Canton, Highlandtown and Fells Point - Compact layout

[wm3798]

Digging the simplicity of Dave's...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Done!
http://conrail1285.com/mounting-slide-switch-turnout-controls-anywhere/

Essentially, I use a piece of plastic that's glued to the turnout itself to provide a solid mounting, regardless of what it sits on. I built the plate out of old Atlas freight car boxes.

[wm3798]

Starting to take shape.  Laid some track in the depot area.


Taking a little time to do it right, since there isn't that much to do in such a small area.  Pre-wiring the turnouts prior to installation, making sure everything is true and level etc.  The three big players in East Baltimore represented, B&O with an old Arnold S-2, WM with a Baldwin, and PC with an SW (borrowed from Carl's decoder installation that still waiting for a decoder!)

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I have to get BG&E to trench in power lines for the building and street lighting!

I'm enjoying this project immensely!

Lee

[garethashenden]

I've seen some spindly bridges before but that one takes the cake!

[wm3798]

It's still very much a work in progress...

[MVW]

Starting to take shape.  Laid some track in the depot area.



Lee

Lee, that's already frickin' beautiful! Looking forward to more sweetness.

Jim

[wm3798]

Took a chunk of the old Thomas Sub and lopped off a bit to transform it into a staging lead for the new layout. 



The red box with the track etc. is my decoder test station.  The staging track will run behind my monitor and along a narrow shelf over my desk.  The old Kerens turnout is still there, but I've got it spiked, as the alignment butts it right into my monitor stand.  The track closer to the wall can go through, though,so it can function until I move a few wires to pull the monitor out a few more inches to make room for two staging tracks. 

You may remember this scene with the tunnel coming out of the small helix on the way to Elkins.



...and of course the infamous Blob attacking Hoffman Manufacturing.  I liked this view rather a lot.  I'm glad I was able to salvage it and re-use it.

[Rich_S]

Lee,
    Very nice. It's good to see a iconic piece of the old Thomas Sub living on, on your new layout. 

[wm3798]

Installed the lighting loop by pressing some 2-pole wire into the foam, with stub terminals popping up at key locations.  Running 9v DC off of a wall wart.  This creates the opportunity for numerous distractions from track laying, unfortunately...



I finally finished this building after starting it for my old Laurel Valley layout in 1990.  I added a scratch built two-story base to a Model Power Baldwin Locomotive Works building, using the front and back facades to make a corner "flat" (the other two sides are against the back drop and not detailed... yet)  I used a variety of LEDs, including some dull yellow light boards from old locomotives, some warm white, and the cool white to represent the hallways in the building, lit with bright flourescents.  I've still got to patch up a couple of light leaks, and maybe add a street light from one side, but overall I'm happy with it.

The power loop also let me revive an old favorite from the WM layout...



My goal is to put lights in all the buildings, as well as a bunch of exterior lighting, to give the layout a nice sparkly urban effect.  I've also picked up some fine fiberoptics so I can play with headlights and taillights etc.

Lee

[jpec]

That White Tower rocks! Sucks I missed out on it...
Everything's looking good,  Lee.

Jeff

[wm3798]

Wasted some more valuable time today...



Added lighting to my little Life Like station.



A total of 8 LEDs in this one.  Exterior lights are 2mm yellow, and there's a 5mm bright white for that flourescent look inside.  I'll have to take another shot of the wiring.  In close quarters like this, I just solder the resistors to the LED, then wrap all the bits together.  If it gets close enough to maybe touch, I put a blob of hot glue to insulate the leads where they intersect.



Need to work on the foundation and scenery a bit, but there's a lot of track to lay first.  I like having this small of a layout.  It makes the full lighting effect completely completable!

Lee.

[wm3798]

Department of Public Works was hard at it this week building some streets in East Baltimore. 







I used the black foam sheet available at your garden variety craft store (.99 at Ben Franklin!) and started by misting a bit of gray primer over it to get more of a weathered asphalt look.  I used Sharpie extra fine paint markers to mark the paint...   I really like those paint markers, and will be looking for more uses for them.

I'll be adding some elevation to the streets to follow the terrain a bit more and give the blocks less of a "plywood plains" feel.  Getting the street grid down was a key part of building the city, as now I have definable blocks that I can build at the work table, teasing out details, lighting and weathering, then installing.  I usually attach the sidewalks to the structures, so the foam road will be easy to shim up and make snug at the curbs.

At present the roads are not installed, so I can go back and make adjustments as needed.  Again, an advantage the flexible foam has over rigid styrene.

Lee

[Wardie]

Looks like that garbage truck better take the left turn lane. Looks good Lee

[John]

IDK Lee .. I've experimented with all kinds of materials, and quite honestly, I would do these roads in styrene .. get some cheap for sale signs from wal-mart ..  Dave Foxx has it down ..

I like his roads so much, I am eventually going to redo mine that way

[wm3798]

I still have a few fit and finish issues, but so far, I'm very happy with the results.  I've done a lot of roads in styrene, which I also like, but I'm not convinced they're the best, at least not for this project.