I use paint.net software ( HERE ). It is free, although I usually send a yearly donation, and does everything I need. Easy to use and probably use less than 10% of what it can do. Very easy to crop and resize images and also easy to resize them when you save them. I resize at 80 dpi and usually either 6 in. high or 8.5 in. wide. Then when saving the file you can also size how large the file is in KB. Most all of the images I post or under 100K in file size. You don't need 500K and 1 meg images when posting for viewing on the net. If you are going to print them that is a different story. Give it a try and see what you think. Probably took me 4 minutes or less to crop, resize, put the caption box in and the text and arrows in the image above and save it. Sumner
@Sumner ThankYou! That was great! I will try them out. My current method is Download from phone Resize Add description to posting Post Nothing on the image. By having it right there on the pic a viewer does not have to scroll back up to see the explanation.
Three streetlights have been placed but not permanently set or wired yet. There are more to be set. Standing there and looking at them, they don't look that crooked.
Photos seem to magnify any small flaw. The streetlights probably look fine in person. I don’t know that it’s worth the time and effort to straighten them.
I don't know if I'll mess with them after I get them wired up or not. What I do know is that I will NOT be using a level or square on them.
@maxairedale I use my phone's camera to help find 'issues' with my layout. It can reveal everthing from causes of derailments to the color of my terrain.
Moving forward since my post last week. The second coat of paint was completed on the new fascia. I won't call it the final coat just yet in case I mar any of it putting it up and need to add more. Next, the first section of the old fascia has been removed! Took advantage of a brief few minutes of sunlight left when I got home one afternoon this week and cut a couple of small parts i need and to start cutting the floor for the bottom section of my under layout work cart. Put together some home made cables for connecting together the Digitrax UP7 throttle plug panels. Here are a couple of them. Changed out the trucks and added metal wheels to this Cryogen reefer that followed me home last weekend. It runs very well now. Then as of last night I finished up making some notebooks and organizing the appropriate material for each one. It's a task I was way behind on and happy that it came together okay. I have a few generic notebooks that could be broken up into a couple more and may do that soon just to free up more space in the generic books. That's it for this weeks update through yesterday evening (Friday 1/5/24) and now back at it as I need to make the most of my free time this weekend. The next few weeks are either none or very little open time for the layout.
Very impressive. My notebooks and folders are in bad shape and I hardly ever try and reference them. I need to do better. I post/document on the internet as much for myself as others. I often have to go back and see how I did something if I need to do it again and forgot how and my notebooks aren't much help . Sumner
@BNSF FAN That is really sharp what you've done with the folders. Surprised there is no Digitrax folder.
Mesa Part 9... Took the plunge yesterday and added color to one of the mesa sections I had carved recently but first finished another section up to the upper level. There are couple more pictures doing the following on my TrainBoard build thread ( HERE ). Cut foam away until you are happy. Not happy, cut more away or glue some back on! I put the engines above on the track for the picture but did run them on this track the other day but this is about as far as they can go right now. The track and wiring is done the other way to the hidden staging and to the coal mine and under the mesa top back to hidden staging. The red that was mixed into the spackling and applied above is close to what some of the sandstone looks like here when the first or last sun of the day hits it like in Monument Valley 70 miles southwest of us (can see it from the house). The sandstone rock in the picture will light up like that in the morning and evening light. . If anyone is interested I can post the paint mixing formulas. I did all the final detail painting with the above colors by mixing them. Didn't use the blue of course but it and another blue where used in painting the sky on the backdrop ( HERE ). . To be continued...... A link to this whole build ( HERE ). Sumner
Been making steady progress over the past few days so here's an update. Worked with the sky color until I got it to a point where I am satisfied with it, still not perfect. Been adding shrubs over the entire hillside and cleaned up the area in preparation to the re-opening of the main line. The empty spot in the foreground is going to be the location of the propane dealer. Got the road cleaned up and painted white RR crossing and a 25 MPH on the road. This was done with some brass templates I had. I made a wood between the rails part for the road from .040 x .040 styrene strips Then added a 25 MPH sign from a Tichy set and some yellow RR crossing ahead signs that I had left over from an old layout.
