TheRailwire
General Discussion => Layout Engineering Reports => Topic started by: Ed Kapuscinski on July 18, 2012, 03:38:39 PM
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I realized I don't have one of these threads here, probably because my progress is glacially slow, but, here's the kickoff.
I wrote up an explanation of the two concurrent (kinda) layout projects I've got going on my site:
http://conrail1285.com/news.asp?storyid=78
I'm going to write up a full article on the shelf's progress at some point, but in the meantime, here are three pics (also in the writeup):
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A2uMr_rjkEc/T_pXCYNzEtI/AAAAAAAASRQ/gTgvgKivLKA/s800/IMG_9065.JPG)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qZ-bHpkf2E4/T-VJnCCWFhI/AAAAAAAASQY/Ni-J25_JEQ0/s800/IMG_9033.JPG)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PRzbLWUPRvU/T_pXFg2y0AI/AAAAAAAASRw/gKNTkHyy8oY/s800/IMG_9053.JPG)
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Nice pics Ed!
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Bout time old' mAn - of course this means I'll need to do at some point.
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Ed,
I really do like how you have carved the foam substrate to capture rolling hills and avoided many level spots on your layouts. That said, if you won't remove the Christmas lights, at least keep them out of your pictures. :D
DFF
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Thanks for the pix Ed. Nice to see more folks modeling the Mojave!! :D
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Thanks for the pix Ed. Nice to see more folks modeling the Mojave!! :D
+1! Some of the best desert scenery I've ever seen. As long as you have it in that state, stick some Trona Baldwins on there and take a slug of photos. You'll pick up all kinds of new followers. But seriously, I hope this thread spurs you to further progress.
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Me gusta!
Love the texture with the grout. I wonder, though, if you maybe should have masked that track before you sanded everything. Nevertheless, unlike the other posts on the subject, I think you have that dry winter soil color just right, especially with the dull and diffuse winter lighting you intend to replicate.
I'm loving all the rail fan shots you can set up in such a short distance. Simple grade crossing with house and store (gas station?), stone culvert, leafless tree line, Interstate overpass... All very typical, mundane, and exactly correct for the locale and era.
What about Canton? Last year I remember it was part "blank canvas" and part extended workbench/shelf. Any roadbed/tracklaying yet?
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Nice.
Question: How do you keep up with 2 layouts? Are your weeks longer than my weeks? :D
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You need to take your bike up the NCR trail and take a big canvas bag to collect some shards of local rock. Embed them into the finish layer of scenery goop, then start planting your dead trees. You must have a million trees now that you've been making a few every night for the last 6 years... :trollface:
(http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/Padonia_Rd.jpg)
I still contend that the base soil color is too light, but then again, back when I would drive up the abandoned right of way in my Super Beetle to get hammered with my high school buddies, it was always dark...
Lee
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I think I could learn a thing or two from you Ed. Great stuff. I really like your "vision". Will be watching indeed!
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Thanks guys.
Lee, you're absolutely correct about the rocks, I'm just waiting for a sub 90deg day to go do it. I want to take the dog, but when it's that hot, he goes on strike. As far as the color goes, look at the dirt next to the ballast, and back along side the engine.
Paul, the answer? Barely... one of them is currently just serving as my work bench (3 hollow core doors for $15 at the Re-Store got me the best modeling work bench ever).
Dr. Dave, Canton is still in planning. I need to use it as a work shop while I work on the shelf.
Dave Esq, Replacing them with track lighting is in the to-do, I think I need a hand doing it though. Lately Terri's been watching House Crashers, so she might just be up for it... and thanks for the terrain comment, that's something that I think is absolutely key to modeling, well, anywhere. I also did my best to avoid sharp transitions too, say from a hill to a flat. This type of thing isn't so important if the entire terrain is going to be covered by foliage (bushes, trees, etc...), but I don't have anywhere to hide, so I've got to get it right.
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Ed, I. An help with the lights - providing you have a good circuit to connect to. Otherwise we'd hard to run new wire, and they takes time.
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You must have a million trees now that you've been making a few every night for the last 6 years... :trollface:
Wow, its been 5 years: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=12793.0
Amazing how time flies! :scared:
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Ed, I. An help with the lights - providing you have a good circuit to connect to. Otherwise we'd hard to run new wire, and they takes time.
Geez, auto correct makes me look drunk when I type!
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He has the lights. I delivered them to him personally over a year ago.
He'll need a new circuit. 600 watts of track lighting don't take kindly to that old cloth insulated 14AWG he's got in that old fire trap.
Should be able to fish it through the ceiling tiles provided the rafters above the ceiling tile run in the right direction, which I believe they do.
Lee
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what are your plans for signals, as well as DC vs. DCC?
just curious.
EP
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Both. And signals will be cosmetic only.
Lee, think I can just use the drops at the lights if I stick to CFLs?
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You're not that far from the circuit box. If you've got a spot for one, go for the new circuit. You're probably going to have to take some things apart to see what you've actually got.
L
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Last night I hit a milestone: the first working wiring.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k9huruezrf4/UD_dqC7J8sI/AAAAAAAASU4/VzLJ5MrdVS0/s800/2012-08-29%252022.05.18.jpg)
I've got the front center mainline all wired up now.
I need a little more wire, need to wire up another set of molex plugs, and it's ready to go!
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That picture almost makes me want to model only Conrail. +1
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Track and electricity are two key parts of any model railroad... That's one of the secrets the pros don't want you to know!
http://beginnersguidetomodeltrains.com/ (http://beginnersguidetomodeltrains.com/) :trollface:
Seriously, that's gonna look SO hawt once those hills are dotted with bare trees. You really have that PRR-engineered right of way look.
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Thanks guys.
