Then & Now

Bennington, January 5th

 In the last few days the Allegheny Eastern has experienced major upheaval. The photo to the left was taken on January 5th. This is the east side of Tunnel Hill, near Bennington. The New Portage branch and westbound mains are at table top level. The eastbound mains are elevated 1 1/2" and the New Portage bridge carries them over the branch. The tunnels are in place. The twin bores are sitting on the table top and the New Portage tunnel has been raised to match the elevation of those tracks. All in all it's pretty flat for the top of The Hill.

Bennington, February 6th

In contrast, this photo of the same area was taken today. All of the mains have been elevated. The westbound mains are now sitting 1 1/2" higher at the tunnels. The eastbound mains are still 1 1/2" at the bridge, but now run uphill to the 3" elevation at the apex of Horseshoe Curve. All the track has been realigned further "south" leaving a large area "north" of the New Portage bridge. The spline roadbed seen here has been recycled for the most part, only the section running east to Horseshoe is new. The splines are not only reusable, they are also still flexible and can be bent to a new radius when needed.

Horseshoe, January 5th

To the right is a photo of Horseshoe Curve as it looked on January 5th. Once again everything is laying directly on the table top, elevation 0" (more or less). The curve is pretty much centered on the aisle. The eastbound mains have dropped back to 0" after climbing to 1 1/2" at New Portage. The mainline from here all the way around to Antis (behind the glue bottles) is dead flat. The only thing on the entire layout that breaks up that flatness is the eastbound grade over the New Portage bridge.

You can see that there are not many opportunities for scenery in what is supposed to be mountainous territory.

Horseshoe, February 6th

This is no longer true. The photo on the right was also taken today and shows the elevated right of way running through Horseshoe Curve.

Styrosplines, Part 2

Because of design constraints on the Allegheny Eastern I did not use the open frame benchwork suggested by many other modelers. The number 1 design parameter was set by my wife. There had to be plenty of storage space under the layout. This required a flat frame. I set the height to about 51” based on the height of three Rubbermaid containers stacked atop each other. I then built several frames with legs (and wheels) using 2” x 4” pine studs fastened with drywall screws. The subtop is a grid of 2” x 4” studs spaced about a foot apart. I then covered the grid with ¼” underlayment and ½” extruded foam sheathing. The end result was a HUGE table top that fills most of our two car garage.

Unfortunately such a flat table top can cause some distinct issues for a model railroad. There no real way to model scenery below the track without cutting into the 2”x 4” frame. To get scenery below track level, you need some way to raise the track. After experimenting with more than a few ideas, I decided to use spline roadbed. Typically spline roadbed is a lot of carpentry work. I accidently discovered the technique I’m using and thought other modelers might be able to use it. I create my roadbed from cheap extruded styrofoam sheathing sold in many home remodeling stores.

Tools

This picture shows all of the tools required to make spline roadbed out of extruded styrofoam panels. I use a single edge razor blade like the kind used in utility knives. They can be found everywhere. The other tool may be a little harder to come by. It's an 8 foot long aluminum straight edge I purchased years ago for home remodeling. An 8 foot drywall square would work just as well. I'm making my splines 8 feet long, but you can also work with shorter lengths. The trick is figuring out the height at each end of the spline based on the grade you are creating. To create the grade between SLOPE and Horseshoe I’m going for a rise of 3” over 20 feet. That’s about a 1.25% climb. According to my math that works out to 3 pieces of Styrofoam for each spline.

One (1) 96” long rising from 0” to 1.25”

One (1) 96” long rising from 1.25” to 2.5”

One (1) 48” long  rising from 2.5” to 3”

Marking the Cuts

Using ½ ” material I need two of these spline “sets” for each track on the four track main, eight in all. Keep in mind that this is only for the climb out of Altoona, about a third of the 70 foot mainline. Another set will be required to complete the elevation of the mainline through Gallitzin.

I’m starting in the middle creating the spline that runs from 1.25” to 2.5”. I measure the splines in pairs. The dimensions are transposed at each end allowing me to make two splines from a rectangular chunk of the styrofoam.  I then cut along the straightedge with the razorblade. Rather than try to cut in one pass, I make several shallow cuts. I then snap the pieces apart at the cuts.

Splines

 The result is two splines of “almost” the same dimensions as shown here. I say Almost because my current cutting technique doesn’t create two identical pieces. They are close enough however, that only a slight amount of trimming is necessary to make them match.

