Weekend Update 4/14/19

[Mark W]

Spent a little quality time with the big box o' scenery stuff last night...









The station module is down to finishing the background structures, roadways and details.  Should have no trouble finishing this in time for Railfest.  The beam bridge module has a few more puzzles to work...but I think it's still in striking distance.  Wiring up the lighting for both will be squared away once the layout of the structures is done.

Lee

Lee, those canal walls are perfect!  But I gotta say I'm a little distracted by the water colors.  I think they're a bit too tropical for Maryland. 
Also, I'm not sure what your plans are for the front edge of the module, but if you darkened the water as you get 'deeper', I think that would really make it pop. 
The surface texture and gloss is right on though!

[superchief]

Otto, nice building and seating area!!!! so was the food any good? nice HO layout to help out on too!!!! just started my second week of the new job, busy training for a couple of weeks, just glad to be back at work!!!! more money for trains...and rail fan trips!!!!! Gordon Bliss/ Santa Fe-All the Way

[peteski]

Lee, those canal walls are perfect!  But I gotta say I'm a little distracted by the water colors.  I think they're a bit too tropical for Maryland. 

You took the words right out of my mouth (or is it from my fingers?).  Looks like a tropical lagoon from the movie "Splash". 

[nkalanaga]

Dave V:  I see your point.  By 1940 most of the refrigerated freight was probably moving by truck, at least from a main rail terminal, to the remoter towns.

For a freelancer, WW II would be a perfect excuse.  The reefers had to go back in service due to fuel, or rubber, rationing.  In reality the truckers managed to keep running, but if things had gotten a little worse?

[wm3798]

The front edge will be a thin slice of basswood that will be painted to match the fascia.  Probably a dark green or black.  I want the water surface to be somewhere between a muddy brown and a green-blue.  What you see there is the first coat of blue/green with the gloss Mod Podge.  I'll be tinting the next coat more of a dark green.
The channel has a concrete liner on the bottom, and when it runs slow, it would be more transparent and the concrete would influence the color.  When it's moving faster and the channel is more full, you'll get more of the green/blue with the water more transparent and reflective of the surrounding hills and sky. 
When it's roaring, it would be a very muddy brown with lots of silt and whitecaps as it swirls down the channel. 
Also keep in mind that I'm pretty color blind in the shades of green department.  So I appreciate your feedback.
I'm going for somewhere between low and medium.  It's a process.  Stay tuned.

Lee

[R L Smith]

After more than two years, the Bath & Hammondsport RR is operational again. I re-did my original shelf sections to do a better representation of the prototype track arrangements, and this time the B&H is viewed from the east side instead of the west side of the tracks.

The photos show the second deck sections temporarily held in place with clamps. These sections will eventually be the Erie / DL&W / EL double-track mainline scenes and incorporate double-ended staging tracks (a lesson learned from the prior layout). there is 14" spacing between track level of the lower deck and the support structure for the upper deck.

While the local townspeople are happy to have rail service from Keuka Lake to the packing houses in Rheims, they are still trying to figure out how the cars and locomotives got there.  Meanwhile, the chief surveyor is contemplating the best route up Nolix Hill to Bath, which will require more than two scale miles of track to reach the summit on a reasonable grade.  The CFO is wondering what the chief surveyor has been drinking lately, and suggested her budget might need some adjustment. Being the ever-practical financial person she is, she asked if an "elevator of some sort" might be a cheaper solution.  Hmmm....

[diezmon]

Wiring, and cutting.  It ain't pretty, but it works.      

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[JMaurer1]

RL Smith: Please explain the Nowhere in Particular sign. That's MY railroad (NorthWestern Pacific).

[Cajonpassfan]

Otto, nice building and seating area!!!! so was the food any good? nice HO layout to help out on too!!!! just started my second week of the new job, busy training for a couple of weeks, just glad to be back at work!!!! more money for trains...and rail fan trips!!!!! Gordon Bliss/ Santa Fe-All the Way

Gordon, best of luck with the new job! Hope it works out for you....
There's a whole bunch of eateries, bars and sweets shops at the Anaheim Packing house, and what we tried was good. We'll definitely go again.
Best, Otto

[R L Smith]

RL Smith: Please explain the Nowhere in Particular sign. That's MY railroad (NorthWestern Pacific).

That is an original destination sign scroll out of a SFMTA (Muni) PCC car. One of those rare "right place, right time" moments.