Chesapeake and Ohio in Central Virginia

[jpec]

Great job...I love the N. Mountain Sub. I was part of the NVNTRAK oNeTRAK Mountain Sub group; I modeled the curves at Christian,  VA and the Rt. 250 overpass. The band broke up when our Chief Inspiration Officer/Guru of all things C & O/Motivator Matt Schaefer passed on in 2009. I finally sold off my modules two years ago and they were in the 2014 N Scale East Convention layout.

Jeff

[Caleb Austin]

Oh yes, I remember seeing photos of those modules a few years back. I really wish I could have seen that great modeling in person.

Caleb.

[Caleb Austin]

Progress has been slow recently, but I did manage to make some bridge ties for the deck girder bridge.


I started off with 1/16" stripwood from Michaels, chopped it down to 3/4" pieces. I them made a rough jig with a couple old saw blades and slotted them in, with small bits of card stock to space the ties correctly.


I then applied a couple strips of masking tape and lifted the ties out.


Next up was stringers, and I squared off any un-even tie ends with a razor blade.


On the bridge with a base coat of paint.





That's one bridge done!

Thanks for looking.

Caleb.

[Philip H]

Hubba.

[wazzou]

Good job Caleb. 
Those are actually called "guard timbers" and they serve a couple purposes.
They keep the ties in good alignment and spacing and also aid in keeping a derailed wheel from dropping over the edge of the structure.

[jmarley76]

Very nice! 

[Caleb Austin]

Not much to report for the past couple months. But I have just about finished the small road bridge construction.









Thanks for looking.

Caleb

[muktown128]

Nice weathering on the N&W covered hopper.

Are you going to install guard rails on the bridges?
See "Tracklaying Questions" thread in N and Z Scales section for more discussion on this topic.
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=38682.0

[Caleb Austin]

Nice weathering on the N&W covered hopper.

Are you going to install guard rails on the bridges?
See "Tracklaying Questions" thread in N and Z Scales section for more discussion on this topic.
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=38682.0

Probably not on this small bridge, the prototype doesn't have any so I'll follow suit. I'll add some to the other bridge over the creek though, so I have been following that thread closely. Lots of great info!

[svedblen]

Looks great! I like these shots a lot

[davefoxx]

@Caleb Austin,

What era are you modeling?  As we discussed a while back, I still have some C&O rolling stock left over from when I switched back to modeling the SBD several years ago.  I'd like to clear out my collection and find some unused rolling stock a good home.  I will gladly pass some/all of this along to you free of charge, if you can use it.  We're talking about C&O freight cars from the late 1960s to the early 1970s era, i.e., pre-Chessie System.  If this appeals to you, let me know, and I'll run an inventory.

DFF

[Caleb Austin]

Oh man, its been a while since I've updated this thread.

Up until the last month, I had barely done a thing on the layout, but I wanted to push and make enough progress to start on scenery structures, so I've made some headway.

I've carved up some rocks, applied some dirt for the base scenery layer, and started ballasting.



I've also rebuilt the bridge abutments I made earlier in this thread. The balsa I made them out of showed too much wood grain for my taste, and when I tried puttying them to help, the edges looked to soft. So I built this set out of styrene. They closely match a pair on the C&O piedmont sub as well!









Thanks for looking!

Caleb.

[Scottl]

Looks great Caleb.  Very natural contours.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Looks great Caleb.  Very natural contours.

Yep. It's why he's one of the best.

And why every time I see his work, I think of this LCD Soundsystem song.

[Caleb Austin]

Haha, no no. Nobody is sneaking up on your skills Ed. Your scenery work is the main reason I joined this forum way back when.

I've just been doing a little work on the creek bed.


First up, I spread some full strength white glue, and then stick a few medium size rocks down. These are just some chunks from my driveway. I try and arrange the rocks in a way that would make sense for the flow of the water. Mostly pushed into the bends in the creek.


While the glue is still wet, I sift on some fine sandy dirt as a base texture.


Finally, I add some small rocks. Mostly clustered when the bigger ones are. I'm not worried about the colors of any of these too much, as I'll be hitting everything with washes of paint once all the glue dries.

Thanks for looking,

Caleb.