The Very Last White River and Northern Railroad

[CRL]

I’ve always tried to provide enough horizontal separation where it’s not necessary to use retaining walls, but that’s really difficult on a mini layout such as this. I really like the way you’ve relied mostly on rock ledges with only small sections of retaining walls in areas where they make sense.

[mu26aeh]

That'll look good on some covered hoppers.  Have the reporting marks WMDX been taken?
Lee

I'm down for some decals when they're made available

[DKS]

This morning I painted the rock faces with Floquil Primer Grey, then applied an India ink wash to get a feel for the final effect.





A useful reference image:

[nickelplate759]

Crawford Notch?

[nuno81291]

^yes. Looking really good DKS. How thick do you apply the sanded grout?

[DKS]

^yes. Looking really good DKS. How thick do you apply the sanded grout?

Thickness varies from <1/8" to >1/2". Very little shrinkage, so no cracks.

[DKS]

And yes, I investigated registering this with Guinness Book of Records. Sadly Guinness has degraded into a freak show (just check their website--image above). The financial cost alone of proving that it's real and that I made it was outrageous--I'd have to provide multiple signed and witnessed affidavits. It wasn't worth it to become just another freak of the week.

The latest example of just how utterly meaningless Guinness has become...

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/09/01/Man-aims-to-see-Tenet-120-times-for-Guinness-record/2401598983881/

[learmoia]

"The moment it's available for download or purchase, that window closes."

Man, he's gonna be pissed when he finds out the movie was available for download before it was ever released in theaters.... 

Maybe he should have gone for Record in binge watching the same movie over and over..

But I think a bunch of people get that record each Christmas watching TBS.

[DKS]

This morning I finished the firefly effect. I'd first created fireflies for my White River & Northern II. It went like this: I inserted a few hundred fiber optic strands I'd painted green into a field made from thin foam rubber; the fibers stuck out of the ground like weeds. Then I filled in around them with ground foam vegetation. The other ends of the fibers were connected to a mechanism that slowly moved yellow-green lights past the fibers (I had to tint clear bulbs myself with transparent paints to achieve the right color). The result exceeded my expectations, and I've wanted to reproduce the effect ever since. Now I have the chance. Below is a view of the field after installing the fibers but before adding the vegetation on the White River & Northern II, back in the late 1980s.



I used the same device to make a campfire effect as well. The device had two rotating drums (copper-colored discs, below): one for the campfire, on the left, and one for the fireflies, on the right. The mechanism was designed so that the campfire drum rotated twice as fast as the firefly drum. Each drum had a series of colored GOW bulbs (LEDs were not yet cheap and plentiful) that passed the ends of the fibers as the drums rotated. Additionally, there were multiple layers of bulbs, which could be turned on in sequence to simulate increasing numbers of fireflies.



The thing I didn't realize about this crazy old contraption when I built it is that it created a strikingly realistic effect I really didn't want to replicate using the same technology; I wanted to use LEDs and electronics. Several Christmases ago, after the season ended, I found a slew of "falling star" icicle lights on sale for dirt cheap, so I bought out two stores' worth and dismantled them (below left); I'd intended to use them for a fireworks display I'd never built. Around the same time, I'd stockpiled hundreds of yellow-green 3mm LEDs (below right) I'd intended to use for a 1:1 rock garden display I'd never built. Fast-forward to 24 April 2020, and I'm seeing all of this as the perfect way to make a "solid state" firefly effect, since the falling star LEDs blink on and then fade out gently, with a nice delay before the sequence repeats.

   

   

Each unit (above left) is relatively easy to dismantle and break down to its core component: a PC board with all of the electronics. As a proof-of-concept, I connected seven yellow-green LEDs to a board, and they started winking away just as I'd hoped.

   

The next step was to assemble twenty illumination modules (I had enough materials to build many more, but I figured this was enough for my little layout.) This involved bending the leads of 140 LEDs to various shapes, soldering them to the modules, and testing them (above left). Then I built a styrene rack to hold the modules (above right), drilled a #76 hole in the end of every LED, and installed the fibers. Finally came the moment-of-truth test (below), and I got lucky: the new effect was every bit as good as the original.



This time I took a slightly different approach to installation: I fabricated a completely self-contained chunk of scenery, since installing the fibers in situ on the layout would have been a virtual impossibility. I made a box from Gatorfoam having only a bottom, front and sides (below left). I topped it with a sheet of Martin Welberg Type C wild shrubbery (below right); however, the sheet was not opaque, and the LED modules would be directly beneath it, so I spray-glued it to a piece of aluminum foil, then pinned it to the edges of the box (bottom right).

   

   

After spraying the fibers flat green (above left), I painstakingly inserted all 140 of them through holes I poked in the shrubbery sheet with a pin (below left); this was the most nerve-wracking step, because the fibers would snap with the greatest of ease. In fact, I know I broke one fiber during the installation, so there are 139 fireflies instead of 140. Finally, I glued the LED rack into the back of the box, and clipped the fibers off flush with the shrubbery (below right).

   

Time to fire up the fireflies!



And here's a peek "under the hood" while it's running.



The firefly unit occupies the green shaded area (#2) on the plan below.

[amato1969]

Crazy cool effect !!!

[garethashenden]

Wow!

[peteski]

Awesome as always.  Vacationing in our favorite place in Maine last month I did see the real ting, but nowhere as plentiful as on Dave's field.  The flashes were also much slower (less frequent).  But I guess with as many fireflies as Dave modeled, the flashes would be constant.

[DKS]

Awesome as always.  Vacationing in our favorite place in Maine last month I did see the real ting, but nowhere as plentiful as on Dave's field.  The flashes were also much slower (less frequent).  But I guess with as many fireflies as Dave modeled, the flashes would be constant.

There's a field at the end of my driveway that's almost solid ivy, and the fireflies absolutely love it. At peak season, they're much more plentiful there than in my modeled field. During college I used to hunt for fields where fireflies congregated to photograph, and I recall there were more of them back then. They are dying off, and will soon be at risk of becoming extinct.

[peteski]

There's a field at the end of my driveway that's almost solid ivy, and the fireflies absolutely love it. At peak season, they're much more plentiful there than in my modeled field. During college I used to hunt for fields where fireflies congregated to photograph, and I recall there were more of them back then. They are dying off, and will soon be at risk of becoming extinct.

That sounds like quite a light show!  I would  love to see that.

[davefoxx]

There's a field at the end of my driveway that's almost solid ivy, and the fireflies absolutely love it. At peak season, they're much more plentiful there than in my modeled field. During college I used to hunt for fields where fireflies congregated to photograph, and I recall there were more of them back then. They are dying off, and will soon be at risk of becoming extinct.

Man, I hope not.  We still have lightning bugs around here.  My daughter has become quite the talent at catching them.  But, she knows to be careful with them and release them harmlessly.

DFF