3rd Annual International Winter Layout Party of 2011

ppuinn Dec 11, 2010

  1. pachyderm217

    pachyderm217 TrainBoard Member

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    Jim, where do you go in Decatur for N scale?
     
  2. Jim Wiggin

    Jim Wiggin Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    First Hobby in Decatur shows they have Atlas Code 55 track so I will call them and see if they have what I need. Have never been so we'll see how it is. I was spoiled when I lived in Northen IL and Central NH. Both places had really good railroad shops.

    Good thing I called, they didn't have one.


    Jim
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 31, 2010
  3. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    I managed some progress, however small. I bought two more RH turnouts for my lumber mill module, I picked up some "Masonite" type hardboard for the fascia pieces, and I got enough of a break in the weather to set up my open air wood shop in my driveway and saw up a bunch of the materials I will need for building my modules. If I could find a little chunk of blue or pink foam for the end of the module that is the log pond that would be even better, but now I can build the triple-length, extra-deep modules and start laying some track.

    One goal for probably AFTER the Winter Layout Party is to get the "storage stuff" junk that various family members have deposited in my garage back to its natural habitat (kitchen, someone's closet, Good Will, etc.) and then actually set up the wood shop I am all geared up for, including chop saw, table saw, grinder, bench, and hand tools.
     
  4. Tracy McKibben

    Tracy McKibben TrainBoard Member

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    First scratchbuild underway

    This afternoon I started working on the first structure - Johnson's Produce. The floor & loading dock is complete, built using matte board, balsa strips, and a textured stone paper. This is my first ever scratchbuilt structure. My thoughts on the process so far? It's tedious, time-consuming, aggravating, frustrating, and the most fun I've had in a while, the afternoon flew by. Now to do something about the CA glue that is all over my fingertips... :tb-embarrassed:

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    A suggestion of what it will look like when finished, although the building will be slightly smaller, to fit on the platform, and I decided to make it shorter, about half the height of this mockup.

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  5. Flash Blackman

    Flash Blackman TrainBoard Member

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    Looks good. In fact, I need something similar that I want to build.
     
  6. Flash Blackman

    Flash Blackman TrainBoard Member

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    Here I am in the last place on earth where it is the last day of 2010. Well...sort of.

    Added the barbecue patio.
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    Now planting the base.
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    Need to fix this big crack in my Spackle plaster road. That will become a pothole.
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    Now for some bushes, shrubs, cars. American footie tonight.
     
  7. pachyderm217

    pachyderm217 TrainBoard Member

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    One goal reached

    Here's the final product for the Myersville sand tower.

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    It's a bit more realistic than the last one.
     
  8. pachyderm217

    pachyderm217 TrainBoard Member

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    started the next phase

    Got up the nerve to tear out the abutments of the old bridge at Dixon and build the new ones. The new abuments and retaining walls are made of masonite. Because the material is relatively soft, I used 400 grit sandpaper to smooth the edges.

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    The bend at the wingwall on the right was pretty simple: I sliced about halfway through the masonite thickness with a utility knife before bending it by hand. Small finish nails hold the whole thing in place in this photo. To get the walls plumb and parallel, I ripped a 1 3/4" wide spacer from a 2X4 on the table saw.

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    My temporary mirror is visible in both these photos above; the front-silvered one is on order.

    This photo below partially illustrates one of the great advantages of building the entire layout with foam insulation. Wherever I want to place a structure, at some depth below the surface there is a level foam layer on which to start a foundation. In this case, my abutments are 2 7/8" high. The bottom 1 inch will be buried in the finished scenery.

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    Latex house paint gives me a base coat with enough texture to accept weathering washes of watercolors. Acrylic latex painters' caulk is now my preferred method of anchoring large elements. It's cheap, workable and removable.

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    Today I hope to fill the excavations behind the new walls and maybe even weather the walls.
     
  9. MOPMAN

    MOPMAN TrainBoard Member

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    Didn't get much done over the past couple of days. I did get a little more cardboard hot glued in place to support the scenery. I'm hoping to get some more of the fascia installed this weekend.
     
  10. jhn_plsn

    jhn_plsn TrainBoard Supporter

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    Looking good P217. I didn't think of using the masonite as abutments. Looks easy.
     
  11. pachyderm217

    pachyderm217 TrainBoard Member

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    Progress

    Filled the excavations behind the abutments with foam and painters' caulk.

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    Added a little paint and sand.

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  12. maxairedale

    maxairedale TrainBoard Member

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    Update on the Greenbriar Delta & Rutland.

    Spent the second week of the Layout Party working on the part of Grose that sits behind Customers 4 & 9. Click here to see a before picture

    Started the week by laying out the streets and placing the buildings, building some kits (buildings & bridge, 1 kit I purchased in 1992) and painting most of the streets & parking lots. The rest of the week was spent finishing painting the streets & parking lots, planting grass. trimming trees and pruning the shrubs.

