The Beer Line

[m a y o r 79]

Okay a few of you have asked so here's my latest set of plans for the future Chestnut Street / Beer Line layout.    I've tried to cram as much layout as I can in a rather small space (this is all I could manage out of our basement).  Its intended to be a solo operation or maybe with one other operator since there's not much space inside.  The upside is I think this is actually an achievable layout for me, not some massive 1000 sf basement empire that would take me forever to build.

The main intention is to represent the very end of the Beer Line where the large breweries were located (Schlitz and Pabst for online, and Blatz loading).  There were a few other industries at the far end of the line but the breweries were the biggies.   I decided to do a two level layout, initially it started as a way to get staging below the layout but I figured if I'm going thru the hassle of getting down a level why not put scenery on it as well.

So before getting too far into this, here's the background:

• HO sale layout based on the Milwaukee Road Beer Line circa the early 1960s.
  
• Room is just shy of 7ft by 11ft with one door and no windows.
• Right now I believe the tightest curve is right around a 25" radius (largest rolling stock will be a 54ft hopper, typically 40 and 50ft cars and 4 axle switchers though, and mostly #4 switches with a few #6 in various spots.
• Grade between levels will be steep, 5.5% give or take (only trains are 2 engine transfer runs)
• I do have an annoying sewer discharge pipe to deal with but it has been incorporated as a scene block and will be wrapped in Masonite to hide it.

The sewer discharge for the house is also dictating my layout heights, lowest level is going to be 36" and the upper level about 52", giving me about 13 inches of height for scenery on the lower level once benchwork thickness is taken into account. Its a concession I'm willing to make.  I'm thinking the benchwork is mostly going to be shallow depth shelves attached with metal wall brackets.  Haven't worked out the details yet though.

The main idea is to model the extreme southern end of the branchline with all the breweries on the top level, and select industries from the rest of the branch on the lower level, some of which directly support the upper level breweries. The main point of the lower level was a staging yard which I decided will be scenicked since there's no where to hide it. I also want to be able to do continuous running on the lower level for my kids to be able to watch trains, and for me when I don't feel like operating.

I think most of the time it will be just me operating, sometimes a second person as well but that's about it.

Starting at the bottom level, the main point was a staging yard which will be a generic representation of North Glendale yard and the North Milwaukee tower (which guarded the entry to the Beer Line) and the depot.  There are a few industries planned for the lower level that don't support the upper level (fuel oil dealer and lumber company), and the two main industries are the Schlitz Grain Elevator and Terminal Warehouse buildings.   Unfortunately both shrunk considerable from reality.

The middle level is the 5% grade up to the top deck.  The pink line on the lower level plan is a Masonite backdrop to try and hide the ramp up as best I can.  Based on some sightline tests I've done you really shouldn't ever be able to see a train going up unless you're sitting in a chair.

The only industry on this level is at the very top, a coal dealer on the Milwaukee river that used to offload coal.  its really mostly visible at the top level though as it's only about 2-3" below that track level.

This is the top level of the layout.  It really starts at Humboldt yard which is the main yard that supported the breweries.  Non brewery related industries on this level include a cement plant, a warehouse, a team track, power plant, Milwaukee Road freight house, and a warehouse at the very end that also was where Blatz loaded insulated boxcars.  The brewery industries include the Schlitz A and B elevators, bottle return, keg shipping, ice house, cullet loading (for my cullet hoppers), and the Pabst shipping facility and grain elevator.

One of the biggest pieces of feedback I get is that I have too much crammed in here but the real beer line was more densely packed than this so I think its a good compromise.  Ive seen another layout that is very similar to this in size that works rather well, though without the lower level.

Hopefully the room is ready enough to start construction next winter.

[mikeinwi]

Oh yea, this is going to be great, can't wait to see it take off!

Mike.

[m a y o r 79]

Figured I'd post an update to this since its been a few years since I started this.  I wont do a layout build thread here, thats not the point of the detailer.....

The basement is finally finished (mostly, the wife has to pick out a vanity for the powder room still), so I finally have the green light to start my layout!  Room is built and done, ended up being 6'9" wide by 11'10" long.  Painted the walls a sky blue color, black ceiling grid with dimmable lights, and a foam mat floor.  Pretty comfy all in all.

The track plan has been modified a little bit from what I posted 2 1/2 years ago.  I decided to model only the beer line from the Humboldt yard area to the end of the line.  still a double deck layout though.  Starting from the bottom is Humboldt yard, and some of the smaller industries around it (Pipkorn cement, a few warehouses and a long "passing siding" that the Milwaukee used as overflow storage for beer cars.  Since we're in Milwaukee the open areas are actually residential/business areas, so some scenery for the trains to go thru.




