Wisconsin Central - Heritage Division

[w neal]

Thanks Gary! Much appreciated!!

Still working on trains, just not the above trains. Also busy with son's open house (and all the fix up projects that go with it  ), 4-H fair, etc. I'll post an update o'er the next few days.

"'Ees nowt dead, but 'ees nowt at tall well."

[w neal]

After a delay of summer, I've begun summore work. Not much, just somethin'.



One gets tried of looking at dirt all the time.















A little grassing always improves things:








Now to weather the bridge & the tracks. Maybe some tagging here and there. I know, a shrubbery!










I was nervous about merging the grass with this lawn's edge:








Now for some trees & things.











After some coaching, here is my "removed" grade crossing:

[conrailthomas519]

w.neal love the removed grade crossing idea....just look at all the rail in that scene.

[wazzou]

Need some barricades and signs to complete the crossing removal.  Looking good.

[Specter3]

Great seeing the progress here. I have a similar brown stage on one of my modules and just cant decide on moving forward with ground cover. Yours looks good.

[w neal]

Thanks. Its just a first layer of ground cover. I'm simulating things right about this time of year, where there are first hints of fall around.

Sorry there have not been more updates. My time is torn between 3 other train projects...

 

[w neal]

Just a little dust for the bridge...

















And some brush nearby. I need to add a lot more.







Baby steps

[LIRR]

I like the subtle weathering on the bridge. It's so easy to over-do it.

[w neal]

A shrubbery....

















Egads! I must cover this scenery gaff!!! Tomorrow night's challenge me thinks.















Another roadway embankment needed some covering, in my estimation:














I wanted to make sure these small tree/large shrub things did not "overpower" the roadway. I.E. Make it appear that the road crews have done some maintenance.










That was it for a few minutes of layout work. Some nights, that is all I get.

[w neal]

Time for visualization. Now breathe deeply and picture yourself ignoring leaning trees and imperfect alignment...






















Makes me think about modeling Norwood Yard...



















Mixed up a batch of mud to help seal in this warehouse "flat":





















And while I had a batch of mud, I revisited this crossing after eons:





















Hard to see, but I put in some "foundations" for an Atlas relay box. Now time to weather it and "wire" it to some poles.




















Funny. These two trees were in the scrapbox, discarded as "un-treelike". They seem to fit well here as pruned and weatherbeaten "neighborhood" trees. Maybe its just me:
























And with more leftover mud, I thought I'd try to affix these Atlas steps in place. Imperfect, yes. It was a great challenge trying to apply the mud with a factory already secured in place. Well, shrubs and paint will hide my mistakes..., I hope.




















One nice thing about the "mud" is the color differences as it dries. They tell you where it is moist enough to work with and where it is starting to become firm.


















And lastly, as one plays with different items around the layout room, strange & surreal scenes emerge indeed. Especially so, the later and closer to bedtime it gets.

[Philip H]

This I like muchly!  Is that the Atlas unit in front?

[mcjaco]

I was in your neighborhood Labor Day weekend, and forgot I wanted to drop you a line......oh well.  I think I'll be back in October too.  I'd love to see this in person. 

[w neal]

Well, for god sakes, don't post it on the web!    

's ok. I was not around anyway. Please make an appointment. Fall is pretty busy for me.

[w neal]

Is that the Atlas unit in front?

Shore is!

[jpwisc]

Your bridge scene reminds me of a bridge over the WC line just outside of New Richmond, WI. Nice work in capturing the look of the WC.