No, you've got to take those pink desert pics! It's great to see where you've been.
Still a bit of pink foam showing in these pictures. I had a ladder out to change the battery in the smoke alarm, so I took this one:
Same layout, different angle. Above the control panels you can see where the subway station peeks out beneath the street.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Bapou,
I had a pink prairie for a couple of years until someone here on the forum "encouraged" me to get off my duff and paint it. It was a little more challenging because I had already laid track down - albeit temporarily - but it was definitely worth the time and effort once it was finally completed. Now I need to scenic it. But there are a few other things that need to be done before I can do that.
So, go ahead, Bapou, and show us your layout so far. I'm going to wait and post a more current picture of mine later this evening.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Nice pictures everyone...
Here's two...
Not a huge empire here - about 6 feet long, 20 inches wide. And obviously in an early state of construction. The apparent continuation through the far wall is just a mirror.
Here is the track plan:
Smile,Stein
Mr. B, now I finally understand how you've got your subway set up. Wouldn't have figured it out without your pics. Maybe this is what we've been missing - a place to post overall in progress photos that takes two minutes to snap instead of setting up scenes like we do for WPF. I like both concepts.
Perry, I'd love to see an overall shot of your layout, including the dinosaur playground.
Stein, I like your track plan and it looks like you're doing a good job of transferring it tot he layout. You're sure doing more planning than I did.
So, c'mon folks. I suspect the Pink Praries and Plywood Centrals far exceed the completely sceniced shots we see in MR. I think it will be a real ball watching our layouts progress - kind of like watching a kid grow up.
UP2CSX wrote:Mr. B, now I finally understand how you've got your subway set up. Wouldn't have figured it out without your pics.
Mr. B, now I finally understand how you've got your subway set up. Wouldn't have figured it out without your pics.
Jim --- thanks
Here's the best panorama I can get --- it's about 70%
Did you ask for T-rex shots ===>>> http://home.mchsi.com/~ironmaster1961/wsb/html/view.cgi-image.html--graphic.html
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
tstage wrote: Bapou, I had a pink prairie for a couple of years until someone here on the forum "encouraged" me to get off my duff and paint it. It was a little more challenging because I had already laid track down - albeit temporarily - but it was definitely worth the time and effort once it was finally completed. Now I need to scenic it. But there are a few other things that need to be done before I can do that.So, go ahead, Bapou, and show us your layout so far. I'm going to wait and post a more current picture of mine later this evening.Tom
Yeah Ill try and get aroun to it but it is also a huge mess
Lee is that a paper mill complex in one photo, could you give a diagram of your layout. Great idea, good work. Kevin
Lee,
Your river looks fantastic in the pictures you posted!!
Since I have a rather low ceiling in my basement, this is about as "aerial" as I can get:
A bit flat, I know. It will look nicer when I'm finally able to put down road bed, ballast, road, and some ground cover. I'm not sure I can really do a whole lot with the terrain, without altering the layout plan. The roadway is just paper templates so far.
Here's mine not much too see pretty much a sea of blue.
Rather than clog things up with lots of photos (like I often do ), here's a link to a
Layout (room) tour...with lots of photos
Hope you enjoy it!
Wayne
Stein's signature tells us to smile. I am smiling because I detect a double slip nestled nicely in his track plan.
Stein's my hero 'cuz he's so big and strong.
Here is mine, taken through a window outside my basement. I am told it looks quite large, but it is 9' across and 13'9" in length. The central pit, to give you some idea of its total surface, is 36" wide and 9' long.
Perry, You've really got that desert color down right. How did you ever come up with the idea for dinosaurs on the layout? I think they're great, especially that T-Rex getting ridden by a cowboy.
Tom, you can do a lot with that flat space just using some foam blocks and drywall mix. Mine is just a flat table but I'll have a fair amount of hills when I'm done.
Lee, I'm really impressed with all the work you've done with your layout. It's even more amazing when you get the big picture and see all the ground you had to cover to get to where you are today. Gives me inspiration to keep working on my details.
CR92, your sea of blue will someday be your own little world just like some of the other layouts here. Just keep at it and let us see how it's going from time to time.
Wayne, I'm just...well...I don't know...speechless. Forget the fact that the layout is not only massive but beautiful and you've made so much progress on everything. I'm just drooling over the boxes you have stacked on those shelves beneath the layout. You've got more inventory than most hobby shops.
Thanks Jim.
I've always been interested in dinosaurs since being a kid. I was at Costco looking at books when I came across a dinosaur book that included a plaster dig kit of a T-Rex. I'd been looking for one for over a year that was 1:48 scale, and this one came close.
After digging out the bones and 'planting' 1/2 of them on my layout, I thought it would be fun to add a 'living' T-Rex to roam my landscape and use in some funny skits. Wal-Mart had just what I needed --- after a slight repainting of the model and adding blood and spears.
My kids and their friends were also fascinated by the T-Rex's, and their imagination took off --- they will remember model trains now forever --- a good thing.
I understand there was an old show in the 50's or 60's that had a T-Rex in a cowboy town but in truth, I never even heard of it until someone on the OGR forum pointed out the story line.
My rider is a cowboy roofer trying to slay the beast --- but something tells me that T-Rex shall never die...
UP2CSX: Looks pretty good, and don't call it small. I have a 4x8', and your layout looks bigger. If it's N, theres more operating still.
Misterbeasly: That is a pretty well designed layout. I like how the main doesn't cram itself by the edges and follow the board. I think its neat when there is room to build that section of mainline surrounded by buildings and have sidings on both sides. It looks definatly like a fun layout to operate in a small space.
