What did you do on your layout today?

@Dave Ripp. posted:

That's pretty darn cool Mike.

Thanks Dave!

Ugh, none my words showed up above.

Sorry about that.

Bridge I'm working on.

@fast freight posted:

Thats really looking good! Keep up the wonderful work and keep us posted!

@mike g. posted:

Great and impressive project Mike!   What a unique action detail to add to your layout!   Hoping you are able to make it exceed your expectations!   Fun stuff!!  

Cheers. Dave

@fast freight posted:

Wow! I love the way you have blended that hillsides and the angles of the tracks. Looks like life.

Bob, I really like your Santa Fe F units.

They are traditional beasts!

sound great too. Thx for movies as usual.

Pierre

@mike g.- freakin' awesome!!!!!

@fast freight- Nice work, no words required.

@Dave Ripp.- the park looks great. I don't know what the other two guys are doing but they may want to get under the boards and start throwing elbows for the rebound.

@Leroof- Thanks Pierre. My set of AC Commander boards are in route. Now I just need time to work on the conversion.

Gents- an observation- can we please not repeat photos when replying to a post? I know OGR frowns upon it. When adding your comments, it's easy to highlight the pix and hit delete, then they won't get repeated. Makes for easier reading of the thread too.

Bob

Thanks guys for the nice comments! Today I will be in the train room rerunning the wires for the airfield lighting, and working on the lighted board for the Grayhound bus station. For some reason the sign does not work, but all the other lighting works fine. I hope I can figure it out, as come to find out a replacement board is out of stock! LOL

@mike.g That runway is amazing. Is it going to be controlled by a pushbutton or a timer?

I finished the dull coat on the #53 today. I goofed up the decal background color (forgot to change it to a darker black)  but its still a toy. Overall I am pleased with the way it came out.

Changed around a few sidewalks and moved the driveways so I could fit more buildings. The grochery store was taking up to much space so I added Sullivans Bar , another 3 flat behind it and a pool hall-ice cream- barber shop corner building. Still more to do just roughed in. Also preped another area for buidings and added a Menards Grim Reaper to the graveyard for Halloween.

Hi guys, what great work !

@Victor Bertolina, Your 44 toner looks good to me! As for the airplane its hooked up to a toggle switch with limit switches at each end so I can just turn it on and it goes and then stops all by its self. I am glad you like the idea.

@Dave Ripp., Man Dave I dont know where you get the energy to do all this work, but I do know it looks Outstanding! I do have a question, how do you get to the center of your layout! That's a lot of work and if your reaching a lot of bending! Not the best for the back when your young, even worse when you get older! LOL

@mike g. posted:

Hi guys, what great work !

@Victor Bertolina, Your 44 toner looks good to me! As for the airplane its hooked up to a toggle switch with limit switches at each end so I can just turn it on and it goes and then stops all by its self. I am glad you like the idea.

@Dave Ripp., Man Dave I dont know where you get the energy to do all this work, but I do know it looks Outstanding! I do have a question, how do you get to the center of your layout! That's a lot of work and if your reaching a lot of bending! Not the best for the back when your young, even worse when you get older! LOL

Thank you mike. At 5 feet 9 wide and my being 5 feet 11 I can reach the middle. I do have a 3 step stool and a top side creeper that I use if I have to.  I also put the road down the middle and kept the scenery to the side to make it easier to reach the important things. The table is on wheels and very easy to move.

@Dave Ripp. posted:

Thank you mike. At 5 feet 9 wide and my being 5 feet 11 I can reach the middle. I do have a 3 step stool and a top side creeper that I use if I have to.  I also put the road down the middle and kept the scenery to the side to make it easier to reach the important things. The table is on wheels and very easy to move.

Oh ok, I have a 2 step stool and on one end I still have to get up on the layout to ballast, once I am done ballasting I make sure everything works right so I dont have to go back there I hope! LOL I haven't got to ballasting yet as other projects have taken over to try and finish up one end of the layout where my town is!

@mike g. posted:

Oh ok, I have a 2 step stool and on one end I still have to get up on the layout to ballast, once I am done ballasting I make sure everything works right so I dont have to go back there I hope! LOL I haven't got to ballasting yet as other projects have taken over to try and finish up one end of the layout where my town is!

Mine may only be 2 steps also but it really helps. No ballest certainly makes life easier.I only have room for one or 2 more buidings in town then I have to wire the switches before working on the switching area.

What did I do I'm my layout today?  I looked at what it would take to create a 54 double switch.

I resurfesed the blacktop by the moter cycle club it was a rough ride. Also preped a small spot bt the dealership and added a guard rail where a small manufacturing building will go. I'm heading to Carbondale for the weekend. I'll be back Monday to neaten things up and decide what's next.

Rich built three Korber Sand Towers last week and lettered and rebuilt the turntable arch. Wow, he did a great job.

He received a promotion for his excellent work and was given two boxes of parts that will become two diesel maintenance buildings in the Roanoke Shops complex. One wall was completed yesterday.

