Highland cliffs - Complete and running trains!

Love those long parallel straights against the beautiful rock and rubble...

Painted rails PLUS ballast--well done.

Looks great! In my book, painted rails are an absolute must. Makes a HUGE difference in the overall appearance. Nice clean ties as well, no ballast piled up on the mainlines. 2 thumbs up

Adding some green....

Looks good John, you are moving forward at a good pace.

Wow, a lot done since I visited you!  Great work!  BTW, where did you go up North?

I looks real good now. What an improvement! 

Hi John. We went to Traverse City and spent the week end at Great Wolf Lodge. the family let me take them to Old Mission Point light house... just a beautiful place.

 

 

Hartland Gulch is coming into form. Bridge installed and the crew is testing out the new rail.

 

 

Thanks Jim, as you can see my 2-6-0 New York Central is leading the pack.

 

 

You have made some nice progress in a month. I like the foam blocks added to the wall as a back drop. I will remember that for a spot on my layout.  Nick

Thanks Nick -

here are a few more updates:

 

 

 

 

J Daddy,

I love it, nice work and it really is impressive.  The small steamer really sets off the massive scenery effort behind it.

That is shaping up to be one beautiful layout.

Should have given me a call!  I was home on leave from the ship for about 5 weeks.

Looks terrific; wonderful scene.  Thanks for the photos.

Thanks guys....

 

 

I haven't been back to Traverse City since attending IAA in the early 70s. Now there's a Great wolf Resort, a mall, no doubt lots of other stuff, and tons of changes at IAA as well. Not the little town I remember of 40-plus years ago. One of these days...

 

And we have an active model train club in Traverse City, with emphasis on 3 rail O gauge.....the Northern Michigan Railroad Club.  Link below.

beautiful job 

John, just visited the NMRRC site, looks like a nice club, nice website too. Even though I'm devote O guy, I'm a little envious of the briefcase layout. Is the club located up in wine country?

Sure is, our clubhouse is on Old Mission Peninsula, although our main layout is a modular that we set up in town at Christmas time.  BTW, I live near IAA (Interlochen Arts Academy) and occasionally attend concerts there.

BTW, J Daddy (John) did a great job of building a Labelle wood combine kit for me.  He is definitely a craftsman!!!

Checked it out on google maps, 14512 Center Rd.? Is that a tavern next door? Beautiful area. Road my bike countless miles in the state park adjacent to Interlochen. Never had seen black squirrels before. This is also the time when I discovered Vernor's. Corson had just been completed when I left, Kresge is wonderful with it's view, but the Bowl was my favorite. A return visit would be all the greater with a short trip north to tour a model train club.  

J Daddy,

The gulch is shaping up really nicely. It compliments the long rock wall nicely.  I like those stone arches behind the bridge.

John - awesome! I am going to make it a point to stop by next time.

John, I also want to take the kids to the School schooner in the bay there. Friends told me it was fantastic....

 

 

More of a restaurant than a tavern.  We are located in the basement of the market next door. Work on our (semi-)permanent layout is stalled at present since we've been doing a lot of work on the modular, so not a lot to see yet.  Hopefully we'll get something done this winter.  If you come up around Christmas time we will have our modular layouts (in all scales) on display in town for almost 3 weeks.

 

J Daddy, re the schooner, that's the Inland Seas, which is the one with the educational trips.  There is another, larger schooner in the Bay that is strictly for day tripper tourists.  In August there is a standard gauge 0-4-0 steam switcher giving rides for a week during the Buckley Old Engine Show, and occasionally PM 1225 will show up in the area.

That's it John... Next time I am up, I am calling you.

Here is a few more pics...

 

 

 

 

adding some more rock details...

 

 

 

How did you paint the track, brush, spray....?

 

 

I cheated...  I used a paint brush- roof brown and grimey black paint mix -  pollyscale paints,  but I will airbrush it after the ballast and ground cover is complete.

 

I did not want to clean the track twice.

 Much easier to not mess than clean track later

 

Nice work!

 

Thanks J. Daddy.  Did you use a very small brush and just do the rails or paint on the ties also?

 

Doug as I get older and "being an engineer" I tend to be way too conservative... so I pick a brush that is the width of the rail and apply gently like I am pin striping a car. If a little gets on the tie plates its ok, but I tend to avoid it.

 

Thanks again.  That's what I think,I'll do.

Here is an updated pic.

Beautiful!! 

The rock formation is very well done.

Andre.

 

Impressive!

 

Peter