Layout Expansion in progress 9-24-23 new factory added

Spectacular!

Peter

The changes look great Rich! Nice work all around. 

Andy

I realized I had several structures and areas of work I hand not posted but had completed.

Adding people to the amusement park.  I have had this area mostly done for a while, but really needed to add people, and some horses. Had to have the marching band!

This is a building I finished a while ago, but forgot to post.  This is the Right On Track models Wilson building.  I called it the Doable Doll company, credit to Dennis Brennan for the name from a project we discussed years ago.  I really like the shape of the structure.

In a corner of the payout, I had been thinking of some small structure but with a good amount of detail.  I ended up with a junk dealer using two buildings.  The first is a Korber Models Quonset hut, the second is  bars mills junk dealer kit.  I made some modifications to both kits, and did some additional detailing.  Planty's is an actual salvage company in upstate NY near where I grew up.

As always open for comments and suggestions.

Your work continues to awe and inspire!

By the way, liked your Freudian slip: "In a corner of the payout, I had been thinking of some small structure..."

Rich, Inspirational !!  Thanks for sharing the progress.

-Tom

Thanks for the nice words guys.

Rich, tremendous work. I am particularly interested in the Genesee building behind. I touched up an MTH Coors Brewery for Genny on my layout. Did you make the sign?

Rich, Great work!

John, nice building, I really like the lighting!

Thanks Guys,

John, 

Yes I made the sign. 

First I looked at photos of the real brewery to get a better view of the sign.

Then I crafted the support structure using wood stock, these may have even been long wooden matches painted black. The letters come from a plastic letter set for signs like you might find in a small diner. Below is a similar set.  I think I bought mine at Staples.  I then just painted the larger ones red, and the smaller ones blue and glued them to the wood structure.

Rich, thanks so much for the advice. Sounds like it might be in my capabilities. We're going to the Brewhouse this weekend, so I'll get a good look. Your work is truly excellent.

Thanks John.

grew up in the Lake George - Glens Falls - Albany area so Genny was very popular when I was younger.  Of course now living for many years in Cincinnati, no one here knows about Genesee 

Great work! Looking forward to seeing more and more!  

Rich this is great! I enjoy each and every one of your layout posts. I usually go back and look at previous entries because your progress is exemplary and just plain fun to look at. 

Planty's reminds me of a place I used to go, as a young boy, to recycle aluminum cans. 

Dave

Finally got a few items off my work bench.  I have been working on updating some building int he small city area of the layout. 

This fire house is a kit I have had for some time, and just got around to building.  It will have two fire truck int he opening so I left the doors off the front.

The rest of the buildings are a mix of Lionel and MTH.  I disassembled them, painted  and re-assembled, and added some new signage. This will have a street in front of it, and then another block of buildings across the "street"

more to do

Open to comments and suggestions.

Rich, That is turning out to being a real nice block of buildings!

Real nice Rich! I like the custom signage.

Dave

Fantastic!

Peter

Rich, city streets look great as do all of your buildings. Hope you do not mind but I have saved this thread to pdf as guide for me in my layout building. Just awesome work, look forward to your updates. 

- Tom

Making some more progress on additional structures.

these will go in the small city area.

Looks great Rich! Nice details as always.

Andy

Snazzy bus depot!

I love sawmills--outstanding build Rich. Add a little sawdust for flavor--impossible to burn it all.

Long overdue update.

I have been making some progress, but have not posted photos in a while.

This is a kit built up of the Altamont NY station from some long closed kit maker.  I added the platform using backsplash times form Lowes.

I installed rolled roofing material to simulate black top paved streets.  I use this on my layout with good success.  One role wit cover all the layout you need.

I have had this unfinished corner that I was trying to figure out what to put in it.

I also had this Kline accessory with the boy fling a plane, so the two together with some ceiling tiles made a small cliff to fly it on. 

I had wanted to add a theater to my mid sized town area, and this kit from Twin Whistle was unique.  Frankly I try to use a variety of buildings as I want the layout to be a more unique blend rather than looking like an MTH or OGR catalog.

Here it is placed on the layout with other structures.

This is a background building I made using wall sections for a Korber 304 roundhouse kit.  These are unique walls that look good I think.

Led lights installed in this structure.  The loading dock opening was made by using a window wall, and cutting the material between windows to give a full opening. I then build a "box" to simulate a back wall and floor.

I have had this Korber Lionel factory on the layout for a while, I just added LED lighting.

This shows the buildings back on the layout plus a Korber - Pecos River factory in between them by the bridge.

The sign is from Miller, and the air conditioners on the roof are from Korber - Pecos River.