The ramp level is still the same, except that the turnout and industry is now gone.  It'll end up being about 5.1% grade to get to the upper level but the average train will be about 7-10 cars so it should be manageable.





The upper level kind of starts at the Schlitz brewery.  The "yard" on the upper level is just storage tracks for extra cars for the various Schlitz buildings since they would get switched 3-4 times in a 12 hour shift but not always with a new train coming from Humboldt.   The other buildings are more or less the same as last time just re-positioned and trackwork modified some.




Construction starts next week.  I have shelf brackets arriving today and will be making a trip to the hardware store sometime right after Christmas to get supplies.   

[countryroads]

Looking good show pic's when you start building

[m a y o r 79]

Construction officially started, all the shelf supports were installed this afternoon and the plywood for the lower level was cut. Tomorrow the plan is to cut the 1x4 supports, paint the benchwork white, and get the foam installed on the lower level.

We'll see how far I get.

[m a y o r 79]

Not going to start a build thread here but I did start one at Model Railroad Hobbyist if anyone is interested.

Model Railroad Hobbyist Beer Line build

Here's the initial mockup of the room with shelf brackets installed and the plywood laid out for a test fit.  As of this afternoon the lower level is all cut, painted, and permanently installed.

[countryroads]

Gonna have a little running room there.

Be watching here if you decide to do any updates.

MRH is not for me sorry

[m a y o r 79]

Been slowly working on the lower level.  Over the past week the foam top was put in place, track laid out and marked and the roadbed is about 80% installed right now.  The first loco made its way to Humboldt yards future engine tracks as well!  This is one of four Walthers H10-44's i picked up over the last few years.  Eventually I'll get a build thread going here for them.  All will become orange and black, one will be rebuilt into an H12-44.



I've also been working on the lift out section.  Roughly the width of the door, this will contain Humboldt yard tracks, the mainline for continuous running, and the lead to Pipkorn cement.  Its pretty solid when in place, though I havent figured out the electrical connections yet.



I'm hoping to have all the roadbed down by this weekend so trackwork can start.  I need to solder jumpers on 14 Atlas turnouts so that'll keep my busy for a while!

[countryroads]

Cool
Looking like your having fun with this.

[m a y o r 79]

Not much to report, roadbed is all down. Soldered jumpers on 6 of the 15 turnouts tonite. The rest should be done this weekend along with hopefully some track being installed.

[countryroads]

Progress is progress Mike.

[m a y o r 79]

Today started off snowy here in Chicagoland and then it got really cold, not supposed to be any better tomorrow. Great day to stay inside and work on the layout! Though I had to make a trip to the hardware store first.....



Picked up some lumber and conduit and a few storage units and finally built myself a workbench after 10+ years of not having one. Ended up spending most of the afternoon clearing out the spot in the storage room and building it. Its way too clean right now but its also mostly empty! LOL







I did get the last of the cork down in Humboldt yard this afternoon too. Tomorrow I should have time to work on prepping a few more switches and then starting to get the track laid around Humboldt.

[countryroads]

Sounding like you have a plan coming together.

[m a y o r 79]

I need to get some more pictures uploaded here but last weekend all of the track was laid on the lower level, the main feeder bus and sub bus was installed and I started dropping feeders from the Humboldt Yard area. Tonite I placed an order for the NCE Power Pro system and a few accessories so I can get trains running. Now its a race to get the mainline feeders dropped before the package arrives! LOL

I'll post a few images this weekend. Next up is starting work on the "helix" up to the top level, I have a feeling thats going to take lots of measuring and test fitting to make sure the grade is correct.

I also need to get an H10-44 build thread started soon too now that I found the fourth one! Its shaping up to be a busy winter.

[slowfreight]

So, just for grins I built a drop bridge on a grade with a curve. I used a 1/4" stereo audio jack for the electrical connections. Quick, dirty, and durable. If you had a stereo patch cord to cut down, it would be more durable than what I built, but all my actual patch cords were mono.

[m a y o r 79]

Been a while since I've posted anything here.  The entire lower level is operational now.  I spent a bunch of time over the last few weeks working on the ramp to the upper level.  Last weekend I finally got it tweaked right!!!  Ended up with a 5% grade, and I can get 8-9 cars up the ramp so it should work fine for the operation of the layout.

I ended up using plywood strips to support most of the ramp.  Its pretty solid right now.  Once the upper level is more complete and I get to run more trains up/down to confirm everything I'll use liquid nails to attach everything solid.


