# KMRR expanding westward



## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

The Kittatinny Mountain RR thawed out early this year do to some warm days. The guys will be able to start expanding the railroad by about another 50ft with a siding. They are working on the hardest part, that is removing the grass. I found just after the frost melts is the best time to get the grass up because it is very soft. Im about halfway done with the grass.


I also made the railbender from the Garden railraod article on how to make a rail bender. It was in one of the 2002 issues. It cost less then 10 bucks and actually works very well. (I was little worried that it was going to be hard to work with). 
I started bending the track in my garage. 


Basically the layout is going to stay the same. I plan on expanding the right side of the layout by taking out the right side turn that comes off the s curve and connects with the tunnel. I dont have any way to draw what I want to do but as the trains comes off the s curve it will then ride down a long straight. From there it will go around an 8-10ft curve (3/4 of a circle) Then it will turn right with a short straight. From there it will connect with the straight from the tunnel entrance using a curve. Heres a picture of the current layout. All expansion will be on the right side.












The area is mostley level. Any low spots will become a high line or a trestle. I dont plan on putting any mountains in but I do plan on doing a lot more with rock and a possible water feature. I will also have a siding where I plan on putting in an engine house (double door) As I make some progress I will start posting pictures.


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## GarryNCGRR (Jan 18, 2008)

This first section looks very good to me....nice work! Good luck on the new section to come...looking forward to more pics.

Garry.......NCGRR


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice setting.


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## Dave Ottney (Jan 2, 2008)

Shawn, 
Can you post a pic of the rail bender. 
Dave


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

I have the main curve complete and I was able to lay out the track in the basic area I plan on expanding. I still have to remove more grass but not as much as originally planned. I was able to conserve the dirt. I dig up the grass and then I put the grass in the wagon with grates on bottom. Then and mix the grass around until the dirt falls out of the roots and through the grates. Creating nice soft piles of dirt. Saves me money because now I dont have to buy any soil. Talk about me being cheep LOL Here is two shots so far of my progress. 






















Dave: Here is the rail bender I made. Works very well and I found it very easy to use. I just have to round off the corners so it is not as sharp. To bend the rail just bend the two halfs together to creat the curve you want. When putting the rail together you have to have the indents of the rail (between the top and bottom) ride along the middle larger washers. The rail passes through very smooth


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Shawn,

Very ingenious rail bender! If you wouldn't mind I have some questions on it: 

- Do you bend both rails at the same time? 
- What rail code and which brand are you bending? 
- What is the tightest curve you are bending? 
- can you show a picture of the rail bender on a piece of track - I'm not following how it sits on the track?


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

I am using the aristo brass 320 for track. It is very easy to use. The smallest I did was just over 6ft but you can probably get it down to a very small rad. The rail feeds through the three bolts just like any commercial rail bender. The biggest difference is there are no rollers, instead the middle washers on the bolts (the thicker ones) act as the roller. Thats where the rail sides ride along. To adjust the rad just fold the two long metal pieces in or out, depending on how tight or wide you want your curve. I will post some pictures in a few days. I have to take some of the rail going through the bender.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

I finally got the track down and balasted. It went a lot faster then I thought. I only had to do a few minor adjustments. I did a test run and the trains been going for a good two hours with no derailments. The part where I have the red block holding the track is going to be a mixture of log trestles and log piers filled with stone. (I saw this in my Logging RR book and really liked the way it looked). The area after the trestle is a high line with rock to hold the balst in. I plan on taking a few of the rocks out and replacing with some wood cribbing. SHould give it a nice touch. The siding is where I plan on moving the water tower, wood shed and tank. I also plan on making this the logging camp/very small town. I still have to secure the siding and bring it in a little closer to the main line. The inside is going to consist of a lot of rock work (at least thats the plan for now) I also might replace my current stream and put it into the new area. 


I did not get to use the rail bender so no pictures of it with the rail going through. Hopefully when I work on the siding I will get that picture. 


i love the way track looks when freshly balasted


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful! I'll be right over. 

Oh. NJ? Well, maybe a little too far to come before supper.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

I finished the siding and relocated the water tower, tank and wood shed. Here are some shots


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Beautiful, nice to see somebody get something done.... my future track is just setting on the ground waiting for a Gandy to come dancing by...


