2012-08-03 Update- Rock casting

Still working on connecting the upper and lower loops, and that means getting the bridges installed. Installing the bridges means getting some scenery below them in reasonable shape (not completely done, but basic stuff in place). And that means: rock castings. So without further delay, here we go: Rock castings (hydrocal, from 3 different molds) resting in place:

Yup, boring. Then I filled around them with Sculptamold. Why that product? 1) I'm lazy, and it's easy to work with; 2) I'm lazy, and with a little smoothing it looks like rocks.

Next, a black wash of el-cheapo acrylic paint. Rough guess on ratio is about 1:5 paint to water, maybe even thinner. At this point, the magic of color takes over. I'd been so used to working with plain white plaster that I forgot what it could look like. I was immediately impressed:

At this point, I was almost ready to say "good enough!". But the Rob Spangler Treatment involves more color, so off I went:

OK, that was worth it. It was looking so good to me that I had to work in some of my base color as well. All the tan ground sections will get dirt/foliage treatment of some kind.

I was pretty impressed with a couple of things: 1) how simple the method is; 2) how effective it is. I still have more color to add (some reddish tints- just a bit; and two shades of gray) but I'm really excited about how this is going so far.

2012-08-01 Update- portals, walls and abutments

Where does the time go? I can't believe it's been a month already since last posting, but at least I have progress to share. Bridges- my main goal for the month was to figure out my bridge situation. I was only half pleased with what I had for abutments. This time, MR saved me! A recent article by Pelle Soeberg talked about casting your own tunnel portals. That looked like fun, so I gave it a shot, with some surplus styrene sheet I had around. Instead of plaster, though, I used some cement from Home Depot (the stuff in the small box). I also added some fiberglass drywall tape as a sort of rebar (yes, at some point I am going to cast some with that in it and break it, so it looks like mangled cement wall- military diorama). That seemed to work ok:

While I was at it, I cast some retaining walls too. Then I thought: let's try this for my bridge piers as well. So I took my existing piers, which were a little oversize, flipped them, and made them into my molds. In went the cement, and out came some bridge piers:

I also knocked out some rock castings and put those in place. I'm ready to start coloring, a la Rob Spangler's great blog entries on MRH Magazine.

2012-07-06 Update

Bridges- we don't need no stinkin' bridges. Oh wait, yes I do! I am trying to get the track laid, so I can paint the scenery base and move on to finishing areas of the layout. However, I'm having issues connecting the upper loop to the lower via the branchline, because of the bridge issue. So I'm taking something of a diversion into the world of bridge building, combining a few types of bridge together. The result will be hopefully something really appealing visually, that also has basis in the real world (which is sort of an obvious statement, given that we are modelers). Here's what I'm working with now:

That's the raw styrene forms, with some support columns. Here they are painted:

That is looking better. I'm combining a concrete slab span, a deck bridge and a girder bridge to cover the needed area. The concrete span is above- that's based on a Model Railroader from 2004, called (Bridges on the Levee. Very interesting, provided a few really good tips on scratchbuilding a set of bridges.

2012-06-20 Update

More contour forming. I'm using a tip from Joe Fugate who wrote of using masking tape to create terrain shapes. I'm doing that in this photo here, for the two-lane road coming down from the upper loop under the branchline: Next comes the layer(s) of plaster cloth. I found a role at Michael's for about $10, and it seems heavier in sturdiness than the Woodland Scenics product (which I like; I think I like Michaels' more).

2012-06-19 Update

More scenery! This time, I'm test-fitting some bridges that will connect my branchline to the upper loop, passing over a two-lane road. I figure I should get some of this done before I really lay down the final track that will link the loops. I was inspired by an article in the January 2004 MR on bridges over the Sacramento River levee; I like the combination of a few bridge types together, and hopefully this will turn out as well as the ones in the article.

2012-06-18 Update

I have been less than diligent in my postings, but I'm definitely making some headway. The upper loop is more or less in place, with some cork roadbed below track. The reverse loop seems to work. My overall goal at this point is to get the two loops functional, and get the track laid so that I can have a "clean" layout. To that end, I have spent a lot of time with some scenery shaping, trying to get the branchline back from the upper loop to the lower area done. Here are some photos of the early terrain forming. I'm shaping the hills out of the insulation foam, and then will cover with plaster cloth to get the final shape.

