Meadow's Lumber: HO 1930's Geared Steam Layout Refurbish & Expansion

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Nothing photo-worthy.

Just trying to build, cast & carve a mountain, as well as assembling a few laser kits (depot, fuel dealer, etc).

Thanks for checking in.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Apologies for not keeping up with the updates.

Our target was to finish the layout by summer so Dwight could run trains with his 4 grandkids.  His cancer was in remission.  Things were looking good.

But Dwight passed away on Tuesday (probably a heart attack or stroke).

While I say "client" here in the forums, Dwight was really a friend: much of my time working on the layout included lovely conversations about trains, modeling, kids, wine, farming, politics, vineyards, and everything else under the sun, and he was always generous about sharing some bottles of the excellent wine (http://www.rockwallwines.com/ https://www.rosenblumcellars.com/home ) crafted from the East Contra Costa County vineyards he nurtured and managed.

I'm not sure what's going to happen to the layout (not going to talk with the family until after the service and after they've had a chance to mourn and start to put things in order), but I thought I'd at least share everything layout-building-wise that's happened in the past few months, and hope it'll help others build their layouts.

So back to March...

I thought I'd both seal the creekbed and create a bumpy texture by using some DAP vinyl spackle, but BAD IDEA!



Looks like spackle, appears quality texture, but it's harder than diamond: impossible to shape, takes paint like stainless steel and basically way more trouble than it's worth.

Wish I had just lightweight spackled it, even diluted with some water/paint.

[Live & Learn!]

On the Logging Camp side, I added all the cleats for future fascia, and added more foam [see squares] when carving revealed a too-low ridgeline:



On the original section, Dwight had tried to recreate the jumpy-bumpty logging lines by making the track bump and jump everywhere (not so good for brass geared steam), so I ripped out most the track and smooth down the base with spackle:



Well, it will be smooth after I sand it.

While that dried, I made a whole crumble-full of castings, both rubber- and foil-:



Later sanded smooth and painted:



The dark grey is under the turnout points so little/no ballast is needed.

We needed a large rockwall near the lumber mill, so lots of rocks were necessary.



Not so impressed with foil.
Good for way background rocks & if broken up, but "un-natural" (even when I tried to shape & caress the foil into uni-directional lengths).

But gives lots of easy&cheap options, so spread 'em out and start to see how they fit:



And at the creek scene I scratched some bridge decks and started to see how they'd fit:



Dwight had a bunch of real rocks he wanted worked into the scenes, so there it is (location moved right later).

That vinyl spackle was a real PITA to work with: super hard, cracked (so didn't seal the riverbed), and didn't take paint well, so I'd recommend against it.  Lightweight spackle with a touch of craft paint still seems the way to go (more on that later).

[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Using foil for "signature" high-profile rocks doesn't work (duh), as the non-weathered angles it creates look as un-natural as 20 plastic surgeries on a single face, so don't do it!
So I ripped it out:



You can see that I also had another brainfart and though that "GreatStuff" was a good way to attach the plaster casting to the foam.
Wrong.
Big mess.
Shoulda worn gloves.
Horrible texture and bonding.

Really the big issue with GreatStuff is the texture: you're going to have to cover it with spackle/Sculptamold/etc anyway, so why not just shove some papertowels behind there and Sculptamold that SOB?

Better result, as you won't have that yellow porous crap shining through.

Anyway, I wanted to try creating my own rock molds through silicon & dryer sheets (http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh-2010-NovDec/silicone_rock_molds) but I didn't get around to it so I replaced it with WS plaster castings (thank goodness for the big ACE bag o' plaster!)



Though some of the better foil castings came in handy in places I knew would be covered by trees:



And at angles difficult to view, like this gorge / tunnel portal:



So it's worth it to have a few foil "molds" ready (takes 5 seconds) for the leftover plaster you're using elsewhere.

[cont.]

[railnerd]

Our target was to finish the layout by summer so Dwight could run trains with his 4 grandkids.  His cancer was in remission.  Things were looking good.

But Dwight passed away on Tuesday (probably a heart attack or stroke).

Ugh.  Sorry for the loss of a good friend.

[eric220]

MC- I was wondering the other day why we hadn't heard from you. I'm very sorry to hear about Dwight's passing.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Foil, however, does come in very handy in creating tunnel rock-wall liners.



Shape a trough wide enough to include about 2" both above and below the side wall:



Let it sit about 15-20 minutes, and then when it's all gooey spray the foam wall with water and press the foil plaster up against the tunnel:



Making sure that the plaster squishes along the bottom floor and top ceiling.
Wait another 1/2 hour and peel off:



Pressing sections next to each other can seemlessly extend a tunnel liner:



Here are 4 one-foot sections slapped together:



And painted with a simple India Ink & Iso Alcohol wash:



Voice of Experience says plaster cast in foil takes washes and paint differently than just pure plaster, so you might want to experiment with tinting and/or painting casts and painting before planting.

[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

In terms of bridge building, I scratched the decks and chopped some already-bought GCG bents down to size.
The straight deck was easy:



But the curved section of the mainline required some track-tacking, deck cutting and trimming (with chopsaw, of all things) to get a decent angle:



Once decks and bents were set, and banks carved out to fit, I slapped some tinted Sculptamold down and set the bridges in with a good shove:



Next time will use a lot more cheapo craft paint and water to tint the Sculptamold.
But anything's better than white.

