Been working when I can... I found a lot of things that I won't do next time. The crossing gates were by far the biggest pain-in-the-rear...
"You show me a man with both feet on the ground and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants on." -anonymous
Are you kidding me?!?
That looks GREAT!
Fortunately, the world will never be subjected to looking upon the monstrocity that was my first layout. It was a 4x8 (amazing, huh?) that was painted green and had three buildings on it, each assembled with an entire tube of glue.
What you have there is a work of art in progress! Be proud of it!
Thanks!
I truly appreciate the encouragement. Unfortunately, my job takes me out to sea a lot. (US Navy... submarine). This is about a year+ worth of work. I love the Peco 55 performance and I their twin coils work perfectly with the turnouts. I will never build a bench that is 3 feet wide out from the wall again (2 feet max next time) and 3% grades are still too much for one Kato SD-70 with only 7 loaded intermodals (and forget about my Atlas SD-50... not nearly as powerful as the Katos). On the fortunate side, my trackwork turned out great, I've improved soldering skills, I haven't accidentally reversed any feeders and I've remembered insulated joiners at every turnout. Also, I've found that IR detectors in my hidden staging are far more valuable than I ever expected. My biggest weakness was designing the benchwork. I have less than adequate access to hidden track in some spots that I'm sure will come back to haunt me. Yet the most satisfying part of all of this is laying plaster cloth... I don't know why, but I think it's weird! Oh yeah, I definitely need a better method of painting double yellow lines! That's the part I'm most unhappy about!
This... is nice work! This is how layouts should be done... a little bit at a time steady and slow.
Dont be so hard of yer self!
Speaking of layouts that ought not to reveal themselves to society for the really mutated and deep flaws that can damage the builder or any who look upon them... I have one and it ought to be quietly burned or chopped up into little peices and thrown away; moldy and all.
I'll laugh... he he... he he... at myself...
I for one do like those yellow lines, because they seem (somewhat) precise, and they look prototypically accurate as far as the distance between them two lines go.
Great job!
Really nice looking RR so far.
By the way, thanks for your service to our country!!!!
TheK4Kid
Really a nice job, and it looks great. You don't have to apologize for anything. Keep going as you get time and have fun, the only way to do it. Also, thanks for serving our country.
Hal
Looks like a great start to me. Nice detail and color. Post more photos as you make progress on it. Hope I am as successful when I begin my first real layout. Technically, the first one was along the lines of Philip's, 4'x8' board, etc. Was just a little kid and at the time more interested in seeing which engine could pull the most, go the fastest, etc. Was like an N scale Olympics...those poor little engines!
And most important..."Thank You for Serving!" Which Sub are you on?
-Rob
Great job! I think your road looks great, im not the talented so i have to use the already made roads.
Laugh? At what? It looks mighty fine to me, I love your scenery work, especially the low bushes. What did you use for them?
Man, if this is your first.. your second will probably be in Model Railroader magazine.
Jarrell
Again, I appreciate the vote of confidence. I started out just buying a Woodland scenics scenery kit. I've been using their stuff since... although it does get expensive. I wanted to start with a medium size layout, yet this is much more time consuming than I imagined. I never had anything but a general track plan that I came up with in Atlas right-track. From there, I kinda went with the flow without any firm plan. I just wanted to figure out how to lay track, wire, and build scenery. The plan is a complete loop with three additional hidden staging tracks. I put in a small intermodal facility with structures mostly from Stewart, Pikestuff and Micro-eng., but the rest is still up in the air. I have the ADM grain elevator and lumber yard from walthers, and a few freight houses to put somewhere but I'm not sure where. At the other side, I have space for something else... again not sure what yet. I may put up a coal or gravel facility, or just a few smaller businesses served by rail. I love tanker cars... Any ideas? Also, anyone know where to get older Kato NS? just curious. By the way, I'm on the USS Rhode Island. Thanks for asking!
