Saturday, January 17, 2009

Using the Big Yellow Eraser

I've got lots of issues...with my layout. I should say the space my layout is in, is what I have issue with as it dictates all that goes on in there. Naturally that leads to compromise, and change often. That's why I keep my bench work cheap and simple and reusable. Whenever I work on anything, where I am making something, I proceed the same way as if I were drawing; if what I'm doing isn't working out I tear up that sheet of paper, or erase it. With bench work, my DeWalt screw gun is my eraser. It makes quick work of undoing what was done.

My recipe for bench work is, as seen above, not much...a 1x4 pine frame, 1/8" Masonite covered with 1" rigid foam insulation. As you can see most of the 1x4 is on it's second or third shift as I reuse nearly every piece I can from previous layout incarnations. Even the screws.

Last night, during our podcast with Scott, Jimmy and Dave we spoke about the possibility of my tearing up-giving up - this two layout idea....just not feasible if I want to get the most out of the space I have if I want to successfully operate my present day layout. So, seconds after the podcast ended I slapped a fresh battery into my drill and down came 12 feet of bench work reserved for my 1950's layout...2 hours later,12 feet of bench work was added to the Green Belt. All that remains to have continuous running will be a three foot section that will have to drop down in front of the door for access to the room.

Now I have to see what will become of this new found realestate, the main section of this new benchwork is 24"x 96". I 'd like to fit in a small yard and at least two or three industries. For that I'll have to hit the drafting table and get out the small eraser.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Service Road

Even if modeling modern day railroading isn't your thing, you might want to take a look at Pelle Soeborg's work. If you read Model Railroader, you've no doubt seen his many articles over the last few years. One of the features on his layout that struck me was his use of roads , in particular service roads. On most layouts, if they are modeled, they're truncated. On Pelle's, they're actually a large feature. Even though it's a simple detail, the uncompressed size adds an instant realism that your eye recognizes. His automobile roads are even larger, ten feet or more. You'll see what I mean when you go to his site.

What it 's done for me is reinforce the idea that not only should I not try to cram as much as I can into a scene, but to model as little as possible when space is limited. Previously on last years attempt at a 1950's layout, my problem was that when I drew out my track plan I was trying to cram streets - a whole town - in a space less than 24 " wide. It just can't be done, not to the point where it doesn't look like a severe caraciture. I should have just ran a single road down the length of the layout or just cut one or two across laterally and gone from there.

On my Green Belt, my newly named present day layout, I'm planning at least one lengthy stretch of road, about eight feet long. I've already worked in two service roads, one is pictured above.

Take a look at Pelle's site if you have a moment...lots of lessons to be learned from him and his layout. Paste this link to get there...

http://www.soeeborg.dk/railroading.html

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A Plan is Forming



Up until recently I didn't have much of a plan or theme for my present day layout. Only a few parameters were set; BNSF and CSX would be the major road names and it'd have to be located for the most part in or around Illinois and Missouri, where both roads could legitimately be seen together. This is also made sense for me as I wanted to model grain elevators as I'd seen them on my recent train trip last summer. So the idea was to model it so CSX would drop cars here BNSF would take them away and vice versa. But I don't have enough room to truly make this work so it really needs to be a switching layout, representing a smaller zone geographically.

If you follow most of the kits I've done, you'll know I prefer to model subjects defined by specific themes. A theme or idea provides a spine to which everything else can hang. Without one it's just too random; a guessing game, especially when planning a layout. What industries would I model? How are cars moved around the layout and why. Questions I've learned to ask myself thanks to columns like Tony Koesters Trains of Thought in MR magazine - why is this car on your layout?

Once questions such as that are answered, the rest is easy, just implementation stands in the way. So, I've been fishing around for a concept that the layout would be based on - finally a compact fluorescent, energy efficient light bulb went off in my head - all the industries served on my layout would more or less be eco-friendly.

I could model industries like grain, coal, lumber - the usual and that could be fun. But since it's a subject I have great interest in; sustainable resources, alternative energy, recycled products and materials - it all makes so much more sense to me. So many questions were instantly answered by defining a layout concept.

-Right off the bat I could keep my grain elevators, they could process soybeans and corn. The corn could be sent to another industry on the layout, Ethanol processing- fortunately Athearn makes Ethanol Tank Cars.

-I wanted to feature some kind of food distributer, soybeans could go there, soy based products could be shipped out.

-Wind power is a big favorite of mine; I 've known about a company called Zoltek, they manufacture carbon products, specifally blades for wind turbines and they're located in Missouri. This kind of industry requires all kinds of raw materials, so that's another one to add to the list. I might even try and model some wind turbines for the layout, or at least include them in the backdrop.

-I've always been fascinated with landfills, I might model a portion of one, replete with methane vents that are diverted to power plants to generate electricity. That would be an interesting change from the usual rolling hill landscape seen on many layouts. A portion of it could be modeled in its final state covered in grass, another could be still open to receiving waste, lots of trash and birds...

-Instead of a coal power plant, a waste-to-energy plant could be modeled, receiving shipments from the garbage train.

-Another warehouse could be for a photovoltaics company.

-A MRR forums member had sent me the photos(above) of a great cardboard recycling facility. I plan on modeling it based on those photos.

So you get the idea. I can't think of anything more modern on a present day layout than the above. I'm even considering calling it the Green Belt; simple enough and to the point.

Fortunately the internet can provide plenty of research on the subjects to be modeled. I'm looking forward to it.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Investing in Infrastructure...

..on your layout. I've been looking forward to starting this project on my present day layout for a while. After starts and stalls, I've finally begun. Since I'll have few structures, mostly just industries served by the railroad, I needed something else to define time and place. Everything about this layout is intended to be in complete contrast to what I usually model( 1950's), building modern day highways seemed like the right way to go. Ironically, I could be modeling highways in 2008 that were built in the 50's...but I'm interested in the newer highway construction, massive concrete supports, large spans...speaking of spans, I'm no civil engineer but I'm fairly certain the web height of the beams in the pic above is terribly inadequate. It looks like it needs to be at least twice as high. I'll have to look into that. If anyone knows what the web height should be for a 70 foot span of four lane highway, please email me...otherwise I'll be dangling myself over an overpass on I-95 with a tape measure...

I also need to add some concrete pads for the shoe plates to sit on...the concrete supports are made from actual concrete; anchor bolt cement. I read about this in a few articles by Lance Mindheim. In it he cast concrete culverts and loading docks. He didn't paint them as the color was already that of concrete, it looked great.

Mine however must be a different brand and dried a dark, gray- green color, so I painted it with a concrete color paint(Woodland Scenics Concrete), dry brushed it with white and added graffiti and paint outs; attempts to cover up the graffiti...even though I wasn't able to get that real concrete color from the real concerete, it certainly has the right texture. I built the molds using pick rigid foam insualtion, glued up with a glue gun. The foam has a slight texture and can be carved to show expansion joints.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Springfield Show 2009

The big train show in Springfield, MA is in two weeks. It's a great show if you can make it, January 24th and 25th. We'll be in the Stroh building, same location as last year. We'll have one new kit, the Green Dragon Chinese Restaurant #QK29 and possibly a second, Canavan's...the pic above is from #K30,Canavan's. From the pic above you can guess there are no girls in bikini's washing cars, no burlesque dancers, sorry. More pics around show time...Note the kit number, K30, this is not a Quick Kit, and not a limited run kit, sort of in between.

Regarding the show, we will be accepting Visa & MasterCard and will be offering a 5% discount on all cash orders. Please stop by if you can make the show.

Ok, back to wrk, we'll see if we can finish Canavan's_____ _______.