Here are a few more progress photos. First, I've laid out the rough locations of road and track on the top surface. The first shows the University road intersection (cars shown for scale). The second shows the entire module (looking East) with the C&NW track crossing at the far end. You'll notice that I've drilled some 1/2" holes under the track in several locations. These are for feeder wire routing when the track is attached. I like to drill one big hole down the middle and punch the wires through the WS foam roadbed. Having the locations of the feeders established, I then did some preliminary electrical work on the bottom. That's 16 gauge lamp cord. The insulation on the lamp cord is only separated for attachment to the terminal block, so each is essentially a continuous wire. I use four main wires through my modules: a) track 1 b) track 2 c) constant 12V DC d) AC I'm not sure if I'll need the AC for anything, but it's easier to include it up front than to retrofit later.
The final electrical step at this point is to terminate the main wires running through the module. I use simple crimp-on connectors. For the right end of the module, there are female connectors for all but the AC line, which is male. The other end is, of course, the opposite.
I have a bit more progress on the module to share. If you've been reading along, you'll recall that I've been using some internet resources to help guide the terrain development. Is this part of Illinois "rolling hills?" - no. Is it flat? Absolutely not. There are subtle hills throughout, and that presents a bit of a challenge to capture the effect without over-doing it. For operational reliability, I've chosed to keep the tracks absolutely flat. The road, on the other hand, presents a good opportunity to capture some subtle changes. For reasons I won't elaborate on, I decided to use balsa wood to bring the road up to track level and also to provide a nice flat surface for the roadway that is slightly higher than "grade". This first photo shows an overview looking East. The three blocks of pink foam will be carved down to provide very slight hills higher than the roadway and tracks, forming small "cuts" for them to pass through. These can be seen in my prototype photos earlier in the thread and also the USGS topographical map linked to my previous post. Now, working from East to West, here is the area of the C&NW branch-line crossing. I cut the 3/16" balsa into the WS foam roadbed to bring it right up to the ties on the track. Also, you'll see balsa mounting pads for the single target signals as well as the two equimpment cabinets in the area of the crossing. I drill 3/16" holes and install aluminum tubing at this point to later feed the signal wires through. This will be the first (and more minor) of two small hills in US30 as it follows the terrain. I simply put a 1/8" spacer underneath the balsa and clamp it while the adhesive cures. I like the very smooth, subtle effect that it gives as the road rises a scale 20". That block of foam will be filed down so that it is slightly higer than the road surface. This is how the prototype area is configured. The road rises somewhat at the hills, but not to the point of following the natural terrain. Finally, at the West end is the area of the University road crossing. Again, I've installed feeder tubes and mounting pads for the crossing signals. If I can find out the dimensions of the Detail 160 roadway intersection, I'll be able to complete the base for the roadways in this area. Just a note about adhesive: for all items shown (i.e. foam-to-foam, WS roadbed-to-foam, balsa-to-foam) I use a clear siliconized acrylic caulk spread extremely thin with a slightly serrated spatula. I've used this approach for years and found it to be easy to use and reliable.
I made some more progress on the terrain today, carving the foam closer to its final form. I may knock those hills down a bit more, but I want to look at it for a few days before doing that. Extruded foam is really nice to work with for things like this. The balsa strips show the the US30 location. I decided to take it outside to get some better lighting (it really isn't THAT heavy....
So far this weekend, I've completed a bit more forming of the foam and also attached the rear facia board. This is pretty standard stuff. First, I clamped a piece of pre-cut 1/4" masonite a bit larger than the module to the back side and used a felt marker to trace the profile from the module. Next, it's to the garage for the sabre saw and a bit of flat black spray paint. Then back to the train room to glue the finished profile board onto the module. I use the same Liquid Nails panel adhesive for this that I used to glue the box together. I like to clamp / sandwich the masonite between the module and another piece of flat material. The result looks pretty good. The masonite mates up well with the module and gaps are very minimal. Note: I haven't done the front facia yet, because I haven't been able to finish the roadway yet.
As I'm sure many of you can relate to; I've had a few weeks of pretty slow progress. Here are two photos of my latest progress. The balsa highway base is complete. I've also added the front facia board and used spackle to create most of the final terrain. I've been using the Home Depot spackle that comes in a one quart tub for $3. That's pretty cheap and it is neat and easy to work with. I like the fact that I can pop the tub open and do a little more work any time I have a few minutes, without having to mess with plaster. I still have to add a finish coat around the West end of the module (where the road crosses the tracks) as well as along the front facia board. Sorry about the poor photos. My digital camera batteries died after three shots, so I didn't have many photos to choose from.
I'm calling this the "black box phase". It's flat black latex on the top and a finish coat of flat black spray around the perimeter. I'll be masking the sides and bottom edges from now on to protect against scratches and scenery materials. I've also added mounting points for mini-toggle switches in two location on the front facia. Had I used 1/8" masonite for the profile boards, I could have mounted them flush. As it is, I drilled out 3/4" holes and glued 1/8" masonite squares on top.
Track!! That white stuff that looks like snow in the cut is just adhesive that hasn't fully cured. I use clear siliconized acrylic caulk spread very thin to glue down track. The masking tape is pulled away under the end of the front track to expose the locating mark (a small groove cut in the masonite) added earlier. On my modules the front rail of the front track is aligned with the module center. The rear track is then offset 1 1/4" (rail-to-rail). That long aluminum ruler in the photo is very helpful for aligning straight track. I also started adding 1 5/8" strips of 1/32" balsa on top of the previous 2" wide balsa road base. These bring the road up to rail level and also provide a slight "step" along the sides for the gravel shoulder. Not seen in the photo is some electrical progress. There are six pieces of track on the module, and I soldered feeders to each individual piece of rail (12 feeders total) and also soldered the eight rail joints. I like a lot of redundancy in electrical contact when dealing with 20 gauge wire soldered to the side of code 55 rail.
