Blackwater Canyon Line - October 14, 2024 - Town and Scratchbuild Planning

Mark, nice job on the hotel scenery. Now a little work on the backdrop and you will have an eye carcher. I take it you got a pin in the base? 

Guys the tree is a wire arbor, coated with latex and then wood putty. Then spray painted. I used painted furnace filter material to form the tree shape and then used Super Leafs. The tree is about a foot tall. I am working on several fabrication methods to get the look I want but also does not require days to build. Very pleased to see Mark using it alongside the nicely done hotel. Jeff

Mark,

That hotel is looking fabulous!  Nice job.

George

@Mark Boyce posted:

Here's the Idaho Hotel scene with freshly graveled lane and parking area and fertilized lawn for a greener tint.  There is still a lot to do.

I'm in the process of matching colors that daughter Heidi gave me to finish the backdrop.

Wow Mark, looks great with a little ground cover and scenery. It is quite the showpiece on the layout.

Gene

Really well done,!Mark. I can’t wait to get to that stage and start converting boxes ( of kits) to buildings.

Hi Mark, This is a very nice hotel scene. It gives purpose to the railroad. Great attention to detail with the little signs and of course your well placed tree.  I look forward to seeing more as you bring it along. Bill

That looks terrific. Much better than it did on my pike. Again, glad you have it to enjoy it.

Mark you once again did an amazing job on the hotel! I love all the scenery, grass and trees. You also did a wonderful job on the driveway! One thing to think about adding is some little furry 4-legged friends! LOL

That's simply fantastic Mark!

Nice job, Mark !

Thank you, Dave C, T-Bone1214, Mike LP1-poncho, Jay, Bob G, Jeff, George, Gene, Rubin, Bill, Myles, Mike G, Darrell, Richie!

Whew!  I hope I got everyone.  I am truly overwhelmed!  Thank you everyone for the support!

Dave, I want to learn how to make some distinctive trees as well.

Jeff, thank you for answering Dave's question on how you did it!  Actually, I was able to balance the tree just about where I want it to take the photographs.  It still hasn't fallen since last evening when I put it there.  I do intend to drill a hole in the base and put a finishing nail in for a pin.  I have lots of them, and don't have any other use for them. 

Rubin, I hope you get to this point soon.  I have wanted to get back to building scenery for years myself.

Myles, I don't even remember how the scene looked in the town on your layout, but thank you again!

Mike, yes it needs to be dog friendly and perhaps also some wildlife nearby.

I do think the scene looks inviting as well.  I wanted something like railroads built in the late 1800s to entice more passengers to ride the trains, but now serve as a getaway and railfan location.  I certainly have to get at finishing that backdrop.  The scene really needs it now.

Also, the scenery is quite flexible when I take the hotel, cars, tree off the layout so I can lift the lift up to get to the tracks below.  I need to get this done, so I can remove the newspaper protecting the lower tracks below so I can run trains on the lower tracks.

It looked like this… Your's is way better. This was its second home. It was moved to find a spot for the Hopper House.

@Trainman2001 posted:

It looked like this… Your's is way better. This was its second home. It was moved to find a spot for the Hopper House.

👍 That is a very cool parking sign'.. And a very nice scene all around'..

Thank you, Myles!  Now I remember your scene and that you moved the hotel for the Hopper House.  I agree with Ted, the Parking sign is great!  I remember it as well.

Moving the hotel makes me wonder if I ever saw a model scene of a crew moving a building.  I Don’t recall one.  About 15 years ago, they moved a Victorian house about a block and a half up Main Street Butler, then turned a block from Main to the prepared location.  The house went right past our church.  Our younger daughter Holly’s ma-in-law videoed the day from an upstairs window of the church.  That would be quite a unique scene to model.  No, I’ll not tackle it!  😄

Mark, if painting a backdrop is creating an issue, perhaps just get a piece of masonite and paint it a light grey.  (That's what I did)  You can always go back and do the detail painting.

You should be able to push a pin/nail into the wire bundle at the base of the tree, its not super tight, so a finishing nail should go in easily. 

Thank you, Jeff!  I’ll do that with the nail.

Here is the backdrop section I cut off the end of a larger piece that I just need to finish.  I think now is a good time to get going on it! 👍🏻

@Mark Boyce posted:

As an aside, the name Scenery Hill just came to me this afternoon.  There is a place called Scenery Hill south of Pittsburgh along US Rt 40, The National Road.

