@Aegis21 posted:Thanks Dave I cleaned it up with your help
Unfortunately, that didn’t work because somehow the photos all disappeared. It probably looks okay on your computer because the photos are on it, but they’re no longer part of the post and I don’t know why.
John, I am running code 148 2 rail track for the trolley. The profile is about half the size of our O gauge track. It will need to be supported. Yes, the elevation is 10 inches. I might think about printing a little shorter so they can be placed on a base (for fine tuning height) but not sure about that. How long are your girder sections, that would give me an idea of configuration. The 10 inch height is a result of wanting 8 inches clearance above the track and 1 1/2 inches of foam on top of the cross supports.
I have not as yet decided on exact track placement in this location, but its likely I can get away with pillars against the wall but then have to have varying widths of girders between the posts to avoid the tracks below. I really need to lay this out before I go much further.
Funny I have really not been happy with my limited space and the resulting track plan. Its taken nearly 2 years to accept the facts and then keep tweaking the plan to develop a level of interest for running trains. Then poof motivation sets in - go figure.
The trolley concept is helping move this along, in addition to the grain terminal with rail and barge loading. Otherwise running trains in a circle would not be much fun after 30 seconds. My grandson was happy with running a short consist for about 10 minutes. Of course we had to turn out the lights to run at night. He was fascinated with my passenger cars in the yard which lit up when we applied power. I have not as yet installed switches to power off selectively the 7 yard tracks. Lighting seems to create a lot of interest for the kids. I have yet to install my lighting controls for the town.
I like the Trolley line Jeff. Should look great when it's done.
I've toyed with adding an around the walls trolley above my layout.
Bob
I found this website to be helpful
https://www.deerfieldriverlaser.com/Boats.html
i used their kit to build this barge. I had to modify it and add three sections because the accessory would only work with the supplied sprue. The two end bins are Lionel #206 coal.
@ScoutingDad posted:John, I am running code 148 2 rail track for the trolley. The profile is about half the size of our O gauge track. It will need to be supported. Yes, the elevation is 10 inches. I might think about printing a little shorter so they can be placed on a base (for fine tuning height) but not sure about that. How long are your girder sections, that would give me an idea of configuration. The 10 inch height is a result of wanting 8 inches clearance above the track and 1 1/2 inches of foam on top of the cross supports.
Girder sections can be from 2 inches to 11 inches And the 10 inch height I think would require a wider stance and some bracing to ensure stability.
I have not as yet decided on exact track placement in this location, but its likely I can get away with pillars against the wall but then have to have varying widths of girders between the posts to avoid the tracks below. I really need to lay this out before I go much further. And the lengths can vary to what you need in the range of 2 to 11 inches
Funny I have really not been happy with my limited space and the resulting track plan. Its taken nearly 2 years to accept the facts and then keep tweaking the plan to develop a level of interest for running trains. Then poof motivation sets in - go figure. I have relatively a large area and it is too small, must be part of the O scale hobby. lol
The trolley concept is helping move this along, in addition to the grain terminal with rail and barge loading. Otherwise running trains in a circle would not be much fun after 30 seconds. My grandson was happy with running a short consist for about 10 minutes. Of course we had to turn out the lights to run at night. He was fascinated with my passenger cars in the yard which lit up when we applied power. I have not as yet installed switches to power off selectively the 7 yard tracks. Lighting seems to create a lot of interest for the kids. I have yet to install my lighting controls for the town. Yes, as a kid I was and still love the darkened layout that is light up!
Following on my post on WDYDOYL covering a new retaining wall, here are a few details on how this was created. I needed to cover 15 feet of wall and did not want to spend that much on the prefab flexible sheets - but they look really nice - I was tempted.
Image of 2 sections in place but unfinished.
Close up of the stone detail. The top is scribed to resemble a cap stone. Once in place I will go back and detail the cap stone seams. I prefer to change the brick widths as little as well as gouge out bits here and there.
Going in reverse order - I found it easier to scribe the first couple of rows to give an idea on size. After that I skipped rows to make sure the joints were roughly aligned. I like to use a tapered clay modeling tool here as it easier to clear out the space between the bricks. Using a hobby knife can achieve similar results. The tool has a slight "v" shape to it.
I have done the lay down the straight edge and scribe each individual line in the past. It works, its tedious and I rarely get the horizontal lines parallel. Below is a simple scribing tool for consistent horizontal lines. I did get a little bit of wander but that is a technique thing. Presumably each nail is 3/8 of an inch apart. Did not use a drill press so its clear I did not drill each hole straight. The drywall butts against the stop and multiple light passes are drawn across the drywall to the desired depth.