Painted the creek base dark dark in prep for water.
Really wanted to try DKS' "no pour" methods from bottom bridge up.
Will probably pour a thin layer of magic water at the bottom bottom as I want a flat calm "big river" out in front past the near the coal dock, and even-level pour on which I could rest a barge.
The tapemeasure shows where the coaldock/unloader will go:



Dwight really wanted a 1930's WPA concrete ford across the river, so that will go on our side of the creek (before the "deep" river) but still need to carve out the road left to right on the diagonal.

On the other side, I started mocking up where the main Lumber Mill will go:



Dwight has a dude in Nebraska or somewhere building these kits and then mailing them out, and the dude does a great job at many fine details (down to the sawdust).
[I've started my hand at a couple HO laser kits but that's a story for later ]

Out of the tunnel at the top right will be a log dump into the log pond (will need to cut away the foam after securing the rails).

Here's a wider view of the Main Mill scene, with a little view of the logging camp that will be hidden by trees:



(otherwise they could just roll the logs down the mountain, eh?)

And most of the Logging Camp landforms are in:



I was thinking having an operating log loader a la Kermit Paul http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh-2011-03-Mar/lone_pine_tonopah though really picking up logs with fingers and placing on cars could work just fine.

[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Dwight wanted to keep as much of the original layout scenery as possible, so I just tried to re-lay the track as smooth as possible:



Sanded the spackle smooth, painted tan, cut out space for the switch machines, spackled smooth, spray-bombed dark under machine and points, trimmed and soldered three turnouts together and installed with caulk.

Notice I had to carve out channels for the existing feeder wires.
Simple V-groove and paint in the spackle.
Ballast will take care of later.

Other angle, showing flow into existing layout:



Unfortunately, when laying the new track past that existing scene, I made the silly mistake of soldering two lengths of flex together to the turnout at the other end of the passing siding:



And then attaching the switch machine to the turnout before caulking the track.

Which means that after removing the ties for the bridge deck and laying down caulk, I had to "thread" the flex into a tunnel.
HO is much more forgiving.
Could have left the last 4" un-caulked and soldered on the next piece (tunnel piece) after getting the bridge in place.

But was trying new technique recommended by Dr. Dave Vollmer: instead of soldering rails to PC board embedded in bridge, apply Pliobond to rails, let dry, and then heat with soldering iron to activate bond while positioned on deck.

So I removed ties from bridge rails, applied PlioBond, let dry, then laid out track:



After securing track in caulk, placed 3-point gauge on rails and held in place while heated rails with iron:



20-25 seconds every few inches (alternate rails) secured the rails fine.

That's how I secured all the rails on wood: straight bridge, curved bridge, and coaldump deck:



The coal unloading dock deck was made out of available balsa stained with a trench carved out under the holes:



The rails on all the decks are easily stained with NeoLube (or paint pen).
Later I'd fill/place some coal in the top of the dock to show full.
I am going to build the coal dump plank-by-plank around the painted foam under the deck.

[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

So as of this week, here we are.
The new mainline is in:







Smooth running from the SmallTown:



Out to the Mine:



Or to the Logging Camp:



And to Main/Interchange Town:



With the drop-down to connect the C:



Would be a fun layout for grandpa and grandkids, especially as they were getting old enough to start building kits and making trees themselves.
Will let you know what happens.

Thanks, Dwight, for all your smile and heart.

And thanks for reading.

[S Class]

With all due condolences, hopefully the grandkids will see this for what it was and maybe take over to finish it in honour of their grandfather. I lost my Nan two weeks ago so I know what the family must feel.

[R.Groff]

So sorry to here Dwight passed  on.If you enjoyed his time I'm sure he felt the same for you.Thankyou for the update hope to see or here more.
Great work .
Rick Groff

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

Sorry to hear about Dwight. I hope the grand kids get a chance to use the layout still. I lost my grand father as the age of 6 before he was able to build me a Lionel train set. I did get the train but it would of been fun to build it with him.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks for the kind words.
Given what a headstrong fighter Dwight was, along with the fact that his father is still kickin' strong at 94, it was a major shock to all of us that Dwight, at only 72, passed away so suddenly.

A memorial service is set for Friday, May 23, 2014.

As for the layout: I'm not sure if it will be completed or not.
One set of grandkids live close by (the other set about 40 minutes away) but the trains were all Dwight to delight and engage the kids, so we'll see.
After the service and after the family has a chance to gather we'll chance to talk more about his trains.

Very sad he passed before the summer: he was very much looking forward to running trains with the grandkids after the layout was completed.
They did get to run some trains on the mine and small-town side some months ago.

Will update after family and friends have time.
Thanks for reading.

[jpec]

MC,

Condolences on the loss of your friend...his time here was enriched by your friendship.

Jeff

[packers#1]

MC, condolences on the sudden loss of your friend; I can relate, my grandma last winter and spring went downhill very quickly with cancer, it just creeps up and then someone is gone. At least you were able to give him the hope and joy of looking forward to running trains with his grandkids, even if it never came to fruition