Looks great, Art.
Chugman is a perfectionist synonyms & has a Obsessive compulsive disorder.
He also has a very nice layout!! Still one of my favorites here.
Art, doing good. Keep the pics of building coming............Paul
Hi Art,
The layout looks great !! Your layout and whole room is one I use as a model of how it should be done! That Topside Creeper is very cool and a must have for you older fellows ... I've been thinking of getting one myself but I hope to keep most everything within reach on my new layout..
One thing I noticed and I have to mention is you have to start working neater...clean as you go is a concept I recommend to keep your work area clean and organized!! 😉
Hope to see you at Dupage .. last meet before the holiday.. still by the snack bar around 10:am??
RD posted:Hi Art,
The layout looks great !! Your layout and whole room is one I use as a model of how it should be done! That Topside Creeper is very cool and a must have for you older fellows ... I've been thinking of getting one myself but I hope to keep most everything within reach on my new layout..
One thing I noticed and I have to mention is you have to start working neater...clean as you go is a concept I recommend to keep your work area clean and organized!! 😉
Hope to see you at Dupage .. last meet before the holiday.. still by the snack bar around 10:am??
Hi Rich, probably be closer to 9 as I have to get home in time for church. Topside Creeper will allow you "young" guys to reach old age.
I have been working on my river valley area lately. I discovered that in order to continue shaping the sides of the valley I had to complete things on the sides. I am running the plaster up to the bottom of the retaining walls and I did not have them done yet. But before I could add the retaining walls, I had to build a highway underpass in the retaining wall.
Here are some pictures of that process. I made a cardboard template of the curvature on the single track so I could cut the right contours for the sides of the underpass.
The next pictures show the Masonite installed on both sides. I made the underpass 4" high and 5" wide. It will be an old two-lane blacktop that connects with the road bridge running across the river valley.
The last pictures are after I have sprayed a coat of aged concrete on the retaining walls. I have also plaster up to the wall on the right side of the valley. Now I can continue to work on the plastering in the valley. I have to paint and glue strips on the top and joints to finish this section of retaining walls. Later I will do some additional weathering, add vines and grass, and some advertising posters in selected spots.
Now I need to get back downstairs and get busy.
Art
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Art,
The layout looks great and it sounds like you're having a bunch off fun!! I missed you at DuPage on Sunday but I did run into your son Jim. Hopefully he passed along my holiday wishes to you an yours... keep up the updates ..I really look forward to seeing them!
Looking good Art! Can't wait to see more.
Bob
You remain awesome, Chugman. You've helped me with other projects, and I try not to miss your posts. I also, am glad you're back...
Jerry
It looks great, Art!! Thank you for posting so many photographs!
Looks great... Can't wait to see the finished product..
Art, you are really moving along. Like the sweeping curves and all the bridges....Paul
Sweet! That looks like fun. How do you like this part of layout building? I would have to be still running trains a bit at the end of the day. Keep your eyes on the prize, but most of all enjoy the journey.
Suddenly I miss my layout... Cheers.
Art, Your attention to detail and modeling skills always amaze me.
Love watching the progress keep the updates coming!
Art, the completed scene will be fantastic. Love following along with your progress. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the photos. Like I told Eliot, can't wait to take a ride on your RR with a GoPro!
Art, wonderful work there! It's nice to see things progressing right along. The way you describe as you go along makes it sound so easy. I know when I get to that point I will be looking back at a lot of your post! Thank you for the great update!
Mike, you are right; Art is giving a nice detailed explanation that is quite helpful to anyone wanting to know how he did it, not just what he did.
Art
Outstanding work and very well explained, this layout was always one of my favorite's. Would love to go for a ride around it ( HINT HINT) a video when you have a chance, after all it's Christmas time
Keep up the beautiful work
Alex
Thanks for all the comments and encouragement. I will post a new video soon, but with two bridges out it will be awhile I'm afraid. This was one of the reasons that I was procrastinating so long was that I knew when I started working on the river valley I wouldn't be able to run trains for awhile. I'm going to have to remove the highway bridge also in order to access the area and to replace the center support. I originally thought the water in the river would be higher and didn't detail the bottom two inches of the support.
Art
Art,
It may be hard to not be able to run the trains for a little while, but with the quality of work you do it will be worth the wait!! Thanks for keeping us up to date with all of the great photos.
Very well done. It shows that you are putting thought into every step of construction.
Just incredible!
Peter
Thought you might like to see some progress pics on a small problem that was solved yesterday. I have a highway bridge that crosses my river valley that is made from two old Lionel single-track truss bridges. The valley is 8 inches deep and I used Scenic Express bridge piers and stacked them to reach 6 inches. The remaining 2 inches I originally used two pieces of scrap wood to make up the 2 inch difference thinking that the river would be high enough that it wouldn't show. I now realize that they will show and had to do something to conceal or replace them. I thought of coating them to look like a poured concrete base, but decided to make an extension out of 2 inch pink foam.
The first picture shows the wood scraps on the bottom. The second the foam after I rough cut it on my band saw. Next picture after I carved the brick work with a pencil. Then I glued it on the bottom with Elmer's Wood Glue and the last picture after it has been painted. I not completely satisfied with the painting and may have to touch it up a little yet.
This is one of the many little "details" that need to be done to complete the river valley.
Today I am going to take a break from this area and work on retaining walls. I plan to start adding the trim strips to the walls I have recently done. I looked last night and I have about 65 feet of retaining walls to build that haven't been started yet. The only way to tackle that is one piece at a time.
Art
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Very nice Art, good job on the debris deflector.
Looks good Art, seams like a nice easy fix! Did you just use a pencil for carving out the brick pattern? Did that round the edges of the brick pattern? Either way it looks good!
You know, a video of the building process of this layout with all the pictures you have takes would be easy. From beginning to end would be awesome. The final chapter would be a ride around the layout from the engineers perspective. That would be a best seller.
mike g. posted:Looks good Art, seams like a nice easy fix! Did you just use a pencil for carving out the brick pattern? Did that round the edges of the brick pattern? Either way it looks good!
Thanks, Mike. I just measure the size of the bricks that I want with a ruler and draw lines with a pencil for the mortar lines. I then round each brick with the same pencil. Paint a coat of concrete color and then go back and highlight individual bricks until you are satisfied with the result. On a small project like this, it is fun; but on a large one it can become tedious.
Art
I bet it would be tedious, but your doing a great job!
Art
you have mastered pink foam and have earned your pink badge!
like the stone colors
I follow your work a lot Art. If I complimented you everytime I saw another awesome accomplishment on your layout, this thread would be really really really long! Your bridge carvings are so cool, like everything else. Awesome.
Art, the foam pier is great!! Thank you for sharing how you do it!!
Art
Really nice layout.Love to see a video soon
Steve
Amazing work Art!! Kudos my friend!!
Art,
As usual, another great posting and project. The bridge work looks great.
Thanks for explaining how you accomplished it. I will have to try that technique. I always learn something new from you. Appreciate the pictures showing your steps.
Thanks for sharing you great railroad and its progress.
Tom
I have gotten a lot done since my last report. I can't post much right now, but will add four pictures of the before and after of finishing some of my retaining walls along side my Proviso freight classification yard. I have about 16 to 20 feet of retaining walls left to build and it is in a problem area.
Merry Christmas
Art
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Looks good Art. How are you climbing over all those tracks to install the walls?
Looking great Are, Bob, I bet he is using that overhead creeper thing he has!
Merry Christmas to all!
