What did you do on your layout today?

Well, it finally rained in sunny California enough to keep me inside for the day. So I wired up five accessories that have been waiting patiently. Had help from my twin grandsons after their school too. Nice to have them here to learn.

Will post photos some day…

jeff

Installed two sets of FasTrack remote switch crossovers actuated by an SC-2 controlled by a Legacy command set. A big deal for me, lots of confusion and learning. All new to me. Here's the story .

Started making a cliff area.

Love the canyon shots above!  Nice work!

Bryan,

That looks really good.  What did you use?

I like what you're doing with the stone retaining walls to stagger the tunnel entrances.  I did something similar:

Thanks Mike,

I used the cardboard lattice technique for the form.  First coat was paper towels dipped into mixture of water and drywall mud.  The first coat was mixed at a soup like consistency.  Let dry for 2 days.  The second coat was another layer of paper towels with drywall mud but more of a cake batter consistency.  This layer I did more shaping of the mud.  Painting was just water downed paint using a spray bottle.  The pipe was just left over copper pipe spray painted.  Darkened the cliff so it looks like dirty water runoff. 

Today I finished hot melting the pink board in place and started putting on the plaster wrap. It felt good to be working on the layout again...........................Paul

I ran trains!

Tested out a new (to me) MTH NYC ESE Hudson. The silver painted Scullin disc wheels add great visual effect!

I played with my new band saw and started cutting the walls for my parking garage.  I am using a Korber power plant office kit as the basis.  Will post pictures tomorrow.

Art

started detailing out the inside of a tunnel painted it and added some plaster rocks once I finishe the rocks then I need to paint the ground brown and put ballast and rock in it. also designed a Norfolk Southern warehouse in Model builder 

Bryan:

This is nice rock work. What did you use and how did you do it?

Randy,

Thanks for the compliment.  I used the cardboard lattice technique for the form.  First coat was paper towels dipped into mixture of water and drywall mud.  The first coat was mixed at a soup like consistency.  Let dry for 2 days.  The second coat was another layer of paper towels with drywall mud but more of a cake batter consistency.  This layer I did more shaping of the mud.  Painting was just water downed paint using a spray bottle.  The pipe was just left over copper pipe spray painted.  Darkened the cliff so it looks like dirty water runoff. 

This weekend I plan on adding a little moss to some of the rocks and start on the bottom of the gorge.  I really need to get this part done so I can install the wooden trestle that will span the gorge area.  Already built the bents just need to get ground level done in order to put it up.  Also plan on having a lake at the bottom of the area.

Wiring and repair...

Yesterday I finally started the Rock Ledge on the face of my tunnel.

1st attempt at doing this.

I used DEP Lightweight Pre-Mix and I am very happy with the results.

Goes on Pink, dries White.

Tested it this morning and it is hard as a ROCK !!

Now on to the top of the mountain.

I just ordered a roll of "Shaper Sheet" from woodland scenics. It looks REAL easy to use for the mountain form. I am going to wait till it arrives and see for myself. Keep you all posted on that.

I have a ?

Do I have to use Acrylic Paint for the inside of the tunnels ?

I am going to be applying it directly over the foam boards I used for the rock face and mountain bottom supports.

Any ideas are good ideas.

Thanks in advance.

I've had 2 level around-the-room Mianne benchwork in my trainroom for a couple of years.  But, things in life have just come up to keep me from getting an operating layout up and running.

Last week I decided to take things one step at a time.  So, my goal now is to get a single loop of track wired so I can run a train. 

The layout runs around the perimeter of a room that is about 27' x 28'.  So a single loop of track will be about 100'.  For the past week I have been clearing all the junk that had built up on the benchwork.  Being a retired IT guy, I have run poly rope around the back of both levels of the layout to use as a dragline to pull wire where I need it. 

I haven't had a layout since we moved from PA to NC in 2007.  Today I upgraded my 2 DCS remotes and TIU's from 3.1 to 4.3.  I also upgraded my Legacy system from 1.3 to 1.52.

