I haven't worked on the physical layout much lately as I'm trying to make sure my JMRI Ops are working correctly. I've ran several sessions over the past couple of months and so far, so good. Only made a few minor tweaks here and there. Part of the reason for doing this is I've been invited to have my layout participate in the OS Omaha Ops weekend this coming October, so I want to be sure things are working at their optimal best. In doing so, I have revisited a few things that i started working on a few years ago and let them go stale. I had a few of the layout owners come down to se and Op the layout and found that I was putting too much effort int the pre-Ops briefing. One of the guys suggested that i should make up some simple train instructions that explain what each of the trains do so that the crews can quickly read through them to get a better understanding. I also made up a Call Board or Train Crew Assignment on a printed sheet using Excel to test this. Made up some new Town Schematic maps so the crews know what the track arrangements are like in each town since i don't have all the buildings built and in place yet. Had a buddy make me some 3D printed town signs like the Rock made and installed after 1974. With all this, hopefully the crews won't get lost. If you're interested in seeing what I've done, I posted it all on my blog. https://thelittlerockline.blogspot.com/2025/05/os-omaha-2025.html https://thelittlerockline.blogspot.com/2025/05/os-omaha-2025-part-2.html https://thelittlerockline.blogspot.com/2025/05/os-omaha-2025-part-3.html I actually stepped beyond my said boundaries recently. I actually picked up a new loco, a BLI NW2 in the red and yellow Rock Island scheme. Yes it has sound, no, I do not plan on getting any more sound equipped locos. Purchasing this loco was not because it had sound, it was that it was in the right scheme which saved me painting the 2 KATO NW2's that I had to paint and use. Spookshow also gave this loco an A+ rating. So far it seems to be a great little loco. It walked away with a train of 15 cars without a struggle. Runs smooth like an Atlas or Kato. I have never really heard of anyone who jumps for joy about BLI locos, but this one seems to be a little jewel. Even the Paragon 4 sound seems decent. We shall see... Once I get a few more sessions ran and things tweaked, I plan to start working on my bridge scene that crosses the Ouachita river. A scene that I've been wanting to work on for several now. I think I now have a solid plan to get it to look the way I want. When I cut the river out, I made it run into the backdrop, just wasn't happy with the way it would need to be blended into the backdrop. Hopefully I can get started on that soon and I'll post pics as I move along.
That's a great looking new switcher Allen and good to hear it runs well. Looking forward to catching up on your blog over the weekend!
Thanks Rich. It seems to be a decent switcher, but I still have my doubts about it being BLI? When you catch up with my blog this weekend, As you read through it, see if it makes sense to you and if you have any questions. I realize some stuff has been left out, so it might be a little hard to understand the full aspect of the session. But let me know what you think. Thanks...
With OS Omaha about 5 months away, I've been working and testing my JMRI configurations, I also want to get some more eye candy installed on the layout. A section that I got roughed out back in 2017 that I've been pondering how to flesh it out is back in the spotlight: The bridges crossing the Ouachita River. The other night while starting at it, a light bulb began to glow. I think I now have a solution? Never liked the way the river ends right against the backdrop. I have a hard time trying to envision how to blend the 3D river into the 2D background. I've seen it done on other layouts, but not sure I have the ability to do soo and make it look good. So what if I bend the river away from the backdrop? I think I have enough room to do this? When I'm done, I'm hoping to wind up with something like this? The river does bend to the right, but I don't have that much depth. This the actual Ouachita river near Calion, AR.
It’s a good idea. If it can bend sufficiently near, but not against the backdrop where you can get some bank and trees against the backdrop to hide the 2D/3D intersection between backdrop and layout that would be ideal. Perhaps it narrows as it approaches the backdrop and you can put some vegetation on the viewer side of the bend so it can give the appearance of a bend, but then the river doesn’t have to be as wide back there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Exactly! I do believe I have enough room to bend it back to the right while leaving enough space for a believable amount of river banks against the backdrop. I think there is at least 4" from the backdrop to the front left corner of the truss bridge abutment. That should give me enough room for a decent base slope and enough room for trees. Even if I don't fill it completely with Super Trees, I can fill it in with Poly fiber made to look like Super Trees. Kind of like what I did here, these are not Super Trees, this is just Poly Fiber stretched to look like trees, then painted and flocked. Only a couple have trunks. The rest are just laid in place right on the foam base. Much like the way a Puff Ball forest is made.
Thank you George! I like pushing myself and I also enjoy when someone is behind me pushing with support. As long as they are not pushing me over a cliff!
After a little head scratching and some test fitting, I got the ceiling tile and beadboard foam removed and replaced it with the floral foam bricks. I glued the bricks in with white glue on the bottoms and where they touch the remaining ceiling tile. Once dry I'll start the carving process. I extended the foam out past the abutments just a bit so that I have enough to work with as I slowly carve it back. Most of the bank will be beveled back without much detail as the biggest share of it I envision being covered completely by vegetation. I also used lightweight spackling to fill in a seam and any irregularities on the plywood then got it sanded smooth.
Oooo! That is going to look great! BLI has been impressive now they have the P4 system out. Their previous systems were iffy, at best. The detail level on their steam is excellent and the P$ is readily programmable. That Pacific we ran around was a BLI, and I truly do like their stuff! That being said, the li'l ALCO now qualified you as an honorary steam layout operator! It even looks great!
Since I have actually never actually participated in a full on ops session on a layout, I may be the wrong person to ask but overall, knowing what little I do, I’d say it all looks really good. Read through the blog and it all made sense to me. Adding the schematics was a good move and should help the crews figuring out the moves, especially as you noted, in places where the scenery isn’t done. Also, someone not familiar with the layout will find them a big help as well. Some other nice touches are the crew assignment sheet and all the location name signs. The cards with the instructions for each job also seem to make good sense and also seem easy to follow. I like the creek turning out of site idea too!
Actually Rich, you are an ideal person to ask. As you said, you've never participated in a full on session. You've never seen the layout in person or ran on the layout. But your answers were exactly what I was looking for. With what you provided, I think if you were drop by tomorrow, you wouldn't hesitate to grab a throttle and start running with little to no hesitation. Which is what I was hoping for. Thank you for taking the time to read through the blog and give me your thoughts. Thanks Rich!
While I am working on the bridge scene at the moment, I have several other items I would like to address before this October's OS Omaha weekend, one being Fascia color. For as long as I can remember, I've been partial to black. Black fascia, black skirting. It just seems to draw your eyes away from the fascia and focuses them on scenery. I visited a layout years ago and he had black fascia and on that fascia he painted the track diagram in yellow. I thought this was a great idea and right after I got my fascia put on the layout I painted it black with colored stripes for my track diagram. It was great, you could tell right where you were and how the lines matched up with the track. That was until I decided that I needed to make changes to the track plan. Now not much matches at all. I knew this day was coming, so I held off as long as I could. With the OS Omaha meet coming up, it's back in the spotlight again. My plan is to rough up the fascia and repaint it. But over the years I've seen layout owners use different colors other than black and I kind of like it. But what color? So far I'm thinking some sort of green. Something in the olive drab spectrum. But the skirting will stay black. So I grabbed a couple of samples the other day. Any thoughts?
I would do a test with the darkest Green, is my vote. At least test it. Wonder how it will blend in with the green grass, trees, etc...? It's always a personal thing though. My 2'x 4' layout wood frame is Black and I love it. That's just me I almost never have the ceiling light on also, and I have shelves and LED light's above it now and I can vary the brightness. Also, change is a good thing. Might look like a brand new layout after painting a different color. I have seen several on YT with Green fascia, and they look good too. Looking forward to some examples.
