New Layout

[wickman]

Hi Guys I've been moving  ahead  slowly  with the  new  layout . Benchwork  has  been up for a  while in  the  two rooms and  trackplan,  well trackplan is pretty firm as  per mainline  and roadbed has all been  installed along with turnouts which  are  ran by tortoise switches controlled by ds64 stationary decoders. Mainline has been tested  with all  my steam engines  smallest to  largest as well as  my f7 A&B  units, all adjustments made. I would  like to add more interior layout canals and  rivers as well as  there will be  a 3foot lond curved  trestle which I  picked up the kit a few weeks  back. Just the other day  I got  an idea to cut away some benchwork and add  the old river bottom ( from  old layout) back into the mix  attached to the waterfall  which a trestle  will cross. The layout will also  have a wharf  scene and although I  did the benchwork and designing in  a specific area I'm starting to think  I need more like one of the 4 foot  legs to do it in a proper  way.
Ive uploaded perhaps too many pics of the layout  from end to end to  try to give  as much detail  as I could.
I will be the first to admit, this has been a  very large decision making struggle  and its  ongoing.

 

 

[wickman]

Now that I've  posted where  I'm at I  would  like to ask this question  as it is one of my many struggles, I  want  to add slow moving deep rivers/canals not so  much to the perimeters of the layout but more to  the  interior and build up the area around them  with structures etc. To  go abouts this  should the  river bottoms be  sitting on the grid top as plywood or hardboard so to  speak at the very lowest elevation of the entire layout? Should the track bed then be  raised high enough  on its risers higher  than the level  I now have them for the most part? Would the  distance from the river bed then be  10-15 scale feet below the ground work or roadbed then everything else be build  up above that? I would also like to  add that seeing as I'm still not 100% sure  where the rivers would go as structures still have  not  found there permanent home yet if the river bottom  is to be  placed at the lowest point being the grid top would I  be  further ahead simply filling in ontop of  the grid where theres no track bed risers with some sort of base?

Thanks  all suggestions  welcome

Lynn

[gandydancer19]

Think about the rivers or streams that you have seen in your travels around different places.  Think about how fishermen access them.  15 feet seems a little far down to me.  I would go for 10 feet maybe at the most.  Of course if you are in the maountains it would be farther down in a lot of cases.

[wickman]

gandydancer19

Think about the rivers or streams that you have seen in your travels around different places.  Think about how fishermen access them.  15 feet seems a little far down to me.  I would go for 10 feet maybe at the most.  Of course if you are in the maountains it would be farther down in a lot of cases.

 

I did raise the low end so it has a bit more room to play with  for a water way. I kinda  thought to myself after I posted the question, man what a dumb question, end of thought lol. 

Thanks

Lynn

[cowman]

What is the location of your layout?  As suggested, if it is in the mountains, river bottoms can be far below the tracks.  If you are running a shoreline railroad near a harbor, there might only be a few feet below the bridge.  A  pond or lake could be above the tracks, as ledge and natural terrain hold water in ponds in the mountains as well as the valley bottoms.

Good luck,

Richard

[wickman]

cowman

What is the location of your layout?  As suggested, if it is in the mountains, river bottoms can be far below the tracks.  If you are running a shoreline railroad near a harbor, there might only be a few feet below the bridge.  A  pond or lake could be above the tracks, as ledge and natural terrain hold water in ponds in the mountains as well as the valley bottoms.

Good luck,

Richard

 

Thanks Richard

Yes it is a good variety if all that you described from end to end.

lynn

[MisterBeasley]

I built this canal to model an old mill complex.

It's not physically deep, but I used paint and tinted Envirotex to make it look that way.  I wanted to get the look of a disused waterway.  If I were to expand this scene, which I can't right now, I would add another section of the canal at a slightly different level and put in a lock where they meet.

[wickman]

MisterBeasley

I built this canal to model an old mill complex.

It's not physically deep, but I used paint and tinted Envirotex to make it look that way.  I wanted to get the look of a disused waterway.  If I were to expand this scene, which I can't right now, I would add another section of the canal at a slightly different level and put in a lock where they meet.

