Wrightsville Port: N-Scale Waterfront Layout

Nimo Nov 20, 2010

  1. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Operating Signals Installed in Wrightsville Port!!!

    OH! YES!!

    Finally - a long time dream comes true!

    Wrightsville Port now has operating signals. Here is a video of two signals in operation - caption included.

    [video=youtube_share;J6_s-oFKY8U]http://youtu.be/J6_s-oFKY8U[/video]

    The signals are 100% scratch-built. I used Circuitron mitey-lites 1.4 mm dia micro lamps. I could not source for the colored lamps, so I improvised. I created tiny colored lenses in those lamp shades using glass paint - behind those lenses are the tiny bulbs - the effect is no less than that of a colored lamp, I have to say. Also, the brightness is very prototypical to the low power lamps generally used in signals.

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    The two signals here are actually for two different purposes - the right one, in front of the white truck is the block signal that protects the single line block approaching the port. The one on the left is basically the one that protects the diamond crossing with the main (Please refer to the track plan) - ideally, this signal should have been further down nearer to the crossing, but then it would have been facing the backdrop, so I moved it a little ahead of its intended place. The default 'clear' for that signal is also amber ('approach with caution') rather than green. There will be similar protection given to the other side of the diamond crossing once I get to make the rest of the signals.

    I used Circuitron's BD-2 detection system. s Since night time operation is equally important for me, I decided to try resistance detection despite the extra work of putting at least two resistor wheels per car (which I am yet to start working on).

    I have to say that these signals improves the realism of this layout many fold. Can't wait to build the rest. :)
     
  2. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Some additional detailing and some new angle on the existing scenes in Wrightsville Port - all taken 'after the dark'



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    [TD]The Old Art Shop with some fabulous paintings - yes this is in N scale![/TD]
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    [TD]Another store in the neighborhood - doesn't look so promising![/TD]
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    [TD]The neon sign of the bar.[/TD]
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    [TD]Mr. Shaw and Simon Green again - they had a nice little chat over their favorite scotch this weekend[/TD]
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    [TD]Dan and his girlfriend had a nice little time too after Dan came back from his 2 month trip to Europe[/TD]
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    it's going a little slow for the dock workers in graveyard shift...


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    [TD]An overview of the dock - around 11 PM - overall it's pretty quite now![/TD]
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    [TD]Production is on at the paint factory to meet a very tight deadline - passengers waiting for the last ferry in front of the dock
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  3. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Nice! There is a lot of life everywhere after darkness falls. Not only when the sun is shining.
     
  4. paperkite

    paperkite TrainBoard Member

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    +1 Kaustav! When I worked on the docks at Navy ship yard in Long Beach ( now gone ) , I always liked the late hours and early morning as it was pretty quiet and you have captured that " feel " for me. The signals are pretty cool , the only thing traveling on our tracks there were the portal cranes on each pier for ships and usually only one crane op on nite duty. Thanks for sharing the video !!!
     
  5. Gizmo2011

    Gizmo2011 TrainBoard Member

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    Very inspiring Kaustav!

    The details everywhere are very nice, but I really like how you detailed the interior of your buildings.

    Rob
     
  6. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Forgot to mention- I'm really caught by that soundtrack for your signals video!
     
  7. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks! :) I always like the feel of the night - worked in graveyard shift for over 8 years (not at the docks, but still... ) and that is something that I intended to capture when I started the layout - I am so glad that the feel of this matches your real life experience - that is a great complement for me :)

    Thanks Rob. :) It's tough to model interior in N scale, and it is tougher to capture it properly in photographs (at least for me) - glad that you like it. :)

    Gov't Mule - one of my all time favorites. Warren Haynes is the man! :)
     
  8. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    He is excellent. Must be about the best rocker these days, playing a twelve string guitar. I wonder what was his inspiration for "Railroad Boy?"
     
  9. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Started working on the intricate town scenes - pavements, asphalt roads, gutters and drains. There are significant progress in the background scene (Spoiler - the background scenery will be in 3D!) and low relief background buildings. More update on its way. :)


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    The drain openings are fine mesh from a common plastic sieve. The holes you see in the photos are the provision for lamp posts which I am yet to acquire.
     
