First Trains!

The dude's mainly interested in turning the layout on and watching the trains go (in between playing pinball, bowling or the racing video game).
Originally wanted the Lionel of his youth, but I talked him "down" to HO.
Especially as I could come out only 7' into the room.

After a month or so of benchwork and a week of cork/track laying & wiring, we finally got some trains rolling!

Some specs:

Peco 83 track & electrofrog turnouts
22.5" / 25.5" radii
NCE Powercab / SB5 SmartBooster

You'll notice in the video that the risers are clamped on.
Once I got the trains running, I watched their action and adjusted the risers to create a smooth grade before screwing in place.

A few little tweaks in the track are needed--the BLI steamer definitely prefers one track to the other--but otherwise it's finishing the sidings and then off to the scenicking!

Miles the Weathering Man and I are splitting up the building of structures to speed things along, but hopefully we'll have lovely and LED-lit scenery installed in the next month or two.
Back to the workbench!

Very Cool

I like what you were able to achieve in the space available.  The right side of the layout and the space for the looping over the mainline section of track has given me an idea for what I need to do when I start building my layout out from the section I am working on now.  Very cool.  

Greg

MC Very Nice

MC, Very nice start (It would have been even better in N). It is good to see you posting again. Please keep us updated on the progress.

"Originally wanted the Lionel

        Actually  7' by 17' is enough room for a Lionel layout if someone wants one bad enough. Those 3 rail trains can get around very tight curves :> ) ........DaveB

Thanks

I tried to talk him into N, but he loves his HO.

As for the turnback loop on the right: it "works" but is a necessary evil for the space.
It's literally a PITA to work on the far track (have to do some Catherine Zeta-Jones in Entrapment moves to wiggle up from under through the crossbeams, on which I have to sit, all while careful not to place my entire weight on the shelf below).

The track back their will be hidden under the town, so I made sure:
1) No turnouts
2) Super careful & quality trackwork
3) Emergency access available by reaching up from underneath

Of course, if your blob is away from the wall and you have access to three sides then there's more you can do.

Down to the wire

Dude said he ran both trains all weekend, all ran fine, then late Sunday night the FT just stopped on a curve.
It would go when prodded but had issues.
Turning over the A unit, I saw one of the pickup wire connected to the rear truck had popped off:



[in yellow circle]

So I guess I get to learn how to take an HO InterMountain FT apart  

But at least the dude didn't try to fix it himself.

Today continued working on the industrial peninsula:



& finished laying track for the engine service/programming track & staging yard throat (far rear).

While fleshing out the peninsula, realized could have a nifty trestle-over-culvert-outflow scene, which is why I left a gap and put the ply on the bottom:



Might end up filling the gully with bushes, but at least there's some variation there.

Above photo also shows how I started building up the ramp to the coal trestle.
Will have sanded cork, then some cribbing, then actual trestle bents, with wooden structure at the end of the deck.
So the dude can run his FT up to full speed and smash through it, just like  the Flying Diesel Corps:

In-Structure

Started in on some structure kits:



Will be modeling only the main street in Monticello (Broadway).
The grocer will be one corner of the strip.
The warehouse flats will be on a semi-street behind to give illusion of a larger town.

All those windows are real pane in the glass.

Experimented with acrylic / spray combo on the back of the Downtown Deco warehouse kit:



Wash, spray, more wash while spray still wet creates that splotched effect.
Might try it on the front of a smaller warehouse flat later.

Sanded down the start of the ramp for the coal trestle:



Started blocking out the Industrial Nub:



A large garment factory will be on the right, with the back cut away to a detailed interior.

Started filling in the scenery blocks:





Top sheet came home with me: will secure a long piece of 1/16" styrene for the street and base for buildings.
Easy to take over to Miles' workshop and we can layout all the buildings for the main strip.

Built up the big hill on the other blob, but forgot to take photos  " width="15" />
More kits this weekend, and will experiment with LEDs (a first for me).
Woot!

Ha! Ha!

"Flying Diesel Corps" - that's a good one. Thanks for the bit of history.