 

Thats exactley the effect im after, an interior canal. where can i see more of your layout?

thanks alot

lynn

[MisterBeasley]

Wickman asked:

Thats exactley the effect im after, an interior canal. where can i see more of your layout?

My photos are at http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/8165

Thanks for looking.

[wickman]

MisterBeasley

 

Wickman asked:

Thats exactley the effect im after, an interior canal. where can i see more of your layout?

 

 

My photos are at http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/8165

Thanks for looking.

 

Made it through all 39 pages, you should be proud of your accomplishments. I didnt realize you could pour envirotex on foam I always though it  ate it. I really  enjoyed  the  way  you took  photos not  only  of  the  finished  scenes but  the while you were working  on  them  scenes. great job

Lynn

[mobilman44]

Hi,

You have done some beautiful work there, and a lot of it.   Very, very nice!

May I offer a suggestion............   on my "fill the room layout" I put in triangles of plywood on all the inside corners.  They range from 8x8 inches to 12x12 inches.   This has done two things........it allows for a more sweeping curve (be it rail or road), and it softens up the harsh corner. 

After figuring out the size of the triangle, I then put 1x4 fascia boards on the edges, and then fastened to the existing benchwork.   The result is super strong, and IMO made a very nice difference.

Hope to see more pics as you progress!

 

Bill

[wickman]

mobilman44

Hi,

You have done some beautiful work there, and a lot of it.   Very, very nice!

May I offer a suggestion............   on my "fill the room layout" I put in triangles of plywood on all the inside corners.  They range from 8x8 inches to 12x12 inches.   This has done two things........it allows for a more sweeping curve (be it rail or road), and it softens up the harsh corner. 

After figuring out the size of the triangle, I then put 1x4 fascia boards on the edges, and then fastened to the existing benchwork.   The result is super strong, and IMO made a very nice difference.

Hope to see more pics as you progress!

 

Bill

 

Thanks   for the suggestion Bill,  the reason I post  here is  to get  suggestions and  hope to  get  many many more. Unfortunately I'm not  exactly  clear on  what you  mean.?

Thanks

Lynn

[wickman]

First thing  you will notice I updated the trackplan  to keep things in order.I  fixed up the track so the track above the  tunnel  no longer has a portal  below a bridge end, I  did this by moving  the upper rail back and the tunnel rail  forward and also had to move the  switches a bit.
I've been making slow progress on the layout,  I didnt like the way the two  bridge were over  the tunnel entrances  so had to take apart what I had as you can see in the before  pics  and  fix things up.

Before pics, you can see the bridge/tunnel  issue.

The  left hand bridge

These are pics at the present  state with track reworked and  tunnel area not closed in yet , working to  get the bridges some abutments made up.

I  also got the mountains moved upward to where there in  a better position. Quite a bit  of plaster cloth work completed  as well. Added two new tracks  to goto the two diorammas, the  diorammas are raised and will be backfilled.

Thanks for looking.

[hon30critter]

Lynn:

I didn't see an answer to your question about Bill's use of triangles so I thought I would try to clarify what he meant.

In the first picture of your Sept. 11 post you can see where the benchwork makes a 90 degree turn to the left. There is a track running very close to the edge of the benchwork right at the 90 degree bend. I believe what Bill was suggesting was to put a triangular piece of plywood with fascia in that corner so that the fascia makes two 45 degree turns instead of the single 90 degree turn. That allows space for a little more foreground scenery and avoids the appearance that the track is coming perilously close to the edge of the layout. He suggested that the square sides of the triangle could be 8" to 12" long but you can use whatever size suits you.

By the way, your changes to the bridge/tunnel setup look much better IMHO.

Dave

[wickman]

hon30critter

Lynn:

I didn't see an answer to your question about Bill's use of triangles so I thought I would try to clarify what he meant.

