Miskatonic Valley Railroad

[Guilford Guy]

Just a few more pix... Though not entirely wired yet I was able to get trains running around the loop.
I won three 50ft reefers on ebay which I've painted in green and maroon for milk train service(seen below on none other than a milk train). I'm still looking for someone who can print decals for the cars. I also gave the baggage car and coach a coat of "coach green" and "rock island maroon" respectively. While the coach doesn't look much different, the green on the baggage car looks much better than before, and no longer gives a blue tint in photos. Trackwork wise I fixed a few trouble sections so now everything should run smoothly. I also began laying out the yard area and started work on a freight house for the yet-to-be-named "Town A." Tonight or tomorrow I should have the yard trackage down and can work on finishing up the wiring. Then onto the fun stuff!

Milk Train crossing the Miskat River Bridge


Town A yard

[Guilford Guy]

So far I've gone through 4 cans of Great Stuff, and will probably go through another 4-12. After that it's on to sculptamold.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

I strongly recommend covering your track and removing any models / locos from the area.
When I used some "Great Stuff" I could have sworn I didn't get any on my hands, but later found out I had yellow-tinged "gloves" for about a week after.
It really does get everywhere, especially the "mist," and leaves a fine film that can really funk up parts of your layout.
If you're going to use sculptamold anyway, why not ball up some newspaper?

[Guilford Guy]

Thanks MC. I taped the track but will remember to cover the structures next time to be safe. I like being able to carve down my scenery which is why I'm using Great Stuff. The sculptamold is more to smooth out areas without the straight look of knife cuts.

This weekend I'd like to get the river bed cut and installed as well as the roadways. I also want to get a start on some bridge abutment tests.

[Guilford Guy]

Well I leave tomorrow for school which means no more progress on this until December. tah tah!
I'll leave you with a set of pictures taken tonight showing the plastercloth+great stuff "rocks."

[Guilford Guy]

Not much to report on. The roster increased by a 2-8-0 on christmas, and I've gotten a few more smaller projects done like roofing on the freight house, weathering, and some more mountain shaping.

Here's a quick iphone grabshot. looking right from the left bank of the river. (refer to trackplan below)


And here's an updated trackplan. Buildings in blue have not been added yet. Buildings in green are semi-permanent online industries, and buildings in maroon are railroad buildings. yellow land is farmland, and yellow trackage is hidden. The blue lines on the river represent low waterfalls.

[Guilford Guy]

Nearly a year later I got around to chopping up the tender on the 2-8-0. I need to run out and grab some filler putty to clean up the joint, but im fairly happy wtih the bandsaw cuts(I've misplaced my mitre box  ). I haven't yet hacked up the engine, but I'm envisioning something minor like new class lights, a headlight, and maybe an elesco feedwater heater if such a part exists in n. 

Tonight I cut the coal load out of the 4-4-0 so I can replace them with less-plasticky versions. I have a sheet of decals on the way, so hopefully within a couple weeks I'll have a decent roster of "finished" MV equipment. The layout itself is virtually untouched since the last post. In my work as a woodshop monitor I've managed to score some 1/8" plywood that I've been cutting for use as subroadbed. The goal is to redo everything to a much higher standard to accommodate the Osgood Bradley coaches.

[Guilford Guy]

moseying along on a diorama. getting ready to throw some ground cover down.



i've also been improving the blue foam->cut granite abutments process using an x-acto blade, weathered black, and some light colored weathering powders. i'm very happy with the results except for the irregularity on the stairways, though I'd like to eventually replace those with some injection molded steps.



and i actually did get some preliminary scenery done tonight!