Only 2 more weeks until construction begins!

I'll finally have enough free time to build the layout, starting about 2 weeks from now.

This layout doesn't have exact dimensions yet, because the modules will be cut to fit. But there are some stats that I can say for sure:

• Trains will be remote control, battery powered.  I'll focus on my Bachmann porter, but I also have an LGB Stainz which could use remote control as well.  This will eliminate any wiring that would be necessary for other layouts.
• Layout will be a "Part Time oval" which is a switching layout that can have a loop of track added to it for shows.
• Detachable staging yard.  Whether it's set up as a shelf layout or as an oval, I'll have a siding ready for use as a staging yard. Probably no more than two tracks wide though.
• Lightweight plywood construction: I'll be using 1/4 inch plywood for all the modules.
• Florescent lighting.
• Painted backdrop.
• River
• Tunnel
• Mine
• Scratchbuilt buildings
• Trees
• Kitbashing railroad cars
• And weathering just about everything.

Exact bench-work design and my sub-scenery is yet undecided.  But I'll have something developed by the time construction begins.

This won't be your average "how to build a railroad"  This will be more like "How to build a show layout"  which focuses more on design elements and artistic practices than ready-made structures.  I also hope to show anyone who follows this blog that anyone can build a great looking model railroad with a little practice and patience.

So tune in a couple weeks from now for the start of my model railroad, the first one in almost two years!

--James Willmus

A Name Change

As the title makes clear, I renamed the project.  Bard Creek, really doesn't have a ring to it, plus I am starting to get more and more involved in the Colorado and Southern, it's equipment, how it operated, etc...

So I renamed the my project railroad to reflect the Prototype more Accurately, plus Clear Creek is easier to remember, and is a bit more catchy than Bard Creek.  Remember, the best railroads have the best names, that's how they are remembered for so long.  While this project might not be first class, it will be traveling and so a name to help it become known, even if it's in the local area, couldn't hurt.

Major changes

Well, summer housing is taken care of, by means of my trailer; and summer work has been taken care of.  So now I can start focusing on the Bard Creek Railroad again.  All the previous posts looked at a modular design, which I still want to do, but first I'll need to go a bit smaller, so behold the micro layout (for large scale):

This will be 44" by 96", so a little narrower than 4x8 feet.  I need to build the railroad in this manner because of insufficient room for anything larger.  What will be great about this layout is that later I can convert it to 1:13.7 when I am able to construct the actual Bard Creek.

The main problem is storage.  Since the Bard Creek Railroad will be taken to shows, I'll need a much lighter, and larger trailer than what I have now, so instead I'm building a fully enclosed micro that fits in the back of a pickup truck  or an SUV.

One module will be a mining camp while the other will be a mine tipple set in a rocky valley with a small creek.  There will be two turnouts, one per module.  The mine has it's own spur, and then the other acts as an interchange.  Operations will be basic, but fun.  The interchange can be expanded later on to include more mines and such, or I can add modules in between the two halves to create the start of the true Bard Creek.

I wouldn't call this new design a setback, but it is simpler and will be easier to build than the three or four modules I originally envisioned.  Plus it will be highly portable and able to make (hopefully) the following train shows for 2014-2015:

1. Granite City Train Show, Saint Cloud, MN. Nov 15, 2014
2. Trees and Trains, Sioux Falls, SD. (TBD)
3. Granite City Train Show, Saint Cloud, MN. April, 2015
4. NMRA Thousand Lakes Region, 2015 (TBD)

And perhaps more, depending on dates and schedules and of course the weather and cost of gasoline.  I'm giving myself $500 next winter to use for gas to get to and from train shows, so the above list might just max the budget.

--James