Selector: WOW! I thought your layout was some 30'x30' basement empire, and it turns out to be a medium sized home railroad. From all of your wide curve shots and how you use perspective, it really fooled me. Now that you've posted shots of it, I can tell its medium sized, but from most shots, that is one well designed pike. It really fools the eye.
Bapou: I have the same variety, except my desert is blue. Don't be afraid to post pictures, I just don't have a camera on me at this moment.
Man, nice shots everyone! You guys are going to make me clean off the layout and take some pictures tomorrow....!!!!
Brian
UP2CSX wrote: Wayne, I'm just...well...I don't know...speechless. Forget the fact that the layout is not only massive but beautiful and you've made so much progress on everything. I'm just drooling over the boxes you have stacked on those shelves beneath the layout. You've got more inventory than most hobby shops.
Thanks for the kind words, Jim, and thanks for taking the time to have a look. too.
Thanks, you can find the layout diagram at my website: www.wmrywesternlines.net
There's also a link showing how I did the river.
Hello here is mine and it is getting rework added a 4x7 to left side . Here is a drawing of my first idea thanks Frank
Here's an under-construction view of the center peninsula of my layout, shot from ~10ft outside my garage door [at night]. It's impossible to see every square inch of the layout in one view, because of all the partitions.
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
I had posted something on the WPF thread about seeing more of the layouts besides the close up shots. Thank you, thank you thank you everyone for posting some great pics. Keep'em coming and I promise that as soon as I get mine started I'll share also.
Nice thing about smaller layouts is you can get the whole layout in 1 arial shot.
Here is my son's and mine, this photo is old, there have been adds since, but not much.
expansion is planned.
Kevin
Gate 5
These are older pictures of my layout. I can't get the entire table into one shot. These are obviously work in progress shots. The lower area is turning into a town as we speak.
tstage wrote: Since I have a rather low ceiling in my basement, this is about as "aerial" as I can get:A bit flat, I know. It will look nicer when I'm finally able to put down road bed, ballast, road, and some ground cover. I'm not sure I can really do a whole lot with the terrain, without altering the layout plan. The roadway is just paper templates so far. Tom
Tom, that has to be the "cleanest" looking layout and train room I have ever seen! Not a speck of dirt or anything out of place :).
I'm guessing the rest of your house is immaculate as well
Not much to see here. Just working on the backdrop. It's hard to get an aerial view of my N scale double decker, but here it is so far.......
Here's as you walk in to the room.......
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/7-22-070.jpg
And here's the other side of the room.......
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/7-22-072.jpg
Then back in the far corner...........
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/7-22-073.jpg
And then the other side of the backdrop from the first shot.......
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/7-22-075.jpg
And that's the Autumns Ridge Railway & Navigation Company so far.
TrainManTy wrote:Sorry, none of mine. Mr. Beasly; from your photos, I would've thought your layout was huge!
I was thinking the same thing , from all the pix's I've seen of Mr. B's layout I thought it was gigantic , sure fooled me . All the detail I've seen out of him. Still in all a great layout.
These are left to right looking in from the doorway into my trainroom.
Jerry SP FOREVER http://photobucket.com/albums/f317/GAPPLEG/
Here are a few of my still under construction layout. These are all from the lower deck.
Wye track:
Passenger siding track:
Classification Yard track:
Passenger and Wye sections:
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
I took a stool, pressed the camera against the ceiling:
Over Third Street Industrial District:
The curve between Third Street District and Plywood District:
Wolfgang
Pueblo & Salt Lake RR
Come to us http://www.westportterminal.de my videos my blog
Man, lots of nice layouts under construction here. Hoople, mine is HO and it's actually not much bigger than a 4x8 in total are, just stretched out and with a dog leg so I can still reach things on the back on the two ends. The nice thing about this style of layout is it LOOKS bigger and you also get a longer mainline run in the same space.
So much of the work here looks so neat compared to mine when I started. I had junk everywhere. I know some things probably got cleaned up for the photos but mine still would have looked like a mess. One of the lessons I've learned is the first thing to do when building a layout is to have a place to put everything when you're done for the day. Keeps everything much neater and I can actually find things!
This is an old shot from the Pink Period. You can see a lot of the subway tracks which have not yet been scenicked over. The subway runs in an oval around the edge of the board, in the lower two-thirds of the layout from this picture. There's a passing siding in the station on the right (Penny Lane.) The station on the left (Saint Anne Street) has already been covered. There are tracks which come up to the surface and join the surface mainline, starting at the bottom and coming up on the inside of the oval on either side.
Sorry, it's not a very good picture, but I'm not going to go back and re-take it! For comparison, here's the original posting from Page 1 of this thread.
This is a table layout, so I can do a full walk-around and take pictures from a lot of angles. Most of my photos are close-ups, so you only see small parts of the layout in any single shot. I'll look around for the layout diagram when I get home, and see if I can post it.
You wants an aerial view?
You gets an aerial view!!!
Blimp's eye view of a layout representing the on-base trackage aboard a "U S Naval Air Station LTA" (lighter-than-air) ie. for blimps. This loop is NOT intended as a mainline but as a switching loop for accessing various parts of the base-- the helium containment vessel at top left, the Naval Stores warehouse along left side, the end-loading ramp on inner track left and open-loads outdoor storage area on inner track upper left, and the fuel dump, inside track right. The track leading off the layout at lower right is the connection to the mainline. A switcher makes runarounds for facing point movements by running all the way around the loop.
Links to some detail pix:
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/548/ScratchLTA.JPG
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/548/LTA_Admin.JPG
Here are some aerial views as requested in my other photo post (found here):
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
A great idea for a thread.
