The Canal Line

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Hmm... It's so vibrant!

Honestly, I feel like it doesn't quite match the gritty piece of railroad you're portraying.

[coosvalley]

Hmm... It's so vibrant!

Honestly, I feel like it doesn't quite match the gritty piece of railroad you're portraying.

Hmm, which part?...Keep in mind, almost all (except one) buildings are just place holders...The backdrop is actually very grey, I was thinking too grey,actually,.. I think my temporary lighting brightens it up too, I will hopefully get that ironed out in the future. And the base itself is painted(using texture paint, which was sanded smooth), just so it isn't a wood color, and to seal it up too.

I hope to get the ground cover looking a much darker brown, I have a supply of chocolate unsanded grout, which is pretty dark...and some real dirt and some Z scale cinders, which will be used on any track not in pavement.

So hopefully what you're seeing is just temporary...

[Lemosteam]

Don't mind @Ed Kapuscinski , he is still wondering why you are not modeling winter.    I assume it's still fairly early in the weathering process for the buildings and the rolling stock, and without asphalt and concrete everywhere to dull things down a bit.

Unless he is referring to the control panel, which I agree could use a heavy does of filth for effect.

[milw12]

Starting to come to life, well done. This will be fun to watch as it fills out scenically. Still amazed by the canal walls.

I found myself wondering about a grey/overcast backdrop, but still nice nonetheless.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh oh, I'm sorry, I meant the backdrop.

I was expecting more of a dingy gray. I say embrace the cruddy day!

[coosvalley]

OK, here is a pic taken on the auto setting, I guess I need to pay better attention to the white balance. This is how it looks in person.I added an Atlas Conrail geep shell to show the difference in blues .I was considering using a photo backdrop from Larc products, which is an actual pic of Holyoke, but I think they might actually be too detailed, and so I may try to make my own instead first. If that doesn't work out, I could always try the commercial version!

I do however see how badly the canal walls needs to be darkened, and some variation in colors is needed too..It's on the list.

Also, here you can see the center building kitbash taking shape. I'm calling it a power plant of some type.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ahh, yeah, that's much more what I was expecting!

And I love the photo backdrop idea. I think they go a LONG way to improving the overall look of a thing and adding real depth.

The level of detail is an interesting question though. I've been struggling with that myself. I think my favorite backdrops on my layout are the ones that are just masses of trees, but the photos are good too. For example, from http://conrail1285.com/playing-with-photo-backdrops/

More abstract trees:


Detailed photo:

[coosvalley]

OK gang, first up is a pic of the layout, showing a B&M GP7 with a cut of company cars. I recently installed a scale speed motor in this older not-DCC ready frame, and "Beardenized" it as well.I also touched up the weathering a little. The company cars have been tested and tuned, and work well over the most demanding part of the layout, the "S" turn on the bridge.. In fact, most 50 foot cars have worked out well when equipped with FVM wheels. I have an about 50% split between body and truck mounted cars, and both have been working well on the layout, even together. I have also been picking away at the laser cut brick building on the right in this photo , and I hope to show you guys the finished product soon.



I have also been kitbashing the building in the center of the layout, and I will be using parts of the blue background building to finish this building. This structure is a leftover from my previous layout, and was made out of the steel part of the Walthers paper mill which I "unfolded". Right now the building is just sitting against the backdrop, near the building I intend on combining it with, in hopes that by just looking at it, I will eventually envision how I am going to combine the two. I will probably re-visit this structure in the future, hopefully getting a closer to prototype version(of the brick portion) laser cut some day, we shall see.



And 2 of my favorite cars, just cuz..





I have been evolving my plan, and have a few ideas I hope to try out. First, I want to replace the straight sections of track in the front of the layout with tie strips from Central Valley. I am going to try to remove say every 4th of 5th tie to make it look less like mainline track. This track is so close to the operator, I think this will be worth it, or at least a try...The biggest "rule of thumb" that I broke was trying avoid track parallel to the layout edge, and maybe this added detail will help mitigate some of the effect of doing the complete opposite of the "rule"...If it works out I might do the straight tracks on the other side of the canal too, but that is a much more involved project, as I don't want to disturb the turnouts..Speaking of turnouts and the front of the layout, I will also be replacing the #5 turnout that leads from the front of the layout to the bridge, with a #7. Not because I'd prefer the #7, but because the brand new  #5 decided to basically self destruct, and I have a used #7 that is in better shape.

Another feature I hope to add is a sound system and digital player from Fantasonics. I will use their "Two, or possibly 3 small factories" sound files, with small speakers mounted inside buildings at each end of the layout. I think this is a cool way to make a small layout seem bigger, and it addresses another of the senses.  They also sell a tiny mixer, which I think could be hooked up to a Kato Sound box, giving me loco sounds from the same speakers. I think this would be a cool way to have loco sounds without going DCC, plus the subwoofer would make it sound much more like I was watching trains up close, and this layout is intended to be nearly eye level when finished.

But....I feel like instead of buying the Kato sound system, the money would be better spent on a DCC system and finding some poor fool who will install DCC and sound in 3 SW1s and 1 GP7 . I also have an Atlas S2 I use, but those can be bought with sound already installed, and I can just do a shell swap...I also have an NW2 in B&M, but you'd need one hell of a sound system to cover up the loudness of the loco . It does run nice and smooth though..