Pulling Up the Track

For various reasons I built the Allegheny Eastern in stages, usually marked by a visit from my grandchildren. Each phase is complete enough that trains can be run over the entire mainline. Once the kids are gone, the next phase of construction begins. In this case the “next phase” is elevating and realigning the mainline between SLOPE tower in Altoona and Gallitzin Road in Gallitzin. 

Before I can install the new roadbed I have to remove the old. The track is held down using track nails which can be quickly removed. The track can then be laid off to the side. The “roadbed”, which is really just ballast strip glued to the foam table top, is pulled up next. Tacky glue was used to fasten the ballast strip. It holds firmly in place until you want to remove it. Pulling it up is just a matter of carefully lifting the strip so it doesn't get caught and tear. It comes up easy and can be reused on the new roadbed. Tacky glue is pretty amazing stuff!

Applying Tacky Glue

Once the track is pulled up and set to the side I start installing the splines, in this case the first piece of the middle set. I apply tacky glue to the bottom of the spline and then put it in place on the layout. I then move the spline back and forth a bit to smear the glue between the spline and the foam table top.

I lay the entire section in one operation and then adjust accordingly, preferring to use a freehand method of laying the curves. I try to allow the natural flex of the spline to dictate the flow of the curve. I can form it into tighter curves if needed. Since, however, all the curves on the layout are broad by N scale standards this is usually not necessary.

Drywall Screw "Clamps"

To keep the spline in place while the glue sets I was using all kinds of weights and other paraphanalia until I hit upon the idea of pushing 3” drywall screws into the foam table top. Like the track nails I use, they hold firmly in the foam. Strongly enough in fact to act as clamps while I lay up the next section or let the glue dry.

The tacky glue creates a strong flexible bond that can withstand to movement of N scale equipment. I'm convinced that with N scale at least, heavy construction materials are not required. I use 2x4s for the bench work out of cost concerns rather than strength. I'm not building kitchen cabinets here and cannot justify the extra expense.

McGarvey's Curve

Looking down on McGarvey’s Curve you can see the kind of “sweeper”created by allowing the spline to form a natural curve. Can’t tell you the specific radius, I lay these out by eye rather than dimensions. I think I end up with track that appears to flow like the prototype does. Because the radius is not set the splines tend to bend tighter towards the apex or center. The resulting curves appear to widen at each end, giving the impression of an easement. When large steam engines were common, railway engineers had to include easements as a way to funnel those long rigid wheel bases into curves.

Gluing the Second Spline

The second section is installed by applying tacky glue to one side and the bottom. The new spline follows the first in direction and curvature. The two are glued to each other and the table top, creating a strong base for the track. You can also see that now there will be room below track level for quite a bit of scenery. 1" is about 13.5 feet in N scale, so this area will be almost 33.5 feet above the table top. At Horseshoe Curve the elevation will be about 47 feet above Altoona Reservoir. Granted this may not be the kind of construction you might use in modeling the Western Pacific, but it works well enough for Pennsylvania. Of course you could always use taller splines, but on the Allegheny Eastern that would require elevating all of the track. Hmmm...I wonder...Better not go there

Second Spline in Position

With the second spline in place the “almost identical” dimensions are quite obvious. That straightedge I use isn't always straight (its actually two four foot sections that slide into each other) and this is the result. Not to worry, however, as this can be easily "adjusted". It took me a while to work out the technique, but it is clean and neat...More on that a little further on.

That's another advantage to some of the materials and techniques I use. I don't need power saws or sanders to create most of this stuff. Did you know you can cut 5mm plywood underlayment with a utility knife?

Second Spline, McGarvey's Curve

 Looking back towards McGarvey’s Curve you can see that the second section lies directly alongside the first and creates a smooth flowing curve. I have built the corner out to support the new right of way. It uses very little of the aisle space at this point while creating gobs of space on the layout. Eventually the entire "fascia" will be extended about an 1 ½” into the aisles. This will get some of the trackwork away from the edge and little fingers that sometimes get too close to these tiny models.

In this view you can see how much space now exists between the new right of way and the trolley line in the background.

Trimming

Once the second spline is in place I use the razor blade to trim the two sections to the same height. You can see that I lay the blade on top of the spline and slice away the excess. Previously I had done this with a scraping or filing method and was not pleased with the end result. The top of the roadbed got pretty beat up and although the ballast strip covered it up I wanted something a lot smoother. Slicing with the razor leaves a much cleaner and even surface.

