Free-moN: At Home & On The Road

[Blue Flamer]

M.C.

Your expertise and proficiency in putting out your video's and trackwork never ceases to amaze me. I will continue to follow your work with anticipation. Keep up the good work. You are an inspiration to us all.

Re. those curved turnouts. Were they "jig made" or made  "freehand" so to speak. In either case, a profound "WELL DONE" sir.

Blue Flamer.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Thanks, BF!

The turnouts are built "freehand": sometimes over a Fast Tracks template printed out on cardstock, sometimes over my own drawing.

Yesterday I built two more custom curved turnouts and today I installed them.
A bit tricky on the curve and over a module joint, not to mention the main is on cork and the siding directly on the foam (1/8" difference over 5"ish).

First tried some Fast Tracks templates to see if any were in the ballpark, and it turned out that #10 30"/20" were pretty close:



The main alteration is the the diverging route out of the mainline curved turnout needed to be pretty straight out of the frog.
I just sketched the changes on the template and built them like the others.

I didn't feel like using cork for the ramp down to the siding, so I tried styrene:



The grade down is only on the left module: didn't want to mess with carving the wood endplate "bumps" right next to the track already installed.
Works fine.

Used a Dremel to cut out the existing track sections, inserted the turnouts and cut a piece of flex to connect:



The grade isn't as extreme or abrupt as I thought it would be, and long cars can glide through and down rather smoothly (though we'll see tomorrow after the caulk has cured).

I've been using Bullfrogs for all the turnouts, but the new one on the mainline would put the Bullfrog too close to where the leg slides into place, so this one turnout has a slide switch:



If Eric decides to replace all the Bullfrogs with Tortoises then the slide switch could come out too.

So I sacrificed a day of scenicking to build the crossover, but I think it's very much worth it, as now trains don't have to circle all the way around to both enter and exit the tipple tracks, which would clog up this toilet-seat-looking module faster than.... well, a Loose Caboose.
But I learned with the Mt. Coffin & Columbia River layout that if your trackwork isn't good and smart and all that, it doesn't matter how nifty the scenery is.

Tomorrow: replacement ties, paint track, basic ground cover & ballast.
Oh yeah, and build and install the last Bullfrog.

Thanks for looking, and happy weekend! 

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Drove to the other side of the Bay to hook up with Nils and pick up the 4th section of the Wye Knot module, so now I have a "complete" layout in my garage:



Nils built a very tall mountain in the middle of the module, with a quarry scene on the inside:



and a gorge scene with a tunnel & rock shed on the other:



So I've got 4 days to do ground cover, ballast, water, and as many buildings as I can get done before Friday morning.
(Well, Saturday morning: I can install them morning of if I have to).

But if everything doesn't get done for this show (and it won't) then good thing there's another show next month at the NMRA/PCR Iron Horse Express Convention!

[mcfunkeymonkey]

As we're in the middle of "the Big Construction Mess" and photos are a little confusing, so I had to explain it on another forum so I thought I'd share the design process a little here, too.

Here's the original Wye Knot module as designed by SVFMN member Eric:



Where it gets wacky with the Wye Knot module is that each of the four center sections are also modules: each is 5' long (from point to point) and have 12" endplates on both sides of the 45 deg "point".

The idea (and a very cool one at that) is that:
--each individual module can be used as a separate 90 deg. curving module;
--two can be put together as a 180 curve (or three for a 270 curve);
--with the wye sections (those are not modules, as only the single-track is a standard endplate) attached you have two separate wye modules;
--four center module sections and one wye section create a single return loop;
--add the other wye section to the "top" and you have two overlapping return loops (one from each side) as well as a big curved passing siding for through traffic.

Here's what Nils & I came up with:



The scenes are based on similar one in the Sierra Nevada Mountains here in California.

Even with all the new trackage, the module can still be arranged in all the variations mentioned above, though if each center module is used individually there'll be a lot of "dead, abandoned track" and industries that can't be served.

However, buy splitting the whole thing down the middle, you get two wyes, a big 180 deg. curve, and the ability to serve all the industries:



And the only thing that is really changed is the that the long passing siding / runaround on the left becomes a stub-end siding.

But really we expect to use this as the second return loop for a long time coming, so it'll probably almost always get put together in this way.
The "top" wye section is not operational yet and so won't be used at the show this weekend.

Nils and I also designed the scenes with viewing angles in mind: when you look at the tunnel / rock shed scene:



you cannot see the quarry behind it at all, and the mine tipple and Company Town will be shrouded in trees in addition to the low rise you see in the background.

