Chesapeake and Ohio in Central Virginia

[Caleb Austin]

Hey folks!

Here I will be chronicling the construction of my current layout, based on the Chesapeake and Ohio in central Virginia around 1974. Most of my inspiration comes from the eastern end of C&O's Mountain Subdivision, between Charlottesville and Stuanton VA, and the run over the Blue Ridge Mountains. I chose 1974 because of the variety of trains I can run, from a few new Chessie units to old GP9's still roaming around.

The layout is 27"x48", small enough that I can fit it in my apartment with ease, and hopefully be able to finish it in a reasonable amount of time!

Its been a while since I've posted regularly here, or done much in hobby at all, but I'm glad to be back at it. I had a massive thread on Train board years ago on my last layout for anyone who is curious what this layout may start to look like. You can see it here: Central VA Door Layout

There's still a lot to work out in the plan, what season to model, what structures and the like, but all the track is down and wired and I'm looking forward to figuring it all out.

First off, here is a very rough track plan, and a few current photos.











Thanks for looking guys, more to come shortly.

Caleb.

[Philip H]

Glad you are back.

[davefoxx]

I'm looking forward to following your progress.  Thanks for starting a thread!

DFF

[mark.hinds]

Looking forward to this, based on that old thread on TB.  Why no center backdrop? 

MH

[Caleb Austin]

Looking forward to this, based on that old thread on TB.  Why no center backdrop? 

MH

Yeah, I was originally going to have a backdrop, after seeing other 2x4' layouts like Chuck Geigers that use one so well, but the plan is do a lot of outdoor photography with this layout, so not have a backdrop opens of a few more angles. I also wanted to let elements of the scene like the river and road have a bit more room to stretch out without being cut off by a backdrop. Hopefully all the scenes will flow together nicely.


Caleb.

[GM50 4164]

Caleb, I too am glad you are back at it! I truly loved the scene with Little Rock tunnel from the last one. I managed to catch a WB train there once. I am thinking about modeling the line with some use of modelers license to add some switching.

[Caleb Austin]

Caleb, I too am glad you are back at it! I truly loved the scene with Little Rock tunnel from the last one. I managed to catch a WB train there once. I am thinking about modeling the line with some use of modelers license to add some switching.

Thank you! Glad to see somebody else with an interest in the line.

[Caleb Austin]

I've been working on a small road underpass on the town side of the layout. I thought this one in Charlottesville would make for an interesting prototype to model.



The first thing I've done is make the abutments. These are made out of a pack of Woodland Scenics retaining walls, cut up and carved and glued together. It took many broken casting before I got a usable set!



Here they are loosely positioned. All I've applied is a thin black wash for now, but they will get properly painted and weathered soon.





Thanks for looking.

Caleb.

[Caleb Austin]

More abutments! This time for the girder bridge over the creek. I fashioned these from some 1/8" balsa.


The pieces cut and glued.


After wood filler putty, much sanding and paint. Next will be another coat of paint and weathering.

Thanks for looking.

Caleb.

[Chris333]

That sure is sweet! 

[Kentuckian]

Looking good!

[Philip H]

Once again . . . Dang!

[Caleb Austin]

Thanks guys!

I've been working on a couple things this weekend. First I've been continuing to paint the track. On previous layouts I just painted the ties and rails Polly Scale roof brown and called it a day. It looked good, but I wanted to add a bit of separation in the colors from the rails and ties this time around.

I chose Model Master Burnt Umber for the base tie color, airbrushing this first. I then mixed equal parts Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna for the rails and brushed this on. This combo adds a bit of rustyness the to rails, but they are close enough in color that its not distracting.


Base coat of Burnt Umber


Applying the rust mix.





It's subtle, but hopefully will be worth the effort.

[Caleb Austin]

I also airbrushed on a quick fade to my GP9. I'll finish the detailing before I do anymore weathering.





Thanks for looking.

Caleb.

[svedblen]

It's subtle, but hopefully will be worth the effort.

I like it. It looks really good!