Atlantic, Gulf & Western (AG&W)

[PNKFLOYD]

The Wrecking Crew Model Railroad Club of Birmingham, Alabama began the design and construction of a new HO layout in 2024.
Like most things done by committee and a volunteer workforce, there have been several revisions and corrections to make things work better.
Benchwork, folding legs, wiring and connectors have been installed. The base is 1/2" plywood with 3" of extruded foam sheets glue on top.
The amount of sawdust and wood chips produced is amazing.

This is the current layout plan consisting of 24 sections.
We publicly display N scale to O scale layouts at Mc Wane Science Center in Birmingham during the Holiday season. The current fully complete Locust Grove & Western (LG&w) HO layout is 25 years old, in need of "refreshing". Originally, we were going to re-use some structures from the LG&W on the new layout, but Mc Wane wants to keep displaying the highly detailed LG&W, so the AG&W will look completely different.

We plan to display the AG&W in "raw" form to let the public see what it takes to build a large layout. Trains will run around the whole layout but sidings and extensions will not be built yet. The river crossing with bridge and approaches will be in place and detailed scenery applied to those sections. We did a similar construction approach with our On30 timber layout.

This is the initial placement of the bridge, a test fit to set the supports. We found that the black bridge color did not show detail or weathering, so the bridge was repainted..
I still have several other pictures to examine and will post progress on the layout later.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Putting a paint base coat to the river bank. Planting crops in the flood zone is seen in the background.

Planting cotton and soybean fields is an intense and tedious task. Notice that I am the one taking pictures and not working hard.
I did lay down cork roadbed on other sections.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Found a couple more pictures of the layout showing our progress.

During the 2024 Holiday show, we asked for people interested in building a layout to give us their contact information.
We had 8 people visit and participate in starting the benchwork construction. We had 4 people stick with the project, who are part of our Apprentice program now. After 6 months, they become members of the club, no club dues for 2024 and we paid their NMRA dues for 2024.
The young man working on the cotton field is one of our new members, as well as the lady in the photo above.

The bridge has been repainted silver and weathered. The silver color highlights the bridge details and the weathering dulls the bright glare of fresh silver paint. The light rust has been dry brushed to simulate exposure to a humid atmosphere and sun. The bridge pillars are numbered and marked on the river bed so each bridge section is placed in a balanced position.
The track is pinned in position to establish the correct pillar and bridge height. Some pillars are lowered and a couple are shimmed to the correct height.
As you can see, we are not very clean, neat or organized in our work.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

The end section, just below the bridge approach, has been a problem getting the track radius right. This is a fairly tight double track section, so a foam elevation was installed to help keep trains on the track. As you can see, we use poster board templates to set in the track radius.
Each member has unique skills and talents to contribute to the club.
My talents seem to be taking blurry pictures and sweeping the floors, occasionally.

In spite of what the previous pictures may imply, the rest of the layout has shown some progress also. The cork roadbed is cut and fitted in place, with sidings and cross overs trimmed and added. Each piece is T-pinned in place. Some adjustments have been made to make sure the track is straight and transitions are made smoothly. Each piece gets caulk adhesive glued in place and re-pinned until dry.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Here is another picture of the repainted bridge, with the pillars in place and putting the bridge at the proper height.
As you can see in the background, the cotton field grows slowly. Just like a real farmer, it takes a lot of work to put in a crop.
I'm just glad we do not have to pick this cotton crop.

Now that most of the cork roadbed is glued down, it is time to start time the laying of track. The code 83 flex track soldered on each section to make the cars ride as smooth as possible.
if you build it right the first time, it saves hours of rework.

 

[kjd]

In the interest of getting it right, there is a bit of a kink about a car and a half toward the camera in the above photo. I find watching the relationship between two long cars as they negotiate a curve helps find all those little kinks.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

In the interest of getting it right, there is a bit of a kink about a car and a half toward the camera in the above photo. I find watching the relationship between two long cars as they negotiate a curve helps find all those little kinks.

Paul- thanks for the heads up.
We will take another look at that spot.

 

[migalyto]

What a great looking layout you Guys and Gals are building!

Genius idea using the separated cardboard for fields! Have to store that away for future use.

 

[santafewillie]

Genius idea using the separated cardboard for fields! Have to store that away for future use.

I have used that technique with great success in several gardens on the layout.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

It is amazing what a little color will do to change the scenery.

Since this layout will assembled and disassembled many times during it's lifetime, we are trying to make the scenery as durable as possible.
This is a hard shell dirt base made of real dirt, paint, pearlite, plaster, white glue and water. It is mixed to the consistency of pancake batter. It has about a 20 minute "working time" before it starts clumping up.
This side of the layout was applied over the foam with a small trowel in two batches. It can be messy, so wear old clothes.

The white blob near the forest in the lower right of the picture is a scratch built tug boat. .A club member built it as part of the river scene with the bridge. A better photo of the tug boat is a "coming attraction". More pictures as work progresses.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Track laying crew is hard at work. Flex track makes some sections go faster. However, cutting and splicing the track to fit in switches and sectional edges does slow progress. Rail joiners in each section are soldered for electrical continuity and reduce loose joints.