As always open to comments or suggestion.  I continue to make slow but steady progress on the layout.

Great work, Rich!

Peter

Rich, all those buildings look great!! I really like the station!!

Great work Rich. Thanks for the update. Well worth the wait. 

Andy

Nice work and great scenery tips! Looking forward to more updates. 

Awesome work! Whose printed background are you using? Are they available in long lengths?

Rich, Awesome !!!  So glad you started this thread, amazing and great learning experience following your layout building and expansion. Thanks.

Tom

jini5 posted:

Awesome work! Whose printed background are you using? Are they available in long lengths?

The ones I use are from backdrop warehouse.  They are about 12’ long, and can come is sets so you can tie multiples together.  Mine used 4 of them.  They are 42” tall.

The web site is a bit hard to use but a quick call with them and he will help you get what you want.  They also have several discounts so you really need to get him to figure the price. I highly recommend them.

At first they seem expensive but frankly about the same as a high end engine and they make a big impact. In my opinion skimping on the backdrop can take a way from lots of great work on the layout.

Some small progress post York.

I picked up some junk castings from Mike Regan at TW Trainworx - This will go next to the Roundhouse in the engine service area.  It comes a white "plastic" material and I added some rusk and baking washes.  I may add some more before I place on the layout. Some very nice detail

In addition I decided to reconfigure the front of the to be build city area of the layout.  After getting some tall building kits at York, I decided on a plan to add some more elevated line to the front to create some more interest.

Here is what it looked like in the current plan.

I decided to remove the platform and will re configure this to a two ties elevated line, and add my planed elevated subway.

First step is demo.

I also realized that many of the photos in the earlier postings on this thread were hosted elsewhere, and that site is now inactive so the photos we not showing up.  I went back and added them to this thread, so if you want to see some of the early work, the photos are back.

Looking forward to seeing more pics!

Peter

Sounds like a good plan!  I'm with Peter, looking forward to seeing it!!

 

0Rich883 posted:

Here is what it looked like in the current plan.

I decided to remove the platform and will re configure this to a two ties elevated line, and add my planed elevated subway.

First step is demo.

 

I also realized that many of the photos in the earlier postings on this thread were hosted elsewhere, and that site is now inactive so the photos we not showing up.  I went back and added them to this thread, so if you want to see some of the early work, the photos are back.

Do you have a source for your skirting?  I am going to have a black fascia on my layout and will be in need of black skirting.

Thanks.

SantaFeJim posted:

 

0Rich883 posted:

Here is what it looked like in the current plan.

I decided to remove the platform and will re configure this to a two ties elevated line, and add my planed elevated subway.

First step is demo.

 

I also realized that many of the photos in the earlier postings on this thread were hosted elsewhere, and that site is now inactive so the photos we not showing up.  I went back and added them to this thread, so if you want to see some of the early work, the photos are back.

 

Do you have a source for your skirting?  I am going to have a black fascia on my layout and will be in need of black skirting.

Thanks.

 Jim

Jim,

I used landscaping cloth from either Lowe’s or home depot.  Since I had a large area, this was very cost effective.  I simply stapled to the inside of the fascia  boards. 

Thanks Rich.  My only concern is this:

I know the purpose of this landscape fabric is to prevent weeds from sprouting up and yet still allow water to penetrate to the soil.  Having said that I can’t help but wonder what, if any, chemicals the material had been treated with.  I spent $1,600 in May to have a Radon evacuation system installed so the last thing I want to do is introduce some dangerous chemical into my house.

I will slip over to HD later and see if they have any of this in the garden center and report back.

Jim

Jim, When I picked mine, there were two types in the store.  One felt more "plastic" and one felt more like cloth.  I picked the one more like simple cloth.  I have had it up for maybe 7 years now with no issues.

Rich, that junk pile looks great. Reminds me of when I was at Strasburg during York. I got a shop tour and there was all sorts of parts sitting right next to the shop including a boiler. Do you have a set spot for the junk?

Progress on the big city area of the layout.  In the last post I started to remove the section at the front of the layout, and have transition to an elevated section in the middle - mostly to create a larger city and a view block

Here are some shots of the progress including some fronts I got at York.

I also added a cliff and trestle in front of the layout as you come down the stairs.  I started with building some structure to hold the trestle.

I added some crumpled up paper to make the look of rock formations., then covered it with a mix of hydrocal and strucolite.

I used some dye and water that I sprayed on the plaster to color it, a mix of grey, browns ans such.  Then I dry brushed the edges to give some color.

As always open for comments question and suggestions.

Where are the trestles from? Looking great!