@NJCJOE posted:12/2/23 - I added portals to each end of the tunnel along with some rock wing walls. These items were also carved from foam like the mountain. This helps finish off the look at the end of the tunnel/mountain. Some finer detail will come later on down the road, but for now it's time to start another project.
That has all the makings of a real masterpiece Joe. Nicely done!
You are very talented Joe. The layout is coming along great.
Hi Joe,
The tunnel came out great ! As the rest of the layout too ! Nice craftsmanship!
Thanks , Alex
Joe, the whole tunnel project came out beautifully. I can understand moving on now and leaving vegetation and detailing to a later time once the major projects are done. I love how you recycled construction plans for your drop cloth.
We used to print up so many sets when we would put out a job for bid we always wound up with extras. I used them to wrap Christmas presents.
I never would have thought about stacking the foam instead vertically instead of horizontally. I think yours was a more efficient way of forming the mountain.
We use those discarded drawings from work for a bunch things.....painting, floor mats at a job site, doodle paper. Comes in handy and it was just going to be recycled anyway.
A Five Star project and layout, Joe! Feels like I’m enrolled in a Master Class! It’s fun following along.
Layout is looking great, can't wait to see the next phases!
Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments. 
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
1/1/24 - Happy New Year everybody!
I got the rock work and tunnel portals constructed and installed on the standard gauge side tunnel. Once again, the rocks and tunnel portals are carved foam. The pictures tell the story. Next I have to do the same thing on the front tunnel entrance, except there I will have two single portals and one double.
wow Joe, that is some nice looking work! It sure makes a statement for that area!
Those are some excellent-looking tunnel portals. Your whole layout looks fantastic. Keep up the good work.
That looks great, Joe!
Lookin' good Joe.
Happy New Year.
Bob
Excellent work and thanks for the step by step Joe, the rock work and portals are terrific.
Andy
@NJCJOE posted:1/1/24 - Happy New Year everybody!
I got the rock work and tunnel portals constructed and installed on the standard gauge side tunnel. Once again, the rocks and tunnel portals are carved foam. The pictures tell the story. Next I have to do the same thing on the front tunnel entrance, except there I will have two single portals and one double
Well done!
Peter
Wow, that is really a beauty of a standard gauge layout, first time I have seen it. That is going to be amazing. It already is actually if you have trains running on it. I like it.
Keep up the good work!
02/02/24 - I decided to construct the front standard gauge mountain/tunnels on the other side of the layout next. So, back to foam carving and painting. 
This area would require two single tunnel portals and one double. The idea here was to create a view that would tie in the rocks along the river with this section of mountain and then finally with the large mountain/tunnel on the upper O gauge portion. This is what the area looked like before I started the rock work.
Here are some shots of getting the rough foam work in place.
And the final result. At some point I will address the inside portions of the tunnels that can be seen. Since this mountain is in sections and removable, I can do that at a later date.
Up next will be the installation of two O gauge bridges.
So, for the past 11 years there has been a modelers meet at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, Pa. in September. The name was changed last year to the Anthracite Railroads Modelers Meet. This year it will be Sept. 20, 21 & 22. The meet has modeling clinics, slide shows, Reading museum tours, sales area, modeling contest, etc. On Sunday there are usually 4 or 5 open houses in the area that you can visit. This year I volunteered to have my layout and railroadiana collection as one of the tour stops. So, now I want to get as much done on the layout as I can by September. I work better with a goal anyway. 
If anybody is interested in attending the modelers meet, you can find more information and registration info here.
Very professional looking, Joe.
Tom
That’s turning out to be a great looking layout Joe. I can’t imagine how many hours you have invested so far. Thanks for the heads up for September.
Jay
Joe.......simply magnificent!
Peter
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing this emerging magic! 😊
Wow! That's looking amazing!
Awesome! Love your layout. That's one of a kind.
A continuing work of art, excellent job!
Gene
Joe, you did a great job extending the mountain down and positioning the tunnel portals! It looks very good.
I recently heard of the Anthracite Railroads Modelers Meet, and now I see why I hadn’t heard of it before. Of course living on the other side of the state, there is a lot going on in the east that I haven’t heard of. Congratulations on being on the itinerary.
Great stuff Joe!
Nice work, Joe - the black weathering on the tunnels where smoke would have stained the blocks is a nice touch.
A couple of videos of the standard gauge portion of the layout.
