Perch Lake Lumber CO. Layout Rebuild
Perch Lake Lumber Company
Layout in Three Lakes WI
Introduction and Summery
The Narrow-Gauge Layout has changed three times in the last few years
The Perch Lake Lumber Company in conjunction with the SOO Line has gone Standard Gauge.
One issue became clear after the first winter, the wood roadbed, turnouts, and the track did not work well with the wood and foam base of the layout in the harsh environment of the winters in Three Lakes Wisconsin. Temperature and humidity swings caused operational issues when bringing the layout back to life after a winter's rest.
During the end of 2020 and into 2021 with an operational HOn3 Layout, I decided that the little engines were all little too little. I hoped that having a full Standard Gauge operation with a set of lumber equipment which has gone unused on my Glen Ellyn Layout, I could improve the operation.
Starting summer 2021, I removed the narrow-gauge track and widened the roadbed to standard gauge. I built twenty-seven #5 and # 6 turnouts and had Micro Engineering Code 83 track. As it turned out the issues of surviving the changes in temperature and humidity were part of the combination of wooden roadbed and the turnouts with PC board ties between Quick Sticks wooden ties at the gaps in the rails.
I was determined to rebuild the layout in HO standard gauge with Hand laid turnouts and code 83 flex track on foam roadbed mounted on new pink foam. This is the method used by the club's modules and has put up with winters and travel around from state to state for shows. One issue remained, the Hand Laid Turnouts with Quick Sticks ties and printed circuit ties. Gaps in the turnouts tend to match the placement of the PC board ties. The early spring of 2023, I was up to the Lake house and found that the turnouts had warping problems while mounted on foam roadbed occurring around the PC board gaps. With adjustments trains could operate for a while but the changing seasons caused more issues with the turnout. Walthers introduced their code 83 turnouts that matched my hand laid ones. After testing with a pair of these turnouts and decided to replace all 27-hand laid with Walthers turnouts. I will address this in section 7 of the story.
As of now the site will be under construction along with the railroad with each step from the HOn3 thru new HO on their own pages. Links will be available as the pages are set up.
1, Building the Framework
(Click here)
2, Laying out the HOn3 Layout (Click here)
3, Converting from HOn3 to HO (Click here)
4, Replacing the wooden roadbed (Click here)
5, The Layout development (Click here)
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