Barcoola MK2.25?

Hi All

Managed to catch up with some friends due Glen's impending marriage. As we do over a couple of beers, the subject of Barcoola and its future came up in conversation.

Like any project, then needs to be inspiration to want to do things. Glen was showing me all the projects he has on the go, for 1993 and ultra modern Barcoola.

After a bit of a think recently, Barcoola has been set up in a reduced format at home. I figured if we are going to invest all this time and effort, it might as well be up and running is some format, so we have some where to run things prior to Alice Springs being built.

Barcoola will not fit in the room in its current form, but as it is variable in length, I looked to see if it could fit in the room minus the two lake doug boards. the answer to this question is no, still too long, by 1ft 4 inches, but plenty of room width wise.

I then came up with a convenient solution. Build a new bridge board, this will solve the problem of having to build new head shunts for the yard.

So the following modifications will be made to Barcoola.
New set of crossovers at the western end of the yard, so that the Tea and Sugar can get in and out of the yard at the western end.
New reduced length bridge board.
New 600 by 1200mm board to be added to the end of the triangle board to increase shunting capabilities.
Fiddle yard ladders to be installed in the two closest scenery boards, this will increase the fiddle yard's capacity substantially. The the home version I should be able to get about 17ft standing room for each road, in full exhibition format that will equate to 29ft standing room, and increase of 7ft of capacity for each road.
New 'pointless" fiddle yard boards, of light weight construction.

While this all seems like a lot of work, a least I will have a layout at home for which I can run, and shunt which is the whole point of the exercise, so the good news is that Barcoola is not dead yet. I am going to take this time to finish off all the little things scenery wise.

Finally Glen has finally convinced me, to seriously look at ultramodern Barcoola, I have a scenario in mind, and I will share this with all later.

Thanks

Scott

Caulfield 2010

Hi All

Final would like to pass on our thanks to all that helped out over the weekend.
will special thanks to:
Peter and Doug for gabing the bull by the horns and giving Tyobic a well presented final send off.
Jon, for the use of the 3k trailer.

I am sure all our wallets will be able to recover soon.

I am off to read the new CR book by Train Hobby and figure out how I am going to model that gap.

CYA

Scott

Alice Springs final plan

Hi All

Please see the final Alice Springs plan.
This plan has a reduced min radi of 33 inches, but enables a gradless profile, which helps with staging and shunting.

The Hugh river area is shown in exhibition format, for operation at home the bridge can face the operators. 180deg swap out.

Enjoy

Scott

Alice Springs Yard planned out

Hi All

Its been a while between posts, my bad, between working, and painting the house blah blah blah, But I have managed to start working on Alice Springs yard. The foam bases have been cut out for the boards. The whole yard has been stepped out 1:1 to see if the plan will truly fit in the location. This time I traced out all the track locations directly on the foam, so that when it comes to laying the track it will be a cinch!!

As you can guess a small bit of modification was required. At the southern end the northern intermodal tracks had to be modified to split from the mainline before the level crossing at larrapina Drive. the locomotive depot has to be a bit smaller that first hoped, due to the angle of the Micro engineering points angle of departure. I have re-arranged the curved Peco code 83 points slightly so that the curvature is just that little bit smoother.
The Intermodal crane runways are a little longer. The northern end of the yard has also be re-arranged to enable easier access for the shunter to roads 1 and 2. This has off set the passing siding function between the mainline and other roads. I found there was plenty of room for the industrial sidings, and I have decided to add a Steel supplier to the sidings.
As for the track, I have worked out that I need the following to complete the yard:
17 Code 70 #6 points RH
9 Code 70 #6 points LH
64 lengths of code 70 track
4 Code 83 #7 curved points LH
1 Code 83 #7 curved points RH
Some of this I already have, the rest I will have to go shopping for.

On the plus side there is plenty of room for the goods shed, which I may be able to build to a scale width and height, but not length.

The ply, 3mm MDF 19mm by 42mm legs will have to be ordered at the same time as the wood for the decking - expanded BBQ area.

The rest of the layout has also been planned out 1 to 1 and things are looking good.

I have some shots of the yard amongst the planning stages, and will up load them later.

I will upload the final plan and include the revisions as a result of the 1 to 1 planning exercise.

Other things:
The Crown Vics arrived from the US weeks ago, and they will be repainted to resemble EB, ED falcons, they will look the part with the right amount of lining work and lights reshaped. I am not going to modify them in any way except for painting and lining. I have checked they will fit in the WMGF triple deck car carrier.

The train room walls have been filled and sanded, ready for the final coat, think I will complete the paint work in between replacing the blinds with 100% block outs, more things to cut the check for, but they have to be done.

Anyway.

Tyobic by Bayside Model Railway Club is bue for Exhibition this month and the guys are getting all prepared,

CYA

Scott