Amoskeag Northern - Conrail Portland (PRO&C) Line Engineering Thread

[garethashenden]

Ian, I'm not sure on this but I think I recall somebody is going to release a sw1 if I'm remembering it correctly.

Any idea who? First I've heard of it...

[Ian MacMillan]

Any idea who? First I've heard of it...

Was thinking the same thing.

I have two Bman 70tonners that I am planning on running for now as that is what BMS used up until the 90's when they got the SW1

[conrailthomas519]

Okay I have a definitive answer... Walthers announced new road names for their sw1 in ho scale. Sorry I was wrong.  Sorry Ian

[Ian MacMillan]

Boo! 30 Day ban!

Well I did get a chance to do some actual work on the layout today. Thanks to a great group of people on here I was able to get all of the turnouts for the papermill. Now I just need to find some Atlas C55 flex to finish it off!

[basementcalling]

Quit giving us the run around!

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

Quit giving us the run around!

 

always fun to get more track work done in today's day and age. Looking good

[Ian MacMillan]

It's been awhile since the last update since I have been spending the last month trying to get my office in the basement finished to move my stuff from what is to be nursery. I was able to get it finished to the point where I could move stuff down this week. Still have to put a finish coat of paint and do the crown and base but its workable.

This gave me some time to work on the layout this weekend. With the remaining #5 switches and flex track located I was able to get the majority of the track down in the mill and also began to lay the first sections of the main line. I ended up running out of cork, so I will need to pick that up and get the last bit of track in the mill down.  I was able to pick up some ME C55 at the Springfield show but I am not happy with it due to its stiffness and being a pain in the a$$. I was able to get some Atlas C55 from Dupesy to use.



After getting the mill track down I started working up on the main line, placing a small section, and then transferring Route 25 from the DKS 1:1 plan on to the benchwork and cutting out the cork tiles for the road base.  Left over tile from the office project holds it down while the adhesive sets.



Over the last few weeks I have been spending quite a bit of time working with topo maps and also looking at Mark Dance's photos and videos to get the feel of how I want the mountains to look. While those in the Ossipee Range of the White Mountains are much smaller than those in BC, Mark's does help to give me that dwarfing look I want. The Ossipee Range is also a ring dike range, so it has some steep terrain. Today after getting a primer coat on the backdrop I started putting some foam down so that I could start roughing in the land forms. Most would top out around 16", which would be the top of this scrap of tile that I used to gauge how it would look height wise.



The layout room also contains an area for my work bench. I had just planned on finishing this off with basic drywall, wainscoting and some basic cabinets, or making it "train stationish" but after the other half and I visited the location (a restored textile mill in Laconia) for our wedding in April I decided to do something completely different. Most of you know that I also have an infatuation with textile mills, and I have decided to bring this into the work bench area which is in the top left corner of the DKS plan. The walls will be covered with 1/2" "Boston" half brick, which is recycled bricks from the Boston area that has been cut down so that they are only 1/2" thick. The ceilings, while not an awesome 15+ feet tall, will have the joists covered with rough-sawn boards to represent the subfloor of the next level, and then will have faux rough-sawn beams. Then will then be white washed and weathered Cabinets and benches will use the typical "colonial red" so often found in mill woodwork. Some exposed conduit as well.




Belknap Mill - our wedding venue



Everett Mill - Lawrence, MA - Steven Perlmutter

[garethashenden]

Great to see the progress on this. That last picture is the feeling I'm hoping for inside some of the mills on my tiny layout.

[Dupesy]

I expect that the section built with my donation will be duly noted in some way, perhaps an engraved plate or bronze statuette of my likeness.  And please spell my name right, McMillan!

[Pomperaugrr]

I expect that the section built with my donation will be duly noted in some way, perhaps an engraved plate or bronze statuette of my likeness.  And please spell my name right, McMillan!

That sounds like a fair and equitable suggestion to me.

Eric

[DKS]

Awesome progress, sir! Still, it's kind of spooky to see a fairly substantial layout being built from a Version 1.0 track plan, with no revisions... 

[C855B]

...

Everett Mill - Lawrence, MA - Steven Perlmutter

OK, now that's just about enough space for a reasonable layout.

[Ian MacMillan]

I expect that the section built with my donation will be duly noted in some way, perhaps an engraved plate or bronze statuette of my likeness.  And please spell my name right, McMillan!

Awesome progress, sir! Still, it's kind of spooky to see a fairly substantial layout being built from a Version 1.0 track plan, with no revisions... 

I do have some revisions for you but it is on the other wall on the Tamworth side of the layout  where All States is. I want to significantly reduce its size or replace that business so that it does not encroach into the aisle so much where it needs an access. I am not working on that side right now so I did not want to bother you quite yet. The West Ossipee side is exactly how I envisioned it so it needed no changes and is being built first.

[basementcalling]

OK, now that's just about enough space for a reasonable layout.

And such a nice row of posts that can be made to run down the middle of benchwork.

[fotoflojoe]

Ian, if you're still looking for Atlas C55 flex, Charles Ro has plenty. After finding the sole vendor at Springfield who had some, and buying his last 12 pieces, I found the balance if what I need at Ro's this past weekend - I literally stumbled over the box sitting on the floor! Might be worth the trip down.

I cannot wait to see how your Boston brick veneer project turns out!