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I posted this video in the “What trains did you run thread” as well but find its more fitting here since this thread is all about layout progress and I first posted about my layout in this thread. This is a POV video of my layout on the main lines. I started this project last year as a concept on my basement floor. In November, I turned it into reality.

We start the journey on the outer main line before the tunnel. We transfer to the inner main to turn the camera around then transfer back to the outer main. We head down the line to make a pass by the engine shed. We continue on and then switch through the Claire rail yard where we change direction again next to the Big Rock Candy Mountain. We then head back to the starting point.

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  • Track Plan
  • Layout Overview
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Ride on the Layout
Last edited by Chris1985

IMG_20210201_203257IMG_20210201_203333IMG_20210201_203343Mikeg, nice creative work on the car loader. Chris, saw your video before and enjoyed it again. Tonight I set the mountains aside to let them cute another day before a light layer of plaster. I have an MTH 19th century 36 ft. Reefer she'll left over from an old kitbash project that I will repurpose as a trackside tool shed/yard office. I started making trees as well. Six tonight but it will move faster.

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  • IMG_20210201_203333
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Last edited by pennsynut
@Lionelski posted:

I had to laugh out loud RSJB18 - Years ago I did something similar. A piece of plywood, a couple 2X 4's on the layout end, and the other end on the back of a chair. Mrs. Lionelski sat on the chair for ballast. Over and over she was saying " I'm not responsible when you come crashing down on the layout!" (I didn't).

I later added an access hatch to that area.

That's pretty funny John. I don't think I'd still be walking gods green earth if I asked the CEO to be "ballast"

Bob

@Chris1985 posted:

@RSJB18 love the detail. Which colors/ types of ground cover did you use? I may copy.

Chris- I have a mix of products. The dirt is some old stuff a friend gave me from his HO days. I used two different Woodland Scenic products for the turf, fine and coarse turf. The yellow and green "flowers" are from Michael's Arts and Crafts. I found it in the floral arranging area. And the gravel for the road is also from Michaels. I will post some pix of the products when I get home later.

Thanks

John D. For the road markings I used 1/8"white pinstriping as others had suggested and because I am to cheap to spend $3 for yellow pinstriping and pay $3.99 shipping I just bought yellow Duck tape cut it into 1/8"strips and1" length for the dotted center line.

Dan, don't want the cast iron to rust! I got a cast Iron jointer free, but it took me a month to clean it up due to moister!

Carl, there looking good! Your not to far from being done! They are going to look great~!

Chris, great looking layout and what a wonderful video! But the high speed is not for the  seizure prone folks like me! Got me dizzy, but then again alot of folks here would probably say I am dizzy anyways! LOL

Brad, the subway is looking great!

Pennsynut, what a life, you have all the fun spending your nights making trees! LOL

Bob, The corner section is looking outstanding! Your almost there. One point of advice, make sure you have it just how you want it so you dont have to take it out again as it can turn into a pain in the rear! Dont ask me how I know! LOL

I hope you all have a great day and find time for your layout and some fun!

@pennsynut posted:

IMG_20210201_203333Mikeg, nice creative work on the car loader. Chris, saw your video before and enjoyed it again. Tonight I set the mountains aside to let them cute another day before a light layer of plaster. I have an MTH 19th century 36 ft. Reefer she'll left over from an old kitbash project that I will repurpose as a trackside tool shed/yard office. I started making trees as well. Six tonight but it will move faster.

Do you spin the tree branch material between two wire?

@Chris1985 posted:

@mike g.- sorry about the speed! The raw video was too long for the 100mb upload limit. It took the train over 10 minutes to make that route at 15 smph so I had to shorten the time. I got dizzy editing the thing!

LOL Chris, it's all good. I really loved the video and how your layout looks! Wish I would have done something like that! but I have to run 072 curves.

