Seaboard Central 2.0

[MichaelWinicki]

I think it's a good move Dave, i.e. the double-track bridge.

It extends the siding and it's visually interesting– A win-win!

[davefoxx]

Sometimes having the passing siding over a bridge just has to be done . . . .

Especially to have better ops in a small space.
I like the change you made, and think it'll look fine when all said & done.

Thanks, M.C.!  You make me feel better.  The high quality of your modeling distracts the eye from those "stretches" from reality.  I am inspired by your talent and can only hope that I can create something of similar quality.  I agree that this was a change that had to occur to improve ops.  And, I'm really pleased with how the track flows through this area.  It's fun to watch trains snake through, and I can now have meets.

I'm learning how to operate the yard in Aberdeen and think that I can continue on with little to no changes in the trackwork there.  However, the runaround in Aberdeen is now too short with the nine- or ten-car trains.  This is easily rectified with a dedicated Aberdeen switcher (cool!) or extending the yard tracks as described in my last post.

DFF

[davefoxx]

I think it's a good move Dave, i.e. the double-track bridge.

It extends the siding and it's visually interesting– A win-win!

Thanks, Michael!  It did turn out that way. . . thankfully.  About half through ripping it out yesterday, I was concerned that it wouldn't fit.  I had to cut up the #5 and #7 turnouts to make it fit.  Whew!

[Dave V]

Honestly, Dave, I think you're fine...  Again, the idea that perhaps this is a stretch of former double-track can be played.  I doubt I would have picked up on it if you hadn't said anything.  As long as everything is properly scenicked (lots of kudzu!) nothing will seem out of place about that.  Be sure to rust up those girders, too, with corresponding rust streaks on the piers.

[davefoxx]

Honestly, Dave, I think you're fine...  Again, the idea that perhaps this is a stretch of former double-track can be played.  I doubt I would have picked up on it if you hadn't said anything.

Thanks.  Somebody would have pointed it out, so I thought I'd put it out there first.

As long as everything is properly scenicked (lots of kudzu!) nothing will seem out of place about that.

Yes, yes, yes!  This layout being set in southeast North Carolina, I plan to cover everything in kudzu.  Well, not everything, but kudzu has a way of doing that anyway.  I will need to experiment how to best get the look of those large kudzu leaves.

Be sure to rust up those girders, too, with corresponding rust streaks on the piers.

Will do.  I now have to get new piers, because the single track piers I bought aren't wide enough.  A look at my SAL/SCL/SBD books shows a lot of poured concrete abutments.  I'm tempted to try Ian's hydraulic cement method.  What would look more like concrete than concrete?

[packers#1]

Yes, yes, yes!  This layout being set in southeast North Carolina, I plan to cover everything in kudzu.  Well, not everything, but kudzu has a way of doing that anyway.  I will need to experiment how to best get the look of those large kudzu leaves.

Please share your techniques when you figure it out; modeling SC I'll need loads of the stuff as well.
I think the double-track bridge works as well, really adds a bit more visually to the scene

[davefoxx]

Please share your techniques when you figure it out; modeling SC I'll need loads of the stuff as well.
I think the double-track bridge works as well, really adds a bit more visually to the scene

Sawyer,

My first guess would be to start with poly fiber stretched out to represent the vines and have that crawling all over.  Then sprinkle the appropriate color leaf flakes over the vines.  The good news is that I expect that the kudzu can hide a multitude of scenic sins.

DFF

[John]

I
Oh, and I am seriously pondering cassettes or perhaps a small extension to the Aberdeen yard that can fold down when not in use.

DFF

thats how I started too .. a small extension

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Just to abate (abutt?) your bridge anxiety: a funkey psychological effect occurs when viewing bridges on layouts (and especially in N).
Viewers rarely see the entire scene that you are hyperaware of when looking across the whole layout:



There's just too much stuff.
So people get closer.
Then, from a closer POV, the bridge and two banks create partial viewblocks / edges of frames.
So people look at the right scene, with the bridge forming the left side of the frame:



Or they look at the left scene, with the bridge forming the right side of the frame:



Or the look at the bridge itself, with the two banks framing the scene:



So while you might feel like you're "cheating" a little by having an "improbable-but-not-impossible" bridge / track setup, you can rest a little easier knowing that the rules and forces of artistic composition are in your corner and fighting for your fabulous layout. 

Especially when you make the scenes on each side of the bridge kickasshat awesome 

[davefoxx]

I finally got around to starting to rough in the scenery forms on the layout this weekend.  Once the adhesive dries, I'll get out the handheld sander and coarse sandpaper and grind the foam to a finer shape.  A little lightweight joint compound will smooth and prep the surface for paint and foliage.  I'll install a fascia once I know what the final scenery shape at the edge of the layout will be.  Hopefully, you (and especially Ed K.) will get the idea of how the A&R runs along a ridge (and no longer appears as just a ramp in the middle of the layout).  The ridge will also be a viewblock between Aberdeen and Southern Pines.





DFF

[conrailthomas519]

Dave,
   Thats coming along really nice! Keeps me following on... Good job!!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I see now! Also, looks good.

[davefoxx]

I got out my hand-held sander this weekend and proceeded to make a real mess by grinding the foam closer to the final landforms around the end of the lake.  I have not yet smoothed this area with lightweight joint compound yet, which allow more blending of hills and dales, not to mention the creation of drainage ditches along the right of way.  I have decided to purchase a piece of 1" foam to raise the lake bottom.  By raising the surface of the lake, the hills won't be so steep and the surface area of the lake will be larger.  I had hoped to get to the home center today, but that didn't happen:


I plan for this shot to be one of the key locations on the layout.  There will be a wood trestle carrying the A&R over the SBD mainline, and close up shots here will highlight the superelevation on the SBD main.  This area will be covered in kudzu:


Another shot giving an idea of the cut the SBD main is in:


The backside of the hill.  I haven't figured out where I'm going to have the highway cross the tracks here, so I haven't worked on this end of the cut too much yet.  The area above the track has gradually climbed out of Aberdeen (out of picture to the left).  I do not plan to have many level spots on this layout, which will, hopefully, avoid the train table look and make the layout appear larger:


DFF

[Philip H]

Dave,
Have you found a good way to do kudzu? Thankfully it's still rare in Baton Rouge proper, but I want to do one small area to suggest its infiltration!
Keep up the good work.

[packers#1]

Dave, cut looks good, the angles resemble the cut Norfolk Southern runs through downtown here as well