Mark, please don't fret over things to much! I think your doing an outstanding job and your layout is coming along just great! You are correct that there are areas that we all want to fix but live with now as things seem to work. Those are things you fine tune when you are getting close to being done! LOL Like that ever happens! Either way I think you're doing a great job!
Thank you Mike! I'm not fretting over it, the track is done; unless I find everything starts derailing on a turnout or something. I've been pleased with the layout. I would have liked a longer run, but I think I made about the most of the space I have. Well, it's going down below zero again tonight. Good to stay in tomorrow.
@Mark Boyce posted:Thank you Mike! I'm not fretting over it, the track is done; unless I find everything starts derailing on a turnout or something. I've been pleased with the layout. I would have liked a longer run, but I think I made about the most of the space I have. Well, it's going down below zero again tonight. Good to stay in tomorrow.
I know your not Mark, just trying to remind you to have fun! 
Track work keeps the MOW crews employed Mark. 
I recently made a minor repair to a section of track that was causing my Menards F7 to derail. Aggravating at first, but satisfying after.
Bob
Thank you, Mike and Bob! You are two of my best supporters!!!!
Having fun! Yes, that is why I'm going to look at the Mikado some other day. I have other things planned for the layout today.
Yes, MOW employees need work too! I've never been one who likes fixing things. Maybe that is why I never really liked my chosen employment. However, what job doesn't require fixing things to some degree? Yes, The best part of fixing things, is being glad it is done!
The station looks sharp Mark! I like the color scheme, very nice.
Andy
@Mark Boyce posted:Dave, about the doors. These doors could be cut and placed in the open position. I would assume the way to do it would be to cut a 1/16" or so below the valence windows so they have a non-opening frame underneath. Then cut the remaining door in half and position them opening in so as not to foul the loading dock that still needs installed. Here is a cropped photograph for a close up. I'm going to add the door frame trim as is. If I change my mind, I can always pop the doors out and start hacking away.
For now, my story is that it is rapidly going down to zero degrees tonight, and they closed the doors as soon as they are done moving something in or out.
Yeah, it's been getting dang cold. The rain we had a week or so ago has filled the circle in the driveway, which is solid ice. When I was a young lad, spent many Winters on the ice of the brook by our house. My dad even tried to make a skating rink for my sister using just wood and plastic. Unfortunately two things made that fail, not cold enough and the plastic got a tear somewhere. Also, doors are better closed, shows that they have already moved all the freight out and about.
Thank you, Andy and Dave.
Andy, I think it matches the Western Maryland Railway prototype photographs I have seen pretty well. Red and white with a little age, but still well maintained in the 1950s.
Dave, It's snowing now. It is predicted for all day today and well into tomorrow. It's another good day to stay in. My brother and I used to go down to the crick in the woods and push a piece of wood around with brooms like we were playing hockey. We didn't have skates, so we just wore our boots. Wow, that was 50 years ago!! I like your take on the closed doors. I'm going with that scenario. I finally found my sanding stick to clean out the bay window openings. A file would have been hard to make a nice straight edge.
With this week's snow cleaned up a couple days ago and frigid temperatures outside, I worked on the Altoona Model Works Branch Line Station kit. The roof is almost done, and the dock boards have been stained in the first photograph.
Here it is complete as designed by the kit makers.
To make the roof removable, I had to cut and install bracing at the right slope to match the ends and the center support. I have a hole drilled through the floor for wires, but don't have LEDs yet to install wiring. You can see the empty interior which will stay as is for now, since I don't have anything to put in it.
Here it is in place on the layout. I still want to streak the roofing some and tone down the wooden loading dock decking. I think this station is actually a small freight and passenger station. It will look pretty good there until I get the items needed to finish it off.
I was looking over the Carolina Craftsman Kits Thomas, West Virginia station kit just now. It has a two story section with a hip roof and a one story gabled roof section. The walls are all brick laser cut into thin siding. It will be a little change of pace.
There was one day this week that didn't snow or the temperatures weren't zero to mid-teens. I visited my 91-year old parents that day, and never got the Styrofoam for scenery. There are temperatures above freezing and little snow predicted for mid week, so I hope to get the Styrofoam soon.
