What did you do on your layout today?

I realized I was not making much progress on the rebuild of Twin Pines Railroad because I am not super happy with the layout as planned. The 7 track yard is great, however it is completely covered by an upper level.  I have to rethink the plan making no more than 4 tracks covered by the upper level. 

In the mean time, I was testing how a small collection of 2 rail scale wheel engines and cars would operate on the new layout. Track is fine but the Ross switches are a problem at the frogs. I give up and have decided to sell them off. I really wanted to have an operating train using the fine scale wheel sets and European bumpers and couplers. Thought about a point to point layout ... I suppose it depends on whether I can come close to covering most of my buy in costs. I am astounded by how much more detail are in the European MTH versions than the US versions - both Premier.

Jeff, it is true when we realize our layout isn’t meeting expectations, we slow down.  But that is good too.  It doesn’t pay to keep plowing ahead; rather get thinking about what you don’t like.  I agree, it would be nice to be able to see some of your fine passenger trains while in the terminal!  I’m sure you will come up with something interesting.

I can see why the two rail scale engines would have problems with the 3-rail switches.

I think you all can see where this is going given the build of the shelving and the discussion of the quantity of rolling stock.

This is what I did on the layout over the last few days - creating an updated inventory. I knew I had some semi-scale stock I was not going to use so might as well sell off. Also had some duplicates and "auction purchasing mistakes" in the 3 rail scale area. I am considering selling this collection off "en masse" through one of the forum sponsors.  I'll also post a list in the "For Sale" thread as a first chance.   

Jeff,

It sounds like you are a bit frustrated and I certainly can understand why. After the uprooting of Twin Pines 1.0 you had the excitement of rebuilding and incorporating  what is to be in your next version. That in itself can be very exciting. You spent time planning it out just to realize you're not satisfied with it. Unfortunately your feelings are pretty normal. Give yourself a pat on the back because you stopped to rethink things before getting all the way to scenery and saying, "I wish I wouldn't have". As frustrated as you may currently be it could be a lot worse. You can now re-evaluate what you want and not have to take as many steps back to achieve it. We'll be with you as you continue figuring it out.

Dave

The last several days I have been working on my Scranton coal facility.  I have a lionel model coal breaker and adding a second mine. The second is a Martinsburg Coal Mine kit and it was assembled and weathered by Model Building Services of Massachusetts, Stu Gralnik. I used blue insulating foam on the divider, painted it and now adding a layer of sculptamold which will get a gray rock color painted on and some light bushes added. I also used sculptamold on the subbase plywood and kept it somewhat uneven like it might look around a breaker.The flat piece in the middle is a piece of sheetrock cut to size for the platform of the mattress factory  and washed with a mixture of india ink and 90% alcohol. Eventually the sheetrock will lose some of the color and be just about the right shade for old concrete. Stui added lights for the mine and I added them for the factory. Once that work is complete, I will add ground cover and several bags of Brennan's real coal most everywhere around the coal equipment. I have until tomorrow morning to come up with a name for the new mine.Some one of my friends name's will adorn the mine. Once that is compete, I can ballast the tracks using Brennan's gray ballast. Hopefully there is a lot of coal left in the ground after all this.

@John’s Trains

John here is the Plymouth switcher set running on my layout.
https://youtu.be/5HpPuEqsH38

I thought that I would show you my other K Line set with scale couplers.

Another 6067 caboose project reaches completion:

As a followup to my post yesterday concerning finishing my Scranton Penn coal area, today we got the back rock divider painted and tinted. The mine and storage building foundations in and ground contouring using sculptamold, and setting the buildings.  tomorrow will be grong covering and brush and scrub work, Track ballasting, coal groundcover and details added. 

Bill, you are making nice progress on the Scranton Penn coal area.

@Bill Park posted:

As a followup to my post yesterday concerning finishing my Scranton Penn coal area, today we got the back rock divider painted and tinted. The mine and storage building foundations in and ground contouring using sculptamold, and setting the buildings.  tomorrow will be grong covering and brush and scrub work, Track ballasting, coal groundcover and details added.

Love the entire scene! Great work that I hope to come close to doing eventually on my layout!

@Bill Park posted:

As a followup to my post yesterday concerning finishing my Scranton Penn coal area, today we got the back rock divider painted and tinted. The mine and storage building foundations in and ground contouring using sculptamold, and setting the buildings.  tomorrow will be grong covering and brush and scrub work, Track ballasting, coal groundcover and details added.

Lookin' good Bill. Just in time for the peak summer power usage too!

Bob

Gentlemen, Thanks to all for your comments. I hope to post some almost finished pictures late today. Bill

@Bill Park posted:

As a followup to my post yesterday concerning finishing my Scranton Penn coal area, today we got the back rock divider painted and tinted. The mine and storage building foundations in and ground contouring using sculptamold, and setting the buildings.  tomorrow will be grong covering and brush and scrub work, Track ballasting, coal groundcover and details added.

