Amoskeag Northern - Updates

[Ian MacMillan]

Sometimes I hate Ed more than anything..sometimes Ed knows me better than I know my modeling self. The plain fact is, Ed is an A hole for being right. Every once and a while we go back and forth with ideas over IM, sharing photos and trying to prove the other that they are a moron for thinking that way, and it ends up coming out with a better product from both.

Ed said last week;

knowing Ian's sensibilities, I'd think he'd be more for the more mundane.

I then told him to GF himself...but he was right. While I really do like peak fall colors, I really prefer the dull gray weather of the tail end of fall, and I do think it looks better in model form. While driving around in circles at work this week, I really did think that the current scene around me would look better, and is rarely done. So I changed my colors, and just whipped up this temporary tree mock up. In the last week of Octover about 90% of the trees are bare, the 10% are oaks still clinging onto the last of their dried out leaves, compared to the first week that I was planning on modeling. Evergreens pop now, as their color is a stark contrast to the grays of the bare branches.  The Silfor will finally get its second coat of "fall" giving the base of the tall grass some green, while the tops have dried out.  I have a bunch of dead leaves cooking the stove right now, so hopefully I can get cracking and show some scenes next week.



Thinking like this from Kevin Burkholder

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ahahahaha. I LOVE being right!

I really like the center tree. I think the gray on the others might be a bit light. I'd either use a darker gray color on them, or mist them, just a touch, with some brown.

[conrail98]

I agree with Ed on the gray, it looks a little too metallic,

Phil

[tom mann]

I think the gray on the others might be a bit light. I'd either use a darker gray color on them, or mist them, just a touch, with some brown.

Agree with Ed...f***, not me too :-\

[Ian MacMillan]

Its Walmart primer gray. I may go to the Krylon which is a shade or two darker.

[GaryHinshaw]

...and a slightly redder hue in the middle tree, if that is supposed to be a late season oak.

That's what you get for posting model & proto photos side by side.

[Ian MacMillan]

...and a slightly redder hue in the middle tree, if that is supposed to be a late season oak.

That's what you get for posting model & proto photos side by side.

But crushed up oak leaves are so much cheaper than foam!! 

[GaryHinshaw]

Is the middle tree flocked with crumbled leaves?  Hard to tell from the photo.

-gfh

[Ian MacMillan]

Yeah, crushed and sifted oak leaves.

[Sokramiketes]

Ed might have been right here, but you'll be the last one laughing after the foam only "benchwork" experiment runs its course.  

[Ian MacMillan]

Ed might have been right here, but you'll be the last one laughing after the foam only "benchwork" experiment runs its course.  

Oh that laugh will last years....years

[Ian MacMillan]

Quite a bit of progress this past week. Mainline track 1 was completed through the staging yard (Track 2 to follow shortly) linking the East end of the layout with the West end. The first train to complete the loop around the layout was a 40 car auto rack train, followed by a 35 car stack train. It was nice to finally have some roundy round trains to make the layout feel like it is progressing.

Of course the trains also found some areas where there are some trackwork issues that need to be addressed. I also foudn that I like the tracking of metal wheel cars muc better. I found several locations where plastic wheel sets were picking switch points while metal wheelsets had no issues. Still those turnouts will need to be inspected though.

This also gave me a chance to mess around with WiThottle on more than 6" of track and I was impressed at how responsive JMRI was over WiFi. Heck, maybe I'll have to pick up a bunch of cheap Android phones for all the operators.

I also found that I want to throw the Bachmann Amfleets out the window....my Kato F40PH struggled to pull 4 cars around the layout. I really hope the Kato Amfleets roll better. I may end up trying to improve the rolling by removing the light wipers from the trucks and see how that works.

[93cram]

I may end up trying to improve the rolling by removing the light wipers from the trucks and see how that works.

Otherwise, you may want to have a look under the body to check the 'release brake' lever  ;D

[Philip H]

This also gave me a chance to mess around with WiThottle on more than 6" of track and I was impressed at how responsive JMRI was over WiFi. Heck, maybe I'll have to pick up a bunch of cheap Android phones for all the operators.

Um, ok, where are such things to be found?

[Bsklarski]

ATT this past weekend had some sweet deals for upgrades.... Android phones, blackberrys for 0.01. I took advantage and upgraded. They are out there LOL!

Brian