I realize that in 'real' geology stratification would not be like that and at some point in 2025 I may fix it. Nor would you have such differences in local rock colors. That probably won't change.
.... continuing on .... . . . . . . . . to be continued........... A link to this whole build ( HERE ). Sumner
Finished my first version for Jeremy's layout: 1944 era CB&Q, Beardstown to Galesburg Division. He has some poles in his basement that may prevent us from using this plan, but we're off to a good start. First, we discussed what towns and cities he wanted to run thru and marked them on Google Maps. Potential Towns and Cities, Alternate routes by ppuinn posted Jan 23, 2024 at 12:18 AM Route marked on Google Maps by ppuinn posted Jan 23, 2024 at 8:14 AM Then I looked through plat books, RR track plans, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Vintage maps on-line, RR Atlases, and some of my CB&Q books. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Various Maps by ppuinn posted Jan 23, 2024 at 12:18 AM Plat Books, RR Maps, Atlases, On-line Resources by ppuinn posted Jan 23, 2024 at 12:18 AM Then I spent a lot of time trying to figure out a configuration to get as many towns included in the amount of space we had...about 1/2 of a 30x36 foot basement...and came up with this: Track Plan for Jeremy by ppuinn posted Jan 23, 2024 at 12:12 AM He's hoping to run Local and Manifest freight trains between Beardstown and Galesburg, transfer turns from Beardstown to Rushville, and from Galesburg to Camp Ellis, and Passenger service between Beardstown and Galesburg. Once we see where the poles will go, we'll tweak the shelving as needed, then use the Sanborn maps, books, and some of his historical resources to include specific industries and interchanges. We had originally wanted to have a loop with the two staging yards combined, but couldn't do it without a duck-under or lift out section. I made the track from Abingdon to Galesburg drop down from 48 inches to 44 inches and run along the front of the shelf so I could get operators to staging without having to run through a scene a second time...This isn't a perfect solution but I prefer it to looping back through a town (or towns) a second time.
Hmmm... I've tried to edit the Google Maps picture to show correct side up, but haven't accomplished it, yet. I know it has something to do with deleting the code in the post, editing the picture in RailImages, re-entering the edited pic in the post and and then refreshing everything. But I haven't gotten the order done correctly, yet. I'll try again in the morning. Got it!! Couldn't get the rotation to stick on the old pic, so I took a new pic and edited it before I uploaded it to RailImages. Problem solved.
First, love the work on the layout design. Really impressive and so is the track plan . Not sure what you did but if you edited a picture and then put it back up on the internet with the same file name some times the old one will keep showing up until it has been replaced with the new one on the search engines. Sometimes refreshing your browser works if the image is being pulled up from a cache on your computer but I've had the old one keep showing up for part of a day and then finally the new one will show up when the search engines update to the new one. This is if the image has the same file name and was uploaded to a server twice with the same file name and the search engine hasn't found the new image yet and is bringing it up from a cache. Sumner
First finishing up with the removable section of the layout.... . Mesa -- Pt. 10 Back to working on the mesa and scenery near the coal mine complex. . . . . . . to be continued........... A link to this whole build ( HERE ). Sumner
Got a lot of pushpins to pull today .... Laid some of the cork for the upper level over the hidden staging area below. Wanted to at least get the cork ready for track before finishing the tunnels on both sides of the backdrop. Also did some more research on sawmills to make sure the tracks I have planned for this area will work. I think I have a plan. Small detour from the layout build ...... got the U50 above in today and decided to run it for a minute or two. Ran well and then didn't. I would stop driving one truck and then the other, never both at once. Haven't had this problem with a U50 before. Pulled it apart and found that the gears on the motor output shafts slipped on the shaft fairly easily. Used some CA on them and it seems to run well now. Will see if the CA is a permanent solution. I need to stop buying these U50's. I have enough UP and SP ones and some others I bought to get the Rail Barron chassis with the skew wound motors. Not sure if I see any difference in running thought with those. I've added decoders to a couple already ( HERE ) and want to put sound in one or two more, then need to sell some of the non-UP ones. to be continued........... A link to this whole build ( HERE ). Sumner
The propane dealer project is nearly complete. Since my last post the trailer, steps, customer tanks, and a lamp post have been added. The lamp post is something I made a bunch of years ago to sell and had this one left over. It has an LED in it and I will be wiring it to light up in the future. The roof of the trailer is removable and I drilled a hole through the bottom and the deck so can lighting to it later as well. I also added some barrier poles in front of the loading / unloading area as I see those in the prototype photo. Other small details are in progress to be added as they are completed. The jersey barriers are supposed to arrive today and will be painted and installed when they get here. The work being done so far during this year's party has been some messy scenery work which has kept the layout in a non-operating status. I miss running trains and I also have a show coming up in about a month so need to test and get things ready for that. So today I'm starting a good cleanup of the layout. Everything I will be working on during the remainder of the party will be on the bench and added to the layout on bases which have already been set up so no mess.
