I finnished building the signal bridge tonight, painted and wired up. I couldn't fine the right material for the walkway so I made one out of syrene strip and some brass wire. I had to shift the signal bridge a bit further back form the original position to allow clearance. That explains the bare area to the right of the bridge footing. I have about completed all that I set out to do in this layout party. It's been fun and have enjoyed seeing other's progress as well. Happy modelling, Ken.:teeth:
Owen: The shelf where the houses, VOP restaurant, Illinois Dept of Transportation garages and Donovan Golf Course are located is about 28 inches deep and about 9 feet long. The track curves around either end and runs down the front edge of the shelf. It is never more than 12 inches from the front of shelf--and is usually between 3 and 6 inches. None of the track is parallel with the edge. Sorry about the late reply...I just now saw your question.
We will be heading out for the weekend early on Friday. Since the layout party will end on Sunday, I decided I will post my progress up to now. I finalized the plan, completed the bench work, cut and glued down the base layer of foam, laid (Loose) the majority of the track in Phase 1 and ran a couple of trains around a portion of the layout. Currently I am using a woodlands scenic foam cutter to cut in sections of foam to fill the gaps that are needed. Once this is completed I will start the wiring, do some testing and then glue the track down permanently. Let me say, I have enjoyed this and learned a lot of do's and dont's which I will share when I start my Layout blog next week. Thanks for all the help and encouragement guys. The Center Peninsula Junction to the Yard The Yard Area The Left Peninsula The Top Interchange Yard Siding
Wow. So far it appears you have accomplished the most work during the party. Can't wait to see the scenery.
This will be my final entry for the Spring Layout Party, but I'll keep working on the road striping and crossing signals/flashers. And I also want to get some pictures of the actual Illinois Dept of Transportation garages so I can make a better cardboard mock-up. And, of course, I need to get some golfers on the course and shoppers and cars over by the shops and VOP Restaurant on the other side of the highway. And then, the block of wood by the IDOT garages needs to turn into a Shell gas station at some point in the future, but will probably get stuck in a cardboard mock-up transition stage for umpty-leven months. And there are still a bunch of trees to plant... They're right...a layout is never done.mg: But that also means: the fun never ends!:teeth: This is a pic of Donovan Golf Course. I want to put some people on the fairway but I probably won't add many more trees because they'll get in the way when people reach in to throw the turnouts for the Northmoor Team Track/IDOT siding just beyond the golf course. This pic shows my first and second attempts to stripe my highway by the golf course. NOT GOOD! I tried to use white and yellow markers (which worked quite nicely on cardboard roads), but the paint was slick enough that the markers wouldn't show up right. I tried to use colored pencils and those didn't show well either. My second attempt was painting a masked stripe but I'm not pleased with the width of the line (it's not uniform). So I'll probably try painting the road white and yellow where I need it, mask off my stripes with 1/32 inch tape (if I can find enough pin striping tape that thin), paint the entire road gray again, then peel off the tape over the white and yellow painted areas. If that doesn't work, I'll probably have to have Jim W (BNSF7173) come over and give me lessons on how to use an air brush.
Well, I'm amazed by all the progress here. I wasn't able to get very far because of time constraints, but at least I made SOME progress. I did do a lot of thinking and staring, which is important you know. At the close of the party, I have some sky in place, and am starting to plot track centerlines. The cardboard squares are just for planning purposes. Next task is to cut some foam: Actually I did get a lot of "unseen" tasks done during this party. Lighting is now ready to go in, and I really needed to get the first two pieces of backdrop in place so I could determine placement of the overhead light fixtures. I've ordered in a lot of materials and supplies that I will be needing, so I'm just about at the tipping point where progress gets more and more interesting. And I solved some engineering problems that were holding me back.
The party was a hit. The party was almost as much fun as having a group over to work on the layout. As a finial post, the road bed is installed as well as the foam-core that is under the city blocks. Heres a couple of shots of the building mock-up so far. It was good to have your company. Til next time clear boards Michael
Wow!!! - Now that takes the cake Owen. Unbelievable progress on your project as well as everyone else too. (grammar ?) Way to Go You all ! You have all motivated so many others I'm sure.
Well as a final post to the layout party. I have the Xpress wireing in will get pixs up soon. I would like to thank all for the movation and insperation. All have done a remarkable and creative amount of work on their layouts in the short amount of time, Kodus to you all. For me this has been a fun event and I have done more work than I would have with out it. Would like to do it again. "Still Training After All These Years"
This was my first layout party and it's been fun. Watching the great progress of others inspires me to get something done. Here's my last post of the area just west of Ozark that I was working on for the party. Much more needs to be added, but it's a good start for the area.
My Layout at the end of TB Spring layout Party 07 Ok folks, here is an overview of Cleggies layout at the end of the party. But first, a big thanks to all who posted during the party. There has been some amazing progress made and some interesting information shared. I can only echo what Mopman and L Lee Davis have posted, I too felt motivated to do more and yes it was FUN!!! Slowly turning plywood central into a miniture landscape. An aerial of the other side of the layout. The view behind the diesel house. Oh, yeah... that signal bridge. Cheers, Ken.
To all, thanks for participating in this years layout Party. It was a blast, congratulations to all who got inspired or got some things done or accomplished what they started out to do. I for one got a lot done and learned some lessons along the way. So we will see you again next year.
I indeed am now. I nearly drove myself to distraction figuring out what was making the layout act funny! BTW, where's your 3 weeks of makeup work?? J/K!
