N Scale Build of the Delaware, Susquehanna & Northern Railroad

Hardcoaler Dec 20, 2021

  1. in2tech

    in2tech TrainBoard Member

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    Yeah, not sure I would use something that real food is used for. On the other hand, maybe it adds a different taste to real food. Honey, do you taste ground foam in your chopped onions :) New recipe possibly? Is that broccoli? No, it's ...?

    Go get them Chef! Coming to a Menu near you :) I'm done now, sorry!
     
  2. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Us older folks sometimes need more ruffage, so I figure remnants of Foliage Clusters in our food might contribute to our health. :) I told my wife about the situation and she's not at all concerned. The green stain cleans up fine with alcohol and she figures after a trip through the dishwasher, all will be like new.

    I tried finely chopping the Foliage Cluster mix today and the size reduction really helps the appearance I think. Next up, I'll glue some in place and see how it looks.
     
  3. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    What? So now we will have model railroad layout recipes?

    :D

    Doug
     
  4. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Why add parsley as a garnish when a dash of Woodland Scenics Medium Green Underbrush is available? :)
     
  5. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Does anyone make low concrete or stone walls in N Scale?

    On my layout, an embankment is a bit close to a lower track. The track to the left is on a raised embankment and the base of the embankment is adjacent to a lower line. I'm not worried about clearance on the lower line, but purely for appearance's sake, I'm thinking that if I were to cut away the base of the embankment and add a 5 foot wall (3/8" high) along its length (about 25"), things might look a little better. Thanks for any ideas. Scratchbuilding might be best here.

    2024-10-30 Embankment Clearance.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2024
  6. Numbers

    Numbers TrainBoard Member

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    You could stack a couple of ¼" square balsa strips and paint them concrete gray, then add some weathering and vegetation.
     
  7. Mark Ricci

    Mark Ricci TrainBoard Member

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    A while ago thought about using something like below for backdrop. Had these saved in a list. Also Plastruct makes a lot of 16" x 7" stone sheets.

    upload_2024-10-30_17-54-34.png

    upload_2024-10-30_17-55-52.png
     
  8. cbg

    cbg TrainBoard Member

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    This is a good idea and would be very easy. I've also used Woodland Scenic foam cut to shape and painted concrete with good results. The foam can also be cut to start lower in the foreground area then get higher and curved to fit what looks like a change in elevation at the top of your picture.
     
  9. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    That's a good idea, about 3-1/2' high, cheap to make and it would yield that poured concrete look.
     
  10. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Thank you Mark -- lots of options there. Presize is on your list and I found they make some interesting stuff. These fieldstone walls are of a good size, 5/16" x 5/16" (4' x 4' in N Scale) x 4" Long. The embankment is mostly straight (except for the curve that @cbg noticed. I think I can work around it.) and I could line up six of them.

    upload_2024-10-30_19-58-45.png
     
  11. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    I was just thinking that could also break out my hot foam knife and cut the embankment to a steeper incline to allow more room at the base.

    Lots of options here. Thanks everyone. (y)
     
  12. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Chooch did both of those in HO. They had stone in N. However, I do not recall if they also had concrete in their N scale. Might be worth a search on-line.
     
  13. Mark Ricci

    Mark Ricci TrainBoard Member

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  14. tonkphilip

    tonkphilip TrainBoard Member

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  15. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    My scenery is no way done, but I've about reached a temporary stopping place with it. As such, I'm thinking about structures. I scratchbuilt about half of the structures on my previous DS&N (v2.0) because I wasn't much enticed by what I found in kits. One of the signature structures on a railroad serving northeastern PA is an anthracite coal "breaker" and it was one I scratchbuilt. Unfortunately, it won't fit on the new DS&N, so I must build a new one or take a look at the N Scale Architect's Lackawanna Coal Company kit as seen here to see if it might fit. This kit wasn't available when v2.0 was built.

    upload_2024-11-5_16-36-48.png

    Anthracite is "hard coal", so chunks from underground mines had to be crushed like rock to smaller sizes for washing and sorting, hence the "breaker". When anthracite was king in the early 1900s, some 300 breakers worked the massive tide of coal that moved to market. All are gone today, demolished.

    In the early 1980s, a number of closed breakers remained and I shot some photos of them. Here are a few. In order, the Harry E. at Swoyersville, the Loree at Larksville and the last two, the Huber at Ashley.

    1982-09 001b Swoyersville PA Harry E Breaker - for upload.jpg

    1982-09 001b Larksville PA Loree Breaker - for upload.jpg

    1982-09b Ashley PA Huber Colliery - for upload.jpg

    1981-10-04 003b Ashley PA Huber Colliery - for upload.jpg
     
    DeaconKC, badlandnp, KWE and 9 others like this.
  16. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    That N Scale Architect's kit is really nice looking. Bet it would look great on your layout or at least provide you with what you need to kit bash one the way you want it to be. You will also need a plant to make the blue paint that was used to color the Blue Coal :)
     
    badlandnp, Doug Gosha, MK and 5 others like this.
  17. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Wow those were huge structures. I'm sure you are going to come up with a great solution.

    Sumner
     
  18. in2tech

    in2tech TrainBoard Member

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    That kit looks awesome. Where would it go on your new layout? Whatever kits you build, we need some progress photo's. Especially if you build the N Scale Architect's Lackawanna Coal Company kit. It looks huge? Is it?
     
  19. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Its footprint is 11" x 10", so stretches to the limit my available real estate. I downloaded a plan view of it; I'm not sure how adaptable it might be to kitbashing. I like my industry tracks to be visible so that the freight cars can be seen and enjoyed. The other matter is the kit's cost at $150, which probably isn't so crazy these days, but I'd want to have a high degree of kitbash confidence if I were to buy it.
     
  20. Mark Ricci

    Mark Ricci TrainBoard Member

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    Wow, that's one nice large structure! The N Scale Architect's stuff is top notch. At 11 x 10x 6.5" H, it will be a focal point. Possibly dwarf much on the layout? Do you have other buildings near to size?

    At $150, its like $30 less than online price of a Atlas N Gold-ESU diesel loco... Gee, how the cost of structures have increased.
     

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