Essex branch HO v4

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That bridge scene looks good!

Add a little trash and maybe a dead tire, and you're golden.

[C855B]

Add a little trash and maybe a dead tire, and you're golden.

I thought that's what the dental tools were representing.      

[Ed Kapuscinski]

"dead body here". I totally got it.

[nuno81291]

Ignore my rant! Just a crazy musician fighting lackluster modeling skills

[nuno81291]

Working slowly on...just about everything 

[nuno81291]

I am working slowly on the buildings... Tough choices when you are freelancing versus working from a proto photo, trying to approximate or pick and choose is tough! Getting happier the more I work on the layout.. Totally clueless about some topics like lighting best practices for structures. Aim to work back to front as I get the buildings more put together...now to find photos of graffiti in the 90s...decals?

[Philip H]

That is a really cool scraping scene in the making. Where'd you get the excavator?

[nuno81291]

Thanks! I believe this is the model: https://www.zyconmodels.com/ocart/index.php?route=product/product&path=12_13&product_id=447

I bought it at a LHS, and ditched the packaging and couldn't discern any makers mark on the the model itself so had to hunt a bit! Hope that helps!

[Philip H]

It does . . . . though I wish it were and N scale model . . . 

[nuno81291]

Brief non photo update; work has been super busy but I finally managed to get my sorry back under  the layout and install the remaining tortoises.... retrofitting these to existing turnouts on foam are a mildly frustrating task. Took about 45 minutes to stick a guide wire from the top, dig out underneath (and cut a square for the tortoise to recess into the foam (1.5")). Mounting these where I used plywood was pretty straightforward drilling and carefully drilling up to expose the throw bar. A few structural pieces of benchwork were in the way and I had to get a bit creative...  definitely plan your turnout control and if you change mid course prepare for a similar experience! May your bench work not obstruct,and may your back feel better than mine!

[nuno81291]

Well Well Well... Been busy with music and while out on the road I was thinking about the layout...what is missing? the ability to turn an engine that is what!



Here is a plan for fitting Walthers 90' DCC turntable, 3 of their smaller engine houses and some extra tracks for power storage. The red rectangle represents the "dead line" where I will park a broken down Guilford engine of some sort awaiting the cutters torch (also the turntable has a dead spot effectively...may as well really show where that is!).

I used yard track 6 as a lead and added a turnout so there could be 2 leads into the turnout from the left side... I figure I can put diesel fueling and sanding here between those tracks (may need to move the turnout back to accommodate this I realize)... From the other side I added 2 turnouts, one that turns track 5 from a stub end to a through track and the second acts as the lead into the turntable.

I view this yard again as nothing more than staging for the layout, and do some small ops in the yard such as making up a local to bring into the other portion of the layout... having the round house and handful of storage tracks is a way for me to 1. turn engines, 2. have a place to store them other than in a line, 3. add a bit more engine relates ops through the sand/fuel facility... I may add one of walthers back shop or machine shop kits across from the roundhouse for additional interest. Here is a photo I found online of Waterville ME, I hope to evoke a similar feeling with my Guilford, BM, MEC gear!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sneebly/458464754

Any comments/critique appreciated.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I say skip the roundhouse and turntable. They're space eaters that are usually out place on most layouts.

What facilities did the Big G actuality have in the area?

[nuno81291]

Down this way would be the Billerica shops, up to Maine would be Rigby and finally Waterville which has a roundhouse. Not sure Billerica is anything more than a superfund site, Rigby had a turntable that got filled in. The nice thing about that spot on the layout is it is dead space between the couch and the back of my wall of guitar amps

[garethashenden]

If you're modelling a Guilford dead line you'll need a lot more than just one locomotive.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wow, Guilford really IS a time capsule.

Concern withdrawn