    While looking at some photos of the area from about 7 months ago I realized that I had left off a building that was to be there. After some work at trying to fit it in I decided that the area is better off without it. The building will be placed someplace else.

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    Road Closed - That's a good thing since there is a 26 + feet drop off

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    Building with the pillars is local government

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    Birds eye view of ?

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    Road blocked - darn power company

    More photos can be seen here at my web site and here at my TrainBoard album

    From my goals list I have marked off

    1. Finish weathering all the rails in that area. This includes the section of track that is hidden by the foam block.
    2. Ballast the entire section of track in that area. This includes the section of track that is hidden by the foam block.
    3. Build and detail the portion of the city that will be located there.
    4. Work at finishing the chemical plant area (customer #4).Place the storage tanks
      1. Overflow containment wall around storage tanks
      2. Road into and within the area
      3. Add a chain link fence.
    5. Work towards finishing the Scrap Yard area (customer #9).
      1. Ramp for loader so it reaches over Gondolas
      2. Maybe some junk yard dogs.
      3. Add recycling bins (have them to build)
      4. Some type of fence could be a wood wall or chain link or a combination
    Now it is time to restart ballasting and onto customer 4.

    Gary
     
  13. pachyderm217

    pachyderm217 TrainBoard Member

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    Today's goals reached

    Weathered the concrete walls and ballasted the track.

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  14. Tracy McKibben

    Tracy McKibben TrainBoard Member

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    Warp factor

    Apparently I have some learning to do. Woke up this morning to discover that the floor that I built yesterday for my produce warehouse had warped. The two outside rows of "legs" were a full 1/4" off the ground. I'm not sure what caused this, since nothing was painted. This was nothing more than balsa strips glued to a piece of matte board with CA. I contemplated ways to fix it, but decided not to waste the time - I started over.

    :tb-wacky:

    This time, I'm not using the matte board. I'm building this one the way it would be done in real life, with intersecting cross-beams sitting on the stone piers. Decking boards (scale 1"x10") will be placed across the cross-beams.

    Here's the progress so far, the stone piers attached to the base, and the bottom row of cross-members installed. The second row of cross-members will be placed on top of these, perpendicular to the bottom row.

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  15. Flash Blackman

    Flash Blackman TrainBoard Member

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    Really nice looking. If you get that Masonite wet it will swell up?
     
  16. pachyderm217

    pachyderm217 TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks, Flash. I haven't had any issues with swelling. The smooth face of the Masonite appears to be a bit less absorbent. Once it's sealed with latex paint, my weathering washes apparently don't cause any swelling. The wettest environment it experiences occurs when wet ballast is drying. If it swells then, I don't see it because the swollen material is buried.

    Last photo from me today - the bridge superstructure.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Wolfgang Dudler

    Wolfgang Dudler Passed away August 25, 2012 TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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    My two small curved modules are mostly finished. 10 deg and 5 deg with code 55 H0n3 ME track.

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    Now I'm busy with the 90 deg corner module.

    Wolfgang
     
  18. Tracy McKibben

    Tracy McKibben TrainBoard Member

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    Sticks and stones and dog vomit

    The warping issue has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I am MUCH happier with the results of the "do over" of the produce warehouse. Today, in spite of dealing with a sick dog (thank goodness for carpet shampooers!!!), I finished all of the sub-structure, and starting putting down the deck planking. Again, very tedious and time-consuming, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the project so far. As you can see in these photos, I also threw some ground cover underneath, so that I won't have to do that after the structure is done.

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  19. eric220

    eric220 TrainBoard Member

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    No photo-worthy progress for me. The contractors got slammed last week, so considering that I had guests, I let them take a week off of my project. We did manage to get the walls and ceiling primed, and I'm hoping that the room will be more or less finished this week. We are going to paint it ourselves, and get the floor installed separately. I'm hoping to have all that done and get some work done on the layout by the end of January.

    On the note of floors, any thoughts there? I like the idea of having something soft like carpet to stand on while operating, but I'm worried about cutting, painting, soldering, gluing, etc over carpet. I was impressed with some of the vinyl floors that are available, but I have no idea how durable it would be. Paying for 400 square feet of tile or hardwood is right out, but otherwise, does anyone have any thoughts or ideas?
     
  20. pdx1955

    pdx1955 TrainBoard Member

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    A commercial-grade vinyl tile would be durable enough to hold up under railroad construction. A lot of the clubs that I have been to use this kind of flooring. In addition to that you could use those interlocking foam rubber mats that are sold for use in workshops and garages (Costco and other warehouse clubs sell them). I have a set in my operator area and they do a good job of cushioning the feet. In the past, I used a roll of Ozite carpet (this is the thin stuff mostly used to carpet basements). This stuff was really cheap so i didn't care if it got paint or other stuff on it - it did however protect the good floor that was in the room (critical since this was an apartment). Another thought is just use a carpet remnant for your operating areas.

    Peter
     

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