2018-2019 11th Annual International Winter Layout Party

ppuinn Dec 15, 2018

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  1. ppuinn

    ppuinn Staff Member

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    Time has been flying! Next week is the last week of the 2018-2019 Winter Layout Party.
    I hope to finish writing the Job descriptions for all jobs involved with rail traffic to and from the scrap yard.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    ppuinn, Feb 24, 2019
    #81
  2. ppuinn

    ppuinn Staff Member

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    I was especially pleased with one of the pics I took for the tree flat clinics (and had originally posted on Page 3 of this Layout Party thread):
    This 1/4 inch foamboard tree flat curves around a 90 degree corner and has 2D trees and a Google Maps Street View picture of the west side of the Darst and Washington intersection. The gas truck behind the grade crossing flashers is 3D, and the JTT wire trees at the left edge of the picture are 3D, but the street and building behind the red gas truck and the IH Truck Sales trucks are all part of the Google Maps picture (although I sifted some Woodland Scenics Blended Turf onto the tree in the picture to give it some texture), and the tree to the right of the 90 degree corner is made with WS Foliage Clusters pieces glued directly onto the skyboard instead of onto the IH sales office picture, to better preserve the illusion that the tree is behind the building and not just on top of it. Although it was just a stroke of luck and NOT deliberate planning, I'm quite happy about the shadow of the 3D red gas truck matching the 2D shadows of the building and trees at the left edge of the picture.
     
    ppuinn, Feb 24, 2019
    #82
  3. Joe Lovett

    Joe Lovett TrainBoard Member

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    This afternoon I mixed plaster for the diorama, covering all of the surfaces and pouring some in a rock mold.

    Joe

    IMG_20190228_122616.jpg IMG_20190228_122608.jpg
     
    Joe Lovett, Mar 1, 2019
    #83
  4. ppuinn

    ppuinn Staff Member

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    Tuesday and Wednesday, I did some rewiring of the ceiling and layout lights. In one area of the basement, the ceiling lights and the room outlets were turned on and off by a light switch which was on the wall when we bought the house in 2003, but which I immediately moved the light switch (but no outlet) to the fascia when I started building the layout. The upper deck is illuminated by 9 fluorescent light fixtures on the ceiling, and the 6 lower deck fluorescent light fixtures are all plugged into the outlets...so one flip of the light switch has controlled everything. Because the outlets are under the lower deck a few inches from the floor, they are hard to access for plugging in tools or a vacuum, so for 16 years, I've been using extension cords to access them. When helping a friend design his layout, I encouraged him to put electrical outlets for tools at the front of his layout where they'd be easily accessible, and this week, he helped me add a fascia mounted outlet to eliminate the extension cords. We also added a separate switch for the outlets to allow room illumination without needing to turn on all the lower deck lights and lower AND upper deck tortoises and signals. This weekend, I'll buy a proper faceplate to replace this temporary one I cut out of some packing foam.

    Yesterday, I replaced a hard-to-reach ground throw with a tortoise. The turnout is from the BN Main onto the BN's South Alley track which serves 4 industries. The BN Local (aka, the South Alley Job) industries can only be worked from the BN Aisle, but the ground throw is 32 inches from that aisle. It is only a 16 inch reach from the Darst aisle, but to get there, you have to duck/nod 4 ft under the upper deck east to a third aisle, walk 8 ft south to another aisle, go 12 ft west down that aisle, and 8ft back north to the Darst aisle for that shorter reach...and then go back to the BN aisle to work the industries. Due to L-girders and stringers under the turnout, I can't mount the Tortoise under the upper deck, and there is no place nearby to hide a top-mounted Tortoise between the turnout and the backdrop; so, I've hidden a top-mounted Tortoise in a building 6 tracks away from where the groundthrow had been placed.
    This pic shows the South Alley track passing between Lens Oil and a red and gray office building, as seen from the Darst aisle. The groundthrow used to be mounted exactly where the red truck/cab is now located. The top-mounted Tortoise is hidden in the large gray building to the right, and a brass rod runs from the Tortoise actuator wire, in a tube under 5 tracks, to the throwbar of the South Alley Track turnout on the BN Main (6th track).
    This pic is a close up showing the switch position indicator dwarf signal (red/green 3mm LED wired in parallel with the Digitrax DS 64 driven Tortoise).
    The red and gray office building is a Google Maps Street View picture mounted on foamboard, and I added Woodland Scenics Blended Turf and WS Coarse Turf to the bushes in the picture for greater depth and texture. Next week (sigh, after the Layout Party is over), I'll probably use foamboard to make Washington Street, and will add crossbucks at the grade crossing.

