Weekend Update 5/25/14

[S Class]

That water effect is really nice at ground level. Consider the idea stolen.


My layout is currently upside down with the wiring going ahead between projects, I'm also trying my hand at casring so nothing photo worthy this weekend. Enjoy your day off for Memorial day, we had ours back in April. Long may ANZUS reign to the benefit of our nations.

[arbomambo]

when everything is 'dry' to my satisfaction (first time working in the open air in coastal Alabama on things N scale related-the humidity tends to make drying times significantly longer), I'll airbrush some weathering on the roadbed and between the ties....I also like to add a hint of rust on the roadbed as well as the 'grease' strip in the center of the rails-I like the suggestion of sand on the siding rails-I haven't done that yet...I believe I'll try that here...
The very last thing will to be a 'dusting' of the predominant soil/rock color over the entire module to 'blend' the scene and give it some continuity....

I posed some ATSF warbonnets on the module real quickly to show a sense of scale....

[nkalanaga]

Arbomambo:  One change I'd make, unless you're following a prototype picture, is to add a culvert in the middle.  With several drainage courses, flash flooding is a real possibility, and there has to be somewhere for the water to go.  A nice big piece of pipe at the base of one of the lower-layer gullies would be enough, and it wouldn't have to go all the way through, just a piece on each side.  If it could go through kids would get a kick out of looking through it, but if not, just say it's "full of tumbleweeds".

If there is a culvert, and I missed it, I apologize. 

Those are some of the best talus slopes I've ever seen...

[MRL]

Where's Wile E Coyotee and the Roadrunner?

[sirenwerks]

Where's Wile E Coyotee and the Roadrunner?

And the Acme Dehydrated Boulder kit?  I always knew that was fake as a kid.  Since when do boulders have water in them...

[wmcbride]

Arbomambo,

I hate to clog up an update thread with no update of my own but I have to say that that is truly excellent work. The warbonnets really add so much to an already outstanding scene.

[arbomambo]

thanks...
it's been a fun ride...just some tiny things to do before we transport it to Round Rock...
it's interesting to see the 'finished' item compared to the original concept drawing...and the area that inspired the module...
the area is called 'Mesita'....I've seen it a dozen times on trips railfanning the ATSF in New Mexico...it lies just to the north of I-40...west of the junction of Hwy 6 and 40...right before I-40 approaches the Laguna Indian reservation.
the tracks run east-west, in the shadow of the mesa, before veering north/northwest to cross an arroyo on a double track truss bridge, possibly the only truss bridge on the Gallup sub...turning west to pass the old corral at Quirk...

















thanks for looking,
~Bruce

[arbomambo]

last installment for the weekend...fascia painted, telephone booth painted and installed, switch motors from NZT glued down...the nice little manual switch stands from Osborn models are posed here but won't be permanently installed (I can see them being 'taken out' by a ham-fisted track cleaning crew...)
over the week, a little track weathering, backdrop scenery added (photos, more than likely), a little rock face weathering, and bus wire terminal blocks added...
Thanks for looking,
~Bruce

[basementcalling]

That module is a butte.

Remind me never to play poker with you, dude. You definitely know how to bluff.

[craigolio1]

I found some scrap photo backdrop and  had some fun with the camera today.   Still need to ballast the track and add some trees, but it is a fairly viable photo diorama at this point.

Mosquitos and oilfield trucks would add to the scene..

Holy crap that looks good, and I really like the puddles.

Craig

[mark dance]

very speedy (and nice!) work there arbomambo...

This week I addressed the suggestions and one problem raised at the debrief to last week's op session.  The problem was an intermittent frog/points feeder contact on one switch of a powered cross-over which should now be fixed.  I also added  JMRI Logix to the dispatcher's panel to permit the Dispatcher to clear train order semaphores without having to wait for passing crews to clear their own boards and protect their trains.

Perhaps most importantly I added additional "beverage" holders in may places on the front fascia of the layout.  As the scenery on the second deck goes in there is less place for operators to sit things down including their drinks! I think I must have passed some milestone when the most significant issue the crew would like addressed is to have more places to put their beers!

And progress continues on the scenery in the Castlegar/Kraft area.  Basic land forms are in, rock cuttings are in and painted, the styrene for the paved road to the pulp mill has been added, and the ground cover is nearing completion.  The shiny area is a stand in for the swamp/pond area.





Next up is to finish the road and ground cover and to ballast the rear tracks.

Have a great week!

md

[R L Smith]

Great stuff this weekend. Unfortunately, the only thing I accomplished was letting the smoke out of a TCS CN decoder. 

rls

[Pennsy]

The weekend so far. Joint club member efforts on both modules. Obviously phone photos

AustN-trak corner module Camp Mabry as seen from MoPac







And the junction module to the Camp Mabry Module







And tomorrow, T-Trak modules

[carlso]

Bruce,

back in my working days, mid 1970's I drove a tank truck through that area going from Albuquerque to Grants/Milan and Gallup two to three times per week. I used to really study that area and as we can see from your photos, you really nailed it. Excellent work, that module will really add a lot to the show layout.

Carl

[x600]

Wow! can't wait to get to the scenery stage, some excellent work, very inspirational.
We got rained out of yardwork today,  so I managed to get both modules to the same point.
Almost ready to cut the bench top. I got tired and started to make some mistakes, so it was time to quit
before I really screwed something up.


Greg O.