For my longer power runs I am using 12 gauge wire.  Last night I realized my terminal blocks can only handle 14 gauge.  So, today I placed an order with Mouser for some terminal blocks that can handle up to 10 gauge wire.

I also got my 2 TIU's, TVS-4's and fuse blocks mounted on a sheet of plywood today.  Tomorrow I'll get them wired together.

My goal is to be able to run a train 4 days from now.

Great cliffs Brian!!   What are they made of?

Gave up dealing with an Atlas O O72 wye. called Steve at Ross on Tuesday. My new Ross O72 wye was here on Thursday!

I painted the RossBed this AM.

Peter

Making progress on my parking garage but am running out of glue and foam board.  After a trip to get both, I will try to post a few pictures of the status.  So far so good.

Art

still working on my tunnel. and while out at a clients I saw 2 railroad bridges I thought were cool .

Started the ravine floor including the cutout for the lake.

Finally, I had a great day for going into the garage man hole, and as I was gazing around, I decided to count my tin plate locomotives thinking it would be easy. Boy, I found more important things that I had to do to get my layout running. My layout is named the Neverdun R.R, for good reason.  Any way when I and my wife, Rose (and she is, she has been my care taker for the last six months) returned from our dinner, I went back to the hole, and found more things that went high on the do list.  Just maybe I may get a screw or two installed some where by the end of the week.  That is my story and I will stick with it.

Al

Check out the water, then. I need to change the ropes with chains, didn't like how that part turned out...

here's what I did today. worked on the tunnel again, added a red light to the top of a water tower. built a NS warehouse front still need to do the rest of the building. here's todays photo's. also cleaned up the layout room.

Norfolk Southern warehouse slowly coming together.

Ran a long coal train led by a Y6 on the Mountain Division of my Free State Junction Railway.  Here are some short vids.  I hope you like them.

Pat:

Great scenery and videos! Keep them coming.

Got my full DCS system temporarily hooked up for a test track, that was fun!

Last day of March I got the second section of pink board glued in place. Now I am going to put the plaster wrap on this section.............Paul

Shot the stripped down shell of a Marx 999 with primer. Nice to be out in 70 degree weather for a change!!

With all the work I have been doing on the outside of the house I have had little time for trains lately.  Tore out 11 over grown bushes yesterday, and have 3 more to go in our back yard tomorrow.  This morning I took the day off of the house work to run trains with my almost 4 year old son.  He woke up this morning asking if he could put on his engineering overalls and run daddies trains.  

He looks so happy Jim, thanks for sharing.  Hope he had fun!

That sounds like a good day. You have your priorities in order. Never miss spending time with your son.

We had tons of fun running trains!

I also got my Cab2 and Legacy Base back from Lionel back today.  Hooked it up and remembered how much better the legacy trains run compared to using the Cab1 / TMCC Base.

bought my first MTH starter set Prr Passenger train. bought an End of train device for my grain hopper train and also bought a err AC commander for my Santa Fe Alco.

setup dcs on a loop of fastrack on my layout and ran the Mth train Smoked my room out is all I can say it smoke a lot sounds good and runs good. took apart a hopper and added the end of train device. it works good kinda neat to see. then figured I would start the ERR upgrade thinking it wouldn't get finished tonight well its done and tested works good. ran for the first time 2 trains on the same loop. note to self never have the slower train in front and eng ID set to the following train trying to speed up the front train it causes a nice little mess LOL I shoud have paid better attention to the signals being red LOL

I moved enough detritus out of the way so as to be able to run a couple trains and relax.

Pete

worked some more on the layout. rewired my signals so I would quit tripping over the wall plug. then setup DCS on one loop. hooked up tmcc to a second loop.  then ran some trains. ran Up sd90 TMCC , Up gp20 conventional, Santa Fe F3 Upgraded yesterday to TMCC, MTH PRR DCS.

