PRR Panhandle 2.0

Absolutely George! You know this automatically makes your layout my favorite outside of my own, lol. I don't even have a model of any of the homes I have lived in or any relatives and friends. I knew you were a special modeler when I met you at York. Keep us posted.

Dave

@BillYo414 posted:

I really like the Wile E. Coyote track. I feel like that adds so much depth to a layout. I think I might see if I can find a spot to sneak one of those in on my layout.

Bill,

Of course, you know where you can find one, right?      

George

@luvindemtrains posted:

Absolutely George! You know this automatically makes your layout my favorite outside of my own, lol. I don't even have a model of any of the homes I have lived in or any relatives and friends. I knew you were a special modeler when I met you at York. Keep us posted.

Dave

You are very kind.  The area has meaning for me as well.  I used to drive my grandfather to Baker's Market on 6th Street to buy fish.

George

Updated 3/02/2021:

I continue to think about the hillside above the Steubenville PRR station and what will go there (and how to position it).  Here's the current (working) plan.  In it:

• The houses along the back wall are all HO scale and have been cut diagonally.
• The road (Highland Avenue) in front of the houses is HO (Leisure Products);  it will need painted a light gray (it's black and too new looking for a city street).
• I picked up a Woodland Scenics Just-Plug system (wall-wart, hub, extensions, 3-pak of wooden light poles) for a street lamp.  We'll evaluate this for future use for O scale lights and poles in downtown Steubenville.
• It's not obvious from the drawing below, but the near edge of Highland Avenue (farthest left) is only 5" from the edge of the station spur and 14" above the bench work!  We are forcing the viewer's perspective.  That will require a steep incline and lots of vegetation to hide it.

Anyway, that's the current thinking.

More when I know it. 

George

Porgies from Bakers.....   that's good eating.

@TomSuperO posted:

Porgies from Bakers.....   that's good eating.

That is EXACTLY what my grandfather would buy - porgies!

George

Updated 3/03/2021:

So after further review (measuring some distances between proposed locations on the layout), I am re-thinking the Highland Avenue area.  It's a bit big given the vertical height differences that must be accommodated.  I've reduced the number of Albion houses running along Highland and moved the whole area backwards up against the backdrop.  Most houses will be cut in half.  That buys me 7.5" between the spur and the edge of Highland Avenue.  Vertical distance between those 2 places is 14", so it's still a pretty steep embankment.  There is a retaining wall behind the track which helps.  Here's the new look:

Thoughts?  Impressions?  Comments?

George

George, I think the plan makes sense.  All of us have to make compromises because of space.  I will be doing something similar.

@G3750 posted:

Thank you!  It will look much better when they are both functioning correctly.  Right now, it's a Gomez Addams event waiting to happen. 

George

George, I am thankful that you are sharing all this. I have time a patience to "Slog Through" your posts, and I am taking notes for the process. For example: Your switch template has you presenting it in a way that makes sense to me. This is my FIRST YEAR of repairing 022 switches (thanks Under The Hood Mitch) and while I am still a carpet layout, you are helping me with my third attempt at a panel for switches. My grand kids, 8 and 5, are all in and they help with drawing, planning and running.

Now to make a hammer hole in the wall, X marks the spot for a tunnel into the walk in closet, and then ask forgiveness from the CEO. (and then, tables, drawings, shelves, fun, fun fun...)

Thanks George, well done, I appreciate ya (Binge watching Gomez Train Wrecks as I read mail!! Fun to be me)

Thanks Miggy!  By "switch template" I take it you are referring to the mini-control panel I made for the Staging Area?  Glad to be of service and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.  You can ask here or send me e-mail (in my profile).

Wonderful that you are involving the grandkids - that's what it is all about. If you haven't done so already, please "Like" the thread.

George

@Mark Boyce posted:

George, I think the plan makes sense.  All of us have to make compromises because of space.  I will be doing something similar.

Mark, I'm still considering alternatives.  I might turn the buildings completely parallel to the backdrop and make them shallow "flats".  The ideas are still ping-ponging around in my head. 

George

@Mark Boyce posted:

George, I think the plan makes sense.  All of us have to make compromises because of space.  I will be doing something similar.

Ahhhhh Sir MARK, a Plan. hmmm, Ill have to look up what THAT means in Wiki-pedia...

Will a crayon sketch for the next carpet layout by a 8 year old count? He would probably get that concept better than I. (if thaat counts.. well, I am learning.) wow you guys are good. (plan, go figure, that's why my curves run outside the space the CEO allocate me on the carpet. Ive just been MOOVING the CHAiRS.. lol)

Updated 3/03/2021 (PM):

OK, so after further review (and another round of omphaloskepsis), I revised my plan to go with 1-2" deep flats for the houses and keep Highland Avenue parallel to the backdrop.  That gives me 9" from the track to the near edge of Highland Avenue, which is a much better look.

