And finally, the PRR's new home is done. Now, I've just got until Sunday to get Altoona up and installed and run a train.
eric220, that'll be a graet room to build in! Got some scenery in, still lots to do! Crappy pics. Sorry. Terry
Pay Attention, Dummy! I made a mistake. First, the excuse - it's been a rough month, I'm tired, and I'm fighting a head cold. Now onto the mistake. Look at this first photo. Notice the frames around the windows, inset into the siding? Now, look at this next photo, paying particular attention to the window on the left. When I installed the siding, I forgot to leave room for the window frames. Using an Xacto knife and a couple of needle files, I was able to carve out the necessary space, as you can see with the window on the right. It all worked out in the end, but with a lot more effort than necessary.
I Don't Do Windows (OK, I Guess I Do) I run a green railroad, doing my part to reduce waste and keep materials out of the landfill. Ok, actually, I'm just cheap and will reuse all sorts of "trash" as construction materials. A favorite "reuse" is clear plastic packaging - the stuff works great for window glass, as you see in these next three photos. These "glass" panes are simply squares cut from a plastic packaging "bubble" that I saved.
The Walls Are Up! I'm finally finished with the basic four walls of the warehouse (no more siding to install!). I put the finishing touches on the removable end wall this evening. The next step is the rafter/truss assembly and finally the roof. Here's a look at the structure with and without the end wall in place.
So it looks like this will be my last post for the 3rd Annual International Winter Layout Party 2011! Its been a blast. To reitterate my goals for this party... Looks to me like both goals 1 and 2 have been achieved plus some. As it stands, my benchwork is complete, subroadbed is installed, backdrop is 50% painted, and terrain is started to get roughed in. Since my last post, not much has changed as I have been taking a step back to work on a scratch-built bridge as a change of pace. I am looking forward to following everyone's progress after this party. Keep up the good work everyone! Cheers, Ben
Well, in a burst of 11th-hour activity, Altoona's legs were chopped down, and the roundhouse went up. Quickly followed by the shops and throat. I really wanted to include a shot of a train, but unfortunately six months on its side, including five in the garage, and three moves was too much. There's a short somewhere, and it's going to be a royal pain to track down. I've also got quite a bit of repair work to do, starting with cleaning up the remnants of drywall that fell on the layout when the fishtank above leaked. On the positive side, "The Big One" is officially started.
In the 8 weeks of this year's Layout Party, I had planned to 1. re-position the siding that serves 4 businesses in the distance (Great Plains Propane [sort of visible behind the white propane tank car], Heller Tin Compress [a scrap metal bundling facility], Smith-Scharff Paper warehouse, and to the right, just out of the picture, Erlichman Recycling); Done...two or 3 times...because I kept tweaking building locations. I had it wired back in after the first 2 but haven't gotten the most recent (and final) re-positioned track re-wired, yet. 2. put 5 or 6 buildings in place for all 4 businesses (most will be cardboard mock-ups, 1 will be a plastic model). Mostly done...I have removed the cardboard mock-ups and for most of the Party, I had taped the sides of 3 kits together to get a sense of what would need to go where, and temporarily borrowed a 4th building from elsewhere for one of the businesses. The loaner is still in place and the 3 taped kits are on the workbench to be glued...so there will be buildings occupying those blank spaces in all three businesses. 2 small buildings are glued. 3. put in fences, trees grass, parking lots, and alleys, around the businesses; Mostly done...I'm most proud of the chain link fence around Great Plains Propane and all of the tanks in the yard. This is a view of the back gate and the GPP tank yard. The propane tanks look a lot better than I had expected when I started them. I cut wooden dowels of varying diameters and lengths, popped them into a drill, and spun them against a rasp and sandpaper to shape round ends, then I painted them with rattle-the-can flat white. The 2 biggest tanks are Plastruct Kits, but everything else is shaped wooden dowels. The cardboard mock-up of the Heller Tin Compress corrugated metal fence will probably be left in place for the next few months. 4. continue the background tree flats against the backdrop that I started last year behind the Adams Street businesses and extend them about 8 feet along the middle of the CNW yard into the corner of the benchwork, then about 9 feet along the wall behind the 4 businesses; Mostly done...there are still about 3 or 4 feet of background tree flats that need to be "upgraded" between the sections completed at last year's and this year's Layout Parties. I also spent quite a bit of time putting in the foamboard road between the buildings and the trees and photos on the backdrop and putting lane striping on the road. 5. paste pictures from google maps street views and other on-line sources, on the background tree flats to show buildings and Adams Street scenes behind the 4 businesses and along the treeline/skyline; Done for the 3 main businesses at the north end of the yard, Mostly done for the Recycling building around the corner, but I'm debating whether I want to use plastic flats against the backdrop instead of photos...we'll see... 6. ballast the tracks in the CNW yard and along the BN and PPU mainlines; NOT DONE... 7. refresh the lichen and Woodland Scenics trees and grass along the BN and PPU ROW. NOT DONE. I'm pleased (and surprised!) with how much I got done... I've been super busy at work and brought work home for several evenings and weekends, but still managed to accomplish most of what I set out to do during the Layout Party.