Thank you for sharing Joe. I’m looking forward to the tour in September.
Jay
Hi Joe
The Layout looks fantastic, and the videos are superb. Thank You for posting them. I enjoyed them both, but especially passing at the signal bridge. I recently aquired one of those and enjoyed seeing yours working. I got mine working with red and green lights. have not put it into service yet, needs a couple of hand railing pieces. I don't know if the Dog was too happy coming out from under the bench work as the Hiawatha passed, looked like a nap was disturbed 
On another note, using your Email in your profile I recently sent you two Emails about the MTH Standard Gauge American Flyer Tower you have on offer. I have not received a response.Has the Email changed? I am interested in that tower. My Email is in my profile.
Thank You 
Frank
Yeah, our Corgi pup, Pookah, likes to roam around under the layout trying to figure out what's making all the noise up above. 
The portals look terrific and the waterway came out great as well. 👍
02/22/24 - I found a location on the layout where I wanted to install a couple of truss bridges. I picked up an Atlas Pratt truss bridge at York last October and I ordered a 24" Menard's truss bridge as well. My plan was to install Gargrave's track on the bridges and realistically weather them prior to installation. This was the location I chose.
Once the Atlas track was removed from the Atlas bridge, I painted both bridges flat black. The next step was to determine how I was going to weather these structures. My original plan was to use hairspray and weathering powders like Joey Ricard did in one of his videos, but I was concerned I would not be able to get into all the tight corners and inside the structural members of the bridge.
Searching the web I came across a product called Metal Effects by Modern Masters. It is a paint that contains iron particles. Once the paint is dry it is sprayed with an activator that actually creates real rust. Can't get more realistic than that! 
This was a fun product to use. And it allows you to create rust on anything.
The bridges were brush painted with two coats of the iron paint and left to dry overnight. The paint is grayish in color. I also varied the thickness in places so the overall effect would not be uniform. This is what the bridges looked like after the paint application.
The next day the bridges were sprayed with the activator from a spray bottle. I sprayed two light coats. Once it dried I did go back and spray some more in places that I felt needed more rust. This is what one of the bridges looked like about a half hour after the activator was applied.
And this is how they looked about two hours later. They do appear a little more orange in these photos than they actually were. This was because I forgot I had the camera HDR setting on.
The larger bridge did seem to rust up more than the smaller bridge. I don't know if this was because one was plastic and the other made of wood, or if my paint applications/thicknesses were different. I was able to make them more uniform with the application of the sealer. The sealer is used to stop the rust process, otherwise the object could keep rusting over time. It probably wasn't necessary for this application since the bridges are not made of metal. The sealer also keeps any of the rust from rubbing off. Here they are after the were sealed and the camera HDR setting turned off.
I then installed the track to both bridges with screws installed from underneath.
Next came out the sawsall and I cut out the bench work where the bridges would go. Some new braces and supports would be installed.
I got some bridge abutments from Scenic Express and bridge shoes from Scale City Designs. These items were painted and weathered accordingly. Once the bridge abutments were installed at the correct levels the bridges were mounted in place. Here is the end result.
I'm really happy how these turned out. I still want to install track guard rails on the bridges. I also need to hook up the lights on the Menard's bridge. Here are some close ups of the bridge details.
Looking good Joe! Enjoying this thread!
The bridges are spectacular. Nice work Joe.
Amazing as usual Joe. Bookmarked the link to the company for that paint.
Bob
Sure is a lot of work, bit as Bob said wow what Amazing results 👏
Looks great Joe You can buy Ross track with the Gaurd rail already on it
As always Joe, well done with outstanding results. It’s so realistic looking, that if you touched it you’d get rust on your fingers.
Gene
Joe.......spectacular!
Peter
Joe,
Those bridges and the layout look amazing!
@NJCJOE I love your progress on the mountain and bridges. You have sold me on the rusting paint process. I am going get some and try it. Looks very real in my opinion. Learned a lot. Thanks for sharing.
Mike
Awesome😊
Joe---Congratulations, they came out extremely well. Seems like a good product to remember for the future. Thanks for finding them and posting.
Tom
@bluelinec4 posted:Looks great Joe You can buy Ross track with the Gaurd rail already on it
I've been looking for that guard rail track.. Where did you find it.. I didn't see it on the Ross website......
Nice work, Joe - I'll have to keep that rusting process in mind.
@bluelinec4 I appreciate the heads up Ben. 
The bridges look great, Joe!