Ballast Strip Installed Track 1

I wouldn’t normally lay the ballast strip at this stage, but I wanted to show how this works. Two sections of ½” thick spline are exactly the same width as the Woodland Scenics ballast strip I use. Even better, when all four tracks are in place they will be spaced on 15' centers, the Pennsy (and Allegheny Eastern) standard. I know other modelers allow more room but on the All East the curves are broad enough to allow prototype spacing. There is very little overhang on the passenger cars and no sideswipes have occurred (as yet) even with the 80 footers.

Waiting for the Glue to Set

With two sections in place it’s time to let the glue set. While the drywall screws keep the spline in place horizontally, weight is still needed to hold the spline to the table top. I use coffee cans full of bolts as weights. I usually allow about twenty four hours for the glue to set before continuing to the next section.

The next section can either be the other pieces in the set, thus completing 20 feet of roadbed for that one track, or by adding adjacent sections for the other three tracks. I prefer to complete one track at a time. It’s easier to realign one track with its roadbed than four. I may not mind redoing a thing, but I'd rather not redo that much.

In the next installment we may see Track 1 extended all the way trough Gallitzin. Reusing the  splines from the New Portage grade has given that area a head start.

"Styrospline"

Allegheny Eastern February 4th, 2012

More doodling led to more ideas on what might be done. The latest update of the track plan shows that the general layout of the mainline remains the same except for the realignment between MP10 and MP25. Horseshoe Curve has been relocated about 10" "north" and the approach to The Curve straightened out to allow more room in Altoona.

The eastbound main between MP45 and MP30 has also been realigned further "south" bring the tunnel bores closer together. This leaves enough open space in Gallitzin for a Hollidaysburg staging yard on the New Portage branch. There's some reworking of the trackage for the Altoona Northern and Altoona & Logan Valley. On the A&LV I made the return loop much larger and placed the carbarn and industry tracks inside.

"Styrospline"

So much for the track plan. Incorporating these changes into the actual layout seems like a bit of work, but again the construction methods used allow for some pretty big changes. One of the techniques I'm using worked out better than I imagined. The styrofoam spline used to create the New Portage grade proved to be a huge asset. At right is a picture of the spline where each section the roadbed was essentially a 1/2" square. The four parts are glued together with tacky glue and are almost inseparable. Not only is the spline super easy to create, the only tools required are a razor blade and straightedge, it's cheap. A 4' x 8' sheet of  1/2" thick foam is less than $15...You can get a lot of spline out of that sheet.

"Old" Roadbed

One advantage I hadn't foreseen was the road bed can  be re-used. It remains flexible! I found that I could reuse the section between MP30 and MP35. In the photo on the left the roadbed is still in it's original location. The New Portage bridges have been moved to their new location towards the center of the picture and the track has been moved to approximate the new alignment. The roadbed between the bridges old location and the camera will need to be removed. I pulled it loose from the table top and realizing how flexible it was just swung it into position along the new alignment.

Flexible Spline

To my surprise it went into place creating a broad curve. If I were going to reuse it in this location all I would need to do is glue it back down and relay the track. Instead I now know it can used elsewhere on the layout, another component that's recyclable. Since I tend to use construction materials over and over this fits in well with the other design and construction methods developed so far. Kind of an "instant" 1.5% grade for two tracks. Makes me wonder if the spline could be made up ahead of time and then "flexed" into alignment. The flex of the material would create natural broad curves. I'm pretty sure the spline would have to be laid down two tracks at a time. A spline for all four tracks would be four inches across and not quite as flexible.

Revised New Portage Area

It didn't take long to layout the modifications to the Tunnel Hill / New Portage section. You can see that the New Portage bore is much closer to the Twin Tunnels and is a better representation of the area being modeled. There is now a great deal of space available for the New Portage branch to actually travel somewhere. Current plans call for a kind of "staging" yard, but other opportunities may develop. The westbound tracks will also be elevated, but only about half the height of the eastbound. The eastbound roadbed to the right of the bridge will run uphill from the 1.5" elevation at the bridge to the 3" maximum at Horseshoe. The westbound main will drop from 3" at Horseshoe to about 1" at the twin tunnels.

