape is seven layers thick with lightweight spackle used as the "concrete" sidewalk. After the spackle is dried and painted - the tape will be removed and then grass, trees, streetlights, benches and people will be added to the park. Main Line is along the front edge of the layout. The Depot is resting on the edge of the drop leaf yard while construction of Depot Park continues. The engine terminal leads are the curved tracks above the Depot. In this view from left to right are the sand house, diesel oil tank, ash conveyor, coal dock and then the engine house...... Mostly this picture is to show the yard in it's "down" position. My son says the down position will never be repeated as I really am most interested in working the yard. His take is that I will not want to remove all the cars and yard buildings to lower the yard unless it is for construction / maintenance. He is probably right!

Extra RBF1

Yes, a revenue train was made up in the new 6 track (for now) Rutland yard! It made a trip around the layout and stopped at the Rutland Depot for train orders before proceeding to Bellows Falls, VT. The engine is B&M 4-6-2 Pacific #3713 (being used as part of a mileage sharing agreement), CN #117719 a coal hopper, C&O #63827 also a coal hopper - both being returned to the Penn. coal fields to be loaded again, NY,NH&H #30565 a 40' boxcar headed to Boston with a load of newsprint for the Boston Globe and bringing up the rear is Rutland van #14! Sounds good, don't you think?

The yard is coming together. There will be a couple more tracks for inbound / outbound trains as well as some sidings for industries and a van track to clean and store vans (cabooses in Rutland terminology) for their next assignment. There is a great deal of wiring under the table that needs to be connected. I have found a new method of connecting the track leads to the track bus but need to make a Radio Shack run to find the connectors - no more soldering! - I hope!

The crossover connectors leading to the yard are working well. They are 4" pieces of track that bridge the gap between the the main layout and the drop leaf yard. I soldered pieces of # 12 gauge wire to one end of the track so it "snaps" into place on the yard side. It also conducts the necessary power to keep the trains running. Gerry, the proprietor of my favorite hobby store, had told me of the technique so I gave it a try. I could not be happier with the results.

There will be pictures of the layout soon

It's about time!

It has been 4.5 months since I updated this blog. Sorry - I was not happy about the way things were going so rather than complain I just did not write anything. There has been much progress on the Rutland. The drop leaf shelf has been contructed and installed. A great deal of wiring has been going on under (within) the benchwork. DCC recommends that a power drop be installed about every three feet. I have put in power drops for each of the yard tracks, both yard leads, to almost every turnout, etc... Lots of wire and soldering! There do not seem to be any dead spots in the power grid. At present the layout is being powered by a DC transformer. I had some very bad luck with attempting to clean the power pick-ups on several engines. There was a ton of cat hair and other gunk all over so I took several engines apart to clean out the hair. Not paying enough attention I created several short circuits within the engines and numerous other mistakes when I put them back together. I took everything up to Maine Trains in Chelmsford, MA. The owner is a very patient man! He tested my entire DCC system (I brought it all with me!) and looked over the engines. The system tested fine! The engines on the other hand were not so easily tested. I left two for repairs and brought two home that tested OK on the Maine Trains in-house layout. I, however, have not switched back to DCC control as yet. DCC has not been a great change for me as yet. I still think it will be in the long run. Done for tonite!

Trackwork continues

The track on the balky curve has again slipped causing derailments - just like the real thing! Same unfortunate results - the railroad comes to a halt since it is the mail line. No room for a shoo fly so the pike is currently on holiday. So in utter frustration I yanked out all the Shinohara flex track between the two switches on either end of the curve and put in Atlas Assortment track pieces and some 1/3 and 1/2 curve sections from Atlas snap switches in the "track pieces" box. Not the greatest track but it is a guarantee to be a smooth curve when assembled properly. This track will need more cleaning than the Shinohara track but it is easily accessible and tried and true! The curve has been reassembled (for the upteenth and, hopefully, last time) and tested with Mikado #32 at higher speeds than previously tried and it was much smoother than any of the previous attempts to finish this section of the layout trackwork. As I write this, the glue is drying under the weight of a 2" by 3", the tenth edition of Miriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and a one gallon pitcher of bird seed. Gotta use what is handy in these delicate operations!




