Canton, Highlandtown and Fells Point - Compact layout

[jpec]

+1

JP

[wm3798]

Work continues to spruce up the little switching layout as well as the photo module this week, in anticipation of photographing the M3T when it rolls in this weekend.

Big progress in the industrial end of town, with major land forms being set and the road system nearing completion.





More details being added nightly.

Lee

[OldEastRR]

Normally I'm not a fan of buildings set at different angles (alignments) from each other, but they look really great on this layout. Plus that everything-is-jammed-in look. It certainly looks Easternly: where first there were meandering horse trails, then little towns close to each other but with different street grid alignments which then grew together, then the railroads trying to wedge track into whatever space was left over, then industrial expansion, then motorized traffic and re-located and widened highways that begat freeways. And all of it on hilly ground. Layered confusion, I guess you could call it. And you captured it well.
Any waterways amid all that crowding?

[wm3798]

I've added this old photo base to the approach to the layout, it has a culvert! 


In Baltimore, there are lots of waterways that were covered over.  The Jones Falls, for instance, is invisible from near Penn Station all the way down to Lombard Street.

Lee

[wazzou]

Never thought I'd see the day you posted a photo with a Chessie unit on your layout.   

[wm3798]

It was a decoder job I did (reluctantly!) about two years ago.   I'm working on cleaning up the scenery around that corner this weekend to ready it for the McGratten Memorial excursion...  Updated photos to follow shortly!
Lee

[wm3798]

More progress on the scenery elements now that the basic track plan is intact.

The upper tracks to the rear (over the Laurel Valley overpass) are just tacked in for photographing the M³T, but I've got the main loop pretty well secured.  Grade crossings are going in, the streets are paved and lined, and I'm getting ready to start ballasting.

I've also got a small staging yard in planning phase, which will be off stage right and connect with the layout via the upper line in the back.  It will be a simple 3 or 4 track affair with a run around to allow the consists to "turn".

So far my 4 axle power has proven to be pretty reliable on the little loop.  I have two tortoise-controlled switches that are just slightly out of reach, and located where the scenery closes in around the track, making a hand throw impractical.  I'll include a couple of more remote turnouts in the staging yard, since it will be on the opposite side of my desk.

There are five industrial spurs on the layout, three facing points and two trailing points, and each can accommodate two cars each.  There's also a team track by the depot, so I can fiddle about 20 or so cars during an operation session.  The little shifting yard in Canton has a capacity of 13-15 cars, depending on length.

The staging yard will be able to hold up to 4 trains of about 10 cars each, with the inbound/outbound runaround remaining clear.

Here's the original track plan, modified to more or less show what's been built.


I figure I can begin a session with a train inbound from Dundalk to make pick ups and set outs at Canton yard, then it can move on to Bayview and staging.  At that point one of the two locals can work the industries (one eastbound for the trailing point sidings, one westbound (toward Bayview) for the facing points.)

A turn can arrive from Bayview to swap cars in and out, then return to whence it came, then at the end of the session, a Bayview to Fells Point train can run through to hole up on the Canton runaround track to set the stage for the next session.

But for now, I'm teasing out more details.  There's an endless number of opportunities on a small urban layout for eye catchers...

Lee
I'm thinking a typical ops session will begin with a string of empty hoppers

[MichaelWinicki]

Nice!

[OldEastRR]

Nice to see you put some slope on the elevation between track at National and the ground at Tindeco. 60' high retaining walls look weird. I was going to suggest you put in a middle elevation between those two heights, making the lot higher than Tindeco and but lower than the firehose. On that either a structure or the abandoned remnants of a factory -- blank concrete (or brick) floor/foundation, tall chimney, trash. Maybe give the road a more gradual slope at that point too. A retaining wall for this height along the side of Tindeco, maybe of cut stone.
But you avoided that towering retaining wall look this way.

[Rich_S]

Lee, The layout is really taking shape, looking good. Are you going to hide the track heading toward Dundalk with an overpass or would a tunnel portal work for that location?

[wm3798]

Here's the typical viewing angle (from my vantage point, sitting on my butt at my desk), so the mainline overpass does a pretty good job of obscuring the dead end.  I installed a red/green dwarf signal to allow me to see the position of the turnout under the bridge.



If I decide to make it a photo location, I'll come up with some trickery to disguise the dead end, but it's in the corner of the book case, so my options will be limited.

Here's a couple of other new vistas that I prepared for the McGrattan train's visit.











Once I'm finished with photographing the memorial train, I'll be working on adding more lights to the structures, tidying up building levels, scenery material transitions, ballasting, and adding some magnets for uncoupling.

I plan to add a building between the firehouse and Tindeco, probably a DPM or home brew store front of some sort, and possibly one behind the fire house, too.  There's also a vacant lot across the street that I can do something with... it's already got a lighting terminal set up!

I'll also be working on the flats for around the backdrop.  The area in the corner of the first shot here is turning out nicely, and I want to continue that around the other two areas.  I have a gob of materials and details to scratchbuild or kitbash pretty much anything I want to create the city beyond the city.

Lee

[wm3798]

I posted this shot back in September, and at that time was seriously considering scrapping the whole thing.

I've had a great time recovering from that and building out a bunch more scenery.  And there's much left to do.

I'm really enjoying the small size of this project, but I have to tell you, it is in no way a small scope of work.

I still have six significant structures to build out, 27 structures to add lighting to, many hundreds of scale square feet of sidewalks to build and detail, track to ballast, turnouts to make functional, and a staging yard to build.

Then there's all the details...  This 8 or 9 square feet of railroading goodness will keep me entertained for some time to come.



Never say you Kanto do something...

Lee

[Chris333]

That last long scene looks like a much bigger layout.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I agree with Chris.

And it also makes me realize "oh god, what have I signed up for" with York...

My own personal hangups aside, Lee, this is great to see coming together.

When's the first ops session?

[Dave V]

I'm really enjoying the small size of this project, but I have to tell you, it is in no way a small scope of work.

Then there's all the details...  This 8 or 9 square feet of railroading goodness will keep me entertained for some time to come.

Lee

Lee speaks much wisdom...  My 12.5 sq ft slice of Colorado has been a very non-trivial project, swallowing detail and time in volumes seemingly much greater than ever expended on the larger Juniata Division.  But, that's also the fun part.  Keep it up, Lee...  I'm really enjoying this thread!  Between your layout, Chris' Erie HCD, and all the awesomeness our at-large DKS was doing, it makes me kinda wanna do industrial/urban someday myself.