Action at Walnut Creek

First, a photo of the prototype scene:

A westbound  grain extra passes, with GP38 600 leading GP7M 400 and LLPX SD38-2 2805:

Another view of the westbound, with eastbound manifest CBBI in the distance, holding the main at Hillis siding:

With the grain extra in the clear at Hillis, CBBI, led by GP9 303, GP38 602, and GP38AC 628, proceeds east over Walnut Creek:

Another view of CBBI at Walnut Creek:

Great Job!!!!

More great photos and modeling, Joe!!!  Your river blending into the photo backdrop really works well.  Congratulations on achieving that.  Love that beat up GP9 too!!!  I remember it from a while back. 

Tom

Very  nice,   6mm static

Very  nice,   6mm static grass used?. How did you get the piers to  look  like real concrete?

Phil

This is superb work,

This is superb work, Joe!

Mike

yup!

the scene has turned out fantastically!

Great!!!! More pictures and

Great!!!!

More pictures and more stories please.

You have very well captured

You have very well captured the open prairie look!  I should be able to hear the wind and the grasses swishing...  after the trains pass, of course.  I lived a part of my earlier childhood on the MN side of the Iowa border, and I loved the open fields.

I am also impressed (as always - I didn't just notice it now) with the "cohesive" look of your layout, of all things working so well together.  I have LOTS more scenery to finish on mine, and I have in my mind's eye for reference the work you have done.  I sometimes wish I were modeling green vegetation instead of Fall, especially after looking at your bridge scene.

Soldier on!

Awesome job there Joe

Very inspiring.

Thank you!

Thank you all for the very kind comments.  I'm looking forward to painting the backdrop seams and adding trees so I can truly call this scene "done", but I tend to work in spurts, and I'd imagine I'll do all the seams, and a good portion of the layout's trees, in one shot.

Phil, the grass is a 50/50 mix of Silflor 4mm and 6mm Late Summer, with quite a bit of 4mm and 6mm Autumn stacked over it in spots.  The piers (modified C.C. Crow products) and abutments (scratchbuilt) were painted with Testors #1233 Flat Light Aircraft Gray and weathered with Pan Pastels.

Milt, it's funny that you sometimes wish you had modeled green vegetation, because I sometimes look at the beautiful layouts modeling fall or winter and wish I'd done one of those seasons instead.   I'm kind of a slave to my roster though.  This was the only time when all my favorite IAIS locomotives and cars co-existed on the property, so that pretty much set my era for me.  The SD38-2s had started to work west and the AOK well cars had begun to be restenciled for IAIS, while the MLWs and that green GP9 were just about to depart the property.

Oh, and just for fun, here's a pic by my friend Andy Brown of the Walnut Creek bridge as we were passing over it eastbound on the rear platform of IAIS business car 100, the "Hawkeye", on November 13, 2010, on a steam trip the IAIS ran to benefit the Rock Island Technical Society.  

Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for RITS, ridership was very slim on that trip, with only about 8-10 people paying the $100 to ride from Council Bluffs to Des Moines with the chairman of IAIS's parent company and some other company officers.  Low ridership meant more time on the rear platform, and we took advantage of it, even though it was hovering right around freezing that morning.  

Here's an Erik Rasmussen pic of us hardy souls during a stop at Atlantic that day, with Andy on the far left and me on the step on the far right, next to Erik.  I believe my old friend, former IAIS West End trainmaster W.B. Dennis, took the photo for us with Erik's camera.

Finally, here's another one of Erik's pics showing our full train that day at Atlantic.

Thanks for letting me reminisce!

agree

Joe

   I can't say anymore. I agree with all of the above. Great work

                                                                                           Ray

Piling On

I'll add to the chorus, Joe.  I like it.

Super scene!

Joe, 

Your bridge scene turned out really nice. And thanks for staging the action. I enjoy seeing your power lashed up and looking good. 

Are you happy with how the Mod Podge water turned out. Even though the pics were a little dark, I can see some good reflections and the rippled texture. 

Steam Trip Cars

Those passenger cars on the excursion look remarkably like KCS business cars.  Do they belong to the IAIS?

Business cars

You're correct Jack.  Both IAIS business cars are ex-KCS.

Mod Podge

Thank you Ray, Rob, and Scott.  I appreciate the encouragement. 

Scott, for as concerned as I was about modeling water, Mod Podge couldn't have been easier to apply. I thought it looked okay after the first coat, but the ripples weren't as visible from some angles. That's probably more a factor of my poor lighting conditions than anything else. I think another coat or two of Mod Podge and a sealing coat of acrylic furniture varnish should really improve things.