Erie Railroad Mahoning division HCD

[Dave Schneider]

Backdrop road photos are from the old layout. Covered here:
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=29307.msg314360#msg314360

Thank you for helping me remember last year.   

Best wishes, Dave

[glakedylan]

I follow this thread daily as your build is one of the truly fine works here
and of course, anything in PA is considered to be a fantastic choice!

thanks for sharing
keep up the super work!

Gary

[Chris333]

Did some work around the station.


The old station I had been posing was replaced and the new one was reversed so the "station" part was nearer to the main road and the baggage area was by the siding. Also made a new crossing watch tower, painted them both at the same time.

[davefoxx]

Did some work around the station.

What would really make this even sweeter than it already is would be to paint the asphalt in the train station parking lot a slightly different color.  More than likely they would have been paved at different times.

DFF

[MichaelWinicki]

What would really make this even sweeter than it already is would be to paint the asphalt in the train station parking lot a slightly different color.  More than likely they would have been paved at different times.

DFF

Ah!

Dave nailed it.

A different shade of gray would work jim-dandy.  An alternative would be to "stone" the parking lot for the station.

Also a few pot-holes and strategically placed "dig-ups" would add to the scene.

[Rich_S]

Chris, The layout is looking great. In my opinion, that photo backdrop is the best one of the bunch. I agree with the above comments about the station parking lot. Since the railroad owns that parking lot, it's maintenance cycle would be different than the maintenance cycle of the city street.  Maybe even go with a brick or cobble stone lot?

 

[mcjaco]

Some coblestones popping up too.

[Baronjutter]

Need some patches too.  Everything is even and perfect but there's cracks, as if all the cracks formed at the exact same time over night.  Just paint over a little bit darker as if you were tying to cover up racks.  Paint in a straight 2-3' wide stripe as if a pipe was dug up.  Just get patchy.  I'm sure work has been done on the road, cracks repaired, potholes filled.

[wm3798]

There's 50 shades of gray, you know...

[Chris333]

Sure pick the only section of road that is now glued to the layout for me to mod... 

[Baronjutter]

I'm certainly no expert but I think my patches here turned out pretty ok.


Very easy to do, no need to remove anything. Just paint in situ.

[Chris333]

I'm certainly no expert but I think my patches here turned out pretty ok.


Very easy to do, no need to remove anything. Just paint in situ.

Can I ask how you did that? Like what color and did you just brush it on?

[Baronjutter]

I just mixed up a gray that had an extra drop or two of black then free-hand brushed it on.  If you look at actual road patches they are rarely straight or perfect.

When I do roads I usually take crappy Michaels "Charcoal" paint and add some white to lighten it up, for the base coat.  Then I add a couple drops of black and do some patches or whole chunks of the road a slightly slightly darker colour.  Then I add a couple more drops of black or charcoal and do some more patches.  Just sort of build up the "history" of the road with slightly darker and darker colours.  The newest patches will sometimes even be on top of the road lines.








Those are some very contrasted examples of specific patches of course, but an old urban street will often be layers and layers of patches and filled-trenches like that, all blending lighter and lighter as they age. Maybe a pot-hole got filled.  Maybe they replaced a pipe along the whole block.  Maybe they upgraded the storm drains, maybe they installed a new fire hydrant.   Maybe a business needed a  new gas hook up.  Any time the road gets dug up it gets freshly patched along.    Maybe a whole lane had so many patches and holes they decided to re-pave that side of the street, or the block.  But there will be a line where it stops and gets lighter.  The key with modelling an old asphalt road is to just use many many different shades of gray stacked up on layers, getting darker the newer it is.

So for instance you could re-paint the parking area either lighter or darker as it probably wasn't paved at the exact same time.  Maybe it's really old, so paint it lighter gray and add lots of little patches.  Maybe it's new, so it's very uniform and darker.

[glakedylan]

looking good! I admire your skill and artistry
thanks for sharing
Gary

[sirenwerks]

How about a manhole cover or storm grates while you're at it?  I love your work, just sayin' though yo.