The drywall here is 2 1/2 inches tall. The top of the image will be the bottom so the bit of variance will not be noticeable.
A sample run showing the paper removed from the drywall. I still have to get better at this, but try not to soak the underside of the drywall paper you do not want to remove. I found anything more than 16 inches long is asking for trouble as the material cracks easily - it has to be supported along its entire length. Most of my finished sheets have at least one crack, but it closes cleanly and is not apparent unlike below. The material holds water and stays damp for quite a while. I got the paper off after 4 wet and peel attempts. I would be better to apply the water and cover with a damp rag to help the water penetrate - but who has time for that??? A steel scrubbing pad was most helpful in removing the final layer of paper. This pad is just a bunch of steel turning gathered into a pad - I 've seen them out of stainless steel and copper in the kitchen/cleaning area.
Hope you find this helpful - I had one of those "why did I not think f that moment" when first told of this modeling technique. Supposedly guys use this for HO scale buildings. Cannot imagine the time involved.
Jeff that looks great! I thank you for sharing how you did this, I would have never thought of using a board with nails!
Nice description of your work, Jeff. That’s quite a handy tool. My daughter gave me a bunch of that type clay, but I haven’t done anything with it yet. I guess you have shown me how.
Thought this topic needed some updates. The following photos are a "panorama" of TPRR2 as it is today. Have been making progress in a couple of areas and have thought about "To Dos".
This is a image of the new corner featuring the TP Resort and Supper Club (with the high end clients). I'll pull the mountains from the right across to start of the blue and then paint in the mountains from the left. More detail work is needed but at this point I can move on to other sections.
This is the town area. I am starting to lay in the trolley tracks and have drawing for a possible build of elevated trolley tracks to serve the engine house workers.
Just a slight right turn, The track feeding the grain elevators is removable so I can get at the town area in the corner. There is a later image of the trolley line curve which will drop into the corner between the town buildings.
This is the mess. If it comes together I'll lay in a building backdrop which will extend from the tunnel to the engine house area. In front of that will go the elevated trolley line. It will have to curve at bit to avoid tracks below. Since I do not have the room to turn around the trolley, I will need to switch the trolley pole at each end to change directions. This will be an overhead powered trolley line running on code 148 2 rail track. End of the line will be about where the water tower resides.
Just a wide view from where I plan to run the layout.
This is a trial section of the trolley line track. Curve radius is about 20 inches. The plywood will be cut into a curves section to allow access to the town buildings and removal of the section if ever necessary.
Starting to come together Jeff. I've been considering adding an around the walls Trolley line above my layout. I'll be following along.
Bob
@ScoutingDad posted:This is the town area. I am starting to lay in the trolley tracks and have drawing for a possible build of elevated trolley tracks to serve the engine house workers.
Jeff, Your layout is looking great! I have a question about the retaining wall that, with the town above, conceals the tracks. Are the panels with the signs on them removable for access into the tunnel? I wondered since the left three aren't installed.
Mark, the first 5 sections from the left are held in place by magnets, easily removeable. I was going to put fencing in the 3 open sections, but I am rethinking that. I can also lift off the upper decking as it is 1 1/2 foam. But as I put in the trolley line that will be more challenging to get to.
Jeff, that makes sense. Thank you.
Jeff I think things are really coming together for you! I like the idea of a trolly as it will add more interest to your layout!
The arch ways in your retaining wall, is that scratch built? It looks great!
Seems like I have not run any trains in months. I keep getting more ideas on making the layout better, and then the voice in my head says "tear it down and start again". Well that is not going to happen until I get this one in reasonable shape to run and have some fun with.
I have been helping my son remodel his home in what was an open space - into a hall way, bedroom, closet and bath. So after that, working on the layout has not been a priority. However ran into dead ends trying to either have trestles 3D printed or laser cut.
This is where the town trolley is at this point.
The brick street needs a few more washes and then a high gloss modpodge coating. Then run the trolley wire. I've torn into the trolley body trying to get the poles wired to conduct power to the motor. Roller pickups are removed. I think the poles will conduct, I have intermittent conductivity with a multimeter from the roller to the base of each, but I think the real test will be to wire this up and see.
The 1 1/4 inch double plywood base decided to warp giving a slight rise in the middle of this 5 foot section. I am hoping the water from the washes got into the plywood causing the warp but will come down when dried out. Time will tell.