These buildings look fantastic! I can't wait to see more of the layout.

Good morning everyone, I would like to start off by saying I hope everyone dealing with the wildfire smoke is doing ok!

@p51 Lee what great B & W photos of your layout! I am sorry for the hard times you and your family are going threw, I hope things get better soon.

@gandydancer1950 Keep looking for those balloons! I am sure there are some still out there! LOL

@ScoutingDad Jeff I can see your problem with your yard tracks, I am in the same boat kind of, but I don't care about my yard being fully under the layout as it is really for storage and not show. I am sure you will come up with something you like. I applaud you for slowing down and rethinking things over!

@Bill Park  The second coal mine is going to look great! As Mark has stated you are moving right along! Keep up the wonderful work!

@pennsyfan Bob what a great looking little switcher! I would have to guess that they don't come any smaller then that one! LOL

Well guys as for me I was going to get working on the lower staging yard, but thought I should put that on hold until I make sure I have everything wired up first as all the wiring runs above where the lower yard will go. That mean track power, switches, buildings, auto, and anything else I can think of. Plus I want to make sure I have the buildings where I want to keep them. So that is my plan this weekend.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July weekend with your family and friends! Also I hope you find time to have fun with your layouts and trains!

I personalized the station platform advertising signs.


After all Lionel; why would the home railroad advertise other railroads?

I have started work on my scenery and decided to take some videos of how I am doing some of the work.  These videos are how I made tunnel portals.

https://youtu.be/cTFJGIpwaYQ
https://youtu.be/lhsptNoFHFM
https://youtu.be/OzvDrAL_B1k

I hope you enjoy and provide me some feedback so I can do better in the future!

Subscribe to my channel!  https://youtube.com/@pauldecker5861

Wow, this is one long running thread, full of great pictures, videos, an educational thread for any model railroader. Page “1204”, all fun to review. I’ve been working on my turntable which is 95 percent finished. Now, many folks know my layout is multi level, with twin helix’s allowing trains to go up and down to all levels. So, Lionel’s Cab 2’s, Cab 1L’s, (even the old Cab 1), has a unique button, RTE, which lets one align the turnouts to be programmed as a designated path with the push of 1 button, the route button. It’s fun to listen to the switches/turnouts click independently allowing the train to go up the hill, down the hill, effortlessly. Happy Railroading Everyone

Looks great as always, Larry!  Your young friend looks happy!

@Mark Boyce, Mark, that’s Captain Will Porath, a great friend, who has helped me set up routes, make switches work properly and is also a Legacy enthusiast. If you go to YouTube, he goes by Will2926, check his videos out. Pictured is his 2-10-10-2 Sante Fe articulated steamer and other Big Boy locomotives… Happy Railroading Everyone

Larry, I will look up Captain Will on YouTube.  Thank you!

@leapinlarry, Larry, glad to see things are running strong on your railroad! Will is indeed a great person to be friends with and a charm to talk to. Great asset to the hobby.

Greetings all- been lurking around lately. Nothing happening on the layout for the past few weeks. Outdoor chores have made spending hours in the basement hard to justify. The northeast has had a very dry Spring and early Summer so there have been few rain outs that promote cellar dwelling.
I've been working on my MTH S2's though. Parts are arriving from MTH this week so I hope to start putting them together soon.

@leapinlarry- nice to "pull back the curtain" and see how some of the magic happens. Besides being a beautiful layout, there's a lot of tech that makes it work.
@mike g.- good planning goes a long way. Just remember, there will be changes along the way so as long as you have a way to get wires run, etc in the future, then the hidden yard will be a success.
@pennsyfan- great idea with the signs.
@OhB1- Took a quick look at the first video, Nice work on the molds. I will have to watch the videos in full when time permits.
@ScoutingDad- sorry to hear you're having layout remorse. At least you owned up to it now. I'm sure you will figure it out.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th!

Bob

Afternoon guys I hope your all doing well!

@leapinlarry Larry what great photos of your layout! I am always at aww when you show the depth of your layout! If I would ever get a chance to visit your layout I would have to wear a bib! LOL

@pennsyfan Bob, nice to make the waiting area yours! It is always nice to have something that all can relate to while waiting for there trains!

@RSJB18 Bob, I hope you geter done soon, from the long range forecast I don't see much rain in your future! Either way enjoy what your doing and if it means trains that is just a bonus!

As for me I am still thinking over my industrial area, I am not sure I want it there and after I get some 2" foam I might move the town down to the lower area and have a small river, then move the industrial area to the upper level! Here are a couple of photos. I would like all your input!

In the lower photo the open area where the airport is will be filled with 2" foam so I can carve a small river to help justify the bridges in the foreground, if I do that I will probably move the airport.

I look forward to hearing what you all think!

Till then I hope you all have a great weekend and find time to have fun with your layouts and trains!

Mike, I’m not sure I follow. In the first picture you say move the town. Is that just the buildings on the right; or does it include the bus depot and train terminal? I’m thinking that the industrial area would have sidings.

