Still have ballasting to do in the port area but I am staying away to allow the water pour to completely cure. It is the hardness of a sheet of glass right now. So I have been working at the other end of the layout on the sheep pen. 000_0749-2 by John Moore posted Feb 19, 2019 at 4:28 PM I have somewhere over a hundred sheep in the pen and three teams of horses the herders use to pull their wagons along with a bunch of goats in with the horses. Soon the pens will be empty as the herders take the new flocks to winter pastures. The herders with their dogs are meeting in front of the Chevy Suburban deciding which Winter pasture they are going to go to.
I did my 2nd water pour in the stream using the Parks Super Glaze and I am very pleased with it. All the bubbles associated with mixing the two parts have lifted from the harbor pours and the stream pour and not a bubble is visible in either body of water. 000_0750-1 by John Moore posted Feb 21, 2019 at 9:48 AM You can actually see the bridge reflection in the water at the bottom of the photo. I poured it from the top letting it run over the water effects falls and then let it seek its natural level on the lower part. Later on in the harbor I am going to use Gloss Mod Podge and Matte Mod Podge to simulate waves and vessel wakes for those vessels under way in the harbor. I am extremely pleased with this product both with the cost, amount of the volume and area covered and the fact that any bubbles readily come to the surface and dissipate quickly. And the harbor after the 2nd pour. 000_0751-2 by John Moore posted Feb 21, 2019 at 10:12 AM The water now comes up onto the ship repair ramps and one ferry was installed along with the container feeder ship, the Coast Guard buoy tender, and the NUMA ocean research vessel the Cussler. The pour was made around them since they are full hull vessels. The rest of the fleet are waterline vessels. I also experienced a full set of the water in 24 hours versus the 72 hours that the kit instructions said and a firm set in less than 8 hours. This setting occurred at a room temp of 72-75 Deg. F.
Sheltered harbor with a narrow entrance, and on the East side of the island, with a small island outside of the harbor, and it is in San Juan Strait so not very many waves. So will keep the waves to a minimum and mostly concentrate on ship wakes. Still have quite a bit to do on the harbor such as additional landscaping and placing of details. And when that is done I need to turn my attention to the village for more landscaping and details. Decided to order two center cabs for the port switchers and two more fishing boats which will have to be built from kits in both cases plus another Bandai 8 wheel drive mechanism to power the center cabs a type 3 mechanism. The fishing boats will be a different design from the TomyTec ones I have now and will round out my fishing boat collection to three types of vessels. One of them is slated to be at the boat repair yard probably one of the TomyTecs since they have a detachable full hull.
Chose to use the stream as a nice small area I can experiment with using Mod Podge for water effects in this case rapids. I have both the Matte finish and the gloss finish and went with the gloss finish first. 000_0752-1 by John Moore posted Feb 22, 2019 at 1:17 PM Since the stream has several levels I went with just the effects at the level changes and at the base of the falls. I have the room temp cranked up to 76 Deg. F. to assist curing and in about a day I will know if I have to go with the matte finish instead. Just a simple matter to dab the Matte finish on top of the gloss since both are compatible. I chose the stream's small area to work on rather than the harbor to see what the effects will be and practice on rather than mess up that nice harbor pour. I once again went direct to Japan to order 2 Bandai B train steeple cabs and another single Bandai Type three mechanism since I already have one laying in the parts box. The un-assembled kits also come with a passenger car cab unit so with each kit I am getting two for one. The two passenger cab unit will get converted to a two car mini RDC bringing my small passenger trains to 4 sets. Nice bonus for me. I also ordered from the same place two fishing boat kits and six small motor boats to be tied up a Wicked Wanda's floating dock in the harbor. The whole order should arrive in about a week and a half with the hold up going through customs in New York. With the arrival of the steeple cabs my Bandai B train roster will grow to five locomotive units along with my small fleet of container and tank cars plus a small batch of mail an exspess cars that operate in my 3rd Bandai passenger consist.
I hate to say but just a few hours ago I passed over the York River where it enters the Chesapeake Bay and nary a ripple of a wave was observed. The only thing visible was a bow wave off of a barge being pushed by a tug and a stern wash pattern behind the tug from the props so there will be minimal wave action on my harbor. In fact I have passed over that spot many a time now and the water has always exhibited a smooth surface. And down on the beach below the bridge looking toward the bay there is very little wave action during times of fair weather. So I will simulate the very small wave action near the piers and dock that are mainly created by the moving vessels. My application of the gloss Mod Podge is nearly dry and has not had that much notable effect. So either late this evening or tomorrw morning I will apply the Matte finish Mod Podge over the fast water areas. I am going to research if it can be tinted with a water based paint and if so I am going to add just a touch of white to a little bit and try that in one area.
