Weekend Update 1/12/20

[diezmon]

And I thought my Pennsy passenger cars were a pain in the stripe.

yeesh, getting them all straight is an exercise in patience and breath-holding.

[GaryHinshaw]

Looks great! Looks like a hand laid turnout? Also, wondering what the separation is between upper and lower levels (or height above the floor)?
Thanks in advance!!

Thanks Mike.  The turnout is indeed a handlaid #10 using parts from the proto:87 store.  You can see more shots of it in my Engineering thread.

It's very hard to give you a good answer about shelf separation since the entire layout is basically a nolix design with helix staging at the south end, so the separation is constantly changing as you move about the layout.  In the above photo, the shelf underneath this scene holds a staging yard that is about 12" below.  The switch itself is about 48" above the floor.  The photos in this post show this scene (the central peninsula) from another angle, which gives you a better sense of the context.

[BCRail_FSJ]

Taking a break from building kits and playing with some scenery techniques for gravel roads.   Trying to get the distinctive texture of a two lane gravel highway using a mix of tile ground and N scale ballast.   Getting close to the look I want and its easy and cheap to just start over (which I have done several times)

[BCR 570]

Hi Andy:

The roads look very good; I have been wondering how to go about doing those.

Those Atlas pick-up trucks have been announced for re-release and one of the roads is British Columbia Railway, but the colour depicted in the artwork is way off.  If they do turn out okay colour-wise they would be a welcome addition to your roads.

Tim

[bnsfdash8]

I was busy this morning getting a bunch of coil cars and hoods primed and ready for paint.

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[Jim Starbuck]

I’ve been working on my Davenport 45 ton switcher and making some good progress.

Hey @Chris333, remember those 44 tonner truck sideframes you made about 13 years ago? They’re finally getting put to use. : )


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[Chris333]

ha ha good times!      Funny if I had to do that now I'd just 3D print them.

[up1950s]

 

Richie, the cafe is in South Korea, not North...two very very different countries

I knew that , why did I put North ......... Hmmmmm . This was a re-write because the original has bright green lettering which became so fuzzy it couldn't be read when posting here . So I PSed the lettering and re posted . I think that is where South became North . I don't think , and maybe that's my problem in life  , I have a copy of the original . I will check and also make a correction to my correction . Thank you for bringing this up , wouldn't want peps sneaking into Rocket Mans country looking for something that puts a smile on their faces .

[IronPenguin]

Sometimes you have to tear things out to progress. I recently downsized my N scale layout to better suit my time and space. This corner will house the former Hercules complex in Brunswick, GA. I had put in some streets but they just don't work with the present space, so out they came this weekend and the buildings temporarily placed to see how they fit.

It's apparent that the present space with the track as laid is not adequate. The buildings are too close together and crowded. So the tracks will be relocated in the near future.


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The buildings are scratch built based on photos I took in the 90's and this photo, probably circa 1950's. Until 5 years ago the basic buildings were intact, but since then all the sheet metal siding was removed (presumably for scrap.)

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In another area will be downtown Brunswick (we've lived here since 1990.) it's a neat little "city" with lots of parks, trees, and interesting businesses (like Willie's Weenie Wagon - another future scratch build.)

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[craigolio1]

Taking a break from building kits and playing with some scenery techniques for gravel roads.   Trying to get the distinctive texture of a two lane gravel highway using a mix of tile ground and N scale ballast.   Getting close to the look I want and its easy and cheap to just start over (which I have done several times)

That looks really good. I am also in need of a gravel road. What colour/brand of grout and ballast did you use?

Craig

[Brian M]

Thanks to my 5 year old asking about how to paint a river, I've been making some recent progress on scenery along a section of the Hudson Highlands on my layout.  She's really helping to push me along, as she keeps asking, "what's next?" when we get done with one task.  I've really been enjoying her company and help working on things, and I'm always amazed at how much interest she shows in working on the layout. 



Last night after dinner, she helped me paint the dark brown of the river banks, and once we were done, I took a moment to admire our progress, and my mind flashed to what this area will eventually look like with a train.  Here's a test shot of what I'm looking forward to seeing completed:



A couple of other progress shots can be found on my Hudson Valley Lines build thread https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=43622.0...

-Brian.

[160pennsy]

Getting further along with my build and here’s my photo for the Weekend Update

Details on my progress can be found in the below link

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=48670.0h

[BCRail_FSJ]

That looks really good. I am also in need of a gravel road. What colour/brand of grout and ballast did you use?

Craig

Initially i used a mix of tile grout and Woodland scenics fine grey ballast.    I found the ballast too coarse so re-did it just with tile grout,  although there is some ballast remaining on the road shoulders which actually gives a nice effect.

I used Polyblend 'bone' and Polyblend 'Natural Grey'  Sanded tile grout (as opposed to non-sanded).  I am still using the original tubs I bought in Canada a decade ago, so I assume it is still available at Home Depot..    First layer is the 'bone' shade sifted into wet beige coloured paint and/ or scenic cement then smoothed and compacted with a small roller or pressing down over a sheet of paper.     Allow this layer to dry fully. 

Second layer is a 50/50 mix of  the 'Bone' and 'Natural Grey' shades.    It is sifted on dry and the ruts are cleared using a small paint brush.  This creates unrealistically high ridges of gravel so compact everything down with a small roller or by pressing down on a sheet of paper. 

When happy with the appearance, soak with rubbing alcohol and soak with scenic cement..     When fully dry you can smooth things out further with your fingers.   I found that rubbing in some extra 'Natural grey' into some of the rutted channels gives the effect of mud..  expecially if you then brush a small line of floor polish over it.

 

[SP-Wolf]

Well -- I took a break from my SP F3/F7 project. Came up with a foob -- could have/should have been -- basically, I am having a bit of fun.

The BL-2 has been one of my favorite locomotives -- they were so darn ugly -- they are cool.

So, here it is. An SP BL-2

Started as:


Ready for mods:


Mods added - how I figured SP would have ordered it/them: - And, ready for decals


And -- ready for service:



Thanks,
Wolf

[glakedylan]

Well -- I took a break from my SP F3/F7 project. Came up with a foob -- could have/should have been -- basically, I am having a bit of fun.

The BL-2 has been one of my favorite locomotives -- they were so darn ugly -- they are cool.


Thanks,
Wolf

Greetings Wolf (SP-Wolf)
I have a very similar project I want to get to.
I was finally able to grab a BL-2 from eBay
at a cost I could feel comfortable with.
The BL-2 is the 3rd locomotive I acquired in HO scale as an adolescent
being a Xmas gift from my Mom and Dad.
Been wanting to get one and go full blown foob on it
using PRR DGLE and decals, just as a sentimental project.
(The HO one was actually Riock Island but I prefer PRR to most other
roadnames.)
Any suggests as to how you got the paint of so well?
That is an excellent strip jobn and super mods.
Just hoping to start with a shell that is as clean and ready for paint
as yours is in the photo above.
Thanks for sharing. And, any recommendations will bne truly appreciated,


sincerely
Gary