Canton, Highlandtown and Fells Point - Compact layout

[wm3798]

Nope.  Those buildings are all "Nice" and will be incorporated into the vignette.

The little mill will be down at the creekside, of course, the Owings Mills station will be up at track level, and the company house along the road as it passes down toward a pasture.

I'm pretty much pulling everything from stock.  The only thing I've bought is some matte Mod Podge to facilitate the assembly of the trees, and some gloss to use as I extend the stream.

I may add another small structure or two if time permits.
I better head over to the ReStore to pick up a hollow core door...

Lee

[eric220]

Your foam is too blue.

[wm3798]

Invested $5 in a 24" bifold door at the ReStore... Nice and light, and just the right size... I now have a 12" wide panels to support the scene, plus another I can use to mock up a diorama for the Cumberland Station portion of the program.

My plan is to use the @M.C. Fujiwara  trick and build skyboards for each that allow me to store the two modules as a unit.  Eventually I'll do two more to create a modular loop layout.

Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I fully support this idea. Awesome!

[DeltaBravo]

Lee,
 Ed Kapuscinski needs some of those trees for very late fall to early winter.

[wm3798]

Did a little wiring this morning.  Track power bus restored, and the two tortoises are ready for a Switch It decoder to be installed.  Signals lit in tandem with the switch machines, too.

Gosh... that's a lot of work for a photo diorama...

Lee

[wm3798]

Worked in the major land forms for the new scene last night, and put on the first coat of base scenery...







Gotta dig around and see if I still have that combine kit for the corn field...

Lee

[davefoxx]

Love the progress, Lee.  Shake 'n Bake!

DFF

[wm3798]

Broke out the air brush for the first time since I weathered the rails of the old yard.  (I believe there's still a brown/gray line of haze in Andy's room...)

Put a coat of home-brew John Deere Green on the combine.  Needs a second coat.  Maybe a good picture tomorrow...

Lee

[wm3798]

Now I have to plant some corn so I can cut it down with this thing!  Probably a bit anachronistic for my time period... I was thinking about painting it a generic red, but there's one exactly like it working the field near my house, and dammit, that yellow stripe is just hot.

I guess I'll have to put the TARDIS nearby to explain the 1968 WM F units juxtaposed to the 95 John Deere...

Lee

[Missaberoad]

Probably a bit anachronistic for my time period...

Nice! Paint the cab roof yellow and if it is possible move the cab off center and it will pass if you squint 

[wm3798]

Cut the fascia for the front edge of the "scene on a door" project, used a piece of toe kick from the cabinet department at Lowe's.  A bit pricey for my tastes, but very convenient for the scope of the project.  Stained it up, and will soon be ready to put a more finished edge on the scenery.  Then I can plant some corn!

Pictures in the morning.  Promise!
Lee

[wm3798]

Got another cheap hollow-core bifold at the ReStore, and painted up a gloomy fall sky...


And started working out the base for the second photo diorama I'll be needing for the Mike McGrattan train...



Lee

[wm3798]

Started on the second section, which will give me a photo back drop for the Cumberland Station.

I still have the trackwork from the layout, but I'm facing a couple of challenges to reuse it.


I want to keep the module 12" deep, so the track curving away at the far end (it used to connect to the bridge that crossed the Potomac River... like it does...) is going to make that hard to keep.
At the near end, the track should bend away from the station, which will sit between the track and the backdrop, also runs a little to close to the edge...

Here's what it used to look like:


The track I salvaged runs approximately from just to the left of the highway crossing about to the red and white caboose.

So, I'm debating whether I should bother trying to modify the mounted track to fit the new panel, or just go for broke and lay all new trackwork on the panel.  I was hoping to avoid having to do a bunch of ballasting, but I by the time I move the turnouts around, all I would be salvaging is some flex track.

I had already gutted the Tortoise machines and linkages from under the interlocking, so I'm starting from scratch there, too.  I guess I've talked myself into salvaging the track and turnouts and laying some new track...   Either that or just building another simple scene on this deck, and getting a 24" deep door for the station scene... I think that would be better for the dense urban scene it demands anyway.

Better start salvaging some time to work on this thing!
Lee

[Philip H]

Keep the track.
make a deeper scene.
done and done.