The New Northern Central

[Dave V]

One thing that has generally happened was that a combination of grout pigment and glue residue was coloring the web of the rail.

Dr Hotballz was giving me ***** about it so I fixed it by applying a wash of thinned burnt umber. It also really helped get rid of any remaining "green stuff".

On THAT topic: I used distilled water for the latest round and didn't see any show up so I think it's my tap water.

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@Ed Kapuscinski and I go around and around on this, and while I concede that grout provides a correctly scaled texture over a purpose-made model railroad ballast material, the pigment problem makes it unsuitable to me. To take the good time and trouble to paint track only to have it all turn a pale gray after ballasting...not my scene. I would rather use the finest grade of Scenic Express or Arizona Rock & Mineral ballast and not have to worry about them coloring the ties and rails.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

In proof that good scenery requires "layers" and lots of refinement, I present this pair of photos.

The first one was where I stopped the other night.

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But I was not happy with the separation between the ballast and the large empty lot. I guess that's because the grout I use in the lot was a component in the ballast mix as well, but either way, it just looked rather "flat" and unfinished.

I realized that there needed to be some textural and color difference between the railroad right of way and the private lot itself. I achieved this by sifting on a thin strip of my cinder mix and then tossing a few weeds on it. It was a little work but made a huge difference.

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[garethashenden]

Nice fresh rainstorm effect with the drying white glue mix.

Right? It made me think about trying to do a scene like that at some point.

This layout is set at night in the rain. Its a really interesting effect. https://p4newstreet.com/category/brettell-road/

[John]

Mas.

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What’s up with York tower.  It looks warped or something …. 3d print?

[seusscaboose]

Nice Clam

[Cory Rothlisberger]

What’s up with York tower.  It looks warped or something …. 3d print?

What Conrail tower DIDN'T look warped in the 80s? 

[Tristan Ashcroft]

What Conrail tower DIDN'T look warped in the 80s? 

I've spent my entire life being amazed that Alto hasn't fallen over yet.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I've figured out how to solve my green rail problem: a post ballast wash of raw umber.

Before.

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After.

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And an added benefit is that it dirties up the ballast a little bit too.

I think I've also identified that it's my water that causes it. I used distilled on the latest ballasting work and haven't seen it happen.

[seusscaboose]

as the faint hint of green appears in the flanges...

[LKOrailroad]

Concerns about drinking that water?

[dkerber123]

I just skimmed through this layout build thread. Good stuff, Ed! Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Because I've made some progress I pulled together a guided tour of the layout as it is today that explains a little bit about what you're seeing: https://conrail1285.com/july-2026-new-ncr-layout-tour/

And because I know folks won't pay attention without an image... here's one for ya!

[N Scale Train Boy]

Thanks for the tour Ed! Looks fantastic!

[Philip H]

Because I've made some progress I pulled together a guided tour of the layout as it is today that explains a little bit about what you're seeing: https://conrail1285.com/july-2026-new-ncr-layout-tour/

And because I know folks won't pay attention without an image... here's one for ya!

It’s the 21st century. We need better ground throws.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It’s the 21st century. We need better ground throws.

The CI ones are great for what they are and this is a perfect use for them. It's a place where feature is more important than form. If this were going to be a permanent part of the layout I'd have gone with one of the myriad of other options but this was a quick and easy way to get things working quickly and to make it very easy to do what I need to do with it (throw that switch every once in a while).

I honestly don't know what someone could do to that design to improve it. No matter what you do you have to account for 12":1' fingers in a 1:160 world.