Well during the rain this weekend I got busy with the harbor. The first shot is of the NUMA and Coast Guard docks where the rescue tug Wiley E. is moored and two NUMA seaplanes while a third is suspended from the crane. Just ahead of the research vessel are two Coast Guard cutters moored and ahead of the Coast Guard buoy tender a small inter-coastal freighter is moored. In the back a fishing boat enters harbor. 000_0756-1 by John Moore posted Feb 25, 2019 at 8:49 AM In the next shot the container feeder ship is loading small containers with one container being hoisted by the ships crane. Moored between the car ferry pier and the container pier are two ore barges and a pile driver and tugboat. Across the harbor the lumber carrier Norego, aka the Oregon, is off loading a shipment of lumber at the marine service piers and another tugboat is taking on fuel at the marine service center. 000_0757-2 by John Moore posted Feb 25, 2019 at 8:49 AM In this shot is the seaplane dock with a DeHaviland Otter seaplane. In the rear is the heavy lift crane, the fuel barge at the power plant tank farm dock and behind that is the fuel lighter which transports fuel around the harbor to the larger vessels. There are five fishing boats moored to the cannery docks. 000_0758-3 by John Moore posted Feb 25, 2019 at 8:49 AM In this shot one ferry is loading while another is departing. In front of the ship repair a dredge is working while the shipyard has three vessels on the ways with one of them in dry dock. Small docks have been added to Wicked Wanda's and Waterfront Willies. 000_0759-4 by John Moore posted Feb 25, 2019 at 8:49 AM And in this shot a crab boat enters harbor, followed by a seine net boat, followed by a tuna boat. Crab pot are visible on the crab boats deck made from small screen , while an old pair of the Wife's nylons and some orange beads make the seine boats' net. The TomyTec tuna boat follows the rest. I achieved the bow waves and prop washes by applying dilute white paint and numerous coats of Mod Podge gloss. 000_0760-5 by John Moore posted Feb 25, 2019 at 8:49 AM All the barges, and some vessels were built several years ago from resin hull castings with styrene parts and some commercial parts. Some of the fishing boats and inter-coastal freighters were also buildt from cast resin hulls and styrene parts. The small fishing boats and tugboats are TomyTec models purchased direct from my Japan dealer. The larger vessels are from plastic kits that have been kit bashed and either up scaled or down scaled. Only the research vessel is an actual N scale kit. The TomyTec boats are 1:150 scale and the sea planes are cut down 1:144 scale kits that I cut down and added the floats to. Only the Otter is an actual 1:160 scale plane. All the harbor tower cranes are scratch built. Now the real work starts with finishing the harbor scenic work, installing grade crossings and roads. vehicles and people. Two large seaplanes await installing in flight over the harbor. A PBY and a German flying boat.
Today I rigged harnesses and installed my flying seaplanes. 000_0765-4 by John Moore posted Feb 26, 2019 at 3:32 PM A USCG PBY Catalina 000_0767-5 by John Moore posted Feb 26, 2019 at 3:32 PM And a three engine German Flying Boat that was purchased by NUMA. 000_0766-6 by John Moore posted Feb 26, 2019 at 3:32 PM They land outside the harbor and taxi up to the other side of the USCG and NUMA pier which is off layout. Only the smaller planes taxi into the harbor. The fishing line harnesses holding them up does not appear to the naked eye just in the camera flash. I am setting about three feet away from them and cannot see the lines. In this picture without the flash on the lines pretty much disappear. 000_0768-8 by John Moore posted Feb 26, 2019 at 3:50 PM
Today I decided to fit in the roadways in the port area. I am using roll shelf and drawer liner thing self adhesive cork. I have been using wire nails to hold it down where there is ballast and the adhesive doesn't hold well. Later on it will be painted black to simulate asphalt. 000_0769-1 by John Moore posted Feb 27, 2019 at 5:31 PM I am using Blair Line wood grade crossing plus some of my own wood to cross the tracks. I have a batch of scribed wood scraps that I am cutting to width and length then sanding down thinner that is supplementing the crossing kits. 000_0770-2 by John Moore posted Feb 27, 2019 at 5:31 PM I received notice today that my Japan order has shipped so in about a week I will have some more boats kits for the harbor and these little jewels. 10340366 by John Moore posted Feb 27, 2019 at 9:16 AM Steeple cabs that I am going to convert to diesel powered. They will be powered by the Bandai #3 motor which is 8 wheel drive.