Another piece of our 9x30 puzzle is finished. Except for adding more water to the lake (waiting for spring rains), our springtime section looks presentable to us. It's fun to watch a train come barreling out of darkened tunnel! Our next layout project is to work on a small town which is located on the level above the tunnel. That's actually reserved for rainy days this spring and sweltering days in summer. Meanwhile, there's real work to be done outside in the sunshine, like planting something! Anything edible!

Hauled it to the dump.  Moving soon and getting a bigger train room!

Well you asked!!!

I've been there.  Remember, you are making progress on your layout!

Today I actually have a 100 foot loop of track with DCS and Legacy hooked up!!

After nearly 7 years, I can run DCS and TMCC/Legacy trains.  Now I can start testing all those engines I've bought over the past 7 years. Hopefully, there won't be too many problems.

All I did today was to plant a few more trees.

I ran my mth premire berk pulls real well.How ever I did see a problem thou.A Bridge I built it just bends under the berk.I going to get a another bridge made from metal.It didn,t derail thou just looked real funny.Oh well live and learn.

Well we are experimenting/playing with ground textures and rock coloring again. Oh and don't forget the hundreds of feet of track that need painting and ballasting.

Dirt, ballast, and lots more dirt!

Grass and more ballast that's still very wet.

The rock canyon has it's first color on....black. Color to follow.

We're looking for a yard building to put in this corner that will blend in with the backdrop.

This Scenic Express Silfor, Buffalo grass, and Tufts are really cool. Expensive...but cool stuff.

Patrick was over last Tuesday, and we took care of a few small sections of the raised floor that were never finished. The floor is now 100% complete.

After that it was on to a long dreaded project that has been something of a sticking point. The curved backdrop on the upper deck has sort of been holding up the show. There will still be 2 more of these to do in the future, but they shouldn't be as difficult.

All of the fitting is done for the first piece, it just needs to be secured.

The 2x4 will carry the lighting and valance.


I've quietly been chugging along on the new hidden yard.


The east ladder is laid out and will be the next project to be tackled. Once secured, the body tracks can be completed.


A couple hours a day is about all my knees can take. Unfortunately, I found my knee pads a little too late.


With Jon and Matt's help, this should be done by the end of next week.

My first attempt at water.  Bought a piece of plexiglass at Lowes (cracked in the corner so 1/2 half) Since I could see through it just put it on top of the lake cutout and traced lake.  Cut plexiglass using band saw.  Painted bottom of plexiglass using various colors dark in middle to lighter towards shore.  Sprayed dull coat on top to take away some of the shine.  Next step is to work on the shore line going in the water.

Spent a couple more hours today working on the yard. Got all the filler pieces cut for the second ladder, and more track placed. One step closer.

Shot the top coat on a couple of Marx locos I've been working on.

Come-on Elliot! Leave something for us to do!

Be careful what you wish for. Just because I cut those pieces, doesn't mean there isn't still a lot left to do.

Built a "set-up track" for the club today while one of the kids ran my train. Will make it easier to add engines to a remote without having to worry about other trains entering the staging room TIU zone. Also setting it up with an On30 track for DCC programming of On30 locomotives for the logging operation currently under construction. A simple project, but one long needed.

I try not to think about all that's left to do.

Consider yourself lucky that it's my head the plans are stuck in, because that's what I think about most of the time.

No one said it was easy being you.

Removing my Lionel Tubular OGauge track from my layout and replacing with Ross track. Tubular up for sale. See For Sale page.

Dressed out some of the wires for my gateman, switch tower, and the relay/rectifier for the timing of the gateman.  It's nice having wires go neatly under the table as opposed to strewn across the top.  I think I finally am ready to open the package of road and see if I can get some cars to the burger joint!

A couple of busy days with Jon and Matt, and the yard is really taking shape.


4 of the 7 yard tracks are now complete. There are about a half a dozen sections of track and some small fillers that still need to be done on the remaining 3, as well as the loop.

