Dom, Maybe one of these days when the layout is complete. I think I'll give it to Ztrack Magazine first. John
So I am a firm believer in setting the scene the "era" of a layout. Because my layout is centered around the LIRR in the Dutch Kills area of Queens, NY I needed some era specific billboards to set the scene. So Mr. Google helped me out and I found a Schaefer beer / Mets billboard; then on http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirrcontents.htm I found two others the "Follow the Blue Arrow to the World's Fair" and "Ride the Long Island Railroad". I purchased several N scale laser-cut wood billboard frames N-#1433 from Blair Lines http://blairline.com/billbord/ cut them down to Z scale dimensions and added the billboards I found on the web. I think they turned out pretty good. It was an easy project to ease me back into model railroading after my long hiatus. I also took some layout photos just to give y’all an update on the layout. Enjoy! John
Good point. One shouldn't spot an add for Jetblue Airlines on a 1960 era layout, nor for Allegheny Airlines on a present day one. Dom
For some parts of my layout I had a definite plan, other parts just evolved. My layout had this approximate 2” x 6” area. I needed something that fit my urban area, something dirty and gritty. I stumbled upon photos of LIRR electrical substations and so having an electrical substation on my layout was one of those layout areas that just evolved. After researching what typical electrical substation buildings that served the LIRR looked like I dove in. One of the frustrating things about Z is that some items are not available in our scale, its way better than it was years ago but on the flip side one of the most rewarding things in our scale is the scratch-building and kit-bashing opportunities. I love scratch-building and kit-bashing. So for this project I took Luetke Modellbahn’s Fabrikgebäude 73204 and bashed it into my main building. The cornice came from Monster Modelworks N scale cornice kit which they no longer produce, the window stone trim are N scale from Scale-Link #NS014, the front door is from an old Artitec Z scale factory, the chimney is a leftover from my N scale bin, the window bars I trimmed down from MZZ’s fence kit 3226, the fence around the substation is from Micron Art 91405, the main electrical substation transformers and regulators came from a Tomix N scale substation kit #4023, for two of the transformers I kitbashed them from HO scale milk cans and one from an electrical component I had lying around in my parts bin. The I beam and Warren Open Web Trusses (#90401) are from Plastruct and make up the overhead arrestors with the Electrical Insulators on them coming from the Tomix N scale substation kit. I like the way it turned out, its one of a kind and really adds some flavor to the layout. For not being planned it fits right in. Enjoy! John
Great looking bascule lift bridge. I have been working on a bascule bridge myself in 3D printing but haven't had it printed yet to see the out come! but have a render of it. It not in the US but in India and it's just part of the bridge. there is two sections of this middle part of the bridge that crosses the sea. It's the Pamban Bridge,the hole bridge is 6,776 feet long but I'm just doing the middle section! This is done in Z scale 1:220.
I really like the job you did. Nice idea, great execution. Looks dirty and realistic - exactly as you wished.
John you attention to detail is fantastic. That layout looks better and better. I like your crossings and the gates too. Nice touch.
All, Sorry for not posting anything lately but my basement flooded back on 1/21/17 and we are still recovering. We should have the new carpet in the basement by the end of March and then I’ll be back up to railroad modeling hopefully before the end of April. Good news is none of my model railroad stuff was damaged. John
John I have missed your updates. I am glad none of your model railroad items were damaged. Looking forward to your next round of photos! Rob
Well I'm back in the saddle after almost a year. The train room is still a mess but it has spurred me to start planning to finish that room, which should start this winter. In the mean time I'll work around the mess on the last building to go on the lower part of the layout - the National Casket factory. I started this building years ago but I'm finally getting back to it. It is a very condensed version of the National Casket factory that was in the LI City Yard. The factory was huge: http://www.astorialic.org/topics/industry/lirr/volume10/volume10.shtml It has a very large water tower on the top of the building which is one of those city items I love on city buildings. One of my favorite model building is the Walthers George Roberts Printing factory https://www.walthers.com/george-rob...-12-3-4-x-7-1-2-x-9-quot-31-6-x-19-3-x-22-9cm so I decided to scratch-build the National Casket factory in a condensed version based on the George Roberts Printing factory. I have one wall to go and then I'll work on finishing it off with a roof, details and painting. Glad to be back in the train room! Enjoy! John
I took a break from completing the National Casket factory and decided to dive into another area that I had no experience in - fascia. I never have worked with masonite but it turned out to be pretty easy I just had to take my time. The fascia adds a really nice finished look to the layout. It came out nice and I'm happy with it. Now back to finishing the National Casket factory. Enjoy, John
Amazing how that fascia totally changes the look of your layout! It gives it depth and a feeling of more distance.
Sometimes in our hobby I found that I get distracted or need a break from the current project I am working on. In this case I needed a break from my layout and decided that I needed to make my railroad hobby room more presentable, so I am starting to frame the walls and build a proper railroad hobby room. I've never framed walls before, I helped my Dad finish our basement in Garden City back in the 70's so basically this is all new territory for me. I secured the rear wall top and floor 2x4s. More to follow and I'll keep you posted as this project proceeds, depending on how distracted I get when I see another model railroad project pop up. Enjoy, John
Well it took a while to complete the framing of the rear wall in my hobby room today. It took three months mostly because of other things in life that take priority over hobbies. It felt good to complete the framing. Now I'll run the wiring for the outlets, then drywall and paint it. Hopefully before Christmas the rear wall will be done so I can move stuff around and start on the side walls. I may get to work on my National Casket building tonight. Yee ha! Enjoy, John
I was able to spend some time on my layout tonight and so I made some progress on the National Casket Company. Its a rough first painting. More to follow and a load of sins will be covered up with weathering. Enjoy, John