  10. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    3D Background Scene and Low Relief Background Buildings

    It has always been in my mind - the background scene. The way I see it, background scenes and how it blends into the layout is one of the most important things in layout building as track laying, wiring, scratchbuilding and even the actual operations. The background scenes develop the 'feel' of the layout, and gives it the required depth. From my perspective, it is easier to create that vastness and touching the horizon feel in a large layout with meters of hills and hundreds of trees, but for an urban setting in a small layout, it is a challenging job to create that illusion.

    This is when I thought of 3D backscenes - a concept that is used to bring more depth in certain decorative wall hangings and something that is surely used in movie sets - something I learned from my one time gig in a local B grade movie as a child actor nearly two decades ago! That is what I wanted to incorporate in this layout.


    So I started looking for suitable background scene materials on the internet. After months of searching I finally found my material - but those are not photographs - those are reproduction of hand drawn posters of 1960's North Carolina. These became instant favorite - the hand drawn quality gives it the artistic touch that I always like to see in a layout. After all, a photograph makes it all too perfect for me to blend in to the make believe world of miniature anyway, especially for a person like me who builds everything from scratch and with cardboard and wood - I always like to stay on that thin line of 'fine scale modeler' vs. an artist - you have less compulsion, more freedom, and for me, it makes my job more interesting.


    Anyway - enough for the prologue, for the 3D effect, I raised the building on the two sides raised by 7mm, and fitted light inside (night time scenes coming soon), and then blended it with the layout from three sides - two low relief, scratch built buildings from both the sides, the rolling up the asphalt road to the back scene - The back scene is 7-8 mm above the baseboard and the road curves it's way up to merge with the road in the poster, giving it a smooth transition.


    Here are some quick photos. I also included my favorite bad boy bikers figure kit from WS, featuring some great N scale bike models and rough characters - a very nice touch for a 1960's small American port town, I think. :)


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    The area still requires a lot of detailing (street lamps, dust bins, cats, dogs, birds, people, junk, grass, fence - you name it, it all goes in that tiny 15" X 9" area) and will be the hot spot of the layout - a detailing task that will take months if not years. However, I am hoping to post some night time photos soon where the background buildings will also have lights!
     
  11. stew d

    stew d TrainBoard Member

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    Benchwork looks beautiful!!!
    You even laminated your outside rim to build a curve. Very nice!
    Most everyone else that I have seen do curves of a table cantilever their plywood over the frame.
    Yours is a lot more respectable!!!
    What kind of wood did you use for the frame? It looks like Teak.
     
  12. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks Stew - it is actually a little lower quality than teak - local wood that is pretty close to teak. The curve is actually not ply, but good quality cardboard, laminated in a ply frame - it took some time, but the overall look is much better and long lasting - so worth the effort. :)
     
  13. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Surprisingly, despite considerable work pressure my layout progress has been more or less steady this year - for the first time in my life (Hope I hadn't jinxed it!).

    To give you quick updates, we painted the cold storage building in the mean time, developed additional scenery for the 3D backdrop, completed the entrance of the layout with ground cover etc... and, built the most important thing of all - a couple of cut out bill boards! And guess who owns the clod storage now... yes, frosty it is. :)

    So this is my wife's first piece of real estate in the Americas and a decent business venture that too! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you Frosty's Cold Storage (With a crooked 'L'):

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    The letters are self adhesive plastic letter cutouts to use on cheap name plates and all - originally had a pathetic golden color. I painted them white, and then put them on the cardboard frame. The one on the rooftop still requires some more bars - I ran out of supply in the process, but managed to complete the basic structure.

    Coming to the backscene, though the effect of the 3D back ground photo is awesome from street level, it definitely is strikingly awkward from other angles. Hence I covered both the buildings with a couple of trees in such a way that the effect actually is enhanced from the street level view, but the awkward effect is drastically reduced from other angles. Here are a few shots to demonstrate the cover-up. The first one is from an angle that's never been used before.

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    More to come... stay tuned. :)
     
  14. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Well, I think I did jinx it the last time when I said that my layout progress is more or less steady this year! Last one month - didn't really touch the layout for more than 5 of hours- just some cosmetic progress, track cleaning, quick operation sessions for friends visiting over the weekends - and that's it! Moreover, my long time friend, Walthers Proto GP 38-2 has decided to take a permanent break from railroading, after 5 years of faithful service. So yes, last one month is possibly the most disappointing railroading month for me in this year so far.

