Nicely done, Jamie! You're beginning to make me think I should have done something like that instead of going with plain old flat Behr....Oddly, that $40/gallon is probably more cost effective given what you indicate.
No, no dahling, please look after that Polo shirt with a designer apron. It is a must-have for the 2010 layout builder! The layout is coming along very nicely, Jamie. Good work!
What an amazing layout you have started, cant wait to see the finished scenery. but i would like to take a second to thank you for all the helpful information you post here and on your blog, it has helped me tremendously with my layout, from the drop down bridge to the bench work and connecting track without joiners! i tried that today, man does that make the rails look good, not sure its for me but it does look good and seems to work great! keep the posts, pictures and how-too's coming. Not to offend anyone else but, Between the CSX Dixie Line and the UP Geneva Sub with his fast track turnouts, Ive got some work to do!! hopefully some day the Kirtland route can be as great as your guys some day!
Thanks for the compliments! I try to be as informative as possible with my posts in an attempt to pass along some of the super advice I have received on this forum. For example, the method I used to join Micro Engineering flex track without rail joiners came from Jim Reisling, who uses the same approach on his Oakville Sub layout. Glad to hear that you are able to take away some valuable info from these posts. Jamie
Yikes! In an effort to post my final progress report on the Winter Layout Party thread, I forgot to update this thread! Here is what I completed as part of the nine week WLP that just wrapped up on Sunday 2/21/2010: I did complete all of my WLP goals, with the final item being checked of the list this week when I finished painting the ground color onto the scenery base. For comparison, here is the same area at the beginning of the WLP back in mid-December: Possibly my favorite part of this scene is the bridge over I-75: I will probably work on scratchbuilding the road and bridge next. Well, eventually! Jamie
I also just posted this YouTube video showing a train running over the newly scenicked section of the layout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ1FZw17sy8 My five year old son manned the throttle while I handled the camera work. Between his panic attacks when the train got too close to the end of track and me accidentally filming us instead of the trains, I really need to post a blooper reel for this one. Jamie
Funny, I did not originally plan on having that I-75 crossing on the layout. I decided to add it when I saw this picture from Kevin Beck's N-Scale Central Carolina Southbound layout: I did not think a simple modern bridge like this could make for an interesting model railroad scene, but Kevin's work proved me wrong. I hope I can soak up a bit of his modeling skills and make my bridge look as good (and real) as his. Jamie
I have recently ballasted the first section of mainline & siding on the layout. After several experiments, I settled on a buff/gray shade of Arizona Rock & Mineral ballast that closely matches my prototype: Jamie
I also finally painted the rails on the turnout at South Emerson: I use Micro Engineering code 55 flex track with weathered rail for the mainline & sidings, so the shiny silver rail on the Atlas code 55 turnouts really sticks out like a sore thumb. A bottle of Polly Scale roof brown paint and a 000 brush were all I needed to blend the turnout into the rest of the trackwork. Compare this unpainted turnout to the one above: Jamie
Well, done, Jamie! No question the AR&M ballast is the way to go. Be advised Neolube does a beautiful job of painting those shiny switches, makes 'em blend right n with the ME weathering, and is a lot less work than using paint. And since it's conductive, there are no worries about getting paint where it shouldn't be...Micro Mark has it...
I think it's about time Jamie got his 5 star rating! What do you think Admin? :thumbs_up::thumbs_up::thumbs_up: .
Threads are rated by members, not administrators. To rate a thread, click on "Rate Thread" above the top post in the thread. Charlie