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice Shawn.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

I spent the last few days working on my cribbing colums. I was going to make trestles until I saw a picture in one of my logging books that used this system. I liked it alot because it was something different. I wanted to get away from the more common trestles etc... I used wood from a P u s s y Willow tree that has spent a year drying out. I cut them to length and then shaved off the top and bottom of each end to make them flat and a small groove. This helps the logs fit better. Then I nailed the cribbibg together as well as used glue. At first I was going to keep the bark on but after carving one I really liked the no bark look. All I need to do is soak it good in some thompson water seal. Here are a few shots set up in my kitchen. They will actually be placed on a curve with some wood supports under the track connecting each colum.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Snow 

I like the cribbing idea. We used a lot of cribs in the coal mines to keep the roof from falling in. For a logging operation, I think they will look great. 

Randy


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Instead of going to the train show I was able to get my cribbing colums done. It worked out pretty well although somehow I screwed up the spacing. Hey nothing was perfect on logging railroads so I figured I leave it alone especially since the train runs great over it.






















Looks like a little bit of a rise in the middle might have to fix although the train runs fine over it.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

It looks like the whole thing is a curve so that rise in the middle just might be an illusion due to the curve. Looks nice anyway!


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

I took a short break from my expansion and decided to redo my creak. I was not crazy about it for a few reasons: one it was to much maint. The dirt would always wash into the creak. Second whenever the power went out the pump would stop causing the reservoir to overflow, when the pump came back on it would use up all the water in the reservoir just to fill the stream up. The third reason I wanted something with a waterfall. This is what I ended up doing. It came out great and no leaks. I did plant trailing ground cover all around the waterfall. Once they take over a lot of the rock will be broken up with ground cover. It should look real nice.


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## Steamnutt (Apr 12, 2008)

Shawn, 
The whole project looks great! Thanks for keeping us up to date on your progress. I really like your cribbing idea, nice work!


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## leonpete (Jan 4, 2008)

Is That Torby perched on the rock in his bibs , barefoot and waving? Shawn , your doing a great job on the expansion. The whole layout is looking fabulous. Just shows you don't need a huge layout to have fun and a good looking railroad.


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## Chrisp (Jan 3, 2008)

Shawn - great cribbing bridge! After seeing this image on the old steam in the woods website, I always wanted to try the technique, and was very impressed by your bridge photos. May have to give it a go. Chris


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Really looks nice. I see where you fill up the track nicely with ballast. Keeps the track nice and stable. Later RJD


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## Bob Rich (Jan 4, 2008)

Shawn,

The cribbing bridge is looking good. I like the rough and ramshackle look of that type of construction. Your layout looks very nice and I also like the work you did with the stream and waterfall. By the way is that the Delaware River in the background of your first picture in the first post? Keep up the good work.

Regards,


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Bob Rich on 04/03/2009 4:03 PM

Shawn,

The cribbing bridge is looking good. I like the rough and ramshackle look of that type of construction. Your layout looks very nice and I also like the work you did with the stream and waterfall. By the way is that the Delaware River in the background of your first picture in the first post? Keep up the good work.

Regards, 
Bob
Thanks. In the first picture you are looking at part of the Kittatinny Ridge. The Delaware River would be over on the other side of that ridge 8 miles away.


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I have not done alot in the last week. Mainly because of the weather. Its been rainy one day, snow showers the next and cold. But I have been keeping busy with a few inside projects. I have been kitbashing my 4 HLW mini flats into new rolling stock. One I made a tender for my porter, the other Im making into a small box car, the other is a wooden gondola/ore car and the other is staying as a flat. No pictures until they are complete and painted. 
Today I did manage to do some rock work in the trestle area. Its been on and off snow showers all day. :-( Here is what I did so far. I built up behind the cribbing colums and on top I planted my spruce. I also added some rock work inside the layout. Still have more to do. Ground cover is slowly turning green.






















Back side of the rock mountain










some of the rock work I started inside the layout


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

The weather has not showm much of an improvement but I did manage to get a little more work done.


I made a bumper for my siding. Used left over branches from my cribbing colums










I built up the mt one more layer high. This will make a great photo spot once the plants get established. (notice the dead guy LOL)












A further picture of the recent addition. I dug a trench and added stone for a dry stream bed










Bonus pictures


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