The Canal Line

[coosvalley]

Have you looked at page 1 of this layout thread?...That might help....It might not have actually been on the B&M, but I think it was..The maps show a bridge over one of the upper canals, that curves to the right, the area I'm modeling is further down the same canal, and the bridge curves to the left......

Edit..This should help...The map show as far as the red dot, I'm modeling under the blue dot(though I made it more "model railroady" and don't claim it will be true to prototype) .

[Bsklarski]

DO you need any pictures of that area? I know they have done a lot of work the past 5 years and ripped out most track but the bridges are there as walking for the river walk

[coosvalley]

I don't really need any more modern era pics, what I'm really looking for is anything from when these canal lines were active, which I have not found any of....That being said I always like seeing whats still intact in these lines..

Big thanks for the offer though!

[Bsklarski]

But of course....

http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=896196

[coosvalley]

Thanks for the link, a little on the NH side of the canals, but no B&M....Lots of great shots of the city itself though..and of course Holyoke yard..

Eventually, I hope to incorporate elements of each canal spur into a couple or three modules, but this one should keep me busy for a while..

[coosvalley]

Hi would you please show your cutting jig for the stone thanks Wendell

@mrnhn Here ya go, simplicity at it's finest. I use strips of the vinyl tile glued 1/4 inch in from the edge(use the clean edge from the factory), the other side I glued a piece 1/2 inch in, just in case.I sanded these a little thinner than stock to help put pressure on the piece being cut. Cut as seen in 2nd pic. I usually scribe twice when the blade is new, 3 or even 4 times as it gets duller, before snapping off a new blade.The more you scribe, the more "clean edge it will have, not looking quite right, only scribe as much as needed. Not shown is my other hand pressing on the board(something had to hold the camera!). After scoring both sides, I press on the board, and snap off a strip by pulling the tile up and back down a few times.... I have my "old lady" cut them into bricks with me using steel nippers with a wire guide(for length) on them while we watch the tv..

Hope this helps!

Bottom:

[coosvalley]

Well, after a long winter of overnight shifts, and 60 hour weeks, I'm finally laid off from my ski area. All winter, I have been stockpiling materials for this layout in anticipation of my 12 weeks off. I even made a rule of no new engines or cars until all materials have been acquired, a rule I only broke 5 times all winter .

I also have been busy making vinyl tile bricks, and stockpiled enough to start right away...So, with that in mind, I present a teaser photo....more to come soon...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Holy moly.

[basementcalling]

When you are ready to water the canals, just invite @Ed Kapuscinski over to drool!

Great site selection and implementation so far. Following with interest. In my galoshes.

[Bsklarski]

Twice a year they drain them for work and cleaning. You can always leave the water out. Put old cars and bodies in there like the real ones.

[nuno81291]

Great prototype, the canal walls look very good. Are you going to put any level of debris? Not the most familiar with that area but over here on the north shore in Lawrence, Haverhill etc there is a lot of junk around the waterways by the ROW

[Lemosteam]

Wait- is that the second-longest stone wall in TRW history?   

~96" but yours are individually stacked.  Asshats off to you sir!


I have been following and cant wait to see yout progress!

[coosvalley]

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

 I am finally done laying "bricks" for the stone wall. I determined that I would need 17 layers of bricks, so I "cheated" and made the first 3 layers out of strips of the brick material(vinyl tile), this saved quite a bit of time, and these layers will be covered with scenery and water, so probably won't be noticeable. I also got my "old lady" to help out, and she did the majority of the wall toward the "front" of the layout. I decided not to add any detail to this wall, due to the fact that it really won't be facing the viewer. Using maths, I figure that we laid over 4000 individual bricks, and that doesn't include the "cross canals". I build the entrances to those on the workbench, building them over a spray paint can cover cut in half, then fitted them into the wall as I built it. I will be weathering the wall with India ink washes.

I plan to scenic the canal bottom with "dirt", and I have some GMM shopping carts, and a few barrels to add to the canal bottom. I don't think I will add much more than that, and I plan to use the new WS "murky" deep water medium. Most photos seem to show a very dark brown water, so that's what I'm going for .

Next up I will be laying the track on the "rear" section of the layout, and getting that glued down will allow me to decide where to build the bridge abutments. I left a section of each wall unfinished so that I can build custom abutments to fit the scene.

I also am considering adding first surface mirrors to the backs of each "cross canal" to give a greater sense of depth. I also plan to put a road on each edge of the layout, and where it crosses the canal, I will also use a first surface mirror under the road bridge to make the layout seem bigger. If I ever add another module, I will do the same on the other side of those road bridges. This will simplify connecting the 2 modules, without having to make the water on both sides match exactly.

I will update with more pics soon..Thanks for watching!

[coosvalley]

Wait- is that the second-longest stone wall in TRW history?   

~96" but yours are individually stacked.  Asshats off to you sir!


I have been following and cant wait to see yout progress!

Nice wall!. It may be tedious work, but seeing the walls in pics I know it was worth it. It has taken about 2 weeks with 2 of us working on it to get it done.

[coosvalley]

Some photos...I'm thinking I might just forget using mirrors at the ends of the "cross canals", because as you can see in the last pic, you can't really get a great view inside as it is(which is fine with me), and more will be covered when I pour the water.