Lookin' great! Gargraves has the trestle track here. I used it with Fastrack and can get you a picture if you want.
@Captain John posted:Awesome😊
Ditto! 👍
Joe, very nice job on the bridges. They look very realistic.
George
@NJCJOE posted:Searching the web I came across a product called Metal Effects by Modern Masters. It is a paint that contains iron particles. Once the paint is dry it is sprayed with an activator that actually creates real rust. Can't get more realistic than that!
A thumbs up for Metal Masters products. I used their Copper paint (with real copper powder) & their 'Patina' Activator on the galvanized 6" half-round gutters and downspouts that were on the house when I bought it... 18 years on, they still look great.
@NJCJOE posted:9/24/23 - It finally came time to do a task I have been putting off......weathering the O gauge track. I knew it had to be done but was not looking forward to it. In my opinion, weathering track is one of those details that is really not noticed until you take a closeup photo of the finished layout. Then the shiny side rails just look out of place. Weathering your track makes a big difference.
My initial plan was to use the Rustoleum camo paint that a lot of modelers use nowadays. I bought some and tried it on a test piece of track. While it looked good, I was concerned about the amount of over spray in my finished basement/railroadiana room. I decided that maybe the airbrush would be the better way to go. The last time I used my airbrushes, solvent based paint was ready available. Since that is now hard to find, I would have to rely on acrylic paint.
I bought some rail brown and tie brown from Tru-Color. I first tried my Badger single action airbrush, but it was acting up a bit. I then switched to my Iwata double action model and painted the test track. The first issue is that it appeared it would take a long time to weather all the track with an airbrush. The second issue was that the rail brown came out more like orange that brown. Here is a shot of the test piece. In person it shows up even more red that in the photo. I didn't like it.
I decided to go back to the rattle can method. I bought a bunch of lightweight plastic drop cloths and basically created a sealed room around the work area. It looked like I was prepping for a murder scene.
This is the paint I used. The earth brown gets sprayed at a low angle to coat both sides of the rails. The weathered wood is then sprayed from directly above the track to give the ties some additional color.
It took about 3 hours to do all the spraying. I'm happy with the results. I don't think I would like to do it again, but it's done. Anyway, on to the results. Here are some before and after shots.
And some overall pictures.
Joe, this looks terrific. I’m at the same point - it’s time to paint the track and I'm not necessarily looking forward to it. I have an airbrush, but really like what you did with spray cans. Do you have a rough idea as to how many cans you used? Linear feet/can, etc? Thanks, Joe and, again, your work looks awesome.
@Rider Sandman If I remember correctly, there is about 200' of track that I painted. I think I used four cans of the Camo Brown and two of the Weathered Wood.
@NJCJOE posted:@Rider Sandman If I remember correctly, there is about 200' of track that I painted. I think I used four cans of the Camo Brown and two of the Weathered Wood.
Perfect and thanks, Joe.
Joe…..top notch work! What an absolute gem of a layout and creative space!
John
I just found this thread. Looked at all 17 pages of it. All I can say is it is one h**l of a layout. What a great job. I am almost 94 years old now. I am going to build one just like yours in my next life. What does your wife think of it?
@eddie g Thanks Eddie. I am truly blessed to have a very supportive wife. She attends train shows and York at least once a year. I haven't been able to get her to help out with the layout yet, but I'm working on it. She has the artistic talent to do it. Way more than I have.
Thanks for the kind words everybody. I appreciate the encouragement.
@NJCJOE…….I am using your suggestion for weathering my Gargraves track. It is a perfect solution for my eye. Thanks for sharing! I am wondering what your procedure is for painting turnouts? If you have a moment to share your thoughts on this, greatly appreciated! Thanks again.
Mike
@LT1Poncho For the turnouts I didn't do anything special. I painted them just like the rest of the track. I did make sure to use light coats so things didn't get too sticky. As I painted I made sure to open and close the switch points to get all the surfaces covered.
Also, after the turnout painting was completed, I made sure to put the switch points in the mid point between the tracks so everything could dry without touching.
3/28/24 - I started laying down some ground cover. What a difference this step makes in the layout's appearance. I consider this the basic first step of landscaping. In the future more details, weathering and additional scenery items will be added.
Joe you’re certainly correct! That basic ground cover looks fantastic and made a big transformation. I’d be curious if that’s the look you had in your minds eye hen you started? Track layout always seems to evolve as it goes down. However, the time period and landscape motifs are something that maybe set at the onset. Keep the updates coming.
