Loco,
I love your dioramas. I can't wait to see what you do with a whole room.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
When a new rail road comes to town it is a boon to all the locals. And so it is with the Ozark Mountain Division (O.M.D.) of the Union Pacific. There is plenty to be done and work abounds.
However, UP:O.M.D. is not one for lax safety or improper working practices. A surprise inspection from the CFO and Safety Inspector could only shake her head as she reminded Daddy Day Labor that minimum working conditions would not be compromised and keeping damage to equipment is in everyone’s best interest.
With this turn of events, a new, experienced labor manager was brought in to demonstrate and guide the locals on UP's standard operating procedures (SOP's) and modern techniques to improve production while reducing potential damage to existing equipment and facilities.
Moreover, we see how these SOP's allow the highly trained UP designer to work at will and with an artful touch. Even the CFO seems impressed.....
Track Light Instal:
If you have not been keeping up with some of the suggestions, let me sort of go over the general conundrum: What comes first, color or light? Well, Wile E. Loco – Supra Genius has solved this perplexing visual dilemma!! I took some nice outside photos on a beautiful fall day in Missouri. Went to HD and got what appeared to be the closest match to the photo of the deep blue sky at around 1:00 p.m. under daylight bulbs in the store. So far so good. I tossed up the paint on a good portion of the ceiling and a bit of the wall as shown above and was using an incandescent light source – and yes, that light is/was woefully inadequate - as many of you have mentioned and correctly so. Ok, fine. I need light. So now the question is what kind and how? After many a good suggestion, I’ve decided to use a basic track lighting system for the overall lighting of the room. This will allow for the greatest flexibility for future and unknown applications. Cool, that's decided, but good Lord! Has anybody looked at the few hundred options out there?!?!
Long story short, I choose the "normal" fixture to mount to the track which can accommodate any standard screw in bulb - incandescent, halogen, CFL, and even an LED (which are now available). I did not want to be forced into purchasing special light bulbs which would have been the case if using many of the other smaller/high tech/art deco looking fixture options (and besides, they are more expensive anyways). Again, this left open the possibility to use any bulb in the future as needed. The decision was then made to use compact florescent daylight bulbs (mercury and all). So much for my 90% probability of going with halogens.....
The reasoning is thus:
1. Greatly reduced heat output.
2. Power consumption was also reduced and thereby eliminating the need to increase the breaker to 20 amps which would have been required if any other bulb was used (not including the LED style).
3. Increased number of lighting fixtures can be used – naturally balancing the need for lighting and power requirements.Cost is always a driving factor and here are the details. I found a kit from Hampton Bay that included a 44” section of track, power connector, mounting hardware, and three fixtures for $30 at HD. Additional parts such as T-connectors at $10 ea, Splice connectors at $3 ea, Right Angle connectors $8 ea.... used as needed. The bulbs are not included and a four pack of daylights ran $9. Naturally one might find sales to reduce these cost. However time is also a consideration and I needed to get some lighting up!Some photos:1. I removed the original ceiling fan – for a few minutes I was contemplating keeping it and running new wiring, but naw…. The mounting hardware was basic and straight forward. White, Black, and Green. I did however connect the main track power to the light switch at the bottom and top of the stairs - a three way switch.
2. Here is the first segment of track installed. Using two ladders is helpfull with reaching both mounting points on the track.
3. We have LIGHT! And nothing blew up! Woot!!!
4. Here is the brand info and part numbers of the kit I used.
5. Conntinuing on, the plan is to branch off the first track that is mounted east to west with a T-connector and run tracks north to south. The T-connector comes already wired and just snaps in - just like snap track! Only reason I took the cover off was just to check it out..... And this is a closer look at the style of the fixture with the CFL installed.
6. Here is the second track installed
7. Here is a little "Mood Lighting" with no flash. Just messing around and being quite satisfied with myself (easy to do). Still lots of work - as you all can see. But now at least I've got some light!
As always, thanks for stopping by to look, and feel free to chime in with any comments - I do like to hear 'em
Now, back to painting and putting up more track lighting..... anyone see my shades?!?!
Today I started today put'en some paint down! I went with Glidden Azure Afternoon in a flat. Got it at HD for $8.00 per gallon. I also got a gal of flat white.
1. this is the before photo:
2. This is one coat on about 1/3 of the ceiling and a bit of the north wall. I tried to play around with fading the white/blue bottom to top. This lighting is, well, not good and it looks much darker than the photo would suggest. I'll be getting some new lighting here before painting the final coat. This is with incandescent lighting.
3. And the same photo with just the flash. So one can see a vast difference. I'm about 90% sure I'll be picking up some track lighing using small halogens.
