Meadow's Lumber: HO 1930's Geared Steam Layout Refurbish & Expansion

[DKS]

Masterful. Thanks for sharing.

[wm3798]

This needs to be modeled on your next FreeMoN module...

[eric220]

This needs to be modeled on your next FreeMoN module...

+1

[3DTrains]

This needs to be modeled on your next FreeMoN module...

Better that than Big Foot:


 

Cheers!
Marc - Riverside

[M.C. Fujiwara]

This needs to be modeled on your next FreeMoN module...

Thanks.
I already have a fallen, decaying oak on the Shoofly module:



I guess I could wedge a squished Rav4 under it 

But, yes, the Free-moN modules are a bit too tidy and neat: need more mayhem!
We have a build party Saturday to expand our collection of 45 deg modules (everyone keeps building long straightish modules, so we need the 45's to "S" curve the whole layout to shoehorn it into whatever space available).

Back to the HO layout:

Finished all the basic ground cover and ballasting, and started adding various static grasses and textures here & there:





Also started placing buildings around to get a feel of the scene.
The client already had the buildings made, and several more are on the way (like the 2-stall engine house that'll go next to the turntable), so he'll decide where things go.

Was hoping to use some of the "Golden Hills" 6mm static grass SE offers, but it was the only one that didn't show up in the shipment.
And the mixed-length "Savannah" blend came out much, much greener (neon!) than my image of a savannah:



Fortunately was able to tone down with some "late summer" burnt greens, which I used elsewhere on the layout.

Got some nice textures using grouts and granules in the TT pit:



Not wild about the grainier grey chunks, but turned out okie dokie.

Most important: started trying to blend the new and old sections of the layout together.



Still a ways to go, but many layers and textures will help the transition.

About time for some trees.

Thanks for looking.

[PRRATSF]

Mr. Fujiwara, you do amazing modeling in any scale.

Sam

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks, but remember that the buildings are built by someone else.
I'm just throwing down track and dirt and grass.

Now we're working on getting some capacitors / StayAlives installed on the brass geared steam.
(Client has decided that running well is more important than fab aesthetics, though I think the capacitor can make a good worker's water can)
I'd take a whack at it if it were me own bairns, but I'll let the local brass loco expert continue his good work.

I'm trying to figure out the trees: client has already spray-bombed a bunch of weeds, but they don't look too pine-ish (and they crumble quickly), even after I add some ground foam.

Don't really have the time/energy to make a truckload of scrubpad background pines right now, but will come up with something.
Got massive bags of polyfil laying around the garage...  hmmm....

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Not quite sure where the last couple weeks went.

Part involved client back in the hospital for some more chemo, but now he's out and doing better.
While building the mine tipple, I've been waiting for some static grass and other supplies to arrive in the mail, including a Bachmann 45-tonner with which to test the track.
[And I'll probably build a small HO industrial switching layout at some point anyway  ]
The Bmann 45-tonner rolls well over all the track I've installed, reinforcing the idea that the brass locos really need a capacitor / stayalive to mosey over the rails.  Hope to work that out soon.

Most work sessions involve running various trains over and over sections of track to tweek / clear ballast / scrape glue / etc. to ensure consistant running.
But also slowly adding various ground texture layers.









And here's a short video of trains moving:

Still working on the mine tipple, the trees and bushes, and finishing the fascia.

Client's grandkids were coming over this weekend for the first time since the layout got remodeled (earlier visits got interrupted by chemo), so I really wanted the track clean and the trains running.
Cleaned the wheels on both Climax and 45tonner, set up his PowerCab and lent mine (two grandkids needs two throttles for two trains  ) and conveyed easy instructions.
His 7-year-old grandson kept chastising him: "Papa, all you have to do is work a little bit every day and it'll get done!"
So he's looking forward to seeing the look on grandkid's face when he sees this version of the layout 
Remember, the last time the grandkid saw the layout it looked like this:



I suggested saying that Papa started working on it yesterday 
(After all, Papas are magical!)
Hoping they had a groovy time together!

I'm using the weekend to cleanup my own garage so I can get going on my own projects as well 

Thanks for looking.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more.
Or close the wall up with our Horribly Oversized dead. 

Now that my own Free-moN show is over, I'm back in the sack with the HO.
Immediate goals: water, trees and more bush layers, and installing the two-stall engine house that showed up in the mail last week.