I think that is the basic idea I had in mind when I first started. I think we all change things as we go along when you actually see what everything looks like as it's put on the layout. All part of the fun being able to change and create our own little world.
Looks good, Joe!
Magnificent!
Peter
Looks good - like you say, now that the base ground cover is down, you can move on to more specific scenery items.
4/16/24 - I started making some trees using Sedum clippings from my yard. I actually cut these a year and a half ago and they have been sitting in the garage waiting to get used. I try and use pieces that seem to have a more realistic tree look to them. I first paint the underside and top of the dried foliage with a dark green spray paint. No need to completely cover everything with paint since allowing some of the brown foliage to show adds some additional color to the leaves.
Next I lightly spray the trunks and branches with the same colors I used to weather my track, Camo Brown and Weathered Wood. Vary the coverage to give different looks to the trunks.
I then spray the foliage with a liberal amount of cheap non-scented hair spray and sprinkle on some dark green ground foam. I put it on the top as well as on the underside of the foliage. More hairspray is added to lock everything in place. Use plenty of hairspray. You can repeat the process if you want the tree to be more dense or if you want to add another color of ground foam for variety.
The trees are fun to make. I can process a dozen in about an hour. Here are some closeup photos.
I also continued on the basic landscaping of this peninsula on the standard gauge portion of the layout. Before I knew it I had this section completed. I was hoping to have it done before York and I got it done. Doesn't feel great when you meet a goal? Here are some photos of this area of the layout. More detail will come down the road but I'm happy with how things are progressing.
Great job on the trees Joe! Also it is so nice when you do meet your goals! From the looks of your layout it seems like you have met many of your goals! It is just a wonderful looking layout!
The trees look good, Joe!
Now that I've read the whole thread. Joe, thank you so much for sharing your journey. It's an inspiration, and an amazing resource to those of us in the planning stages.
Great looking work Joe.
Joe it's starting to look like one heck of a Lionel Showroom layout.
Coach Joe just said it all.
Thanks guys!
Well done!
Peter
looks amazing Joe !
05/29/24 - I haven't made a lot of progress on the layout lately, mainly due to some outdoor projects taking up my time.
I did install another one of my Miller Engineering signs (Breyers) behind the station. I also built and installed some Bar Mills fence kits I picked up at York. The first was used as a stockade fence around one of the house backyards.
The second fence kit was used as an old beat up privacy fence around the construction yard.
I hope to get to my next planned layout project soon. I want to start installing the fascia.
6/18/24 – I got the entire fascia installed around the layout. I had the 4’x8’ sheets of 1/8” thick Masonite hardboard on hand since the end of last year. I planned ahead and picked it up before I sold my pickup truck. I don’t think the sheets would have survived coming home on the roof of my SUV.
I know many modelers wait until most of their basic scenery is completed before installing their fascia. I decided to put it up a little earlier in the process for two reasons. First, I was tired of looking at the 4’x8’ sheets sitting on the floor under the layout. They were in the way when I wanted to do some lighting wiring. Secondly, I thought getting the fascia installed would give the layout a little more of a finished look for the layout tour during the Anthracite Railroads Modelers Meet in September.
I started by mocking up the fascia with paper strips to see how it would look width wise. I used 6” wide strips for the standard gauge portions of the layout and 8” wide for the O gauge portions. I did this with the thought that it would make the two different layout heights appear to be closer in elevation than they are. I think it does help with that illusion somewhat.
I then added 1”x4” stubs round the edge of the layout where the ends of the bench work joists were not sticking out. This is what I attached the fascia to. As I installed the fascia panels, I would add a double 1”x4” stub to attach the end of one strip and the beginning of the next.
The Masonite was cut free hand into 8’ long strips with a jig saw utilizing a fine blade designed to cut laminate materials. This kept the cuts fairly smooth and the chipping to a minimum. Cut with the front side up, since any chipping will be on the back. I then lightly sanded the edges to clean them up a bit.
I know most people use screws to attach the fascia to their layout. I came up with the idea of using my pneumatic trim nailer to install it instead. I figured this would give me a clean, quick installation with little hole touch up needed before painting. Well, like many great ideas this didn’t work. The Masonite is not dense enough to be held in place with the tiny heads on the brad nails.
