Thanks! I've always admired the scene on your layout. It seems to share the big-scenery-small-track philosophy that I'm going for in this section. One thing I'm trying to keep in mind is when John Armstrong stated "never model the same thing twice" in his book _Track Planning for Realistic Operation_. So I think this wide open climbing pass will be confined to just this leg of the overall U shaped layout. Armstrong seemed to have built a layout or two in his time.
Here is the latest foam work on the far end of this leg of the layout. This will make a great railfan scene on the layout, where the main line has climbed a bit and doubles back over itself. I'm going to have a tunnel at the rightmost end of the new hillside and am trying to create a scene barrier between the future yard and this large grade climbing scene. The trains will appear out from behind the cut after making the loop, show a few passenger cars and then slip into the tunnel.
Nice, You realize I have been taking detailed notes. Now I'm just wonder how to get you to slip into my place and paint _my_ backdrop.
Does that one picture say June 3rd, 2000? Or maybe March 6th, 2000? Either your camera's clock need resetting, or this project's been going on for some time...
Lol, the camera's date got messed with somehow. The pic was from today. I finally figured exactly where I wanted to put the track and marked it with the black line. The radii vary from 40" down to 25" and then 18" in the tightest spots. I think I used the 25" radius at the center of the upper grade between the cut and future tunnel. It's all about hiding the tightest curves. I'm finding that only in the areas where the track must really turn around am I having to actually go as tight as 18" radius. This is good for railfans of Amtrak trains with 85' superliners. Here is a reference shot of the area before laying the foam (hopefully it shows how I set up the grade for the track before doing the hills). I posted it in the inspection pit but I may as well show it here to illustrate the foam technique I like. [ 30. November 2004, 04:51: Message edited by: Fluid Dynamics ]
Check out the foam build-up process: So if anyone had any remaining curiosities about the method of foam laying, it's basically a matter of cutting out the foam, applying the liquid nails (construction adhesive) to the joints and pinning it all temporarily with toothpicks. The Bachmann U36B is positioned by the future entrance to the tunnel. I'm planning on building it with a removable hilltop so I can get to train wrecks with ease.
I just dug this one back up and it looks like I've de-hosted a few pics. Anyway, here is some ground foaming and tunnel portal progress. Also, the layout of some switches is getting sorted out. I might try to put in a back drop pretty soon. It would really help the appearance of the scene I think.
Some weathering and ballasting of the main line: I think Woodland Scenics ballast is not fine enough for N scale. Is there anything finer out there? Arizona rock & mineral?
I think the bigger problem is the salt-and-pepper coloring of the ballast you used. The largest rocks in real ballast are seldom larger than 2" diameter, if I recall correctly. That would be no more than 1/80" in N scale, or less than half the width of a 0.7mm pencil lead--in other words, largely indistinguishable from a smooth surface at any reasonable viewing distance. At these sizes, even if a real ballast were made up of black and white rocks, it would blend into a pretty uniform gray, much like a halftoned newspaper picture. Therefore, even if you're representing a real-world salt-and-pepper mix, you may be better off using a uniform gray ballast. The 3-d relief of the (slightly oversize) ballast will create shadows, giving an impression of darker ballast mixed in with the lighter.
I can't find AR&M stuff anywhere! Just last year I remember seeing it listed in internet stores. Aaaaaaaaaa this is almost as bad as if Micro Engineering products got discontinued. Woodland scenics is great, but I'm obsessive.
Eh? I'll take a look, thanks for the tip. I figured out how to dress the shoulder with an xacto blade while the ballast was wet. I redid this section and came up with this in one shot: This WS ballast might work if I wash it with a lot of dust color.
Fluiddynamics: Try natural rock ballast from Color Canyon Materials. Natural Rock Ballast - Color Canyon Materials You can order from CCM directly. Stay cool and run steam.....
What about the 50 lb. back of play sand at Home Depot for $3? I did a quick look see when I was getting some pink foam over the weekend. It appears to be fine enough. Anyone used this?
Hmm, sand is an interesting idea, it's very fine. All I would need is some light gray sand and darker gray. Hmmm. I checked out some local 1:1 scale shortline tracks today and it seems like it takes an average of 10 ballast rocks to span the gap between the ties. My WS ballast does that in 3 grains. It's 10/3rds too big! Something's got to give here, this is not right. Everyone here with a super awesome layout has real nice looking ballast. *edit* Here is some progress on groundcover next to the ballast, and some light tan airbrush blending and washing out of the shoulders. It's all an experiment, so failure is not possible, therefore I try wacky combinations of paint, clump foliage, and stuff. Lesson learned: cover the clump foliage with fine ground foam before putting it on the layout. This technique worked really well for the lichen in the top center of the second pic. It almost looks like an oak tree. [ March 16, 2005, 01:42 AM: Message edited by: Fluid Dynamics ]
Check out the colored sand found in craft stores used for making sand "Paintings" in clear glass globes and goblets, etc.
Jeff, that scenery looks great. The Woodland Scenics ballast referrence chart shows a Z scale fine ballast (2.2"-7.3"). This is the smallest size you can get from Woodland Scenics. Anybody know how this stuff looks for N scale? Jeff, when I laid my Micro Engineering track (Code 55) on my Woodland Scenics roadbed I thought the width of the shoulders (end of ties to the slope) looked too large but your ballasted track looks just fine.