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I've also been working on my turnout controls.  I'm using a DPDT switch mounted below the benchwork to control the throw of the switches. (think home-made version of a blue-point turnout controller) There will be a control rod connected to a handle on the fascia for manual control. I'm using one set of electrical contacts to power route the frogs (black/red/gray wires) and the other set for fascia indicators (brown/white)




These take a bit of tweaking to get positioned correctly but once installed they're pretty solid and so far they're holding the switch points tight. As of last nite I had 4 completed on the lower level...........only 12 more to go!

[m a y o r 79]

Desperate need of an update here!  LOL  I really need to do these more often, especially with more time to work on the layout now. A lot was accomplished in the last few months, all track including the ramp is down and powered,all switch controllers are installed and wired to power the frogs and everything runs nice.


The lift out bridge has been cut loose which means the electrical connections are done! Yes! I ended up wiring all of the track feeders to two brass sheets mounted to the plywood. They press down on a pressure contact on the shelf bracket, which ended up being a spring loaded sensor probe I found on-line.  It was a bit of a pain to solder the bus feeder to the probe, which was meant to be screwed into the end of a test probe, but I got it to hold eventually.  We'll see how well they hold up. I need to take some pictures of that build still.


The fascia was installed and painted a gray color that ended up being close to Milwaukee Road gray actually. I think it will work well with the darker urban scenery. You can kind of see it in a later picture.



The fascia on the lower level is 8" tall which will allow for the manual turnout controls along the top and a track diagram below. The intention is to have indicator lights for turnout position on the track diagram. This is going to be harder on the upper level because the fascia can only be about 4" tall.


I also painted up all the knobs for the turnout controls. I used orange in part to match the railroad, and in part to stand out from the fascia. If I end up not liking the color combo I'll repaint them.





This week I painted all the track on the lower level. I used Rust-Oleum camo brown because its dead flat brown. Now i need to spend some time cleaning all the track............I miss running trians.


I also started the benchwork for the upper level......brackets are in, wood bases are screwed in. The plywood is in my garage right now, fully painted, and waiting final cutting before bringing down to the basement.





Now I just need treasury approval to purchase the track and DCC equipment for the upper level and we start laying track.

[m a y o r 79]

How about this for a fast update

I spent some time this afternoon cleaning the paint off of the rails.  Not a fun task but it was done in about an hour.....and one beer.  LOL  I'm reminded of a line from Shawshank Redemption...........all that was left was a rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub.  Guess I need a new bright-boy now.  LOL



I also got the plywood cut for almost all of the upper level.  Tomorrow it'll be glued/screwed down to the brackets.  Construction is moving fast......

[m a y o r 79]

Minor update, turnout controls are all installed and working nice. Track needs another cleaning though.

Upper level has been installed, just waiting to glue down the last few sheets of foam.

I did manage to dig out one of my Milwaukee Proto 2000 GP 38-2s which weigh about as much as a brick! Tested out the ramp again as i figure those weigh about as as the Walthers H 10-44s. The Proto managed to drag 11 cars up to the top level but that's it. Fortunately that's all i need to run the upper level so were good!!!!!!!!

Ordered the last of the track today, had to buy the curved switches from Des Planes hobbies. A little more than some of the on line hobby shops but they were the only ones that had curves left hand switches in stock!  Plus for me it's supporting a local hobby shop.  So, track laying should begin in a few weeks!

[m a y o r 79]

An update seems looooong over due on this project. Lets see, since the end of April what's happened..............



The bencwork on the upper deck has been completed, foam top is down and track planning started. Well it started with a lot of tweaking the end of the ramp from the lower level to get everything aligned nicely. Though we did have our first train make its way up to the upper level about 3 weeks ago.







The treasury approved funding for the remaining supplies for the upper level so all the track, switches, roadbed and electronics have been secured and are in process of being installed. I ended up rewiring a little of my main power to break the layout up into a few power districts. And since I cant see my NCE EB-1 breakers I'm running remote LED indicators to the fascia.



Last weekend with it so hot I spent most of it in the basement laying cord and installing track, so far we've gotten the ramp up to the top done, most of the siding to Trostells tannery in place, and the Walnut St yard in front of the Schlitz complex mostly done. (The kids apple sauce multi-packs are great for holding cork down while the glue dries ! )







And the 'yard lead' is in place. The tracks that curve to the right go off to the rest of the Schlitz complex and towards Pabst. The tracks in the back corner are to the Schlitz keg shipping building and the incoming shipping building.











The goal is to have all the track in place by mid August. Then its on to more wiring on the upper deck, and getting the lighting finally installed for the lower level.