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Dec. '08 thru Feb. '09 progress shots

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  • Member since
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  • From: Hershey, Pa.
  • 309 posts
Dec. '08 thru Feb. '09 progress shots
Posted by salt water cowboy on Monday, March 2, 2009 9:07 PM

Been quite some time since update photos for the (fictional) SE New Hampshire branch of the NYC has been posted. The holidays slowed down the visit time to the train room and a broken thumb didn't help much: For those who have followed in the past, some new structures have been built, alot more of the ballasting has been added and a few generic landforms have started to take shape. A couple new pieces of rolling stock have been purchased and metal wheelset conversions are under way. Track has been 95% weathered but ballast will need a good dose of grime in coming days. The turntable wiring fiasco is over (thanks to all the help on a previous thread) and my sights are set on finishing an operating wigwag signal as well as obtaining/building some more engine terminal structures. Backdrop detailing will also be commencing soon!

Think Spring!

Matt




















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Posted by OzarkBelt on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 12:25 PM

Matt-

Looking good. That looks like a rather nice railroad. Looking forward to more progress pics!

BTW- Out of curiousity, why is the track ballasted before the scenery? I've always done the ground cover and scenery first, and then the ballast... it seems easier.... But it is your railroad, so I guess you know something I don't...or something... The ballasting job looks good, though! Big Smile

OB

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot Visit my blog! http://becomingawarriorpoet.blogspot.com

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Posted by IVRW on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 4:45 PM
THAT IS ONE NICE MRR!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait to see what it looks like when done. Keep up the good work. Side Note: I would greatly appreciate a track plan of your MRR.

~G4

19 Years old, modeling the Cowlitz, Chehalis, and Cascade Railroad of Western Washington in 1927 in 6X6 feet.

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Posted by salt water cowboy on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 5:52 PM

OzarkBelt

 

BTW- Out of curiousity, why is the track ballasted before the scenery? I've always done the ground cover and scenery first, and then the ballast... it seems easier.... But it is your railroad, so I guess you know something I don't...or something... The ballasting job looks good, though! Big Smile

OB

I guess it's 6 one way half a dozen another. To me it's easier because I don't have to worry about knocking details off of structures and uprooting trees by accident. When scenery time comes, I just mask off the track to avoid the inevitable plaster slop on the track and or ballast.

Matt

  • Member since
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Posted by salt water cowboy on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 6:52 PM

Thanks for nice compliment! I'm sorry! I would post a trackplan if I had one!!!  I started with a plan for main line, curve radiuses and major features; but as tracklaying progressed I just went with the flow and the plan eventually hit file 13.

The layout is essentially a single track main line two level dogbone style measuring 28 x 14. Lower level is all hidden trackage. Where you see the pic of the F-unit on a bridge, that track will be a later expansion interchange with the Boston and Maine RR.

 

Thanks, Matt

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Posted by Packers#1 on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 7:00 PM

 Layout is coming along good. I like the track arrangment of the yard by the lumber dealer.

Sawyer Berry

Clemson University c/o 2018

Building a protolanced industrial park layout

 

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Posted by salt water cowboy on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 9:55 AM

Packers#1

 Layout is coming along good. I like the track arrangment of the yard by the lumber dealer.

Thanks Sawyer! That was a "wing it" arrangement that works well. It's great to see so many younger folks visiting this forum. Shows there will always be a future in this wonderful hobby.

Matt

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Posted by luvadj on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 10:33 AM

 I love the real estate you've got there Matt...I wish I had a bit more room; the things I could do....keep those great shots rolling in.

Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R.        My patio layout....SEE IT HERE

There's no place like ~/ ;)

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Posted by BerkshireSteam on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 12:20 PM

Thumbs Up dude! Ok that was kinda lame but how do you like the lumber yard? It looks like the Walthers kit which is what I want but a little bigger than my N scale. I planned on kit bashing mine to have one long shed off to the right with shorter sheds at the end of the lot and off to the left with a paved area between all the sheds. If I keep it. I'm having lots of troubles trying to plan the track layout and I just know there isn't going to be a plan out there that suits me. But then again out of my 4 planned industries only one is going to built as is out of the box, two are going to be kit bashed and one is going to be built up from DPM modulars.

