Thats good progress Paul.. Looks like you had fun over the weekend. How many days did you have off? Depending on what job folks here have, some had four days off but others only two. Easter isn't like it used to be when everything closed down.
Paul, Thanks for the additional photo. If I remember correctly, you scratch build many of your buildings. My memory is fuzzy on this. I have been doing lots of work on the layout, getting it ready for the hard board back drop. There is more work in the prep for the hard board than I had imagined. I am conscious of the days left and that has motivated me to move the layout along so that I can meet my first weeks objective. I'm happy to see so many posting here. It gives us a chance to clarify our thinking on what has to be done, and a fun chance for us to talk about our layouts, rather than just saying we finished our upper layout - Yippee - or whatever it is our project is. When I posted this in the N scale forum, I received a little bit of flack that project managing our layout sounded serious, but I don't feel it is, if it moves us out of our chairs, and we enjoy the work we have done. I've sure learned one thing in the last while. I really appreciate the work that has to go into a layout. The amount of work is far greater than it appears. I keep thinking I'm ready to do something, but I discover I have to do other projects so that the layout can proceed to the initial project I had in mind.
Is it me, or is the TB logo int he top LH corner of the screen showing up backwards, like a negative? ANYWAYS, I, for one, need motivation. I am a slacker/procrastinator. I did manage, however to start laying out the trackplan on the foam today. I hope by the weekend to have the plan completely laid out, and some foambed laid and glued in place.
Robyn, I spent 3 days working on this project Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I really enjoyed adding the scenery and it was a lot of fun organising all the buildings. Rick, The buildings are made of cardboard off different plans. I'd like to take credit for them but they were made by a fellow modeller here in Sydney.
Well here's my first update. As of last night all my track has been washed. That's the good news. The bad news is my soldering skills still need work. I'm going by the Shack tonight for a copper tip to replace my old stainless steel one, and a couple of the clip on heat sinks so I don't keep melting the ties.
Burgh, My soldering skills aren't so great either. But in about a month or two... I suspect I will be a pro. Paul, Whoever is doing your structures is doing great job. Maybe he should start a cottage industry, flocking the parts of a structure to be assembled by the modeler.
Hello everyone! My name is Bruce (yes, from Massachusetts) and I’m building an 8x11 L-shaped N-scale layout. It’s an expanded and revised version of the Atlantic Long Haul in the Atlas layout book (Nine N-Scale Layouts). This is my first attempt at a layout after being out of the hobby for 15 years, and I've been planning it over the past year. I'm off to a good start and finished the bench work last week. Over the next couple of months I hope to have the track work completed. Great, right? Well, maybe not because work has ground to a halt. It's that "B" word - "The Budget" that has me tied up right now. While I have most of the track, there are certain tools, turnouts, electrical items, and roadbed materials I need that are necessary to have in order to move on. I don’t want to skimp on this stage because if there is one thing I have learned from these forums is that quality track work is a must. Lack of money may have slowed me up, but there are some things I can move ahead on in the coming week. I hope to purchase at least a couple of needed tools, and install some foam to elevate certain areas in the layout. If I don't keep moving forward, I will fall into the "Armchair" .
Bruce, I know how you feel about the "budget" issue. I think that constraint hits many of us more than we would like to admit. I had to tell my son we would buy no more engines for one year, while I spent money on getting the layout up and running. I am wondering if there are some other cheaper tasks you might be doing while waiting for more money to do the necessary things you want done. For example, hardboard is quite cheap, and you can get it cut at Home Depot or the like, and start putting your hard board up to take your backdrop. Or maybe there are some other tasks you might find you can handle while waiting for the bucks. At one point I was going to buy some fancy legs for my layout, but in the end used wood I had left over, laminated some of it together, gave it a fancy cut with the scroll saw and painted it. The paint was only $11 and it will be my fascia paint. Maybe this is a good time to learn to scratch build something with styrene being cheap. Or other tasks you might find that can be done that isn't expensive... Just a thought; good luck!
All good ideas. Working on the backdrop is a particularly good (and achievable) idea. This could be my task for the week after next. I'm also considering a purchase of cork roadbed only. It's yet another step I can get onto cheaply.
I am certainly pleased you started this Rick because I have done more in the week past than I normally would have. Here is a picture showing tracklaying approaching the city of Maberly on my layout. That's a roundhouse in the background. The next picture shows that I have reached the approach to the Maberly Terminal so this is the throat area and I am looking at various options for track flow. Now I wonder how much I will get done this coming week.
Bruce, one word for the budget conscious among us...ebay! I too am saddled by a tight budget and without ebay I'd be stuck running my old Bachman lurchers still. You can even find tools on there. Just be sure to set limits on what you want and stick to them! I find myself occasionally getting into the competition of the bid, not wanting to lose, and forgetting the bottom line. Gotta work on that...well that and my soldering
In defense of the Armchair: I haven't built a layout since I tore down my American Flyer setup in 1960. I have enjoyed planning my N Scale railroad, even though the current basement is the first one I am actually building it in....after living in 6 different homes, 5 towns and 2 states! Somebody mentioned being at the right time and situation for building a layout. That's where I am at now. I have three different clubs helping me, either through example, peer pressure or actually working on the layout room (almost ready to prime the drywall!). Development of MicroEngineering and Atlas Code 55, DCC and current high quality of locomotives confluences with refinement of what I want in an operations-orientated railroad. I am GLAD I didn't have any previous attempts at building a full layout (only active building and participation in a modular group).
