Monk Subdivision Track Plan Revision

I haven't written that much lately, or should I say, I didn't publish a lot of articles event if a string of first drafts are waiting in Blogger to be finalized. But they probably won't be published anyway because this hobby is about passion and when you write about a passion, it is often raw emotions captured on the spot and it's hard to come back a month or two later to alter them. Among them is a neat article about visiting hobby shops in Japan and the Kato Hobby Center last September and I think it's worth to be published. Another one is dating back to last fall when I railfanned Monk Subdivision again to shot photobackdrops.

Often, just having to edit and upload pictures on Blogger, which is very old technology by current standards, it enough to cut my desire to publish... we get lazy isn't it!

That said, I have continued modelling recently, in all directions to be honest. One thing is about completing the DCC sound installation in Monk CN fleet from the 1960s to the 1970s. Among them is a pair of Atlas C424 which will pull The Cabot passenger train and which my friend David Mira-Landry installed LokSound in them. It was great to spend an evening with him and seeing his workflow and tricks to get it done efficiently.

Atlas C424s going through decoder installation and detailing

Also, I had a lot of deep conversations about modelling and trains in general with good old Chris Mears. I wish these could be published as they are. Sometimes, I feel he is that reassuring voice that both listen and suggest. With him, no rocks are left unturned and this is a blessing. We have explored recently our deeply ingrained love of old time 4-4-0 from the 1860s-1870s but also thought about Monk once again. Jérôme and Louis-Marie also gave sound advices of keeping it simple and they are probably right. "Making it run" is probably the recurring theme and I agree. So let's dive into the future of Monk Subdivision.

Let's be blunt, I didn't work on it at all since I completed the staging first level and that gave me time to rethink the layout. Recently, to be able to run and tune my locomotives and cars, I added a Kato Unitrack loop in the staging room. It's at eye level and runs currently on DC only for older locomotives or those without decoder. I've ran a few trains since it has been put up there and that has helped me to better grasp what I'm doing in the basement. It was supposed to be fun and all about scenery, yet it degenerated into an intricate mechanical and technological issue that seems to never be resolved. What can be done?

A Kato Unitrack loop provide an excellent test bed

First, I took most of my high quality modern passenger cars (Rapido, Walthers, etc.) and tried to run them on the staging curved turnouts. It was a nightmare. Half of them don't negotiate the 28" radius curve properly. Sure, the Walthers turnouts are unforgiving, but it's ludicrously impossible to run a passenger train on the staging. Even on the flextrack, it barely works. The culprit is a mix of poorly design underframes, trucks and details. The Rapido Supercontinental cars (first release) are junk, even the couplers are operating poorly due to the diaphragm. Hard to believe someone designed that, tested the preproduction samples and went forward with it. Also, the wheels don't run freely and often the brake shoes on the sideframe are really braking. They aren't free rolling and this is a big issue. Fortunately, the newer releases are much, much better. As for Walthers, it's a mixed bag and fishbellies under the heavyweight cars makes them barely able to negotiate a 28" radius. So, I made a test, put 8 Rapido cars on the test loop (28.75 inches radius) and tried to pull it with an Intermountain F7. Didn't move and stalled. Added a Bachmann GP9 to the consist and it started to roll, but with serious drag and getting slow on curves. Basically, forget about running the Cabot (16 cars) under these circumstance, forget about a complicated yard throat and forget getting over a grade. This is a disaster in waiting.

So let's rethink the concept and go back to the basics. The two level staging is making thing very complicated in terms of trackwork, wiring and control. Some loves that stuff, but I don't and trains should stay accessible. So only one level. The new staging is basically a similar shape, but it feeds both end of the visible layout. I may plan to add extra capacity and a crossover later so I can turn passenger trains. Otherwise, keep it simple.

Grades are an issue because I had to get rid of the feed mill scene in Langlois which I really liked and added that touch of working a local train in the countryside. The recent QSSR module proved that I really liked shuffling cars at a small industry and I want it on Monk. Grades are also an issue because I have to make sure they are perfect and they were a real problem when dealing with the curved Abenaki bridge (which could most likely be modelled straight to save myself some problems).

Having the town scene 6" above the benchwork created a problem because the trains were much too close to the IKEA wall cabinet and it left very little backdrop. Having everything on a single level means that vertical clearance is the same and optimal everywhere.

At the moment of writing, I'm back to the original concept of Langlois and Armagh, with Lake Therrien and Abenakis bridge. It's as simple as that. In terms of work, I just have to lower the spline and shuffle some tracks in the staging room. No major benchwork surgery is required because I planned with sufficient reserve. I knew that things would change.

Revised track plan

The lesson behind that story is that running trains do help to make decision. That Kato Unitrack loop took me out of fantasy land and back to reality. Switching trains on the module also had a big impact. My slow progress was partially motivated by the fact I was constantly questioning the validity of my choices. The thing is that you can't validate them if you don't commit to build. Once again, Mike Confalone strikes: build, run then make changes. Not the first time I write about that.

So what is the future of Monk? First, we had some issue with the house drainage in the basement and a new one must be installed and the path is right in the train room. It doesn't impact the benchwork, but it means I need to clean the area, which in hindsight is a good thing.

Then, the mainline spline will be lowered and levelled. Finally, I will rebuild the staging according to the new geometry, but after taking some time to test it with various rolling stock. My goal? Run a train by Christmas.

I see more old time modelling in my future...

Meanwhile, the Kato Unitrack loop has raised interesting possibilities which I will explore in a later post. Let's just say there is a second life to that old time exploration I did with Stanstead.