Newport & Rock Falls: Another Retro Micro-Layout

[DKS]

12 March 2021. Today I started illuminating the building flats.



To keep the flats as thin as possible, I used 1.6mm cool white LEDs, mounted at the top of the window glazing (above). Then I attached a piece of frosted acetate over the glazing with clear double-sided tape (below); this helped spread and diffuse the light.



I wired up all of the LEDs to PC board terminal pad.



Then, after bonding strip styrene around the perimeter of the window areas, I attached a piece of thin black sheet styrene to make a shallow, light-tight enclosure.



It's difficult to photograph the subtle, natural-looking variations in the illumination.

Can that panel handle more lights? 

Actually, the control for the flats will be somewhere near the flats, because they will be mounted to a removable access panel on the back of the layout, and I want to keep wiring as simple as possible.

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

As you can see, I addressed the light-tightness in a slightly different way.

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. 

Thanks, Mike. As you might notice, however, I'm not being as much of a purist about my layout as Michael Kolloseus was about his. I've stuck faithfully with period track, rolling stock and kits, but I bent the rules on the scenery and the lighting. I was going to use period stuff for everything, but this is much more fun.

[DKS]

13 March 2021. It was back to wiring today. Lots and lots of wiring.



I also installed the control panel. Although it's not wired yet, just pop the two screws on the front and the panel flips down.

[DKS]

14 March 2021. More wiring. My goal today was to finish wiring the control panel. After making well over 100 connections, I now have just a handful left to do before I can JFRTM (run trains).



In other news, I've been working on the layout's infrastructure, namely the power supply; this was installed in a removable back trim panel that serves double as the mount for the background buildings.

[TimF]

Great modeling...If I would not have so much I would start like you do...it is like a "how to build your 1st layout"...great,absolutely great!

[DKS]

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

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.

Here you go:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GRAYHILL-MINIATURE-ROTARY-SWITCH-1-2-OD-SP-3-POSITIONS-SERIES-50-NOS-W-KN0B/333890038398

This is an unbeatable price for a miniature Grayhill rotary switch.

[Philip H]

Thanks!

[DKS]

Today's early report: with some trepidation I set about testing all of the electronics. It was just a bit unnerving simply because I wired absolutely everything (involving dozens of controls and hundreds of connections) all at once. Lucky for me, everything was nearly 100%. The only issues were a pair of swapped uncouplers, two switch machines wired backwards, and one switch machine that was DOA (I've ordered a replacement). As soon as I straighten up the rat's nest in the tunnel, I'll be ready to JFRTM.

[DKS]

15 March 2021. See the previous post for the big news of the day. Incidentally, those nifty miniature terminal strips seen behind the control panel were made in—and purchased from—Russia. I can easily envision Sputnik bristling with them.





In more photogenic news, it's arbor day here at my house: I created some flat trees for the flat background buildings.



The Tomytec tree kits I was going to use on the layout but never did include a bunch of tree and branch armatures cast in bendable plastic. Upon close inspection, they're very much like DIY twisted wire armatures molded flat, requiring the modeler to bend the branches into 3D shapes before applying the greenery. But the parts being flat from the outset got me thinking: after I'd begun work on the building flats, it dawned on me that the flat trees and branches were perfect for the building parts.



I simply sprayed the branches with spray-cement, and pressed them into a pile of Woodland Scenics Bushes (FC145). After squeezing the ground foam firmly onto the branches to enhance the bond, I applied clear flat spray liberally, glued them to the background building, and called it a day. And the last bit of news, I've started a TNRP (Track Nail Removal Program). At first I wasn't going to bother—it's freaking Code 80 snap track, after all—but I worked hard to make the ballast look half-decent, and the nail heads detracted from it.

[peteski]

15 March 2021. See the previous post for the big news of the day. Incidentally, those nifty miniature terminal strips seen behind the control panel were made in—and purchased from—Russia. I can easily envision Sputnik bristling with them.



In more photogenic news, it's arbor day here at my house: I created some flat trees for the flat background buildings.

Those are nifty solder terminals.  It wouldn't surprise me if they were used in the Soviet space or military programs.  Are the made of Bakelite (won't melt under heat from soldering)?

[DKS]

Are the made of Bakelite (won't melt under heat from soldering)?

Indeed they are. Quite brittle, too--must take care not to over-tighten the screws.

[peteski]

Indeed they are. Quite brittle, too--must take care not to over-tighten the screws.

That's some old-school stuff! Reminds  me of the components I worked with when I was in telecommunication vocational school in Poland, back in the '70s.

[DKS]

16 March 2021. Today I did some "real" modeling for a change: I scratch-bashed a disused traveling crane for the factory. Whilst sifting through some drawers looking for industrial debris, I came across the legs for the traveling crane from the Cornerstone Vulcan kit. It was the seed that got planted in the back of my mind, but it was weeks later before I acted on it.



I fabricated the main structural members with the columns from the Cornerstone kit, as well as modified roof lattice members. Next up, the concrete base, which I made from Evergreen ½-in spacing styrene sidewalk sheet material. After painting, it was time to assemble it, followed by some heavy-duty weathering.



After installing it on the layout, I spent an enjoyable hour or so detailing it. There are between 70 and 80 Micro Engineering pallets in the foreground.



It's probably "too nice" for the layout, but I don't care. It made for a quite enjoyable day.

[CRL]

Enjoyable days are like money in the bank of happiness.





Damn, that was corny! 

[DKS]

Damn, that was corny! 

Thanks, that made me laugh! More money in the bank!

[glakedylan]

DKS, your work continues to capture so many things that I would probably not even think of,
yet alone model in N Scale.
awesome. this is coming together in such a wonderful way.


sincerely
Gary