I cannot wait to begin the Rutland yard! The drop leaf is constructed and awaiting installation. It will, however, probably be a while before the yard gets attached and track laid. I am going to build Depot Park and Merchant's Row first. Then there is the engine terminal to construct with turntable, etc. So much to do - so slow the progress! It is paying off - taking my time - the track is smooth, the electrical connections are all soldered and easily traceable, switches are all free moving and the trackwork is straight and "gap" free. All in all - very cool!

Finally - Revenue Trains

Rutland-- On July 4, 2007 at 8:57 PM (by the Station clock) the New Rutland Railroad (or Railway - depending on the mood of the Blogger) officially saw two revenue trains travel the whole pike (20 feet or so) without stalling or derailing! It has been a long time coming. Thank goodness it rained and I am watching the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra performing and working on the railroad.

Vt. State Fair, September 1952

World of Mirth train being unloaded down the "runs". OK- so there is nothing that says "World of Mirth Shows!
It's a representation!!

There are Cole Brother"s flats, Pinder (Germany) trucks, a P.T.Barnum Shows trailer, a Reithoffer lighting truck, Royal American Shows cars, the "Wisconsin" - a restored Dining Car owned by the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin and a couple of flat cars restored by the Circus World Museum and used annually in the Great Circus Train that travels from Baraboo to Milwaukee. Each of the flats are painted for a different traveling railroad show of the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States of America.

The Midway train being switched in the Rutland yard.


World of Mirth train in the Rutland waiting to be off loaded. The train actually was unloaded south of the main yard onto Park St. and then the tractors and dozers pulled all the wagons and equipment across Park St. into the Fairgrounds. The kids who went to the Park St. Elementary School got an extra week's vacation each year as the school was across the street from the Fairgrounds.

Midway at the Rutland Fairgrounds.

The dining car "Wisconsin" is behind the Ferris Wheel and Sea Dragon rides. A generator truck is behind the Sea Dragon supplying the necessary electricity to power all the lights, sights and rides of the Midway.

Also in the picture - the Thunder Bolt and a kiddie version of the Octopus on the left. In the center are food concessions. On the right are game concessions - I never won much on these! In the bottom right is a permanent concession operated by the Lion's Club (I think) each year.

So the "New Rutland" is not doing so well. Still cannot get the steamers to negotiate the curve coming in to Rutland. I just got #401 RS-1 equipped with LokSound! It is amazingly realistic sound. However it shorts out on every turnout so all in all things are not so good on the Rutland.

I need to check the electrical pick-ups on the #401. It ran fine before I got the sound so I'm thinking there might be something there. I could also power all the tracks in each turnout but I'm not sure if that will make a difference. If anyone who reads this can offer suggestions or solutions I would be most thankful. Now on to some fun. I put together a diorama today of the Vt. State Fair held in Rutland each fall. It is a scene from the midway. I just took a picture of the diorama and added some photos from Layout #3 that I took of the midway unloading for the fair. The World of Mirth midway came to Rutland for many years. So here are my representations of the train, unloading and the Midway! Enjoy!

New Station

Construction progresses.

Main line / passing siding / engine terminal lead. New station. note turnout at far end of station. it will be the Swift Meat, Diamond National Lumber siding. Curved black roadbed in upper right will be the yard leads. Be awhile before those tracks are laid. I have to get the Main working first. Probably will be tearing up a section of track and the two curved turnouts behind the Poland Springs bottle sinnce I cannot get any steam engines to stay on the rails in that section.

The "New" Rutland Layout - Conceptually

Today's version of the layout is as follows. Don't hold me to it 'cuz it changes frequently. The basics are as follows: It is October 1952 in Rutland Vt. The Rutland - MSJ game is four weeks in the future (Rutland will win. I should check this fact.) Anyway the air is crisp, clean and the sky is bright blue. The main layout is 4'x8' representation of Rutland Vermont downtown (as we called it). The Main runs along the front edge of the layout. The Station and passenger platforms are inside of the Main. To the left of the station will be the 90' turntable with the Boiler shop, Roundhouse and Coach / Car Repair shop situated around it. The lead from the station also has the ashpit, coal dock and water tower. There is a spur to the left also for the supply track (oil, sand, coal) and the diesel ready track. To the right of the station will be a spur with the Swift Premium meat plant, Diamond National Lumber (artistic license as Diamond was at the other end of town) and perhaps Duffy Coal (also at the other end of town in reality!). In the space directly behind the station is Depot Park, Merchants Row with the Service Building, the Bardwell Hotel and others whose names I cannot remember. To the right will be Washington St (30 degree angle to Merchants Row) with City Hall and it's park and the Fire Station. Center St. will be at the other end of Merchants Row. As for the railroad - it will travel in an oval around the 4x8 section for the time being. Let me say here that this layout is all about the main classification yard and shops in Rutland. The Main will leave Rutland to left going North and West and to the right going South and East. This part of the layout will be very similar to layout #3 - more detailed than #3 but very similar. I'll post a couple of photos of #3's downtown so you can imagine what the new one will look like.
The next installment will discuss the drop leaf yard and the North and South extensions.

