Sn3 RGS First District: Construction Update #11 - The Track Gang, View Blocks & Ridgway

The Track Gang arrives in Placerville

November 8, 2023

The Test Train - P-B-L Rio Grande 2-8-0 #346 and a P-B-L Rio Grande boxcar.

I use Midwest HO Scale cork roadbed on the Sn3 RGS 1st District. It is glued down with yellow carpenter's glue.

I use a sanding block to smooth the top of the cork and contour the edges.

Leads are soldered to the bottom of every other section of flex track. Attaching the leads to the bottom of the rail makes them virtually invisible. I file the bottom of the rail to give it some tooth and then tin both the bottom of the rail and the leads,

The leads are then soldered to the bottom of the rail;

I glue the track down with thin layer of clear Loctite Polyseamseal, The Polyseamseal, an acrylic adhesive caulk, goes on white but dries clear. In my area, neither Home Depot nor Lowes has Polyseamseal but I can normally find it at my local Ace Hardware. Pins are used to hold the track in place until the caulk dries.

I used to solder my leads to the bus but not any more. Now I am using Wago 221 Series Lever Nuts. These simple lever connectors make it easy to connect different wire types and sizes. They come in 2, 3 and 5 conductor sizes. They are reusable, made in Germany and you can buy them on Amazon. The 5 conductor size is shown below. The larger wire is the bus, the smaller ones are the leads/drops. The average cost is about 60 cents.

I use a meter and test for continuity and shorts as I go.

After about an hour, I remove the pins, clean the track and run my train!

Turnouts

All of my turnouts are built from Fast Track fixtures and glued in place with Polyseamseal. Caboose Hobbies ground throws are being used on all but a couple of turnouts that can't be easily be reached. I was able to salvage most of the turnouts from my previous Sn3 layout so they are being reused. After they were removed from the old layout I made sure they were straight and gauged properly. A lot of the old wood ties were replaced as were some of the printed circuit board ties. I do drop a lead from each of the insulated frogs even though my locomotives don't require them. The 1st District locomotives are all equipped with Tsunami2 sound decoders and TCS KA1 or KA2 current keepers. But, eventually all the turnouts will be equipped with Tam Valley "frog juicers" just in case and for visiting power that may not be equipped with current keepers.

A Plan for Ridgway

November 11, 2023

I have had several comments about the lack of a yard or engine service facility on the layout. I originally left the idea of modeling Ridgway off the plan due to the lack of space and my desire to model several other scenes as closely as possible. One viewer of the blog even sent me a "suggested" plan. Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough room to lay out the yard and engine facility to closely replicate the prototype. Regardless, here is what I came up with. A hillside between Old Placerville and the mainline would hopefully create some perceived distance between Placerville and Ridgway.

The engine facility is pretty much laid out like the prototype but it is flipped horizontally to fit the space. Since it would be built as a module, it could be flipped back into the proper orientation should it get moved at some point. The module is 30" deep on the left and 24" deep on the right. It is 8' long. The addition of Ridgway would certainly add to operations. The only real problem with this plan was the need to re-work the Lizard Head wye in the original plan. But, I had already done that. The wye in the previous plan was directly above an aisle that required a large duck under. The changes at Lizard Head and the additional siding between Matterhorn and Trout Lake are shown in the following plan. The wye on the previous plan has been replaced by a return loop that is located outside the main room. The return loop can be used to turn helpers or complete trains. The entrances to and from the reverse loop are hidden in the snow shed. The prototype wye was also in a snow shed so the return loop isn't a huge compromise. Lizard Head will be on a narrow shelf above the proposed Ridgway and the oversized duck under/swing away is now a single track just inside the door. (Ridgway and Rico Staging are not shown on this plan)

I would really like to know what you all think... sdepolo@outlook.com

View Blocks

I have been going back and forth between having and not having view blocks for some time. I have built layouts, in my existing space (22'x27') with and without view blocks. While I understand the advantages of view blocks and their ability to create distance between scenes, I tend to prefer layouts without them, especially in smaller rooms, when terrain (hills and mountains) can be used to accomplish the same thing.

The RGS 1st District started out with a view block between the Vance Jct scene and the Bridge 45A/Ophir scene. I initially cut the view block back about 4' so that the Vance Jct section house and out buildings could be viewed from both sides. This was somewhat of a compromise since Bridge 45A could also be seen from both sides. In the end, I decided it was worth it.

I decided to do a test, with and without a view block, between the north end of Vance Jct and Trout Lake. The tracks here are about 12" apart and the difference in elevation is about 6". I installed the back drop and glued some pink foam profiles in place. I didn't like the result, especially on the Vance Jct side, so the hard board view block between Vance Junction and Ophir/Trout Lake was removed and the profiles were replaced.

Here is how the scene looks from the Trout Lake side without the view block. I think the scene, without the view block, is more expansive. Eventually the tree line on the far wall, above Vanadium, is all that will be seen from the Trout Lake side.

Here is the view from the Vance Jct side. The dividing hills are just tall enough to block a train on the far side. Again, the hills on far side open up the scene and create distance. Backdrops on a view block can create depth, especially in photographs, but in my mind eliminating them on a peninsula if possible can be a plus.