It may be less fun...

It may be less fun for most people, but my 20 year dream of starting a model railroad has really been moving forward. I purchased my first 'real' locomotive and I think it's a beauty. I have all the flex track I will ever need, 9 switches, my controller is coming soon and I have been working hard on a trackplan to start building. I am very excited for what the new year will bring!

A wintery diorama

I based this build on a few areas, primarily tunnel  #11 on the SP Cascades line and Multnomah Falls, both in Oregon. The diorama is 12” x 22” and the track is wired so I can display a locomotive and turn the lights. Still a work in progress. 
 

Three headed monster

3235 leads a trio of EMD power out of Highland yard on train ‘HNS’. The three unit lashup is a telltale sign there will only be one interchange train today. 

Ready to Ballast!

Ready to Ballast!  The over-all look I am going for is a branch line that sees some maintenance but would never be mistaken for a high-speed mainline.  

Tracks on the left is a small yard used primarily as a pickup/drop-off point for Fort Smith, Arkansas industry switching jobs.  It is also used for short term storage of empties for Fort Smith industries.  The track on the right is part of Missouri Pacific’s Fort Smith line.  

The yard track is Atlas code 83-flex with random ties removed and remaining ties spaced randomly.  Mainline track is Atlas code-83 flex. Turnouts are Micro Engineering #6.

For the rail color, I used Vallejo’s Field Drab.  For the ties, I started with a base color of Vallejo’s Deck Tan.  This was followed by a wash of raw umber artist acrylics and a lite dry brushing of an artist acrylic color called “warm gray”.   A second coat of a warm gray was applied to random ties to simulate old worn ties. (Yard has a good amount of these worn ties)
 

A few ties were painted with an acrylic “Grungy Black” to simulate recently replaced ties.  
 

Joe

RW gets some leased power.

Khasad-Mordor Rail Leasing (HZMX) SD38-2, Former CR U23B, HZMX B23-7XR(U23B rebuilt to Dash-7 standards)

A slice of Maryland

Anyone that has ever been to the inner harbor of Baltimore at night most certainly saw the Domino Sugar sign across the bay. Since my small city layout isn't an accurate depiction of any one place I just had to get this sign once I saw it listed on eBay. Sadly my cell phone thinks that the color is pink when in fact it is red.

Merry Christmas (repost)

The last beet train before Christmas rumbles past the Birds elevator and crosses I-25 on its way to Loveland. It is a long held tradition in Loveland that bad boys and girls will get a rotten sugar beet in their Christmas stocking instead of coal. You better be good!

Originally posted on:

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/it-was-the-day-before-christmas-in-northern-colorado-12191912

Nice track work !!

Gret looking track work !!   Almost a shame to put ballast over it... 

George

George, amazing job modeling that scene in Loveland! Drive by it all the time.

Mike in CO

G&D #48 with a reefer drag on the Taggart Transcontinental

The last two weeks

I've spent the last two weeks doing what I've avoided doing for two years. Cleaning the layout room, changing benchwork and moving everything out that has been cluttering the joint up. Not real exciting but an improvement of the environment.

 Yesterday I got tired of the clean up so I dirtied up a boxcar. Nothing spectacular but more fun than vacuuming up a mess and tossing old paint bottles out.

OOOps

Ever wonder what happens when the 3 box cars you have worked on for about 40 aggregate hours, stripping, removing molded on details, adding proper grab irons, priming, painting and decaling, and then you mistake a bottle of flat white  Model Flex for their clear flat?

Enough said as I must devote time to cry and sob.

Just finished this Vollmer HO scale cathedral.

 Greg

@oops

They might be saveable,  I've removed acrylic painting mistakes by washing with a solution of ammonia household cleaner and water . The mixture  needs to be tested for correct strength first to make sure it only removes the new coat and not the underlying paint. If it is too powerful add some water and test again. What ever you do I hope you can save the paint jobs as I know how much work it is to create unique models...DaveB

Vollmer HO scale cathedral.

As an addict of nighttime layout lighting I am very impressed (and a little jealous) of what you have accomplished.

That is truly a work of art.

Loren

Thanks! Loren

I'm also an addict of lighting! So it's very nice to have some company here!

Greg

@ Sir, Rick Sutton'

That's funny Rick.  I did the exact same thing the other few days ago.  Old dried up paint bottles, dust an d dirt.  WHat a difference, Now I can see what I'm doing'...

Now to get to that box car'... Hard to believe it is not the genuine article.  That is another example of an excellent weathering job'.. You certainly have this format mastered.  AND BTW...

@Young Master Goober

Ho Ho Ho! back at 'ya my friend.

@ctxmf74

Thanks for the tip.

Paul 

“Nothing spectacular “—

—said no one, about Sutton’s work, ever!

Thanks patentwriter

Very kind of you.

Going eastbound...

Cy Crumley eyeballs one of the Ensor daughters as his train pulls away from Hunter, along the (fictional) Stoney Creek branch of the ET&WNC

Lee

Last night  we took our granddaughter back to Boone after a visit and as we passed Tweetsie the train was making its last run, coaches all lite up in Christmas lights as was the locomotive. 

@ Greg

Love the cathedral. The lighting is fantastic. I can see Christmas mass going on in there.

-Scott