John
John, in another life I was on the USS Forrestal, CVA 59. I was off before the big fire.
jkroft wrote: Again, I appreciate the vote of confidence. I started out just buying a Woodland scenics scenery kit. I've been using their stuff since... although it does get expensive. I wanted to start with a medium size layout, yet this is much more time consuming than I imagined. I never had anything but a general track plan that I came up with in Atlas right-track. From there, I kinda went with the flow without any firm plan. I just wanted to figure out how to lay track, wire, and build scenery. The plan is a complete loop with three additional hidden staging tracks. I put in a small intermodal facility with structures mostly from Stewart, Pikestuff and Micro-eng., but the rest is still up in the air. I have the ADM grain elevator and lumber yard from walthers, and a few freight houses to put somewhere but I'm not sure where. At the other side, I have space for something else... again not sure what yet. I may put up a coal or gravel facility, or just a few smaller businesses served by rail. I love tanker cars... Any ideas? Also, anyone know where to get older Kato NS? just curious. By the way, I'm on the USS Rhode Island. Thanks for asking!John
Laugh at what?! Thankfully, no photos exist of my first um...layout.
Keep up the good work.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
A true friend will not bail you out of jail...he will be sitting next to you saying "that was friggin awesome dude!" Tim...Modeling the NYC...is there any other?
Looks good to me
jkroft wrote:By the way, I'm on the USS Rhode Island. Thanks for asking!
Did you happen to know an electrician named Rancourt? He was onboard around 2000 timeframe.
Anyways, looking at the pics, I must say: Pretty good for a halftime sailor! (Fast Attack Tough here) And I only say that because of my insane jealousy that you could actually accomplish ANYTHING while onboard. I had to wait until I sold my soul to teach at prototype before I had time to even think model railroading! Keep up the good work slick!
How much time you have left on your current tour? Whats your rate by the way?
Dave Loman
My site: The Rusty Spike
"It's a penny for your thoughts, but you have to put your 2 cents in.... hey, someone's making a penny!"
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hi John,
Your work looks great, especially for a guy who's at sea for a year at a time. I'm building my first layout after 25 years out of the hobby and haven't had the courage to post any pics yet so you're way ahead of me.
Maybe a propane facility would fit in the space you have in mind. I think MR just had an article on building a propane facility a month or two ago. You'd be able to use all the tank cars you wanted with a propane plant.
My dad served on PT boats in the Pacific in WWII. Any guy that's willing to fight in a wooden boat or a steel boat 700 feet under water is a lot braver than me. Thanks for helping to keep us safe.
Regards, Jim
A Boomer working in the hobby? Then I know anything is possible:
http://unitpages.military.com/unitpages/unit.do?id=202324
claymore1977 wrote: jkroft wrote:By the way, I'm on the USS Rhode Island. Thanks for asking!Did you happen to know an electrician named Rancourt? He was onboard around 2000 timeframe.Anyways, looking at the pics, I must say: Pretty good for a halftime sailor! (Fast Attack Tough here) And I only say that because of my insane jealousy that you could actually accomplish ANYTHING while onboard. I had to wait until I sold my soul to teach at prototype before I had time to even think model railroading! Keep up the good work slick!How much time you have left on your current tour? Whats your rate by the way?
Dave,
It's funny to hear someone talking about fast attacks and prototype. I'm a nuke ET2 with about 2 years and some change left. I love off-crew life, although politics, lip-service training and IDE sessions get in the way. What prototype were you at? Anyway, I got there in January of '06... Don't know a Rancourt. I can only imagine the pain you had to endure on a fast-attack... I've only heard stories. What boat were you on?
Anyway, the crossing gates are NJ international and I have a Servomaster system to operate them, which is made by TDP & Associates but marketed with NJI. I actually ordered it directly from trainspeed.com and had them program it a little differently than marketed (less delay time for the gates to drop). The Servomaster is a little pricey, yet it is a well designed system.
The road material is just Woodland Scenics' Smooth-it.
Laugh at what?? It looks great.. although, I have a suggestion about the road lines. Get some pinstriping tape from AutoZone. It's flexible enough to bend around sharp curves. Lie one down first, about 1/16" wide. This will be your area between the lines. Then pull one on either side of that, leaving a gap between the first line. Once it's all down, spray paint it yellow. Before the paint dries, peel up the tape.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR