Project Segway – Introducing Olympia iN the Office

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on in my life currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

I am a big fan of several of the recent project layouts coming out of Model Railroader. Not only do I have a fondness for Canadian Canyons, but I also have a fondness for a completely different project railroad, Olympia featured in the Olympia and Olympia 2: The Log Blog Series. I’m looking forward to Olympia 3: Sand Creek coming soon on MRVP. My office at work has had a long wall that is poorly used. It has a 7-foot bookcase that is partially blocked by the end of my desk rendering several shelves on the bookcase virtually unusable. I’ve long wanted to replace this single tall bookcase with a set of shorter but longer bookcases along the wall. Across the top, I’ve always thought that a small model railroad could be attractive. But the subject of that railroad has eluded me, until now. Let me introduce, Olympia iN the Office.

Olympia in the Office Logo.

I’ve decided to name my railroad the Rio Gorre and Olympia Railroad, and to model the railroad in Nn3, hence the emphasis on the “N” in the word “in”. My space (20” by 156”) is similar to that of the Olympia + Olympia 2 project layout (22” by 156”) but since my railroad will be in N-scale, versus On30, I expect to be able to have a lot more dominant scenery. I did think about simply modeling in On30, but frankly, I didn’t want to switch scales, and while my space is similar, I have a door swinging into the space that would make a duplication of the project railroad difficult. Finally, I have an ample collection of Nn3 equipment, and with the introduction of the Rokuhan Shorties, and several of the recent small Z-scale hood diesels, kitbashing equipment for a logging line becomes reasonably practical.

AZL GP-9 Mechanism (z-scale).

MT GP-35 Mechanism (z-scale).

Rokuhan "Shorty" Mechanism (z-scale).

65 ton Whitcomb Diesel Conversion kit (Nn3).

With this idea in mind, I began to consider possible layout configurations in the office. A multideck concept seemed most plausible, as the bookshelves near my desk will be lower than the ones further along the wall. So, I could image a small section over the two 48" tall shelves by my desk, with a second deck running the length of the wall, narrowing to a small town/staging area on the wall behind the door.

Office Concept.

This led to the idea of a small helix in the corner in the upper right of the diagram, which would otherwise be somewhat useless space. However, the helix would have 170mm radius curves (about 6.7” radius) which is tight but not unheard of in Nn3. However, the helix could be oval, with at least short straight sections on each side, extending the run. I estimated that I could get about 1178mm (46.4”) of length into a helix lap at a minimum, and I would need to climb 50.8mm to 57.15mm (2” to 2.25”) at a minimum per lap to get my lap over lap clearance. That translates to a grade of 4.3 to 4.9% in the helix. In my mind, this would have to be checked. It is extreme, but maybe it could be managed. So, I kept going with the plan, although my two decks became three, with deck heights of approximately 48”, 60” and 72” ultimately.

Deck 1 - The port town of Gladhaven.

The lowest deck became the town of Gladhaven, a port town and connection to the outside world via car ferry. The primary industry in the town is a Pulp Mill, although there are also a number of harbor spots associated with bringing materials in for the lumber operations. The result is a small but thriving town – a little rougher when the loggers come to town – and a lot quieter when they are in the hills. The mainline slips out of Gladhaven and climbs the helix into those hills on the right hand side.

Deck 2 - the Sawmill (Olympia Timber) to Camp Union.

The train climbs the helix to enter the Olympia Timber Sawmill complex on the right hand side. Trains proceed to the left, entering Olympia Timber, but then have to reverse course to climb the hills above the sawmill complex to climb to Camp Union. Along the way (about midpoint of the layout) they will pass by a gravel operation which provides material for the railroad. Upon reaching Camp Union on the left, they find the base logging camp. Trains again reverse direction to head into a second helix to climb to the third deck.

Deck 3 – Forxs, Sand Creek and the Camps.

On the third deck, the trains exit the helix into the settlement of Forxs. I envision this as little more than a whistle stop, similar to Forks Creek on the Colorado and Southern. Some trains would continue to the left into Sand Creek, and maybe taking the switch back at Sand Creek, climbing into Camp 5 to get timber. Other trains would continue to the right out of Forxs where they would either climb the switch backs at Junction 2 to reach Camp 7, or to continue to climb the hill to Camp 8. Camp 8 is more of a mining town than a logging town but would be a mixture of Red Mountain on the Silverton Northern, and Camp 8 from the Dolly Varden Railway where I took the name. Camp 8 would be high enough that it would rest partially on top of the hutch behind my desk, allowing a near full scale model of the National Belle Mine.

Anyway, that is one of the segway projects that I have had on my mind, largely driven by the purchase and arrival of the bookshelves for my office. Since a lot of my research ties to mechatronics and 3D printing, having a small layout in my office that has some examples of both types of technology would be useful (as well as enjoyable) so, if I can come up with something that works for me, I would like to have it in my office. This design has potential. Enough so, that I need to now go back a test out the helix. Based on the rest of the plan, it looks like a typical train would be an engine and 4-5 cars. So, time for a helix prototype.

Cameron Turner