Here is my layout room as of 10 minutes ago.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
Dang nice looking arial views everyone!!!
I will try to get some pics up later, but don't expect to much after looking at yours, makes me wonder if I should even bother. LOL Mike
Cool! Subways and blimps bases. How many times do you see those on the same page?
Mr. B, I can see how you did the cut and cover for the subway now, kind of like the real thing. Whatever got you into subways and gave you the idea to model them?
Same quesion for you, Leighant. I assume you must have been in the Navy and been on one of these bases to develop this interest. What made you decide to actually build a model? I'm pretty sure you are the only guy on this forum with a blimp base.
Simon, those are some great shots, really gives me the idea of what you've (more or less) finished and what you're still working on. Thanks for posting that one pic with all the construction materials in the scene. I showed it to my wife and she agreed there's at least one other modeler that's as messy as me.
Matt, great shots also. I'm a structure guy so I like to see how other people have arranged their towns. I'm also a believer that structures and scenery should be the predominant factor in a layout since that's what the real world looks like. You've got a nice mix of just enough trackage and just enough scenery to make it look very realistic. The fascia board around the layout also looks like a neat job. That's one thing I haven't started on yet but a woodworker I'm not. As long as I still have the same number of fingers I started out with, I'll call it good.
Thank you for the advice, Jim. Let's try again:
This is the staging module behind the scenes.
Looking west from where the staging comes in.
This is the opposite end, a corner module.
The west end, with a grain elevator and a brewery.
The east end, with a fuel dealer (oil & coal), scrap yard, and the engine house.
I run these with our NMRA division's module group, scenery is progressing slowly but surly, oops, surely.
If everybody is thinking alike, then nobody is really thinking.
http://photobucket.com/tandarailroad/
If it's not to late I like to show a few shots of my 2 level under construction HO. It's in a 11 by 13 bedroom and it's both the running and building site so if you see construction materials or wires it to show the work in progress. It's basically a folded dogbone against the back wall on the lower lowel and a loop on the upper lever.
Currently I in the process of completeing the top section and then I will have to complete a bridge and two tracks to run trains from the lower to upper sections. If you look closely behind the Co-op on the lower section you will find track that lead to the upper deck. And on the section showing the two deck where the train will go down.
Upper deck [img][img][img][img][img][img]" border="0" />[/img][/img][/img][/img][/img][/img]
Lower deck
[img][img][img][img]" border="0" />[/img][/img][/img][/img]
Modelling the UK in 00, and New England - MEC, B&M, D&H and Guilford - in H0
JFallon,
Unfortunately, Flickr is not a very user friendly uploading site. I use Photobucket and it's a snap to do inline photos from there - just paste and copy. What you're missing is an image or IMG tag. Let's see if this works:
The correct tag looks like this:
{img}http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1285/1262517860_9cb2153a81_m.jpg{/img} You'd replace the curly brackets with square brackets. I'm using curly brackets here so you can see the correct usage of the IMG tags.
Notice the difference is adding the "img" (without the quotes but with square brackets) at the beginning of the link and "/img" at the end of the link. This makes the photo appear in-line with the text here. This is a pain with Flickr but really easy with Photobucket so I suggest you give them a try for your pictures.
UP2CSX wrote: Mr. B, I can see how you did the cut and cover for the subway now, kind of like the real thing. Whatever got you into subways and gave you the idea to model them?
I've always liked subways and tunnels. I grew up on Long Island, outside of New York City. I just loved riding the subways, although a couple of summers as a daily commuter did reduce that enthusiasm somewhat. Then I moved to the Boston area, and I enjoyed the very different subway system here. And through all the years when my trains were packed away in boxes, I would occasionally dream of subways.
When I started as a born-again model railroader, I happened to see the P2K subway trains advertised. That settled it - I could build a subway. I ordered a set of those, and also a Bowser PCC car to emulate the Boston trolleys.
I found it a lot of fun to develop techniques for modelling the stations and tunnels. I dove right in, learning to make my own molds for hydrocal, and improvising all the way. Old dog, new tricks, no problem. My stations are taken from memories of the New York and Boston systems, and also from suggestions on this forum.
I don't dream of subways anymore. Instead, now I've got my own.
Hey, Fred, it's never to late to post on this thread. I envision this as an ongoing thread giving people a chance to show us how the layout looks now and then what happens down the road. Gives inspiration to those of us who think we'll never get done. You've got a very ambitious layout plan there and it looks like you're making good progress. My wife says you've got to get the wires out of that cow pasture because it looks like you've already electrocuted one cow. She's an animal lover, even if they are plastic (or "toys", as she would say).
Mike that's a good aerial view, at least of part of your layout. Now, let's see the rest once that storm that's brewing passes on.
Mr B., you're not the only New Yorker that seems to have a strange affection for subways. I've only ridden the NY subways a few times back in the 70's and they were a scary place back then. I understand things are much better now. You've certainly come up with a unique addition to a layout. I like interurbans and I thought about adding an interurban line to my layout but chickened out due to all the wire work. I console myself by saying my shortline is a former interurban that dieselized. I'm even lining the ROW with abandoned power poles.
Bump!
C'mon, you guys, I know you have pictures you're holding out on us. We want to see that layout with all the junk still scattered around.
Hi There;
Ashot of Briane St. in downtown Kelton.
A pic of the log camp I built for the club layout.