Lovely little spot with a whiskey rebellion era tavern that unfortunately was heavily damaged in a fire about a decade ago.

Only trains I knew of THROUGH the town would have been stagecoach wagon trains on the National Road, but overlooked Cokeburg, PA to the north AND Marianna, PA to the south. Both coal/coke patches on the PRR Ellsworth Branch.

@Greg Nagy posted:

Lovely little spot with a whiskey rebellion era tavern that unfortunately was heavily damaged in a fire about a decade ago.

Only trains I knew of THROUGH the town would have been stagecoach wagon trains on the National Road, but overlooked Cokeburg, PA to the north AND Marianna, PA to the south. Both coal/coke patches on the PRR Ellsworth Branch.

Greg, Yes indeed on the Whisky Rebellion.  I did not know about the fire.

Thank you for the scoop on the stagecoaches on the National Road!  They had a route from Pittsburgh to Erie that went right through here in Butler.  There is so much great history out there!

I really enjoy these discussions of local and U.S. history I’m an avid reader of history and part of my layout will reflect downtown Cleveland’s West 6th Street, where many buildings still in use date to the 1860’s. It’s northern end led to the now demolished PRR downtown station, which was essentially on the same site below downtown ( albeit rebuilt and expanded) from 1860-1960, when it was demolished. The Pennsylvania never was willing to use the much grander Cleveland Union Station, a.k.a. Terminal Tower, although an entrance was reserved for it during the construction.

i’m still trying to think through how to scenically incorporate graphic references to Brooklyn, New York, and Cleveland, where I’ve lived most of my life I’m looking at some Cleveland photo backdrops, but I haven’t reached any decisions yet. Time will tell…

Rubin, It is always a challenge to decide what to include in a layout out of the many things we would like to include.  Also, how to depict what we do show comes into play.

I have the backdrop painted and in place resting on the lower brackets to se how I like it.  I think it turned out pretty good.  I included a few scenic items like the small Woodland Scenics trees, some bushes, and a little produce stand our daughter gave me for Christmas a year ago. 

There is a lot more I can add to the scene, but I decided to stop for now.  I wanted to uncover the tracks below so I can run trains over the lower area for the first time since last fall.  Also, I'm going to try to finish the Sanky Wanky Coffee Company building.

Thank you for looking.

Mark,

The scene really is coming along nicely. I really like how it's coming "alive" as you add more details. With all of the creative things you have done, I really like the road leading up to the area. I'm not sure if you posted it before but this the first I've seen it. I think you have a good idea in taking a break. It's nice to just take a step back and admire your work while running the trains. I also found that this is where fresh ideas pop into my mind to enhance something and add more detail.

Well done,

Dave

Looks like a good point to stop Mark.

Clean the track, fire up the Z-4000 and enjoy! 👍👍

Looking great Mark!   Are you planning to paint your track and add ballast?

Cheers, Dave

I forgot to mention the backdrop looks great too!

@Mark Boyce I love the backdrop. Can’t wait to see it extended and blended in. Nice scene!

😁👍 Looks beautiful Mark'.. Nice work'  RSJB18 is right.  Time to now run your trains and have some fun'....

Thank you, Dave luvndemtrains, Bob, Dave darlander, LT1Poncho, Ted!

Dave, I'm glad you like the road.  I had been back and forth with that, since the road has to squeeze between the track and backdrop.  Once I roughed in the road, I had thoughts of just taking it off layout.  However, I decided to keep it and tie the hotel into the to-be-built town to the right.  I know of places where lanes and even paved roads come very close to mainline tracks, so it makes sense.  I will probably glue some ground foam to the area between the road and the backdrop or even glue to the backdrop itself in the future.  I am not going to attempt to paint a road onto the backdrop for sure.

I did run a couple trains last night.  I had no trouble with the track or switches, except for user error forgetting to throw a switch.  I did work with an older TMCC engine consulting the manual for some help.  That's for another story.

Congratulations Mark, well done. The backdrop creates a nice illusion of depth.

Jay

Thank you, Jay!

@LT1Poncho posted:

@Mark Boyce I love the backdrop. Can’t wait to see it extended and blended in. Nice scene!

I forgot to comment on your comment about the backdrop being extended.  Initially, I was going to leave a gap in the backdrop where each of the windows are.  This one opens to the laundry in the original part of the house.  Now that I built the upper level, the view isn’t from the laundry is obscured somewhat and will be more when I put buildings in.  I’m thinking of extending the backdrop up partially, but leave an opening at the top since the heating/air conditioning vent is there.  We will see. 😊

I feel your pain. I'm running the trains so infrequently that I forget the switch alignment protocols. I have to run around and visually check each switch before I do anything since I don't trust myself.