    Anyway, here are some latest photos - basically more figures added to the scene:

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  15. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    There is one very significant addition that happened at the beginning of May though - the first coat of water throughout the layout - though there will be many more coats and addition of special effects, that first coat itself made a huge change in the appearance of the layout:

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    And finally here is a video of another night time operation, with some additional photos:

    [video=youtube_share;a_sgSBtEKu4]http://youtu.be/a_sgSBtEKu4[/video]
     
  16. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    About a month back I was talking to my dear friend Aritrim, and he mentioned that he had some spare tall yard lights in N scale, and that he can part with half of his stock as he wouldn't need them. That's how it all started. So he said that he can send me 8 of these tower lights. Actually these can be used as HO standard street lamp and usually cannot be used in an N scale layout; but given my requirement is to flood the whole Wrightsville port with light, these were perfectly prototypical in terms of height. As for the shape, well, it's a little bit of a compromise, but nothing out of proportion. The reason I was interested in them was that the Model Power street lamps mixed with Brawa tower lights were not really my favorite idea of lighting a port. Model Power lights stood too low compared to what you see in ports, and to me didn't look right. I simply kept that update on hold just due to the sheer price of the tall yard lights, so when Aritrim came to me with the most generous offer, I simply couldn't refuse! He also added a home made DC train controller which I am going to cover under a separate heading.

    So last weekend, I removed all existing lights on the port, installed the tall white yard lights, and used the Model Power lights in my newly developed town scene. I have to say the upgrade did make a lot of difference in the look and feel of the layout. I also moved the Brawa twin spot light to the main loading dock since I started disliking the bright white LED lights mixed with yellow incandescent lamps - not prototypical for late '60/early '70 era.


    Without further ado, here are the pics:


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    As you can see in the 2 photos above, I also added a 'not so impressive' electric distribution line.

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    I think the night scenes are now really coming to life. Thank you, Aritrim!
     
  17. robwill84

    robwill84 TrainBoard Member

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    Very nice! Love those night time shots.
     
  18. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    Thank you. :)
     
  19. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    The last of the big cranes...

    Long pending, as you all know. I have been planning to get into a new scratchbuilding project for a long time, and other than the new buildings, didn't have the opportunity to look at something more complicated. So this week when I had some time and the chance to start something new, thought of completing the last of the big cranes on Wrightsville Port

    My research shows that one of the first proper container portals in the US was in Seattle in late 1960s. May be there were more, but there was not enough research material (articles and photos)online for me to refer to. Additionally I did find a proper N scale drawing of the first generation Paceco 32.5 ton cranes and that was pretty helpful too. Here are some of the photographs and the drawings that I am referring to:


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    Now the challenge is the dimension - honestly, I had 'forced' the container portal in my design of the Wrightsville port, hence I could not allow for as much space as it's required for a true container portal, even for N scale. Hence the dimensions had to be readjusted as below:

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    Now, clearly the ratios will not fit to replicate the actual crane, but all that I can do is to bring it as much close to the prototype crane as possible - I know it's an unrealistic expectation to replicate a prototype that never existed!

    So here is what I accomplished so far -

    First the basic structure of the tower:

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    Then the basic structure of the tower and the beam:

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    Finally with all the basic truss supports and cross beams for strength:

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    Coming up: Complete detailing of the beam and the tower, including stairs and ladders and the lights.
     
  20. Nimo

    Nimo TrainBoard Member

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    The next step was to create the truss support on the main beam. Also, I made some changes in the design - initially, I thought of going for a fixed beam crane, but then I thought that if I make the beam fold upwards I can create different scenes with different position of the beam, hence decided to go for the retractable one.

    So here are the photos of the brass tube truss support on the main beam - used 1/32 X .006 inch (0.81mm X 0.153mm) brass tubes from Special Shapes Co. I used 22 gauge single strand wires inside the tubes for reinforcements, and connecting the joints.

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    Next step was to design the trolley. given I started making this crane to simulate both working and non-working conditions, I decided to make the trolley movable as well. As for the basic structure of the trolley, used cardboard, pins, and small pieces of 2mm X 1mm styrene tubes as wheels.

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