@mike g. Wow Mike, what a transformation, the layout looks so organized and neat, nice job! I just noticed the cool looking pedestrian walk bridge, did you scratch build it?

Gene

@Genemed posted:

@mike g. Wow Mike, what a transformation, the layout looks so organized and neat, nice job! I just noticed the cool looking pedestrian walk bridge, did you scratch build it?

Gene

Hi Gene, thank you for the nice words!

As for the pedestrian walk bridge I did scratch build it to match the length of the RR Bridge. I came into a lot of balsa wood from my Mother when we had to move her to a care home and cleaned out her house.  Plus at that point I had a lot of free time on my hands! LOL

Mike, I’m with Bob thinking the industrial area would have sidings.  However, I would think you would want the bus terminal near town.  I agree the bus terminal makes sense near the passenger station, so your existing town buildings look good where you have them.  I’m thinking the street could angle making for a more interesting scene.  Or you could do something completely different!  🤷‍♂️ Just have fun moving things until you like it best.  Take photographs before you move things do you can put them back if you want.

Mike nice progress.  I used to have the Greyhound station. That thing is massive and consumes a whole lot of real estate - really sharp though. I ended up selling mine as I did not have the space nor did I really want to dedicate that much layout space to it. While it makes sense to keep it close to the train station, space reality may force a different location. Stacking them might work and make sense at the same time.

With regard to TwinPinesII layout.  I always had it in the back of my head I was not going to have sheets of plywood stacked on top of another. The current build was just convenient to lay everything out to work out spacing.  I think I found some extra usable space, not a lot, but just enough. Thought is to make the entire level over the yard a set of elevated trestles opening up the view to the yard below. With the extra "found" space, I can model building flats on both sides of the yard - starting at yard level going up.   

Happy Rail Roading All !!!

Thanks guys for the input and I agree that an industrial area should have sidings, so I went to SCARM and added a couple. That would make 4 sidings on the upper level, here is a SCARM drawing for you all to think about.

Jeff, I agree about the Greyhound bus station, but it cost so much to ship it and I don't have the box anymore. I mean if someone wanted to make a good offer and pay shipping, I would find a box to ship it in! LOL

Now you’re talking, Mike.  You are getting good at SCARM.  The Greyhound station is cool, but yes it takes space.  

@Mark Boyce posted:

Now you’re talking, Mike.  You are getting good at SCARM.  The Greyhound station is cool, but yes it takes space.  

Thanks Mark, those plus the 6 tracks under the layout should hold all the trains I have right now! LOL

@ScoutingDad- Jeff- I like where you are going with the tracks over the yard. On my fantasy layout design, I've considered the same solution to make the yard more visible from above.

@mike g.- The Greyhound station can still find a home. Add a single track spur to serve the bus station. You could run a local shuttle train from the main passenger station to the bus station. An Amtrak diesel and 2-3 coaches would look good.

Bob

A little out of left field, a trolley would make sense going back and forth between the 2 stations.

I was thinking an RDC

@ScoutingDad posted:

A little out of left field, a trolley would make sense going back and forth between the 2 stations.

@pennsyfan posted:

I was thinking an RDC

Thought of both too but Mike is running modern Era so....😎

But it's HRR-HR.....😁

I'm partial to the BUDD cars....

The LIRR used to run "Scoot Trains" from hub stations to the ends of some branch lines. The Greenport Scoot was one such train running to the eastern tip of the north fork from Riverhead. 😉

Bob

Following up my post of Friday, the coal mine and storage building are set in place with sculptamold. The ground was painted a brown color before covering it with white glue and tile grout. I apply the tile grout with large salt and pepper shakers. Tile grout comes in many colors and is very fine. I think it makes good ground cover.I have added some clump foliage and lichen but will do more when all the glue hardens. I also have a lot of small details like mattresses for the mattress works and in general, junk and some worn mechanical pieces for around the breakers. I used Brennan's real coal in two sizes plus their ballast. I also need to add some people. My intent was to have the coal cover a lot of the track so I will apply another layer when this cures. 

@ScoutingDad posted:

A little out of left field, a trolley would make sense going back and forth between the 2 stations.

I'm MMM, and I endorse this message. 

Mitch

Hi Bill your coal area looks perfect!

Good evening everyone!
I have been busy the past few weeks with one project and another. Lately, I have been working on the standard gauge Chama coaling tower.
Work on the tower has been come and go as it has become quite a task to build. I started back on it by adding the two side panels and began work on the outer supports.

After a break, I turned my attention to the back. I at first was going to make a single coal elevator until I found a photo of a model of this tower. Instead of a single elevator it instead has two buckets. Wanting to make this model a fare representation of the prototype I decided to build two buckets.

This area took me the most time as it was a lot of wood to cut and paint.

I still have much to do but I am on the home stretch. Definitely has been a fun project.
Thanks for reading and happy 4th of July!

You have a laser cutter machine?