The quarry, operated from the pit, can be viewed clearly from across the coal tipple storage tracks (trees on the low ridge, along with the road, will direct the eyes left to the quarry scene):



[Note: those picts are two days old, so things look a bit better now ]

When viewing the quarry you cannot see the tunnel / rock shed scene.

Both the tipple and the Company Town have higher hills and trees that will act as a partial viewblock of the quarry, thus increasing the "distance."

Remember that Free-moN modules are at 50" high, so even a 4" of mountain plus a few inches of trees becomes an effective scenic divider!

Alrighty: two days to go, and much more to do!
Definitely not going to be anywhere close to "done", but it would be nice to get some trees and at least the tipple on before the show, as it becomes very tiring to keep explaining: "So, there will be a tipple here..."

Thanks for looking.

[lone geep]

You're doing a fabulous job. Keep it up! .

[fwright]

mcfunkeymonkey

you cannot see the quarry behind it at all, and the mine tipple and Company Town will be shrouded in trees in addition to the low rise you see in the background.

The quarry, operated from the pit, can be viewed clearly from across the coal tipple storage tracks (trees on the low ridge, along with the road, will direct the eyes left to the quarry scene):

I'm curious as to what you are using to cover the foam to obtain the mountain scenery.  My HOn3 Free-mo Elk River valley modules (open top waffle frame is now under construction) will probably also use foam for the scenery base due to weight.  But I'm worried about using traditonal plaster or plaster cloth on top of the foam, and ending up with a heavy module after all.  Any thoughts or advice?

Fred W 

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Fred:  I just carve the pink foam to the form I want, use caulk to attach the lightweight hydrocal rock castings, apply a little lightweight spackle or sculptamold to blend the rock castings and disguise the foam-layer line, and then paint.

So unless you see a rock casting, it's probably just painted foam.

After you apply dirt / grout / gravel / ground foam it all blends together.

I haven't used plaster / plaster cloth since my dad & I worked on the Christmas Tree Train 25 years ago :)

Alrighty.



Basic ground cover done.
All track ballasted / cindered / dirted.
Static grass dynamically dumped.
Grade crossings crossed off.
Magic Water mixed and tinted.
Forgotten dock built and installed in pond.
Magic Water poured in pond and river.
And first structure built and installed:



The Eggel River Mining Company industrial switcher shed!
Tah-dah!

Ok, it's not that exciting, but not bad for a couple hours o' work in between doing all that other stuff and starting the mine tipple. And the first time I've worked with I-beams.

Eggel River Mining Co. will probably have a dedicated 70-tonner (if it can push cuts of 16 gons) or an older RS-1, -2, or-3, but the shed will accommodate at least a SD-9:



The Company was in such a hurry to put up the shed that they forgot to check clearances with the neighboring siding that services their store and freighthouse (D'oh!).
That and they forgot to clean the tracks before installing (D'oh!).
Both were fixed in the cheapest way: with a saw and an alcoholic q-tip.

Next will probably be the IWW Hall on the Hill:



After I fix it up (it used to be the Mt. Coffin Cannery Co.), add some details & weather and install it.

An ok start, but still so bare!



Tomorrow will be the mine tipple, Wobbly Hall, hopefully some shotgun shacks, as well as starting to add trees and bushes.
Very much hoping the water will cure in a day and not the 3 days it took last time 
Also got to make the endplates at some point.

But now it's time for dinner and then bed.
Thanks for looking.

[fwright]

mcfunkeymonkey

Fred:  I just carve the pink foam to the form I want, use caulk to attach the lightweight hydrocal rock castings, apply a little lightweight spackle or sculptamold to blend the rock castings and disguise the foam-layer line, and then paint.

So unless you see a rock casting, it's probably just painted foam.

After you apply dirt / grout / gravel / ground foam it all blends together.

I haven't used plaster / plaster cloth since my dad & I worked on the Christmas Tree Train 25 years ago :)

Thanks for the answers - that is what I was hoping to hear.  I really want the foam without plaster.  Not just for weight, but because to model coastal Oregon, I will eventually need to plant a forest on the slopes.  Drilling plaster for a number of trees is not something I look forward to.

Your modeling is incredible, and a pleasure to view.

Fred W

Setup tomorrow at the Denver TCA show.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

I've never really gone for a styrene structure bigger than a shack, mainly because I immensely dislike cutting out all the doors and windows.
Maybe I'm just a wuss but that short and heavy cutting action and pressure really bothers my hands and elbows.
Plus plank by plank looks so cool.