You’re doing a super job on this scene, Brad. It’s nice that it’s at the front of the layout where all the details can be appreciated.
Tried to finish up the cork in this area the next day. . to be continued........... A link to this whole build ( HERE ). Sumner
… on to the next day after a trip to Moab, UT. for my annual V.A. checkup I was able to lay down the rest of the cork in this area.... Next up is filing and spackling.... To be continued........... A link to this whole build ( HERE ). Sumner
Over the past couple of days I have been vacuuming and cleaning the layout, then cleaning the track first by hand and then with the track cleaning train. The first revenue train was this westbound shown here emerging from the Carlin tunnels. While the train was running, I added the Jersey barriers and some ladders to the propane dealer scene and arranged in such a way so as to resemble the prototype scene as much as possible. I am looking at those cracks in the asphalt in the prototype photo and am tempted to try adding so cracks with a fine marker. I've seen that technique in magazines but have not tried it myself. I've also started on the next structure project which I will present in the next update. And a couple of workers were added as well. There is the one worker sweeping up as shown in my last post and there is also another wiping down the empty customer tanks, I call him Bobby. Those who followed the animated TV series "King of the Hill" may recall Hank Hill talking about the importance of wiping down the tanks at the propane dealer he worked at and often delegated that chore to his son Bobby. Yup.
The train running behind the propane dealer looks great, Brad. The details really make this scene pop!
That turned out great Brad. All the little details really add to the scene and I like those hoses and holders you added. What you did here has inspired me to start planning on how I can update and improve the propane dealer on my layout.
With being out of town right now means I've not been able to work on the layout so nothing new there since my last update. However, I did bring a couple of things to work on in the evenings at the hotel A couple of things done so far. I made some temporary track diagrams to put on the new fascia a couple of weeks ago. To go with those, I decided I wanted to put some kind of marker at each switch/turnout for quick identification but that wouldn't stand out too much. I came up with these. I cut painted and decaled them over the past few nights. Have a little touch up to do and they should be good to go. Next up, I assembled this I-beam load. The gon needs work but as is I think it turned out pretty decent. And now I am about half way though with a new wheel load for another gon. I made a dummy floor to attach the wheels to so I can remove it when I want. Once this load is done, I want to make a second wheel load with rusty wheels that are piled in instead of stacked. Then I can just change the loads when I want to add some variety. I return home late in the week but hopefully I'll have time to get something done on the layout before next weeks post
Well, a lot of my work this week, has been in getting things added to JMRI and starting to build routes and trains. I think I'm making progress, but its kinda slow going! The one sorta physical thing I got done was to redo the track layout on my layout map -- Previously it was a blown up JPG file with all the associated pixelation etc, so I went in with Inkscape (an adobe illustrator alternative) and drew it all in that way. that changes it from being raster graphics with all its issues to being vector graphics, scaleable and not pixelated. Here's the result -- Otherwise, not too much new here really -- hope you all have a GREAT weekend!
