here’s current status on San Medina. Ballasting done and trolley buried in road, and I picked a color I like for asphalt and sealed the spackling in. terrain formed for park is now painted it shades of dirt color.
Love to see kids helping on the layout. My daughter made several trees for mine several years ago. Cynthia is doing them now. Joe
For those who may not read over in the TTRAK section... I got 4 corners, two singles and two triples from CMR, and assembled them. I decided not to try to install 20+ microscrews to hold the plywood fronts on since they are structurally rigid, and instead will make the fronts resemble coastline terrain with foam or similar. I then proceeded to cut up my freshly assembled modules, cutting a section out of each triple and reinstalling it upside down to provide a lower height for the front track.
The reason for this lunacy was so that I can have something that resembles this picture. the rocks and beach are still there today, but the hillocks have been razed by developers for houses and roads. This is the only place on the Coast line it really is right on the beach, at a place called Santa Claus Beach. Now on to how I am trying to make this happen while still complying with TTrack’s requirement for two tracks. I imagined how they could have made a cut thru the hillocks seen above and used this imaginary cut to run my second track thru the back to keep it mostly out of sight. Roughed in some terrain with sculptamold. Had never used it before but it is very fast to use... Leena and I painted this rough terrain in so it wouldn’t dust everywhere and because it is easier to see in color.
It was better but still far to rough and too abrupt, so I used some Dollar tree spackling (basically aerated plaster and fine power) to smooth things out. I also used it to form the beach... when sprayed with water this stuff self levels and self smooths. you can see the water glinting in this pic while I wait for the beach spackle to finish drying and how smooth the beach contour is. With any luck this will mean that the eventual water pour will be equally easy. And this is where we have to leave off for now. I have some old model power telephone poles I can cut down to Toruń along the ridge already, but... This weekend I needed to buy a bunch more unitrack extension cables to cut into leads for front lines, and some unitrack unijoiner cables for rear lines before I can install remainder of track, plus I need some pieces to cut to size a la Fifer/ Albo. And I need scenicking materials for this (recommendations for sand?) Instead I bought my wife a 2019 Atlas vr6 to replace her x3 which had a quarter million miles...it was just not cost effective to continue fixing her x3 anymore. Needed more $ in parts than it would ever be worth. Plus, as she pointed out earlier today the Atlas with 3rd row down can take all the modules and folding tables in the rear easily. So everything is still moving forward, just more slowly again.
Excellent work! Might want to try unsanded grout for sand. Sanded grout might look too coarse despite the initial logic.
Laid out the modules to get an idea of how things will work. Getting ever closer to being able to run trains at home.
Absolutely! I designed/ included the trolley line there on my first two modules so she has something to drive as well, and she runs it on her own battery powered DC throttle.
A little update. ran out of scenic glue so number 2 has to wait for weekend. here is number 1 with some scenery done.
Got track laid on all 4 corners, and got the plaster strip fronts done on them. got my 2nd to last Servo done, the one for the other turnout and switch stand. the last servo I have left to install will be for the second water column on the passing track. this means I now have all track laid! I’ll have a “golden spike” moment later in the week once I connect all the modules together, but I will probably do more scenery first, at least a skim coat of ground texture and base color. Looking forward to running the first train next Saturday.
Glad to see you have a little helper, and that she has her own trains to run. I invited my nieces ( actually my nieces, daughters, kids, but that just to difficult and they just call me Uncle ), to come out during Spring Break this week for a few days to help me with my tiny layout. They enjoy it at times, especially the missile car, and the trees and structures in N Scale. And I bought some cheap automobiles off Amazon a few months back. And got kind of like sticky cheap road stuff too, they enjoy playing with. They are like 3rd or 4th grade and 6th grade. At some point they are going to outgrow it, so I am enjoying it while I can. You should enjoy it also while your daughter is interested in helping. Moments like these are priceless!
Need water for my ocean, but that will have to come later. here is where we are at so far. I’m thinking later a few trees as a viewblock on the bluffs overlooking the ocean.