Enjoy Tom
perry1060 wrote: Did you ask for T-rex shots ===>>> http://home.mchsi.com/~ironmaster1961/wsb/html/view.cgi-image.html--graphic.html
The cowboy riding the T-rex reminded me of an old movie: The Valley of Gwangi... The stuff we would stay up late and watch...
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Nice view of downtown, Tom. Looks like you've got the year down to about 1959 or thereabouts. Any other overall pictures of your layout? That log camp looks way too complicated for me to build but you did a great job, especially for a club layout. When I belonged to a club, I tried never to build anything with wires, strings, or any more projections than needed because we had a few ham-fisted members who would break something the very first time it was put on the layout without exception. I hope your club is better - I'd have to give serious beating to anyone who wrecked that log camp.
AltoonaRailroader, you did suggest this, thank you very much. I wouldn't have thought of it and I just happened to post the first message.
We want more layout photos! Not just the good, we want the bad and the ugly too. Let us see how a real layout room looks with work in progress.
UP2CSX wrote: , we want the bad and the ugly too.
, we want the bad and the ugly too.
What do you mean? I aleady posted my pictures.
Well you said you wanted the good the bad & the ugly so here goes.
First the good? Arial view of Vance's Junkyard.
Second the bad, Logging camp under under construction
Third the ugly. Labour dispute at Rogers plant
UP2CSX wrote:We want more layout photos! Not just the good, we want the bad and the ugly too. Let us see how a real layout room looks with work in progress.
Careful what you ask for <LOL>....!
My layout has all these view-dividers so it doesn't really lend itself to ariel views, but here are some more wide-angle, under-construction shots of the mill area.
A harbor-side view of the coke ovens and blast furnace, before scenery was applied:
Moving slightly toward the right, we see the ore dock with a lake boat being unloaded. This was a temporarily-staged scene where I put some brownish-gray painted Dow board under cellophane, to make it look like an actual river:
When the photo-shoot was finished, I removed the Dow board to restore a 2ft-wide aisle. The cellophane just hangs down until the next time I want to stage some photos.
This is my track plan. The solid-black areas are permanently off-limits to my trains; the blue track is for staging, the teal-colored areas are walkways, and the cyan stripes are the view-dividers. The two yellow-background sections toward the right are lift-outs, but I usually just duck underneath them.
Tom, even the bad and ugly look good. . I really like the way the loggin camp islaid out - looks like it will have a lot of area for scenery when it's done. I like the labor dispute too although the cops better get between those two groups before they start belting each other with 2x4's.
Ken, we were just posting on the ore boat thread and I'm glad to see more of your layout. As I wrote, I worked on an ore boat for a summer and that dock looks like the real thing to me. Between the boat and the dock, you must have spent hundreds of hours scratch building and it shows. How did you get interested in ore boats? I think yours is the only layout I've seen with a real unloading dock.
Jim, thanx for the kind words!
My interest in ore boats came from my childhood in a suburb of Detroit. My family often took Sunday drives over the Ambassador Bridge and back; my 4th-grade class went on a field trip to the Ford Motor Co. steel mill (now Severstal Steel) in Dearborn and, being a pyromaniac, I fell in love with the place. Fire + heavy machinery + ships, a magic combo! Later, I watched an ore boat being unloaded by one of these bridge cranes while sailing on a Bob-Lo excursion boat past Great Lakes Steel. [In fact, my ore bridge is a compressed model of one of the Zug Island machines.]
I spent roughly a year of evenings and weekends on the ore bridge; 6 months on the enlarged version of the Walthers blast furnace; and another 6 mos. on the kitbashed ore boat. Then it occurred to me, I should probably build a layout to put these on <LOL>. That took another 18 months.
Here is my world. This picture is about a year old. I really need to update it. Soon as it stops being a 112, I will get out there!
This is more current shot of the KVR Shops. The MOW train has been pulled out of the back of the yard getting prepped for some work.
Best Regards, Big John
Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona. Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the Kiva Valley Railway
Here's an overhead view of Hawksbill Yard from a year ago. Sadly, it still looks this way!
The Cedar Branch & Western--The Hillbilly Line!
I really hate posting shots when I have a mess but I thought this "aerial shot" idea was kinda of cool and it would be interesting. I have about 6 ft more space on the left side where my workbench is. Then to the bottom and right of the picture is another 6ft or so. That island is 10 ft long x 5 ft wide to give an idea of size. It's HO. Just started on scenery in the far back corner. I have a l o n g way to go.
There has been several discussions on lighting. This overhead really shows the difference. The back side by the garage door is lit with daylight (6500K) pigtail 75 equivalent watt CFs. The forefront has the soft white CFs, also 75 watt equivalents. Note the yellow tinge. I'm slowly replacing the soft white lights.
Regards,
I know it's not exactly what you meant but I couldn't resist when you said "aerial views"!
Jim Policastro
Here's an overhead shot of my yard after the tearout and rebuild.....
Don Z.
Research; it's not just for geeks.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
jimsrpo wrote: I know it's not exactly what you meant but I couldn't resist when you said "aerial views"! Jim Policastro
Thats a cool looking perspective. You almost had me looking for spiderman there
I can"t believe that I missed this thread. You guys have some great layouts.
Tom, Great shot of the logging landing. BC would be a good reason to have some logging.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
I'm brand new to this forum and am having trouble trying to figure out how to post photos. Can anyone please help or point me in the right direction so I can figure out how to do this?
Thanks,
Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.
Wayne, the easiest way to post photos here is to join a site like
photobucket
It's free and easy to use, just follow their step-by-step instructions for placing your photos there in your own albums. When you want to place one of those photos into a post here, simply "Copy" the "img" line below your picture in photobucket, then "Paste" it into your post here.
