And that's exactly what I've been doing! I've been making and plopping down trees like crazy the last couple of days! I'll get some new high res pics soon!
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Wow looking good! That's a long list. You do like I do, I start making lists of what I want to add for next year and sometimes I'm able squeeze something in during the season if it doesn't require too much of a mess. Well good luck with your list.
Whew! I'm out of breath just reading that list. I'll be tracking your progress. Good luck.
Ron from Frankford Junction (OGR: Frankford Junction)
There are several planned projects that I just couldn't get finished this year for various reasons. These include:
1: An operating Monorail System built from Marx M10000 streamliner cars.
2: The Skyway System.
3: Paving so my mini park guests will stand up without taping them to the carpet!
4: Better Tomorrowland structures.
5: Better Fantasyland structures.
6: The rest of the Small World kinetic sculpture. (I only have the central clock done)
7: Matterhorn Bobsleds.
8: Parade floats.
9: A lot more people!
10: Background flats.
11: More landscaping.
12: And whatever I come up with between now and next Thanksgiving.
In fact, I'm still working on it. I need to replace all the palm trees I "permanently borrowed" from my Thai layout between now and February when I start wanting to put that layout back together. So, the work goes on!
Absolutely fantastic! Great layouts that didn't cost a small fortune.
But the big question is, "WHAT is in Phase 2?" Are we going to get a tease?
Keep up the great work.
Thanks Guys! It's been a lot of fun!
"Next year" or "Phase 2" will be fun too!
Becky........absolutely beautiful.
PJ
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
WOW. That sure turned out nicely.
Thanks for sharing.
It's a postwar Lionel 2036 2-6-4 with the 4 wheel trailing truck switched to a die cast 2 wheel truck.
Wow, great looking layout. I see I have my work cut out for me if I want to come even close to that
Nice looking custom polar express too. What type of engine did you use for that?
Becky,
You are really talented.
Great work, as usual.
Take care,
Ralph
Since these are high res, and I have Dial-up...
This is the bestI could do for a pic of the majority of the layout.
The only line in the park (so far) is at the Astro Orbitor in Tomorrowland. You'll probably recognize that the structure the ride sits on started it's life as a 35mm film reel! From 20th Century Fox no less!
Here's my Polar Express:
In reality it's a 2036. I replaced the 4 wheel trailing truck with a die cast 2 wheeler and added handrail stanchions. Otherwise the headlight and number boards are just hot glued and the name and number markings are paper labels held on with water based glue.
The passenger cars are repainted MPC issue 2400 series versions. Again with paper label markings. I also added a red LED to the tail of the observation.
A babe in wonderland.
The first smile of the season!
DISNEYLAND!
DISNEYLAND GETS READY FOR "OPENING DAY"!
Here it is! And here we go!
The furniture has been moved, and today the track was finally laid out so I could decide wether or not the plan was going to work. And guess what? IT DIDN'T! As usual! So, I modified the plan by cutting 17 inches off the left end and shuffling a few things around. 7 days left to go!
TICK TICK TICK...
I've always believed that if you're having fun it will show in your work. So let us see how much fun you're having!
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Oh Becky, it looks real nice and I’m inspired to post a thread of what I’m doing as well. I’ve started mine as well last week, but unfortunately I have overdone it on size and besides the Lionel trains, I have all porcelain houses so I’m reluctant to post here in Classic Toy Trains Forums. I just need some of your artistic talent so mine will look as good.
Penny Trains Ha ha! I knew those would get attention! Well, first off they're 100% 65 pound cardstock. They come from various sources, but this is one of the best for free downloads: http://skyscrapermodels.us/ Generally speaking, the models of skyscrapers that many fans create are tiny. 1:1200 scale or even smaller. So what I had to do was look for the ones that had the best graphics so they would withstand drastic enlargement. And the only scaling tool I really had available was "how big can I possibly get this and still be able to build a structurally sound model". So early 20th century style granite buildings like the ESB, the Chrysler and 30 Rock leant themselves well to the process. By dividing the original kit into sections or "blocks", I could keep the model stronger. As a rule I would allow the largest (longest) section of the tower to decide how big the model would turn out. Looking at the Empire State Building, you can see that right in the middle of it's rise there's a long section between the base pieces and the upper sections. Since I wanted the building to be as tall as possible, I actually split that section into 2 parts. One half of it would fit in the print area of an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of cardstock. Giving me a single piece about 10 inches long. Howver it wasn't perfectly fit to the page in length but rather in width, which gave me some overlap. That means I was able to trim the excess and use it as my glue surface behind the face of the tower which in turn gave me a nearly indetectable joint. I also insert blocks at joints like this to strengthen the piece. So the basic answer to what scale are they is something of anathema. They're not even close to being in scale with each other. Especially if you look to the right and note that the Chrysler building is considerably taller than the ESB!