2012-04-30 Update

Update- I haven't written for a while, but things are still moving forward. I've been working on two main areas of the layout: 1) forming the terrain; and 2) turnout control. On the first, I've attached the risers to raise the track back to the upper loop (after attaching the plywood deck to the foam supports). I now have (most of) a path to get from the lower loop to the upper loop. I am waiting on some cork roadbed and my additional track to arrive, so things are at a pause until more material arrives. In the meantime, I've been playing with some electricity. I decided I needed an electric control for a hard-to-reach turnout in a key spot. I've successfully modified the ends of Atlas snap switches to use a momentary SPDT (on)-off-(on) toggle, which I installed into fascia board (yes, had to add fascia in some spots). I looked at modifying the Atlas switch to fit my area, but couldn't make one work well. So I went exploring for turnout machines, and came across the Mole. A small motor from Proto-87, it seemed to fit the bill size-wise. As I'm no electronics guru, it took me a while (and a lot of patience from Andy at www.proto87.com) to get it right, but the installation is finally in. I now think I'm ready for the scenery forms around the motor (hillsides, etc.).

2012-04-02 Update

Another weekend, and more progress. Upper loop- cut to shape and glued a few layers of the blue foam board "wedding cake". With some plywood on top, the upper loop is starting to take shape.

In the background, you can see the arc of the loop, a general placement of Lehigh Cement; the mid and foreground shows the overpass crossing and the left-right access portals for the lower loop. I've been spending a reasonable amount of time trying to visualize and mock up the land forms for the access tunnels to the lower loop.

I've also carved the river that will run along the tracks and exit out the side of the layout:

Some small cataracts will guide water to the channel, which will be small-ish (more of a storm ditch than a true stream). It's really coming together!

2012-03-28 Update

Been a while since the last post, but that doesn't mean no work has transpired- quite the opposite.  I have been working on my layout, and a few other projects besides- not the least of which is changing my website look a little bit.
So what's new on the layout?  Much!

Reverse loop:
I've been working through the lower reverse loop, working through track fitting (cutting flex track, acquiring and modifying turnouts, etc.).  My goal is to get the lower loop and the upper loop in the same state as the yard (roadbed and track down; painted and ready for scenic treatment) in the next couple months.  So the lower loop was the focus of late.

Track is mainly glued down, and I have installed (crudely, for now) an MRC Auto Reverse loop module like this one here.  I've also modified the track plan a bit, based on my test fitting.  I will update that graphic as well, but it keeps the industries served and the road access (love bridges, wanted to accomodate some) and most importantly fits.  I've run trains around the loop, and it seems to work great, which is really the idea.

2012-02-08 Update

More work on the layout this weekend, specifically on the yard loop. I built and installed a drawer for the controller; I also put hardboard fascia around the layout too. Layout fascia is Masonite hardboard, smooth side out. I filled the joints with a few different things, depending on the gap size: wood filler (DAP plastic wood); or latex caulk for the narrower gaps. My carpentry skills aren't that refined (or I'm just too lazy to sweat every inch) so it's not flawless; but I do believe that a good coat of paint will cover a lot of sins!

2012-01-23 Update

Well, another weekend of progress on the pike. Actually, there was only limited progress, but some important things did get done regards to the primary goal of laying and wiring track around the yard section of the layout. A couple of shipments of turnouts arrived, which enabled me to test-fit a few links between the main and the yard and start cutting up flextrack to fit. So there I was, test-fitting my pieces and adding some crude wiring connections to start seeing trains run (that's the goal, after all). So around the loco went, and I ran into the yard, then wham, stopped dead and the DCC controller shut down. Uh oh, a short somewhere. That's weird, I thought to myself- it's a simple loop, and I reoriented the whole yard to avoid just this sort of thing. A veteran would know what I learned in a short bit- turnouts weren't DCC friendly.
So I had to check a few areas to see what was causing this short. Turns out it was a couple of areas that needed addressing: the Shinohara 3-way turnout in the hard; and an older turnout (not sure of make) in the module I imported into the layout. Time to get busy!
Again, I was reminded of how wonderful a creation the internet is. A few key strokes, and I had a wiring diagram about how to fix problems like mine. Allan Gartner's Wiring for DCC website (at www.wiringfordcc.com) was first up- he had a terrific blog post about adapting that 3-way turnout to eliminate its inherent short circuits. A razor saw, rotary tool, and some very basic soldering skills came into play, and over a weekend I managed (I think!) to make it DCC friendly. The other issue was a turnout in the middle of my module, which seemed to involve a simpler fix- just cutting (gently!) the strip connecting the two point rails, without cutting through the throw bar.

