Thanks Jacques, appreciate the nice comments. Being retired did allow me to make the progress I did in fairly quick order. I still run trains almost every day, but I've pretty much taken a break from working on the layout this Summer because of a new grandson and yard/house work that needs to be done. Projects beginning this Fall will be to hand paint a bunch of figures, get some more vehicles, add/modify a few structures and work on some engines. There is always something to do or change.
Thanks for your kind words, Jacques. I scratchbuilt the concrete arch bridge from 1/4 inch masonite, basswood strips, pink styrofoam (for the core) and plaster. I painted it with latex paint and weathered it with watercolors. The low relief structures are Design Preservation Models (DPM) kits. I assembled them whole then cut them apart with a bandsaw. I add sand to the wet paint to fill and hide the unrealistic texture and joints in the foam landforms. The natural variation in the sand color is more convincing than the uniform color of the paint.
Very impressive stuff guys. Thanks for posting. It's great to see what you guys can do with a small space and I would like to see more. Charlie
I think I am bringing this thread back from the dead I started on a HCD layout a couple of years ago. We moved twice and it just leaned against the wall since we did'nt have room to put it out. We are moving into a new house this week and that prompted me to start looking for things to pick up on, on the layout. I started a worklog of pictures when I started. Here is a link to those pictures: http://www.ke4nyv.com/trains/worklog/ Way too many to embed here. One of the features was a huge (and heavy) mountain/tunnel I built for the layout. After all of the work and time, I decided it just did not fit, so I pulled the foiliage foam off and tossed it in the trash. The layout is based on Kato N Unitrack and I did my best first attempt to semi-ballast the track into the layout. I still need to go back and work on that, but you can see what I did in the pictures.
The Ashley Drew & Northern This is my N Scale Door layout. It started life as a door anyway I removed the structures to paint the rail and put down some basic ground cover. This is supposed to be my version of the Georgia Pacific forest products complex at Crossett, Ark. and it will be again, once I get it put back together.
KE4NYV; Don't give up or get frustrated. It's all fixable and you have taken the first step by removing something like the heavy mountain that you were not happy with. We tend to make our mountains too big, have too much track, and make things too symmetrical than what they naturally appear in nature. Keeping some things simple, light and airy help with the overall affect of making a layout appear more realistic. Painting the white plaster on a mountain or hill a brown ground color before planting any trees or bushes will help the overall appearance. Jim
Nice layout Tad, with plenty of operating possibilities. [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Georgia, Verdana]KE4NYV[/FONT], Jim's advise is wise. If you are not happy with some element of the layout ( the mountain for example ) remove it and start again. I too decided to remove the ( small ) hill on my layout and build another one . I realise that the picture I posted were removed from my Photobucket album. So here is a new one. Right now I'm working on the spur so it'll serve the brewery and a teamtrack ( the area painted in brown ) Jacques
Thank you Tad for the encouragement. I think it's a good newbie layout.It is small so it can be completed in a relatively short time. It has minimalist operation, it has an industry, a small hill, some water and a small town. Jacques
This thread and a couple others are giving me all kinds of inspiration. Now, what in my bedroom can I move out to make way for a door...
Heres a few shots from my door layout. An over view. The layout has progressed a bit more since this was taken.
Missouri & Arkansas Railway I model a freelance bridge RR the Missouri & Arkansas Railway used by the CB&Q & MKT that takes place in Eastern Missouri. The line starts out at Old Monroe Mo on the Cuivre River at MO. State Highway 79, then west to Hawk Point then south along MO. State Highway 47 across the old Wabash / Norfolk & Western RR line near Warrenton Mo. thru Missouri Wine Country to connect with MKT near Marthasville Mo. on State Highway 94. Since this is "my" railroad most places will have the "flavor" of this area but may not be perfect to the prototype. Time is pre Burlington Northern (1970). The location & time frame gives me a lot of room of equipment I can use plus freight cars from so many different Railroads from all over the country. As with many railroads built in the 1800’s they never reached all the way as planned. So they never made it all the way to Arkansas. #1 This will be a point to point RR built on Hollow-core doors (about $24 ea) along two walls, so it will be in sections. #2 It's going to be less track, no yard, no switch machines, open staging, & simple engine service area. #3 Just a few small towns with one or two sidings. #4 More open scenery between towns. #5 Interchange with RR on each end. Here is 1/2 of Hawk Point Mo on my 1st HC Door
Caleb (E'Dude): That is a very impressive HCD layout! TomKat: I agree with WPZephyrFan. Adding people to a picture, whether in a serious way or in a whimsical, ironic, or humorous mood, often makes the difference between an adequate layout pic and a really good one. Nice Job!