So I had a small open space on the layout and I remember seeing a layout at York with a big pile of junk. I liked the looks of it so in an area of about 10” x 6” I built a small detailed scene. Have you built a junk pile on your layout? I’d like to see what you’ve done. Thanks!
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Good looking junk pile.
JDFonz - Nice looking junk pile! As per your request .. here is mine. 
Very nice Patrick, especially like the bath tub!
My junk area changes regularly as that is where I keep my smaller scrap "lumber", metal stock, and plastic-y odds and ends from modeling. More like a "leftovers" area for a mechanical business which does a little of everything. Wire (fine; coils), lumber, pipe (tube), sm.-lrg spools (various, metal, wood, plastic) both empty and full.(some are solder, wire, tube), larger O.D. tubes stacked (3/8-1/2"od) , banded (zip tie/wire) make racks for smaller but longer stock; squat tubes as barrels; etc.
Not a visual treat so much as a lazy convenient spot for loose crap between spats of tiny parts drawer organization 😬
Love it!
Peter
Very nice.
Scrap and junk yards surely belong on most layouts, both of yours are very convincing, here is my junk yard in honor of a friend who passed.
Nice job on the junk pile. What did you use to make the cars and locomotive look rusty
I would have to quote our friend and member Chris Ambrosini:
"The weathering isn't as challenging as you might think.. It's daunting thinking you will "ruin' an expensive car, but there is a safer approach.
Before I weathered my first car, I picked some $3 to $5 plastic Lionel cheapies at a local show. These are like cars from the 80's or 90's.... I think they are referred to as MPC..
They can usually be found under tables or in "junk boxes'... usually you can negotiate a 3 for $10 or $15.... I'd recommend getting an old gondola or hopper, a cheap boxcar, and maybe a caboose... They are all plastic and you try different techniques:
Acrylic diluted washes.... inexpensive craft paint from Michaels, joanne fabrics... buy some black, white, burnt umber and raw sienna, maybe a gray... These are like 99 cents a bottle, dilute them with 50% water and a little alcohol to break the surface tension.
Pan Pastels weathering powder pastels are pretty easy....
Always wash the car with dish soap and water to get it clean.... Before Pan Pastels it's best to Dull coat the car with Testors Dull Coat, or Rustoleum Dead Flat clear coat. Apply the powdered pastels and if you think your close seal them with the same dull coat.... Just don't be alarmed that the last seal coat lessens the weathering effect pretty significantly so you have to experiment a little to do 2 different pastel coats"
What I would add is sometimes you could mix in a little fine dust like plaster etc. on spots you want to look really rusted. Experiment and I'm sure you will have fun.
Junk piles and junk yards are fun!
JDFonz posted:
So I had a small open space on the layout and I remember seeing a layout at York with a big pile of junk. I liked the looks of it so in an area of about 10” x 6” I built a small detailed scene. Have you built a junk pile on your layout? I’d like to see what you’ve done. Thanks!
Flowers in the junk pile? What pretty junk you have. Nice touch. Arnold
Nice, fun topic.
The whole right of way on my layout is littered with junk. This is intentional because of what I've seen of real trains and the litter along the tracks.
Below are a few photos of my layout:
My layout as a whole is down and dirty, but doesn't really have a junk pile per se. I like the idea of adding a dedicated junk pile. Arnold
That is a lot of junk. I like it but walking the tracks near me W&LE, and AVRR I don't see that much. My grandson and I do a lot of hiking along the tracks we have seen a few burned out vehicles, old ties, stick rails. and the empty buckets the spikes come in. after a while they clean up the ties and old track and spikes, but it takes awhile. yours looks good so when he comes over to work on the layout I will show him yours and I am pretty sure our tracks will have some junk along them too.
Recurve, thanks for the kudos.
Arnold, cmon man, those are weeds, not flowers!
JDFonz posted:Recurve, thanks for the kudos.
Arnold, cmon man, those are weeds, not flowers!
I stand corrected.
I have several areas depicting scrap/junk/abandoned ...junk.
This is a salvage yard that I fit into a corner of the layout
A dump on the outskirts of town
An abandoned tractor decaying in the weeds and trees
Tom
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