Iowa, in N scale

Yep I know that. But it is still one of my favorite. There are a couple more there I like but none as much as 9.

 

Well I have got the benchwork started. Pretty easy. Only trouble I had was the fact that the lumber yard suplies warped and twisted demensional lumber. Got past it. Now I will be working on doing the track plan and drawing out the roads and where I want the town. I can see it in my head, but getting it to paper is not as easy as you would think. Shaun
P.S. Will have pics up soon, shaun

 

Well we have started some elevation on the layout. We have also scaled it down a little bit, was a little over ambisious to start out. I still do not have track down yet. Hopefully will get the majority of the elevation done in the next couple weeks. Shaun

 

Being from Iowa myself there are plenty of great places to model on a 4X8; however, if it were me I would model the Fort Madison riverfront with parallel BN and ATSF lines, and add a second 4X8 for part of the ATSF yard.

I have a friend who is modeling the BN/NW/MILW Des Moines Union line from the BN yard in SE Des Moines (now NS Glake Yard) to the DMU in Downtown DSM.

 

Well, now we need some photo's.

 

Well me and the boys have been playing around with some landscapes. Mixed up some brown paint at work, plaster cloth really soaks up the paint!! I just read the thread on posting pictures so I will give it another go tomorrow. Next weekend I will be getting some flex track to work in the corner we are working on. Kinda figured with the kids and my skill level we would just concentrate on one section at a time. Wherever the kids want to work is fine with me. Even had my 4 year old daughter helping out with the painting. Picked up some trees on clearance. they are huge for this scale but trim down easy enough.
I started with a plan in my head and an idea of how it would look when done but as I go it just keeps changing. I now have a river going all the way across the layout, a small mountain in one corner and more to come. I found that a heat gun cut out a river very well in the foam. And it was cleaner, just smelled bad. We have painted the river bed black and will go over it with a green before adding in the water.
Welll more to come, Shaun

 

Here are a couple pictures. Nothing spectacular but work in progress.

 

Looks good so far! Interesting point about using the heat gun to... I guess melt away the foam. Also, great that you're getting the family involved-future modelers in the making Keep the pictures coming, I know lots of us love to see the updates.

 

I am really liking the plaster cloth buildup. It is easy to change if you change your mind about something and easy to work with. I just got done redoing the corner to make way for one line to run over it and the other to tunnel under the side. Not real certian about the grade so I may have to make a little more modifications before it is done. Next weekend will be laying track, at least for the tunnels. I am also thinking about removable tops to the tunnels for access to the track within them. Not sure how to do that just yet but will figure it out.
We also took a pizza box and did a small experament on doing scenery. I will post a picture of that as well, after I get new batteries for the camera. It really amazes me just how much has changed. The biggest being online sales. My last layout ment a lotof travel to get parts and no way was I going to build and change this easy. Me and the kids are having a blast with this. Now we do not have a movie night or a game night. Instead we have a family train night! LOL.
More to come, Shaun

 

Well I got my track, or some of it, but it will have to wait. We are now going to be moving. That sounds like fun, right? May be a bit before I get back to this. Awesome timing with it but that is how it goes. Shaun

 

Well the move ended up not happening. That was a mess. I have been back at it with our railway. Local hobby shop is going out of business so I got some good deals. (would give up the good deals to keep the place open though) Got my DCC starter pack. It is a love it hate it thing right now. Stops and resets itslef all the time. It is so random that I started looking at other things but it has good power and after I checked all my soldier joints I have figured out it is the pack itself. May be a programing glitch, will see what Bachman says.
As for not there is not much to tell. but here is a pic for ya. Shaun

 

Well i found the problem with my DCC. It is the Athearn engine/decoder setup. I have called there tech support and have followed there instructions and all I can get is a high pich whine that tapers off to nothing over several seconds. Looks like I may have to eat the $200 for the engine and get something different. Any ideas? Shaun

 

Do you have feeder wires to the track every 30-36 inches? That would be a place to start with it being DCC.

 

Yep. Found the DCC how to on here. Even pulled out the meter and checked every connection. Now athearn says it is suposed to run in dc as well but I cannot get it to do anything in dc. Sure makes you pull out your hair. With the LHS closing al sales are final so there is no returning it and getting one that works either. Shaun

 

Athearn has given the OK to send the engine back for them to repair. They were pretty cool about it in the end. Now lets see how it goes from here.

 

Got some more done today. Built a bridge, put up some trees and finished building the other side of the big hill. Figured i would update, Shaun

 

I have done a little more work, and created even more. I tried using EZ water. Think I got it to hot as when I poured it on the foam melted and now I have a 2 inch deep portion of my river. I have worked out a way to fix it. I will fill the void with black aquarium sand and brown micro gravel. This will be glued in place then water added to the top. I do hope it turns out as good in the end as I see it in my mind. My boy about freaked out when he saw the foam melting away. So I had to calm him down then figure out how to fix it. Hope to get more done soon. Shaun

 

Well my wife went out and got me some pictures of a couple bridges and a train station today. I hope that I will be able to recreate at least one of the bridges and the station, but will have to see. Here are the pictures. Shaun

 

Never mind finding pictures of bridges etc, where do you find a wife who would go out in the cold and the snow and take them for you, (and hanging out the open window in at least one of 'em too!!