Another Layout Party has run its course! I expect a few people will get their last posts entered in the next day or two. This year's Layout Party was smaller than some of the other Parties...there were fewer participants posting about their layouts, fewer comments were posted about other's progress, and there were fewer viewers. Some of the staff members are wondering if an alternate format might increase future participation in Layout Parties (more participants posting, more comments about others' layouts, and more viewers) . Drop me a Private Message if you have any comments or suggestions for future Layout Parties...
life Well for me, life caught up with me and smacked me on the head. Just have had a ton to do these last three weeks. Still do. But I did make a lot of progress on my onetrak modules. I worked on three different ones over the course of the party and made significant progress on two. This last period not much happened with me but I did manage to get rid of some of my own junk down in the dungeon and made some stands to hold some more modules up to be worked on. These stands will also allow a corner module and the long former shelf layout to be hooked up and run together. That will be really exciting when it finally happens. Terry- that scene really came together with some scenery on it. Huge difference.
I think part of the "problem" (not sure there is one) was that there were multiple "progress" threads taking place all the time. Every week, it seemed like there was at least one "What are you working on this weekend?" thread started. If all of that activity had taken place under the layout party thread, it would have been more active.
Since this was my first party, I don't know it there is a problem or not. I had a great time at the party. I was pushed to get stuff done that I was putting off by creating the list and posting photos of items as I completed them. In fact I finished my list about a week before the end of the party. Furthermore I took some time off in the middle for a trip and then getting a kick butt cold. While working on the layout for the party I was able to learn new techniques and came up with many ideas for other areas as well as some more detailing in the area that I was working in. Even thought I completed all but one item on the list (decided I did not need it) and worked on an area that was not on the list but had to be done, I feel that the area is not finished. Each time I look at it I see some things that need a touch up and I want to do more detailing to some sections. One thing that comes to mind are the utility poles for both the railroad and the public. I am very pleased with the end results I achieved during the party, and if I had not attended the party I still would be looking at painted foam. Gary
Nice work everyone, its always great to see people make progress. I haven't even started a new layout yet - slowly creeping back after a long absence. In response to ppuinn... One question for the mods would be - why is a construction thread in the Layout Design Discussion forum? Shouldn't it be in the Inspection Pit? The other threads in here seem to be focused on design principles and track plans rather than construction threads, which seem to be mainly in the Inspection Pit or in individual scale forums... maybe I'm just being pedantic. Another suggestion would be, perhaps give out some awards based on people's progress? Maybe by popular vote. Categories could be, for example: best progress starting from nothing, best rebuild of an existing scene etc etc. Might encourage people to view the thread.
party The awards are an idea. Dont need to get too many or it gets clunky trying to keep up with them. Maybe most done this week for every week of the party and then an overall Most done for the party. Then 1 or 2 surperlatives. Keep the count down so it doesn't get to be a chore. Maybe appoint a participant each week to give out the weekly award and then poll for the end awards. Lots of people have build threads that are going on independently of the party thread that are already started before the party starts. You might invite the folks with current build threads to cross post. It is what it is. It is fun and it does give some motivation to those who otherwise would not be modeling.
Well I enjoyed the layout party, even if I did not get as much done as I wanted. A quick review with updates. 1. 90% of the track is done, however I need to add two turnouts on the east end so trains can do a run around in the front area without using the long siding for the concrete plant. This turn out will be in front of the one pictured. The B&M crosses the Maine Central at the diamond. This realignment will take some time. This was finished as seen below. For some reason, finding a RH turn out was a struggle and set me back about two weeks. The addition of this short siding allowed some re-work of my small industrial yard. the top two spurs for Stiembeck and Sons Lumbar stayed the same, but the lower spur grew in length and added an additional spur for a team track. Before After 2. Start basic land forms. The layout is divided by a "natural" view block. A large hill will be between the concrete plant and the front of the layout. The town will be built on the bulk of the hill with the main road going over the B&M main and siding on the west end and continuing through town then going over the B&M branch line in a north east direction. A hot wire and knife will be used to give the foam sub terrain some form regarding ditches and water ways. No progress 3. Layout is wired for DCC, I want to get most of the electrical done on this. No progress 4. Fascia needs to be changed to match the terrain, primed, and finished in white and B&M blue. Nope Doesn't seem like a lot but I have a lot going on so hopefully these goals can be done. The only fly in the jelly is if I don't get a job in Illinois soon, I'll be going back to New Hampshire, and we all know what moving does with layout time! This is where the most progress was made. I did get a job and it does require me to move. During the Layout Party I spent a total of three weeks in NJ, NH and MA going through the job process, looking for housing and spending some free time researching the B&M. Armed with a lot of photographs, I can spend the next few months working on scenery once I get settled in. Overall, I saw a lot of great work here and it encouraged me to work on my layout. I can't wait until next years party and hope life will let me do more.