Mark, you doing outstanding work and you have done a wonderful job finishing the backdrop! It is so nice to see things coming together!

@Trainman2001 posted:

I feel your pain. I'm running the trains so infrequently that I forget the switch alignment protocols. I have to run around and visually check each switch before I do anything since I don't trust myself.

Boy, can I relate. With my earlier layout having been wired beck in the nineties and than having been dismantled now for four years, just trying to remember how to do things and wondering how to wire in a bad knees/ hips friendly way after its all been down for years is really somewhat daunting. And that doesn’t count the wondering about how my now 30 year old DCS AND TMCC equipment will work. I had planned on replacing it all with new Lionel Base 3 and DCS TIU setups, but who knows when they will appear, if ever and how buggy they will be.

Thank you for commenting, Myles, Mike, Rubin!

Myles, I checked switch alignments also, but forgot one that had been covered with newspaper.  Sure enough, I ran into a stationary train.  Fortunately, I didn't see any damage.

Mike, I'm glad to see things coming together at least in one small area.  There's no deadline here like when I was employed.

Rubin, Yes, it is one thing to reassemble a layout that has been dismantled.  It is quite another to get everything wired again even if we don't want to make any control improvements.  I did it with an N scale layout years ago.  I was limber then, so back, hips, and knees weren't a consideration then.  Now they are paramount.  I ordered the MTH WTIU when first offered, knowing it would be a while.  As time passes, I wonder occasionally how it will work out.  I'll stick with my TMCC Cab 1 for the few TMCC engines I have.

I thought I forgot to answer another question here, but looking back it must have been asked on the Trackside Photos thread where I posted one photograph this weekend.  I'll go back there and look, but will answer it here.  Someone asked if I was going to paint rails and ballast.  Ballast is in the plans, but I like to ballast after the basic scenery is complete, base, paint, ground cover.  I think it makes a cleaner look for a well maintained ballasted ROW.  I have never painted rails before, but admit track looks so much better with the rails painted and all the parts kind of blended together including ties.  NJCJoe did a great job on his covering everything, and I mean everything except the track with plastic before spray painting all his track.  Beautiful!  I keep putting off the decision to actually do it even though I bought a new air mask and kept a copy of the colors he used.  The more I put off the decision, the closer I am to letting the decision to become a No because it would become impractical to do it. 

I don't have a lot new to share except a few photographs and a video a Forum member asked me for in an email.  You might notice I removed the produce stand in favor of a very north woods scene (that is void of trees)   The video is a new one of the BL-2 I upgraded to PS3 a few years ago pulling a coal drag.

I have nothing new on the coffee company building as my wife needed to block off access to the workbench for a project she was doing the last week.  Access was restored last evening, so I am good to go getting back to the Sanky Wanky!!

@Mark Boyce

Mark:

Your layout is progressing VERY well! The scenery that is in place is superb. Bravo!!!!!

Mark, where is the Big Foot heading ? They usually don’t show themselves out in the open.

Mark, love the BL-2 and a nice robust coal load to boot! Your scenery looks great, it must be nice to have some room for open fields! lol. Seems like I’m cramming as much “stuff” onto my small layout all the time. Anyway, I love the north woods and “grassy knoll” look! Have a good week!

Mike

Hi Mark, A very nice video. Good looking nice running BL-2. You have conquered your grades nicely also. Overall good looking layout and nice workmanship. Bill

Mark, great video and likewise a great example of what can be packed into that dedicated space, including some impressive scenery!  Inspiring!

Nice video. You have an interesting and complicated track plan. I noticed that when the train made that turn in the foreground underpass that your clearances are quite tight on the train's left side. I am assuming you've tested this with longer rolling stock. I hate those tight clearances. So do the real railroads. The Pennsy couldn't run the centipedes east of Harrisburg due to curve radii. The darn things got stuck in the zoo curve in Philly. Life imitating art. My centipedes crashed into the tunnel portal when I finished the mountain. I thought I had all that figured out before plastering. It wasn't the first unit. It was the front of the rear unit that crashed. Not as bad as the ship in Baltimore. I had mounted the portal at the rail's center, but it actually needed to be shifted a tad to the outside of the curve. You haven't put in any portals yet, but keep it in mind.

Nice to see a train running Mark. Great choice of power too.

Bob