Progress continued on the permanent wiring of the right hand Control board that will serve level two and the diesel and steam “Roanoke Shops” area. A Track Power Terminal Block and 20 relays were added and three fully wired which allow power to Stub, Roundhouse, Turntable, Transfer Table, and other tracks, to be turned off/on.  These are in addition to the lighting relays that were added last week.

Wiring will continue this week.

@mike g. nice work on the takeoff. I think the military would be extremely interested in the low takeoff speed you have invented. Almost no runway needed and getting near to being a VTOL.

General comment - nice work all, I am finding the forum is sending email notices on posts 2 or 3 days after the actual post. Not sure if it is the forum host or the internet trying to match the speed of the US Post Office. 

I am "destroying" a section of my layout where I have gotten warping to the extent some of my engines and cars are derailing at the spot. I really wish I had gone to open grid when I did the last major rebuild, I thought I could save time and materials just doing an overlay. Lesson learned and something which will not be repeated in the next layout.

Mike -  nice work !

  A couple of quick shots of the continued bridge work.

  I like to use a product called super moss or similar glued over the paper mache base. It comes in small rolls or sheets found in craft stores.

   Peel off the backing paper, cut to shape and hot glue in place. You'll end up with a few scraps which is good to fill in here and there.

   I find it doesn't take much hot glue or finesse just lightly anchor the moss in place following the contour of your landscape.

   In the last 2 photos the moss is glued in place and now ready for static grass application, or if you wanted rocks or dirt, now would be the time.

   Static grass application and ballast coming soon...........

Dave, that looks great and should be a nice smooth ride now! Question where do you get your guard rails?

Bill, things sure are looking great! Alan does Amazing work and your electrical panel looks like a pro did it!

Jeff, thanks but I dont plan on using the jet, it is just a test plane, I wanted to make sure it was going to work before I drilled a hole in a more expensive plane! Sorry to hear about the warping,  but am glad its something your able to fix!

fast Freight, I really like the Moss matt looks nice and easy along with looking real!

Well guys I worked on rewiring the back of my runway to make room for the lift thing. When I finished that I worked on trying to figure out how come my sign wasn't working on my Grayhound bus station. Problem solved as it was not getting enough power. I started with 14v and found out it needed 18v so I had an old HO Transformer laying around it it works great now. Here is a shot video, I know it shows the whole town, but I figured while I was at it why not! LOL

I hope you all had a great day and some fun with there layout!

Mike, the airplane and runway is really going to work out well!  The town looks great, and I'm glad you got the Greyhound station lights working.

Fast Freight, the whole scene is looking great!  Neat looking stuff for grass.

Bill, the engine facility is really going to look great.  It already is.

It has been nice out, so I have done some things outside that I couldn't all summer.  I have slowly been wiring my AIUs.  I'll post photographs when there is something worth seeing.

     OK, here's a few more quick shots of static grass applications.

      I won't get into the actual static grass application here, plenty of  videos on that already.

     how I work the moss/glue is,  I apply a liberal amount of straight white glue and with a round brush roll it through the glue. Lots of glue is good.

     I work a small section and starting at the lowest point where water would collect I put the darkest green grass. Working up the slope I mix in lighter shades of green.

     This method gives a thick durable lush grass appearance. I wish I would have laid my rails on a cork roadbed material because sometimes the grass is so thick it buries the ties.

     I hope you give this method a try and I'd love to see your results when done.

     ,

                                                                                                             Dan

Mark thanks, I hope it turns out well! LOL

fast freight, Wonderful job on the static grass! Maybe I will do some one day! It's funny after watching what everyone has done and is doing I sure have a lot of Maybe days on my calendar! LOL

Mike -- Airport looks great! In view of the short take-off space, I think it would be appropriate for the plane to be either a J-3 Piper Cub in either it's distinctive yellow or U.S. military OD. The other appropriate plane would be a DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver.

   Thanks Mike g.

   I sure know about the maybe days.

   Well, I'm more like a someday. Someday I'll clean up my wiring, someday I'll paint a backdrop, someday I'll...........

   It's a long list.

   Keep running trains  and have fun I guess.

I have started terra forming a mesa. This is the second part of three pieces that will form the canyon for the train to rumble through. I was going to put the farmers house up there, but it smaller than I originally planned (who knew a switchback road would take up so much space?) So now it will a pond and a park theme,

@fast freight posted:

     OK, here's a few more quick shots of static grass applications.

      I won't get into the actual static grass application here, plenty of  videos on that already.

     how I work the moss/glue is,  I apply a liberal amount of straight white glue and with a round brush roll it through the glue. Lots of glue is good.

     I work a small section and starting at the lowest point where water would collect I put the darkest green grass. Working up the slope I mix in lighter shades of green.

     This method gives a thick durable lush grass appearance. I wish I would have laid my rails on a cork roadbed material because sometimes the grass is so thick it buries the ties.

