Well George, looking good. But you will be surprised how some telephone poles and EZ-Line will grab the attention and change the look too! I will be in Showlow in 4 weeks, hope we can meet up.
I was thinking of powerlines etc behind Jeans Valley...Georgetown. Gonna have to give that some serious thought again. Call me a remind me when you get coming up here. I would definately like to meet up with you
I have pretty much given up on making roads... I have tried everything I have read about to make them from. Grout...roofing paper...sand...hydrocal...lightweight spackle...paints of various makes and finishes. I even tried 'blackboard paint'...thinking it might just be dull enough and have a 'gritty' texture enough to use colored pencils for making lines. All have failed. The roofing paper curls on the edges and ends. The grout...spackle...and hydrocal have all cracked. I am sure the temperature swings...single digits at night in the winter to 100 in the summer...has alot to do with it. The paints dont crack with temp changes...but...none of the paint wants to take colored pencil. I am leary to purchase anymore 'paint pens' just to see if they will make decent enough road stripping on a painted surface. The last paint pens I bought dried out pretty fast...even after being tightly capped overnight !!! I am not sure I can plot out and get all the road stripping and parking lot stripping done in one day...and get them done before the paint pens dry out again Maybe I should just buy some road graders...frontend loaders...dump trucks...construction signs...safety cones and barricades and a gazillion woodland scenics 'road crews' and have all the roads on the layout "Under Construction". :closedmouth: I have tackled everything else on the layout and have been pretty satisfied with all the results. But roads...what a PITA !!!!:angry:
Have some thoughts. I know it is a dangerous thing this early in the AM without the first cup of Java totally down. Flashing back to when we were Kids in that old school house, you remember when we were in the 1st and 2nd grade. I don't think they had invented kindergarten yet, or at least I don't remember it. You know back when we had hair, teeth, and a waistline. Well the favorite thing for some projects was that good old heavy construction paper that came in a variety of colors. Doesn't warp like poster board, takes almost any glue from Elmer's paste to Elmer's white or carpenter's glue. Has just enough texture to look like an asphalt surface and best of all it should take a yellow or white line. My only thought is that the paint might bleed some because of the paper texture. And then another thought springs to my overworked mind this early AM. Chalk, another cheap item from those early childhood days. And chalk comes in colors, and the tip can be shaped to a point of appropriate width on each little stick. And one other option would be thin tape like pin striping tape if one can get it in small enough widths.
On the original Oakville Sub I used Chart Tape, worked quite well. A graphics supply house (like Dick Blick) will likely have it. You want the really thin stuff... Only negative is I don't know how it will handle the temp swings...if the adhesive fails some tacky glue or ACC would probably do the job where needed.
George - I echo John's idea of construction paper - at least as a temporary. It does fade with time, if there is any sunlight getting to it, though. I have had my best success using sheet styrene. Use 0.020 or 0.030 sheets, give it a light sanding to rough up the surface, and then "prime" using Testor's Light Aircraft Grey spray paint. I then use washes of Grimy Black and Oily Black to dirty up / "texture" the street This is actually a dark grey primer, with a very light Grimy Black wash (lines are yellow artist pencil)
I used WS HO scale foam roadbed . It's too black , but easily painted , and it's just about perfect for rural roads .
George, How did you wire up your double crossover? See the following thread where I am trying to help Don out. http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?156844-DC-DCC-Wiring/page2 Thanks
Paul... I run DCC. Its been almost 3 years...but...I just checked. The top track...coming into the X Over...the top rail is (red) ...the bottom rail of same track is (black). The bottom track is wired the same...the top rail is (red) ...the bottom rail of same track is (black). I wire a short piece of Unitrack...with feeders...before and after the double crossover on each track. This feeds the double crossover from both ends. Not sure how to wire it for combination DC/DCC...let alone 2 reversing loops :uhoh:
The only 'work' ( I've been having to much fun running trains!) I have done recently was planting grass at the 'Log Cabin Motel' and 'Jeans Valley Post Office' across the street from the Motel. THE Wife planted some headstones at the Cemetary. It was also my first attempt at a 'bar ditch' in front of the Motel.
Weeelllll...it's technically the old depot. Its a Post Office now. The NEW depot is across from One Police Plaza downtown. The old depot was built about the same time as the old motel. It worked good for many years. Then...like is usually the case....things changed ;-)
The only 'work' ( I've been having to much fun running trains!) ..... I like the sound of that! Looks good George!
Thnxs David.... A little of this...a little of that...sooner or later I figure I can almost call it done...lol. Running trains is a whole lot more fun