The clay streets are a real learning curve. From rolling the stuff out and imprinting and then painting. When doing this again, I would roll out the streets and imprint and let it dry on my modeling pad for about two days. I like the deeper imprint attained when I did that for the between the rails sections. The clay paints more like plastic than a cement/plaster material, so I had to adjust techniques. Also use one clay color, the stark difference between white and a dark grey is difficult to address.
Maybe I'll have a test run by Christmas. Merry Merry to all. Jeff
Jeff, that is some project you and your son are doing. That should greatly increase the living space in his house!
The brick street looks good from this angle. It sounds like you are well on your way with the overhead power for the trolley!
Jeff I think your doing a great job on your layout and I look at it this way, at least you have a place to run trains! LOL
Its nice of you to help your son out, I am sure if you need his help he would be right there!
I hope you and the family have a wonderful Christmas!
Tried to post this on the Weekend Photo thread and it got deleted by the AI - I presume. @Mark Boyce
For those of you about to use airdry clay to make streets, I suggest not using ModgePodge high gloss. It dried white in the recesses of the bricks. Not very happy with that. Previously it seemed to dry clear. Overall I am happy with the results, but would raise the roadbed to the top of the ties so the slope is reduced and I could then lay strips of the streets in place. I used bits of clay to bond the finished brick streets to the substrate. If you want a tighter bond damp both sides and then press together. I rolled these streets in place. It was a bit of a challenge keeping the rolling straight and at the same pressure for the imprint. Bricks are at or a touch below rail level.
The streets have multiple coats of paint to yield the color variation. One of the things I found was if I went over an area too much, all the layers came off leaving the white of the clay. Matching that was even more of a challenge.
@ScoutingDad posted:Tried to post this on the Weekend Photo thread and it got deleted by the AI - I presume. @Mark Boyce
For those of you about to use airdry clay to make streets, I suggest not using ModgePodge high gloss. It dried white in the recesses of the bricks. Not very happy with that. Previously it seemed to dry clear. Overall I am happy with the results, but would raise the roadbed to the top of the ties so the slope is reduced and I could then lay strips of the streets in place. I used bits of clay to bond the finished brick streets to the substrate. If you want a tighter bond damp both sides and then press together. I rolled these streets in place. It was a bit of a challenge keeping the rolling straight and at the same pressure for the imprint. Bricks are at or a touch below rail level.
The streets have multiple coats of paint to yield the color variation. One of the things I found was if I went over an area too much, all the layers came off leaving the white of the clay. Matching that was even more of a challenge.
That looks fantastic! Great job.
@ScoutingDad posted:Tried to post this on the Weekend Photo thread and it got deleted by the AI - I presume. @Mark Boyce
For those of you about to use airdry clay to make streets, I suggest not using ModgePodge high gloss. It dried white in the recesses of the bricks. Not very happy with that. Previously it seemed to dry clear. Overall I am happy with the results, but would raise the roadbed to the top of the ties so the slope is reduced and I could then lay strips of the streets in place. I used bits of clay to bond the finished brick streets to the substrate. If you want a tighter bond damp both sides and then press together. I rolled these streets in place. It was a bit of a challenge keeping the rolling straight and at the same pressure for the imprint. Bricks are at or a touch below rail level.
The streets have multiple coats of paint to yield the color variation. One of the things I found was if I went over an area too much, all the layers came off leaving the white of the clay. Matching that was even more of a challenge.
Looks great Jeff! I don't know if it is something I would do. But I am glad your sharing it as I may changey mind once the layoutnis up!
@mike g. Mike the only reason I tried the clay is I found the plastic brick sheets ridiculously expensive. All around $10 per square foot. I think the clay ends up being around $0.50 per square foot and except for trimmings there is no wastage.
I could see it happening on my layout as when I use to work on the county roads crew we still had 1 mile of brick road we had to maintain.
Thank you, Jeff! It looks very good. I was wondering about rolling the clay in place on the layout. I think mine should be easier since I don’t have street car tracks. Also, thank you about the problem with Mod Podge.
The windows have arrived, so the next step is to mockup the freight building.
This is where I am at so far. I wanted each building section to be the width of a box car. The dimensions measure 36 wide by 16 inches tall. A freight door will serve each section on the first floor.
Cardboard mockup of the freight building.
Looks good Jeff, I know it's going to take a lot of work, but can't wait to see how it turns out!
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