As you can see, we do not like long straight track runs. Even though this is flat terrain, the curves make the mind think the track is following a contoured landscape.. There will be other straight runs as shown on the plan.

One of our club goals is to teach people about model railroading. This is one reason we partnered with Mc Wane Science Museum to display train layouts during the holiday season.
A former member told me the learning process for modeling was: "See one, do one, teach one." I was laying cork roadbed around the curve when the two newbies asked if they could help. I jumped at the chance to stop being a worker bee and become a government supervisor by sitting on my posterior while watching them work.
We started with taking a strip on cork, bending the halves and tearing them apart carefully to expose the beveled edges. One strip is aligned with the track centerline, trimmed to fit the space and T-pinned in place. The other piece of cork is trimmed to size. and glued in place using a thin bead of caulk adhesive. We use T-pins to secure the cork until the glue dries.
The first pinned cork is then unpinned and glued in place. Examine the roadbed for misalignments and adjust as necessary. Areas for switches and crossovers require pieces of cork be trimmed, fitted and glued between the mainline roadbed. After these sections were laid, only the main yard section remains to have the roadbed laid.

This is pretty basic modeling, but if you do not have experience, trial and error work produces more errors than results. These guys are pretty sharp and are now ready to teach someone else to lay cork roadbed.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Still working on the bridge section and the approach within the flood plane.
She is laying a base of light grass for this area. There is a plan for other structures and scenery planned. BUT, there has been some suggestions for changes in this area. We will have to see what actually sprouts before the holidays.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Today, our cork roadbed crew put the last section in place in the center of the layout. We have had the section set to one side to give an opening the the inside of the layout, since it is in the shape of a hollow "C".
We laid cork on the main lines and also the sidings and extensions. This section has been re-designated as an industrial complex, a change from the original plan. With the mainline roadbed laid, we are starting back to lay roadbed for sidings on the rest of the sections.

The guy in the background, right, above is adding foam board to the upper section of the bridge scene.

The built-up hill will be about 5 inches above track level. The current thoughts are to put two or three homes on the blank hill area to give some activity in this area. We will see what is decided in the next 8 to 10 weeks before it goes on public display.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

No photos today. We finished up some sidings and extensions with the cork roadbed.
We also started looking at making some trees and shrubs for the scenery around the river area.
Our scenery expert held a scenery clinic for about 45 minutes for a couple new guys. i have been around this club for over 30 years and I learned several ways to make better looking trees. You are never too old to learn.

 

[Jaz avalley]

No photos today. We finished up some sidings and extensions with the cork roadbed.
We also started looking at making some trees and shrubs for the scenery around the river area.
Our scenery expert held a scenery clinic for about 45 minutes for a couple new guys. i have been around this club for over 30 years and I learned several ways to make better looking trees. You are never too old to learn.

Slacker!

 

[Jaz avalley]

View attachment 234742
Putting a paint base coat to the river bank. Planting crops in the flood zone is seen in the background.
View attachment 234745
Planting cotton and soybean fields is an intense and tedious task. Notice that I am the one taking pictures and not working hard.
I did lay down cork roadbed on other sections.

Seen this idea a long time ago but the texture and colour choices and detail make it top notch

 

[PNKFLOYD]

This week we checked the cork laid down last week and found two small pieces that did not get glued down. I docked the crew's pay.

Mostly we removed tee pins and made sure all the cork was secure.
Checked on the corner section that is being built up. That highway overpass section is not a planned location.

We got a large order of scenery material in to start doing scenery around the bridge section. This included a new electric wire static grass applicator. The old battery powered applicator lets the grass clump in places.
Time for a clinic on making static grass bunches.

Instead of the $19 metal sheet the manufacturer recommended, we use a $2 cookie pan. Place dabs of full strength white glue on wax paper or parchment paper. We used two different lengths of grass to provide lots of texture to the grass bunches. We had 7 people who did not have experience with static grass. The secret to this project is preparation, getting everything set up and within easy reach.
If you look closely, you can see the different sized glue dots on the paper.
It can be a little messy, but leave the extra grass on the sheet until the glue has dried and recover the overage for your next project. You can also use ground foam in a shaker to sprinkle over glue dots. The hardest part is waiting for the glue to dry.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Today, we were given a demonstration of the custom InvisaTrax non-metallic chain driven, magnetic motion unit.
This unit is supposed to be smoother and less expensive that other systems. We are learning how to install the system.

The video I took will not load so here are a couple still pictures. This track configuration allow vehicles in opposite directions like traffic on most roads.

Another unit operates a skateboarder as the figure weaves and swerves back and forth on the track. The HO figure looks like a live performance.

i am in no way compensated by this outfit. I offer the contact for your information only: catzpaw.com .
I think this will have the kids staring at the motion with open mouths.

 

[diesel]

I've seen it done but rarely, I always wondered if it could be done practically.

 

[santafewillie]

I think this will have the kids staring at the motion with open mouths.

Seems to have that effect on the adults in your first picture!