     I hope you give this method a try and I'd love to see your results when done.

     ,

                                                                                                             Dan

Nicely done Dan, sometimes static grass can have a mind of its own. Looking good!!

@fast freight posted:

     OK, here's a few more quick shots of static grass applications.

      I won't get into the actual static grass application here, plenty of  videos on that already.

                                                                                                               Dan

Nice job Dan. I've seen those mats in Michaels and have been tempted because one piece covers a decent area at a better price per square inch than traditional ground covers, but I thought they just didn't look quite right. Adding the static grass looks like the perfect way to blend them in.

Bob

Nothing fancy today. This week was the start of the tie fabrication and coloring process. I made just short of 500 ties (probably need 500 more) and started a few test batches of wood dye. The ties were cut from a 2 x 4 using both the table saw and a newly purchased band saw. The band saw really works well in both ripping the ties to a somewhat consistant width and thickness as well as cutting to length. I had some leftover wood dye (dark walnut). This stuff is water based so no smell and it stains well. The formula is one oz dye to one quart water on alcohol. I just used water. The first test was a simple imersion of the tie and then left overnight to dry. It darkened well. Test two was imersion for about 90 minutes and left to dry. The wood is really varied in density and color. The more wood grain that shows before dying results in less dye being absorbed. I attached a few pics.

Dan, I'm like Bob, I've seen those mats and decided against them.  The static grass makes them look wonderful!!!

Fast Freight, Ah the switchback road.  I did one on a previous layout, and while I was pleased with the outcome, it did take up more space than I had imagined.  As I recall, I had to change my plans on a couple of building placements because of it.  Looking like a good start.

Victor, the ties looks just great!

Well, I'm going to go do some more wiring.  Not much more work until I will have another photograph to post.

    Final photos of the bridge work.

    The track crew came in last night and ballasted the rails so the line is open again.

    I lightly sprayed the area with hair spray and sprinkled on some leaf material.

    Pretty easy method and gives good results.

    Thank you all so much for the replies.  Keeps me motivated.

so my 44T project continues. There were no louvres on the doors below the MEC square logo on the cab. So,  shout out to Acher transfers! These will fit well.

Next up will be the challenge of the pilot stripes.

seen here on prototype

working on a plan for the insertion today.

looks like this week has been very busy on all of the displayed layout projects! Thanks everyone for your posts, always motivating!

Per a comment from a couple of years ago ( I am very slow about some things!) I finally installed some form work on the driveway under construction next to that cast resin house.

@Bogart posted:

Per a comment from a couple of years ago ( I am very slow about some things!) I finally installed some form work on the driveway under construction next to that cast resin house.

Great looking scene.

@modeltrainsparts, I agree, the jet is only for test reasons, here is a link of what I just bought for the run way area.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/392934132034

@fast freight, The mesa area is going to look great with a park area with a pond! The bridge and grass work you have done looks amazing!

@Victor Bertolina, Wow that sure is alot of wood cutting and quite the project! I have a feeling it's going to look outstanding when your done!

@Leroof, Your toner project is looking great!

@Bogart, Concrete WOW! That's a lot of work thats why I do a lot of paving on my layout! LOL Wonderful looking scene!

Ok guy The runway is mostly done! I am still working on trying to find some other gears to speed up the take off, but it all depends on what I get out of old printers or DVD players. As I stated above I bought a smaller plane for my little runway and when I get it and built I will post more photos of it. I still have to figure out how to attach it to the layout. That's another project in it's self! LOL Here is a small video for you all!

I hope your all having a great weekend! I also hope your having fun with your layout and trains!

@mike g. posted:

@modeltrainsparts, I agree, the jet is only for test reasons, here is a link of what I just bought for the run way area.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/392934132034

@fast freight, The mesa area is going to look great with a park area with a pond! The bridge and grass work you have done looks amazing!

@Victor Bertolina, Wow that sure is alot of wood cutting and quite the project! I have a feeling it's going to look outstanding when your done!

@Leroof, Your toner project is looking great!

@Bogart, Concrete WOW! That's a lot of work thats why I do a lot of paving on my layout! LOL Wonderful looking scene!

Ok guy The runway is mostly done! I am still working on trying to find some other gears to speed up the take off, but it all depends on what I get out of old printers or DVD players. As I stated above I bought a smaller plane for my little runway and when I get it and built I will post more photos of it. I still have to figure out how to attach it to the layout. That's another project in it's self! LOL Here is a small video for you all!

I hope your all having a great weekend! I also hope your having fun with your layout and trains!

Pretty cool effect Mike.

With that jet taking off it looks like an aircraft carrier in the Pacific

Good evening everyone! I hope you all are doing well, and those who went to York had a great time. With York closing today, my father, my friend, and decided to spend the day in Strasburg. Here are some photos and videos of what we did today. We were able to visit the PRR museum, catch a lunch train at the Strasburg RR, and topped it off with visiting the TCA museum.