I needed some misc supply voltages in my amusement park for lighting, custom built stuff  etc and decided to just throw together a board with power supplies for the voltages I needed.  Literally everything was just laying around in junk boxes so my cost was zip.  The relays on the bottom right are just there so size it up - have plenty of 4.5 VDC, 6VDC, 12VDC, 24VDCused ones if needed.  The voltages are 4.5VDC, 6.0 VDC,  12.0 VDC and 24 VDC.  I'll use the 4.5 and 24 the most.  Enjoy doing stuff like this.   JP

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  • 4.5 VDC, 6VDC, 12VDC, 24VDC
@Bill Sherry posted:

I needed some misc supply voltages in my amusement park for lighting, custom built stuff  etc and decided to just throw together a board with power supplies for the voltages I needed.  Literally everything was just laying around in junk boxes so my cost was zip.  The relays on the bottom right are just there so size it up - have plenty of 4.5 VDC, 6VDC, 12VDC, 24VDCused ones if needed.  The voltages are 4.5VDC, 6.0 VDC,  12.0 VDC and 24 VDC.  I'll use the 4.5 and 24 the most.  Enjoy doing stuff like this.   JP

WOW that looks so cool, but way beyond me! LOL

@Chris1985 posted:

@RSJB18 love the detail. Which colors/ types of ground cover did you use? I may copy.

Here you go Chris. I approach scenic ground cover as a disposable product so I try and buy cheap when I can. My ballast came from a dollar store, at a buck a pound I won't feel bad when I tear up this layout and toss it in the trash.

2021-02-02 18.40.592021-02-02 18.41.092021-02-02 18.41.152021-02-02 18.41.322021-02-02 18.42.132021-02-02 18.42.30

These gravels come in several colors- I have gray, brown, and black.

Happy landscaping!

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  • 2021-02-02 18.40.59
  • 2021-02-02 18.41.09
  • 2021-02-02 18.41.15
  • 2021-02-02 18.41.32
  • 2021-02-02 18.42.13
  • 2021-02-02 18.42.30
Last edited by RSJB18

Miggy: Regarding the wire and rope trees, yes I use a drill to twist the separated strands to secure them to the wire. Not my idea, I saw it on youtube and copied the process. I also posted a thread on my process on the forum a long time ago. It takes a few minutes to make each trunk, then I spray painted the trunk outside, let dry and used cheap heavy duty hair spray and poured various green foam over the tree in a tray to capture the excess. I found that the kind of rope makes a difference. Thick 1 inch diameter Sisal rope has the fibers that have worked best for me. I'll try to find my previous post. Regards.

Mikeg: Yes, when I can't sleep and can't find a good mystery movie on tcm, I sometimes visit the layout. I made another 20 conifers this afternoon! Probably need another 20. 

Last edited by pennsynut
@pennsynut posted:

Miggy: Regarding the wire and rope trees, yes I use a drill to twist the separated strands to secure them to the wire. Not my idea, I saw it on youtube and copied the process. I also posted a thread on my process on the forum a long time ago. It takes a few minutes to make each trunk, then I spray painted the trunk outside, let dry and used cheap heavy duty hair spray and poured various green foam over the tree in a tray to capture the excess. I found that the kind of rope makes a difference. Thick 1 inch diameter Sisal rope has the fibers that have worked best for me. I'll try to find my previous post. Regards.

Mikeg: Yes, when I can't sleep and can't find a good mystery movie on tcm, I sometimes visit the layout. I made another 20 conifers this afternoon! Probably need another 20.

Well its great to know that you have this hobby to fall back on when no mystery movies are on! LOL

For a while, I'd wanted more correct pilots for my ten wheelers and only today realized bachmann gives you the earlier one in the extra parts bag.

So, I painted and weathered three of them and installed them all tonight.

Today:

20210203_210247-01

The real deal, likely in the early 40s:

31831

And how the models used to look, with the "boiler tube" late pilots:

31833

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  • 31831
  • 31833
  • 20210203_210247-01
Last edited by p51

  Windy City -" What powers your DC power supplies?"  -    I have a board at my control panel with with open frame transformers with the outputs fused - again, all rip outs and no cost. You can also use wall warts provided you use the proper size.  Its really a shame the amount of transformers I throw away.

Mike -  Its really very simple - you have a board/power supply that converts AC voltage into DC  so you can run your DC devices.  You feed it AC from your transformer and you have a DC output.  I just put a few on a board with different voltage power supplies. 

necrails, I think 2 feet of snow would motivate almost anyone to stay inside and work on there layout!

Lee, the photos you take of your layout are some of the most realistic photos I have ever seen! You should be proud of yourself for doing such an outstanding job!

JPLoco, I wish I wasn't as dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to electrical stuff or the bottom of my layout would look alot better. I do plan on going back and cleaning things up.

Just getting started on "Land Aquisition" (benchwork) for the railroad.  the "World" (basement) has been completed.

Thought ppl might enjoy the Frankenjig I made to get consistent height on the wall brackets.  Attached also is the latest plan for the St Joseph Industrial Park.