Continuing to work on my asphalt road in the harbor area. 000_0771-1 by John Moore posted Mar 1, 2019 at 3:12 PM Still have the ferry landing part and the train station to finish and now working on the Coast Guard pier. Because I do not have standard curves the Blair Line wood crossings have to be sanded some for each road crossing on a curve which is taking time with sanding and then test fitting and sanding again. The smallest radius they make it 9.75 and I am dealing with 9 and 8 inch radius. I have to go back and get the edges some more with a brush where paint needs to be touched up. 000_0772-2 by John Moore posted Mar 1, 2019 at 3:12 PM
Finished with the asphalt road installation and spent the weekend piecing in sidewalk. I also installed my statue of a mounted figure on horseback and a naval gun in a park I am making in the village. 000_0780-8 by John Moore posted Mar 3, 2019 at 7:58 PM 000_0775-1 by John Moore posted Mar 3, 2019 at 7:32 PM Also installed about a hundred critters in the port stockyard. Cows, pigs, and sheep. 000_0776-2 by John Moore posted Mar 3, 2019 at 11:04 AM I had originally thought I had lost the rear crane on the container feeder ship and after I had ordered another I found it. Decided to turn the new Railway Express Miniatures crane into a truck mounted crane so I chose a truck from my parts box and grafted a three axle rear onto it and then adapted the crane platform to mount on the truck. I also fabricated a set of jacks for it since the rail mounted version did not have them deployed. The before is on the sticker and the after is setting next to it. It will be set on the NUMA pier for off loading marine equipment and of course it is painted in the NUMA turquoise. 000_0779=6 by John Moore posted Mar 3, 2019 at 7:42 PM
Slow work on the port area of the layout. Stretched a sidewalk all the way across the tracks and down to the station and ferry area. The since I can't have the flatland tourister types falling in the water I erected fencing including sliding gates across the ferry entrances. I also built two harbor push boats and they can be seen re-positioning the dredge and the loaded barge full of dredged materials in front of the dry dock. Positioned some boats at Wicked Wanda's and Waterfront Willy's docks. Several motor boats, a sail boat, and a couple of row boats. Another larger sail boat is on the workbench being built along with a dive boat being delivered on a flatcar to NUMA. 000_0793-1 by John Moore posted Mar 9, 2019 at 3:03 PM This 2nd shot gives a better view of the fencing and the small boats at Wicked Wanda's. Evening is approaching Friday Harbor and a crowd is already gathering at Wanda's and the seafood restaurant at Willy's. 000_0796-4 by John Moore posted Mar 9, 2019 at 3:03 PM A Japanese Tuna boat leads the fishing flotilla into the harbor. It was recently built from a Greenmax kit that I just received from Japan and is one a two in the kit. 000_0794-2 by John Moore posted Mar 9, 2019 at 3:03 PM And the NUMA dive boat being built. It is one of a pack of small boats also in my Japan order. The vessels are 1:150 scale and measure 30 N scale feet in length. They come with accessories including a nicely detailed outboard motor and oars and I got six. The 2nd boat is going to become a two masted sail boat. So far I have installed cribbing on the 40 foot flatcar and no details yet on the dive boat. The sprue of parts behind the vessels is from and American Limited car kit which will yield an air compressor and air tanks to be mounted on the boat for the divers. 000_0795-3 by John Moore posted Mar 9, 2019 at 3:03 PM By the way NUMA stands for the National Undersea and Marine Agency a real organization founded by Clive Cussler. Next up is to continue to clean track in the harbor working my was toward the village and then start placing vehicles and people in the harbor area including crews on the vessels. I am also working on my steeple cab locomotives converting them from electric into diesel powered.