But after seeing all the nifty structures Nils built out of styrene, I thought I'd give it another go.
But first I wandered over to the local Michaels (craft store) to see if they had anything that could help out.
Like a square leather punch.
No square leather punch, but they did have THIS:



In the scrapbooking section, I found a punch with a small rectangular head (they also had hearts and stars if you want).
Not only was it on sale for $3.50 (reg. $4.99), but the long side of the rectangle is about perfect for some smaller Grandt Line windows!

Here I'm using it on some clapboard styrene for the tipple windows (which are really sections of plastic industrial handrails):



I found it's easier to punch with the bottom of the rectangle "inside" the window hole, as if you press too hard there is a little denting of the styrene from the base under the rectangle punch head.

It's also pretty square, and once you punch one "chad" it's easy to use the head to align for an extended punch.
You just punch the four corners and then you can use the knife to connect the dots:



And not have to worry about slipping and scoring past the window cut.

Tah dah!



Cut those windows accurately and in about 1/2 the time with knife alone.

So that's how I made the "Eggel River Mining Co." tipple today:





The carts bringing in the black diamonds are Randgust's V&T ore cars that I accidentally vacuumed up about a year or so ago.

There'll be a couple other smaller buildings behind it (office, storage) and a lot of trees and bushes, but I want to wait until the water cures completely so I don't get a lot of foam falling into tacking water.



So it's a little bare there.

Also installed the IWW hall, a partial shack and some trees (all left over from Mt. Coffin):



I made my own decals for both tipple and Wobbly Hall, but I didn't like how they turned out.
Also need to paint some white background on sections of the Wobbly Hall before putting on any more decals.

So that's probably it for today.
I've been up since 3 (gotta do "real" work sometime!) and I still need to pack up the car with my own modules to take to the show set up tomorrow.

Then I'll put more trees and bushes on the Wye Knot module.
And I gotta build those endplates!
And clean all the track!
And make sure trains can run!
Then haul it to the show Sat. morning for the mad setup madness.

Thanks for looking.

[UPinCT]

Wow MC, I am impressed!  Wish I wasn't on the other coast, I'd come to the show just to railfan your group's modules.  Just curious if your friend's Bridge of Wonder is going as well?

[mcfunkeymonkey]

UPinCT

Wow MC, I am impressed!  Wish I wasn't on the other coast, I'd come to the show just to railfan your group's modules.  Just curious if your friend's Bridge of Wonder is going as well?

Thanks!
I'll try to get a video Sunday night or Monday.
This will be our longest layout config. ever, especially since Nils is bringing a 16'-18' Davenport Cement plant module as well as the Bridge O' Wonder (he's got a big truck).
The Davenport Cement module (based on the plant north of Santa Cruz, CA) is an unscenicked "pink prairie" right now, but the tracks work & he's got some buildings built so it should be groovy!

And I hope the "Bridge O' Wonder" module is going as well, as I took Nils' tunnel / rockslide shed section of this Wye Knot module to work on so he could get Bridge O' Wonder even more wonderful!

So last night I thought I'd put just a few more trees & bushes on before I went to bed.
An hour later I'd used up the rest of my Mt. Coffin pines (about 200).
[sorry for the washed-out photos]















Still need a bunch o' trees and bushes and tufts and...

Not sure if I'll have time today but I would like to get The Company Freighthouse and Store built and installed (where the red fuel truck is now).
But if it doesn't happen that's ok: it'll just be a long team track for now.

Well, time to start packing the car (after removing all the seats).
Hope to share pictures of our longest Free-moN layout yet tomorrow!

Thanks for looking.

 

[lone geep]

I'ts looking great! But wouldn't a coal mine have a steam locomotive for a shifter instead of a diesel since the mine would provide the fuel?

[mcfunkeymonkey]

lone geep

I'ts looking great! But wouldn't a coal mine have a steam locomotive for a shifter instead of a diesel since the mine would provide the fuel?

Or maybe just a lone geep? :)

So I finally took down the Wye Knot module so I could build the endplates:



The modules are 5' from point to point.
And 5' is baaaaaaaaaaaad for a Rav4: couldn't stack them, couldn't sit them side-by-side.
Had to jam one all the way up to the glove compartment (all seats gone except the drivers!) and then angle the other one from the left backseat door to the right of the rear hatch.
Fun stuff.

So I'm going to keep my own modules to 4' max (as long as I keep the Rav4).

