TRAINMASTER BY WERNER MEER  US-RAILROAD-SHOP KILCHBERG
HOCHWEIDSTRASSE 3  CH-8802 KILCHBERG (ZÜRICH) SWITZERLAND (founded 1977)
PHONE *41-44-715-3666, FAX *41-44-715-3660, E-MAIL trainmaster@bluewin.ch
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updated: October 30, 2010

HO Scale Desert Layout Project  -  7/22
Construction and track laying has begun in February 2008. The last track was mounted on 9/29/08 (see page 4).
Currently, we talk about street construction, street bridges, sidewalks and parkings in Percyville.

Photos 606 - 713, starting 3/10/10 and ending 10/29/10

3/10/10 - After a rather long break of 12 months, I am finally in a position to continue on my layout. Our 14th Convention was a great success and all paperwork is done. Those who are familiar with my layout know, that I lost my best worker and inspector, Percy on March 23, 2009. So, I have no choice as I have to work hard all alone without my best friend. Well, that's life.
On the left side of Percyville (my desert town got a name) I do have a conflict with my street connections of lower und upper level. The easiest solution would be just a grade crossing of main street to the left. My second idea was to make an off ramp off main street to the upper level. As of having 16 cm height difference, the ramp would be approx. 160 cm long and would cover the buildings (of West Coast Customs and High Desert Cadillac) on the left side of Percyville. So, my next idea would be a seperate, lower bridge over the main tracks with a left curve. Therefore, the ramp can be shorter as we are talking about 9 to 10 cm height. I made several cardboard segments to get an idea how it will be looking. At the end, I took a piece of styrofoam to build the ramp. It does not have the final size at the moment.
3/10/10 Connection from Percyville to the upper level - 606 This would be a logical street connection - 607
3/10/10 The ramp would cover the West Coast Customes building - 608 Even the 2nd building (High Desert Cadillac) would be covered - 609
3/10/10 With a seperate, lower bridge, the ramp will be shorter - 610 The visibility of WCC is much better - 611
3/10/10 As seen from my point of view, the lower bridge is better - 612 Just imagine that both streets/bridges will meet further to the left - 613
3/10/10 We will have 3 levels (tracks, and 2 streets) that way - 614 Of course, there will be no sharp bend between bridge and ramp - 615
3/10/10 How it might look one day - 616 As seen from the upper level - 617
3/10/10 Here is another view from above - 618 These bridges will be unique as both are curved - 619
3/10/10 I was trying to take photos from different angles - 620 The upper bridge has a right curve - 621
3/10/10 Similar to the photo above but further away - 622 The main tracks will get a grade crossing to the upper bridge - 623
3/10/10 Next step is a piece of styrofoam - 624 The styro has to be cut further to the back for clearance - 625
3/10/10 The styro is still too high and will be cut down - 626 On top could be a small building (business) - 627
10/18/10 - After another long break of 7 months, the time has come to continue on my layout. The main delay was because of our trip to California in May/June which resulted in more than 3000 photos of Cajon Pass. At the moment approx. 1000 photos are online - take a look: click here
I am proceeding with the streets and bridges as you can see on the following 22 photos.
10/18/10 "Pink Panther" Styro was used to make the ramp of . . . - 628 . . . main street. West Coast Customs HQ at right - 629
10/18/10 Next step will be plaster over the styro - 630 10/18/10 A little shop is on top and can be reached from the upper bridge - 631
10/18/10 The bridges are made out of plywood (10 mm) - 632 10/18/10 View from above - 633
10/18/10 The surface of the wood bridges will be painted gray . . - 634 . . . and just as is being the road surface - 635
10/18/10 View from track level - 636 10/18/10 The lower bridge has a grade continued from the ramp - 637
10/18/10 There will be "concrete" walls to cover the styro - 638 10/18/10 Looking toward Percyville - 639
10/18/10 On this corner, we are having 3 diff. levels - 640 10/18/10 After the RR-X-ing, the steet is going in 2 diff. directions - 641
10/18/10 To cover hight diff., I used wood and card board . . . - 642 . . . which will be covered with plaster - 643
10/18/10 On my layout, we do have not only the tracks, but also . .  - 644 . . . lots of streets (roads and highways) - 645
10/18/10 Still a long way to go until this part will be finished - 646 10/18/10 Plaster and paint for the streets and ballast for the tracks - 647
10/18/10 Of course, the road is continued from the bridge area - 648 10/18/10 To get a smooth X-ing, the roadbed has to be elevated - 649
10/21/10 Street building continues and I am trying to take lots of photos to show step by step how things are done and changing during the construction. For those who do not want to see all these details, just scroll further down!
10/21/10 The retaining walls for West Coast Customs are in place - 650 10/21/10 The pink styro block was removed for final shaping - 651