To thicken up the forest along the backdrop I sprayed some polyfiber dark grey and then glued it onto the back ridge:



Yes, looks like Mordor has come to California, or like one of our annual "Golden-Brown State" wildfires (one just roasted our local Mt. Diablo last week), but it's just the Joanne's polyfiber lying like a rug:



(Good to spray on wax paper to avoid any sticky situations after the paint dries)

Tried a couple of different techniques to blend the mess (remember this will be BEHIND the layers of trees):



Brushed white glue underneath, but then on the left is the diluted-glue drip over the ground foams, and on the right (under the cabinet) is the hairspray soak.

When I go back on Monday I'll see which works better.
(Hairspray much easier under the cabinet!)

Here's a drier shot of the background filler:



Looks kinda crappy now, but it's all about the layers.
And you gotta crack some eggs to make an omelette.

Speaking of cracking, turns out I should have waited before installing the engine shed tracks, as the Sierra West Scale Models two-stall engine house (http://www.sierrawestscalemodels.com/) came assembed by another dude with rails already installed.
And C100 rails at that.   
And slightly wider than the 2 1/2" track centers I was told.   

I decided to pop the C100 rails off the kit and slip the engine house under some de-tied track, so it was time to lift some already caulked and ballasted track.
I soaked the two tracks with water and 70% iso alcohol for about 1/2 hour:



Scraped the dirt and grout off of the pink foam from around the tracks, and then carefully shuffled the putty knife under the ties:



Cut out and pulled off the ties necessary, and then left everything to dry:



(not going to install a wood kit on damp ground!)

The kit is very well designed and made, and whomever my client got to build it for him (I think the dude's out in Kentucky) did a fab job.
Just wondering how to clean the track!
(The roof comes off, but all the fragile wood beams & details!)
Perhaps a good candidate for No-Ox.

Also poured another thin layer of tinted Magic Water.
Since I wasn't able to seal the entire waterbed (part of it is "as found") I'd rather do small pours and have the wicking action seal the holes rather than a large pour ending up a puddle of ectoplasm on the floor.

So here's the water and the background brush:



All drying to be ready for more bushes and trees and waters when I return on Monday.

Thanks for looking.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Life happens.
Back at it.

Installed the 2-stall engine house.
Popped off the C100 rails that the builder installed and slipped the C83 rails through the structure.
Spread caulk under the ties and building, and CA under the rails inside the house, and Mr. T-Pinned everything in place:



Used 3-point gauges to hold the rails in place while the CA cured.

The roof is removable to see all the fab detail inside, so put together and to show the relationship with the rest of the scene:



As you can see I've also started planting trees.
Client had already spray painted a bunch o' tree-like weeds.
I applied hairspray and ground foam to even them out and add some textures:



Spray-painted only on top left, ground foamed bottom right.
Will do some other batches with various groundfoams to mix things up.

Funny, with N scale trees coarse foam is better, more realistic texture, but with HO trees the fine ground foam works better on the existing structures.

So started planting, with some Grand Central Gems pines thrown in for variation:



Will fill in with ground textures and bushes and smaller trees later, but want to establish "line-of-sight" channels to monitor the other side of the layout.

[cont.]

[M.C. Fujiwara]

One challenge with the layout as exists: there's a bank of cabinets along the back right corner.



So any scenery needs to accomodate the outswing of the hinged panel:



But will work once the tipple is in place and bushy bushes all around.

Many trees and details to go, but those definitely help add to the vertical-ness of the scene:



Next up, populating the whole backdrop with layers of various-ground-foamed trees:



Also been designing the "Phase II" section to the left of the layout (logging camp) and the lower interchange town that will connect by lift-out for continuous running to the finished sections.

Onwards and upwards!

[mcjaco]

Looking good!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Very early grape harvest this year, so client's workers will be moving the shelves and cleaning out the space for the "Phase Two" section of the layout:



Layout will wrap around the left, occupy the table space and then connect to the wing I've just finished on the right via swing bridge.
Something like this:



But just in benchwork shape, not track arrangement (client wants a wye, but not as a lift-up section to the opposite wall, and the mainline will come through the runaround in the center of the original section (next to the woodmill) instead of the bottom track / reverse loop)

While waiting for the space to expand, I've been making & installing more trees, pouring more Magic Water, and starting on refurbishing the original track.

What I thought was cement-&-sand was actually whiteglue-&-sand, so I tried soaking areas around track with iso alcohol and POOF! they lifted right off!
[Here's a warped and damaged turnout that needs replacing: just soaked and lifted!  D'oh!]



Wish I had thought of that at the beginning so I didn't spend so much time chiseling track out of sharp rock with scraped knuckles!

