Author Topic: T-Trak Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line  (Read 48917 times)

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Ed Kapuscinski

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #240 on: September 11, 2020, 12:29:59 PM »
+7
Ok, more developments on other fronts. Terri has really gotten into a show that I have no time for so it's made me very productive modeling wise this week!

First, aside from some light weathering, I think the Philadelphia Tire Disposal Co's truck is done. That tire load is a light layer of them on top of a carved black foamcore core. I made it by cutting out the core to the size of the bed, then trimming back the foam itself so there was a layer of black paper on the bottom. Then I used the hole in the foamcore that I cut it out from as a mold, into which I put some plastic cling film and then the core. I splooshed in some black paint and glue and then piled in some tires. After a day of drying I realized the tires weren't sticking enough so I tried flowing in a white glue and water mix. That took forever to dry and still wasn't enough, so I came back again with some straight white glue which I poured over it, and then hit with a mist of some water until I saw it soak in. A few more days of drying later and it was all able to be safely removed from the mold and placed into the truck. It wasn't a lot of work but it did take a week to complete. I think it was worth it though!



Next up I've been playing with photo backdrops for Rohm and Haas. I think you might've read the thread elsewhere. I don't need a huge background, but I needed something to fill in between buildings that just looks "old chemical planty". The thread about where you lived got me thinking about using the old Google Streetview trick to use the view into the Allied Chemical plant at the end of my old street as just the thing. So I did!



That photo started off with this spot: https://goo.gl/maps/3N1Wgmg3j1tvoGV5A

I then used the iStreetView downloader and website to download the full high-res panorama: https://istreetview.com/ngjThsvZJdwpKVyPbVfZaw

Next I fired up Photoshop and cropped out everything I didn't care about. I then mirrored and modified the rest of it to fill up a bit more space. It took two different prints to get the sizing right but I'm reasonably happy with it. It's not high-fidelity, but I think it strikes the right balance of making your brain go "oh, there's more stuff there" without overwhelming it and making it think too much about continuity or anything by focusing on it.





And while I had the 8512 out, why not shoot a roster shot for good measure?


wm3798

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #241 on: September 12, 2020, 11:35:01 PM »
0
Really solid results.  You're hitting it out of the park!
Lee
Rockin' It Old School

Lee Weldon www.wmrywesternlines.net

Ed Kapuscinski

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #242 on: January 30, 2024, 11:14:21 AM »
+9
Ok, it's only been a little over 3 years since I've shared anything about this project.

It's been largely boxed up and occasionally appearing at shows, but I'll be breaking it out for the upcoming Timonium show so I decided it was time to do a little freshening up.

The first thing I needed to do was fix the backdrop. Wow. What a huge difference.

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Ed Kapuscinski

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #243 on: July 16, 2025, 12:23:48 AM »
+2
I want to introduce my table top gamer neighbor to model railroad ops so I got out some old friends today.

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Time to see how Traincrew and a switch list compares
 to a D20.

N Scale Train Boy

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #244 on: July 16, 2025, 09:13:23 AM »
+1
Time to see how Traincrew and a switch list compares
 to a D20.

Why not both? I use traincrew AND a D20 in my ops via the ops buddy tool developed by Matt Forcum. I know thats not for everyone, but its definitely fun for me, and when I bring my switching layout to group meets that happen at Table Top Gaming Stores, it certainly draws eyes!

Have fun!
Check out my YouTube Channel youtube.com/@NScaleTrainBoy and the B&CCS at bccsrailroad.weebly.com!

-Dennis

Ed Kapuscinski

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #245 on: July 16, 2025, 05:00:16 PM »
0
Why not both? I use traincrew AND a D20 in my ops via the ops buddy tool developed by Matt Forcum. I know thats not for everyone, but its definitely fun for me, and when I bring my switching layout to group meets that happen at Table Top Gaming Stores, it certainly draws eyes!

Have fun!

I've definitely thought about doing that!

In preparation, I had ChatGPT write up an intro to model railroad ops.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ZUwIzV3Fk1pWjsCqSiOEpitas346dS3pkCE5MBkV3o/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.ned3e13hw7z

Not bad at all for a robot.

Ed Kapuscinski

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #246 on: July 17, 2025, 08:32:52 AM »
+6
I posted the intro publicly: https://conrail1285.com/an-introduction-to-model-railroad-ops/

And then I staged the layout.

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N Scale Train Boy

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #247 on: July 17, 2025, 09:21:08 AM »
0
Very interesting, thanks for sharing Ed. Interesting how focused on trains being scheduled the AI was, but overall a very good explanation for laypeople.
Check out my YouTube Channel youtube.com/@NScaleTrainBoy and the B&CCS at bccsrailroad.weebly.com!

-Dennis

Ed Kapuscinski

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #248 on: July 17, 2025, 03:36:18 PM »
+10
Mission accomplished!

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N Scale Train Boy

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #249 on: July 17, 2025, 03:41:49 PM »
0
Nice! Good thinking putting the bumpers on the ends of the modules, makes it very easy to turn modules into a standalone layout! Hope the neighbor enjoyed!
Check out my YouTube Channel youtube.com/@NScaleTrainBoy and the B&CCS at bccsrailroad.weebly.com!

-Dennis

Ed Kapuscinski

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #250 on: July 18, 2025, 02:41:51 PM »
+8
Spent a few minutes restaging cars today, then went for lunch.

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lv4142003

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #251 on: July 19, 2025, 08:34:40 PM »
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Enjoyed looking at the backdrop in your last photo. Richmond and Buckius streets. The ball field on the right, Koppers Coke was on the corner where you have the building behind the SW. Have a cousin who lives on Emery St., my Great grandparents lived down where that gray building on the left is . Koppers would be a neat industry to do. used to watch my father and uncles play football and baseball there at night and watched the gantry crane picking up coal and moving it into the building to be made into coke and he city gas product got piped down to the tank around Venango and Balfour streets. Keep up the good work.

chuck geiger

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Re: Challenge #3 - Vintage Chemical & The Philadelphia Belt Line
« Reply #252 on: July 19, 2025, 11:10:26 PM »
+2
This is looking like it could be your best build ever!