This picture shows my latest work. Scenery, some ballast for this segment and Woodland green. More at my blog .
This picture shows also the urgent need for a new background.
Here's an overall shot of the Notyme & Munee
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
BATMAN wrote:Tom it's lookin good. What did you use to mount your backdrop on and was it easy to make that curve? Also what is your curved facia board made out of and what is it screwed onto. ThanksBrentPS; Is that whole in the benchwork for a turntable?
Brent, backdrop is mounted against the garage wall - used caulk to hold it. Along the garage door wall it is glued to some 1x2 uprights.
Was the curve hard to make ? All credit goes to Don Z for the bench work. His arms were sore kerfing that entire 8ft piece.
Curved facia is 1/4" masonite. Hole is for the turntable.
mononguy63 wrote:Here's an overall shot of the Notyme & MuneeJim
Printer wrote:I have that same baby walker in my house for my new Grandson!BTW, this a basement of garage setup?
Thanks for the compliment, Printer. That baby equipment is in Deep Archival Storage - with 4 kids, I've caught my limit!
And the layout's in a basement that's been for sale since April. Given the current housing market, I figure the house will sell just about the time I'm preparing to plant the final tree...
I'm having way too much trouble trying to post photos on the forum, but here goes.
I'm modeling a micro layout "Mower Lumber Company" Cass, WV designed by Carl Ardent. We live in an apartment in San Francisco so space is at a premium. I'm trying to post an aerial view of the layout in general and then one of the first of two staging areas.
You got it! And welcome aboard!
The pictures are coming through just fine.
Who wanted to see ugly? I have got some for you. Frist I must explain I was in to HO Slot cars and that is what this bench strated out as. That will explain why the bench is not well bulit and I used cheap green out door carpet. Slot cars that I have will run up a wall so a 2% grade, well what was that. Carpet all so looked fine under the black track as well, all I was doing was trying to get off the plywood.
This was sort of the starting point but was bigger before I went the way of the train. It was while I was adding a nother section comming toward the PIC that I bought my frist train set, cheap Life Like with pancake motor off E-bay. I will add up to this point I thought Train People where idots! How fun could it be watching a train go around and around and around some more? (well I may still be right, I am not that smart)
Well I found my self enjoying the train, all the HO Slot car track was off the bench so I could add the carpet. Found out about flex track and started to add.
There is not 300 feet of slot car track under the bench in boxes.
Some of the folks from the slot car site tried to help me the best they could. Road Bed was never talked about much, never talked about grade and I slugged on getting bigger and bigger with no real plan.
Now for today, am I proud of by bench? No, but with all it short cominngs toward eye apell it works great. For what it lacks in quality it makes up in sizes. Has two main line that can be ran indepent of each other so 1 side can be DC and Other DCC. Right now both are DCC. Plus I have some good looking bulids for the town and better than avarge Engines
This will be the town, unless I change my mind. This section is 8' X 5' and is the worst part of the bech. 2 X 4 are wrapped and there is a 1.5% grade plus that I can not level out. Besides replacing it I may take the wall out as well.
This is my command center view point. I am about 5 foot to 20 feet from the track.
For lack of better words this is my repair shop. Saw this at a now closed HLS and had to have it! They wanted $200.00 but I finaly got it for $90.00. All the lines work but do not use it much. All so found ballast and carpet do not like each other.
This shows both the A Line and B line passing tracks and cross over from B to the A line at two driffrent points. Note the Big Boy, it is a PCM. Coal train is 31 cars long and being pulled by a BLI M1a. How about all the tyco Old dutch Hopper That is around half of the ones I have. All to standers with PK 2000 wheels and Kadee couplers, dont as why but I have 33 of them?
This Pic shows where the passing track and the B line meets, Class J is on the main line and the coal train is on the passing siding.
Now before you folks think I am total a lost cause I have been reading and learing. I know from the PIC I have posted so far it does not seem like it but I have.
This is the new section it is 5' X 9.5' and will be K-10 Mining named after K-10 Trains the Best LHS one could ask for. Still up in the air about what I want it to look like but I have supplys!
I did no cleaning up of junk for the PIC, but you can tell that. I would have stood on a ladder but 90% chances I would have fell down and gone to the ER. I will add I will be using some of the Great ideas I have seen.
Cuda Ken child like but working rail road.
