Boardman River Branch switching shelf

[wazzou]

It'd be in the Graphic Design section.

[freedj]

Pinstriping tape would work really well for that!  I am planning on re-making that piece, it was just scrap i had laying around in the garage and I wanted to start on the wiring while my kiddo napped

Last night I added my trees and also added a bunch of bushes.  Im reasonably happy with the trees, but they seem to have turned out just a bit clumpy.  I think i am going to go back to trying the fiber/static grass method on the armature rather than the course foam. 

I've picked up a harbor freight bug zapper for a DIY static grass applicator, but its going to have to wait until after our camping trip!

[freedj]

I do like how this is shaping up.  I was using it to take photos of cars to sell, and this happened:



Sadly, I went a bit car crazy before setting my prototype, so some cars just need to go!

[Lemosteam]

@freedj , the prop shop on Van Dyke, north of 9 mile in Warren has the striping as well as Great lakes Hobby also on Van Dyke, near Utica Road in Sterling Heights.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Hmm. Not a fan of the tree.

Have you tried Supertrees? They're gonna change your life.

[freedj]

After a long hiatus progress has resumed on the layout!  All the missing ties have been inserted, the feeder wires have been painted. The river scene baseboard has been painted and a few stand in buildings have started to crop up, just to start getting a sense for the shapes involved.



The trains have run, and the first few operating sessions have taken place!

I've got a few places where my locos inconsistently stall even after a thorough cleaning.  Many of them are near (still) unpowered frogs but some of them are just in the middle of nowhere.  I've dropped feeders for every track segment so I am a bit puzzled.  If it only happened around the frogs I would understand but out in the middle of clean track im not so sure. 



I Like the look of the supertrees Ed,  i'll pickup a starter kit and see how it goes.

[freedj]

Over the weekend I picked up a DPM Goodnight Mattress co kit to convert into a low relief building.  I built up a few cardstock models to see what i like.  The first version only had room for one car, and the second version has room for two.  It also feels big enough to be a believable building measuring in at about 15".  It was an interesting challenge to get the molded windows all in plausible places. 

Please excuse the color, my printer is running out of toner and the photo wasn't a good color to begin with

I would love some feedback from all you experienced modelers on this plan before i start cutting up the kit! Do you see any glaring errors?  What can I do now to make this structure more believable?



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[Rasputen]

Looks good! Are those two upper story windows going to be right at the corner of the building?  You wouldn't normally see that.  Also, make sure your two freight doors are the right height off of the ground to match up with the freight cars / loading dock.

[freedj]

Over the weekend I got my stand in control panel mounted to the layout and wired up to control frog power.  I put in a connector between the layout and the control board so that I can easily remove it to work on the control panel or the layout module.  I have a servo control board on the way to drive the turnouts and now need to make up a few servo mounts before the board gets here.  I may round over the corners of the panel bezel because i have already caught the corners a few times.

I know its completely impossible, but it feels like powering the frogs has reduced loco stalling, even away from the turnouts!?

[Bob]

You are making really nice progress and are describing things really well, so it is easy to follow along.  Am really enjoying this!

[freedj]

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I finished this phase of building on the first structure.  My downspouts turned out just a bit larger than I hoped they would but they scale out to about 8" which isn't too far oversized.  I've painted in the foundation on the baseboard so the building always goes back to its spot, and also painted a bit of a driveway/parking lot leading to the garage door that is trackside to help visualize the scenery.

I am still considering adding a business sign and some other visual interest to the rooftops.

I also got servos installed on all my turnouts wired up to the control panel using cheap servos and an Octopus 3 servo controller.

[freedj]

I've been working on painting the background flat structure above and have really struggled getting a good color and brick detail.  I've stripped and repainted it three times and I think it may be time to walk away from it for a while.  The most recent method was to spray the mortar color over the whole building, and then dry-brush stipple on the brick color using related mixed colors.  I then used a black wash to try and unify the effect, and finally thought it was too dark so I used a lightened brick wash to try and bring it back a little.