Ah yes, eBay! I do look around there fairly often, but have not found any great deals on the tools and/or materials I need. But when I'm ready for Loco's and rolling stock, well, then I'll have to really resist temptation. In a previous post (and on this one) you talked about soldering. I remember my soldering woes from many years back, and it usually involved melted rail ties. I plan to buy a heat sink tool made for soldering rails by MLR. It looks like it will do the trick. That and a new soldering iron!
First I would like to say "Great Job" to everybody who made progress this past week. Well, I guess it's time for my first update. I met my goals for this week, but no photo's yet: I glued down cork for my new module...10 minutes work. I installed the wireless upgrade for my NCE DCC system...1 week! Ok, the install only took a couple hours, but getting it to work right took some doing. First was erratic operation which was solved by changing the cab address to 5 from default. Next was many dead spots due to the extremely low power the FCC allowed NCE to use. (.00025 watts and a cell phone gets allotted 3 watts!) I finally ended up putting the base unit up on the ceiling with the antenna pointing down. And lastly was a random power off issue of the handheld "once while a train was in motion no less". I had had the remote set to power off after 1 minute of idle time, and changed it to 5. And for extra credit, I installed a BEMF decoder in my ConCor 4-8-4 and ran it for the first time. It runs fine on the modules I converted to Peco 55 but derails on the modules with Atlas 80? Go figure? Well it looks like I'm going to have to rebuild all my old modules with Peco 55. Next weeks goals: 1) Remaining track laid on the new module, and said track/ties painted and ballasted. 2) Tressle Bents installed under my bridge on the new module. 3) For extra credit I hope to get scenery base laid too!
I have the same B problem, also. The Chairman of the financial department *wife* said no more locos for 6 mos..... What a sentance! Feels like being tossed in jail.... Withdrawl... Katos.... P42's..... *drools* All kissing aside, I have a pair of Peco c80 turnouts that I test laid on the paln I drew out on the benchwork. All the drawing was freehand, with straightedges,a nd a radius tool, but turnouts are free-hand drawn. All of the turnouts met or exceeded the minimum requirement of #6 frogs! Some actually are closer to #8. The roadbed laying will commence soon. I will try to install an extension to the benchwork, for staging. An extra 6" wide area will allow good space for 3-4 staging tracks, and I have to figure out if I want to make it plywood and foam, or just plywood, since it won't be scenicked, or visible. The layout plan has deviated quite a bit from the original drawing. The staging area will depart the modeled portion before the yard, and re-enter after the yard.
I forgot one thing, sorry to double... I am using Woodland Scenics foambed, rather than cork. I can get thru my LHS, a box of 36 2' long sections for 15 bucks. Seems like quite a bargain to me!
ENDING WEEK ONE, STARTING WEEK TWO Well, I never worked so hard on a home project as I have in the last week to get the hard board in. I have had fun, a few cuts, glue all over my fingers, paint on my pants, saw dust everywhere. Most things went right, a few went wrong. I had one joyous serendiptitous moment when I realized a way I hadn't considered and tried almost on a lark worked wonders at getting the hard board in. What I didn't tell you is that I am doing a different kind of layout construction, and part of it involved gluing over 80 pieces. This doesn't sound like a big deal until you realize that I have to clamp and wait a couple of hours for the glue to take. And I only have four clamps. I have had fun working on the layout and have a renewed respect for those who have a layout up and going. My God! The hundreds of hours that they have spent, probably the thousands of hours they have spent. If you are like me, my mind bounces on a couple of projects ahead while working on the project at hand. If find this is a double edged sword, as I look forward to the next task, then start to see problems with it I hadn't thought of before. This coming weeks commitment: 1) Cove two corners, where the hard board is meeting at 90 degrees. 2) Apply the backdrop that I have available to the bottom deck. Cheers.
I would hate to count the amount of hours I have spent on the layout but the rewards are high. Iam always planning future projects as i think it breaks the monotony of working on the same area. I will sometimes not go near the layout for a few weeks then get back into whatever i was doing. This weekend I will install some trees i bought for the township. Do some plastering and lay more ballast and ground cover. i will post some pics on Sunday to show the progress.
I installed the extension to the benchwork for staging last nite. It is 5" wide, and 16' long, giving tons of room for extra car storage, and 4 staging tracks. I'll get pics out when I can. Not one single inch of the staging area will be wasted.
Well my Empire Builder arrived last night, so my goal for next week is to have the track down AND wired. Gotta be running by the 15th. Turning 40 will be much easier smoking a cuban and watching the purple locos run.
