Thanks Zak. Its good to see you on here again.
Howdy Jack,
I haven't been on in a while. Work is nuts and other issues. I am glad to see that your work is coming along well. Keep up the great work and fine pictures
Regards,
Zak
Keep On Railroad'n..............
Jack: Have a look at a Dremel saw blade. Dremel has one that is 2 1/4 inch in dia. It may be a bit on the small size but will standup to the weather.
Tom Trigg
Tom, Thanks. Crew attended rehab, but failed. CFO says still consumming too much brewski.
Rex, Also thanks. Original saw blade was cut from old floppy disc (as per an article in GR) and gone after the first winter. I have played around with other materials but am not quite satisfied. Actually purchased some to strew around the mill as used blades, but are a little small (I think).
Great shots. Your layout is progressing nicely. What happened to your saw blade?
Rex
I sure hope that the drunkard crew that laid the rails behind the church have been sent to rehab. Well done my friend.
While I was preparing the railroad for some visitors, the CFO thought it time to take some panaramic shots of the train lot along with some of the newer vignettes. Here are the new photos.
Since we have a barn, I figured the farmer needed a place to live. Here is the farm house. Pretty much like any other house build so didn't bother taking a bunch of pics while building. CFO stuck her head in the shed once in a while and shot a pic. Building season over for the summer. Spent the day cleaning mulch and leaves out of the track and ran the trains for about 3 hours.
Nice.
Today started bright and sunny with mild (49 degs) temp, so decided to put the barn in the garden. After digging and filling with stone dust it started raining. It took three tries, but finally quit long enough to finish the job. Still must back fill around the foundation, ground too muddy. Then will build the ramps up to the doors. Here are some views of the barn in the train lot.
Made some progress on the barn project. Here are some pictures of Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Sign I copied from the internet and attached above the three barn doors. Also hung some chain and hooks from the hoist bars above the hay loft doors. Now if we ever get a few dry days its ready to be planted in the garden. Once planted I'll be able to finish by constructing and placing access ramps at the doors.
Rex and Tom, Thanks for your engouraging comments. I was quite please with the outcome of my foundation, but perhaps its not as good as I thought. It's suppose to look like a stacked stone foundation as opposed to brick. To answer your question, after cutting down an old treated wooded step tread to fit the slant of the train lot, I routed the horizontal lines using a Demoral w/router attachment than free handed the vertical lines randomly (in the pictures you have to look closely to see that they are jagged as natural stones would be rather than nice and neat as bricks). Than a coat gray primer sprayed on to which was added various colors (gray, black, raw sienna and terra cotta) dabbed on randomly using a paper towel. Finally filling the grout lines with cement colored mixture. Final step will be several coats of clear matte finished laquer.
Rex in Pinetop Jack, Great work on the barn. Can you tell us how you put the realistic looking brick texture on your barn foundation sticks? Rex
Jack,
Great work on the barn. Can you tell us how you put the realistic looking brick texture on your barn foundation sticks?
Was just about to make exactly the same comments.
I like it!
Got started on the roof today. I'm making a standing seam roof using panels scaled to 4' x 8'. Cutting down aluminum cookie sheets I found at a local grocery store. Here are some pictures.
Almost finished with the barn. Sorry for the lack of pictures. With the cold weather the CFO dosen't venture to my shed/workshop to take pics and I keep forgetting to take the camera with me. As you can see, not much left to do. Another coat of stain on some of the trim work, roofing and than the foundation. The foundation will be the hard part, there is somewhat of a grade where the barn will be placed on the lot so I'll have to place it and level it with temporary blocking to get the measurements. That will have to wait for a while until this cold snap passes. Here are the latest pictures. Jack
Here are some more pics of the Barn project. The cupolas are attatched but the roofing is just fited and loose to allow for easier moving while completing construction (windows, doors etc).
Simon, While building the switchman's tower I didn't get any photographs. The plans came from Garden Texture. You can purchase either the plans or as a kit in 1:24 scale. I buy the plans and convert them to 1:20.3 and cut my own lumber from cedar boards. Jack
Do you have any plans / drawings / pictures that you can share with us on your 'Switchmans tower' would love to create such a fine model to add to my railway expansion.
Thank you
Simon
Have started next project for the train yard. Figured I needed a barn. when finished I'll do a farm house to go with it. Here are the first pictures. Sorry I didn't get pictures of building the post and beam truss.
Tom, We should both live that long! Jack
Should you ever tire of looking at that beauty ugly monstrosity, UPS and FedEx both know where my front door is located!
Just about finished with the Ore Tipple project. I am waiting for pullies and chain to arrive (hopefully today or tomorrow). To make room on the work bench, I've planted it in the train lot and will attach the hardware in place. The latest pictures are found here. Jack
Have completed construction of an Ore Tipple and placed it in the garden. Now that it is in place, I can get the measurements to complete the trestle coming from the mine. Trestle plans are from Garden texture and enlarged to 1:20.3. Biggest challenge was getting the stain on it. Here are some pictures. Jack
Now that the growing season has come to a close and the CFO's projects are finished for the summer, I have reopened the construction arm of the Seneca & Chetola Line. First new structure for the year will be an Ore Tipple to be located at the mine and new spur line. Here are the first pictures of the process. More will follow as construction continues. Jack
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.
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.
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