George

I think blending the houses into the backdrop is a good move (at least that's my understanding of what you're doing). I've been exploring this option to grow myself a full size open hearth shop. It's a handy way to gain real space without giving up perceived space.

Updated 3/06/2021:

I worked on determining the profile and cross-section of Highland Avenue.

First is how I think 2 of the 6 HO houses would appear against the backdrop.  The butcher paper is the profile of Highland Avenue and depicts the elevation of these houses.

Second is the cross-section.  Only about 1.5" of the house will stick out from the backdrop.

More when I know it. 

George

That's going to come out so good with the HO houses!

Updated 3/8/2021:

Today was a teaching day, so not a whole lot got done.  I did evaluate a few HO sidewalk products:

• Chooch - rejected these as they are a bit thick.  They look good, but I don't know how well they would stick.  Nope.
• Plastruct - these are vacuum formed and (to me) look goofy.  They looked goofy on-line and having them in my hand didn't clear up anything.  Pass.
• Walthers 933-3187 HO Cornerstone Curbs & Sidewalks kit was my choice.  This set comes with 4' of sidewalk, manhole covers, fire hydrants and other details.  I'm hoping to see these by the weekend.

I will press on with the painting and test-fitting of the HO houses, as well as construction of the hillside.

George

Updated 3/12/2021:

Made a bit of progress on a number of fronts:

1. My 933-3187 Walthers Cornerstone  - Concrete Curbs and Sidewalks kit arrived today.  I think it will be useful.
2. I drilled holes in the bench work and ran wires for lighting for several of the houses.  I need to get another set of lights for the remainder.
3. I painted part of the road sections for Highland Avenue.  The HO street section (Leisuretime Products No. 202) got a combination of gray shades (Gray Primer, Deep Gray matte, and Pebble).  It has to look a bit distressed - anything except fresh black asphalt.  Here's a look at one section in the spray booth.

More when I know it. 

George

Updated 3/13/2021:

I keep inching along.  Today, I acquired a few more lights for the HO houses on the hillside.  I also painted some of the HO sidewalks and curbs that arrived yesterday.  They also got the lawn treatment (green "grass" (foam) on the sidewalk berms).

More when I know it. 

George

Can't wait to see this scene finished!! It's going to be great when it all comes together.

Updated 3/14/2021:

So today we played around with the placement of houses, the wires leading to them for lights, and (under the bench work) the position of Just Plug components.  I have to be careful not to stick them in the middle of a future access hatch.

Here's an attempt at positioning Superior Street between the two left-most houses (note the black marks on the butcher paper).  By the way, that is Dave's (luvindemtrains) grandmother's house on the extreme left.

This is my thinking for four of the houses (first of 3 Albion catalog houses on the extreme right).

I know.  It doesn't look like much progress, but a fair amount of planning and thinking got done.

More when I know it. 

George

Sometimes planning and thinking of options takes as much time as modeling the scene, especially one in the background in a smaller scale and less detail.  Very good!!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Sometimes planning and thinking of options takes as much time as modeling the scene, especially one in the background in a smaller scale and less detail.  Very good!!

Actually for me, if I am being successful, that's typically how it goes.  The actual modeling is a very small part of the process.

But it does make things take longer than I think they should. 

George

Updated 3/20/2021:

We have started putting down Highland Avenue on its styrofoam base.  I have installed man-holes (painted and rusted) in the middle of the street.  I am using Hold The Foam glue to attach the Leisuretime street (kind of like a tar paper) to the foam.  Here are a couple of photos of the road clamped to the foam.

I also spray painted the remaining side walk sections and used a wash to darken them a bit.

They will probably get a second or even third coat to darken some sections.

Here's my recipe for the wash:

• Use Matte Medium 1:4 w/ Water plus 2-3 drops dish washing liquid
• Take 10ml of that mixture and add 5 drops of India Ink
• With a small brush, wash (scrub) the sidewalk.
• Blot with paper towel. This leaves a light grimy wash.

More when I know it. 

George

Looks great George.

That's a convincing new sidewalk! Can't wait to see the weathering job.

@BillYo414 posted:

That's a convincing new sidewalk! Can't wait to see the weathering job.

Thanks.  Still waay too clean. 

More to come!