Attachments
Looking real good Mark. It takes two things to do what you are doing. Patience and Time!
Nice work on the station Mark. Weathering and detailing will add to it even more.
We got about 10" from yesterday's storm. The sun is out today but high temp is only 25 deg. 
Bob
Mark the station looks great.
I won’t show this to Paula. If she sees the empty interior, she will be have a fit to help. Her specialty is doing the interiors including figures… and she does it well.
Keep up the excellent work.
The station looks great Mark! The colors are sharp, and the building is a nice representation. The deck adds a nice touch too. The middle brace might be a good place to hang some lighting. Look forward to the interior details.
Andy
We got about 16” yesterday. Finished cleaning up today after the plows went past last night. Enjoying some playoff football. Hope you guys are too.
Andy
Your station looks great Mark!!
Nice work Mark.
Thank you, Curtis, Bob, Bill, Andy, Pat, Eddie!
Curtis, yes patience and time. For me they go hand in hand. Both are a lot easier to have now that I am not working!! 
Bob, you are right; they will make it come alive! I thought you may have gotten more snow than 10". We got that 2 weeks ago.
Bill, no you shouldn't let Paula see it. 
She does a great job!
Andy, I agree, the middle brace will be where the light will go. Outside lights over the doors would be nice too. I was glad to see Cincinnati won. They have had a rough go of it over the years.
@Mark Boyce posted:Thank you, Curtis, Bob, Bill, Andy, Pat, Eddie!
Bob, you are right; they will make it come alive! I thought you may have gotten more snow than 10". We got that 2 weeks ago.
Very strange storm. 20 miles east of us got twice as much.
@RSJB18 posted:Very strange storm. 20 miles east of us got twice as much.
I thought as much. I saw someone on Facebook in the NYC-Long Island Area measured 21". We get that with the Lake Effect snow off Lake Erie. We get just the edge of it, Pittsburgh doesn't get it, and to the north of us... 
@Mark Boyce posted:I thought as much. I saw someone on Facebook in the NYC-Long Island Area measured 21". We get that with the Lake Effect snow off Lake Erie. We get just the edge of it, Pittsburgh doesn't get it, and to the north of us...
My brother in law is west of Syracuse. They can have a bright sunny day, drive a few miles west and be in a blizzard.
@RSJB18 posted:My brother in law is west of Syracuse. They can have a bright sunny day, drive a few miles west and be in a blizzard.
That is how the Lake effect works. It drops snow in bands once you get a short distance from the lake. I read a year or two ago, 4 of the 5 cities with the most snow are near Lake Erie. Erie, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse.
That is one smart station Mark. Looming great. Yeah, the snow was a big problem for me as well. Having no working tractor to plow doesn't help. I got stuck yesterday morning but managed to get free. If only I had train tracks instead of gravel.
Looks good, Mark - one or two old-fashioned green or black goose-neck LED lights might look good hanging on the outside.
Got two feet north of Boston - snowblower was working overtime !
Hi Mark, the station looks great! Very nice work!
I am sorry I did comment sooner but the INSPECTOR is sick and were still dealing with that!
Keep up the great work!
Thank you, Dave, Richie, Mike!!
Dave, I'm glad you got through the snow!
Richie, The green lamps are what I had in mind. It seems I have seen more of them than black.
Mike, Don't feel bad. I knew you were busy with the inspector.
@Mark Boyce Perfect !! Very Nice !
The station looks terrific, Mark.
George
Thank you, Leandro and George!!
Mark that is a really sharp looking station great job love to see it when finish the final touch’s you mentioned
Thank you, Rick!!
I decided to replace the Styrofoam that I had been reusing with new Styrofoam. There isn't a lot to see here, but I thought I would post anyway since it has been a few weeks since I wrote about the station. This new Styrofoam has been easier to work with, and I did a better job of making 3 lift out sections so I can work on them without leaning over two tracks. Each photograph shows one lift out section. This time instead of building up a couple of layers and then gouging out the river bed in the rear, I cut pieces already form the depression. I will just need to form it more to make river banks. It's a start.
Attachments
Good decision Mark. I was afraid of the other stuff after working with it on a Dept 56 display. Ended up tossing it.
