Howdy All Been a while since I've posted around these parts. Bad modelling times so to say lol. Anyway, my most recent layout (The Blue Ridge Mainline) went the way of my first layout (The Nameless and Aimless) after an unfortunate encounter with a Sawzall. I had become tired of its limitations and my (continued) screw-ups. Many (more) Lessons learned. However, 0-2. Perhaps 1-3? So, moving on. New layout is 7'4" x 12', around the walls, built in modules. Two lift-outs for access to the room and closet where we keep the Christmas decorations. Largest module is 2' x 8' the rest are much smaller. Seven in total. Module frames are 1" x 3", legs are 1" x 3" screwed to 1" x 2", twice bolted to the frames. Much lighter than before lol, and far far more portable. No name as of yet (of course). Suggestions are welcome. Theme is same as before. Chessie in fall for those who haven't followed before. This time going to tone the trees down a touch with some green fine turf. Anyway, pictures to this point. Long update ahead. Module 1 Modules 2, 3 and 4 (left to right), 3 of course being a lift out. You get the idea lol. This is where things start to get different. Every 12 - 18" is a 2" tall spacer/riser thing. It will make sense in a minute, trust me. At every module join is two risers sandwiched together. Scenery will be built up to these joins onto these spacers. More on that later. More of the same, butt joint more visible. Using WS 2" risers for the roadbed. Very effective and I'm very pleased with the results. Making a little more sense? Hopefully it does So, up next is the backdrop, again, made out of foam Again, matched up to the butt joints. Backdrop will be painted green and then sponge painted with autumn colors to give a fall effect. Non moving joints will be plastered, moving joints will be hidden with trees And so far that's the lot. Time elapsed around a week. Progress is going to slow up this next week as I need to start cutting profile boards and doing more homework at the same time. It'll be a while before track is down too, which is unfortunate. Questions and feedback, as always, are welcomed and encouraged. More updates to come.
Great to see you working on another layout Chris. You are always up to something unique and interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Well, hopefully you've had some fun along the way? Is there a track plan for this new empire? Or sort of an on-the-go endeavor?
Tons of fun, no worries there lol I originally had a post written out with 12 pictures in it haha, that didn't make the cut apparently: The tracks behind the town have gotten moved towards the front since this was drawn. Decided I need space for the flour silos as I'm not up to kitbashing that yet. Things have also gotten curvier-square benchwork and 17-20" radii don't mix well. Some of the method behind the madness: Backdrop foam is now completely finished, cut some profiles for the river and will finish that up tomorrow. Need another trip to the big box place to pick up some more foam for mountain profiles and more liquid nails. And Thank You Jerry! Till tomorrow...
Chris- There is a limit on pics per post. We had to put that in a few years ago, as some folks whined about having to do a lot of scrolling. Talk about strenuous work, scrolling a page! Wiggling one finger on a scroll wheel is apparently too much for a few these days.
Chris sorry to hear of the demise of the Blue Ridge Mainline I was following the build with thanks and for inspiration as I have space limitations all my best with the new layout I hope it all comes together well Looking great, thus far sincerely Gary L Lake Dillesnyder
"No name as of yet (of course). Suggestions are welcome." TTAC Pronounced; Tee-Tack Third Time's A Charm Proverb third time's a charm 1.One is sure to succeed at a task or event on the third try. :teeth:
Food for thought Couldn't sleep last night, so finished off the backdrop and then cut the profile boards for the river. Observe:
I've decided that I need to get the majority of everything done by May. My train-room is climate controlled, and by that I mean the climate controls how the train-room feels. No AC in here lol. Thus, the frantic work pace continues. I'm going to experiment with two different scenery construction methods. This is the first time I've used WS risers, and the holes that arise (that pun may or may not have been intended lol) due to their construction have me contemplating. Method one is masking tape the whole thing, then laying the cork, then plastering. Method two is laying the cork first and then plastering. I don't want to plaster first as I've found this can make it difficult to keep the roadbed smooth and even. Pictures! Beginning During Finished (not really) Next up is plastering, but I suspect that will have to wait till tomorrow as St. Valentine is about to seriously curtail my work efforts
Chris, your layout is looking real good and you certainly are processing at a fast rate! I'm a big Chessie System fan.
Morning all, Yesterday for the most part was all about getting messy. Things began, however, with laying cork down in preperation for plaster: Which was of course then followed by plaster. A lot of plaster. Went through nearly half a small bucket of joint compound (watered down of course). Decided not to add Plaster of Paris this time around as I needed a longer set time, and could afford to not do anything over the coming days. About three fifths done with plaster (thank goodness). Cheers till next time!
