Last night I laser cut the roof sections and supports. Then did a test fit.




Last night I laser cut the roof sections and supports. Then did a test fit.
I thought some of you might like to see the 3D CAD images.
PLW is preparing to produce B&SR tank cars and Standard Oil of New York (SOCONY) tank farm in Sn2 and OnX. They look cool, so I may freelance by adding tank farm in Rangeley and possibly Kingfield to get extra traffic. I can see a tank train or an occasional car. SOCONY had tanks in Farmington behind the MEC freight house, so it’s not a far stretch to think 2-foot tank cars could be filled near that same spot and travel the SR&RL to take oil to the far reaches of Franklin County.
Im not going to go into detail about my laser cutting setup and details. I’m a beginner.
I’ve had my system for 4-5 years but never used it till now. Ok, I made a few test cuts. I think I’ll be able to get my money out of it, but if I were buying a tool now… I’d start with a 3D printer (resin) and then get a craft cutter for styrene. I’d bypass the laser.
For the past two months I’ve been using SOLIDWORKS to design the core I of the Bigelow engine house. Today I started cutting out the puzzle pieces on the laser cutter.
While I have SOLIDWORKS at work and manage a team developing a software application for it; I’m not an accomplished CAD designer. Mostly we use data provided to us. Sometimes I make simple parts, assembly and drawings so simple the geometry in them does not matter. The engine house core was not easy for me. I had to grind it out. I watched YouTube and has to go back to it and iterate again and again. It is just simple flat walls, but it has lots of angles. It to me time to learn in context modeling. That is the designing of parts inside the assembly. If never done that before.
At this time I have the core designed and I’m starting to cut the pieces out with the laser. The idea is to assemble the core of of 1/4″ (5mm) plywood then laminate it with milled clapboard.
Today I test fit the pieces of the core to confirm the design goes together and looked good on the layout. The remainder of the post is photos of the tests.
More puzzle pieces to be cut in coming days.
I’m making a push to move forward on completing my Bigelow Module. One of the most significant gaps in the module is the Bigelow Engine House. This post may get updates.
The Engine house was built in early 1900’s, was 3 stalls, and had a water tank at the rear. There are a few photos of the engine house, but as near as I know, no plans. It’s not even evident that it was used for much at all.
Many of the photos appear in multiple sources. I’ll capture all sources when time permits. GR=Guy Ruix
When I was 14, I joined the Eastern Loggers, a group that developed a layout based on a series of books on railroad logging in Pennsylvania. That layout has now gone to a museum and will soon be on display. To read more about that, checkout my post on the HAVOC website.
The club and my participation was not just about model railroading, but it also formed me as a person, a modeler, a designer/engineer, a manager, etc. Click the link to my post about the layout and my experiences to learn more about the layout.
Tom Sullivan continues to make great progress on his On30 SR&RL and I have some photos to share. But before you check out the photos, I’d like to complement Tom. Understanding my points will help you understand how Tom has achieved so much in such a short time.
For reference, consider these posts about Tom’s layout.
On to the photos – A tour from Farmington to Strong. Tom has been working on Farmington structure and scenery, so that’s the emphasis of this tour.
2021 started out strong. I had started the mushroom at the end of 2020, then started the Backdrop, Reeds homasote spline roadbed, and finally formally completed the whole trackplan. But then momentum was lost (like the Skipper, Gilligan, Professor, and Marianne…). I got stuck on spline roadbed not having a foam base, how to power turnouts, and more. I played with trucks and decided Blackstone’s would be the way to go but found out they were not in production. But the greatest impact was the weather. When it became nice, I went outdoors. I worked on the Woodlark Central and started playing Golf again!
One of the problems of losing momentum on the layout is that the mind dreams about other things. The blinders come off and I see the advantages of S-scale standard gauge or HO diesels or what’s neat that week. It’s hard to put the blinders back on. The best way seems to be to go back to the layout and grind through a project!
So, where goes the Sn2 SR&RL in 2022? For now, I’m focused on my Bigelow module. It’s existed for over 10 years but lacks completed structures. So, I’m starting my grind in Bigelow. The benefit is that I can take that to Greenford, OH for the Midwest NG show March 17-19 and share it with other 2-Foot modelers!
I’ll call winter 2022 a success if I can get Bigelow complete
I’m well on my way. I’ve started detailing the Turntable and I’m currently designing the core of the Engine House. We’ll see what 2022 brings!
For years, I’ve studied the SR&RL, and dreamed an exacting representation. But as life continues, and I lack a layout, one has to wonder how exact one needs. My introduction to the Maine 2-Footers came from HOn30 C&DR of Bob Hayden and Dave Frary. That layout had very little exacting Maine 2-Foot prototype in it. The C&DR is more fantasy than realism. It hints at the Maine 2-Footers but fails to be in anyway accurate. It’s artwork with limited historic accuracy.
Jack Burgess was one of my model railroad heros. His Yosemite Valley railroad is exacting to prototype it is very perfecting. The YV inspired me to believing I could try the same for the SR&RL. But after years, I’m not sure that aspiring to a Jack Burgess Sn2 SR&RL will ever happen. Aiming beyond my abilities and time is getting in the way of having a layout.
Then comes along Doug Tasgold’s and his C&S. It clearly rooted in the C&S up the Clear Creek, but it’s exacting. Visitors can feel the history and learn about the C&S of 1929. But Doug, one of the hobby’s most prolific layout builders, did not let exacting hold him back. His trackplan is prototypical, his equipment looks the part, his scenery is fantastic, and his operations are captivating. However, accepted compromise and used uses illusion in achieving his objectives and to achieve it in a lifetime (actually just 5 years or so).
Doug’s layout gives me hope that I can move forward on the Sn2 SR&RL, or at least I should give 2022 to try moving forward! If Doug can use HO track and equipment for 1:72n3, then I could be OK with a Blackstone K27 or Blackstone trucks or some other compromises…
(As of January, the video has over 1K views! Consider liking it if you take a look, I’m curious how many views It can get too!)