City Hall park in center. Fire Station / City Hall around the park. Swift Premium is red building to the left of Diamond National Lumber Co.

Much of the new layout will be an enhanced version of these pictures.

Downtown Rutland Layout #3

The tall building is the Service Building. Bardwell Hotel to the right. City Hall park to the right of the Bardwell. Depot Park with the elm trees and baggage building along Merchants Row. Note REA truck in foreground. Street to the left is Center St.

Still the old pike. The new one is aggrevating me so I'm waxing nostalgic. This picture is of the shops area. It contains a bunch of stuff. starting on the right - water tower, coal dock with a load of coal in the Rutland hopper, a Mikado, the roundhouse (green doors), and the new boiler shop under construction, an RS-3 on the turntable, another in the boilershop, a red Rutland caboose in the tunnel and the marble company on the upper level. Last thing - that big lump on the flatcar on far left in front of the caboose - is an actual cinder that was used as ballast on the real Rutland Railroad.

Trouble on the "New" Rutland!

I really thought I would have a train running yesterday but no! I had to add several more power leads as there were several dead spots in the track around several turnouts. Then I tried an old engine that does not have DCC capability but it just hummed. Not good for the engine or my mood. So I decided to try one of the DCC equipped engines, RS-3 #208. It worked like a charm after a few times around. Lots of hesitation from so many months in storage! After a bit it was running smoothly over the turnouts and the crossover of the Main into the shop area from the north end of the "yet to be built" yard (more on this later). So I'm thinking this is great - let's try the Mikado with sound. It too needed some time to get the oils flowing but was "chugging" right along with bell ringing and horn blowing! Then the problem occurred. There are two curved turnouts coming into town from the south off a curved section of track. The Mikado jumped the track (derailed in railroad vernacular) every time it entered the turnouts. Anyone out there with a thought I'm all ears. I think the radius (too tight) coming off the curve into the turnouts might be the problem. I also wonder if the front of the engine needs more weight as it did not derail when I put downward force on the smokestack. All in all very disappointing. The initial running of a train will be awhile later - like Amtrak. Trust me - you will know when it happens because there will be two new pics - one w/ diesel #208 and modern Rutland Railway cars and one with Mikado # "32" pulling a passenger train with Business Car #99 and a couple Rutland Railroad coaches and Rutland Railroad milk car #335.
In case you are wondering, the #"32" designation is my way of saying the item has not been decaled as Rutland 2-8-2 Mikado #32 yet. In my equipment inventory - the " " designation also includes the words "under construction".

More to follow in the future. Future installments will discuss not only the new layout but information about structures, rolling stock (train cars) and lots of other things I want to share.

Layout #3

This was the last layout. It had lots of track and turnouts (switches). It was a representation of Rutland Vt. on a 4X8 train table. It grew and the track plan changed many times over the years. It was really a hodge podge of material from numerous manufacturers. It had a sags at the 2 ft. and 6 ft. marks with a peak in the middle at 4 ft. Numerous turnouts were across the peak. It all worked when I powered it with DC but the peak and sags caused many short circuits in DCC. There were many loose connections under the layout, several different sizes of wire in use, and all kinds of shims to try to make it level and straight. It was kind of a redneck operation in retrospect.

Once I figure out how to attach pictures I'll share the 3rd layout with you and also "builder" photos of the "New" Rutland Railroad.

World of Mirth railroad carnival is in town and being unloaded down the ramps to the right of the first dozer.

The flat car is loaded with the Rutland's lifeblood - marble from the Vt. Marble Co. in Danby. It is headed for the finishing sheds in West Rutland.

The Yard with the Main curving to the left of the yard office (yellow building, left foreground). The Main is actually the fifth track from the right. The red building to the left behind the diesel fuel tank is the coach shed. Depot Park with the big elm trees in front of the station is to the left rear of the photo.