| Patapsco Valley Railroad |
Patapsco Valley Railroad History - Part 2
Patapsco Valley Railroad 2004
- In the winter of 2004, the two new 4x8 were painted and scenery was placed. A siding was added to
the second town on the back side of the layout, and the yard was expanded to add two more tracks.
The Scale Trax for the trolley was covered with n-scale corkboard to make it match the road. The
railroad was becoming a smooth operation and the layout was framed with a wood border. In the fall I
decided to add the final more 4x8 near the new town to allow my yard to expand. I also ripped up
the main line to put homosote underneath it. The rural town section and the new 4X8 section were
completely covered with 4x8 homosote sheets. In Mid-November, my wife scheduled an open house
for the trains with the kids my neighborhood. I was in the middle of rewiring the track to the homosote
when I found this out. I quickly completed the wiring and placed snow over the entire layout. The
snow covered the areas I did not have time to finish. It also fit the time of the year. The open house
when well and it was the first time I had anyone else see the layout.
Patapsco Valley Railroad 2005
- During the Christmas Holiday for 2004, I gave a the kids a 4X8 layout for themselves. Initially it had a
small loop with sidings using the FasTrack from the holiday layout around the tree. In the fall I
converted the layout to realtrax and added two levels. The layout had one tunnel and the elevated
sectons had bridges and trestles. This layout is decorated using a winter theme with the snow and
tree branches. The kids layout can run conventional, DCS / or TMCC. - In winter of 2005, I just ran the trains. I was too busy to do any changes on the main layout and my
kids enjoyed operating the trains. In the summer, I increased the back siding to go from the main town
into the farming village. Now, the mainline was doubletracked for over 1/2 of the layout ending
before the yard lead. Due to the restriction of the spacing of RealTrax, I could not double track
without changing the entire yard. The snow was removed and the layout was redecorated to match
an early fall theme. - In the summer of 2005, I responded to a posting on the OGR forum about a local train club called the
Northern Central High Railers. Craig from the OGR forum returned my message and we chatted about
the hobby. We met in August 2005 and set up times to host other members at our house. I decided
to host in November 2005. They layout was touched up and the town trolley line was upgraded to
use K-line's Superstreets. This track was easy to lay down and is the same height as O-gauge cork
board. Pavement was placed around the trolley line, and the engine shed was moved to the corner of
the layout. The main yard now had 7 lines to hold trains. The fall hosting of the NCHR went well.
Patapsco Valley Railroad 2006
- In winter I joined two modular clubs the Crescents and the National Capital Trackers. I built my first
modules and used it at the National Stamp show in DC. I hosted a second NCHR event in February.
This time I set the train on the layouts, so I can swap them out every 15 - 20 minutes during the
event. In June the railroad was covered and the trains were removed from the basement, so one of
the rooms could be finished for a kids play room. The room next to the layout was finished and a
bathroom was added right next to the layout. A long wall now holds the trains and new lighting was
added. Now the kids can play next door and not be in the room of the layout. - After the basement work was completed, I replaced the back side of the main line with Gargrave track
and Ross switches. The reduction of sound in the new track is very noticeable compared to my
realtrax sections. I continued replacing Realtrax with Gargraves Track and Ross Switches. Now I
have a two track main line around the entire layout. The enters and exists off of track 2 and has a
yard lead almost the length of the layout. It now has a ladder with 8 tracks and an engine pocket on
the back. This yard allows for more complex switching operations and give me a challenge instead
of running the trains. My kids like to run the trains and I usually get them out of the yard for them. I
can run the layout with three people giving one person a one of the two tracks and one for the yard.
 |
 |
| Click on Thumbnails below to see full picture |