First official load into Friday Harbor. A DD-51 has a flat in tow along with a transfer caboose with a dive boat load for NUMA. 000_0802-2 by John Moore posted Mar 10, 2019 at 5:54 PM
Been patiently cleaning track and still in the port area. Even though I reduced the middle opening on the ballast spreader to reduce flow and carefully spread the ballast out using a fine paint brush I still have issues with the ballast adhering to the inside of the tracks and causing derailments. But the solution is in hand by using a rotary wire brush on the Dremel tool. I have a cordless Dremel that I can dial the speed way down so a good going over the track with the wire brush will solve that issue. The low speed wire brush will also take care of any residual glue and also clear any flangeways and do an excellent job of cleaning the track heads. I've used the wire brush before to clean up some recycled track and it does excellent on low speed. Then I will follow up with a good vacuuming, bright boys and lastly track cleaning cars. Labelle's has a product for improving electrical contact and reducing oxidation and I am going to look into that for maintaining the track. I went into my car boxes and broke out some cars to test clearances and found a few structures or wood grade crossings that needed adjustments. I designed the port yard with quite a few crossovers and the entire port yard has a car capacity of about 56 cars. The container pier tracks hold 5 cars at a time and the ore tracks hold 8 little ore cars at a time. The cannery pier holds two 40 foot reefers and two more reefers outside on a small stub track. The approach to the car float can hold 4 cars in addition to the 6 on the float barge. Two short stub end tracks in front of the main NUMA building can hold 9 cars, and a short section of track in between crossovers can hold four cars. Six cars can be stored also on the stockyard spur and about 3 or 4 cars can be held on the outside station track. The NUMA and Coast Guard pier can hold 7 cars between 2 tracks. Up in the village the brewery and mill sidings can hold about 12 cars, and the Macie Moly Mine can hold about 20 cars on the two mine tracks. Up on the double track main a freight of about 14 cars can be held on the main due to double cross overs and the stoneworks spur can hold an additional 8 cars and the approach to the mine can hold an 8 car train. Since I am modeling a late 40s to early 50s era I can get away with limiting cars to 40 foot and under and most locomotives are around 34 foot and under all which make this compact layout work. In the photo below the tank cars are 30 foot and the container flats are 34 foot and are Bandai Japanese models that take a 13 foot container. The Tank cars are also Bandai models. The rest of the cars are 40 foot reefers and boxes. The little ore cars are about 25 feet long. The little steeple cab loco and the DD-51 loco are each about 34 feet long. The largest locomotives are one boxcab and a Class A Climax plus the four Shays at about 40 feet long. I believe I have taken small to a new level in railroad operations and in my maritime fleet. 000_0813-1 by John Moore posted Mar 18, 2019 at 9:10 AM Besides the geared locos I have a few rod steamers all small drivered, either 2-6-0s or 2-8-0s. Everything is packed into a approximate 14 feet by 30 inch space with the minimum radius of 8 inches to 9.75 inches. Turnouts are mostly Peco with a 9 inch radius and uses Atlas flex track. I have about 26 feet of continuous run trackage that is double track except for the port entrances and I have two ways to approach the port. Now that the warm weather is here work will slow down drastically on the layout. Remaining is to clean the track and detail the village and then install shoe molding around the outside which should give me a 1/2 inch to one inch lip and dress up the outside of the layout. A MRC railpower 1300 is the power source which is adequate for 5-6 of my small locos. Layout is DC with block control provided by power routing Peco turnouts. I probably will install a single throttle for the Macie Moly mine since that trackage is hidden from my control stand.
While waiting for some track maintenance supplies to arrive I sat at the workbench and created four loads for the layout. Since my railroad is located on an island there is no through traffic on the railroad. Everything either originates on the island or is delivered to the island thus my freight car fleet reflects that. Stone loads are outbound or delivered to the port for riprap or pier construction. Fuel and motor oil are inbound products only. The brewery utilizes products grown on the island and ships out beer and the occasional tank car of pure alcohol. The feed mill behind the brewery uses by products from the brewery and local products and ship loads of animal feed out by car ferry. The hops mills use local grown and imported hops delivered by car ferry. Occasionally they ship a load out. The stockyard ships spring lambs out by car ferry. Macie Moly Mine ships refined loads of Moly ore out daily by car ferry and barge. Twice daily trips are made between the mine and the port. Canned and frozen seafood products are outbound from the cannery and fish market. Some specialty hardwood lumber is shipped out from an off layout sawmill. A limited high grade coal is shipped from Roche harbor area along with limestone modeled off layout. Some deliveries are made by small container from the container feeder ship and some outgoing loads are shipped by small containers. Containers and reefers, along with express boxcars make up the rest of the freight fleet in support of the industries on the island and the local business. The loads I modeled are a disassembled seaplane being shipped out and research equipment being delivered to NUMA. 000_0819-1 by John Moore posted Mar 21, 2019 at 3:05 PM 000_0820-2 by John Moore posted Mar 21, 2019 at 3:05 PM
Well trouble on the Turtle Creek Central, this time electrical. I have been cleaning track in the port area and using a 9 volt battery to run the test locomotive. Well yesterday after cleaning loco wheels and generally servicing the locos I hooked the power pack up finally and fired it up. Found I could only get the test koco partway down the port lead. After messing with cleaning the points on the Peco turnouts that power route I noticed sparking. Right away I suspected that I had miss wired the wye somewhere. So a tear up and a rewire is in progress. 000_0841-1 by John Moore posted Apr 1, 2019 at 12:09 PM 000_0842-2 by John Moore posted Apr 1, 2019 at 12:09 PM I had thought about keeping the tracks and wiring totally separate and establishing two separate cabs and now putting that plan into action. To that end I have a MRC 1278 Tech 7 AMPAC 780 Dual Action Train Control on order, basically two power packs and two throttles in one case. So for the next several days I am ripping up the scenery and rerouting wires plus gaping the tracks and installing insulated joiners. Suggestions welcomed.