I just can't seem to get a good brick detail.  Maybe I need to just paint it a single color and call it good.

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I've also decided to add a loop so I can let the trains run and have just a single train in staging.  The challenge with this is that I want a minimum of hidden track so everything on the bottom (front) of the layout is going to be in a narrow channel.  I am also dropping the level of the track so that the bottom of the river (jagged line in the left section) will be above the roof of my tallest car car as it passes under the river.  This is a 2.7" drop from the main track level in the three original modules.  This requires a 3* 10"r helix on the left (ACK) and a 2* ramp on the right.  Ideally I would use larger radius curves and shallower grades but my wall is only 12'4" long and I am using every single inch.

I have tested my locos and the NW2 can pull 5 cars up 2* and way less up 3*.  My 6 axle locos can easily pull 5 cars up 3*.  It seems like I may be mostly restricted to CCW looping.  The layout is designed for ~5 car trains.

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Im going to be starting the benchwork for the loop this week.

[freedj]

Benchwork begins on the staging / continuous running loop.

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[MVW]

I've been working on painting the background flat structure above and have really struggled getting a good color and brick detail.  I've stripped and repainted it three times and I think it may be time to walk away from it for a while.  The most recent method was to spray the mortar color over the whole building, and then dry-brush stipple on the brick color using related mixed colors.  I then used a black wash to try and unify the effect, and finally thought it was too dark so I used a lightened brick wash to try and bring it back a little.

I just can't seem to get a good brick detail.  Maybe I need to just paint it a single color and call it good.

(Attachment Link)

I've also decided to add a loop so I can let the trains run and have just a single train in staging.  The challenge with this is that I want a minimum of hidden track so everything on the bottom (front) of the layout is going to be in a narrow channel.  I am also dropping the level of the track so that the bottom of the river (jagged line in the left section) will be above the roof of my tallest car car as it passes under the river.  This is a 2.7" drop from the main track level in the three original modules.  This requires a 3* 10"r helix on the left (ACK) and a 2* ramp on the right.  Ideally I would use larger radius curves and shallower grades but my wall is only 12'4" long and I am using every single inch.

I have tested my locos and the NW2 can pull 5 cars up 2* and way less up 3*.  My 6 axle locos can easily pull 5 cars up 3*.  It seems like I may be mostly restricted to CCW looping.  The layout is designed for ~5 car trains.

(Attachment Link)

Im going to be starting the benchwork for the loop this week.

Hey, that brick doesn't photograph that badly. A very light dose or two of black wash might just do it for you, especially if you paint the windows frames a different color.

I love the way you designed and built this layout, and the way you've adapted the design to provide continuous running. No matter how much a guy is into ops, it's great to have the option of just letting' 'em run.

If (when) I need to build a compact layout, I expect I'll be doing something fairly close to this. Thanks for the how-to!

Jim

[freedj]

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Work continues on the continuous running loop module extensions.  I have completed the roadbed surgery and laid cork on the down ramp of the loop.  Im still filling gaps in the front edge so the facia will have good support  as it will be extending up from the edge to the landform height.  The black line on the landform is the height that will hide my tallest rolling stock in the channel.  I expect to build this up even more with some sculptamold eventually.

I think I will be painting everything in the channel a dark grey color to try and make it disappear when viewed from the top (walls, roadbed, track, plywood).  It should also make it less visible before I get the facia piece installed.

This scene will have one more large industry (grand rapids door and sash) in the foreground where the gondola is, and one smaller industry in the forground on the left hand side.  There will be a road cutting diagonally between cone drive and the sash co and coming off the front of the layout where the dark sharpie line is.

I also finished most of the woodworking for the center module loop track completed this weekend.

Before I start on the helix section I'll need to move the layout from resting on the bookshelves to hanging from the wall on shelf supports.  The wall isn't plumb or flat, so I am trying to figure out how to build the brackets so that I have plane for the layout, and a perpendicular plane for the backdrop.  I like the idea of the metal standards and shelf supports, but i am not sure i'll get the result im after.