This is a budget build and the switches are so old that they were made in the USA....yeah, that's right, I hoarded them for years. The price in my breakdown is using Fifer's current pricing. Besides, I am letting my kid use it, and durability is a concern, plus with all of the issues with Atlas Code 55 switches that I have read about and more importantly, there is none in the States right now....AND I WANTED TO RUN TRAINS! Anyways, I have a new project to work on, converting a 2-8-0 to Micro Trains! I broke out my last steamer and ran it a bit.
Sorry I forgot you did mention a budget. I tried a budget years ago and my wife can,t believe how much I've spent over the past two decades!!!
that's why I can say "but Honey, I had a lot of this BEFORE we got married, very little is out of pocket"
Personally, I would have tried to find an old lifelike engine and assorted cars to reduce your price.
I use Krylon Cammo Black instead of the brown. After I spray it black, I drybrush the basic tie color with a 1" wide stiff boar bristle brush keeping the brush a vertical as possible, then I go back and pick out some individual ties with other lighter and darker "tie" colors. Then I apply ballast...then come back and spray the reddish weed spray that UP does to its mainlines here in Utah, just enough to imply its use, not enough to cover everything up. Paint from the dry-brushing and overspray from applying the weed spray color makes the sides of the rails a nice, weathered brownish color, and the dry brushing emphasizes tie details such as wood grain and tieplate spikehead details on my Railcraft flex. I find that painting the rails Camo Black (really is an ultra-flat color) then drybrushing does a much better job of "highlighting" details since all those details that are not touched by the dry brush, remain much darker (almost black) than the details picked out with my technique. Painting the rails a light color first does just the opposite IMO, and emphasizes the track's problems, such as too tall rails, huge spikeheads, out of proportion ties, etc., and nothing is shaded by color differentiation...since it's all monotone. If I were to use just spray cans of Krylon (which I've done) I would paint the track black first (from all sides) then mist on a quick overspray from the top of brown, trying not to directly hit the sides of the rails or the ties. I think that'd look a lot better than everything being just one shade. But, I'd also drybrush it and pick out some individual ties, which doesn't take long and adds nothing to the expense. Once you get the hang of it, the drybrushing goes really fast, and is not something that requires much precision, other than making sure your paint is not wet. Here's a photo of track done using this method I did on my friend Nate's layout using Atlas 80 flex and turnouts:
last week, I realized that I made a mistake in my alignment of my ground throws for my switches, instead of setting them up to where all of them point in the same direction to go strait, I set them for ease of reach around spotted freight cars. To make things easier, I took some green electrical tape, and cut some small squares to tape on the strait alignment....
so I have been looking for some free paper buildings for the industrial area, mainly concrete buildings.....I found these, they are WWI air base buildings, but can make good, cheap temp buildings for now! http://kampfgruppe144.com/downloads/WW1_Hanger/Blockhouse-1.a.zip http://kampfgruppe144.com/downloads/Block/BlockHouse - 5a.pdf they are 1:144, so print them at 90% to make them N....
I have been trying to come up with things to do to my layout without spending a dime. I came across a site that has WWI airbase paper buildings in 1:144 scale. I figured that if I print them at 90%, they would then magically be 1:160! I also figured that Dollar Tree has white poster board that costs $1.00 for TWO! Today, I ran a test run with 2 sheets of printer paper and one of my daughter's glue sticks, I got TWO buildings for nothing! (well, basically nothing) I can't really complain about my 5 minute buildings......now for the really cool, no-cost project! Henk in the UK who posts on http://www.southernpacificmodelerssociety.org offered a FREE Southern Pacific GP20 and a bunch of Micro-Trains couplers for free...he even paid for the shipping! Henk informed me that it was a parts unit, and it might run, and that it had some appearance issues. Well, that is the best looking and running parts loco that I have ever seen. While it is not as quiet as a Kato and requires a high starting voltage, it is nice and slow! The loco that Henk sent was numbered 4077 and had a winterization hatch added to it. 4077 was rebuilt into 4124 in 1978-79.4084-4087 had the winterization hatch, and the correct side sills like this model, all other SP GP20's had thin, GP30 style sills..... I applied a pair of Detail Associates lights to the nose, added a SP to the nose, and renumbered it to 4087 to match the details for this model. Thanks again Henk!
I picked up a can of Krylon Camouflage Sand paint to paint the layout and make it look more realistic (lowering the left over budget to $25) before ballasting the track. I also printed out two new buildings to flush out the layout (yes, they look cheap, but just place holders). I also dug out an ancient pair of Atlas tank cars that need new trucks and couplers. I also got tired of the gap and the bad kink, so I pulled the track up to re-arange the track to make it smoother. Unfortunately, I fubared a switch beyond repair.Fortunatly, I do have some spares.
This morning I snuck into the garage, and started to place ballast onto the track. Keeping with the MRH $500 challenge, I am using a 35mm film canister to pour the ballast, the same paintbrush that I used to paint my girl's bedroom to spread the ballast, another brush for the finer detailing. It took forever to get the Woodland Scenics gray ballast that I have had for years to look like a real roadbed. As soon as I got it nice, I followed advice from two Model Railroader articles. I took an empty water bottle, and I filled it with a mixture (2:1) of water and 91% rubbing alcohol and mixed a 1:1 mixture of water and white glue. I punched a few holes in the lid of the water bottle, dribbled the "wet water", and I watched the ballast float and move around. I discovered that the ballast now clumps up. I now really wish that I went with a different ballast. I'll post pictures after vacuuming up the extra ballast soon...
I first use a 'misting' bottle with full strength rubbing alcohol to dampen the ballast. You dont want to use a 'spray bottle' as it WILL move the dry ballast around. Then...while the ballast is still wet...I use a 50/50 mix of water and Elmers white glue and slowly...drop by drop...apply it...straight from the glue bottle...over the alcohol wet ballast. JMO YMMV
the kids hid the bottle that I planed to use...lesson learned. It looks like it might have turned out better than I was expecting....I need to vacuum up the excess and see what I really have. All five switches move, but it is 108*f right now, and I have no plans to go into the garage right now
I have used this method many, many times, with great success. Also, I have used the Scenic Express matte medium as a bonding agent, with equally good outcome.
@ 108 outside...the glue should dry fast inside !!! I was just down your way the last few days...San Tan Valley to be exact. It was 110 on Thursday. We left Saturday morning. Couldnt wait to get back up on the mountain !!!
3 things... 1. I finished ballasting yesterday and took pictures of my work. Unfortunately, the computer that I am on is not reading the SD card, so I have to wait for the wife to get off of the lap top. 2. looks like I had a ground throw failure, it is sliding, and not closing the switch all the way 3. I Googled "Golden West Bulkhead Flatcar" and saw this under images....Glad that the wife has no need to search for that term
It is not the ballast. Nothing will flow onto dry ballast, without first breaking the surface tension. Application of the adhesive substance needs to be done in a two step process. Your initial step is the "wetting". This can be done with a misted spray, eye dropper, or whatever technique you evolve. The idea is to dampen, not flood. Then your chosen glue mixture follows quickly atop that, while the ballast is still damp. If the ballast dries out again, you'll be back to clumping and washing away. Just re-mist and continue. Take small section of scrap track plus sub roadbed, and practice on your work bench. You'll catch on, fast.