I like the Frankenjig!!  I wish I had done the same when attaching brackets to my wall.  I measured and marked several times each, but still got a couple of them off a bit and had to shim them to get a level table.  The variance was too small to be able to drill new holes into the studs.

@Chris1985 posted:

I posted this video in the “What trains did you run thread” as well but find its more fitting here since this thread is all about layout progress and I first posted about my layout in this thread. This is a POV video of my layout on the main lines. I started this project last year as a concept on my basement floor. In November, I turned it into reality.

We start the journey on the outer main line before the tunnel. We transfer to the inner main to turn the camera around then transfer back to the outer main. We head down the line to make a pass by the engine shed. We continue on and then switch through the Claire rail yard where we change direction again next to the Big Rock Candy Mountain. We then head back to the starting point.

Hi Chris, could you tell me what you used for your cam/record setup?

Mike

Just getting started on "Land Aquisition" (benchwork) for the railroad.  the "World" (basement) has been completed.

Thought ppl might enjoy the Frankenjig I made to get consistent height on the wall brackets.  Attached also is the latest plan for the St Joseph Industrial Park.

Great wall Jig and looks like you have a wonderful industrial park plan there! Make sure you have fun along the way!

@Bill Sherry posted:

I needed some misc supply voltages in my amusement park for lighting, custom built stuff  etc and decided to just throw together a board with power supplies for the voltages I needed.  Literally everything was just laying around in junk boxes so my cost was zip.  The relays on the bottom right are just there so size it up - have plenty of 4.5 VDC, 6VDC, 12VDC, 24VDCused ones if needed.  The voltages are 4.5VDC, 6.0 VDC,  12.0 VDC and 24 VDC.  I'll use the 4.5 and 24 the most.  Enjoy doing stuff like this.   JP

Nicely organized!

I bought the Lionel American flag a while back and was planning on placing it on top of the corner I'm working on. After I did the hill I realized that it wouldn't fit. So I took it apart and I'm doing a mini kit-bash. If you weren't aware, proper US flag etiquette states that if the flag is flown from sundown to sunrise, it must be lit, so....I will be using the lights too. They are LED's with a small board that I can hide behind the hill. The fixtures fit perfectly in 5/16" styrene tube that I cut to length and painted flat black. I will keep the base for a future project.

Progress!

2021-02-04 19.15.402021-02-04 19.20.372021-02-04 19.21.552021-02-04 19.47.122021-02-04 19.47.16

The 5th Marine Division stopped by and assisted with the flag raising!

2021-02-04 19.55.122021-02-05 07.11.47

Happy Friday!

Bob

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  • 2021-02-04 19.15.40
  • 2021-02-04 19.20.37
  • 2021-02-04 19.21.55
  • 2021-02-04 19.47.12
  • 2021-02-04 19.47.16
  • 2021-02-04 19.55.12
  • 2021-02-05 07.11.47

RSJB18:  Great flag display.  I have the '57 Lionel Flag Stand on my layout.  I can date it because its a "48 star" flag which means it has to be earlier than 1959 when Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union.  I don't have any lights however so I might try to do what you are doing,  Looks great.  Here is mine in the middle of what I call "Small Town".

Lionel flag

My big activity for today (yesterday actually) was to install a newly acquired signal to protect the team / passing track behind my main depot.  While I was visiting family last month, I received a Hornby (UK) "No 2 Junction Signal" purchased via ebay.  It was produced postwar and this configuration is from 1953, so it would not fit a modern scale layout, but it works well with my mixed pre/post war "toy" type layout.

Here is the signal as received by me.  Sitting on top of its original box.

Hornby Junction Signal uninstalled

Here is the original Hornby Trains box, showing the Hornby product name.

Hornby Junction Signal box

Here she it, installed on the layout.  This is just a manual hand adjusted signal but its located right in front of my transformer, so making sure the signal is set correctly can add to the fun of operating the trains.  This post war version, brought back in 1953 is actually a little smaller than the prewar version, but it makes it somewhat closer to scale.  The prewar version is almost too big (IMHO).

Hornby Junction Signal installed 2

Well there you have my latest layout improvement.  Not much done as we have been visiting family on the east coast for the last 6 weeks.  Have a happy and healthy weekend

Don

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Images (4)
  • Lionel flag
  • Hornby Junction Signal uninstalled
  • Hornby Junction Signal box
  • Hornby Junction Signal installed 2

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