Paul Jacobsen

I  retired recently and found myself with lots of time so  decided several months ago to start model railroading again after a long hiatus.  I really appreciate the easy access to a broad range of knowledge now available and certainly have benefited from this forum!  I decided to post my modest attempts as it too may help others (They may even say—‘ gee—glad I didn’t try that!’)

The room is in the basement  10’ by 16’ basement room was remodeled ( new sheetrock, new floor) and  easements obtained to use the adjacent 8’ by 6’ room for staging.

The  benchwork is 1 by 4  with  ¼” luan ply covered with 2” foam.   Track (ho and hon3) is flextrack, turnouts made using the fasttrack jigs.  It is set up for continuous running for both standard and narrow gauge  with reversing loops.  Trackage is not shared between the two gauges  -- perhaps later if necessary  The benchwork height is 48” to make working underneath less painful, even though switch machines are planned to be surface mounted.

Lighting is without valences so far—using track lights.  Backdrop is curved Masonite painted sky blue.  Plans are to dress It up as the layout progresses.

2” xps foam was used to form the rockwork…ground form made by using a wire brush on a grinder against dyed cushion foam and modge-podged to the painted foam. ( I had done zip texturing and hydrocal rocks on a previous layout, and really like this material and associated  methods better!  Definitely the removable sections are much lighter!

No track plan drawn yet…I just made it to fit!

Currently using DC Analog, but the next step is to resurrect my old Digitrtaxx unit but wanted to do the testing with a simple power pack.

I love building more than running the railroad, so changes are going to be inevitable and it will never be complete.

So…Pics to follow.

Thanks

Paul

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

Scenic Designer FJRR

Track Crew FJRR

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rickwade

Paul, you have wet my appetite!

Thanks for the introduction - your railroad sounds neat.  I'm looking forward to pictures and following your progress!

Rick

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The Richlawn Railroad Website - Featuring the L&N in HO  / MRH Blog  / MRM #123

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Paul Jacobsen

Retirement projecte--a few pics

Some of the initial benchwork.

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

Retirement project pics

The foam is on (glued to the luan)! Initaily I used a simple carpet knife to cut the foam, then a boning knife, and finally settled on a 1" breakoff blade setup. It allowed me to cut through the 2" foam with little effort ( even curves). It is a wicked tool however and I feared accidental amputations! the roadbed is 1/2" foam on 1/4" luan supported by pieces of the 2" foam. Track will be glued onto the foam after it painted brown.

 

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

More pics

More pics. I salvaged a curved trestle from my previous layout and installed it. You can see my initial rockwork carving attempts using durabond 45 at the base of the installation.

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

Scenic Designer FJRR

Track Crew FJRR

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ljcasey1

nice start

just keep plugging away.  I need to catch up as I am just now getting my time to play back from studying all the time.

 

Loren (LJ) Casey

Maryville, IL

ICG St Louis sub 1979

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/blog/9719

 

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arthurhouston

I Play With Trains

Retired Feb 2008, i play with trains 24/7. I am now busier than when I was working. Now have no excuses not to help people with there trains. 

Visit the Grande pacific Model RR.

 

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Virginian and Lake Erie

I'll bet it feels good to be

I'll bet it feels good to be building something again. Thanks for sharing.

Rob in Texas

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Paul Jacobsen

Yes!

It is great therapy! What a great hobby! Unfortunately the grass and gardens need tending now so progress will be slower.

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Track Crew FJRR

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Paul Jacobsen

Update on retirement project

Hi!  Back again after a long hiatus!  I realize I have neglected this blog!

 
 The scenery is now partially complete with ground paint and rough ground foam applied.  Need to make more ground foam, then trees!mm,
A few pics of progress so far...
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Initial regret!
 The track was glued onto the 2" foam..that works but proved to be a pain when it came time to install additional turnouts (made using Fasttracks jigs)  I much prefer the homasote base as well, it is rigid allowing above bench work controls and hand spiking for fined just adjustments.  I cut homasote pads into turnout size, and removed the corresponding foam where needed.  That has worked just great!.   (I avoided the homasote initially because of the dust, but have discovered an undulating razor blade for my jigsaw that resolves this issuie)
 
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Pics of turnout installation pads and controls
 
 
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Another regret.
 
I planned to put on the fascia with a 1" lip when further along.  That was a mistake.  The sound of one of my engines(not one of the brass ones) hitting the laminate flooring created much heartache, but forced the decision to make the fascia immediately.  I plan to redo when scenery is applied so the fascia follows it) but felt the small investment in 1/4" Masonite was well worth it!
 
 
 
Successfully negotiated an expansion to the layout room (framed, wired, and  sheet rocked)and have recently completed the lower level bench work  (this time with homasote!)and track work.  While the main room is dedicated to HOn3 with std gauge as an afterthought, the new section contains only std.  No scenery is applied yet..that is the next step.
 