But I did test out the module before I packed it up:

IdARl8nf0k

Hope that tides you all over until I get the video footage from the show done and up 

Should be an epic layout and show this weekend. Hope to see you there!  

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Long day at the show, standing on concrete in Chuck Taylors from 8am to 7pm.
But fun fun fun, running long trains over new modules, talking to lots and lots of people, everything actually work pretty well.

Shot a lot of groovy video today but no time to edit it yet (must. hit. the. sack.), but here's a panorama of the whole set up:



We have a 40'x40' space, and run pretty much all the way around the outer boundaries with a bunch of curves and undulations in there.



Probably at least 150' of main one way, and since most trains originate and terminate in Effett Yard in the middle, that's at least 300' of running the whole circuit.

Nils' module is awesome, and he's built only the 12' woodmill half: can't wait for the next 12' of Davenport Cement Co.!

Now we need some more curved modules so we can fold the modules into a big "S" and squeeze more mainline running into the same space 

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Here's a few photos and the video from the WGH show:

The quarry on the inside of the Wye Knot module:


Nils' 12'-long woodmill module:



The mill building itself is a mock-up stand in.
Nils scratched the woodchip loader, storage shed and all the wrapped lumber stacks.
The Davenport Cement plant will be on another 12' module (two 6' sections) at the far end of this one, starting right where that little grey coal shed and conveyor is at the end.
Prepare for pure awesomeness when it's all together and Nils works more of his mad modeling magic!

We learned a lot this show, like don't put Steve's Lockhart, TX module next to Effett Yard:



With so much traffic coming through Effett it was nearly impossible to switch the industries at Lockhart.
If we had just flipped Lockhart around it would have been fine! 

And here's the video.
It just took FOUR HOURS to upload and "process" on YouTube.
The video is 13 minutes at 1080p, and it looks very good on a full, wide screen.
Grab some popcorn and a cold one and enjoy.

xIRfqMcMrg0

Thanks for looking.

[UPinCT]

Looks great M.C.!!  You guys have a layout you can be proud of.  Tell Nils his Bridge O Wonder is awesome. 

I look forward to see more progress.  BTW I need help on my layout

Derek

[lone geep]

How long was that train at the beginning? 50 cars? 100? Looks amazing! Have you thought about incorporating your Alameda Belt Line into that?

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Thanks, guys.

The Alameda Belt Line is a folding switching layout that doesn't have Free-moN standard anything on it.

I'd have to build a special table for it to sit in and for it to be able to be clamped to a Free-moN module.

With all that work I'd rather build another Free-moN module from scratch :)

Had a friend from Canada passing though the area who wanted to see the Shoofly (he's modeling the Tehachapi Loop in N in his garage) for some oak tree research.
As it was a rockin' California spring day of a sunny 70 degrees, was able to get some photos of the Shoofly in the sunlight:









Those are Mark W's (CG N Scale) ventilated boxcars with Panamint's California archbars and Woodbeam trucks on 'em.

What was that little yellow thing next to the vineyard?





A very cool piece of modeling by Mr. David K. Smith of NZT Products with amazing detail (even has the levers in front of the driver's seat)
Personally, I think it makes the scene:



Thanks for looking.

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

mcfunkeymonkey, nice!

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Today being a sunny 80 degrees and me needing some phresh photos for some projects I'm working on, I took the Shoofly in Sonoma module up to the Open Space next to my old elementary school, set it up on a fire trail, and tried to get some natural backdrop along with the sunlight.



Not the greatest location as I had to shoot everything between the sign at the left and the school at the right.
Really I should have slogged the module to the next ridge (you can just see the top of the trail on the left in the distance) but there was no way I was going to carry everything that far (the car is parked immediately to the right).
So I made do.
A few turned out pretty well, but I need to save those, so here are the rejects:











The last two you can really see why it's important to get higher up so you can cut off the nearer hills and just include the distant ones (and even those are a little "big" for the pictures).

It would have also been easier if I could have tilted the module towards the camera a little, but it was tricky enough setting it up on a slanted dirt fire trail.
Then the wind started to pick up and started rocking the module. 
So that was that.
Of course, if I ever took the time to figure out GIMP I could just take the photos from Open Space and cut them behind the photos of the module out in front of my garage 

Thanks for looking.

[UPinCT]

Oh Wow!  Nothing beats the real thing,  

[Anonymous]

These pictures are just perfect, Michael!

