The Housatonic Railroad in N Scale

[basementcalling]

His trees aren't shabby either FWIW.

Ed appears to have ignored your dig.

[Pomperaugrr]

His trees aren't shabby either FWIW.

Ed appears to have ignored your dig.

I noticed that too.     Plus, I have been making two per night...

Eric

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I noticed that too.     Plus, I have been making two per night...

Eric

Y'all can suck it.

[basementcalling]

Y'all can suck it.

That's more  @chicken45 track.

[Pomperaugrr]

I was able to do a little more terra-forming, add a base layer of ground cover, plant some more trees, and get some pavement started in the Canaan, CT portion of my layout last weekend.  I still need to add a lot of details, weather the asphalt, build "Collin's Diner" for the paved area next to the Canaan Union Station, etc.  The tree line along the backdrop is to screen the continuous running track.  It is still accessible for cleaning and rerailing, if needed.  Still a long way to go, but progress is progress.  I am open to all recommendations and suggestions for improvement.





Eric

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Eric, one thing I would say... I think you should check out Super Trees. Your layout it gorgeous, but I think it could go to the next level with bigger, taller, prettier trees. I know @Dave V mentioned that they were game changing on his old PRR layout.

[Pomperaugrr]

Eric, one thing I would say... I think you should check out Super Trees. Your layout it gorgeous, but I think it could go to the next level with bigger, taller, prettier trees.

Ed, I agree 100%.  That is an excellent suggestion.  I have 3 of the mega-boxes of those ready and waiting for when I have some more time.  They will be the foreground trees and also placed in featured scenes.  My goal right now is to get the layout looking like a layout, as it sat for years as nothing but track on a sea of blue foam due to work obligations and raising kids.  I finally have the track tuned up nicely and everything is electrically reliable. 

All of the trees are either Architrees for the evergreens, or the cheap Ebay Chinese neon green trees, shaped and flocked with better color ground foam.  They will be fine for filler and background trees.  Everything there is easily removable and will be when I go back, as I need to add deadfall, leaves, undergrowth, etc at some point.  I just didn't want to take a lot of time making detailed trees right now.  I could make one really nice tree per night  , but I was able to make 1,800 trees in one weekend, by using the Ebay cheapos and dipping them in matte medium and ground foam.  My goal is to get the visual impact initially and then go back for the detail work.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Glad to hear it!
Just make sure you plan enough space for them because they ARE bigger than the fill-ins. That's one of the nice things about them, you generally need fewer because they are larger.

[Pomperaugrr]

Glad to hear it!
Just make sure you plan enough space for them because they ARE bigger than the fill-ins. That's one of the nice things about them, you generally need fewer because they are larger.

Excellent advice.  Thank you.

[SAH]

Looks great Eric.  Your large industries make the most of one of N scale's advantages.  Love to see that.
Steve

[Pomperaugrr]

I just had a new addition to my locomotive roster for my N scale Housatonic RR. Although I am modeling the early 2000's I added a leaser unit so I can try for a more recent look to the layout. The HRRC currently has a few of their GP35's out of service and some GATX/GMTX lease units are helping pick up the slack. I added a GMTX GP38. I still have to renumber it to be the #2346. It is a Bachmann N scale GP38, with factory sound. I will also need to tweak the CV's and break it in a bit, but it is not bad out of the box. Here it is seen assisting HRRC 3600 in switching out Specialty Minerals in Canaan.

[JeffB]

Looks great!

Canaan CT is about 45min NW of me...  Been there and taken photos of the "Y" many times over the last 20 odd years.  I miss Berkshire Hobbies!

Well done...

JeffB

[Pomperaugrr]

Looks great!

Canaan CT is about 45min NW of me...  Been there and taken photos of the "Y" many times over the last 20 odd years.  I miss Berkshire Hobbies!

Well done...

JeffB

That really was a great shop.  I'm an hour south of Canaan, although I work in Torrington.  Even so, I don't get up there as often as I would like.

[Pomperaugrr]

In response to a request from a friend, I grabbed a quick video of the current progress on my N-scale Housatonic RR layout.
One thing is for sure, my cinematography skills leave a lot to be desired. ​

There is very basic scenery, and the buildings are just blocked in, without finished scenery, details, weathering, etc. This demonstrates my "good enough" approach to building a larger layout. I will go back and add static grass, "super trees," building foundations, roads, pavement, details, etc.

This video follows a train coming from staging, past Onyx Specialty Papers, in Lee, MA, past Sheffield Plastics, through Canaan, CT, Cornwall Bridge, New Milford, across the Housatonic River, passing Pharmco, in Brookfield and ends crossing the fictional "Letourneau Gorge," inspired by and named after a real friend and member here (Trainforfun) in the Montreal area. There is still an awful lot of work to do, but the progress has been steady and should pick up over the winter months.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Have I mentioned I love your layout?

Because I love your layout.

But you know what I don't love? Being gaslit by your locomotives. Those sound like non-turbo units instead the sexy whine of a GP35.