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Posted by salt water cowboy on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 11:45 PM

MILW-RODR

Thumbs Up dude! Ok that was kinda lame but how do you like the lumber yard?

You're correct, it is the Walthers kit. Built straight out of the box. It's a nice model as are most of the Cornerstone kits, though after building a couple laser cut wood models I am hooked! Take a look at the pic of the 2 houses above. One is Walthers, the other is laser cut wood. The wooden one is a lot more to scale in the details and at least to me looks overall a heck of a lot better.

I'm not a good trackplan designer so my advice to you is post some of your ideas on the "layout building" part of this forum and see what some other more talented people can help you with. (List your "Givens and Druthers".) I must have drawn 30 different trackplans for my current layout and they all got trashed. Good gosh, even that supposedly easy Atlas trackplanning software gave me fits!

Good luck with your structures and be sure to post some nice photos!

Matt.

BTW: I call everyone "dude" so don't worry 'bout it!         Dude!

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Posted by philnrunt on Thursday, March 5, 2009 3:43 AM

SWC- I really like the Clark station and the lighthouse-shore line areas.

   But I do have a question- in picture 18, the one with the flatcars with farm equipment, the herald on the NYC boxcar looks different than any Im familiar with. Is there something written in the upper half that I can't see (old eyes, ya know) or is it a custom decal?

  Keep it up , looks like alot of good work has produced a good RR.

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Posted by Robby P. on Thursday, March 5, 2009 7:20 AM

Very nice.  I like how clean your power boxs/electrical area looks. 

 "Rust, whats not to love?"      

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Posted by salt water cowboy on Thursday, March 5, 2009 7:45 AM

philnrunt

 

   But I do have a question- in picture 18, the one with the flatcars with farm equipment, the herald on the NYC boxcar looks different than any Im familiar with. Is there something written in the upper half that I can't see (old eyes, ya know) or is it a custom decal?

Phil: I think that's an old Athearn or Bev-Bel model. I've had it for about 20 years and is a feeble attempt of weathering that I did when I was 1st getting into the hobby. The trucks need replaced and the whole thing needs upgraded and "re-weathered". I don't believe it was an actual prototype but I could be wrong. A Google search of 50' boxcar #106925 didn't yield anything. The herald itself is rather unusual and I don't recall seeing one like it before either. Here's a couple more pics so you can get a better look at it.

Matt


 

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Posted by salt water cowboy on Thursday, March 5, 2009 7:49 AM

Robby P.

Very nice.  I like how clean your power boxs/electrical area looks. 

Thanks Robby. That area usually looks like a junky extension of my workbench though!Whistling Just cleaned up a bit for the photo. The other day it looked like a hardware store threw up on it.

Matt

  • Member since
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Posted by philnrunt on Friday, March 6, 2009 12:12 AM

SWC- Thanks for the explanation. I think you did a pretty darn good job of weathering. I like cars that are a bit different.

  Keep us posted on your progress!

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Posted by Loco on Friday, March 6, 2009 9:27 AM

 Very cool, bro - I call everyone bro  hehehe

 

LAte Loco
  • Member since
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Posted by salt water cowboy on Friday, March 6, 2009 4:10 PM

philnrunt

SWC- Thanks for the explanation. I think you did a pretty darn good job of weathering. I like cars that are a bit different.

  Keep us posted on your progress!

Now that the question of that boxcar's logo has been brought up, I've been wondering about that design for the last day or so. I know there are a few other NYC modelers here and am curious. Has anyone else seen that logo before? I looked through the NYC historical societies site and another site that catalogs NYC rolling stock photos and haven't been able to find one that matches. Could it be the manufacturer of the model took some liberties with the prototype?

Matt

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