Ha ha! I knew those would get attention! Well, first off they're 100% 65 pound cardstock. They come from various sources, but this is one of the best for free downloads:
http://skyscrapermodels.us/
Generally speaking, the models of skyscrapers that many fans create are tiny. 1:1200 scale or even smaller. So what I had to do was look for the ones that had the best graphics so they would withstand drastic enlargement. And the only scaling tool I really had available was "how big can I possibly get this and still be able to build a structurally sound model". So early 20th century style granite buildings like the ESB, the Chrysler and 30 Rock leant themselves well to the process. By dividing the original kit into sections or "blocks", I could keep the model stronger.
As a rule I would allow the largest (longest) section of the tower to decide how big the model would turn out. Looking at the Empire State Building, you can see that right in the middle of it's rise there's a long section between the base pieces and the upper sections. Since I wanted the building to be as tall as possible, I actually split that section into 2 parts. One half of it would fit in the print area of an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of cardstock. Giving me a single piece about 10 inches long. Howver it wasn't perfectly fit to the page in length but rather in width, which gave me some overlap. That means I was able to trim the excess and use it as my glue surface behind the face of the tower which in turn gave me a nearly indetectable joint. I also insert blocks at joints like this to strengthen the piece.
So the basic answer to what scale are they is something of anathema. They're not even close to being in scale with each other. Especially if you look to the right and note that the Chrysler building is considerably taller than the ESB!
Thank you so much for that explanation and that source.
You are unquestionably one of the most creative of all the modelers on all of the Trains forums.
I have been using Walthers Instant Horizons and Instant Buildings in combination on my HO scale layout, but they don't hold a candle to these skyscrapers.
Thanks again.
Rich
Alton Junction
By the way, did you realize you're NOT looking at a Hellgate Bridge but rather a photograph of one? While it's scaled down size should be a dead giveaway, the similarly shrunken high tension towers attached to the same photo help us to know it's just a lie!
Like practically everything else, all the stations, houses, villas and factories are paper models too. The only notable exception is the red walled, white porticoed, gray roofed reproduction Marx civil war mansion which is lithographed brass. Got that for a song on Ebay in MIB condition! The house to the right of it is an enlarged model of Abraham Lincoln's Springfield Illinois house from www.buildyourownmainstreet.org . The kits there are scaled to HO so I just printed mine 4 times larger. The rest of the structures are spray painted posterboard and the onetwentywhatever style station in front was built in 1995 when I got into standard gauge. Back then I didn't have much available to tell me exactly how big things were so I gleaned the info from the few prescious photos in books like Ron Hollander's All Aboard and very few others. Which is also why the stations, houses and etc were all built to the same scale. Which believe it or not, was the height of the doors on my #33!
Well, here's some more photos!
Looking up (or is it down?) Main Street (or is it Broadway?) past "City Hall" and the Carlisle and Finch factory you can see my two reproduction Paya trolleys fighting their way through traffic.
Here's the reason for the traffic jam! There's a big Christmas parade featuring Civil War reenactors tieing up the only other street in town! These are repro Marx, BMC and other toy soldiers that I hand painted. I like the funky art deco style trees that dot my layout. They scream 1920's!
The pride of the line: the venerable #8 custom painted in two tone blue leads restored freight cars through the possibly excessive amount of signals that exist on this railroad! I also added a big pantograph so the #8 would look more like the 200 series P1a electrics that once ran out of the Cleveland Union Terminal to the Linndale Yard which was just down the street from my house. In the right foreground you can see some of the flowers I made using unraveled rope, green sawdust and bits of sponges. BTW the lamps, semaphore and clock are MTH while the big signal bridge in the background is Aristo Craft. You can also see my gigantic power house looming in the background.