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Having gotten the majority of the track work done I was much more comfortable bringing out my old brass engines.  Of course they are all DC so I have been adding sound to them.  So far my RGS41 (Key C19) and RGS 74( west side K27).  I remember being extremely frustrated when I first got them due to their poor electrical pickup.  What a great addition to the hobby is the current keeper/keep alive!  The run superb noww!
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P
 
 
 
Model Railroad hobbyist has been a fantastic resource.  When I have a question or simply want to validate my approach, the answers are but a keystroke away.  Strangely enough, someone posts a question I was about to pose before I can get to it! 
 
Hope to remember to keep this updated better than I have so far!
 
 

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

Scenic Designer FJRR

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Paul Jacobsen

Grinding foam for ground cover etc

 

 
I used to grind foam for scenery using a wire wheel on pre dyed cushion pieces but reading recent posts, decided to try other methods.
 
I cubed some cushion foam, poured in acrylic paint and water, mixed and used a hand crank eat grinder.  This resulted in a somewhat coarse mix but was far too labor intense!  Yielded about half a cup before the grinder jammed...and it is still jammed!
 
Same mix but put into an 8cup food processor.  Long long process and way too coarse.
 
Did the same with carpet padding.  Same result.
 
Froze the previous mixes, then reprocessed and got a better result.  When dry will fluff in the processor and see.  Still not satisfied.
 
Tried dry cubes in the processor, and utter failure.
 
Finally drug the wire wheel setup (mounted on a post / brake drum.) down the basement and set it up. To contain the mess, I put the entire setup on a 50gal plastic bag, wrapped a 4x6 cutoff of plastic shower surround around the grinder and inserted it intothe bag, and pulled the bag up enough to seal the bottom.  
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Using leather gloves I held pieces of the foam onto the wire brush, and quickly made a pile of pretty fine foam in the bottom of the plastic bag.  It works!
 
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Some of the foam was pre dyed, other runs were uncolored .  The uncolored runs were then mixed with paint and set out to dry.  
 
 
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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

Had to adjust a radius

 

So added several tracks, and a tunnel.  Got the rock work done. Just a few trees so far.

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Neil Erickson NeilEr

Looks great!

Paul- at first glance I thought that was a prototype photo. The ground foam looks pretty good. Have you tried freezing the foam first? Someone posted that it grimes a much finer product. 

Neil

Neil Erickson, Hawai’i 

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Paul Jacobsen

Thanks

What a great compliment!

 

i have tried the "freeze the foam" approach.  It works, but I still get better results with my wire wheel. 

Thanks again!

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

Another. Hill or two!

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now we plant a few trees and shrubs!

 

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

Making furnace filter trees

What fun!  Made lots, and plan to make more!

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

trees planted!

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Rick Sutton

You betcha'

Looking real good Paul.

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Paul Jacobsen

Thanks

Thank you Rick S!  I appreciate the feedback!

 

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

Granddaughters make great trees!

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what fun...

 

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

Boiler weight

Weighted my K27 with tungsten welding rods, and wow what a difference!  

 

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

Planting trees at Fort J

age(18).jpeg Proud granddaughter planting the latest crop she made!age(16).jpeg  And

That's a look of pride!

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Paul Jacobsen

Adding mountain tops to the layout!

The winter has thankfully forced a shutdown of landscape activities here, so decided to add the needed mountain tops to the Fort J railroad.
The first one is a Stand up access area, but I decided I can cover it with a removable scenery section since is is still accessible from below.

 

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First I made a 1 1/2" foam base that fits the opening, then removed it as the area is difficult to reach. I glued pieces of 1 1/2" foam using 'great stuff' to roughly form the shape I wanted, filled in the gaps and let it cure. A large razor worked well to carve the Rock faces etc

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A base coat of dark walnut latex wall paint was applied, then lighter colors of brown dappled on. Finally white just dry brushed on the sharp Rock outcroppings gave me a good base.

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Brown tempura was amply sprinkled onto the surface which had a coat of spray adhesive, then several varied dry pigments.
A heavy dabbing of brown tinted caulking provided a good adhesive base for my brown landscape foam (made from dyed cushion foam using a white wheel).

 

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Spray paint is then misted over selected areas, green foam sprinkled on and. We are ready for some furnace tree pines!

 

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

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Just another Scale Modeler Ron Pare

This looks like a tonne of

This looks like a tonne of fun!

The lightweight mountain is a great idea. And thanks for the foam insight, noted!

I am giving away a Creality 20w laser on my birthday! One requirement is you will need to be a member of my @RonPare patreon.

Ron Pare
A guy on Youtube, who  blogs here, and is a creator of some  reviews
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Paul Jacobsen

Trees planted

Furnace filter pines and sedum deciduous finish the new top.  Done working on this until I make a curved trestle and carve out the area to install it.  

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Ranger -- Fort Jacobsen

Scenic Designer FJRR

Track Crew FJRR

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