Hi All,
Sorry I have not been on for a while. Some great progress being made. Roger, I like what you have done with the waterfall and under the bridge. Airborne, I am keeping track of your website and enjoying your blog updates. Here are some update photos of my layout.
Base scenery painting complete.
Two of the miners cabins complete.
Roads and crossings in.
JB's Cabinet Company progressing.
Catherine Station
Steve's Place
Current overview.
Regards,
Mike
Thanks Mike, and glad you're enjoying the website! Feel free to post any comments or questions there as well. Keep checking back, as I hope to add some more prototype photos from the area soon, plus some photos of recent progress, including hopefully of the fascia being finished soon!
I also have more exciting things happening soon I hope. I have a friend working on kitbashing a model of a class of PC caboose you can't find commercially, plus working on kitbashing a PC GP9B for me. Finally, I hope to have a video of operations up sooner than later.
Looks like good progress on your layout, and a good job on those buildings as well! Keep the photos coming......:)
I notice some of you are talking about expansions so I thought I would add my grand plans to the mix.
My plans are based on a modular design to fit a double garage sized space, about 6m x 6m, with room for storage and work areas. I have added an engine servicing/storage area and I have used several ideas from MR including The Turtle Creek and Thin branches as well as two modules based on the Abingdon Branch and the Fort Myers Ry. featured in the May 2009 and September 2007 issues of MR respectively. The track that connects the N&W main module to the Abingdon Branch passes under the Turtle Creek Branch. This gives a nice large continuous loop and plenty of branch line and yard operations.
Regards, Mike
Mike,
One question, where are your walls? Looking at your pics it appears you will not have access to the back side of your Virginian layout. When I have been trying to determine the best way to utilize my Virginian layout in a larger layout, I have only considered using it as a peninsula with one of the 4 foot sides against a wall.
I was on vacation the last couple of weeks and didn't get a chance to comment on the pictures in your earlier post. You are making great progress and may soon pass me up. You already have more structures on your layout and they look very good. Keep up the good work.
Roger
My Layout Pics
Dear Roger,
Thank you for the compliments. I am very happy with the progress and the structures, although I think that the puff ball trees are going to really transform the layout. Unfortunately I don't know how I am going to do the puff ball trees at the moment as I am having a devil of a time sourcing dark poly fibre here in Aus.
To answer your question on the walls here is a indicative picture of how I currently see the layout fitting to the space I have allocated.
Some will note that the "Fort Myer" portion of the layout seems to be orientated around the wrong way. This is true but I am more after that type of yard rather than that layout section itself so will orientate as needed.
This is all a bit of a pipe dream at the moment and it will be 5-10 years before I get around to constructing the building into which this is going. Planning, or dreaming according to my wife , is the part of the hobby I indulge in while I am travelling.
Unfortunately I don't know how I am going to do the puff ball trees at the moment as I am having a devil of a time sourcing dark poly fibre here in Aus.
Mike, you have to think laterally. Quilting batting is basically the same as modeling poly fibre. I had found some in the U.S that was loose fill in the bag, looking at a couple of Australian outfits I see it in more of a flatter roll in black. Here's a link. I would call them and ask if it can be teased apart so you can make the puffball trees.
http://www.quiltersstore.com.au/_products//Batting/Batting+Polyester/Hobbs+Polydown+DarkQueen+Size-1459-131091-.aspx
Cheers,
Steve
Hello everyone, It's been awhile, due to the warm weather, since I have done any work on the layout. Since the weather has begun to cool off and today was rainy I was able to complete the track work and finished building the bridge. Tomorrow I plan on soldering all the track so next weekend I can paint the track and get ready to start laying scenery. Photo's of progress will come with my next post.
John B.
MikeB16
that is just the idea I have been after when I first saw this MR plan for the Virginian RR. Thanks for sharing your idea..
This thread has been an absolute pleasure. I come back to it again and again. I love seeing what everyone who has posted is doing or has done. I stumbled across this thread when I was looking for details to add to my version of this layout and was blown away by the similarity to MikeB16's layout.
I am space constrained and the only permanent part of my layout is the orange benchwork in the southwest corner. All other pieces shown are modules I am building over the winter in my basement. My garage is not sealed against the weather and I live in Minnesota so I make turnouts, structures, etc indoors once the weather turns cold. I only have a small table area in the basement where I can work indoors, so any module I make besides the 4x8 main Virginian part has to be small and completely mobile (ie- put away where the wife isn't complaining about it taking up room). The 4x8 finally got legs so I don't have to store it on its side anymore, but now I am constantly moving it around the garage depending on what we need (mower/snow blower/ barbeque, etc)
I do not have the financial means to invest in the hobby the way I would like, so every non-curved turnout is a fast tracks #6 made from a jig. The only one I own. If a #6 won't work and I cannot find a $15-$24 deal online for a curved when needed I do without or redesign. The track is a mix of handlaid (still learning) and code 83 ME flex track.
