CN Yellowhead Division

[Scottl]

Did you catch the 2100 working?

It was idling in the yard.  Portrait forthcoming.

So many of the former CITX  GEVOs in action.  I need to get one.

[lock4244]

It was idling in the yard.  Portrait forthcoming.

Nice. I scored an over under at Beare (CN York Sub goes under CP Belleville Sub) with 2100 leading a WB CN... it's a feat to catch anything moving in daylight on the Belleville as you know, so the timing was blessed. Glad 2100 is still around.

So many of the former CITX  GEVOs in action.  I need to get one.

Good catches given how fast they painted the second hand C40-8's, C40-8W's (except the ex LMS), the SD60's, the SD70ACe's, and the ET44AC's.

[Scottl]

Had to crop it as it was across from public access.  Sat there all three days, burbling away.  Looks to be in good shape, actually.



Pretty sure I counted 10 former CITX GEVOs, but I was there long enough that some of the coal empties came back through full.

[lock4244]

Good unit ^^^

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Good unit ^^^

TWSS

[Scottl]

One goal of the research trip was to view and capture various perspectives to sort out how the backdrops will look on the layout. 

I've done some very crude image editing to see how things might look, including scaling of the mountains.  As tempting as it is to use photo backdrops, I am going to try and paint these.  I prefer the look of a good painted backdrop and it allows me to get more uniform coloring and perspectives.  Regardless, I need a good idea of what I am painting so combining some layout and field photos is an important first step.

Park Gate:  I have yet to see any good images of the backing mountains at this scene.  After a bit of bushwacking down the Fiddle River, I realized how perfect the prototype backdrop is for my layout.  This is a very crude image combination because I gave up on GIMP today.  I'll get better.



Devona east:  This scene is impossible to get to as it is across the river.  However, the valley is open enough that you can get a clear sense of the perspective from the rail level  The mountain in the background is Roche Ronde and l think will look pretty good here.



Jasper:  This is going to be tricky.  The yard curves and I'll have to either repeat the signature Pyramid Mountain for both legs of the yard, or fudge things.  I think putting Pyramid Mtn in the corner will give the best range of perspectives and is less likely create any visual problems.



Most of these scenes work pretty well.  There is one section of the layout at the U-curve east of the Jasper yard that is going to be a real challenge to make work.  That is for another day.

[Scottl]

Windy Point is also going to be challenging due to the convex curvature of the backdrop.  Here is the crude scene composition.  A 2022 fire went through this area and took out everything.

[Scottl]

No real progress for months as summer activities and travel were priorities.  The layout was covered to protect from dust and I sealed the vent into the layout room and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of dust- a good sign. 


One amusing thing (for me, anyway).  There was a lot of caribou lichen (e.g., WS lichen) covering the ground across the entire area that I did field work in during August.  I took a bag as it is good for lots of scenic purposes, especially ground up into a texture material.  The stuff is incredibly common in the Yukon and NWT.

[Scottl]

I'm leaving the layout covered as I will be away most of the next few months.  I'm using the time I have to focus on some modeling tasks at my bench.

One thing that has been a problem for me are the containers that come with the Kato well cars. Most of their container schemes are either too old for my 2018 layout era or not found on CN trains very often.  The recent release with Yang Ming is a welcome addition but I have a lot of containers from older sets that I am going to repaint. 

I started this week by doing up 20' and 40' MSC (Med. Shipping).  I printed them out on my laser printer and stripped the lettering from some NYK and APL containers with lacquer thinner.  I primed them but it is interesting the range of gray tones I ended up with after priming.  Uneven paint, I suppose.  Regardless, I've mixed some MSC yellow paint and will shortly add nine of these (plus 2 X 20') common containers to my trains.

I also managed to snag a set of Kato 53' Maxi well cars from their parts department without the containers.  I sure wish they sold them like this routinely.

[Scottl]

That was a fast three months!  No layout progress whatsoever, other than taking off the plastic, fixing a few minor issues, cleaning track and running trains.  I'm always surprised how well the locomotives operate, especially with the ESU decoders.  Let the winter train season begin.

[Scottl]

Starting to work on painting the backdrop.  I started at Park Gate as there is no real photographic record of this area online so I have some license to work with.

This initial effort was mostly to get my chops back with brush painting and to work out the colors and tones that I need to use.  I'm working from photos I took on my May 2023 field research trip.  This first effort is much too light overall, but I did work out how to get the different rock and strata textures.  My initial chalk outline was too tall as well, so I scaled it down visually as I went. 

Overall, while it looks more like a snow scape, I'm happy with the look and texture of the rock.  I'll repaint with darker gray tones in the next version.

[craigolio1]

I love painted back drops. Nice to see you back in the room! 

Craig

[Scottl]

Thanks, it is not going as smoothly as I would like but I'll keep at it. 

Hope to make some scenic progress this winter!

[GaryHinshaw]

Nice to see the update.  I forget, are you modelling summer?

Thanks, it is not going as smoothly as I would like ...

It never does.  Persevere, and step away if/when you feel frustrated.

[Scottl]

Thanks for the encouragement.  I think I have settled on spring, with some snow in the mountains and the bright green of the new leaves on trees.

I think all this work will get me to put the trains away and allow me to do the last dirty work.  I need to install the fascia and trim the top, and I have a few bits of foam shaping to do.