Greystone and Rock Bottom Railroad

[DKS]

My success at making Code 80 sectional track more palatable (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44158.0) gave me the confidence to share this layout project. The origins are kind of strange/goofy: whilst sorting through a box of used track one afternoon a couple of years ago, I came across an old Minitrix curved turnout, and I had a sudden rush of nostalgia about one of my very first layouts, the White River and Northern I. Given how sucky life was at the time (and still is, regrettably), I thought a trip down memory lane would help raise my spirits.

So, I scrounged around for the materials to build a newer version of that layout from 1973, which was based on an old article in Model Railroader by Bill Barron proposing a layout in a coffee table:



I adapted the HO layout to N Scale, making it a 3-foot diameter mini-layout:



After a false start (which is almost always to be expected when I start any new project), I arrived at a gently-modified version to build anew, using modern construction materials, but old Minitrix track:



I made a new lightweight base from Gatorfoam, and laid the track using 3M VHB double-sided foam tape:



Along the way I changed the theme of the layout from a New England logging line to a New England granite quarry line. When I made that choice, I did a deep dive to learn about old granite quarries and the railroads that served them. Consequently, I chose to base it mostly on the Hardwick & Woodbury Railroad in Vermont, which used three Shays for motive power.

I started kitbashing structures for the layout, using mostly Republic Locomotive Works Nn3 kits I'd stockpiled for a never-built layout project back in the early 2000s. But my kitbashing efforts turned out much better-looking than the track, and thus I experimented with a way to improve its appearance.

Over the coming days I'll post more about the layout.

[Dave V]

Oh sh!t yo, a new DKS micro-layout thread!  It's Christmas in March!   

[wcfn100]

Cool David.  My dad built a coffee table N/Z layout in the early 80's.





Jason

[Chris333]

Some of us are caught up 

btw did you see this:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Drawing:%20va0450&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true

[DKS]

Some of us are caught up 

btw did you see this:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Drawing:%20va0450&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true

Yeah, I know there are a few regular followers of my personal site here, but most are not, so this is all new to them. I've not seen those drawings, but I do have a bunch of blueprints from a company that specializes in building "authentic" water wheels commercially. Who knew such things exist? Anyway, thanks for that link--now I know way more about that mill!

[Philip H]

Oh sh!t yo, a new DKS micro-layout thread!  It's Christmas in March!   

ever the eloquent professor.  And ever true!

[chicken45]

Yes!

[OldEastRR]

Yes, indeed. The first new layout thread I've found interesting since we lost a lot of N scalers to HO layouts. Maybe Chris333's next Erie-themed new HCD layout is somewhere in the near future....

[DKS]

Thanks, all, it's nice to know that my silly trip down nostalgia lane is of interest. It's certainly going in directions I'd not foreseen.

As it stands now, most of my efforts are centered on the track. I'd previously done quite a bit of kitbashing for the layout already, and as good as those models came out, I still wasn't satisfied. It wasn't to do with how good they were, but instead a sense of "ownership": they were still somebody else's models that I had a hand in modifying. So I've started work building all the structures myself from scratch, tapping into the services of a friend with a laser. I'll start posting some of those adventures shortly; meanwhile, I need to recover from the nor'easter. What a mess.

[wazzou]

@David K. Smith - I read your structure post on your website and saw you mention your former partner.
Would that perhaps be Karin?  Is she producing model kits again?

[DKS]

Would that perhaps be Karin?  Is she producing model kits again?

Yes and no.

[DKS]

As promised, the first of the structure projects.

Originally I'd bashed three little backwoods homes from the parts of a Branchline Laser-Arts kit for three company houses. But the results weren't especially interesting. And thus began an odyssey. A few years ago, while I was in the midst of building my own home, I'd made a custom laser-cut model of the guest house I'd built (below)—which, as it happens, is where I'm currently living. But that's a whole other story...



Recently, when I came across the photo of the model I'd built (below), a great many things transpired. First, it occurred to me that it was perfect for the layout, and so I started working on it again. It also inspired me to resurrect the model and improve it.



After three rounds of revisions, I finally nailed the model design, and I'm quite pleased with the results.



Next up, a few more ramshackle homes for Rock Bottom, inspired principally by this reference image:



Incidentally, one might accuse me of conjuring a cutesy theme-related railroad name, but actually Greystone was inspired by the Redstone Quarry in Conway, New Hampshire (an old haunt of mine in my youth). Meanwhile, Rock Bottom represents my emotional—and physical and financial—state; it was serendipity that it sounded quarry-related. That said, given the somewhat whimsical nature of the layout, it all certainly fits.

[DKS]

Next up: the grist mill. Originally I was going to use the Branchline Laser-Arts grist mill kit for the G&RB. Based on the many reference photos I'd gathered, however, it seemed the kit was a work of pure fantasy, so I revised it. Worse, the kit's water wheel was almost laughably unrealistic, so I bashed a new one.

Before:



After:



However, after I began to pursue a new direction for the houses of Rock bottom, I was inspired to go whole-hog and design my own grist mill from scratch. I spent a week just collecting and studying over a hundred reference images so I could produce a unique new structure representing a believable blend of styles and features found on real-world grist mills—no two of which are alike. I drew elements principally from the three small mills shown below.



Cades Cove Mill in Tennessee (above) has a terrific backwoods feel.



I like the overall proportions of Mabry's Mill in Virginia—at least what can be seen here. It's actually larger, but the rest is out of sight.



Glade Creek Grist Mill in West Virginia provides a cornucopia of details. I've just completed the fourth round of revisions, and very soon I'll receive the parts for (hopefully) the final test-build. In the meantime, here's a little taste of things to come: the successful test-build of the sluice:

[towl1996]

Dare I say it, but that cabin would be a perfect NZT kit.   

[DKS]

Dare I say it, but that cabin would be a perfect NZT kit.   

Funny you should say that... this is the actual final laser cutting artwork...



More at another time...