I hate Rust
I enjoy looking at the views here, gives an idea of what everyone is doing. Here are a few of mine, I could not get it all in one pic so I took several and posted the best. Hope you like them. Mike
cudaken wrote: Who wanted to see ugly? I have got some for you. Frist I must explain I was in to HO Slot cars and that is what this bench strated out as. That will explain why the bench is not well bulit and I used cheap green out door carpet. Slot cars that I have will run up a wall so a 2% grade, well what was that. Carpet all so looked fine under the black track as well, all I was doing was trying to get off the plywood. This was sort of the starting point but was bigger before I went the way of the train. It was while I was adding a nother section comming toward the PIC that I bought my frist train set, cheap Life Like with pancake motor off E-bay. I will add up to this point I thought Train People where idots! How fun could it be watching a train go around and around and around some more? (well I may still be right, I am not that smart) Well I found my self enjoying the train, all the HO Slot car track was off the bench so I could add the carpet. Found out about flex track and started to add. There is not 300 feet of slot car track under the bench in boxes. Some of the folks from the slot car site tried to help me the best they could. Road Bed was never talked about much, never talked about grade and I slugged on getting bigger and bigger with no real plan. Now for today, am I proud of by bench? No, but with all it short cominngs toward eye apell it works great. For what it lacks in quality it makes up in sizes. Has two main line that can be ran indepent of each other so 1 side can be DC and Other DCC. Right now both are DCC. Plus I have some good looking bulids for the town and better than avarge Engines This will be the town, unless I change my mind. This section is 8' X 5' and is the worst part of the bech. 2 X 4 are wrapped and there is a 1.5% grade plus that I can not level out. Besides replacing it I may take the wall out as well. This is my command center view point. I am about 5 foot to 20 feet from the track. For lack of better words this is my repair shop. Saw this at a now closed HLS and had to have it! They wanted $200.00 but I finaly got it for $90.00. All the lines work but do not use it much. All so found ballast and carpet do not like each other. This shows both the A Line and B line passing tracks and cross over from B to the A line at two driffrent points. Note the Big Boy, it is a PCM. Coal train is 31 cars long and being pulled by a BLI M1a. How about all the tyco Old dutch Hopper That is around half of the ones I have. All to standers with PK 2000 wheels and Kadee couplers, dont as why but I have 33 of them? This Pic shows where the passing track and the B line meets, Class J is on the main line and the coal train is on the passing siding. Now before you folks think I am total a lost cause I have been reading and learing. I know from the PIC I have posted so far it does not seem like it but I have. This is the new section it is 5' X 9.5' and will be K-10 Mining named after K-10 Trains the Best LHS one could ask for. Still up in the air about what I want it to look like but I have supplys! I did no cleaning up of junk for the PIC, but you can tell that. I would have stood on a ladder but 90% chances I would have fell down and gone to the ER. I will add I will be using some of the Great ideas I have seen. Cuda Ken child like but working rail road.
Cuda Ken, I miss the playboy pictures you had over your old layout. Umm....was that you?
Anyway, I do see a lot of progress you have made since you first started. Thats one heck of a nice looking repair shop you got there.
The only critisizm I have is don't ever let OSHA into your garage. If they see those electrical cords hanging all over the place like that, they'd shut your railroad down in a heartbeat.
mikesmowers wrote: I enjoy looking at the views here, gives an idea of what everyone is doing. Here are a few of mine, I could not get it all in one pic so I took several and posted the best. Hope you like them. Mike
Mike,
This shot is phenomenal! You've captured the evening glow of a typical small town! The sunset still lights the sky while darkness settles across the village. Streetlights are coming on. Lights are appearing in homes and businesses. It feels so warm and inviting, like a Thomas Kincaid painting. Wow!
These have been posted before but I thought I could participate here.
Here is a shot of the yard. As you can see I painted the rail grimy black but have yet to start applying any soil and details.
Here is a view from the other side so you can see the industry tracks adjascent the yard.(out of focus)
This shot is from the L in the layout like the first photo. You can see Victoreville on the right with passing track and three sidingd to work. Th upper track on the far left is the Summit passing track, and in the far right distance is a canyon where a steal trestle will be installed.
Here you get a better view of the canyon with the descending( on a trestle ) from Summit track and Victorville with train waiting to depart int staging.
These are old Photo's but when it gets over 95 in Riverside I generally don't work on the layout at all. Maybe around Thanksgiving or Christmass I may have some progress photo's.
P.S. don't hesitate to critisize the photo's and suggest a better aproach.
John
Ken, you've come a long way since your slot car days. Looks like the new section coming along nicely.
Mike, I'm a sucker for night shots also and yours look particularly good. I like the way the buildings blends into the track and background. I was looking at the site of a famous model railroader. He had beautiful structures and the backdrop work was amazing. He spent lots of time getting realistic power poles and wiring. The more I stared at his pictures, the more I knew somethng was missing. One was my usual sloppy level of work but the other was - no streetlights. Not one. Even if they are dummies, they are so much a part of a typical town that I don't know how you can think you hae a realistic scene without them. I'm up to 54 streetlights and 10 structure lights and I've got another 10 or so to go before I think a night scene will look convincing. After seeing some of the work here, I'm also going to need to get some lighted store signs as that now stands out like a sore thumb.
John, I lived in that area for about 30 years and the general contours and colors look just about right to me. Looks like a very ambitious track plan. The only question I have is what's you're plan for a trestle in that bottom picture? Some sort of steel structure would be prototypical in the modern era. Did you already have something in mind?
Here's my contribution. It covers about 3/4 of the layout. First up is the town of Mountain Gap.
Next is the town of Adobe Flats.
The part not shown is a somewhat mountainous area that I'm not really satisfied with yet.
BTW, the number board in the background is from a CNW GP-9.
Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!
Go Big Red!
PA&ERR "If you think you are doing something stupid, you're probably right!"
UP2CSX wrote: John, I lived in that area for about 30 years and the general contours and colors look just about right to me. Looks like a very ambitious track plan. The only question I have is what's you're plan for a trestle in that bottom picture? Some sort of steel structure would be prototypical in the modern era. Did you already have something in mind?
Here is a photo of the canyon. I know the Cajon area does not have any high trestles but having seen one in person along the coast I just have to have one. It will be black instead of silver, and I have enough kits for three bents.
Only PIC on the wall is Joan Jett and Jessica Rabbit. Not counting Car Pic's.
Yes I have came a long way but looking at the other PIC I have a Looooooong Way to go. But I have fun with it ever day.
Cuda Ken
John,
No, there are no trestles up in the Cajon Pass buy who ever let a little thing like that stop us when we wanted to put something on our layouts. Both the SP and Santa Fe have some nice trestles along the coast but the SD&AE really have some nice ones. I don't know if you've ever seen the Campo Creek Trestle but there's a picture at http://www.sdrm.org/history/sda/photos/stony.jpg . It looks like it would be perfect for what you want to do.