4. And yes, I'm a slob!!! But not to worry! I wipes right up with no problems.
As always, thanks for taking the time to look.
p.s. Think I have come up with my layout name:
Union Pacific: Ozark Mountain Division Operates in Missouri with a branch to Iowa. Haven't come up with any back story....
Union Pacific: Ozark Mountain Division
Operates in Missouri with a branch to Iowa. Haven't come up with any back story....
Irv, no worries on the floors. I've put a good half a dozen (every place I've lived and a few friends to boot) Although I'm not a huge neat freak, I can tell ya that cleaning up a spilled bottle of paint is WAY better than with carpet.
Mobilman44 - NO KIDDING! I got the room on the second level....up... down... up.... down.... I have all my tools and saws and such in the garage. Which is on the OTHER side of the house in the back. Then, when the actually cutting begins, I moved the portable table saw outside (I've done a lot of maint work so I've got everything very portable). This is mostly because the dust is very very fine and will get everywhere (ya, I figured that out on the first floor in my first condo which was on the second level). And hey, I'm not so young any more myself! 43! But often still think I'm 23 Motrin is your friend.....
Jamie - doing everything I can myself. Which has been everything so far
Looking better all the time
Are you doing all the room construction yourself (can't remember if you mentioned this earlier in the thread)? Jamie
CLICK HERE FOR THE CSX DIXIE LINE BLOG
You are one lucky guy !!!!! I was 44 when I got my dedicated room after the last of the kids left. Believe me, having a climate controlled and finished room makes the layout so much nicer and "funner". Looks like yours is on an upper floor, as is mine, and there is a downside - that being that most of the heavy carpentry work is done in the garage or basement. I cannot tell you how many trips I made up/down those stairs with pieces of plywood, etc.... The old adage, measure twice and cut once is a must here, but a number of the sections on my "cookie cutter" top took several steps to get them right. But hey, who cares!!! You got a train room !!!!!!
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
If you're going to be painting the walls or doing any cuting of materials, you'll want to put a drop cloth (or several down) or you'll ruin the finish.
I haven't put down a floor yet primarily because they aren't cheap and what I've got (tiles with asbestos in them) is easy to sweep up and/or vacuum. I'll cover it eventually, money is just too tight right now.
Irv
I'm just going to post my layout stuff in this thread so keep things a bit more simple.
First off I have the flooring all finished up. That was actually all done a while ago and I guess I didn't post up a photo on this thread so here it is:
Next up is my continuing design saga..... I'm liking this arrangement more and more. However, it's still a long way from being anything. Don't like the whole southeast corner area. But at least I got my turntable on paper. The min isle width is 24", but only in the alcove and in the south wall. May not be wide enough with all the possible switching action in that location. Otherwise it's 30" or better for most every other place. The branch line peninsula in the middle of the room has 20" radius curves at the moment.
Thanks for looking, stay tuned..... same Bat channel, same Bat time... ZING! POW!! SMASH!!!
Hey there Keith! Oh, and I never remember to check them darn private messages!
Anyway, about the rock painting on the Dio, I don't really know what to tell ya, just make some and start painting with washes and such. Them where my first I had ever done, sort of just slopped it on and if it didn't look right, wash, rinse, and repeat..... We got some great examples of rock around here... Sometimes I'll take the family on "nature walks" as an excuse to get some great outdoor photos....hehehehe But ya know, it's amazing when you really start to LOOK at things.
I haven't worked on the Dio for a good long while now but here is a shot.... Again the first one is taken outside and the HW passenger is indoors....
Room looks great! Now just get the backdrop, benchwork, trackwork, wiring and scenery done so we can see more pictures of those turbines!!!
Keith Baker
Dakota Northern, Bob, thanks for the comments. Been thinking about lighting and painting - I've gotten enough feed back on both to put them on the top of the list before I start the bench work. With the way lighting effects everything, guess that will be my first line item. I can pull the fan out, I’m ok doing electrical work. Then I was thinking of running track lighting in a basic “around the ceilings”. (another suggestion from a board member) That would allow me to position the fixtures as needed, having them movable would be a handy for actual work, would lend itself to greater flexibility for taking photos, and then highlighting certain elements on the layout. Yes, they might put off a bit more heat, but I think I can control that well enough. My other “to do” in this vein would be to increase the breaker. Go with a 20 amp or such.For the sky; The sloping ceilings will get painted a base coat of deep sky blue fading to white to simulate the distant horizon. Then I'll just fill in as needed with backdrop, clouds and such. One question, what color would you all suggest the top of the ceiling be? White? Black?
Oh, that champion meat packing plant with stock yards is sweet, going to have plenty of beef on my layout!