Also, I'm looking for single tires for the bottom of the canal. Does anyone know a source for such a detail?. I can find tire piles, but not any single tires...

[Chris333]

Love the building kitbash!

[Philip H]

But....I feel like instead of buying the Kato sound system, the money would be better spent on a DCC system and finding some poor fool who will install DCC and sound in 3 SW1s and 1 GP7 . I also have an Atlas S2 I use, but those can be bought with sound already installed, and I can just do a shell swap...I also have an NW2 in B&M, but you'd need one hell of a sound system to cover up the loudness of the loco . It does run nice and smooth though..

I haven't priced the Kato sound system (or this Fantasonics) recently, but you can spend $150-200 per loco to do sound installs.  That would be a good investment for a large layout vs. the Kato, but I'm not sure about on a small one your size.

Also, I'm looking for single tires for the bottom of the canal. Does anyone know a source for such a detail?. I can find tire piles, but not any single tires...

If you don't mind them having hub caps, Will Models has them on his ebay store, and I think you can get tires from Trainworx as separate details as well.

[Point353]

Also, I'm looking for single tires for the bottom of the canal.

The canals are 10' to 20' deep.
Given that the time period you're modeling ranges anywhere from the late '60s to the early '80s, would the water quality back then have been clear enough to let you see down to the bottom of the canals? 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

As for cutting the ties out.

ABSOLUTELY go for it!

I love the effect.

[coosvalley]

Chris-Thanks!...The building is made from 1 1/2 of the Substation #9 kits from CMR. I bought one at Springfield, and it was screwed up, only some of the walls had laser engraving. They were really cool about it(point for CMR) and sent me a whole replacement kit. The kits are laser cut acrylic, unlike any kit I've used before. Once you clean up the laser flash it looks pretty good(I used a wire brush).

Philip-My thinking is the complete opposite! I feel like converting this layout to DCC is a good start. If I only convert the half dozen locos I plan to use on this layout I can slowly convert my fleet as time goes on. If I ever get to build the "dream layout", and I have not started to convert to DCC, I probably never will, too many locos . I have been waiting for sound to be an option before I dove into DCC, and it seems like sound in N scale is finally ready. A Kato sound system is about as expensive as a basic MRC DCC system. I have no problem paying someone(or trading custom paint and detailing) to install decoders and sound , since it would only be 4-5 locos. And if I ever expand this layout(already planned out), the DCC option will give me sound wherever I go, not just in one spot..I'm way into the Loksound Full Throttle features, and would love to switch some cars while listening to a Geep wind up and down...

As for the Fantasonics player, I want one of these no matter what I pick. The newer model has some cool features, and can control lighting effects too. I may actually use some of the new WS Justplug lighting for this layout, and I think it would be cool if when the "nighttime" soundtrack comes on, so do all the lights!

Thanks for the heads up on the tires!

Point353- You're probably right, I am not sure if I will even be able to see the canal bottom! But if it ends up that I can I'm going to wish I had added some details!..I don't plan to add much, so far I've collected 3 shopping carts, 3 barrels, and 1 rusty car frame. I figure 4-6 tires scattered about would complete the detailing. The canal is 1/4 of my layout surface, so a few details seem in order. If they're invisible, no big loss. If they're visible, how cool would that be?..I've also been thinking some small rubber o-rings might look like tires, especially once underwater...

Ed- I do have one siding I removed some ties from(the one that isn't going to be paved over, see photo)), and I agree, it does make a huge difference! I'm just not sure if the CV tie strips can be treated the same way. But I'll find out for all of us ! I really dig the tie plate detail on the CV tie strips...

Also in this pic you can see the results of using "texture paint" to paint the base, it looks sorta like ballast! And once you sand it, it becomes quite smooth, but still looks like different colored rocks! Not bad for preliminary scenery with basically no effort(I had to paint it anyway).



I really appreciate the feedback guys. So many of the ideas used on this layout came from the Railwire, I owe it to you guys to keep sharing and exchanging ideas!..I'm amazed to think that on April 1st, I had NO layout, and now I have one that works and is more complete than any of my previous efforts!....Although, originally, I intended to model the Pioneer Valley, but it seems that I'm modeling a small piece of the B&M instead..And my "someday" dream layout will be portions of the Maine Central . So much to model, so little time..But at least I dug in and modeled something instead of waiting for tons of space for the dream layout..

[nuno81291]

Looking very nice! My only suggestion per the canal water is to make yourself a small diorama to test whatever methods you intend to use before applying the technique to the layout. With such a big scenic element I think it would pay off to find what method you think is right before making an irreversible mess out of your extremely nice looking start! (Oh also some more color variation and grime to those canal walls... much to uniform and clean compared to any photos I have seen of Holyoke area). In fact most photos I see the water looks quite murky/sediment color so I doubt detail should be visible. I would personally try to achieve this with a 2 part epoxy (I use the Home Depot equivalent of envirotex?) with a carefully tinted pour + an acrylic gloss medium on top for any surface action. A pretty thick tint would help the murkiness factor which seems to be a key feature of that water.

[coosvalley]

(Oh also some more color variation and grime to those canal walls... much to uniform and clean compared to any photos I have seen of Holyoke area).

 

I do however see how badly the canal walls needs to be darkened, and some variation in colors is needed too..It's on the list.

As for the water, I intend to use WS "Murky Deep Pour", as I have used their similar,earlier product on my previous layout.