The only parts done so far are the un-sceniced 4x8, the corner benchwork with a hole for the turntable and the 1x4 portable yard. Fall came too fast for me to leave a $300 walthers turntable outside all winter so it is not installed.
My Virginian does not match what I wanted, again because of my #6 constraint. Perhaps I will work on learning how to scratchbuild turnouts this winter. I will be "permanently discouraged" from this hobby if I ever buy another fasttracks jig for what is charged. That's a quote.
The yard design on the south wall is just an idea. I don't really know how to design a functional yard. It is mainly there to dream about 'someday'. In reality it will likely be a single track running along the wall with a turnout for the turntable for a few years.
My apologies for the long post. I hope this thread keeps going for a long time.
Asa,
Welcome to the Virginian Build thread. Several of us have shown intentions of using the Virginian as phase 1 of a larger layout. I'm hoping to start benchwork for later phases sometime this winter. We'd love to see pictures of your layout.
Everyone I need some help, I have come across a problem with my Atlas switches in Rodgers yard. When I first tested the layout with a DC transformer it worked flawlessly, yesterday I was playing with my power cab and each engine I tried stalled as soon as it went over the Atlas switches. Below is a picture of the problem switches, the two Atlas switches next to the mainline are giving my the problem. I tried adding feeder to the switches but it did not help. Other than swapping out the switches for Peco's I'm at a loss. Does anyone have any clues why these switches are being such a pain? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
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John,
I have all Atlas turnouts in my layout except for 2 Walthers curved turnouts and have not had any issues with them except when they get very dirty after extended non-use. I am also currently using the NCE Power Cab. When you installed them, you didn't do any special wiring, did you? How many wheels on your locomotives have pickups? Have you reconnected a DC power pack and tried it again? You might want to repost this issue in the General Railroad and or Electronics and DCC forums.
sjhenry Unfortunately I don't know how I am going to do the puff ball trees at the moment as I am having a devil of a time sourcing dark poly fibre here in Aus. Mike, you have to think laterally. Quilting batting is basically the same as modeling poly fibre. I had found some in the U.S that was loose fill in the bag, looking at a couple of Australian outfits I see it in more of a flatter roll in black. Here's a link. I would call them and ask if it can be teased apart so you can make the puffball trees. http://www.quiltersstore.com.au/_products//Batting/Batting+Polyester/Hobbs+Polydown+DarkQueen+Size-1459-131091-.aspx Cheers, Steve
Steve,
Thanks for doing the research for me. I have given them a call but unfortunately you cannot tease out that product to make puff ball trees. The search continues. Once I knock off for Xmas I am going to try dyeing different white poly fibres to hopefully find one that will achieve the effect.
rtprimus,
Thank you for you compliment.
Welcome to the thread and thanks for sharing your expansion idea. I echo the request for photos as I would love to see you hand built turnouts. You certainly have a challenge with your #6 restriction! I am about to have the reverse problem to you in that we are about to move to the tropics and I am going to have to battle humidity so planning to A/C the garage and have a ready supply of moisture absorbers to keep on top of it.
I used Code 100 switches which are slightly different, however, I notice in the photo that you do not have switch stands installed and at least one of your switches is partially open. With the Code 100 Atlas switches they were unsprung so some times there would be an interruption to power as a train went through as the points weren't held over. Try keeping the points positively held over and see if this makes a difference.
My layout has all Atlas Code 83 number 4's, and I do not have any stalling problems. I added wires to power the frogs, figuring at slow speeds with unpowered frogs, I would have trouble - however I have yet to hook any of them up. I DO have power feeders at all 3 legs of every turnout though.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
RogerThat John, I have all Atlas turnouts in my layout except for 2 Walthers curved turnouts and have not had any issues with them except when they get very dirty after extended non-use. I am also currently using the NCE Power Cab. When you installed them, you didn't do any special wiring, did you? How many wheels on your locomotives have pickups? Have you reconnected a DC power pack and tried it again? You might want to repost this issue in the General Railroad and or Electronics and DCC forums.