In the first picture of your Sept. 11 post you can see where the benchwork makes a 90 degree turn to the left. There is a track running very close to the edge of the benchwork right at the 90 degree bend. I believe what Bill was suggesting was to put a triangular piece of plywood with fascia in that corner so that the fascia makes two 45 degree turns instead of the single 90 degree turn. That allows space for a little more foreground scenery and avoids the appearance that the track is coming perilously close to the edge of the layout. He suggested that the square sides of the triangle could be 8" to 12" long but you can use whatever size suits you.

By the way, your changes to the bridge/tunnel setup look much better IMHO.

Dave

 

Thanks Dave I had  figured out what he was talking about and actually added the corners to my trackplan  and  to the to do  list.

[wickman]

Found some time to get the two  bridges  installed, took a bit to  get the track to flow nicely. I decided to go with mounting the bridges off the roadbed and  go the cosmetic route with abutments.

[wickman]

I  got another  bridge setup and now need to build two bridges for the lower tracks. Itching  to  run a train again.

[wickman]

I got a jig made up for the two bridges I  need.  The bridges will be 17 inches end to end and sides with   be 2  inches high.

[hon30critter]

Very accurate work! It probably took longer to build the jig than it will to build the bridge using it. Don't take me wrong - I'm not critizing the use of the jig.

Dave

[Santa Fe all the way!]

Nice work, I'll be following your progress. Suggestion, Sky Blue craft foam board is pretty cheap and I think if you used it to cover the windows it would look nice. Also you can easily make them removable. Keep up the good work!!

[wickman]

hon30critter

Very accurate work! It probably took longer to build the jig than it will to build the bridge using it. Don't take me wrong - I'm not critizing the use of the jig.

Dave

 

Your quite correct Dave, the second bottom went together in literally 15 minutes and the second side went together  like nothing. I did  enjoy  making  the  jig  though and  using MEK with  the styrene   made things  move along sooooo much  faster.

[wickman]

Santa Fe all the way!

Nice work, I'll be following your progress. Suggestion, Sky Blue craft foam board is pretty cheap and I think if you used it to cover the windows it would look nice. Also you can easily make them removable. Keep up the good work!!

 

Thats actually not a bad idea with the blue foam board and I just happen to have a few sheets kicking around. Will have  to see,

[wickman]

I managed to get two bridges built and  installed. Cleanup time  and back  to finishing wiring a couple more tortoise switches and onto track cleaning.

 

I  also had to cookie cut a  new incline to the dioramma base as the turnout  just wasn't lining up nicely. As  well the tunnel portals are in much better positioning.

 

 

[wickman]

Puttering along like a  slow chicken with his head cut off I managed to get the jmri talking to the digitrax command station, finished off some feeder drops to the buss, and did some cleanup programming in the ds64's. jmri doesnt lie with what is not right so got some board addresses worked out. As well I finally got the ds64 board mounted off the benchwork out of the way, just have to shorten and  reattach the wires to each ds64.

[mobilman44]

Hi,

May I offer a suggestion............

I have a window similar to the one in the pics.   I replaced the white mini blinds with light blue ones, and painted in the backdrop to blend into the window ledge, etc.

It proved to be a good thing to do, and you might want to consider it. 

[wickman]

mobilman44

Hi,

May I offer a suggestion............

I have a window similar to the one in the pics.   I replaced the white mini blinds with light blue ones, and painted in the backdrop to blend into the window ledge, etc.

It proved to be a good thing to do, and you might want to consider it. 

 

Thnaks for the suggestion.

[wickman]

After getting the track reworked and tested again I started reworking the corner where there will be a small bit of structures. Please excuse the mess as its a on going work in progress.
 Random pics.

 

I got an excellent clearance price for this plaster cloth from curry's. I picked up a number of cans.

Pulled out the 5 gallon pail of paint I havent used for quite a few years for making my ground goop concoction.

[hon30critter]

Lynn:

The bridges look really good!

Lots of progress on the layout too. Well done.

Dave

[wickman]

Thanks Dave winter is coming.

[wickman]

Four ingredients measured at 1 cup  each of celluclay ( paper mache),  vermiculite, paint and 1/2 cup white glue. I did mine in a much larger batch  to fill the bucket.

All ingredients in pail

Mix to smooth consistency