McGarveys

As for the other areas being revised the photo on the right shows the new alignment at McGarveys Curve at the lower right hand corner. The faint blank line running between the mainline and the Altoona and Logan Valley tracks is the edge of the old alignment. There is now almost a foot of space available. There needs to be a mountain side in this area and there is now enough room to model one. The benchwork is being extended in this corner with a "triangle" of real estate to support the relocated tracks.

Kittanning, East of Horseshoe

The situation is the same in the opposite direction toward Horseshoe Curve. This shot of the Kittanning area show that the mainline has been moved aside. The short train is on the Altoona Northern interchange track in Juniata. The two areas are now separated horizontally by about 12" and vertically by almost 3". Just like at McGarvey's Curve, there is now enough room for a mountain side. This will be the site of Baker's Run and the Kittanning Run Railroad will connect here.

Burgoon Run, West of Horseshoe

The realignment on the west side of Horseshoe looking east from McCanns. The mainline now sits about 6" further "north". The tracks of the Glenwhite Coal & Lumber Co now turn off up Burgoon Run towards Gallitzin. The elevation at the turnout will be about 2.25" descneding towards the tunnels. The large vacant area without foam will support the Gallitzin sidings and the GC&L connection to the Altoona Northern and A&LV as shown in the updated plan. This is also the location of the "access hatch" to maintain the westbound tracks in Gallitzin.


The new splines will start going in this week. I hope to show some step by step construction photos of the splines being made and installed. Once they are in place the ballast strip can be glued back down and track relaid. For the first time since it's inception years ago, the Allegeheny Eastern may even be ready for real scenery.

Altoona Expands

Altoona & Logan Valley

Since I had used up all the code 55 track available I was unable to continue with the branches and yard. I broke down and purchased some code 80 flex track and began to lay out the Altoona & Logan Valley tracks. I felt I might get away with using the oversize rail. Since the track will be buried in the street, the only visible portion of the code 80 would be the rail head. I removed the Tomix track I was experimenting with and created an elongated loop from 17th Street in Altoona to a point just shy of Juniata. I tucked a return loop into the reverse curve at Millers. This return loop made it very clear that there still wasn't enough room for the Altoona section of the layout, despite the extra foot or so added over the bookcase.

So I started to wonder if the mainline between Wikes and McCanns could be shifted over to allow more room in Altoona. Realigning the mainline yet again is not as big an issue as it sounds. Elevating the mainline between ALTO and Horseshoe Curve is one of the next phases in the project. Moving the tracks a bit to the "north" can be done during the elevation.

Updated Track Plan

Apparently, change begets change. I had been looking over the Gallitzin area on topographic maps and realized I wasn't satisfied with my version. I started doodling on a copy of the trackplan. After relocating the trackage thru The Curve, I reworked Bennington and Gallitzin to look a bit more like the real thing. Moving the New Portage tunnel closer together with the twin bores opened a lot of space in that corner. I revised the New Portage branch to take advantage of this. I used some artist license on the westbound connection. Instead of running it from the east portal like it should, it branches off at Gallitzin on the wrong side of Tunnel Hill. Taking that liberty allows me to hold a longer train on the "Hollidaysburg" loop.

I also decided to keep the connection to the Kittaning Run Railroad at Bakers Run at the east side of Horseshoe. Since the KRRR was a common carrier before it's abandonment it seemed to fit into the interchange scheme of the other branches. Once again a touch of artistic license is in use. According to the minutes of Congressional hearings in 1915 both the Glenwhite and Kittanning Run lines were expensive to operate. Neither one of them would have survived to the time period modeled on the Allegheny Eastern. Fortunately, model railroading is not affected by the foibles of finance and the two lines struggle on to the early 1950s.

Scenery Sketch

I've also been sketching up some idea of what the scenery might look like. At one point I stopped and thought, "What was I thinking?". You can see from the sketch at left that the scenery at Gallitzin covers a lot of real estate in N scale. What's more the Altoona section of the layout is about twenty feet long. If you take the time to count the streets running "north" of the tracks that's about 20 city blocks! True, most of the buildings will be flats or backdrop painting, but that's still a lot of urban scenery. Fortunately Altoona is only two or three blocks wide at the 17th Street end. My original idea was to create a backdrop showing the Juniata shop complex. The addition of the Altoona & Logan Valley trackage pushed that out the plan. The complex will not appear where it's supposed to. It's been relocated to the aisle side of the yard, which means I don't even have to paint it on a backdrop.

Serendipity stepped in at Antis/Gallitzin. The overpass there is the perfect parting line for the two areas. Due to there locations at the extreme ends of the layout main lines Gallitzin Road (Gallitzin) and Lower Riggles Gap Road (Antis) could be combined without some crazy scenery trick. My maps and track charts show that  the mainline crosses the Little Juniata River between Antis and Bellwood so I'm adding that feature into the scenery at this point. It won't be the scene divider that the helix would have been, but it will work.

Like always, I won't get a true picture of how this all can work until I actually start mocking up some scenery. That won't start until after the grades are created.

Going Up!

Allegheny Eastern Plan, 1/25/2012

I've decided to forego the helix. The "real estate" the beast would consume could be put to better use. Besides, I save hundreds of dollars in track. In its place will be a lot of switching and interchange.

Interconnections

Omitting the helix also means some changes to the grades. In the plan on the left I have marked the elevation at key "mile markers" ( I told you they would come in handy). The west bound grade starts at ALTO at "mile post" 0 at 0" elevation (about 51" above the floor) and climbs at 1.3% to "milepost" 20 where it reaches the maximum elevation of 3" (40 scale feet). It then begins a 1.5% descent into Gallitzin reaching the bottom at "mile post" 39 (westbound) and "milepost" 44 eastbound. I'm bending reality here, the climb actually tops out at the tunnels. Without the helix this is the only way to run back to the 0" elevation at Altoona. Sacrificing the last half of the grade and the helix presents some other opportunities.

On the right is a detail of the area where the helix would have been located. Instead I have drawn in a series of interconnections.
Red = PRR sidings or secondary track
Purple = Altoona Northern
Blue = Altoona & Logan Valley
Green = Glenwhite Coal & Lumber Co.
Brown = Kittanning Run Railroad

The three PRR sidings into the area include two tracks that ran to coke ovens back in the day. Both are located around Gallitzin. The third siding runs to the A&LV power house in East Altoona. Notice that the Altoona Northern and A&LV tracks interchange. Although I could find no evidence that this actually happened, I bent the rules a tad. The interchange will provide an excuse to run boxcab motors and freight under the wire. The Altoona Northern / Glenwhite loop remains pretty much the same except for the introduction of a small yard / passing siding. I drew a second Glenwhite connection that once existed (the wye at "milepost" 22) and also show the connection for the Kittaning Run Railroad (abandoned about 1914) on the east side of Horseshoe Curve. To include these two connections requires that most of the other tracks be elevated to about 1.5" to keep the grades to a minimum. I don't mind elevating the area as I think it would create some scenic interest, but I think the extra connections at The Curve might be two too many.

So much for reviewing the plans. Time to show some video of the "new and improved" Allegheny Eastern in action. The video follows the mainline west from East Altoona to Gallitzin. Please forgive the quality of the video, I'm still learning to use the camera...

 

In the first segment we catch a pair of  eastbound BF16 sharks as they pass the engine terminal at East Altoona on Track 1 A westbound freight blasts by on Track 3. The mainline splits in two at this point as it passes through and around the yard. Next, a Shay pushes a pair of empty hoppers to the Altoona Northern / PRR interchange at Juniata. Our cameraman switches to an aerial view to get a wider angle on freight action at Juniata with Kittanning visible in the foreground. Then we're looking west towards the area of Altoona Station where the mains come back together after passing the yard.. Following the westbound freight to Wikes we catch three freights rounding the curve as an eastbound passenger passes on Track 2. Then the camera moves to The Curve, looking east towards Kittanning as several freights make their way past Kittanning Point in both directions. Giant Tape Measure will be replaced by K4s #1361 in 1957, about eight years from now. A little farther west the camera catches the Glenwhite Shay dropping off two loaded gondolas at Kittaning Point as the Great Wreath hangs in the sky. An aerial view of Burgoon Run shows the Glenwhite Shay idling on the siding as two eastbound freights rumble by. The scene switches to McCains Curve looking towards Horseshoe as an L1s barrels west on Track 3. A second westbound, hauled by an AS16m follows on Track 4 while a short eastbound passenger train drifts down track 3 towards Altoona. At Bennington a K4s holds on the New Portage branch while westbound traffic passes on the main. Eastbound traffic can be seen heading downgrade in the background.  A wider view shows the arrangement of tracks approaching the tunnels and a load of empties heading east. The camera drops down so we can watch the train cross the New Portage bridge. A wider view of trains entering and exiting the three tunnels. That westbound local from Hollidaysburg will take the westbouund main once the controller as SF tower gives the go ahead. We are on the top side of Tunnel Hill now as a westbound freight exits the west portal of Allegheny Tunnel. A second westbound follows soon after thru Gallitzin Tunnel.   Finally, some shots Altoona & Logan Valley cars passing on 10th Avenue and a look at the 3" radius loop at 17th Street. The final scenes show how well the Bachmann PCCs can run on such a tight curve, including a few seconds of open throttle. I never suspected they could negotiate these curves at high speeds! I usually run the trolley's at a more sedate pace..