I liked the Blue Ridge Mainline, you've got a ton of work done so far! Can't wait to see how this layout scenery turns out.
Change of pace today. Cork arrived soon after getting home from school, so got to work for the sake of it. Continued by sanding out the bumps. Lessons learned here. Made an executive decision after that. I sat back and looked over my empire and decided to do something (for me) a little different. I want the passing siding (the left track) to have a full ballast profile, but I want it to be below the mainline, so, we're doubling the cork for the main through the town area. Also on the slate is super-elevating the mainline for most of the layout, but I'm looking forward to seeing the effect most in the downtown area. Have some ideas for some scenery between these two tracks, but we'll worry about that later. After that got down to soldering feeder wires to rail joiners. Pre-done C55 terminal joiners are the latest thing to vanish off the market (unless you count the one I found on an auction site today going for $15). Just as well they're gone and I had to do my own as because of the modules I need 20 pairs, which would be ~$66. Here is a pointless picture of my soldering station on my handy dandy workbench: Now that feeder wires are done, next steps are: 1) Finish plastering 2) Figuring out which industries are going where. To this point only the silos are a sure thing on location. I also have a lumber yard to place, and another industry to find altogether, along with a possible team track/freight depot. 3) Install 1/2 risers for backdrop industries, including the transition grades 4) Sand cork shoulders 5) Paint everything black 6) Drop feeder wires and LAY TRACK!!! Fun times. Welcoming suggestions for small industries that would go with a small town feel, nothing too large, and preferably something I can build from a kit lol. Cheers!
More to report tonight. Apparently while I have the building bug I'm not going to get any homework done. Anyway. More plastering tonight. As far as I can tell I'm now done with this. Something you might be able to see, I've got some small risers down for the superelevating. Not sure if this method is going to work, but we'll find out. Also, skipped to step four from the previous post. Have sanded down the cork on all of module 5. Half inch risers and inclines will show up tomorrow so anticipate that getting done (hopefully) which will be followed by a short 4 day vacation out of state. Cheers!
From tomorrow till Monday I shall vanish as I shall be taking a short vacation to somewhere that doesn't have internet (i.e. my Mother's house). Not sure why you needed to know that. Made the decision to skip my first two classes today so as to make it possible to watch the US whoop the Czech Republic ("U-S-A, U-S-A"), which opened up a little time for railroading on either end (and intermissions). Between then and now I also put a good part of my evening to good use on one activity... sanding cork. Oh my goodness, such a boring and tedious process I have yet to find worse than sanding cork. (Heaven forbid the day I build a big layout...) Hard to show pictures of sanded cork, so all I can do is tell you about how smooth the shoulders on my roadbed are *rolls eyes*. What a joke lol. Anyway, in anticipation of returning home I went ahead and cleaned everything up, and by clean I mean remove three tons of clutter that had somehow accumulated its way onto the layout. So I took a couple pictures to show you how clean my layout is now. Slow news day. (As you can see the mess has simply moved elsewhere). Next post coming right now.
As to my list: Step 1 is done Step 2 has gotten more complicated Step 3 is on track, but depends on step 2. Inclines and risers are now on hand and ready to hit the deck. Step 4 is done Step 5 can begin on 3/4 of the layout, but to complete depends on step 2 & 3 Step 6 depends on step 5. Can't lay track till everythin' be black. And... now for a new list. We'll call this list... 'The List of Things that got Forgotten'. Step A: Solder frog wires to turnouts Step B: Buy and install bridge abutments (After step 5, before step 6) Step C: Buy and install fascia (ugh) so that I can do... Step D: Connect feeder wires to bus and frog wires to switches mounted in fascia And after all these are done it will be time for running trains and scenery. ETC End of spring break, so... March 16th Also, still: Cheers!
Well, in the modern era, small industries... There's.... and then... well... thaere's always... you could try... Yeah, not a whole lot left to work with, commercialism killed a lot of small plants. Especially in mountaints with not a lot of room. (Hopefully, five people prove me wrong and you get your answer.) Out by me, in flatland Indiana, there's a Co-Op that gets covered hoppers. When the lumbr yard was in play twenty years ago,a bulkhead flat or two showed up as well. there was a switchback in the siding, but most of the time, the train crews just made sure the lumber was close the Lumberyard and that the forklifts could make the distance. Toying with something too, TTAC T T & Central? T T & Allegheny Central?
There are worse things than sanding cork........SNL skit [video=youtube;Fuj1aKxET8Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuj1aKxET8Y[/video]