UP2CSX wrote: John,No, there are no trestles up in the Cajon Pass buy who ever let a little thing like that stop us when we wanted to put something on our layouts. Both the SP and Santa Fe have some nice trestles along the coast but the SD&AE really have some nice ones. I don't know if you've ever seen the Campo Creek Trestle but there's a picture at http://www.sdrm.org/history/sda/photos/stony.jpg . It looks like it would be perfect for what you want to do.
Jim, thats exactly what I intend to build. Thanks a bunch for the photo.
Ken,
Love the Empire amigo! I had to laugh. You can definatly see the progression in your layout. That learning curve can be a drag. Hence why I am on my 3rd! I can definatly tell though you are haveinf fun with it. And that is all that is important.
This has been a great thread. Really gives a good view of the over all layout feel.
This one entered the realm of stunt photography because we were too lazy to get a ladder. Larry stood on the bench press rack and balanced off the exposed beam.
Sue & Larry
Gear Jammer do you have a track plan drawn? Would love to see it.
Thanks Kevin
Canondale61 wrote: Gear Jammer do you have a track plan drawn? Would love to see it.Thanks Kevin
Kevin,
We used 3rd PlanIt to draw the track plan. The yard has changed somewhat from the orignal design. Unfortunately, it is on my husbands laptop in the truck. When he gets a chance he'll bring it in and update it.
Sue, can I come run trains on your layout...
Mine doesn't look nearly as good.... Nor nearly as big.
That's pretty much all there is on my UK half apart from the river at the far end. US half is still in the un-financial planning stage
Mike
Jim: Today they seem to be bigger, an obvious example being the long flats capable of carrying 2 x 45 ft containers. Tankers are bigger too. The modern goods wagons are generally a bit longer, although many are still just 2 axles and 4 wheels. To my untrained eye US outline appears to be bigger overall. From what I've seen I think there's more of a mixture of stock in UK trains.
The steam and early diesel eras are still very popular with hobbyists, so I guess we don't often see the modern stuff.
Jim, I finally took a few pictures of the layout to give you an idea of the bigger picture.
I've posted this picture before on another thread. Staging is behind and under the mountains. Here, my large turbine appears as it enters the visible part of the layout.
The right end of the layout is dominated by the mountain. The buildings on the terraced area are the Old Mine Gentleman's Club and the Madam's,,, oops, owner's house. That's the only scene on the layout that's not finished. I'm still debating what to material to use on the road and parking area.
The center of the long leg of the L is the switching portion of the layout.
The short leg of the L is the railfan section of the layout.
After negotiating the curve at the lower part of the photo, the trains return to staging.
The two mainlines and six staging tracks are behind the mountains.
Please exuse the slight fuzziness of the pictures, I was hand holding the camers to take these.
Aussie Mike (i've got keep all the Mike's separated here ),
I was in the UK in 2000 and had the chance to do a little railfaning, or train spotting, as my British friend called it. I saw a fair number of unit trains that were mostly made up of those 90 foot container flats and a few coal trains that, while the hoppers weren't as big as one our bathtub types, were still much larger than the average goods wagon. I was impressed by the sheer number of cars that most trains carried because each of them were so much smaller than an average US freight car. I got the chance to visit one yard outside of Liverpool (forget the name right off hand) and there were literally thousands of goods wagons all types and descriptions. It seems like the British would start to realize the economies of scale and start running bigger rolling stock but it seems as though 4 wheels cars have been the standard forever and there's only so much you can carry on two axles. I haven't had the chance to get to Australia although I really want to because the Great Barrier Reef is supposed to be awesome for diving. I mught just work in a little train spotting too From the pictures, I've seen, Australian engines and rolling stock seem to more like the US than the UK. Am I right in that assumption?
I still have look twice at those pictures and realize they are N scale. I wish my HO layout looked so good. I really thought about getting into N scale when I stated back into the hobby but all I remebered about N scale was clunky looking cars and awful locomotives. Seeing your pictures now, I think I might have made the plunge into N scale. I can really see how you were trying to duplicate that Weber Canyon section in the overhead shot. It's suprising how much that original shot looked like Afton Canyon. That's why it's nice to see a layout from a larger perspective. It really gives me some ideas for both scenery and how to lay things out so the whole thing looks more realistic from any angle.
Jim - you're more up to date on the UK scene than I am Thanks for posting that info.
I can only really comment on Queensland rail which is narrow guage and therefore a bit hard to come by for the modeller. Our stuff seems to be a bit of a cross between UK and US. You don't see much if any 4 axle stock these days. Our modern locos aren't too exciting to look at, they're like long boxes on wheels to me, but the earlier ones were nice and some had the rounded hood a bit like a much smaller version of your F7s.
Cheers
I've heard our modern GE and EMD locos described as machine shops on wheels and I think that's pretty accurate. I do like the classic style of an F or E units, even early GP's by comparison. There's not much left in industrial design now except utility.
IIRC, both EMD and Alco has Australian subsidiaries. I know I've seen some double ended units that looked very similar to F-7's. I think Alco stayed on as a player in Austrailia long after it wen kaput here. Wasn't there an iron ore operation that used to run huge trains pulled by Alco 630's or something like that?
Here is my 4x8 layout at home for me and my 2 sons:
And here is the layout at the club I belong to in Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
http://www.yorkrailwaymodellers.info/
Mike Sowsun
"Wasn't there an iron ore operation that used to run huge trains pulled by Alco 630's or something like that?"