That layout looks like fun. Once again you show your talents. I enjoy your posts of progress.

Avoid the - get a body cam

M.C.T.V.

Thanks for the kind words, Bill.

But a body camera would bore everyone to death, as 90% of the footage would involve me searching for the tool I just put down the minute before.

It'd also be NSFW, as the audio would be a constant stream of:
"Wait, what the BLEEP was I doing?"
"What the BLEEP am I doing?"
"Why the BLEEP did I just do that?!?"
&
"BLEEP!"

The layout's not going anywhere (see that bunker of benchwork?), so I'll get some photos on Monday or Tuesday.
Back out to the garage to build models while listening to the Giants beat the Angels!

Foam Forms & Diving into LEDs

Cut a large piece of 1/16" styrene to act as road / building base (outlined in Sharpie), then secured to the top piece of 1" pink foam:





I used Loctite Foamboard PL300, because it says that it's "foam safe" and caulk takes a week to cure under a surface as spread out as this.
After a day, however, it seemed that the Loctite didn't have enough "oomph" to securely secure the styrene to the pink foam, so I squirted some caulk around the edges (filling in about 1"-2").  After a day it seems pretty secure.

This piece needs to be removable so I can transport to  Miles' workshop in Oakland, as he'll be building and detailing most of the structures and street textures along Broadway, and then we'll transport it over to the layout.
The three of us create an equilateral triangle of 30 minute drives (traffic depending).

I'm doing a few structures myself, including the Walthers truss bridge kit:



Which should fit around here:



And will have some slow red flashers on top.
(Dude likes lights)

I initially had all the track at 3" spacing, but will have to rip up and re-lay to have the inner track come out to cross the bridge at 2 1/4":



Which will help ease the tight curves near the turnout above it to the left.

As you can see, I've been test-fitting chunks o' foam into place to get the landforms shaped:







The Monticello Styrene Slab will go home with me tomorrow for city building after I shape some other foam around it.

Also successfully completed my first LED installation of a larger LED for interior lighting and two small LEDs on either side as porch / security lights:





Only took me about 5 hours and destroying 5 small LEDs to figure out how to solder & install the little dudes   " />

Gettin' Grimy Again

My favorite go-to spray paint was Floquil's Grimy Black: it was dark, grey, warm, and thin enough for detail to pop through.
I didn't like that it was an expensive little can.

I found a similar dark grey auto primer (Rustoleum) but it was too thick, and it never seem to fully dry.

But I'm happy to announce the Second Coming of Grimy Black:

About $5 a can at Lowes.
Careful when selecting from the rack: it looks like a flat black but it's called "Blindfold":

Might be a touch lighter than Grimy Black, but, readily available for $5, close enough!

I use this to paint track, as a base coat for buildings, trim, windows, you name it.

I've found limiting the palate and having a common base for many aspects on the layout helps tie it all together, even if only subliminally.

So on this Walthers warehouse:

I sprayed the backs of the walls "Blindfold" and then the fronts:

Notice it doesn't have to be a thick all-covering layer.
Then, when dry in 5 minutes, spray over with Krylon Khaki:

A light sanding here & there will immediately add dark grey colored bricks, and there's already a darker color in the cracks.

Later will add mortar & grime washes.

Gave the Monticello base foam/styrene to Miles for him to do the streets and most of the main Broadway drag:

[photo courtesy of Miles The Weathering Man]

Me, I've got about 6 different structure projects littering the workbench:

On the layout itself, I've started installing the 1/8" Masonite fascia:

Hopefully tomorrow will finish the rest off, patch the holes, then can prime on Friday and have it dry over the weekend.

Back to the workbench!

@ M.C.

I'm sorry but those pinball machines have to go.  I like pinball, but I like trains more and those two machines are taking up valuable real estate.  Nice layout.  Will be watching your progress.

Den

Pinball's ok, it's the video bowling

Today finished up most of the fascia:







Only section left is about 3' but hardboard needed to be spliced together, so will install when woodglue cures:



And caulked some more foam down:



Gaps will be filled with hybrid of pink foam and cardboard/tape/plaster.