Rodgerthat, I know my one engine is prone to stalling on Atlas switches due to its short wheelbase. I did not do any special wiring on any of the Atlas switches. I will have to try and reconnect my DC power pack again and see what happens. I'm not sure how many of the wheel on each engine has pickups. I think either today or tomorrow I will try your suggestion and thoroughly clean each switch since it has seen only minimum operations since June.
John, I used Code 100 switches which are slightly different, however, I notice in the photo that you do not have switch stands installed and at least one of your switches is partially open. With the Code 100 Atlas switches they were unsprung so some times there would be an interruption to power as a train went through as the points weren't held over. Try keeping the points positively held over and see if this makes a difference. Regards, Mike
Mike, I recently removed the switch stands in preparation to start painting the track. My engines also stalled with the switch stands installed.
UPDATE: Rodgerthat, My bright boy wound up disappearing on me and with the advice from the LHS I tried a scotch-brite pad to clean one of the Atlas switches. Well that looked like it solved the problem. Each loco went over the switch without stalling. Even though the track did not look dirty I guess with DCC it takes a lot less dirt to affect the operation.
John
Finally made a bit of progress on the layout this weekend. I completed laying the remainder of the track work and painted the track. Once I get the paint off the track and touch up around the switches it look like next week I get to do what I enjoy the most the start of scenery.
Looks good John! Keep those photos coming.....:)
Be sure to check out my website for more updates and photos such as these current shots of my layout:
Website: http://hitopbranchmodelrr.com/
Thanks Airborne, I just started roughing in the mountain at the mine and the ridge for the branch line. The other night I also start construction of the mine tipple...it was going good until my Xacto sliced the tip of my finger open. Its been a long time since I had a cut like this and I forgot how painful they could be. Going to pick up paint for the mine tomorrow and plan to work on the foam more. Of course pics will soon follow.
BTW As always your layout is looking great you planning on expanding the layout in the future?
Everyone, I am at the point where I need to paint my New River mine MR suggested Polly Scale primer. Since none of my LHS carry this I was think about using rattle can primer. My only concern is with the finish quality, since rattle cans do not offer the atomization that an airbrush does. What has everyone one used for painting the mine.
I used the Polly Scale undercoat light gray with an airbrush. A rattle can would not be my first choice. due to the detailing. However... Since there are a few parts of this kit you won't use if you kit bash it like MR did, you could try a rattle can on a piece you won't use to see how it goes.
Since Polly Scale has been discontinued I would google "Polly Scale conversion" as various conversion charts have been loaded for Revell, Model Master etc. If this is not successful, any light neutral gray would do. I have a few darker grays and some with blue tints and I don't think they would look very good.
Good luck,
We are currently moving so I don't have access to my paints but I'm pretty sure I used Light Ghost Grey on the mine. You can get this in both Humbrol and Testors enamels and potentially Tamyia acrylic, although I'm not sure on that one and would have to check.
Mick
Thanks for the responses but after talking with my LHS they said that spay paint primer would be fine. So I tried it and it work beautifully without hiding any details. Now let me share some updates since my last post. Several days ago I had the mountain made that sits behind the mine. Before I secured anything I wanted to get the mine partially built to use as a reference. I'm glad I did because the mountain was about 5-6 inches to narrow. So today I started rebuilding the mountain from the ground up.
I also started ballasting the track that are in the tunnels under Green Hill, I know everything is not covered. I am trying MR's way of ballasting so either tomorrow or Monday I will complete the ballasting. Will post more pics as progress continues.
Today I made some great headway on the mine. Not only did I kitbash the mine but also the waste bin that is included in the kit. I wanted it to be a little bit different than MR's structure. I only have to install the windows and roofs then try my hand at weathering which is another challenge to over come. Considering this was my first attempt at kitbashing I though it turned out fairly well.
Your most recent photos of your work on the layout and mine look great!
I don't plan to expand the layout at this point, as I 'm limited right now with the space I have. The only expansion I plan is to add the staging yard at some point...
I have some bad news....
Mineshaft No. 2 had to be closed due to unsafe conditions. Miners complained about the roof not being adequately supported along with the death of a canary. OSHA came in and shut it down. Picture follows:
John, Your mine tipple is looking good. Hope you don't run into problems with OSHA.
RogerThat I have some bad news.... Mineshaft No. 2 had to be closed due to unsafe conditions. Miners complained about the roof not being adequately supported along with the death of a canary. OSHA came in and shut it down. Picture follows: John, Your mine tipple is looking good. Hope you don't run into problems with OSHA.
I am new to designing layouts. Did you design your layout free hand or did you use a computer program? I want to be sure my layout design is accurately scaled so it will fit my benchwork. Thanks.