More construction - pictures included

[Anonymous]

Well here's what I've gotten done on the river so far.

I mocked up the bridge locations so I knew where the river could go, then I made rough outline using a Sharpie and just worked the outline till I had something I liked.

Marked and started to cut:


Near layout side of the river completely cut and set on supports:


Edge view of the river:


Mocked up some cliffs using ceiling tiles:


Wanted to get an idea of what it would look like from the riverbed:



Decided I wanted the river banks to be more sloped, so I widened the river cutout:


Started laying some plaster cloth:


Once the plaster cloth was dry I put down a layer of spackle. I wasn't very concerned with the banks and bottom being smooth as they wouldn't be in real life. Then while the spackle was still wet I placed some medium to large sized stones:


From here I need to finish the plaster cloth, finish the spackle, and put down some more stones. Then I'll paint the riverbed a murky green and then put some tan tallus around the stones. Then the banks will be painted dirt brown and covered with ground cover in various shades of green. Then along the river edge I'll plant some tall grass here and there. Once that is done I have to cut the joint between the two layout sections and install clear velume(? window film) on the edges and in the joint, then I'll seal the edges with some clear silicone and start pouring the water material once the silicone drys. I'm going for a wide deep creek look.

[Anonymous]

When you have rivers, you have to have bridges, and since no one makes a double track steel grider bridge you have to make your own.

I started off with a sheet of 1/8 steel from Lowes ($13.00), 12 x 18. I cut this into two 9 x 10 pieces:


Then I took some left over Aluminum U-Channel from the shower door installation and cut it into two 10 inch sections, then cut them in half:


After a couple passes on the bench grinder, I mocked them up:


Edge on view:


Put some JB Weld on the pieces last night. Tonight I hope to clean them up with some brake cleaner then paint with flat black spray paint.

[Anonymous]

While Susan was away last week I decided to paint The O'Hare Spans. These are three Lionel Arch-Under bridges that, quite frankly IMHO, don't look all that good in grey. I have always liked the New River Gourge Bridge in West Virginia, so that was the look I was going for when I decided to paint the bridges:











From here they will be weathered using some orangish brown paint I picked up at AC Moore.

[kpolak]

Very Nice Brent!  I like the way the river is turning out.

I used to go white water rafting on the new river in my younger days.  We always ended up at that bridge.  Quite a view!

Kurt

[RockIsland52]

Brent, you do some unbelievable work.  And by candlelight no less.  Did Susieq remind you to make sure the generator could handle the trains as well?  Thanks for the project thread and the pics.

Jack

[johnandjulie13]

Hello Brent:

Thanks for sharing.  Your layout looks fantastic.  I love how your river is coming out.  I have a small creek on my layout and anything I can learn is extremely helpful.  Adding stones is a great idea to add some realism to the river.  Please keep us posted on your progress.  I still am holding out hope that I will get to see it in person in April.

Regards,

John

[thatboy37]

haven't been keeping up with your work, but had time to check it out today. man you are coming along quick fast and in a hurry. that is some really nice work you are doing there. makes what i was doing look like crap. quetion for you have you built any layouts before this one. if not you ought to think about starting your own business. but anyways great work and keep it up.

[fifedog]

Tres manifique, mon ami!  (got that from watchin' BRAVO channel)

[USNRol]

Brent,

Agree, the bridges do look better black... nice call.  The river looks great too.  I've been lurking and following your progress.  Very envious.  Looks like your gonna have a great layout there.  Thanks for sharing and looking forward to continued updates.

Roland

[Anonymous]

Reggie,
My father and I built a large HO layout that we only put up during the holiday but it was only one level. We also designed and started building another HO layout, but it never got further than the benchwork. I also built another O scale layout, but it too didn't make it much further than where I am with this one. Let's withhold judgement till after I get a bit further with this one. Yeah... your layout was crap... LOL!!!!!

All - thanks for the encouragement, it helps to keep the creative juices flowing and motivation high enough to keep progressing.

[Anonymous]

Brent,

Agree, the bridges do look better black... nice call.  The river looks great too.  I've been lurking and following your progress.  Very envious.  Looks like your gonna have a great layout there.  Thanks for sharing and looking forward to continued updates.