10/21/10 How empty this corner is looking w/o the styro unit - 652 10/21/10 Here we go - the styro ramp has been glued in place - 653
10/21/10 The left end of the styro is covered with concrete walls - 654 10/21/10 The lower bridge is fitting on the styro ramp - 655
10/21/10 The lower bridge is having a continues grade of the street - 656 10/21/10 Reday for putting plaster  - 657
10/21/10 On the upper street, the first part is covered with plaster - 658 10/21/10 Left w/o plaster and right w/plaster applied - 659
10/22/10 Another day and work continues. I am using the Woodland Scenic (WS) Road System Paving Tape (ST1455) on both sides of the street roadbed. To fill the space between the paving tape I use WS Road System Smooth-it (ST1452). After the first layer has set, I put another thin layoer over it and let it try. Afterwards, the paving tape will be removed and the gap is filled with plaster. The whole street will be sanded to get a smooth surface.
10/22/10 Here, the upper street is starting toward upper street bridge  - 660 10/22/10 Paving tape is ready for adding the plaster (at the rear) - 661
10/22/10 Fresh plaster between the paving tape - 662 10/22/10 Second (thin) layer will be applied  - 663
10/22/10 School Bus on top of single track RR X-ing - 664 10/22/10 Whole new part of the upper street - 665
10/22/10 The part with the truck has already been sanded - 666 10/22/10 Looking toward double track RR X-ing and upper bridge - 667
10/22/10 The plaster will be level to the lower bridge - 668 10/22/10 The whole ramp and main street got the plaster surface - 669
10/22/10 The grade of the ramp is approx. 10 % - 670 10/22/10 The WCC building is currently not in place  - 671
10/26/10 The upper street got plaster all over and was sanded down to get a more or less smooth pavement. Once again, I made too many photos from both sides to show how it looks after every step. But the construction continued downhill to the right and shows the lower level double RR X-ing. 
10/26/10 The whole street section from the beginning . . - 672 10/26/10 . . to the double RR-X-ing has been sanded - 673
10/26/10 Both single track RR X-ings are carefully sanded . . - 674 10/26/10 . . down to track level - 675
10/26/10 Next step will be painting of the street surface - 676 10/26/10 diff. views of the upper street - 677
10/26/10 Actually, this part of the street (incl. tracks) is having a . . - 678 10/26/10 . . steady grade of 1,5 % from the beginning to the top - 679
10/26/10 Double RR X-ing of the upper street - 680 10/26/10 Even the upper bridge will be removable for easy access - 681
10/26/10 Now, the downhill street got also plaster - 682 10/26/10 In the distance, Highway 138 goes to the left - 683
10/26/10 Get a closer look to the intersection of Hwy 138  - 684 10/26/10 Cardboard is very helpful to make the different street levels - 685
10/26/10 In the middle, we are having exact track level for the X-ing - 686 10/26/10 To get a smooth transition from ground level to track level . . - 687
10/26/10 . . I was using diff, layers of cardboard - 688 10/26/10 Height difference between ground and track level is 10 mm - 689
10/26/10 Ready for the paving tape and plaster - 690 10/26/10 The grade on this side is approx. 10 %  - 691
10/29/10 Again, lots of photos from the same street but with painted ground surface. Therefore, we can see the street much better.
10/29/10 Compare this photo with No. 660 and 672 . . - 692 10/29/10 . . and this one with No. 662 and 673 . . - 693
10/29/10 . . how about No. 664 and 674 . . - 694 10/29/10 . . check No. 645 and 675 - 695
10/29/10 It really looks different and gives us an idea . . - 696 10/29/10 . . how it will look one day - 697
10/29/10 Our small super market is back in business - 698 10/29/10 The ramp gives easy acces to the super market - 699
10/29/10 RR bridge, tunnel and downhill street - 700 10/29/10 a much more realistic look - 701
10/29/10 The road is with plaster and already sanded - 702 10/29/10 The RR X-ing is finished - 703
10/29/10 Looking uphill toward super market - 704 10/29/10 Hwy 138 will be built at a later date - 705
10/29/10 Our super market as seen from the outside - 706 10/29/10 No retaining walls so far (future project) - 707
10/29/10 Looking toward Peryville  - 708 10/29/10 We finally got an interesting part with 2 street bridges - 709
10/29/10 West Coast Customs building back in place - 710 10/29/10 There will be railings for protection on top - 711
10/29/10 Overview with streets and bridges - 712 10/29/10 Now, the whole street system makes sense - 713

10/11/11 - continued on page 8 - click here

updated: October 30, 2010

Technical Data of my Layout:
Size: 4,5 x 6,5 m (13,5 x 19,5 feet), Era: Modern, Location: Southern California in the Mojave Desert (Cajon Pass), Layout Style: unconventional, in house along the walls, 2 swing up bridges, 1 lift out bridge, double track, min. radius 104 cm (41 inch), max. grade 1,5 %, Track: Atlas flextrack code 100, Turnouts: Peco code 100, Power: conventional DC with electrical feeders every 2 m, Mainline: 32 m (96 feet), Height: 93 cm (36,5 inch)
Overview of the layout (each square is 0,5 m)

 

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