The benchwork build out is something I'm not really "worried" about. No learning curve to speak, not like the fricking layout design using cad and such. Have outlets on all the walls. Put in cable and a phone jack too
Hi Loco,
Glad to see that you finally have your own train room. I am also one of the lucky ones with an inside stairway to my 24'x24' garage loft layout. One of the first things that you have to consider is if you are going to paint sky on the walls. I also have a sloping ceiling on two sides of the room. As you can see in the enclosed photo, showing HO in front of an N scale loop of track. I used continuous sections of SceniKing for the background and matched the color of the sky that I painted above it. My sloping ceiling, ( which starts at the top of the photo),, is covered with acoustic suspended ceiling tiles. My lighting consists of ten double tube shop lights, which,(of course), cannot be dimmed. Get you lighting in first, and plan on plug-in outlets on the fascia, or, on the legs of the layout. Incidentally, what sort of support structure are you planning? Are you going to drill holes to screw down legs, or what ? Make sure that the layout is strong enough to support your weight. I really like the sloping ceiling's, forced perspective effect. You are going to have to be extra careful with plaster and screws, with a finished floor. I will also include a picture of my Walther's stock yard and meat packing plant. Bob Hahn
Hey Loco,
You may want to check this out with an Electrician you know or your friends know to see if it is kosher.I have removed the light fixture and replaced it with a regular outlet. Then I can plug in anything I want.You can use two flourescent fixtures, or more in series, and connect them and run a wire through to each unit. You can also run conduit (the stuff that has a base and cover) to where your lights need to go.
Dakota Northern
Loco Jamie... Your killing me... I just got the "Designing & Building Multi-Deck" book in the mail today. Couldn't deside, had to filp a coin for this months book allotment And I figured the lights would play a bit of havok. But here is my line of thinking, if I get the daylight bulbs put into the ceiling fan, and then set up a few foor stand (just temps) then that should get me in the ball bark.
Jamie... Your killing me... I just got the "Designing & Building Multi-Deck" book in the mail today. Couldn't deside, had to filp a coin for this months book allotment And I figured the lights would play a bit of havok. But here is my line of thinking, if I get the daylight bulbs put into the ceiling fan, and then set up a few foor stand (just temps) then that should get me in the ball bark.
Haha...I must have flipped the same coin and came up tails to your heads! That book looks like a good one too; I used a lot of what Tony has written in MR in the design of my layout. And yes you are correct in that using the future bulbs in your current fixtures will result in correct color, though you will want do check your paint chips at about the same distance from the lights that the backdrop will be located from the eventual fixtures you choose. Jamie
looks like a great room
that is some "new" train room. I can only dream about that one. I have to ask is that room above the garage or where is it? I see a dehumindiffyer there so I gather you have a moisture problem? I have my layout in the basement and I have to have it the, dehuminfifer running almost all the time. Good luck with that room and the fancy floor..
Loco If I match the sky photos with the paint samples will it really change much if I do some addional lighting later??
The paint colors will appear a bit different as you add additional lights since they will provide additional illumination and brighten the overall appearance of the backdrop. However, what will really change the appearance of your backdrop colors is what type of lights you end up using. For example, you state that right now you have a ceiling fan with four bulbs. Assuming these are typical incandescent bulbs, your backdrop will look different--possibly much different--if the layout lighting you install is not the same as your ceiling fan lights, say fluorescent tubes or compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). This is why I highly recommend deciding on the layout lighting, installing at least a fixture or two, and then use that lighting to view your sky photos and color samples side-by-side (with all other room lights off that will not be on when you operate the layout). This will give you the truest match and will insure the sky appears as you would expect it to once you have all of the backdrops painted and layout lighting installed.
If you want to see an example of how the colors can vary widely under different types of lights, go to the nearest home improvement paint department. They usually have some little cubby holes in the paint displays that allow you to stick the color chips in and see how they differ under different types of incandescents and fluorescents. While I would not use this for making actual color choices (those little cubby holes are just too small and get affected by the overhead lights in the store), it is useful for seeing how different colors actually look under different lighting types.
The reason I have so much info on this right now is because I am currently preparing my backdrops for painting just as you seem to be. In fact, I have about three dozen blue paint chip sample cards just to the left of my laptop right now as I type this I can also tell you that I am using CFL lighting for my layout. Originally I was using "soft white" color CFL bulbs but later switched to the "daylight" variety. I am thankful I did all of this before chosing the backdrop colors, because the difference in color is significant. The soft whites were very yellow/red in color, while the daylight provide cleaner bluish light closer to natural daylight (hence the name). This can be clearly seen in photos I took of the layout with both types of CFLs. Also, today I purchased and started reading the new Model Railroader book "Painting Backdrops for Your Model Railroad," which I really like so far and talks quite a bit about color selection and usage.
