Paxton's Head

Rethinking Table Size

The New, New Project Part 3

I originally designed my tables to a generous size which allowed for the maximum amount of model railway. I designed four tables which would run around the walls of the room in a letter G shape. I made two of them 30″ wide and the other two 24″ wide.

My first cut a table design.

I purchased lumber and had it cut. Rather than use dimensional lumber for the frame (i.e. 1″ x 4″), I bought 3/4″ plywood and had it cut into 4″ wide strips. I could then cut these to the desired lengths for the various tables using a chop saw that The Love Of My Life owns.

I eagerly assembled my first table frame, a 30″ wide by 88″ long monster. I screwed the frame to my legs and admired my handiwork.

My first table frame

I called The Love Of My Life in to show it off. She looked it over and asked. “If we ever move, how are you going to get it out the door?” Oops. Hadn’t considered that. Then she looked it over some more and asked, “How are you going to reach trains in the back corner?” Dang! She was right. Unless I could grow Gorilla arms or jump up on a stool, I wouldn’t be able to reach a train, or throw a switch in the back corners.

The problem is that I needed the 30″ width the accommodate a planned version of the Spadina Roundhouse. So back I went to Rail Modeller Pro to see what I could do. I divided the tables up into smaller ones which allowed one to 29″ wide and 38″ long. This would allow it to fit, though snugly, through a door. It still fit the roundhouse I was planning as well. Woohoo!

The reworked table design.

I dismantled the large table and started planning out the smaller ones, now seven in number. More about that, though, next time.

Making Legs

The New, New Project Part 2

When I decided that I was going to build new tables rather than re-use my IKEA tables, I had to come up with a design for their construction. I found pre-fab tables available from one of the model railroading vendors. I briefly considered using them but the sizes they came in wouldn’t work for my space. I did note how they were put together, though. The design seemed simple yet sturdy so I used it as the inspiration for my tables.

I noticed they had adjustable feet on their table legs which can be used to level the tables. I decided to incorporate that idea into mine as well. I checked aorund and found something called a T-nut which is drilled into the bottom of each leg. A foot with a screwed stem is threaded into that which allows for the levelling. I went shopping and found something called threaded glides which had a plastic insert and the feet all in one package.

Bottom of table leg with 11/32″ hole drilled.

According to the package I needed to drill a 11/32″ hole for the insert, tap it in then thread the foot, or glide, in.

I started by drawing lines from corner-to-corner on each leg. This gave me something close to the centre. I tapped the centre point with a large nail to make drilling easier. Then I drilled out the hole. You can see it’s not exactly on centre but that isn’t critical.

Tapping in the insert using ancient rock hammer

Next I tapped in the plastic insert, using a small rock hammer (which I made in metal shop hundreds of years ago), since I didn’t want to damage the insert. Then I threaded in the foot.

Threading in the foot using giant lobster claw.

Below you can see the finished product, ready to be attached to the tables. Now I only had to repeat this operating for as many legs as I needed. My original design called for 22 legs. That has since changed but you will read more about that in a future post, or not if this all bores you to tears.

Finished table leg with adjustable foot. Hooray only twenty odd more to go!

The New, New Project

Wall showing faux finish and blue paint

Having moved out of my apartment within the last year (I write about it here), I have now embarked upon a new model railroading project. The Love of my Life, not only gave me a bedroom to use but redecorated it as well. She redid the walls in a faux finish and painted them in a nice blue shade for a sky backdrop. You can see an example on the right.

This is a wonderful space in which to build a layout, a blank canvas on which to create. I made several plans using the Goderich concept that I was using at the apartment but I found the space did not lend itself to that idea very well. So I thought about what kind of layout I would like to build. I’ve always liked the concept of an urban layout, built in a big city. I’ve also been attracted to Toronto’s Union Station with its busy schedule of trains arriving and departing from under the train shed.

I drew some designs using RailModeller Pro for the Mac and they worked. I went through several revisions and came up with one that I really liked. I’m using the same era from my earlier projects, the early 1960s, since I like the diesels and colour schemes from that era. It also allows a nice mix of railways since Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Ontario Northland and New York Central/Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo, all had trains which used Union Station. I also included some freight switching of the Toronto harbour area, plus express freight and trucks-on-flatcars (aka piggyback) operations.

Then I planned out what I would need for tables. My IKEA shelving units wouldn’t serve for this project so they will be repurposed for storage (after all, that’s what they’re designed for). I designed all new tables for this project.

I will be detailing the construction in future posts so stay tuned.

Finished room with my supervisors Tolkien and Dave the Minion

Layout Update

It has been some time since I’ve posted about my train layout progress. I haven’t been idle but there was a trip to England that drew my attention away for a bit. Anyway I’m moving along and hope to have more to show a couple of weeks. The base level sub roadbed and scenery are almost complete. It needs to be painted then I will snap a few photos. I’ve made some changes to the design. I’m now incorporating Canadian Pacific operations in Goderich as well as CN. This should make the whole thing even more interesting.

I’ve been working on the planning of structures as well. I’ve just finished a water tower which is similar to the Goderich tower. The CN and CP stations are proving a challenge but I have an idea to recreated them. That will require a trip to Goderich which I don’t plan on taking until the spring.

In the meantime here’s some photos showing my water tower and some locomotives. The water tower still needs the town name applied, the base to be painted like concrete plus overall weathering but I’m pleased so far.

Freshly painted water tower with it’s inspiration in the background

CN Dayliner with baggage and Railway Post Office

CN switcher

CP Roadswticher

The New Project

Over a year ago I wrote a post about winding down my last model railroading project. After some life changes I became an apartment dweller and decided a layout was still something I wanted to do. I remembered reading an article in Model Railroad Hobbyist about a layout built in an apartment using Ikea shelving. This intrigued me since I dislike the carpentry aspect of the hobby. I set about designing the new layout based on the dimensions of the Ikea shelving.

At first I thought I was going to build an HO switching layout but elected to build an N scale layout owing to the fact I had a supply of Kato Unitrack, locomotives and rolling stock from my old Peninsula Southern.  Then to pick a subject for the layout. I was going to build s switching layout based on the Niagara St. Catharines and Toronto line (I can look out over the site of the former NS&T car-barns from my apartment window).

Then a friend gave me some old railway books he had acquired from a late relative. One of these was a book called Rusty Rails by John R. Hardy which covers the branch lines of Southwestern Ontario from the early 1960s to the 1990s. The subject matter really appealed to me, weedy branch lines that still saw both freight and passenger trains. I supplemented my research material with a borrowed copy of Under Steam to Stratford by Ian Wilson.  Wilson’s book covers the CN lines in much the same area but at the end of the steam era in the late 1950s. So which location to model? I settled on Goderich.

Why Goderich? The fact that it is a shipping port, that it had passenger service until 1970 and it was served by both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific all really appealed to me. Also, Goderich proclaims itself as Canada’s prettiest town and they’re not wrong. The town centre  alone is worth the trip. Both the CN and CP passenger stations are attractive buildings and both are still in use, albeit not for passenger service.

Next, I need to choose an era. The era I chose was the early 1960s. I like this era for the early diesels with the older paint schemes and active passenger service.  So my Goderich Eastern was born, set in 1962. It will feature mostly CN freight and passenger operations with some CP freight as well (CP ceased passenger operations to Goderich in the late 1950s).

I hope to document my progress on this project. At this stage the benchwork is up and I’m progressing on laying track and scenery, some of my work is pictured below. I will write some posts on how I got this far. Stay tuned.

CP Rail bridge over the CN