Roland

Roland,
If you are interested, I'm having a gathering at my place on April 19th for the forum members attending York. If you are close by Mt. Airy and are interested you are welcome to join us.

[Jumijo]

Bent,

You made some serious progress! And all of it 3 steps forward, no steps back. Great looking river, and I've always liked those Lionel bridge. Some orange paint will weather and age them nicely.

Your girder bridge is also looking good. If you wanted to add some detail to the sides, try placing some thin plastic strips vertically, every inch or so.

Boy, you really are flying! I'm greatly impressed!

Jim 

[mpzpw3]

Perfect! I've been enjoying this thread for awhile. The bare plywood with track stage is the best stage. An open canvas for a painter, so to speak. I wish I had planned as well as you are when I built my layout. Keep the updates coming.

[Anonymous]

Jim,
I've been thinking about that and plan to take one of them to the LHS tomorrow and see what I can find to dress them up.

The only thing that's got me is how do you attach plastruct to aluminum?

[Anonymous]

Perfect! I've been enjoying this thread for awhile. The bare plywood with track stage is the best stage. An open canvas for a painter, so to speak. I wish I had planned as well as you are when I built my layout. Keep the updates coming.

Planning? I have Fifedog to thank for that! After a little discussion about what I was attempting, he put together an incredible plan, a couple modifications and some tweeking along the way and this is where we are today. Seriously, I would not be where I am if it weren't for Fife.

[Buckeye Riveter]

While Susan was away last week I decided to paint The O'Hare Spans. These are three Lionel Arch-Under bridges that, quite frankly IMHO, don't look all that good in grey. I have always liked the New River Gourge Bridge in West Virginia, so that was the look I was going for when I decided to paint the bridges:



From here they will be weathered using some orangish brown paint I picked up at AC Moore.

Brent...I'm overwhelmed.  I worked on a project across the New River Gorge Bridge.   Is there a way you can hang some bungee jumpers from the bridges?  To get the right look, take fifedog to New River, attach the rope and throw hm off while you take photos.  Your photos will be extremely beneficial in getting the facial expression correct.

[Anonymous]

While Susan was away last week I decided to paint The O'Hare Spans. These are three Lionel Arch-Under bridges that, quite frankly IMHO, don't look all that good in grey. I have always liked the New River Gourge Bridge in West Virginia, so that was the look I was going for when I decided to paint the bridges:



From here they will be weathered using some orangish brown paint I picked up at AC Moore.

Brent...I'm overwhelmed.  I worked on a project across the New River Gorge Bridge.   Is there a way you can hang some bungee jumpers from the bridges?  To get the right look, take fifedog to New River, attach the rope and throw hm off while you take photos.  Your photos will be extremely beneficial in getting the facial expression correct.

Problem is in order to get him there I would have to take him and Queen Fife and if I pushed him over with a bunjee rope she would push me over without one! Now if Susieq were there and it were reversed she'd give him a check!

All kidding aside, I do like the idea. But the NRGB is known more for base jumping than bunjee jumping... so I could go for something dealing with that, maybe some monofiliment (aka fishing line) from the bridge to the mountain... hey that gives me some ideas!!!!

[johnandjulie13]

Seriously, I would not be where I am if it weren't for Fife.

That's an interesting choice of words.

Regards,

John

[Anonymous]

Seriously, I would not be where I am if it weren't for Fife.

That's an interesting choice of words.

Regards,

John

I would still be in the planning stages.

[RockIsland52]

Seriously, I would not be where I am if it weren't for Fife.

That's an interesting choice of words.

Regards,

John

I would still be in the planning stages.

Fife ain't old enough. 

Jack

[Anonymous]

Seriously, I would not be where I am if it weren't for Fife.

That's an interesting choice of words.

Regards,

John

I would still be in the planning stages.

That didn't sound right either...

I would still be planning the layout.

[Jumijo]

You should have that layout done just before York at the rate you're going, Brent! No eternal plywood prairie for you!

Super job and I greatly enjoy your updates.