Conundrum!

Allegheny Eastern Track Plan Jan 20, 2012

I updated the track plan to reflect all the recent changes though I still have to figure out the track ladders in Altoona Yard. I've been using the printed drawing to sketch some scenery, signal and block locations and other ideas. Doing so has led me to another conundrum.

Gallitzin Sidings

Up until this point the plan was to install a two level helix under Gallitzin so I could raise the entire area six inches. As I was researching scenery details from old topographic maps I learned that there used to be additional sidings in the Gallitzin area. Near as I can tell, they all served coke ovens. This was pretty common way back when. The branches at Kittaning point also served coke ovens as well as mines. I'm not sure I'm going to model the ovens, but I definitely want to include the sidings. One of the sidings was off the eastbound main coming into Gallitzin. This will give me and excuse to fill that extra space that now exists after the re-alignment. Another siding was also off the eastbound main just past the New Portage bridge. This siding was double ended. Two other sidings were on the westbound mains. One directly east of the New Portage connection and the other at the west portal of the Gallitzin bore.

Adding these sidings creates more traffic for the local freights. The siding on the east side of Gallitzin will serve a team track instead of coke ovens so that almost any kind of freight car can be spotted there. The two other siding will actually connect into the Altoona Northern / Glenwhite loop and handle all kinds of traffic, including coke. All of that traffic will be "inferred" since very few, if any, actual industries will be modeled along thos tracks. The double ended siding east of New Portage will be the only track where actual coke ovens will be modeled.

Altoona Northern Connections

Meanwhile back at Altoona research has shown that the Altoona Northern presents more opportunities for switching. Besides the interchange with the Pennsy at Juniata, it appears that the A&M also connected to the Altoona & Logan Valley about 9 blocks west of the PRR interchange. I don't know what the actual situation was but I know what it will be on the Allegheny Eastern. The A&N exchanges freight with the traction line. This means box motors hauling freight cars through  the streets of Altoona. The freight will originate from industries on the the A&N as well as the Pennsylvania. It also means that the A&N exchanges passengers with the A&LV. Trolley passengers bound for Dougherty, Highland Park and Wopsononock can take the A&N.

Altoona & Logan Valley

Extending the Altoona & Logan Valley to East Altoona will require some modification of the engine terminal. Since the workbench sits directly under this area there is a possibility of widening the benchwork at the roundhouse. I want to add a 1 1/2" extension on most of the layout edges because there are too many places where track is right on the edge. The A&LV extension would be part of that revision. I could also lay A&LV tracks towards Hollidaysburg, running them up the length of the yard past Red Bridge.

I made a list of what "branch" generates what traffic and there is a lot of variety. The Altoona Northern will handle passengers, coal loads, freight of all kinds and coke. There will be plenty of empties to return. Glenwhite Coal & Lumber will ship coal, finished lumber, coke, mine supplies and heavy machinery and, of course, more empties. The sidings at Gallitzin will handle coke and general freight of all kinds to the team track. Finally, the Altoona & Logan Valley will handle passengers and local freight.

All of this seems a fair trade for the scenery and "staging" possilbilities of the helix. I can provide scenery below track level by just elevating Horseshoe Curve. In that case the tracks to Gallitzin will actually be downhill. I'm thinking I can pull some magic by creating the illusion that they aren't.

Have to lay some of these ideas out in mock-up and see what it all looks like.

