I'm impressed. While I'm struggling to complete my 29 foot mainline loop, you are adding new towns--benchwork to structures--every other week.
That is what I call Gettner Done.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
Thanks, Bear!
11 October 2020
I got the subroadbed installed through Hudson:
And roadbed and track into the curve leading to Hudson was installed a few days ago.
Then I installed the cork base for Hudson, and built the ramp down from the mainline profile to the Hudson base. Here the ramp is under construction:
Yesterday I installed the first section of code 70 track past the east turnout at Hudson. Then I backed a train onto it.
The track past the turnout isn't powered yet. I still have to add the buss lines to Hudson, and the track feeders as well.
In a few days I'll get the code 55 track I ordered from Walthers, and I'll be able to start installing the Hudson siding. I'm really looking forward to trying that small rail track!
Just for reference to see what I'm going for, here's a medium-resolution photo of the real Hudson depot, ca. 1915. There are at least three tracks, but on the layout has only two.
The photo is looking west towards the bridge over the Popo Agie river in the far distance. The actual town of Hudson is in the middle distance to the left of the depot.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Thanks, Mike!
3 October 2020
Yesterday I got the new backdrop painted (repainted).
Today I uploaded my latest construction update video:
It's been awhile since I've checked your progress Mark. Looking great!
Mike.
My You Tube
PruittI spent a lot of happy years in New Jersey and elsewhere, but it's great to be back.
Mark, I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying your new (old) location.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Chip,
You've got quite a sense of humor. How does your wife put up with you?
Dave,
Thanks!
I lived in Casper two different times, for a total of about seven years when I was a kid. So for the most part I knew what I was getting in to. Mostly it's the same old Casper, just a bit bigger on all sides. Where we live now was just prairie hills a couple miles east of town when I lived here in the late 60's.
Downtown Casper is shockingly the same, for the most part. Some changes of course, but the old Rialto and American movie theaters are still there, as is the underpass beneath the tracks on Center Street. Those are all icons from my youth.
Car registration in Wyoming used to be under 30 bucks, but I paid over 900 on our new Jeep Gladiator! That was rather unexpected!
Having spent so much of my life on the east coast, I'd forgotten how clear and dry the air is here. Being just shy of a mile above sea level, the air is thinner, but paradoxically it's easier to breathe here, too. My reactive airways (from asthma as a young child and a parent that smoked like the Big Boy) have a lot less to react to here than they did in South Carolina and New Jersey. Less pollen, and less pollutants.
I love the sparse population! Ten minutes from the house leaves me six minutes from the nearest human being. And what many who aren't from here (and some that are) see as dry, semi-desolate wasteland has a hidden beauty that's very soothing to my spirit. This part of the America is called "God's country" for good reason (ok, done waxing poetic).
I spent a lot of happy years in New Jersey and elsewhere, but it's great to be back.
Pruitt...moved most of the way across the country.
Hi Mark,
As always you are making fantastic progress!
Just curious - how are you finding your new home town and surroundings? You made quite a move!
I'd read your post, but I'm waiting for the movie to come out.
1 October 2020
I mounted the backdrop frames for the section from the end of the back wall over Casper through the Hudson area:
And then cut one of the backdrops from the previous layout to the correct height and mounted it. This "new" part of the backdrop is 24 feet long.
Sanding it and repainting it is next. You can't really tell from this picture, but the blue surface is all scratched up from being rolled up and moved most of the way across the country.
26 September 2020
Construction has resumed on the layout. Over the last few days I completed CNW benchwork from the wall behind Casper, around the left end and back along the angled wall, where Hudson will go.
I'll be adding some sort of support to the long free span. At eleven feet, it's too springy in the center of the span to adequately support the area by itself. I'll probably use a threaded rod from the ceiling.
This is as far at the CNW benchwork will go (at least at this end) for some time. Track will be laid into Hudson and scenery completed behind Casper and around to at least the intersection of the angled section to the left-end wall.
Hi Dave,
I use CadRail. The interface has the same "feel" as the top-end CAD systems (CATIA, for example) I worked with as a design engineer.
PruittI need to finish building the CNW benchwork above Casper at the left end. Before doing that I had to design it. Since this area will be attached to the room walls aound the outside, I needed to plan out in detail where support blocks for joists and stringers will go.
Just curious to know what program you are using to design the benchwork. I have used 3rd PlanIt and I love it.
21 September 2020
I arrived back in Casper late on the 18th, and after recharging my batteries for a couple days (it was a l-o-n-g drive!), I'm back at it on the layout.
I need to finish building the CNW benchwork above Casper at the left end. Before doing that I had to design it. Since this area will be attached to the room walls aound the outside, I needed to plan out in detail where support blocks for joists and stringers will go. That's what THIS diagram tell me:
Over the next few days I should be able to build and install most of this. I hope. Maybe I'm being a bit too optimistic...
I hope I don't run out of materials.
Thanks Robert, Dave.
I'm out of town unexpectedly for a few weeks, so not so much progress this month.
You did make a lot of progress in August! I like the slightly wavy track bed.
Your visual presence in the video is just fine. It adds a personal touch. I thought your old videos were excellent too.