Brad what are you using for the shrubs and how are you making your roads. I need to order the first and start thinking how I'm going to do the second. Like the looks of both of yours. Sumner
The shrubs are WS clump foliage attached with canopy glue. The road in this section through the hills and around the grade crossing I have used .030 styrene and in the town it is EVA foam. Both are painted with a combination of artist acrylic gray paints. I learned about using the foam and the painting technique from a YouTube video done by an HO modeler. There is a link to that video in my blog post. Tracks across Nevada: Trying a different road building method (palisadecanyonrr.blogspot.com)
Having recovered from the family visit over the holidays and from Covid over the past week or so I am now in 'putter' mode. I had one priority: Fix the industrial area including adding a 'shared' run-a-round. I'll be posting a new track plan pic soon. Current goals: Finish the wiring so that the Road Switcher: Can drop off / pick up cars in the Arrival / Departure track Can take cars to / from the Mystrium Mine Can take cars to / from the Interchange While the yard / industrial area SW1500 can prepare trains and service the industrial area. Road Switcher no longer has direct access to run-a-round and is at the mercy of the 'yard boss', (me) or the Yard Deamon (my wife who will randomly layout cars for me. Does anyone know of DPDT or SPST electrical switches that are plug and play compatible with Kato wiring system? I'll post in the HO forum.
BNSF FAN: This is pic of A Yard from the South end (B Yard is in the distance): A1-A13 = classification tracks; Tracks 14, 15, and 16 are for the Car Barn, and Tabor Grain. The track all the way to the right is the NKP Main which runs around the entire yard. The 3 tracks parallel to the classification tracks and between the NKP Main and the 13 classification tracks, are the Arrival-Departure Yard South Lead, the B Yard South Lead to B1-B7 Yard tracks, and the Middle B Yard South Lead to Tracks B8 through B22. A Yard from south, B yard in the distance by ppuinn posted Jan 6, 2024 at 4:00 PM This is a pic of the B Yard from the North End. Closest to the camera is the Arrival-Departure North Lead, and behind are the B Yard classification tracks. The NKP Main is under and to left of the camera just out of the pic frame. You can just see the NKP Main at the left edge of the picture under the bridge. B Yard and Arrival-Departure Yard Track and Ground Throw labels by ppuinn posted Dec 17, 2023 at 1:10 AM
Yes, there is a long (24 to 39 inches) reach to the clean the tracks at the back of the B Yard...so I only use those tracks when the East Peoria Local switches the Caterpillar Cass Street spur at the back of the Yard. Ground throws for the south end of Arrival-Departure Yard AD1-AD6, B1 through B10, B15-B18, and both the South and North end of A1 to A13 are all reachable by hand for me. For Tabor Grain north end of A15 and A16, and Caterpillar Cass St A17, several years ago I fashioned a Reach Extender for my distant Ground Throws out of a 1/8" wooden dowel, a terminal connector, and a nozzle from a contact lens solution can for supporting the end of the extender at the best height to snag the ground throw lever. Super cheap and VERY reliable. Here's a pic of the Extender on a ground throw near the aisle (because I could not hold the extender in one hand and simultaneously properly frame the picture and also tap the button to take of picture when using the extender at the back of the layout) Ground Throw Extended reach by ppuinn posted Jan 6, 2024 at 5:08 PM .
Thank you sir. The Digitrax notebook is still in the works. It should show up in a future update. Thank you. I usually put most of the papers in clear notebook pages which helps a lot in keeping them in decent shape when looking through them.
And it finally begins for the Layout Party. I am curious to see how this goes, good or bad It is what it is, we will find out. EveModel house #1, trying to figure out how I want to approach the painting, colors, etc... Most house kits have been in Molded Colors, I have built. Everything is so tiny
I painted all of the fascia throughout the space on all levels. I settled on Valspar Montana Moss a while ago and finally got a gallon mixed up. Really helps finish the room as I transition into scenery and completing the main track to Wheeling staging. Goal #2 (fascia ground throws) is on going, but I am almost out of the fascia-mounted ground throw pedestals. I’ll have to go to Hobby Lobby or Michael’s again and get more of the 4 inch round wood plaques and cut them in half. Also completely out of ground throws! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well I think I finally got the track plan done. I used SCARM. As planned, it will take up about the southern half of my basement family room. It will take a while to build this as planned and once my kids are grown I can probably build another expansion for staging tracks for local freight switching ops or for railfanning long manifest trains. I’m more of a modeler and railfan than an ops guy but wanted to have a little option. HCD shelves around the walls with large box girder peninsula at the bottom. I’m going to be about 55 inches to the foamboard, so I think I could do a duck under, but I might do a lift out. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it-pun intended. Later today I’ll post some more details on my WC Waukesha Sub thread…which has really become a Chicago sub. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