Here's the layout in relation to the room, opposite the drop-down home theater and sandwiched between video bowling, race car, and pinball:



Back to the workbench!

Blinders or Beer Goggles...

M.C. - I really like how you layered the colors on the Walthers warehouse.  I hope we all get to see the eventual washes steps as well as the finished product.  

Jeff Youst

Hard & Board

Thanks Jeff: am building some interior shadowboxes now, then will weather the exterior when all put together.

Finished installing the fascia:



Had to replace a support with a longer one and with the end cut at a more acute angle.
Groovy thing about open-grid benchwork: easy to adjust as you go!

More foam, more woodputty:







Will sand down & paint when I get back from watching USWNT vs Mexico down in La La Land on Sunday.

Have also found that it's a good idea to caulk & seal around any area that will have a water scene, as the Magic Water seems to find every seam and spill onto the floor:



Thanks for looking.
Back to the workbench!

Water

Now that's an excellent tip!

Carving a way forward

Started in on carving the foam.
Thought I'd try  the Mark Watson technique of using a wire wheel in a driver to speed up the carving.

 

I may be dumb, but I'm not stoopid: I wore a mask & safety goggles, got a thin plastic paint drop and covered myself and the section I was going to wire wheel.
It did protect the room from the pink fuzz, but not me & my driver:



Imagine my t-shirt, arms, & head coated with pink fuzz just like that driver.   " />

Tried to hold just the driver under the plastic, but the wire wheel just got up and whipped the plastic into a pile.   " />

I'm sure I could construct a simple framework that would hold the plastic up & away from the drill:



But I'll just go back to hacking away with the utility knife & forming tool.

Started filling in a lot of gaps with foam, with the idea of plastering on some Sculptamold later to patch any cracks:







As you can see, I've also painted the fascia an initial coat of flat black primer:







After the layout is done I'll go back and paint an eggshell black to make cleaning easier.

Miles is continuing to rock the Monticello main drag:



While I build other structures.
Thanks for looking.
Back to the workbench!

Seeing the light

Started building interiors for buildings:



And installing lighting:



I've about given up soldering the small LEDs and will just use the larger ones from now on:



You can see (or imagine) the small LED below the larger on and between the wires.
The small LEDs just don't give out enough light for the layout room to justify me going nuts trying to solder the little buggers.
Small ones better for some N scale buildings anyway.

On the layout, started filling in some gaps with cardboard strips hot glued to fascia & ply:



Then covering with some extra-wide & cross-wove fiberglass tape I found at Lowes:







Gonna get plastered tomorrow!
Woot!

Got Plastered

Finished carving & sculpting the slopes, so time to fill the gaps between ply & foam.

Tried to "brush" plaster on the fiberglass tape, but it fell through (despite the added cross-weave).
So, to not waste the plaster, I slapped some paper towels on there:



Then tried tinted lightweight spackle:



Didn't fall through, but too easily pushed through, and would use a lot of spackle.

So here's what 4 lbs. of tinted Sculptamold can do:





Meanwhile, client's dog left me a sample of his own landscaping:



Reminds me of "The Critic" in History of the World, Part I:

Just glad the dog is only about 1/2 lbs., & not a Great Dane.

Rockin' the Plaster & Paint

Been building the depot & installing LEDs:



That's an LED over each freight door and one to light the interior on the left.
(3 LEDs & a resistor = 12V happiness)

In a classic case of hot dogs & buns, the sheet of shingles is 1/2" too short:



Which made shingling the roof even more funner.

On the layout itself, I've installed rock castings (plaster tinted grey with craft paint) using tinted sculptamold as "glue" then painted/stained the rocks/sculptamold with grey washes and painted the pink foam tan latex found for $3 on the mis-tint shelf at HD:











And I removed the temp bridge, test-fitted the truss bridge, then built up the rocks & water scene:







Will be getting the town of Monticello from Miles on Monday (awesome alliteration!) so will be able to install and build up the other lobe next week.
But now it's back to the workbench!
(Well, right after watching the Champions League final    )
Thanks for looking.

