While I haven't yet named my n-scale railroad, I'll call it the "Bar Extension" for now as the layout is located where an old bar used to be in my rec room. This thread will be added to as I make progress. I did a bit of work on the weekend: 1. Finished adding all rails using Pliobond to my car float/ferry/barge. Tonight I hope to shoot it with a coat of black and then weather it with chalks: 2. Built two structures from the Walthers Superior Paper Mill (which I bought with four other structure kits for $20!). The foreground building will be a warehouse with no back wall so I can have a detailed interior; the backdrop flat is just that. 3. I oiled the Union Pacific loco in this photo (sorry, not sure what type it is - maybe someone who is a good diesel spotter can tell me?) and it now runs more smoothly and quieter. 4. Another kit I got for my $20. I've glued together the tanks and am deciding if I should paint them and what colour (I first need to fill in the seams and sand). I'm also not so sure about the block/brick wall that is supposed to go around the tanks - it looks too European. I'll have to do some research to see what modern oil tank installations use to protect against spills. Four images is max, so my next post will contain the rest.
Part 2: 5. And a final photo - I tried weathering the steps of the warehouse mentioned in 2. with some acrylic. I think I'll have to hit it with some chalk as well to make it blend in a bit better. More to come including an overview of the entire layout.
Rob M., that's a good suggestion, thanks. Unfortunately it's in Maine and I'm freelancing this layout to be in Canada, probably BC. And Harbour is spelled wrong for a Canadian layout. Boxcab - I didn't get a chance to paint the barge last night - it was a windy night and I didn't feel like going outside into my workshop to spray the black. Might have to wait until the weekend.
I put on another side wall on my warehouse last night. This wall will likely have a photo glued to it to represent the off layout part of the warehouse/factory - hopefully I can get the perspective right. Or I might play around with mirrors. And added a floor - I'm debating now if I should add two more middle floors (for each bank of windows) or keep the ground floor with two banks of windows and just add one floor below the taller topmost bank of windows. I'll mock it up and see what looks best. For the windows I'll use the kit's windows but I'll need to cut out interior walls to hide the overlapping tabs on the inside of the walls. I've already photocopied the walls as a pattern to cut out the window openings.
Here is the requested and promised overview of the layout: This is the space I have to work with - I forget the exact measurements, but it is quite a bit of room for N-scale and at least manageable with the time and money I have to work on it. This is my original 5' x 2.5' layout that is now about 15 years old and survived two moves. It still needs some work but has been put aside as I work on the Bar Extension - need to get back to it and do some more work on it. It's based on the Gorre and Daphetid track plan. From the original layout there will be a helix (where I stood to take this photo and then two decks of shelf layout (the lower deck is what you see in place). Working our way around the lower shelf in the corner is where I'm building an ISL with warehouses/factories to spot cars at (keep in mind there will also be a similar shelf above but I'm planning mainly on doing forest/mountian scenery on it) - the mirror tiles on the wall will be covered up with the backdrop, in case you are wondering: Part 2 below.
Part 2. On my workbench (aka bar counter) I have a four track staging yard to make up trains before sending them out to the layout - this will likely also be the spot for a programming track when I move to DCC: Above the lower level staging yard and the bar counter there is a large 2.5'x6' peninsula with an attached harbour area where you can see my car float/barge. I dropped down the part that is the harbour. This is sitting on top of the original bar counter - countertop was removed but can easily be reattached if we move one day. A removable bridge (I'm hoping to build a model of our ill-fated Johnston Street Bridge/Blue Bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Street_Bridge will span the aisle from the harbour section on the right across the aisle (where I'm standing) over to where the helix will be. Here's an overhead shot of the space I am working with: I do have a track plan in my head and rough sketch on paper for the mainline but nothing definite for most areas. I'm letting it come together as I continue to build.
Sorry for the lack of progress posts. I have made some progress, although last weekend was busy putting in some scale 1:1 windows in my basement (putting in 1:160 windows is a lot easier!). Will hopefully spend most of Sunday working on the RR and will shoot some photos of that progress and the little I've done this past week. Hope everyone else is finding time for modelling.
For everyone who thinks they are on their final layout- Please note post #9 in this thread. Look to the left margin about halfway up. Do you see a turnout that runs off the edge of the layout? It is always good to have a "what if I want to expand access point to the existing layout" place for incorporation of the old and the new. It avoid a ripup and relay of an area you may not want to fiddle with.
Thanks Steve. Some people wouldn't agree; the last homeowners made their own wine (we still have the wine grape vines) so they must have had wine parties in the rec room hence the bar. My wife and I dont drink much and don't have big parties. I have though kept everything so that if we move one day I can put the bar back to how it was - the layout is in sections so could be moved with a day's work. Marc
