Sunday Scenic Showcase March 21, 2021

When having a modular set up, there is the constant set and take down. Dirt, damage, loose parts, especially loose seams are the rule.

I built some of these structures in the late 90s (Walthers storefronts, dairy, fuel depot. Lionel factory kit bash). The lumber yard and ice station were built around 2010.

They have been put up, taken down ( maybe 3 dozen times), packed and stored in a trailer, a garage and have seen lots of wear and tear over the past 10+ years......

Time for cleaning and rehab.....and an assessment of needed repairs.

I decided to start the process.....

In addition......more roadbed/ballast repair is scheduled for this week......

Coming soon, the rehab of my 2 large factories: Max Foods and General Electric.

Have a great and safe weekend, folks.

Peter

It is the first day of Spring in 1997. The Conrail Office Car Special is running light this morning heading to the station for its 8AM departure of Conrail / Norfolk Southern executives for a tour of the “property”. Conrail #9 brings up the markers.

Donald

@3rail posted:

It is the first day of Spring in 1997. The Conrail Office Car Special is running light this morning heading to the station for its 8AM departure of Conrail / Norfolk Southern executives for a tour of the “property”. Conrail #9 brings up the markers.

Donald

I like your theater car.  I would love to get one for my NS Executive set.  But the paint differences between the Lionel and MTH cars are too different.  That and the $225 price tag is a bit steep for a 1 passenger car.  I wish it came with a "no camera" option to lower the cost.  That seems like something I would use once and then never again.

Ron

As mentioned in last Week’s SSS thread, I recently picked up where I left off 3 years ago (can’t believe it’s been that long!) building a 2' x 4' diorama for photographing my trains.  I started this project in 2017, and worked on it very sporadically for about a year...but then it sat idle until now.

The overall scene will represent a portion of a rail yard (foreground) with a slightly-elevated mainline (background) running along a typical mountain hillside found in northeastern PA, which is where I was born and raised.

The series of photos below are in chronological order from where I picked up.  I’m working from the rear of the diorama to the front.  I purchased a custom backdrop from Forum-sponsor Railroad Backdrops.com that will complete the scene.

I used Scenic Express foam “Cut Block Wall” sections to make the wall face of the elevated main line...

However, I wanted them to look more like the walls that seem to be found everywhere in N.E. PA.  I’m not sure what type of rock was used to build these walls, but they looked like this...

So I used a “practice” wall section to experiment with all sorts of color combinations and washes until I came up with something close...

Then applied that “formula” to the actual diorama wall section.  The wall, track and ballast will eventually get some finishing-touch weathering/washes, but here’s how it stands as of now...

Next, I moved on to building a branch line track (that comes off the mainline track somewhere “off” of the diorama), and a yard lead track.  I messed around with various track configurations as I’m building this diorama with no set plan in mind.  It’s sort of coming to me as I go along!

Here’s the finished version, now ready for ballast...

That’s it for now.  I’ll post additional photos as I make progress.

Alan, The scale is great.  At first I thought it was a bridge but once you put the deck on it and seeing it next to one of the other structures I realized, scale and scale house.

Peter good thing you're retired, it looks like you've got a lot of work planned on those modules.

@Ron045 posted:

I like your theater car.  I would love to get one for my NS Executive set.  But the paint differences between the Lionel and MTH cars are too different.  That and the $225 price tag is a bit steep for a 1 passenger car.  I wish it came with a "no camera" option to lower the cost.  That seems like something I would use once and then never again.

Ron

Hey Ron. Yes, I agree. I had to have it to complete my Conrail train. But, I have never tried to use the camera. I also have (2) Cabooses with cameras that I never used either. Maybe a good project for next Winter!

Donald

Alan and all, Great builds, rebuilds and scenes this week. Very interesting variety.

Tom

@CNJ #1601 posted:

As mentioned in last Week’s SSS thread, I recently picked up where I left off 3 years ago (can’t believe it’s been that long!) building a 2' x 4' diorama for photographing my trains.  I started this project in 2017, and worked on it very sporadically for about a year...but then it sat idle until now.

The overall scene will represent a portion of a rail yard (foreground) with a slightly-elevated mainline (background) running along a typical mountain hillside found in northeastern PA, which is where I was born and raised.

The series of photos below are in chronological order from where I picked up.  I’m working from the rear of the diorama to the front.  I purchased a custom backdrop from Forum-sponsor Railroad Backdrops.com that will complete the scene.

I used Scenic Express foam “Cut Block Wall” sections to make the wall face of the elevated main line...

However, I wanted them to look more like the walls that seem to be found everywhere in N.E. PA.  I’m not sure what type of rock was used to build these walls, but they looked like this...

So I used a “practice” wall section to experiment with all sorts of color combinations and washes until I came up with something close...

Then applied that “formula” to the actual diorama wall section.  The wall, track and ballast will eventually get some finishing-touch weathering/washes, but here’s how it stands as of now...

Next, I moved on to building a branch line track (that comes off the mainline track somewhere “off” of the diorama), and a yard lead track.  I messed around with various track configurations as I’m building this diorama with no set plan in mind.  It’s sort of coming to me as I go along!

Here’s the finished version, now ready for ballast...

That’s it for now.  I’ll post additional photos as I make progress.

Great work Joe. A little black wash on the rock wall should give you the results you're looking for. The viaduct reference photo you posted is literally around the corner from my house.

@rail posted:

Great work Joe. A little black wash on the rock wall should give you the results you're looking for. The viaduct reference photo you posted is literally around the corner from my house.

Thanks, Don.  I knew you would recognize that viaduct!  I took photos at several different locations on one of my visits back to NEPA to use as references for this project.

Joe,

Glad to see you posting again.

Coach,

I wish I was retired. I am still working the real job.

Just completed a 2-Unit Tank stand with pump assembly.