Good move on the sections also. Looks as if will be a lot easier to handle. It will be interesting to watch how you proceed.
Reread the snow comments. My brother lives in Saugatuck, Michigan and used to get a lot of lake effect snow off Lake Michigan (east across the lake from Chicago). In recent years there has been far less snow, higher temps, and very high water levels.
Bill, thank you.
Yes, use on a Christmas display is exactly why my wife brought the other stuff home. It was 'okay' in that instance, basically because it was white. It was tough to reuse even for that. I did wrap in plastic and stack 4 or 5 unused panels up in the attic, since it is cut for home insulation. It will probably still be there when we get our daughter to clean out the attic when I can't crawl around in there anymore.
How I proceed with the scenery sections is a work in progress. First of all, I am not planning on making extra sections to change out. The purpose is to pretty much finish each and only remove it if I need to get at any wiring. Making a hand hold that isn't obvious to the viewer is an issue that stands out. If there were going to be lots of buildings, I could just hide handles under removable buildings. With the intent of at least one section being a wilderness area makes for a problem. I could put in a couple of small trackside structures or a rock section that would hide handles. For now, I am able to reach under the layout and push up on the Masonite bottom of each removable section to pop it up and then grab the front of the section. We will see how things progress. The only time I ever did this before was to cover a turnback loop with a tunnel. In that case I just lifted the whole top off, which was no challenge at all.
Another problem is that I have the small river running from removable section to section. Hiding seams with foliage, rock, or buildings isn't as hard as a seam across water. I could make the river attached to the layout, but it is in the rear of the sections. Also, there is one wire drop from the track to the #14 wire to the panel along the rear track. If I made the river fixed to the layout, I would have to move or lengthen the drop. We will see how all that progresses as well.
In all, I find the above challenges more interesting and fun than the challenges we went through wiring all this up.
Everything is looking great Mark! Glad you are able to start on scenery. That is what makes a layout come to life!
Michael
Can’t get any simpler than that this…….
Attachments
Images (4)
A suggestion, Mark....I always resisted the WS plaster cloth on my O scale layouts. I used wood, window screen, joint compound, and staples. With my new N scale layout, the extruded foam went perfectly with the plaster cloth, making it easy to shape features. Like you, I got rid of most of the white styrofoam. Too messy, difficult to carve.
I put all kinds of light weight stuff under the cloth to form the mountains. Put it on wet, push-pins to shape it, brown paint for ground cover. Used my old rock molds with sculptamold, carved many of the faces with a simple knife. Then, just added multiple textures and colors, like all the guys do.
Anyway, just a thought. Wanted to let you know that, with this stuff, it was easier than it used to be!
Best wishes,
Jerry
Attachments
Images (4)
@Mark Boyce posted:Another problem is that I have the small river running from removable section to section. Hiding seams with foliage, rock, or buildings isn't as hard as a seam across water. I could make the river attached to the layout, but it is in the rear of the sections. Also, there is one wire drop from the track to the #14 wire to the panel along the rear track. If I made the river fixed to the layout, I would have to move or lengthen the drop. We will see how all that progresses as well.
In all, I find the above challenges more interesting and fun than the challenges we went through wiring all this up.
Mark- a thought... you could create a small drop in the creek at each joint and cover the seam with rocks that overhang and hide the seam. A small waterfall, weeds, and brush would cover the remaining gaps.
Bob
A waterfall is an excellent suggestion: it is one of a few scenic features that cuts transverse across a stream of water, it will accommodate a change in water level, and rocks and debris can mask the gap. A related item is a shallow dam, such as was used for turbines to turn mill machinery. . . .
@JerryG posted:...With my new N scale layout, the extruded foam went perfectly with the plaster cloth, making it easy to shape features...
Jerry, great looking N-gauge. Hope that you will share more info about your well detailed N layout.
Hi Mark,
Great job on the station. Liked the roof being removable! Sorry for the late comments, finally getting caught up on some of my reading. I’m in rehab so all kinds of time to read, just don’t know how much I’ll remember lol
Very interesting on how you will have access with your scenery build. You always manage to come up with great ideas
good luck