I next decided to just use dry wall screws and dive them just below the surface of the fascia. This way I could come back later with a little caulk or wood putty and cover them up before painting. This didn’t work either. Once the bottom of the screw heads hit the face of the hardboard they stopped and would not self-countersink. I determined this was because I was screwing into the end of the joist, with the grain of the wood, which is not strong enough to pull the screw in by itself.
So, since I had to first drill countersink holes before installing the fastener anyway, I decided to try and use nails which had smaller heads than the screws. This worked quite well. I used ring shank nails which provided more bite going into the joists. I will say the fascia was tricky to install by myself. A second set of hands would have greatly helped for this project. But I got it done.
Overall I’m really happy with the look. The fascia definitely hides some of the bench work, providing for a more finished look. I will eventually paint the fascia. Probably after more of the scenery is done since I’ll be leaning over/on the layout a lot and no sense in scratching the paint up. I haven’t decided on a color yet. I am leaning towards a very dark gray with a black skirt. I figure that would blend together with the carpet nicely. We’ll see.
Here are some photos of the finished fascia.
Came out great, Joe. I'm a big fan of installing a fascia to give the layout a clean finished look and used the same 1/8" board as you did. Since all of my angles were 90 degrees and I didn't have to secure any bends, I was able to use my finish nail gun and finish nails to hold it in place.
Mine was a lighter wood which I stained and poly'd. For painting, a flat camo green might work as well.
@NJCJOE, All I can say is Wow, and you have come a Long way from, first getting your basement ready for a train layout (Super Man Cave), painting, building your extensive train bench work, to adding all the trackwork, scenic details, beautiful colored accessories, bridges, mountains, rivers, and O Gauge and Standard Gauge, with an eye for accessory placement and overall operation…. Unbelievable!!! And your already making a really neat facia board… Your work is so applaudable, Congratulations on a well executed plan of action… Thank you for showing us the beginning to where you are now, it’s an amazing Journey… Happy Railroading Everyone
Joe, fascia looks great. I think the color choice you mentioned will work fine and not take anything away from the real spectacle which are the trains and the scenery. Thanks for sharing!
Mike
What a difference Joe, nicely done!
Gene
Joe,
Fascia always transforms a layout and what you have done is no exception. Once you paint it that of course will be another transformation. I think your timing on installation is fine. Now you can complete your subterrain and scenery so that is butts up against the fascia where there are gaps. Nice work and thanks for sharing!
Dave
Joe,
Very nice, clean and professional look. Good luck with any other progress.
Tom
As with all of your achievements Joe , this looks very clean and crisp. I’m looking forward to the tour.
Jay
Looking very good, Joe!
George
Looks great Joe! Every time I come to your page you always have something extra for me to think about, Like the fences you built! and now fascia for down the road!
Your page along with everything else here is such a great learning tool for the rest of us! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks guys for the encouraging comments.
Joe, the fascia really looks great! It does make the under construction layout look more finished.
Your layout is a master class in so many aspects - creation of a great space, train-themed decoration, incorporating O and standard gauge tinplate and non-tinplate trains into one layout, use of L-girder benchwork, top-notch scenery, and first-rate workmanship. Thanks for sharing so many pictures along the way. Overall, I can't think of a nicer owner-built layout.
Have you considered contacting @Allan Miller and compiling everything into an article (or series) for the print magazine?
@Mallard4468 posted:Your layout is a master class in so many aspects - creation of a great space, train-themed decoration, incorporating O and standard gauge tinplate and non-tinplate trains into one layout, use of L-girder benchwork, top-notch scenery, and first-rate workmanship. Thanks for sharing so many pictures along the way. Overall, I can't think of a nicer owner-built layout.
Have you considered contacting @Allan Miller and compiling everything into an article (or series) for the print magazine?
I sure wish he would! I would certainly be interested in featuring the layout in the magazine.
The fascias look great Joe. Adds a finished look to the layout that's not finished yet.
Your build from bare concrete walls and floor to now is really a master class in how to plan and build a train room and layout.
Well done Sir!
Bob
@Allan Miller posted:I sure wish he would! I would certainly be interested in featuring the layout in the magazine.
Allan,
I sent you an email.
@Allan Miller posted:I sure wish he would! I would certainly be interested in featuring the layout in the magazine.
Sure this happens as it would be a great feature and I would love to read more about it!
I just love your train room/layout design! You have it so people can walk in and out of those sections and see everything easily from all angles. Great job, looks fantastic.
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