George

Updated 3/27/2021:

Back on March 6, I published a profile of the hillside behind the Steubenville PRR station.  It was a work-in-progress.  I have since been working more closely with the actual area and available space and have updated it to better reflect reality.  I don't expect the changes to do much (if anything) to components already procured, but they will affect the construction (obviously).  The big changes in the diagram are:

• Each of the types of houses has been measured and positioned relative to the backdrop
• I've split each house down the middle or at least to closest point where it reaches full height (if that makes sense)
• I identified each of the stair profiles required.  I think they will work out nicely as the houses (and street) rise left to right as the viewer looks at them.

More when I know it.

George

Looks good!

Updated 3/31/2021:

Again, my thanks to AlanRail for so generously making these gorgeous stairs and hand rails.  I am in the process of:

• Layering and gluing down styrofoam so as to construct the basic structure of the hillside
• Painting the stairs
• Painting and weathering the sidewalks

Here's the planned area (overhead using RR-Track)

Here's the prototype as shown by Google Earth (this is modern day, house colors and details will be different for 1952-3).

Here's the area on the backdrop with 4 of the houses in place.  The section of road running vertically is Superior Street.

This shot shows some of the 2" styrofoam blocks being used to create the hill.  The drawing against the layout shows a cross-section of hillside and the relationship of the HO houses to it.  Three separate types of HO houses will be cut in half and used in the diorama.  My thinking on this has cleared considerably since making this drawing.

One of the holes for the house wiring just be seen in the photo below.

In the shot below, the hillside and a set of concrete stairs mate up (nearly) with a slightly crooked house front.  The area at the foot of the stairs will hold a sidewalk and Highland Avenue.  It is (obviously) not yet in the final position.

More when I know it. 

George

George, I think that hillside is going to look great! 

@Mark Boyce posted:

George, I think that hillside is going to look great!

Thank you!  I sure hope so.  It's taking long enough. 

George

George,

I'm anxiously waiting.

Dave

Updated 4/02/2021:

Look familiar?  This is the front porch.  The brick front is in the background.

This is the front of the house from the reverse side.  I just finished gluing in windows and the front door.

And looking at it from the front.

More when I know it. 

George

It looks great!

Updated 4/03/2021:

Today I made a trip to Hobby Express to get:

• Super glue - don't you just hate when you run out (or it dries up)?  Anyway, I needed some instant and some medium viscosity to move forward on Dave's grandmothers house.
• I also picked up some drapes!  In fact, I got all sorts of drapes and blinds, enough for all the HO houses.

Actual work did take place, including the cementing of all windows in the front of the house and the accurate cutting of the brick front porch.  The roof and the floor of the front porch got a wash with an India ink / matte medium solution to age them.

More when I know it. 

George

Hey George,

This is still sort of surreal to me to see that house when I come to your layout thread, lol. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Dave

@luvindemtrains posted:

Hey George,

This is still sort of surreal to me to see that house when I come to your layout thread, lol. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Dave

Well, I hope you are enjoying it and that I am doing it justice.

George

Updated 04/04/2021:

Building HO houses, especially those that must be cut to fit a specific location, is a bit tricky.  HO is too small, at least for me.  I cut the base of the 2 story frame house to fit the diagram (or so I thought).  In fact, it is about .10” too long, which is must better than too short.  We’ll stick with it and see how the stairs work with that slightly steeper angle.  Next I cut the house’s side walls and basement walls to that size.  I’ve also cut out the front porch overlay using HO brick styrene sheet from Plastruct.  That was also tedious and exacting work.  All this had to be done under a magnifier loop.  The porch has been assembled using a styrene glue (Pro-Ambroid) I had on hand.  It’s pretty old, but should be OK.

The mortar lines of the brick porch were enhanced with some diluted off-white acrylic paint.  I wiped it on and then off.  The dirty drain holes were highlighted using an India ink / matte medium wash.

Next, the window frames and the door were inserted into the front wall, which was then flipped over.  I applied styrene glue to the backs of the door and the windows so that it would seep into the joints.  After that, these were set aside to dry.

My trip to Hobby Express yielded some of wonderful City Classics HO curtains and blinds.  These were cut and applied to the front wall of the two-story frame house.  I then laid some black construction paper behind the 3 upper story windows to indicate the rooms were unoccupied and dark.  A piece of scrap balsa wood was cut to approximate the floor between the two stories;  it will help complete the light box.  All these were affixed using some of Eileen’s Tachy Glue.

I think the curtains and blinds really help, even though the windows will be hidden somewhat by the porch roof.

More when I know it. 

George

George, you did a great job!  I know it’s hard.  I used to scratch build in N scale.  I can’t believe it now.  LOL