Railway design, construction, and gardening

Jack:

Looking good my friend. DA BOSS just came in and looked over my shoulder! Ya got me in trouble! Now I gota make one. She loves your color scheme and I admit I like it too. Seems to me to be a unique combination of colors. It looks to me as if you put in the intermediate floors. If so, did you make any allowances to open up the building to place furnishings? If so, what did you do? Thanks.

Trigg, Sorry bout the trouble. The color scheme came from trying to use up some left over paint and stains as well as a mistake. The wine color of the center building was picked out of a row of "colonial red" paint. (should have read the label). If the future calls for furnishing the interrior, I'll just pick out a window or two to place furnishings. The windows will be installed using Silicon II sealant incase I want to do something inside. Second and third floors might be difficult, since windows are smaller, but first floor will be a breeze with the larger windows. Color scheme is left building Morocian Coffee stain trimmed with Camaflouge Gray; center is Cabernet trimmed in Winter Gray: building on the right is Clear Polliurathane trimmed in Cherry Red, all of which is overcoated with Clear Matte Lacqure

The Store Front project is finally finished. Actually it has been on the train lot for almost two weeks, just took some time to get pictures posted. Here they are. This should wind up the building cycle for the year (gets too hot in the shed). Will be working on track maintenance and gardening for the summer months.

Hey Howdy,

   Just gotta say, Boy o Boy does that look nice.....  :)

   Oh...what did you use for the base?

                                    Zak

Jack:

That looks like a real "boardwalk" (wooden sidewalk) the building is setting on. Is that true? Is that the foundation?

Let's see now, if I leave on Wednesday morning that will put me arriving in your back yard about midnight Saturday night. OOPS, did I say that out loud? Looking good my friend.

Tom and Zak, Thanks for your kind words.

Zak, the base is simply a 12'x12' scale cedar frame with 1/8" cedar flooring over 1/4" luaun board.

Tom, the boardwalk is extended from the base frame work with the same size lumber and 1/4" planks attached like the flooring. There is a couple pictures of the "sidewalk framing" among the progress pictures.

Everything is coated with three coats of Polyurethane.  Jack

During a unusal rainy spell over a couple weeks, the CFO chased be to the shed to build something. After digging in the scrap wood box, I came up with a gazebo. Its finished and the weather has dried up so I finally decided to rework the water fall. Here are some pictures of both projects.

Another days progress on the water fall and mountain project is recorded here. Have been moving rocks! If the weather holds should finish in two or three days.

Some more progress pictures here. Should finish initial stage today. Calling for rain and showers for next five or six days. Eventually the rear portion will be hiegthened and will include a mine with a spur to it and a tippler.

Planted some miniture juniper trees in front of new waterfall and completed some mondane tasks of restaining a trestle and installing some rocks at a spot which mulch always washed on to the tracks. Here are some pictures.

More progress. Stones are stacked to create a mountain with a mine entrance. Need to add some dirt and plants to sides. Smaller river rocks which made up privious hill have been recycled as edging along the walk ways. Next in line is trestle leading to a tippler at a siding. Here are the latest pictures.

Jack: Looks like you've been having entirely too much fun! You know, of course, that a project likes that is supposed to take years not days! I see the "river" coming out of a most interesting falls, so when are we going to go fishing.

Tom, Sorry I'm not a fisherman. Can't sit still long enough, besides now I have to put in a spur to the mine and build an ore tippler to move the ore to the processing facility (which must be built and located some place in the yard). Jack

Its been quite awhile since I posted anything. Several trips and projects for the CFO have kept me out of the train yard for some time. Now the heat is just too much for working. While showing someone the pictures posted here, I noticed that I hadn't posted any with the lettering done on the motive power and rolling stock. Here they are with a couple of a future engineer who visited the other evening while the trains were up and running.

Spent a couple days getting started laying the base and track for the new spur going to the mine. Then I installed the switch and balasted everything. Still must erect some sort of retaining walls, but want to wait until I get the tipple installed. Next project is build the tipple (still a bit warm in the workshop) so I have started redoing the ballast on the entire layout. Here are some pictures of the mine spur.