2012-01-17 Update

Weekend update- starting gluing some roadbed down in the yard area, mainly for the loop around the yard. Used standard cork roadbed for this; the elevation I can justify as it's a main line. Also spent some time soldering some flextrack together, to form the loop. It was a bit new for me- I'm not an accomplished or skilled solderer, but the joints looked pretty good in the end (took probably 2x as long as someone who knows what they are doing). Also spent some time revising the yard (see trackplan page). I wasn't happy with it, and my design created the need to have the whole yard reverse polarity (as it was all a big wye as I unraveled it). So I changed some things, and was able to add a few items as well. Progress continues! Expecting shipment of turnouts soon, so more can be put in place, tacked, and run. Also connected up some power to run a loco around the loop of the yard. The machine needs a tuneup, but it ran ok all things considered. Am now thinking through some of my DCC choices as well. I have been running the Atlas Commander set, which has been really good (see Atlas' page for more info). However, the layout is now big enough that I will want some walk-around capability too, which Atlas sort of has, but sort of doesn't. I'm leaning towards an MRC starter system, as it seems like it could expand easily, and I like the 8-wire connectors- easier to find that the RJ12 6 wire version which Atlas uses.

2012-01-11 Update

Flex track arrived today- woo hoo! I decided, primarily because I wanted to actually get this layout done at some point, to use commercially available flextrack sections, vs. handlaying; for economics/availability reasons, I went with the Code 83 Atlas track (I haven't really started any spurs yet, so may move to code 70 for those sections).
I'm taking a small tip from Lance Mindheim's blog, which can be found on his website <a href="http://www.lancemindheim.com" target="_blank">here</a>. His suggestion was to tack the track down first, and then start running some trains; I've read that elsewhere as well, to make some headway and then "reward" yourself by seeing trains move. There is also the practical aspect of testing out the track plan, making sure the sections work together appropriately, and (literally) working out the kinks.
So I've started on the loop around the yard, stringing together a few of the yard neck turnouts, etc. I found I was short some pieces, so an order to www.modeltrainstuff.com occurred. I also bought a few Micro Engineering turnouts, just to try those out as well. I am a bit bothered by the discolored frogs in my standard Atlas code 83 turnouts (the blackened metal), but will try a few suggestions for improving their look over the weekend.

2012-01-09 Update

Weekend was spent getting a couple of things done: I did a bit more work on the throat to the yard, rejiggering things a bit. Taking up some of the track from the 2x6 module gave me some flexibility in terms of angles and such for the yard area. I also glued the foam to the benchwork for the yard and peninsula.

Track Plan

The track plan to me is an evolutionary thing, up to (and even after) the ballast is laid. A deeper discussion of this aspect can be found here. I tend to get into the scale 1:1 planning- that is, playing around with different arrangements with my actual track after the space is defined.  I have an 80% solution in mind, but for that last 20% I use test-fitting and some actual operation on tacked-down track.

Concept

I'm not necessarily at this point trying to recreate a specific route or railroad; my interests are too diverse for that (or I'm too unfocused). Rather, I like seeing trains run, and I like displaying my weathering. So any railroad would have to include a yard and some industries to serve (I do like seeing industries get switched on the prototypes). Because I'm on the west coast, the concept of modeling various prototypes that run from Oakland or the San Francisco Bay Area to the midwest (I'm originally from St. Louis) appeals to me, and would give me the chance to use all these grain hoppers I've lovingly assembled and aged. I do like the Missouri Pacific, a hold-over from my youth, but my era is just a bit later than that of the MP in its blue paint. So I won't be prototypically accurate, but I can live with some inconsistencies, and it's my world after all.

Background

In March 2011 we moved to a new house, meaning that a dismantling of my existing HO scale railroad layout was in order. It was not close to finished (are they every)? I did however finish some sections, so when the mover came it was time to break it down for storage.

To the new house we added some space for a home-office/layout room. While getting it finished required a longer timeframe than I thought, I finally had a finished room to work with in early December 2011, roughly a year after we bought the house (we did a lot of work to it otherwise).

Some spousal negotiating got this to happen in the first place, so I'll always be thankful my better half allowed me to build out this area in the way I wanted. I was able to fit the three needed uses for this space into this room- office for me, layout and area for the kids to watch TV/movies with friends. I think all aims are accommodated in our plan, which is wonderful.