Was able to easily remove a good section of warped track that will become the main branchline from the Phase II main town:



And as soon as the shelves are moved behind it, I can swing the backboard back against the wall (will become the backboard for the extension of Phase II) and prep the place to have this track wrap around a center aisle.

While at first I thought I'd have to rip out and relay most of the original track, with this "wet reset" method I've also been able to soak, scrape and reattach other track in the original section to help even out the rails and ensure smooth running.
[Was about to take picts yesterday when I got a call to pick up me dad at the airport an hour away, so next week!]

With the trees, been slowly spay-painting (dark brown/grey), hair-spraying, and groundfoaming the weeks the client's already collected.
Been installing in front of the polyfiber background-fill in fits and spurts between other projects:







You can see the flat-car bridge installed over the creek, and some of the "dead tree" weeds client provided for variety.

For the water features I've been layering thin pours of Magic Water: given that I don't know the integrity of the creek bed, I wanted to slowly layer the Magic Water in and let it's natural seepage to seek out and fill any holes.
After 2-3 thin pours (tinted with Floquil dark green and grimy), it's here:



And seems very well sealed, with a few small pools.
Just before leaving to pick up me dad yesterday I poured a bit thicker layer, so we'll see how it looks on Monday.
Now I'm wondering if I just should have sprayed a layer of "Flex Seal" http://www.getflexseal.com/ first and that would have saved a couple of Magic Water pours that just seeped into the sand (though the tinting did help set up the dark base).

Anybody try using "Flex Seal" yet to secure their water features before a pour?
Just curious.

Also thinking about "No-Ox" to help insure better running (layout is out in big garage-type room, though relatively climate-controlled, and in California).
Guess I'm thinking get all the construction done first, clean everything up, then work on steps to ensure smooth running (chemical / cleaning-wise).

Any/all thoughts appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

[packers#1]

Looks fantastic MC; on the No-Ox subject, the best running layout I've ever built had No-Oxed rails.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Thanks for the feedback on the No-Ox: the goal (no matter the nifty scenery) is to have reliably-running trains at almost anytime.
(Tall order, but we'll do our best!)

Another week, a bunch more trees flocked, another layer of water poured:



The stream behind the trackage--dry before the project--is almost ready for some selective shore dirt & rocks, some more layers, and some movement over the surface.

The client had already started a small section of stream at the front with layers of WS Water Effects, white paint, and more Water Effects.
Very clear and the paint looked good in places, like paint in others, and didn't really fit with the "dirtier" (muddy green) water I was pouring elsewhere as base.
As the first step to start blending the two sections, I poured a thin layer of tinted Magic Water over the "rapids" the client had already done:



Helped tone down the whites and give a slightlier murky-green tint.
A few more thin layers should help.
(No hurry here).

The client intentionally made the original trackage uneven to mimic the Sierra Nevada logging railroads of photos old.
Fine for photos but not so great for finicky brass geared steam.
Instead of ripping out all of his work, I think I can "massage" the rails into smooth surfaces by soaking the ballast (70% iso seems to work wonders), removing some risers, and re-setting through re-ballasting certain sections of track.

The following section can be seen in the above photo (leftside of second turnout) and was a noticable bump:





Will probably use N-scale cork to shim and then replace the ties I removed.
A significant weight (like The Band song) will keep everything in place and smoothed out while things cure.
Worse comes to worse: will have to rip out all of client's original trackwork, redo subroadbed and relay track.
[I'm not getting paid by the hour, so whatever works to get the trains running smooth--though always good to include as much original work as possible!]

More significant:
With the early grape harvest done last week, the massive shelves on the side of the layout:



Were finally moved:



and so we could start laying out the space for Phase II:





That outline got slimmed down a little: client decided he wanted everything flush on the "outside" of the layout (1925 Model-T Truck side), so that reduced the total distance a foot from 9' to 8'.
Back to the drawing board: the logging area far left will be a bit smaller, the Interchange Town is a lot smaller (and more horizontal) and things depend on the size of the Sierra West SawMill (30 sq"? 36 sq"?) that needs to fit in somewhere.

No matter there should be some good movement between sections (Interchange to Sierra Town back up to Logging or Mine).
Dude just got a Rivorossi Climax DCC Sounded up as well, so soon I'm going to have to build the Better-Than-Scratch early 1900's car kits he has stockpiled just to even out the loco-to-rolling-stock ration.
(Good thing they're they're the same as the Republic Locomotive Works N/Nn3 kits I have but easier on the eyes & fine motor skillz!)

So design benchwork, then off to hardware store for lumber and Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our HO dead.