Various & Sundrie

Scan of Tunnel Portal

Now that trains are running again I started working on some details. First up were the bores through Tunnel Hill. I used Woodland Scenic cast stone portals. They look the most like the Pennsy portals I remember around Philadelphia. I took one of the castings and scanned it into the program Paint Shop Pro that I use for graphics. I then copied a section of the scanned stone work to a new image to create a graphic representation of the inside of the tunnel. I pasted the copy several times until I had a six inch long section of tunnel wall. Using some of the image manipulation tools I created "shadows" in different shades ranging into black. The idea was to mimic the inside of the tunnel and the graduating darkness you would see further away from the entrance.

Tunnel Interior Wall

Since my tunnels are only about six inches long I had to compress the effect. Once I thought it looked reasonably convincing I printed the completed wall section out on card stock using a laser printer. I then cut out the wall sections and glued them to heavier cardboard.

Assembled Tunnel

I fastened the "walls" to the portals using basswood  blocks and tacky glue, making sure the walls were flush with the portal openings.  I went the "good enough" route and didn't worry too much about lining up the courses of stone. I'm trusting that as long as the train looks like its entering a tunnel the viewers imagination will fill out the details. I also did not create "roofs" for the tunnels. I wanted to be able to access the inside "just in case".

The twin bores, Gallitzin and Allegheny, just sit on the styrofoam roadbed, but the New Portage Tunnel is located where the eastbound mains climb toward the New Portage bridge. I had to construct an elevated base for the tunnel to sit on. I cut several pieces of scrap lumber to get the appropriate height and glued them with tacky glue.

East Portage Tunnel, East Portal

To the right is the east portal of the New Portage bore. The photo was taken from the eastbound track of the New Portage branch. The double tracks of the eastward main line bear off to the right.The overall effect is pretty much what I was hoping for. Even with the tunnels open to the ceiling lights they still appear to get darker towards the center. All in all, I think they'll look pretty good when everything is painted up and weathered.

Just adding these few details made a big difference in the feel of the Tunnel Hill area. It's getting easier to imagine the finished product.

Signage

There are several other items I've added that are what might be called "operational details". I made up small signs for the sides of the benchwork showing the name of each location and other pertinent information. On the left is a photo of the signs for Gallitzin. The location name is made to look like a PRR station sign. There is also a sign for the tower designation UN which controlled the westbound interlocking. I've yet to add AR, the tower that controlled the eastbound interlocking. I've also posted speed limit signs. Starting at UN headed west the passenger speed limit is 70 mph. Freight trains are limited to 35 mph, probably due to the fact that the route is all downhill into Johnstown. Don't want any runaways careening through the communities on the west slope. I still have to add speed limit signs for east bound trains. I haven't quite figured out how I want to show all this information. I'll probably have a column of signs for eastbound and a separate column for westbound. These signs are black & white. The finished signs will be color.

"Mile" Markers

 I also went around the layout with a 100 foot reel type tape measure and measured the main line. The flexible tape allowed me to follow the center of the track line, including the curves. I then marked the styrofoam roadbed at every foot. I found out that the eastbound mainline is 70 feet long, about 2.2 scale miles. The westbound mainline is shorter. At 63.5 feet or thereabouts, it scales out to 1.9 miles. Multiply those numbers by two and you get a total of 257 feet of mainline, just over 8 scale miles.

Beside learning the approximate length of my mainlines, the measurements will help in creating grades when the helix is installed and the tracks are elevated. It will also help in locating scenic details and other features. I'm playing with the idea of using the measurements in some sort of mile marker scheme. Haven't worked out the details yet.

Finally, I may have discovered a new method of creating spline roadbed. I had experimented with splines in an earlier incarnation of the All East but decided against it for a number of reasons. When I was creating the grade for the the New Portage bridge, however, I tripped over another way of accomplishing this. I would have missed it entirely had it not been for a conversation with my wife.

Spline Roadbed

Most of the time we work with styrofoam (or wood for that matter) we use what is called the "cookie cutter" method to build the sub-roadbed. No matter what you start with you end up with the general shape of the track plan in  generally horizontal pieces that the ballast board sits on. When I built the elevated portion of the eastbound mains I used vertical pieces of 1/2" thick styrofoam. I found that two pieces glued together was exactly the correct width to hold the ballast strip. I created the grade by cutting the styrofoam in long triangular strips, gluing them together and curving them as required. I was able to curve the stuff quite easily without breakage because of the thinness of the foam and the wide curves on the Allegheny Eastern. Once the glue set I had a strong light roadbed. I really didn't think too much about it at the time, but I had basically created a spline to carry the track up to the bridge and back down. What's more, I didn't have to create any supports. The grade was built into thhe triangular shapes and they could be glued directly to the tabletop. For the rest of the layout I had originally envisioned the elevated track and the helix being made via a variation of the old school "cookie cutter" method. Using the same construction as the New Portage grade, no cookie cutting is required. The entire thing, including the helix, can be built the same way. By cutting long triangular strips out of a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/2" styrofoam I can create spline road bed to support all the elevated track.

Allegheny Eastern Revised Track Plan, January 2012

1% Grade Elevation

I didn't think to take any photos of the actual grade construction so I made up some rough drawings. The Allegheny summit is at the west portal of the tunnels in Gallitzin. According to the measurements marked on the layout that's about 39 feet from ALTO tower (see track plan above). To create the a roadbed from ALTO to Gallitzin with a 1% grade would require eight triangular pieces  (four tracks) of styrofoam 468" long. Each piece would be 4.68" tall at the highest end of the triangle.

1.3% Grade Elevation

To reach the planned 6 inch elevation at Gallitzin would require 600" of spline. 600" is 50 feet, which would put the summit just pass ANTIS tower in East Altoona.. Not what I'm after. Going with a 1.3% grade would allow the track to rise to 6.084" while still maintaining the required length.

Spline Parts

Of course the spline would have to pieced together. You need 5 pieces 8 feet long to make up the first "spline". The elevation of each piece would start where the last one stopped off, going from 0" all the way up to 6". You would need 8 copies of this first spline and its parts. Once all the pieces are cut, you would then build the spline one 8 foot section at a time.

Spline Construction, Rough Sketch

You would need to install a section and let the glue set overnight before working on the next. Going too fast would probably end up in disaster. The curved sections will want to spring back to straight and things would be flying all over the place.

This method really lends itself to table top layouts like the Allegheny Eastern, especially if the top of the table is also foam. The splines are cheap to make. A 4' x 8' sheet of 1/2" extruded blue foam costs about $12 at the home improvement store. I get mine at Lowes. This is quite a bit cheaper than 2" thick extruded foam or 3/4" plywood normally used for layouts. It can be cut with a utility knife or razor blade. No saws required.

Resuming Operations

Heavy Traffic

Busy day at the top of The Hill. The westbound local from Hollidaysburg holds on the New Portage branch as a westbound passenger train clears the FS interlocking. An L2 helper is on the loop to return to Altoona. The helper has just finished assisting a westbound mixed freight.  Above on the eastward mains a passenger train headed to Philadelphia overtakes a coal train bound for Altoona yard. Since Tunnel Hill is still to be constructed both SF and Gallitzin are visible to the camera. Helper loop was unfinished when the photo was taken. The turnout and track to complete the connection to the eastward mains is now installed.

New Portage Bridge

Local from Hollidaysburg passes under eastward mainline as an L1s helper drifts down to Altoona. AP20 is heading up a Philadelphia bound passenger train on the Track 2. Bridges are cobbled together from Atlas viaducts and girder kits.

Bennington

Another L1s with a local freight climbs west while the passenger train drops down the grade at "Benny".  The tracks are separated vertically and the eastward mains are dropping down a 1.5% grade from the New Portage bridge to just west of Horseshoe Curve.Modeling in N scale on a larger layout allows you to put some distance between scenes. Gallitzin is almost fifteen feet west from this point, a bit under half a scale mile. Altoona lies about a scale mile in the other direction.

Glen White Interchange

At left the Glen White Shay  trundles off to the mines with two empties that a local freight has just dropped. The Glen White track runs along Burgoon Run and disappears behind Kittaning Point. When the cars are filled the Shay will drop them off to be picked up by another local heading east to Altoona.

Altoona Northern Interchange

At right an Altoona Northern crew drops a couple of empties on the interchange track in Altoona. The AN interchange is on the passenger mains and Pennsy switchers have to perform a tricky bit of maneuvering to pickup and set out cars here.

Altoona Yard

EMD demonstrator switches cars in the westbound yard as two freights "meet" on the freight main. Passenger main is just visible beyond tank car. Pennsy's multiple track mainline allows trains to meet without stopping. First of the five eastbound yard tracks is visible at the left hand side of the photo.