Looking forward to your next video.
Hey Mark-
Saturday morning. Cup of coffee. New video update on the CB&Q in Wyoming.
Nice!
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
5 September 2020
A couple days ago I uploaded my latest update video:
PruittI spent today doing wiring, including an entirely separate buss for the CNW branch. Someday it will be on a separate booster that feeds this line and the Cody branch. It was kinda tight getting up into that narrow channel to add the wiring. Here's the buss:
That does look like close quarters, especially where the terminal strip is installed.
I'm trying to anticipate where the wiring will go so I can do most of it while the benchwork is wide open. I'm sure that I will run into a few tight areas but I hope to keep them to a minimum.
30 August 2020
All 15 feet of the track I can lay right now is down. I spent today doing wiring, including an entirely separate buss for the CNW branch. Someday it will be on a separate booster that feeds this line and the Cody branch. It was kinda tight getting up into that narrow channel to add the wiring. Here's the buss:
And here's the terminal strip with all the wires added.
The last thing I did today was run a test train back and forth a few times to make sure everything was good. It was.
Pruitt Backdrops are not installed yet.
Backdrops are not installed yet.
Light blue on the walls would really brighten up the room and look so much better while there are no backdrops. The dark maroon for a train room isn't doing it.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Thanks, Dave!
28 August 2020
I've got about 22 feet of backdrop installed now. The seams have been filled, and the entire thing sanded, washed and painted:
Roadbed is in down the entire length:
And today I laid the first nine feet of track. The soda can express will stay on the track until tomorrow morning, when the caulk has dried.
I'll probably go back and Dullcote the entire backdrop to knock down the slight shininess you can see in the photos.
I also posted a short video showing me installing one of the backdrop sections:
Looks good Mark!
Thanks for all the input guys! Collectively, you helped me clarify what I was going for here and the best way to achieve it. I concluded that the only advantage to a 6" backdrop was that it saved a bit of material, but possibly at the expense of appearance later on.
So I went with the 10" height.
Here's a couple of in-progress shots.
16 feet of upper and lower backdrop supports - garbage-quality 1X2's - have been installed:
And 16' of backdrop - .080 styrene sheet - is in place. Today I filled the seam with squadron white putty. I'll sand it later tonight or in the morning. That should give me a seamless skyboard. An additional 8' of supports have been installed, but the third section of backdrop isn't up yet.
Mark, when it comes to taking the odd photo, and I do, I have to have a reasonable height for the 'sky' or whatever the backdrop is. Buildings in scale, trees in scale, mountains so far away in scale, or sky that extends out of the camera's field of view from any one position. Accordingly, I'll always paint the entire wall sky blue and then put what I need at the right heights to cover the applicable trackage area. So, for me, go high. Six months from now, if you feel it's not right, take 'em down and shear 'em.
For places where you must taper, I think it would look least obvious if you used the same type of vertical curve that you'd find at a change of grade; shallow and long. So, a long S-curve.
My personal preference would be the 10" backdrop all the way along. I don't think it will be distracting at all. In fact I think a 6" tall backdrop with buildings almost the same height would be very distracting. Buildings have some sky above them. If the top of the backdrop is the same height of the building it will look like something is missing IMHO.
Another visual effect that I think the 10" backdrop achieves is that it looks like the train is in a wide open space. Subways have low ceilings. Trains have the whole sky.
Pruitt So... Would a constant height clear across look better? But I also want to minimize the distraction above Casper. .
But I also want to minimize the distraction above Casper. .
Pruitt Would the tapers from one height to another look funky?
PruittWould the 10" height even be more distracting than the 6" over Casper, or in your experience will the two decks be completely decoupled from each other from an observer's point of view?
“All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others.” -Douglas Adams
Frankly, I'd prefer 10" AND 6". In my experience, the distraction is the top of the backdrop. I'd try to get it as high as practical.
PruittWould a constant height clear across look better?
Definitely go with a constant height.
Pruittwill the two decks be completely decoupled from each other from an observer's point of view?
Yes! Maybe not completely, but your mind has an interesting ability to filter out what's not relevant to what you're looking at - just ask your wife. The other deck will tend to disappear. Concern yourself instead with how each deck looks when you're following a train on that deck.
You should do your testing at the viewing distance you'll be at when following a train. Maybe get out your camera and mock up some scenes in the viewfinder as a further experiment.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
22 August 2020
At this point I need some opinions, folks. I'm at the point of mounting backdrops on the CNW line between Riverton and Hudson, which over Casper is just a single line on a 5" wide deck. I've settled on one of two backdrop heights - 10" or 6". I'd like to hear wht you all think, based on these mock-ups. Keep in mind that the Casper backdrop will extend to the bottom of the CNW deck. The CNW deck will also have a fascia that extends about 1" below the benchwork.
First, the 10" backdrop:
And now the 6" one:
So what do you think? Is the 6" one adequate? In Riverton and Hudson, some structures and / or trees will come close to 6" tall, so probably 10" would work best from that perspective. But I also want to minimize the distraction above Casper.
I could always "grow" the backdrop height at Riverton and Hudson - neither are directly above Casper. So...
Looking for honest feedback here - fire away, please!