Atlantic yard expansion

I managed to make some progress on IAIS's Atlantic, Iowa yard this week, finishing the addition of a fourth track to match the prototype, and adding static grass.  Here's a prototype view looking west through the yard:

Layout views:

Prototype looking east:

Layout view:

Holy smokes Joe, that looks

Holy smokes Joe, that looks absolutely phenomenal!

My best,

Jan

Is it morning already?

Is it morning already?

Southbound & Down

IAIS 708 highballs towards Des Moines as it passes the Urbandale runaround's south siding switch.

James

Superb job, Joe

That flat landscape seems to go on forever.

Driline - love the industrial look.

James that's a sweet scene.

My little S3 enters the Calais Yard in Maine from beyond the overbridge

I have a hinged extension almost as long as the layout is high [about 40"]  just beyond the bridge.

Mike

great looking yard siding...

...Joe.

Will locomotives run across those static grass-covered sidings?

md

Thank you

Thanks very much Jan.  I've been a little apprehensive of scenery work, and especially static grass, but the more I get into it, the more fun it is.  I can finally see why some people view scenery as their favorite part of layout construction.

Frank, is that structure new?  It looks great, and really does a nice job of hiding the corner.  Is it rail-served?  Have you thought about starting a blog here?  Every time I see one of your posts, I want to see more of your layout.

Mike, thank you.  I'm really glad you joined here, and always enjoy your photos.  Outstanding work on that scene!

Mark, in my era, tracks 2, 3, and 4 of Atlantic yard were used exclusively by MOW to store their cars.  I never saw more than 3-4 in there at a time, and always at the far west (right) end, so only about the right-most foot of each track is conductive.  Locomotives can go that far without a problem, but beyond that, the railheads have been painted.  Cars can navigate those tracks, but as on the prototype, when they need to be switched, T&E crews have to contact MOW (me) to unlock the switches and walk them in and out.

I'm a big fan of IAIS's beat up old MOW rolling stock, with many of the flat cars still carrying Rock Island lettering, so this yard will make a fun gathering place for them.  It's also nice to turn otherwise idle tracks into active "customers" to be switched.

only one photo this week...

plow extra west in McRae canyon.

have a great weekend everyone...

md

Truck Dump Changes

Added a few more details to the truck dump at Big Chimney, WV, including an oil tank and a small office.

Tom Patterson

Calais

Great job on the Calais scene MikeC! Really love the snow and winter look.

I actually based my Free-mo module off of the Calais trackplan. Did not include the overpass as I could not find a way to fit it onto the module easily. Here is a couple shots of it during set ups of layouts:

Mike McNamara

Delran, NJ

mainecentral.blogspot.com

nekrailroad.com

Another Calais!

Hey Mike it's good to see another one based on the Calais track plan. Yours looks great. Congrats.

Mike

Wow

Really great stuff here.  Mark, your layout scenes always have a really impressive level of finish.

James, I love that Urbandale shot.  It's always fun to track down the prototype scenes when we're in Des Moines and see how well you've captured them.

Tom, I really like those new details.  Great job on the weathering.  Your office structure reminds me a lot of some in the local IAIS yard.

Mike M., great module.  That looks like a neat little yard, and your detailing and weathering is very well done.

...mo' weathering

I'm attacking more rolling stock based out of our North Bay / eastern traffic staging end (cars originating from Montreal, maritime Canadian and US Northeast / New England). My hope is to have ALL cars based from this staging yard to be weathered by summer's end.

MEC 9463 - I'll mention again, I find dark green cars kind of tough to weather. But I think I've got the look about right here for a 1960's-built car as it would look in the 70's.

D&H 19114 - After a tough scheme like MEC Pinetree Green, weathering a plain old oxide red car is easy for me. I got this done in under 30 minutes (paint patching, extra decals were already pre-done ...probably years ago now in anticipation of weathering).

D&H 24110 - Jim Six I think may appreciate this project. This is a Walthers PS-1 'wafflebox', pretty much unaltered except to add wire stirups and extended draftgear (as per prototype) but with all molded-on details still intact. Aside from a few extra decals and the weathering, that's all that was done to get this car in shape.

BAR 6008 - Is there anyone who doesn't like the old BAR 'State Of Maine' scheme? I had fun with this one by adding door scraping (with associated rusting) along with my standard weathering powder / airbrush technique. Like the MEC car I didn't wish to over-do it, as this car would only be 10-years old in our time period.

OK I also repaired a few bad-ordered cars (not Northeast pool cars), and then weathered them while I was in the mood to get things dirty.

NKP 66042 - It may be an ancient scheme for modern modellers, but for us the Nickel Plate only disappeared 10 years ago. The N&W is nowhere close to erasing this fallen flag yet.

DWC 403103 - Like the D&H oxide red boxcar, another easy one for me to weather (relatively speaking).

That's all for now. If I manage to get a car or two more done this weekend, I'll add to this thread.

@ JOE ATKINSON: Your IAIS

@ JOE ATKINSON: Your IAIS yard replication here is simply INCREDIBLE!

GaRy Christensen

The Weatheringshop.com

Testing new camera

I recently got a Nikon DSLR so I took it down to the layout to try some shots. This layout scene is Hardwick Vermont, and the Fisher covered bridge, along the Lamoille Valley Railway circa 1980 (pronounced "la-moyle").

Mike McNamara

Delran, NJ

mainecentral.blogspot.com

nekrailroad.com

Amazing Work All

You guys are filling up my Inspiration pictures folder quickly with the Weekend Photo Fun threads. Seriously awesome modeling represented here. You set the bar very high for wannabes like me.

Very impressive imagery and

Very impressive imagery and modelling.  I am especially glad to see Mike Cawdrey posting here at last.

A Pennsy 2-10-4 J1 drifts slowly across the Seneca Slough Bridge trailing a few coal hoppers on a sunny day.

Detroit & Toledo Shoreline Coil Car

Some great photos by everyone as usual.  Here's my latest project.

Let me see if I remember how to post a photo

Mike,

The new camera makes the layout look fantastic (well, it looks fantastic anyway... but you know what I mean!)

Thanks Marty!

Thanks Marty, your SNE 2.0 is looking good as well. Really interested to see that video coming out. Hopefully one day I can get down your way and see it in person.

Mike Mc.

Gary C.

Gary, thank you very much for the kind words.  I really enjoyed this - much more fun than the "yard work" I'm used to at this time of year.  Now that I've gotten more comfortable with the static grass applicator, I might be going a little nuts with it over the next few weeks. 

Thanks...

..Crandell for the welcome. It's good to be here, with so many examples of fine work that will make me lift my game, I hope. Not that it's a competition, just enjoyable and inspirational.

Love your steamer on the bridge. It's good to see your work again.

MikeMcN  - I like the look of Hardwick Vermont, with its road disappearing over a crest. That's something I really must add to the current layout.

Mike

I actually based my Free-mo

Mike, that  module set looks awesome. and FUN to switch!

Chris Palomarez