Newport & Rock Falls: Another Retro Micro-Layout

[Philip H]

lets talk about those rotary switches lower right.  2 pole?  3 Pole?  how many stops and what do you use them for?

[dem34]

Judging by the wiring, they look to be for Signals.

[DKS]

lets talk about those rotary switches lower right.  2 pole?  3 Pole?  how many stops and what do you use them for?

They are single-pole, 12-throw switches. I'm using them for the signals. You can select how many stops the switch has by inserting a pin in one of the 12 holes in the top. I got them surplus; new they're pretty pricey.

[Philip H]

They are single-pole, 12-throw switches. I'm using them for the signals. You can select how many stops the switch has by inserting a pin in one of the 12 holes in the top. I got them surplus; new they're pretty pricey.

I'm contemplating the same thing for the few signals I need to do. I've been looking for surplus stock as well, but its getting harder to find.

[DKS]

9 March 2021. Took a break from what seems like endless wiring to do something visual. I ballasted in front of the Newport station, and also under the plate girder bridges.





By the way, that milky patch at the bottom right will eventually become a new mini-scene (more like micro-scene): the quarry swamp. It's glossy plastic glued to the layout base. It will probably take a week or more to dry (as of now). Once that happens, it'll get surrounded by tall grasses and filled with cattails, lily pads and pond scum.

[DKS]

I was surprised to see the little patch of water near the quarry had dried overnight, so I got right to work finishing it.



It features multiple shades of green Silflor grass tufts, 32 cattails (2 X Noch 14608), several water lilies (actually Butterbur plants, Noch 14610), and 12 water lily flowers (tiny silver beads painted bright yellow), plus a few bits of Woodland Scenics foliage clumps.

[jugtown modeler]

@DKS,

Have been enjoying this report/thread. Both here and on your site.
Intrigued with the decision processes and tidbits of re-iteration history and supporting links.

Very glad you decided to continue working on this.
Looking forward to more posts.

[DKS]

After finishing up the swamp, I became dissatisfied with the lack of interior detailing on the enginehouse, so I popped the the building off and added some stuff, such as a rudimentary floor and some details consisting of Model Tech Studios "linear junk."



While I was at it, I did another one of those "always wanted to" things, in this case, the vines on the back of the enginehouse.



Then I spent the rest of the day ballasting. About half the yard and 90% of the mainline are done.

[CRL]

Getting nicely cluttered like a good retro layout should.

[DKS]

11 March 2021. I was about to install the tool shed, the last building to be installed on the layout, when I had a change of heart. I decided it was too primitive-looking, not to mention that it had no door or window parts—seems Pola never bothered to make any. Its replacement is a real mashup: the walls are from a Cornerstone kit, the roof from a Kibri factory kit, and the door from an old Pola house kit. I also added a car crane to wrap up a RIP track scene.



In other news, late last night I had one of those "Why the hell didn't I think of that a long time ago?" moments when I stumbled upon the idea of making building flats out of walls from kits I'd wanted to use on the layout but couldn't.



I started by surrounding what I'd named the yard powerhouse—now reverted back to the factory powerhouse—with various walls from Pola 260 and 262, which offered the benefit of having already been painted and finished. I also pieced together a flat from the Pola B211 single-stall enginehouse I'd wanted to use. The assembled flats are shown above; below, the first two are seen temporarily posed in position on the layout.



I wound up using the fronts and backs of the big Pola factory I ditched, as well as all of the brick wall parts from the little enginehouse. For a touch of leavening, I used half of a chopped-down smokestack for latter flat. The exercise also inspired me to enhance the foot bridge with a 2D extension:

[wm3798]

Those flats are dead sexy. 
Do you plan to add some lighting behind them and a propery backdrop?  Or will the wilds of central New Jersey always provide the back lighting and lush scenery beyond the modeled world?

Lee

[Chris333]

Can that panel handle more lights? 

[DKS]

Haven't decided about lighting them, but I probably will... maybe. I'll also probably add some property effects, like flat greenery and such, in between the buildings and maybe some treetops over the roof here and there.

[Sokramiketes]

I'm really digging the theme of this layout, and it's ability to highlight an era of model railroading.

I like the history of toy trains also, and while most toy train layouts are jumbles of whatever on a table, there was an American Flyer S Gauge layout by Michael Kolloseus (sp?) in the Washington State area that nailed it.  He used all AF accessories, automobiles and trees that were available at the time, and chose scenery that looked like factory display layouts of the era.  You could really get immersed in what a grand vision of Model Railroading in the 1950s looked like.

This layout feels the same, capturing an era.

Someday I'll do 1929 in American Flyer wide gauge...  And the dream would be to see a series of these style layouts in a museum setting. 

[wm3798]

For my Cornersville flats I plan to seal up the back with some of that black craft foam to prevent light leaks from washing the wall behind them.
If you are planning to not have a "sky" you could cut some black foam core to serve the same purpose, as well as provide a silhouette fascia for the rear of the layout.  Could be pretty nifty!
Lee