009 - Richlawn RR v2 - A Chat With Rick

You'd think that when I'm working on someone's layout and we set up a meeting that he would be on time!  The nerve.  Just because I call him thirty minutes earlier than our appointed time and he's eating dinner doesn't mean he can't drop what he's doing and come answer the Skype.   Then again, I don't expect much from people that model the L&N.  Actually, I'm getting to be a little senile I think.

Had a great chat with my friend Rick.  I miss the guy...a little.  Just a little.  Skype makes everyone seem MUCH closer!

We discussed a lot of things about the room.  He took his Ipad and showed me the whole room so that I could get a sense of it.  Ain't technology grand!   Window access is a must, so the plan above, or something similar will most like be what we need.  Still just a sketch, but a good possibility.  We talked about a swing gate in front of the double doors, but that is a LONG 66" swing gate, and I don't thing that idea would work very well.

We are going to use a 26" minimum mainline radius for now.  I think it should be bigger, but the room just doesn't allow for it.  He runs four axle locos and 40 to 50 foot cars, so it will be ok if I keep the sharpness hidden or obstructed from view.

We decided that the shelf in front of the windows could be as much as 24" but I'm going to keep it trimmed to 18".  This will provide easy access to the windows in case he wants to open them.

A second deck is a go as Rick wants to get as much railroad as he can in the room.  We cannot put loops in the craft room, but possibly can put a staging yard in there.

On the previous layout Rick (who is an awesome structure builder) had a huge town called Hoover Town.  I think we'll have plenty of room for a large town, so we'll be sure to design it in so he can use his structures, including the town prison which was my favorite.

A new item came up.  Rick had a special scene he calls Buck & Loretta's Home which is a old corner section from a previous layout.  He kept it in tact, and we are going to use it on the new layout.  Photos (by Rick) and measurements are below.  This Layout Design Element (LDE) will be hard to fit as it has a 30" radius on it for track.

Select photo to enlarge.  Select Loretta to reduce!

 Reminds me of home!

 Is that a DeSoto out front?

I have a couch just like that!

I love the ceramic planter!

Here are the basic dimensions.

 

Rick, I use these kinds of posts not only to record the information for myself, but so that you can confirm that this is what we agreed to.  Be sure to let me know if I misunderstand something...

Thanks!  Off to draw.