Normally I don't run this long, but this stuff is currently right at the top of my layout to-do list. Hope it helps you out!
Jamie
We have had just great weather here in the midwest these last few weeks - clear beautiful skies so I went out and took several photos from the horizon up through the zenith. Also went to the paint store and selected several paint samples to see what it will look like inside the room. I am going take everyone's advice and at least get a basic sky up but I'm not sure what I'm going to do about lighting! I only have a ceiling fan with four bulbs in there at the moment. That's not going to cut it. If I match the sky photos with the paint samples will it really change much if I do some addional lighting later??
Nice size room to start with. preliminary track plan looks good as well , I like the wye. Plan gives you lots of opportunity for scenery as well for adding in the industry spurs.
Someone mentioned painting walls blue with tinge of white for horizon , great idea , I did it the hard way and had to paint afterward.
Lynn
Present Layout progress
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/p/290127/3372174.aspx#3372174
Here is my very basic and preliminary around the walls design. Taken me a while to get the hang of using a cad program. No yards yet, but I did put in an interchange into the alcove. It will be a sight duck-under, but I'm good with that. I'm thinking of putting in an oval helix within the peninsula to get more main line. The yard would seem natural to be located on the south wall. But heck, what do I know, never done any of this before!!!
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Nice room. Use it wisely. Maybe this will help you some.
What I do for layout design (have done so far) is define my area and benchwork first. Next I decide on a theme. (Mainline running, with a branch line(?) or other special interests.) Then I put in a mainline. (I am fond of twice around the room types divided by scenery and grades.)
Since I have gotten into operations, I also have a staging area of some sort, whether it is a lay-over for entire trains, or a yard that simulates an interchange yard. One track in staging is a through track for continuous running. If I put cars on it, the layout becomes point to point for operations.
Next I try and determine how many small towns I can have, and possibility one city with a yard and loco facilities, without them crowding one another. Usually small yards and facilities unless I have the room for larger ones. I will try to fit in a way-side industry or two just for variation as long as it won't crowd things.
Then I go looking at plans for modular railroads. I look for ones that would make good towns or cities because their track plans are usually fairly compact, and most of the way they will be switched is already determined with a good track plan themselves.
Because I freelance, I don't worry about town and city names etc., but if you want to model a specific prototype, you can name the towns as the railroad you are modeling would, and build or plan you scenery to suite the area you want to model. Also, some of the industries that may be recognizable in a town you choose to name from a real one may have to be built or otherwise implied to achieve the "feeling" of the real town.
When building starts, I try and get all of the benchwork built first. Then plan where the towns will go and install the mainline to get some trains running. Then I work on one of the yards so I can store stuff when not running. Then I plug along on the other track work and scenery design and continue from there.
Hope this helps.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
OK, let me get some basic data to ya all:
1. Daughter has her own room...for now
2. Scale is HO
3. I will be modeling Union Pacific during the transition era - freelance based on prototypical. Not sure on the exact dates yet. But thinking anything pre-1960. I have Big Boys, Challengers, GP 7 & 9's, EMD SD7's, F7's, PA's, SW7's, NW's, H15-44's, Veranda Turbines, a Coal Turbine, 0-6-6 Sadle switcher, and a few others I can't remember as they are boxed up still.
4. Digitrax DCC.
5. Would like to use Iowa Interstate and KCS as a branch/interchange line and thus the main would be in the midwest and running west.
6. I’ve got some design elements in mind: a coal or ore mine/plant, John Deere plant, sock yard and a meat packing plant (Walthers Chapion Meat Packing), a engine servicing yard (I have a 132 Walthers turn table), a military base, a grain (Walthers ADM) plant, one city, and a smaller town, or two.
7. Would like to have a two line main that can be looped for continuous running and also point to point.
8. Thinking of a two shelfs, and or maybe a third for extra staging. And that means a helix.
9. I like puzzle track works (if that makes any sence). I just joined a RR Club and they do alot of operations and it is KILLER fun. So that's got to be included. So with the track workings and running big steam, I've just about figured to use Fast Tracks for building turnouts. They look killer and operations are key so I'll do what it takes for solid track preformance.
I want to do this first layout as best possible - taking all your insightfull recomindations and not making costly mistakes. Not going to be penny wise and pound foolish. If it takes longer for me save a few bucks to get the better item, so be it.
Ok, well, that's about all I can think of right now. Oh, most everything is up for debate so please don't hold back. Former Military, the sharpest knife cuts the cleanest!
Here is a diorama I was working on a while back ((some of you might remember it))