Building the Pinnacle Creek Mining & Timber Co. RR


I'm finished with the cloud portion of the backdrop. The benchwork is waiting for me to get some wood this weekend. Jim
:)
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When it comes to clouds.....poofiness.....is key. Which I see these techniques work well to produce....hee hee!
 
Thanks fellows glad you like the clouds. I've never used full size spray cans for this kind of thing. With just a little practice everyone should be able to do these.

As for backdrops in general, let me say that I am in the "backdrops" should not be the focal point of the layout" school. Enough attention to the backdrop should be taken to give the guests a general idea of clouds, hills, trees, or whatever, in the back ground. The focal point of a layout should be the layout, or maybe even locos or rolling stock, not the backdrop. You want 'eyes' to focus on your layout not the backdrop.

This said, it should be obvious that you do need some clouds and not a vast blue backdrop. Being or not being artistic is not the issue with backdrops. You really can't mess up a cloud. If you don't like what you've painted let it dry and put another cloud over the top or repaint with your blue and start over. Clouds come in all kinds of shapes and size you can't go wrong. Of course practicing your painting on a large piece of cardboard is a good first step. Jim :)
 
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Well time never stops. It is my birthday today. (69) My back feels a bit better today so I thought I would try the next step on the layout. I bought a 3/8", 10mm, piece of cheap plywood, I bought two actually. I lugged this one in an hour ago and made some cuts. I laid out some track in the approximate positions. I like this method. What I will do now is use a black marker and outline the roadbed area beneath my track. This time around on the right side I will "cookie cutter" the track bed with the saw. the 'cookie cutter' roadbed has to rise to 4 3/4" by the time it gets to the far wall but it will still be attached to the main 4x8' piece of plywood.

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Also I better show you what my wife got me for my birthday. It is DCC and is On30. Runs good too. Jim:rolleyes:

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Jim, I love the little "engine", that certainly can't be stock or out of the box. There did she find it? Ebay! That doesn't seem like an item that one could find at your LHS. Also, I think that is one of the smarter ways to lay out your trackage. Instead of complicated patterns or computer diagrams. Just lay it out, give it a certain amount of shoulder and start cutting. - Chris
 
Happy birthday Jim. Great little loco. Would have taken a lot of thought and searching on your wife's part.

Down at my new club they're using the same cookie cutter method to form the different levels on the new layout, has the advantage of making the transitions easier by taking advantage of the plywoods natural resistance to bending.

Good to see you're also now bi-lingual.
 
Thanks for all the good wishes. Hate getting older but I haven't a better alternative.

I've been elevating my track near the wall using old risers shown in a pile in a previous photo. I think I have to get up to 4 3/4" so my largest On30 can get under. I'm going to put the loco on some roadbed cork and track and see if I can make the bridge a bit lower. Looks pretty high for HO. Jim:)
 
Great Big Happy Birthday, Jim.
I like the little "critter" that your spousal unit bought for you.
Since you got a locomotive, I will return the one I had for you!
 

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Sherrel, No, no, you can still give it to me!

Seeing Sherrel's photo leads me to the conclusion that no matter the size of the railroad there is always work to be done. Jim ;)
 
This morning before NFL I made my first 'cookie cutter' cuts. For those of you who don't know this technique let me say this. By simply using a piece of plywood you can cut out your subroadbed straight from the plywood itself. I'm at least doing this right side of the layout this way because I will have a yard, station, some buildings and hills. No need to use the method you saw in the original PCM&T layout. This method is easier in many ways.

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In this photo you see the subroadbed elevated. By 'cookie cutting' you simply match the top of the grade, on the left where the sub roadbed ends, and make you own grade up/down the hill to the flat lands.

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The only thing permanent at this stage is a screw holding down the sub roadbed on the left. There will be a bridge there. This photo just shows how the roadbed goes up to that height. Jim:)
 
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joed, Correct. I'm trying to keep it at around 2.5 degrees of incline. % are meaningless to me as I don't care to learn how to compute them. At 2.5 degrees any HO loco I have will easily negotiate the incline. The previous layout had 4.7 degrees and all my loco made the grade. Jim :)
 
I initially thought that the second photo looked to be closer to a 4% grade from my old experience at layout construction.
Guess maybe I was not too far off?
 



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