    Recent pics of the scale shed that I had moved last week from the middle of the run-around tracks to a stub track.
     
    ppuinn, Mar 1, 2019
    #84
  5. ppuinn

    ppuinn Staff Member

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    For this year's Layout Party, my original goals included:
    1. Add or reconfigure tracks:
    a. near Caterpillar Building SS Not Done
    b. engine tracks in CIM Havana Yard Done, plus Yard Tracks and Yard Lead shifted and partially ballasted,
    Yard Office added, river view added, trees and tree flats were upgraded
    c. in the I. Bork & Sons Scrap Yard Done, plus shredder mock-up upgraded, Scale Shed repositioned
    d. BN South Alley Track Revised and Done, Tortoise and turnout position indicator LED dwarf signal added
    e. in ADM Plant Done, plus numerous building mock-ups and tanks added, and the Cedar Street Bridge upgraded

    2. Mock-ups upgraded: Done
    a. Cedar Street Bridge
    b. Keystone Charging Yard Gantry Cranes
    c. Keystone Billet Storage Overhead Cranes
    d. Keystone Power Plant
    e. North Alley Buildings

    New Goals added during the Layout Party:
    a. Host a Potluck Dinner and Layout open house Done
    b. Co-Present two Make-and-Take Tree and Tree Flats PowerPoint Clinics for NMRA Division members using pics of trees and tree flats
    on my layout. Done
     
    ppuinn, Mar 1, 2019
    #85
  6. nscalestation

    nscalestation TrainBoard Supporter

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    Had the show last weekend then I came down with a cold last week which of course my wife claims I caught at the show so I did not get anything more done since my last post on Feb 20. But for me this was another fun and successful winter layout party and I think I made most of my goals and a few others that were extras.

    Goal: Blend scenery between Battle Mountain and Harney sections - 100 % Done
    Goal: Finish scenery on the Harney section - 80 % Done

    This is what the Harney area looks like now with a new coat of paint and gloss medium on the river, line poles on the SP / west bound line, and a few shrubs added to the hill sides. Still needs line poles on the WP / east bound line and more brush, particularly near the rivers edges.
    TBLP2Mar19b.jpg


    Goal: Finish Diesel Distributor in Battle Mountain - 100 % Done
    Bonus goal: Finish scenery on Ntrak module and display at show - 80 % Done

    I ended up spending quite a bit of the time working on this and got most of the things done that I wanted to and was able to have it in the layout with Peninsula Ntrak at the Great Train Show held in San Jose last weekend. Below is a photo of it at the show. It had been the first time in about 4 years that I had displayed this particular module. Never could find a replacement for the burned out Budweiser sign. The era on this module has never been very clear and I have started and will continue to set it more firmly in the late 50's / early 60's era.

    TBLP2Mar19c.jpg

    Some unexpected accomplishments during the party was making and installing some DCC throttle holders and creating a place in the layout for the DCC system.

    Last goal: Finish the scenery in Winnemucca - 80 % Done

    First step was figuring out the reason that I had not gotten this done before was my dissatisfaction with my first attempt at the WP lines exit from the layout and correcting that. With that done things began to come together. A house done and installed and a Casino with animated sign done but yet to be installed. This last photo shows what that area looks like now.

    So thank you everyone for sharing and following. I am looking forward to next years party.

    TBLP2Mar19a.jpg
     
    nscalestation, Mar 3, 2019
    #86
    Kevin Anderson likes this.
  7. Kevin Anderson

    Kevin Anderson TrainBoard Member

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    Party may be over but I am still busting out the scenery. Lots to do still
     
    Kevin Anderson, Mar 8, 2019
    #87
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