FLIPPING OVER TO THE ROOM NEXT DOOR:
I've been experimenting with my camera while I try to come up with some "Magazine Quality" photos. What do you think?
I just won that 2018 on Ebay! Cleaned, lubed and E-Unit serviced for 40 bucks!
So are they CTT worthy? Seriously, I'm looking for all the help I can get! I'll take ALL thoughts and suggestions!
overall Well done Becky, I'm curious about the sky scrapers in the background. Who made those? Where might I be able to get some of them? Also, I don't recognize the two residential houses in the upper right hand corner. Who made those? Thanks, George
Well done Becky,
I'm curious about the sky scrapers in the background. Who made those? Where might I be able to get some of them? Also, I don't recognize the two residential houses in the upper right hand corner. Who made those?
Thanks,
George
LOL
Becky, after I saw your layout photo, I was getting ready to ask about those skyscrapers in the background and then I came across George's question. He beat me to it.
Tell us more about the skyscrapers. I cannot tell if they are actual structures or cardboard background buildings. Also, what is the scale of those skyscrapers. I would kill to have that in HO scale.
A LITTLE TEASER
I just wanted to say that the Standard Gauge oval is finished! Trying to get what I used to display inside a 4 by 14 foot oval into this 5 by 5 was a bit tough! I'll get more pictures tomorrow when I have the daylight (sunset) to work with.
Believe it or not, hospitals used to burn coal for heat. There ia an old hospital building in the town where I work that has been turned into an apartment building. It has a tall stack by it to this day.
You say this layout is basicly 50-60 well then you ask kiddingly "
Seriously though, who builds a hospital next door to a coal fired power plant????? " well back then it would not of been thought twice about the effects and would of gone ahead and done it.
looking forward to seeing your work in CTT
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Thanks!
Believe it or not, an aunt and uncle bought me a jigsaw, a pile of paint and plywood and the plans for the stable as a Christmas gift in 1988! By that time I had already been setting up lots of lights and decorations every year. But it wasn't till that year that I discovered the magic of the jigsaw. The original stable got replaced twice before I came up with this "Roman Ruins" motif. (One memorable year I built the stable out of limbs from a crabapple tree I'd cut down and thatched the roof with pine boughs.) I also added several figures (2 shepherds, drummer boy, camel, big angel) to the creche beyond what the original kit plans made.
After that, it just grew bit by bit every year. While the train started out as just the locomotive (copied from a Carlton Cards ornament if I remember), other sections like the Peanuts, Sesame Street and Mickey and friends were added in their entirety each year. For most of the characters, I sought out comic books, Little Golden Books or coloring books which often give you nice line drawings to work from. Then I'd lay the wood out on the floor and draw each one freehand with a pencil until it looked "enough" like the original art. When I was satisfied, I would go over my pencil drawing with a black marker and prime the piece. The heavy ink lines would show through the primer but erratic pencil marks would not. Then I'd paint them with latex and seal them with spray polyeurethane. Most were on 1/2" unsanded BCX which was cheap and in my budgetary range!
I made Christmas trees out of cereal bowls, a Tori (Japanese garden arch) out of shelving brackets and a snowman out of the heavy ends of a cable reel. If I could, I would! I was even running a "home for wayward Christmas trees" by 2002! Anyone who knew me would rather give me their old natty artificial tree rather than just throw it away!
Jigsaws on the other hand I did throw away! At least 3 of them! I can be a bit impatient and I don't take cr*p from any power tools! The blade is going where I want it to go not where it wants or needs to go! So yeah, I burned out more than a few motors and sent more than a few blades to the trash bin over the years! If it took me more than 15 minutes to cut out a simple shape from 2 foot by 4 foot piece of 1/2" BCX then the saw needed to work faster!
Ahhh, memories. I miss it. Wish I could do it every year. But, it'll just have to keep collecting dust awhile longer.
How many sabre saw blades did you wear out on those plywood cutouts? I made a nativity scene once with some pre-printed pictures pasted on plywood and it took me several days and a pack on blades. Did you paint them all yourself?
Wow! If only I had a fraction of your talent and energy.....
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