Dishin' the Dirt

After filling in track gaps with replacement ties (probably my least favorite aspect of model railroading), I spraybombed the track with Valspar "Blindfold" (a poor man's "Grimy Black"):



On sidings I spritz with light grey and rusty red:



Will look better when cindered/ballasted.

Fitted & caulked together the layers of pink foam that will hold the trees behind the town of Monticello:



The large piece isn't caulked down to the town board yet so I can paint & ground cover it easily on the ground instead of trying to lean all the way over.

While there are access holes under the table to reach the track under the town, I'm also making the tunnel portals removable so dude can reach in if necessary:





The plastic wrap allows the sculptamold to fit close yet not stick to the portal.
I'l probably use some small velcro tabs to keep the portal in place.

Then started in on the basic ground cover (dirt, various grouts & ground foams, ground leaves):







Miles is almost done with Monticello, so I gotta get my butt in gear on the other structures.
Back to the workbench!
Thanks for looking.

Getting My Grass In Gear

Finished up the scenery forms at the far side of the layout, where the tracks "disappear" under a highway overpass.
Used blocks of pink foam to carve concrete block abutments:





Started scenicking the Monticello background blob (which, being 3"+ back, I made removable just for this very purpose!):



Painted & ground foamed Polyfiber bushes, static grass, mix of super & store-bought trees.
Mr. T-pins are holding the polyfill bushes down while the Aileen's clear Tacky Glue cures.



More static grass.
Non-prototypical-yet-highly-practical tunnel portal fixture can be pulled straight up and removed for access.
Compromise.

Used WS 2mm light green for the foreground park (will have a lit gazebo):





But am thinking it's too light, so will probably rip out & go medium or dark green short grass.
Or skip static grass for the park grass and stick with coarse ground foam.
We'll see how it looks tomorrow.

Also installed the Walthers truss bridge:



Tracks are usually on 3" centers, but the bridge forces 2 1/4" centers, thus the funkey-monkey curve on the approach.
Hoping all trains and cars still run well on the curves and no banging occurs.
If there are any issues, I can rip up approach tracks and begin closing curve radius farther back.

Back to the workbench!
Thanks for looking.

"Tracks are usually on 3"

 Seems like they should have plenty of clearance , I usually use 2 inch for HO. S scale can run on 3 inch centers......DaveB

Let there be Light(weight spackle)

Good to know, DaveB.
Thanks!

Easy bushes, underbrush, & background forest filler:

Tease out polyfill (old pillow fluff) to a thin blob.
Place on wax paper (important!), then spray paint dark grey / brown on both sides.

Spray with hair spray, sprinkle layers of coarse ground foam (I used WS dark green, then medium green) with a sprinkle of fine WS green blend.
Spray again with hair spray.
When dry you can rip/pull apart into long strips or sections that will add depth by filling in forests behind a thin line of trees:

As you can see in the above photo, I had to slap on & shape some sculptamold to provide some even ground for a few of the bungalows.
After it dried I scenicked it and installed the bungalows:

The bungalows are two kits of AMB's "Old Man Dan's House" expanded with some styrene backing into three structures.
There are 2 LEDs in the right bungalow as well, but need to wait until I install a third LED on "Slatkin's Bungalow Colony" sign at entrance to right.

3 LEDs + Resistor circuit connected to 12V wallwart = happy lights, as in this little shack:

Will try putting some gels / paint on some LEDs to get some color "variation.

"Poured" a road of lightweight spackle tinted with grey craft paint & a little water:

When it was totally cured I used sanding sponges to smooth the surface:

Then installed the depot, with 1 internal & 2 external LEDs"

Final step before the weekend: cleared off the industrial area, filled countersunk screwholes with spackle, and sealed fascia seams with caulk:

This weekend:
More trees (need about 200-300 more)
Build fuel dealer & industrial warehouses/factories (including one Downtown Deco plaster structure)
Start painting figures 

Back to the workbench!
Thanks for looking.