Yes Jim - both BHP and Hammersley Iron ran Alcos. BHP had at least one Alco M-636, although I'm no authority.
Also I've learned that Mt Newman mining had 2 F7As that were in service until 1971. One of those has been restored to mainline standard.
I remember seeing something, on Discovery or the History Channel, about a mining operation out in the desert there. The condition of the track limited speed to about 15 MPH and the trip took over eight hours at that speed.
The operator at one end would start the locomotives and jump off. At the other end of the line, another operator would climb on and stop the train.
Do you know if they're still doing this?
That's odd - I don't recall laying any track in the desert
No, Mike I'm sorry but I hadn't heard of that.
Oh, no, it's another Mike
Anyway, for Mike Sowsun, that 4x8 looks like ther perfect layout for you and the kids to work on. Nothing too complicated but lots of running room. Now get those boys to work on the roads and that lake. The club layout is very impressive. How many members do you have? Looks like it much be a bunch to build and maintain a layout that large. The sceniced parts look really good for a club layout. The club I belonged to was also had a huge layout and everyone was so exhausted from laying track and getting in all the moutains and other scenery that we just plopped some buildins down, painted in some roads, callled it a day. That was suposed to get upgraded but never did in the five years I was with the club. Every time someone was ready to work on the town scenes, something else broke on the layout and we had to work on that. Cripes, just keeping the tracks clean was almost a full-time job.
Here is Larry's updated 3rd PlanIt design.
The layout size is 13' x 13.5'. Visible mainline curves are 28"r, and 2 curves in the tunnels are 24"r. Mainline is flat and most of the grades are 3%, with some 6% up to the log landings.
Here is my pretty straight forward layout. I'm mostly using this layout as learning aid.
LilBeckett88 wrote: Here is my pretty straight forward layout. I'm mostly using this layout as learning aid.
Note to self : When taking aerial photos turn off ceiling fan !
Going around the layout clockwise
Some photos are blurry as i was balancing on the arm of the couch
South Side Jct.
Loup Creek Coal Company
Mt Hope and the Kanawa Valley Co-op Power Company upper left
tracks go thru Mountain to the mine for a loads in emptys out operation
south end of Mt Hope
Gauley River Bridges
Thurmond coaling tower and engine house
Thurmond Main Buildings
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
LilBeckett, that looks like a pretty good start for a learning model. I'll be interested to see how that mountain comes out.
Terry, those are a great overview of your layout. Now you need to get a tripod so we can see it all clearly. I'm especially interested in what the bridges look like without the blur. I like the looks of Thurmond. Now, if you can find a way to make it look overcast and everything black from soot and coal dust, you'll have it.
msowsun wrote:Here is my 4x8 layout at home for me and my 2 sons:Mike Sowsun
Couldn't get any more altitude for this one. Was already up to the 12 ft ceiling.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Printer wrote:Mike,I may be missing something in the pic, I can see how you would move a train from either inner loop to outer, or outer to inner loop, depending on the direction of travel, but how do they get back to the "other" track?Just wondering. I like the layout though.Scoot
Simple, you just back the train through a trailing point turnout and then you're back on the other oval. Probably another crossover on the other side of the line would be easier though.
UP2CSX wrote:Holy Cow, Bob, is that your personal layout or a club? That's some mighty impressive layout work there. I showed it to my wife and now she's thankful for my dinky little layout.
Jim, it's my club's layout. The section in the pic is any about 1/2 of the planned finished layout.
My N-scale layout is 33 1/2" X 49"
Industry
City
UP2CSX wrote: Printer wrote:Mike,I may be missing something in the pic, I can see how you would move a train from either inner loop to outer, or outer to inner loop, depending on the direction of travel, but how do they get back to the "other" track?Just wondering. I like the layout though.ScootSimple, you just back the train through a trailing point turnout and then you're back on the other oval. Probably another crossover on the other side of the line would be easier though.
"Some photos are blurry as i was balancing on the arm of the couch"
I hope not too many people were injured trying to get these aerial shots!
I'm not posting pictures because I can't get high enough/far enough away to get more than about 20% in any given shot -- not that the layout's that big (it's 8' x 20' with a 2' x 7' staging yard entension), it's the room that's too small!
Here is an aerial shot of my club's layout in which we are in the October issue of RMC.
Bill Carl (modeling Chessie and predecessors from 1973-1983) Member of Four County Society of Model Engineers NCE DCC Master Visit the FCSME at www.FCSME.org Modular railroading at its best! If it has an X in it, it sucks! And yes, I just had my modeler's license renewed last week!
That's funny about the ceiling fans. I was up on a ladder taking a picture for this thread and got whacked on the head too. Apparently us model railroaders aren't too good with situational awareness.
Bill, that's not a layout, that's an empire. Does that whole building belong to the club? How many members do you have? Just from what I can see in the picture, the layout looks exceptionally well detailed for a club layout.
If only my garage was this big!
An aerial view at the 25th anniversary of the FREMO
This was one of four gyms! Only one big European layout in this hall.
Hello here is my dads layout still work in progress but is still fun
0-6-0 wrote:Hello here is my dads layout still work in progress but is still fun
You need to sit down with your dad and have a serious talk. For a layout under construction that room is w-a-a-a-y too clean.
Hi Mike,
have been to your club layout a number of times. It looks like everybody worked quite hard on finishing some more scenery. Really like the layout, the detail and the people. Looking forward to the open house on November 11, 2007. Learn something new every time I go there.
Glad you put your web site http://www.yorkrailwaymodellers.info/ into your reply in this thread.
Frank
"If you need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm."