Info Page for the Construction Photo Tour
Rock City Railroad

#1
THE OLD LAYOUT

The first Rock City Railroad was built in a one car garage, as shown in the photo. Looking in from the swing up garage door, we see the layout, which had 4 separate lines. Notice the draw bridge in the very front, which you had to duck under or swing up to enter the garage. I spent an entire year working on this layout, before tearing it down to expand into the two car garage. The reasons for this were: the loops were too tight, the duck under entrance was a pain in the butt, and, there wasn't enough room to entertain friends in the walkway. Back

#2
EARLY BACK SECTION

In the back of the garage, where the outside, round the room loops met up with the table loops and the reverse loops. It looks like multiple freeway overpasses. Back

#3
LEFT SIDE FRAMEWORK

The left side loop, to become the California loop, is underconstruction here. It winds around the room and disappears in the far corner, to become the rocky mountain corner. Notice the flat platform inside the loop. This flat section didn't look right, so I cut it up to create a valley, as in further photos. Back

#4
THE HARBOR, BARE

Close in on the left side, California loop, we see the inside loop and outside loop coming together to pass under the N scale loop. The Z scale layout (Hollywood) has not been built yet. It was built later and added on top of the N loop. Back

#5
THE HARBOR

Stepping back out of the garage, we see the California loop and framework underneath. All legs are braced with cross 1 x 2's to give the make the framework very rigid. The beams and cross struts directely under the table are shown later. The layout completely freestanding and is not connected to the wall at any point. The shelf overhead is, though, as can be seen by the braces. The flourescent lights were hung from the bottom of the overhead shelf later, and hidden from view by thin plywood. Back

#6
THE VALLEY & CALIFORNIA

The flat section in the California loop has now been turned into a valley, stepping up to two levels on both sides. This will later become more real, but the framework is done and strips of cardboard make the walls and keep the trains from falling off the layout before things are finished. The cardboard also blocks the distracting work underneath the layout so you can get a 3D feel for sculpting the landcape. The next picture shows the valley from the bottom. Later I hooked a line to the center of the valley to pull it up and suspend it above the layout, and then easily lower it back in place. Back

#7
VALLY SECTION BOTTOM

Here's the valley section from the bottom. Using many pieces of 1 x 2's and drywall screws, I cut the flat wood and raised sections with the wood pieces. These small 1 x 2's split easily, and should be drilled before fastening with the drywall screws. Strips of cardboard are nailed to the edge of the plywood to temporarily finish the section. Later rock surfaces will replace the cardboard. Back

#8
CALIFORNIA, BARE

Moving into the garage and looking back at the California Loop, we see the HO scale loop coming back underneath the N scale loop. The bottom left corner will be Laguna Beach, the uper section will become Hollywood. Back

#9
CALIFORNIA LOOP

Stepping back a little, we see the California loop in early construction, with the backyard and cactus out the garage door. The legs are 2 x 4's, 48 inches tall. The braces and risers for the layout sections are 1 x 2's. The cross struts are 1 x 4's, and the front and back beams are 1 x 4's with 1 x 2's glues and screwed to one edge. Back

#10
ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORNER

This photo shows the Rocky Mountain corner where the HO and N mainlines go. The HO lines will be underneath the N yard, which is taken out for this photo. The N yard switches are at the left, the HO yard switches are at the bottom right. No Z yet. Back

#11
INSIDE ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORNER

A more closeup view of the underneath of the Rocky Mountain corner shows the many lines going through. These are mostly on cut curved strips plywood only slightly wider that the cork roadbed, so all these must be lined with 1 1/2 inch strips of cardboard to keep the trains from falling to the floor if they become derailed. Small nails will do. Back

#12
YARD FACING ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORNER

From the center of the HO yard, looking back at the Rocky Mountain corner, we see the lines going underneath. The yard is still not finished. Back

#13
YARD FACING DOWNTOWN

From the center of the HO yard, facing downtown corner we see the many levels of track on the back wall. Downtown will sit on the upper right level section. Back

#14
DOWNTOWN CORNER

Looking directly into the downtown corner, we see the vast space for New York City. The yard starts at the bottom, and the N is just a thin line around the back. Back

#15
THE ST. LOUIS/CIRCUS LOOP

Back at the other loop, The St. Louis loop, we see the lower HO loop and upper N loop, with pop up holes for getting to the layout. The track goes complely around the back of the garage, as does the backdrop. The shelves on top are identical to the other side. The flourescent lights haven't been hung yet. Back

#16
RIGHT TOP FRAMEWORK, ST. LOUIS

Looking down the layout, we see the track coming down from downtown to the lower St. Louis loop. The many levels add much to the layout, and the Z level hasn't even been built yet. Back

#17
RIGHT FRAMEWORK, SIDE VIEW

From back outside the garage doors, we see the framework, build in 3 foot by 8 foot sections, each with 4 legs, 2 beams, and about 8 cross struts. In the event of moving the layout, it is free from the walls, and can be taken apart in the sections described above. The weights in the center of the room are gone now, making way for the center-of-the-room control tower. Back

#18
CLOSEUP OF FRAMEWORK BEAMS AND STRUTS

Looking underneath the layout, we see the beams and many 1 x 4 cross struts. The track wires are hooked to the front beam. All legs are braced with diaganal 1 x 2's. in both directions. There are two different sizes of 1 x 4's. Pine, and construction grade. Use Pine. It cost slightly more but is much easier to use! Back

#19
FIRST CONTROL PANEL

Here's the first control panel. All the Atlas stitches are now in the trash where they belong. They are big and bulky taking up way too much space. You can find all the switches shown at local train swap meets for about 15 cents. Or buy them at your local hobby shop for about a 100 bucks. Back



#0
CONTROL PANEL

A straight on photo showing the HO scale control panel with two lines, (inside and outside) and the N scale control panel above that with only one line. both the HO and N layouts are simple dogbones (loops on each end). Back

#0
THE PODIUM

This picture shows the podium, upon which are the control panels. This podium was built for our annual Rock City News awards show, but works in the railroad the rest of the time. It can be easily pulled out, leaving all the inside power units and bare wires visable and hanging from the frame. When in use, the wires are hooked to the podium and the frame is completely free, so that movement from the supporting frame (with hand rails) does not move the podium or control panels. Back

#0
THE CONTROL TOWER

This shows the center-of-the-room tower with the step up and the shelf of cars and benchtop. This allows the controler a better view of switches and turnouts looking down on the layout. 2 or 3 people can easily stand on the tower, which is about 3 feet tall. About 20 people can move in a circle around the tower, with a wide entrance to the backyard (provided both garage doors are open). Back


Contact Ruben Mac Blue, chief engineer of the Rock City Railroad Co. at 213-461-6600.