Jim 

[USNRol]

Roland,
If you are interested, I'm having a gathering at my place on April 19th for the forum members attending York. If you are close by Mt. Airy and are interested you are welcome to join us.

Brent, Thanks for the very gracious invite!  I'd love a chance to look first hand at your layout and meet and chat with you and the others.  Unfortunately, since I'm not going to York (not a TCA member yet) and it's likely to be a decade before I can afford the time and $ for my own layout like yours I couldn't possibly endure the tease!   Honestly, appreciate the invite; I know it'd be worth the 2 hour drive to get there.

Roland

[rtraincollector]

USNROL are you the same roland that is a member of the tappahonic river railroaders club in deltaville, VA.

[USNRol]

Nope.  Not me.  I'm a hack.  I play with trains like my four year daughter plays with dolls...

someday I'll get serious enough to possibly be a member of a railroad club!

Roland

edit: I have been railroaded near the Tappahannock though...by a sherriff's deputy....for speeding on route 17 when I was stationed in Hampton roads and visiting D.C. on weekends.

Could this be the connection your thinking of?  ;)

 

[dmestan]

Brent-

Any updates?  I've been anxiously waiting to see more of your progress!  After my last post looking for ideas for my layout shape I've decided to go with a 7X15 rectangle which looks to be just a little smaller than your layout.  You have a lot of the features I want so I'm hoping to steal some ideas from your plan.  A few questions:
What switches are you using?  From the track plan they look like O54
What is the spacing between the first and second level?
What is the grade of the connecting track?  It looks to be > 4% but you mentioned your loco had no problems getting up there.

thx, Don

[Anonymous]

Brent-

Any updates?  I've been anxiously waiting to see more of your progress!  After my last post looking for ideas for my layout shape I've decided to go with a 7X15 rectangle which looks to be just a little smaller than your layout.  You have a lot of the features I want so I'm hoping to steal some ideas from your plan.  A few questions:
What switches are you using?  From the track plan they look like O54
What is the spacing between the first and second level?
What is the grade of the connecting track?  It looks to be > 4% but you mentioned your loco had no problems getting up there.

thx, Don

The layout is 8'2" x 15'.

The switches are mostly O54, but there are a couple O45.

The levels are 7.5" apart.

The grades are all < 3%.

I don't remember what the last update contained... I think there were some pictures that I took last week that you haven't seen.

Here are a few updated pics:

This is coming into the train room. What is new here is the upper level, the stryofoam 'wall' that will become cliffs, and the Atlas Double Track Pratt Truss bridge.


Another shot of the upper level, wall, and bridge. Here you can see the steel girder bridge I built last week (it is the gray bridge through the middle of the picture):


The ADTPT bridge, and some construction mess.


View of the gorge. Tracks from left to right: 1st to 2nd level transition, entrance to underground passenger terminal, the lines heading to and from the second level:


This is the view back through the gorge, to your right will be the town, you can also see some of the 1st to 2nd level transition track.


The grades are an optical illusion, they appear much steeper than they really are. Thanks for the interest. If there is anything specific you would like to see let me know and I'll post a pic for you.

[ChiefEagles]

Gracious, doing good there.

[dmestan]

Wow, looking really nice !  Far better than any vision I have.  Is that upper level a design change?  I don't recognize the double track from your plan.  The plywood portals look good too.  Are you going to finish them to look like concrete or stone?

Thanks for the updates, and the info.

Don

[Anonymous]

Chief - I keep tellin' ya you gotta come see it.

Don - Yes it is a design change. I really like the two track bridges, the imense size of them is quite impressive. The Atlas bridge is 10" x 40" and makes for a nice centerpiece on the layout. I know Lionel and MTH make 2 track Hellgate bridges, but they wouldn't look right on a B&O Layout and they are in the 15" x 30" range (kind of odd shaped). The portals are going to be painted - haven't decided yet if concrete or stone, leaning toward stone to match the MTH portals I am using (that's where I got the portal profile from). The portal supporting the bridge is going to be replaced. I have to widen the opening and make the overall width much wider. The right side near the layout edge needs to extend to the edge, and the other side needs to be extended to support the entire bridge width, this side will also extend down to the layout base to provide additional support for the bridge.