Tonight I wired up the one end loop. This was a bigger step because it included doing the plugs where it plugs into the end center units, and the slide switch which turns off one of the staging tracks (for days when I run it with DC). I know wiring isn't a major achievement, but it's my #1 biggest challenge, and I'm really glad I'm 2/3 of the way done.
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Video of the NCR, now that it's all wired:
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"Conrail on the Santa Fe"
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Very nice. Did you add in the sound or is that a sound decoder in the lead locomotive?
Phil
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Believe it or not, that awesome proto sound you hear? That's actually the models themselves!
I couldn't believe it when I watched the video either.
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yeah, but your color balance sucks!
Had to pick on you about SOMETHING!
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Lol, that it does. I really need to get a better video capture device.
Hopefully that Apple event scheduled for the 12th will provide something fun for me.
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Believe it or not, that awesome proto sound you hear? That's actually the models themselves!
I couldn't believe it when I watched the video either.
That's awesome, and probably scary at the same time.
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That's awesome, and probably scary at the same time.
I think it had something to do with one of the units running a little faster than the other, but either way, I enjoyed it!
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That is pure hawtness. Can't wait to see it with winter grass and bare trees!
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Lol, that it does. I really need to get a better video capture device.
Hopefully that Apple event scheduled for the 12th will provide something fun for me.
Very nice! I want to see more Canton though!
I'm looking at getting a GoPro Hero2 for my videos. I like what I have seen online and from a friends. I think it would also be pretty versatile for speeder videos and possibly using it on the motorcycle. I also have a Canon HV20 true HD camcorder that I use..albit not for some time. I also have my HD flip camera but I cant find the damn thing. I think it actually was stolen at a train show a few months back as I thought I put it in my camera bag but its now AWOL. :|
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I'm looking at getting a GoPro Hero2 for my videos. I like what I have seen online and from a friends. I think it would also be pretty versatile for speeder videos and possibly using it on the motorcycle.
I looked into one of these a few months ago after seeing what a friend did with his on his motorcycle trips. The videos looked awesome but noticed that they have 170° lens which gives a "fish eyed" look. We tried shooting some videos on his layout that night and although they were crisp and sharp, the "fish eye" look was very prevalent when we watched the test shots.
Have you noticed this, if not you might want to check into it first. Maybe they've made some changes so you can adjust for this since then.
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I bought a Herocam2 for work this summer and agree that the image quality was excellent. The fisheye effect is very prominent, but there are two settings (120 and 190 degree FOV, or something like that). The battery life outdoors was the pits- a few hours with time lapse mode and similar in regular capture.
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I did see that has a fisheye look, you have 170 degree and 127 degree.
I have seen some video online of some good work "flattening" the video. My FlipHD does not have the fisheye...but if I could just find the damn thing. Sucks they dont make em anymore.
On my Flip I get about 2hrs out of the battery when running constant. but I can also used "regular" batteries until I can get to charge my battery.
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Here's a time lapse I took with my Herocam2, about 3 hours at 30 second intervals- the full battery life on my new unit:
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That is pure hawtness. Can't wait to see it with winter grass and bare trees!
+1
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Now that it's running, I decided to toss down some trees to start seeing how the scenes break. Tonight I shot some photos to show off.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-MbnJgIoXpJo/UE_6X3PHDBI/AAAAAAAAS54/n3k8CjG5Nas/s800/IMG_9075.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8XdDM98dyTA/UE_6YYNSf1I/AAAAAAAAS6A/-apY2sJDCNQ/s800/IMG_9077.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7pTfsiPSkUY/UE_6ZRYipvI/AAAAAAAAS6M/bojotZSSLZg/s800/IMG_9085.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QVn6iQG5Vfo/UE_6a2uYhII/AAAAAAAAS6g/Uajg5KgQPro/s800/IMG_9091.jpg)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U_PMpHi1etU/UE_6dDO4C-I/AAAAAAAAS64/i8BwTBOp6js/s800/IMG_9102.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MyZofYVO3Zk/UE_6aIiLTnI/AAAAAAAAS6U/aZM71nQT5pM/s800/IMG_9088.jpg)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fbje-NeLFmI/UE_6b2eyMoI/AAAAAAAAS6o/SwZsctHYbcQ/s800/IMG_9096.jpg)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5N8GBHC3n98/UE_6cmg4V1I/AAAAAAAAS6w/rxFG7C97b1I/s800/IMG_9100.jpg)
That last scene, the CP right by I83 (I think I'll be calling it CP Parkton), really got good once I threw the trees down in the front. I plan on putting a metal gate over the access road, and I think it'll really capture the "don't you wish you could railfan here" vibe.
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Ed,
the way the train comes out from behind the trees really gives a good depth of field and a nice touch of realism.
I like the looks of it.... even if the trees look as if a hurricane just blew through. ;)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8XdDM98dyTA/UE_6YYNSf1I/AAAAAAAAS6A/-apY2sJDCNQ/s800/IMG_9077.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7pTfsiPSkUY/UE_6ZRYipvI/AAAAAAAAS6M/bojotZSSLZg/s800/IMG_9085.jpg)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U_PMpHi1etU/UE_6dDO4C-I/AAAAAAAAS64/i8BwTBOp6js/s800/IMG_9102.jpg)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fbje-NeLFmI/UE_6b2eyMoI/AAAAAAAAS6o/SwZsctHYbcQ/s800/IMG_9096.jpg)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5N8GBHC3n98/UE_6cmg4V1I/AAAAAAAAS6w/rxFG7C97b1I/s800/IMG_9100.jpg)
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grout
:D
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Looking good Ed! - if a bit ravaged. Plenty prototypical too, it would appear:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=408701&nseq=1 (http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=408701&nseq=1)