Patrick will be over Friday for more backdrop work, and Matt will be back Saturday so we can polish off the lower level.

Sheet rocked and speckled the basement walls, after sheet rock is  done, shelves go up on the wall of the  basement for trains, THEN the expansion of Johns BIG CRAPY BASEMENT LAYOUT BEGINS !!!

Doing one of my favorite things. Building a long out of production kit. It's a very old Colorado Scale Models Mine kit. I got it very cheap on E-bay.There will be three mines in the new area of my layout. This is the last and biggest to be built. It's about ready to piece together then paint red and weathered like the picture. Don

Don,

That is going to look super when finished!

For the past few days and a few weeks thrown in too I have been riding the wave of working on the railroad. I just finished a third section of pink board and applied plaster wrap to it.  I had just enough plaster wrap left to cover the pink board. So today I just ordered enough supplies from scenic express to keep on working on the railroad. It feels great to have this burst of energy and enjoyment again after a number of years of stagnation. Of course with this lull in waiting for more supplies maybe I'll run a  train or two.............................Paul

I'm not in the same caliber as most of you but I enjoy what I'm able to do. Today I started painting my mountain that hides a sun tube that goes right through the train room. There will be water leaking down the mountain; I'll use Scenic Express' water gloss for that.

Today I painted the nickel rims on my mth cab-forward flat black. It has a more prototypical / industrial look. I'm working on subduing the shiny side rods and linkage too. Also I've removed the cab to add " glass" and paint the backhead gauges.

Elliott - It's really looking good.  Making a lot of progress.

Art

Thanks Art. Patrick and I got a lot done yesterday. Matt will be here in a little while. We should finish the yard. I'll post pictures tonight when the dust settles.

We finally decide to move into a 55+ community. I have to scrap the 9 x 34 plan that was going into the basement of the current home along side the existing 12 x 28. One thing that delayed us was finding a place with some room for trains.  I have started designing the new layout which is 6 feet wide at one end terminating in another 13 x 13 room.  

well it's been a few days so I will do an update of a few days. I cut the old layout up into 2 pieces to move it up 2 flights of stairs to the loft in the house. the loft allows for a 12x10 sized layout with a 58 inch by 36 inch leg coming off of the left side. it's 12 wide by 10 deep. then I put the old layout above this 12x10 table layout so that I can run track under the old layout. here's the photos's hope you enjoy.

Jhainer,

You made excellent progress moving the existing layout into place.  I am glad you are able to use the loft.  I am waiting for at least one of our 20-somthing daughters to move out before I will have room.  I will have to hurry to build something elaborate to try to keep them from moving back in like happened to you.

LOL

yea she was moving into the old layout room today. finally got everything out of it

A lot of work.  Sounds like you can now sit back in that chair and take a breath.  Then get on with your layout at a pace that suits you.

I'm whipped after 4 days with help this week, but boy, did we get a lot done.

Patrick hung all that backdrop on the upper deck.


He did it so quickly, we had time to work on a couple other things.


The mini-panels I made months ago, finally got mounted to the layout.


Now they just need to have their wires connected.








Matt and I finished the track in the hidden yard, by securing the last couple switches, and completing the loop.


All of the lower level track is done!!!


There are still a few little things that need to be done, and then it's on to wiring.



I guess it's time to start hauling junk out of the train room, there's no place left to hide it.

Bryan,

That Water Looks awesome.

Today I finished my 1st piece of Electronics. Double Light Bridge on 2 separate tracks with relays to go from Green to Red as train passes thru the block.

Thanks to GREAT OGR Forum Members.

Thank You ALL

hey I finished the day with one train running on the layout so it was a good day.

Originally Posted by Big_Boy_4005:

All of the lower level track is done!!!

Woo Hoo!

jhainer:

Really looks good. The cut-outs are a novel idea and add to the overall interest. Nice job.

