Western Carolina Somewhere

[jmarley76]

I've been busy over the holiday break!

Decided to upgrade/redo part of the original layout and still fighting with the area between the paper mill and the loop. Part of the problem is figuring out how to hide the tracks heading off to staging. The bridge just wasn't working and the intersection of the two roads was not very believable. So the bridge had to go. I think the next thing is some other type of business, maybe the Walther's DQ kit that is out there? Here's the work on the area next to the paper mill:




Next up was the town itself. I felt like it was missing something or just wasn't laid out well. I switched the buildings and it seems better. Also moved the gas station out (for use elsewhere) and replaced it with an Imex convenience store. Swapping the buildings made a lot more sidewalk space, so added a little plaza on the side of the building. Some benches would be nice there in the future. Here's some pics of that:




And finally, I started on a new road near the cement plant. I have had trouble with that space for a while, moving the cement plant back and forth. In the end, I decided a road was in order, which created an underpass beneath the track. It helps create more of an illusion of varying elevations and grades, which @Phillip H pointed out was kind of lacking on the layout earlier on in this thread. SO, here's some pics that (the first two are before for reference):

[jmarley76]

Update on the bridge... constructed a steel bridge under the siding using styrene I-beams. Looking for some advice on how to proceed with a concrete deck bridge for the mainline. Not sure if I should use balsa wood, styrene, or something else. also, not sure if it should have a curve in it or just be straight????? 
Lots of little details to figure out!

[davefoxx]

If it helps, here's how I did one.  I built a trough out of styrene with a lip at each side to retain the ballast.  The trough was built on top of Plastruct styrene I-beams.  I installed the I-beams on small pads to represent sliding-type bridge shoes, and voila!



Sadly, this portion of the layout was taken down before I was able to finish the scenery and "plant" the abutments into the hillside.  But, hopefully, this picture will give you some inspiration.

DFF

[jmarley76]

Dave, that looks pretty good! I was thinking something in the general direction, so very helpful!

I think I have been spending too much time looking at prototypes, which sometimes makes it harder to visualize the process for how the model will come together.

[jmarley76]

More upgrades... cement distributor improvements:

[jmarley76]

I've added a new stairwell on the boiler house at the paper mill. I'ts made from parts of a Bachmann engine servicing platform, styrene, and a set of gold medal models industrial stars.

[jmarley76]

Some paper mill upgrades, pre-stairs on the boiler house...

Moved the door to the correct position in the recycled paper receiving area. Finished the pipe bridge by scratch building a receiver on the mill side. Also went through and add toothpicks as pins in each corner of the structures along the isle. Now they will stay in place, but can be moved if need be.

[jmarley76]

Here's a couple more photos of a lean-to and some storage tanks. The lean-to is constructed from left-overs from the Superior Paper kit and hides the loading bay next to the larger entrance for boxcars. I made the storage tanks using kits parts, sprue, and Legos.

[jmarley76]

It's been a long, long time, in a glaxy far away that I last updated, so better do it before the next Star Wars movie comes out. I must admit, I have been completely distracted with honey-do projects, work, and everything else, including a "new" hobby. To get it out of the way, here's a pic of the new hobby:



Now that I have the gratuitous bonsai shot out of the way, on to the trains! Here's the latest; working on the paper mill, painted the stairs on the boiler house and added pipes from the boiler house to the craft mill...





Hoping to finish up the mill section soon and move on to other parts of the layout.

[ronw1970]

How did you handle the Unitrack and Tru Track being too high for loading docks and inside buildings?? I look at your pictures I cant tell how you did it but it looks good whatever you did

[jmarley76]

I'm a big fan of foam core and mat board. In some places, I mounted the buildings on either mat board or foam core before adding them to the layout. On the paper mill, I shaved down the foam board where the track goes inside the building. Since Tru-Track is code 65, I used code 55 for the track into the building and the siding at the paper mill. The siding has a layer of mat board underneath to lower it compared to the mainline.

[jmarley76]

Out of hibernation! Here's some stuff I should have posted a while ago...

Building flats to hide the staging entrance near the paper mill:



Two shots of resin cast cardboard bails for the paper mill: