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Portable Layout Building Log

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Posted by IRB Souther Engineer on Monday, November 29, 2010 4:19 PM

Should enter it in the small RR's contestWink Looks good!

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Posted by dwbeckett on Monday, November 29, 2010 11:40 AM

looks like you did it alot of track in a small space, good job/work

Dave still recovering

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Posted by vsmith on Monday, November 29, 2010 10:59 AM

 

Current schematic plan to date, surprised I never added one, anyways its pretty much done, just adding more details ond peoples to do, figure that tweaking the scenery will keep me busy for a long while.

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Posted by vsmith on Friday, November 26, 2010 8:26 PM
Here is a full pic, kinda crowded background but it gives a good idea of it overall environment:

The upper layout is removable, I designed it so the top could go to shows, but so far its only been to one (1) show since 2008...so I might just fix it permanantly.
 

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 11:59 PM

Chief Mechanic Homer is lovin his new ride

(This would have much nicer to share if the darn format didnt freeze up everytime I tried inserting more than one picture at a time Sheesh! )

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 11:56 PM

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 11:55 PM

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 11:53 PM

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 11:52 PM

   Have fun with your trains

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 11:51 PM

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 11:49 PM

OK I'm down to loading ONE stupid pic at a time GRRR!

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 11:43 PM

Got alot more scenery done, at least to what I consider the "base level" of scenery

 

(I can only post 2 pics at a time or the forum format program goes wacky, so read on)

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 11:25 PM

Been trying to load pics for the last 30 min, this stupid stupid format program has been fighting me every inch of the way GRRRR!

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Posted by cmoore on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 4:03 AM

Mate I've been away for a while and have returned to find this good looking little big layout of yours; geez it looks good. Nothing small ever really stays that way.

Good one mate.

Cameron

He who has the most trains wins!!

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Posted by vsmith on Sunday, November 14, 2010 10:00 PM

Scenery substantially completed at the town and spur area, this is time consuming stuff:

Gas station installed, still need to add the station sign, its coming:

 

 

This is actually behind the station but then the best beleivability lies in what you only see from askew:

 

 

This is just one corner of one side, 3 more sides to go!

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Posted by PJM20 on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 4:35 AM

That's the one, it looks to be a good bash for me if I ever got to it. This is a poor man's plymouth-

From rypn.org - Peter

Modeling the Bellefonte Central Railroad

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Posted by vsmith on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 10:55 PM

Peter, this one? its a "slightly" rework HLW Mack, my poor mans Plymouth Wink

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Posted by PJM20 on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 4:38 PM

Looks great!Thumbs Up Can you show a close up shot of the critter in the 3rd photo?- Peter

Modeling the Bellefonte Central Railroad

Fan of the PRR

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Posted by vsmith on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 8:01 AM

Finally ballasted the track last week, using my patented "kitty litter" staining technic with consists of simply dipping the litter in a strainer into a small bath of water/acrylic paint mix, then setting that onto a plywood sheet to dry in the sun.

Main town area:


High Bridge area:


Fiddle yard area:


Mine spur area:


Cleaning the glue residue off the track after was a pain but so far everything is running well again.

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Posted by Mt Beenak on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 5:22 AM
Well done, Vic. I knew LIONEL stuff had to be good for something.

Mick

Chief Operating Officer

Northern Timber Company - Mt Beenak

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Posted by ttrigg on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 2:12 AM

Dave: Vic is good at "making small" (very good actually) but I doubt even he can pack nine pounds in a half pound bag.

Tom Trigg

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Posted by dwbeckett on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 9:12 AM

Please send me a bridge 46 inch's long and 2 track's wide in 1/20 scale so I can add a second loop. I have provied a Postage paid 3x 5 envelope

Thank You

Dave

The head is gray, hands don't work , back is weak, legs give out, eyes are gone, money go's and my wife still love's Me.

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Posted by ttrigg on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 12:00 AM

You better fire the foreman for Borracho Steel Works for being drunk on duty. He built your bridge upside down. He’s not from Australia, is he? Such a shame, bright new shiny bridge for such an old branch line, OH Wait a second, you didn’t "age" it yet. OK, (seriously Vic, it looks good.) The piers have a very definite European look to them, that "form" of pier was widely used in Germany during the late 60’s to mid 80’s on the Autobahn.

Tom Trigg

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Posted by vsmith on Monday, July 26, 2010 11:29 PM

The Borracho Steel Works in action:


The new steel high bridge over Borracho Gulch mocked up in the shops


In place, with additional plate girder deck sections on each side (cut up Lionel O gauge bridge)

More pics:

Track inspection:


The piers are 1x3 lumber w/ basswood sheets added to create a widening effect near the base

Installation complete:

This is probably the last major piece of construction I had wanted on my layout, now just to finish scenicing the rest of it.

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Posted by ttrigg on Thursday, July 22, 2010 12:06 AM

So now you’re into bridge building. Rather than build a magnificent timber trestle, how about building an old one, couple of the longitudinal braces just hanging in mid air where they fell off from one end. While you’re at it, how about planting a real tree and entering it into Rene’s contest? Just putzing with you, I anxiously await further progress reports.

Tom Trigg

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 11:24 PM

Some more progress pics:

Cut out a section to add a trestle, its the last major Item the layout really called for.

I ran out of blue foam so I thought I'd try an experiment, using spray foam insulation mixed with what few blue foam peices I had left. The initial results were, we'll, quite scary!

After some, alot, of cutting, tweeking and using caulking in an almost sculptural way, its getting better. Paint will cover most of the odd looking connections

More pics as I progress.

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 10:44 PM

Its been a while since I posted anything on this but I have been working on it

Some progress pics:

The mine completed:

Water tank finally painted and weathered

Gas station begun:

Beginning to get the scenery finished:

More pics as I work around the layout.

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Posted by ttrigg on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 8:41 PM

Substantial foundations provide for substantial superstructures.Confused

Tom Trigg

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Posted by vsmith on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 6:15 PM

Well I tore up the layout today, no wait, that should be I tore everything OFF the layout, and then knocked it over, well tipped it on its side.

 

The reason for this wonton destructive behavior was so I could remove the 2” wheel castors and replace them with great big honking 4” castors. This was necessary as I have fairly large control joints in my garage slab that the contractor provided with ½” rounded edges, so whenever I rolled the layout around with the 2” castors (price effective at the time) when they hit those joints it was like they dropped into the Grand Canyon! And everything on the layout got a nasty jolt. Well I just got plain sick and tired of it so after a pricey trip to Home Despot, it was off with everything! It took more time to remove everything than it took to knock it over, replace the castors, and tip back upright. But the upshot is that that now not only does the layout roll over the joints with just the slightest of blips, it now turns and rolls with far less resistance, and the deck gained 2 inches in height!

 

BTW 99% of the stuff is back on the layout Wink

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Posted by vsmith on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 6:14 PM

IRB Souther Engineer

Vic, do you mind if I save some of the pics from your projects to my computer? That way I will have them if you delete them from the forums, etc. They provide a lot of inspiration!WinkBig Smile

Help yourself

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