[DGX GP 38]

MC,

Nice photos...I can smell the cow pies from here. I really enjoy looking at your work. Very inspirational.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Thank for the tips and kind words.
The California sun does make everything look a bit more magical (it better, as that's where most of our taxes go)
And still getting the hang of this newfangled photography thing, especially outdoors.

A big issue with that photo shoot was just in the location:



Given the downward slope of the fire trail, it was very difficult to get the module to block out the closest ridge (yellow bar).
And the photos that did "work" even clipped out the middle ridge (blue line) so that just the far hills (red arrow) appeared in the photo behind the module.

Lighting was also an issue: the only view at this location is looking south, so lots of trains-in-shadows shots.
I was shooting at ISO 100.  Should have tried some 400 just for comparision.

As I couldn't really tip the module towards the camera, it was a constant battle between getting low enough to include only the far hills and high enough to get some details on the module, as you can see with these two shots:





Getting rid of more of the "near" oversized background grass results in losing a lot of the cows and D-2 details.

Some of that will improve when I start focus stacking: Finally read the manual and figured out how to turn off auto focus, so we'll see how the next photo shoot goes.

A shot like this works out all right in terms of background, but could really benefit from a greater depth of field, especially close to the camera:



So I'll be playing around with CombineZP in the future.
But first I have a couple of clinics to prepare  for the NMRA/PCR Iron Horse Express convention in about three weeks, as well as finish 3-4 structures and a lot of trees for the Wye Knot module.

Have a groovy weekend and thanks for looking.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

Just installed the Eggel River Mining Co. Freight & Store on the Wye Knot module:





Built from parts of a Bar Mills "The One" kit and scratched the rest.
And the back side, which no one will see (but I'm still going to install a wooden staircase, dirt tracks, people, etc.):



And my first attempt focus stacking:



Still got a long way to go, but this focus stacking thing is pretty cool.

Thanks for looking.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

A hot, sunny spring day up in the Sierra Nevada when the Ten Wheeler rolls the supplies into the Eggel River Mining Co. Freighthouse and Store:

Watch out, peoples: the man's got Helicon and he's not afraid to use it! (probably because he doesn't know what he's doing with it)

But focus stacking + sunilight = photo fun:

Helicon rocks.
Now just have to figure out how to use all of it's nifty features  :scared:
Happy St. Paddy's Day

[mcfunkeymonkey]

And the award for the Crappiest Turnout Control (CTC) goes to....



Decided to use the best room in the out of the house to cover the one slide switch on the Wye Knot module.
(Cross-support directly under throwbar) The outhouse has styrene shims inside to snug-fit the slideswitch knob and then is CA'ed to a grey-painted styrene "plate" that slides with it over the switch top.

With some weathering and more ground cover it shouldn't look too much like "The Throne" (Just "Thrown")

Works pretty well, though I pity the dude inside when a train is switching the siding 

[mcfunkeymonkey]

This past week I've been building a set of shacks for the Company Town, which means another opportunity to try out the focus stacking in the sunshine:





Really need some peoples but really don't want to pony up the money for WS figures.
Guess I'll have to find the unpainted bulk pack and get painting.

It was so hot today out in the sunshine that it started warping the tarpaper roof:



So will need to fix that.

Since I was scratchin' with styrene, thought I'd make a couple videos while I was at it.

Here's the 5-minute Abridged version:

72IMW9IGT4I

And if you're just starting out scratchbuilding with styrene, there's a two-part step-by-tippy-toe-step tutorial on my website.

And now back to March Madness.
Go UCLA Bruins.

Thanks for looking.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

So I ripped off the roof of the Company freight & store & am in the process of redoing it.
Remember this isn't my module and after early April it'll go "home" so I don't want anything that's fussy or fuzzy or flakey for the dude.

Started experimenting with adding bark / trunk to my floral-wire twirled trees:



Dipping the trunks in stucco paste seems to do the trick by adding texture and thickness:



And on the module:





Looks moocho better than just the thin twisted wire, so methinks I'll be doing this with all foreground trees from now on.

So basically done with the Company Town module (except for the roof issue), now moving on to the mine tipple module.
(Only have enough room to work on one module at a time, so working through them in order)

Finally installed the Eggle River Mining Co. office I built last week:



Added some trees and so another opportunity to stack some foci:



Need many more trees, so will be twisting wire & twine today in between March Madness (Go UCLA!) and World Cup qualifying matches (Go USA!).

Thanks for looking.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

As the modules will disappear to their real home soon, I thought it'd be prudent to take a few more sunlit stacking shots:





On to the rockslide shed & quarry scene modules!