As discussed in a thread on the old Atlas forum (the "I may never paint track again" thread), I'm trying a different approach to rail coloring with this module. Here's a photo of the result: The ties will probably be painted a darker brown or gray later, but this is how nickle silver rails look with a good coating of "Neo-lube". I've tested a small section of track like this on an existing operational module, and there have been no conductivity or slippage issues. Actually, I would expect conductivity to be enhanced. For those unfamiliar with Neo-lube, it is a graphite/alcohol dry film lube that is brushed on. The alcohol evaporates, leaving a thin layer of conductive graphite (which is, of course, graphite colored). If this works well, I think this will be an ideal method to color the points/rails/frog on turnouts.
Here's a little progress on the East end of the module. The C&NW Sugar Grove line track has been added. I've also added the rest of the 1/32" balsa road base here. Adding a layer of 1/32" balsa to a 3/16" base brings the road up to the exact height of Atlas code 55 on top of Woodland Scenics roadbed. I used a brite-boy to smooth the area where the balsa butts up against the rail and verified that there is no interference by rolling that boxcar over the road crossing. Of course, that's not really needed on this track since nothing will ever run on it. I have several road crossings like this on another operational module and they have never caused any problems, so I would call it a proven approach.
More track and electrical progress: Here is how the tracks are terminated at the end of the module. I cut the rails between the fourth and fifth ties from each module end. The rail ends are then filed smooth and flat. This leaves approximately 1/2" without rail, which will necessitate a connecting track between modules of 1". As I'll show later, the exact distance doesn't matter at this point, as I cut and file each connecting rail (not track) to exact length with the aid of calipers. The "spikes" are removed from each of the four bare ties plus the first tie under the end of the rails. I use a flat X-acto blade for this: Here's a shot showing the feeder wires terminating at the terminal block. You can see two sets coming through 1/2" holes from the module top. I use black/white solid 20 gauge wire from Radio Shack for this. As soon as all of the wires are present, I'll tighten and trim those tie-wraps to keep them in somewhat of a pseudo "harness".
Ballast and road crossings: I finally got around to making some more progress. The following photo shows a sample of my ballast and road crossings. The ballast is that detestable, floating Woodland Scenics stuff. Since I don't spray glue, the light weight is a non-factor. I use a fine tip glue applicator to apply Aleen's tacky glue between and around each and every tie, followed by a liberal sprinkling of ballast. After glue cure and vacuuming this approach leaves a very thin layer of ballast. I perfer this approach for two reasons. First, the ballast lays below the tops of the ties, which preserves the three dimensional effect of ties on ballast. Second, since there is no glue on top of the ballast, the texture is not obscured (i.e. "smoothed") at all. I also like that the ballast is not dense and the glue is flexible. To my ear, this makes for a quieter track than more conventional real-rock-and-elmers approaches. I must hasten to add that ballasting approaches and preferences are one of the most varied aspects of our hobby and I've seen great looking results from numerous methods. This is just what works for me. The road crossings are just balsa wood painted roof brown. The road surface in this area is Detail 160 roadway. This should probably be weathered, but that will come later.
Here are some updates on the scenery progress. I'm currently trying to get the rest of the details I need to finish this. The road is not yet complete (awaiting Detail 160 items). I'm also going to install telegraph poles, crossing gates (signals only on the C&NW spur), equipment cabinets and track signals at the crossing. My layout room has awful lighting and space restrictions. I'll be able to post better pictures when I can take it back outdoors for good Arizona lighting. This picture is just to provide a perspective for how the 6' x 1' module captures the feel of a long, straight stretch of track. That section of US30 should provide a good display for some N scale vehicles.
Thanks for the encouragement guys. Looking back at my first posts, it looks like I've been working on this one for about five months. As soon as I am able to purchase the final details it should be done fairly quickly. I already have plans for a mating corner module that will continue this scene, also based on the same prototype location. Just West of the University road crossing (the right end in my most recent photos) US30 diverges from the tracks before looping back over them on a bridge. The highway then loops back to now parallel the tracks on the South (opposite) side of the tracks - essentially forming an "S" curve with a bridge in the middle. There is a stand of some taller trees between the highway and tracks as well. I think this will provide a nice, simple area to model that will also add some interest to the layout. Here's a link to an aerial photo of what I'm describing: Terraserver Aerial Photograph of Next Scene Here's another photo looking West from University road showing the highway bridge crossing. Upon looking at this photo again, I noticed that the highway bridge was configured so as to possibly allow for a double-tracking that never occurred(?).
I've been making a bit of progress in wrapping up the details. The following photos should provide a good comparison of the prototype "feel" I was targetting and how I've rendererd this on my module. Those road crossing signals are just the cheap Bachmann ones with some silver paint. They'll suffice until I acquire something more prototypical. The equipment cabinets are Cal-Freight and the telegraph poles are Atlas with some brown paint. These photos exagerate the "lumpiness" of the terrain, as the full 6' module length is compressed into the height of the photo. I'll work on getting some better photos when I can take the module outside (it's rainy here in Tucson today - a nice change for us desert dwellers).
Well, better late than never.... I had hoped to share these sooner, but taxes, work, computer problems, etc. (i.e. life in America) had other plans. I would call this "done" at this point.
Thanks! As you've likely noticed, I dredged up the original photos from this thread and reposted a lot of the "meat." This is as much for my own use as others. I'll be cloning most of the structural concepts for my replacement layout, but instead incorporating UniTrack, backdrops and possibly some modular scenery approaches. I'll explain more in a new thread as I move forward.
