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Georgetown & Allen Mountain Railroad 5.0

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  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 6, 2017 12:02 PM

Michael,

Who of us hasn´t been there and done that? I guess we all hit the doldrums at a time. I am in that phase right now myself - I haven´t done anything for months now. I do know that I will get around to working on my layout again - eventually! So just sit back, relax and enjoy doing something else!

You are a gifted modeler with an amount of skills and talent which makes me a little jealous!

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Wednesday, December 6, 2017 10:55 AM

middleman

No pressure,Michael - but it's been 3 days...Whistling

Mike

 

I haven't posted anything for a good week because I haven't done any modeling at all. I stopped working on the layout because I feel that I have no talent. I discussed this with my good friend and fellow modeler Rick Wade and he keeps telling me that all artistic people have self doubts. My answer to that is that I'm not an artist so it doesn't apply.

I think that in the past every time I hit this road block I switched scales and started new, trying to avoid the issue. I don't want to do that again because it will not solve the problem in any way. So now I have to find a way of working around this little obstacle...

  • Member since
    April 2012
  • From: Denver, CO
  • 771 posts
Posted by middleman on Thursday, November 30, 2017 1:38 PM

No pressure,Michael - but it's been 3 days...Whistling

Mike

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Sunday, November 26, 2017 4:16 PM

I decided on the roof shape for the REA building today:

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Saturday, November 25, 2017 5:13 PM

hon30critter

Michael:

Is that foamcore that you are using for the road?

Dave

 

Yes, it's 1/8" foamboard https://www.foamboardsource.com/foam-board--foam-board-with-memory.html

 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,618 posts
Posted by hon30critter on Saturday, November 25, 2017 1:31 PM

Michael:

Is that foamcore that you are using for the road?

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Friday, November 24, 2017 6:06 PM

I started with the first few feet of road at Gustavsburg:

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Friday, November 24, 2017 2:31 PM

I didn't feel very creative today but if you have such a big layout there's always a job that doesn't require it. I painted tunnel track and ballasted as far as you can see inside. I did that for 14 tunnel entries smiley. A few pictures:

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,618 posts
Posted by hon30critter on Thursday, November 23, 2017 9:33 PM

Michael:

I love the lighting!

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Thursday, November 23, 2017 6:33 PM

We now have lights on at the ticket office:

 

...and in the Railway Express Agency building:

 

...and in Bonnie's Diner:

 

  • Member since
    August 2014
  • 251 posts
Posted by tedtedderson on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 5:54 PM

 The street lights splash nicely on the pavement.

T e d

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 5:30 PM

I wired up 3 more lights:

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 3:57 PM

I have wired up the street lights:

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 2:24 PM

I've done all kinds of small things today that take more time than you would think...

I installed lights and added customers to the diner, added chimneys to the station, added signs to the station and the track sheds, bundled all the wires and routed them where they need to go, glued down the sheds, the diner and the station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 10:19 AM

Dave,

These N scale street lights are so tiny that you couldn't add a plug to them. I just have to try not to break them...

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,618 posts
Posted by hon30critter on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 12:53 AM

michaelrose55
Now let's hope I don't break off any of these street lights because then I'll be in trouble!

Hi Micheal!

Have you considered modifying your street lights so that they can be removed by unplugging them? I'm not familiar with your N scale street lights, but if you could modify the base by turning it into a plug instead of being hard wired you would be able to remove them when you are working in the area. You might want to solicit RRMel's advice. He has done a fantastic job of creating a socket system for his illuminated vehicles.

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 5:02 PM

I have added wires for the RPO building and the diner and glued everything in place. Now let's hope I don't break off any of these street lights because then I'll be in trouble!

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 3:19 PM

After taking a deep breath I have installed the 10 street lights. Here's the underside of the parking deck with all the wires:

 

It looks a lot nicer on the top:

 

 

 

 

Bis
  • Member since
    March 2012
  • From: E Texas
  • 211 posts
Posted by Bis on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 2:47 PM
Looks good to me.
  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 12:35 PM

This is how it looks with the structures and some cars added:

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 11:52 AM

I added dirt and grime. A lot of it. Too much?

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 9:47 AM

I put on two coats of paint and a thin coat of spackle:

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Monday, November 20, 2017 4:48 PM

And here it is, all glued together:

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Monday, November 20, 2017 4:28 PM

And here's the final layer:

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Monday, November 20, 2017 1:40 PM

I have laser engraved the road surface layer. Holes are for street lamps:

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Monday, November 20, 2017 11:14 AM

Test fitting all structures to make sure the cutouts are correct:

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Sunday, November 19, 2017 5:27 PM

Somehow I have to get electricity to all these buildings and a few street lamps. This layer will hold the structures and provide channels for thin wires. The road surface will be glued on top.

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Sunday, November 19, 2017 3:54 PM

I worked a bit on this building as well:

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Sunday, November 19, 2017 1:59 PM

My first attempt at making some kind of cobble stone street:

 

 

 

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • 967 posts
Posted by michaelrose55 on Saturday, November 18, 2017 1:42 PM

Today I have started to work on the first building behind the ticket office:

 

 

 

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