Well the weather is getting better and so am I. So I finally got out to the garage and started to build some more bench work. I also have been saving $ for some needed wire. So the next few days I will get to drilling some holes under the bench work.

Partially completed a rough in on the upper loop. Finished the ballast on the fastrack on the upper and about 1/3 on the lower. Bridges are still a slow go. Still have a lot of patch up on the upper mountains and then placing the larger trees. STILL having fun.

Scott,

I went back to your post on the "Before During After" thread last month, and see your layout table.  Looks good!  Are these two sections modules, pop-up covers, or something else.  I have been looking at others' methods, because I hope to start building my next layout in a year or two.  I have built open grid,  L girder, and modular on two different kinds of frames.  However, the last time I did that was 20 years ago.

Thanks.

Larry,

I really like your rock work.  What method did you use?

Thanks

I finally got around to changing the PAs previously assigned to the El Capitan and moved them into service with the Super Chief. The F3s were re-assigned to the El Capitan. This made all kinds of sense as the F3s are an ABBA combo with two powered units. The El Capitan has nine 21" cars in it's current configuration, so having two powered units up front handles this long Hi-Level train with ease. The Super Chief has seven 15" cars that the PAs are more comfortable with.

I ran my new Lion Master Challenger today and finished weathering my lumber shed and started weather another building.

Uncle Fester,

The Challenger is a beaut!  This is the first I have seen of your layout.  Looks to me like the structures match the Challenger in good looks!

I haven't heard back on the work on my Hudson, but I would rather they take their time.  I think I may send an e-mail, just for a status.

Mark

Mark,

Thank you very much. This is just a platform I set up in the garage just to run some trains. I am currently planning a layout build hopefully to start in the fall. But in the meantime I can run some trains to help curb my cravings. so to speak...LOL

Mark

I copied Patrick H method. He was very polite in my e-mails giving me some additional instruction. I copied them because of that beautiful layout he built. He really did a fantastic job. He did explain a lot to other members as well on his original thread while he was building. Now, he is taking it down

Uncle Fester..that's some nice loco you have.

Larry

Larry,

That's great!  I had the privilege of seeing Patrick's layout twice.  It looked even better in person, so I trust yours does too. His method certainly produced excellent results quickly.  The finished product reminds me of the old cut and broken ceiling tile method, which I used on my last layout.  I am going to try Patrick's method on my next layout that I hope to start in a year or two.

Wow  Mark

You are a lucky man. I sure wish I could have seen it in person.

I re-designed part of my layout, adding soft floor underlayment atop my old 3/4" plywood and then an additional 1/2" plywood sheet and finally 3/8 cork over the entire board.  The additional wood provided more mass which, along with the cork, quieted my train considerably.  My old style tubular tracks are only screwed down as far as the cork with clear caulking applied under the screw head.  Boards rest on a frame that has foam strips. I can add signs, billboards, and do some surface wiring with small nails and staples on the cork which can be re-arranged as need be since the entire cork board is self-repairing once the small nails, screws, and staples are removed.

I poured a black wash over Mt Levi and it did a great job of filling in the areas that paint didn't cover.

great job gentlemen. Everything looks really nice. I just finished up a building I started this morning. Here it is. Have a great week guys!

Mark The table size is 18.5' X 11' yard extension size  4' x 27'  Overall size is 18.5' x 38' .  Its a copy of the Atlas Texas Western: Layout O-20.  As you can see in the 1st photo is the back of my garage and the 4' section that runs the length of the garage. My plans are to wrap around the last section to make it a big U shape. And as in previous photos This layout was built as a large flat top layout. Big mistake by me.

   Well time to move on and get started again. I have some plans but we will have to see how the $$$$ part goes. All I do know is I am one lucky guy  since I lost my Leg a few years ago and the recent Valve replacement back in mid November. I will still keep posting photos now and then any questions just E-male me   sp2207@hotmail.com

Touched up my ballast where I made adjustments, now more freshing up of the scenery and I should be ready for open house. 

Clem

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