New HO Switching Layout


Odie-r said:
Larry,

These fences have been nothing but a pain in the butt. I'm surprised I couldnt find a metal version pre assembled - I would have happily used that. The wires are the biggest disappointment. They don't stay straight no matter what I do. So your advice is well received!

Where do you get the brass wire? Would my LHS carry it? And what size are you using to make it scale?
Also, what is 'wedding tulle'?

Thanks!
Ryan
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Hi Ryan,

If you have a chance pick up Pelle Soeborg's book "Rebuilding a Layout from A-Z" . In it he describes the entire process of constructing a fence from a Walthers Fence kit. It shows in detail how each plastic vertical fence post is drilled out using a pin vise drill while it is still attached to the sprue.

Pelle uses two .019 brass wires that are slid down the drilled upper and lower holes on the fence posts and secured with CA adhesive. He then secures a BRASS mesh the fence using CA.

Wedding Tulle is a mesh veil material that can be purchased at Michaels Craft Stores. It is identical to the mesh you would see on a security fence. Normally comes in gray or white. I have used the white tulle and airbrushed the entire fence once it was completed with a light gray. Pelle's book shows how this is done using the brass meshing.

Micronart is one company that makes etched brass fencing already completed.

http://micronart.com/HO_Scratch.html


I have included a couple of photos of my fence that I constructed not using the Walthers Fence kit since it was not available at the time. My fence was completely soldered using a template and wedding tulle.

th_railroadlayout048.jpg



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Larry
 
The fence looks great. I have one of their kits sitting in the train room, and as usual, Walthers direction sheet seem more of a suggestion rather than how things should be built. I have a number of their kits and although I am very happy with their kits, the directions in general are really lacking. I guess I'll find out soon how difficult the kit can be. Excellent work. Great photos. Keep them coming.
 
Montanan,

I just got bored with it. I refinished the side walls in the room thinking about doing something else but using the same Miami theme. I am presently constructing a model of the asphalt unloading facility that is in Pelle Soeborg's latest book. It is his representation of Clyde Maybee's initial model of a asphalt unloading siding that was published in Model Railroader in 1994.


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Larry
 
Larry,

The book 'rebuilding a layout from a-z'.. is this the one published in 1991? I found it online but just wanted to be sure.

I'll post an update of some recent work tonight.

R
 
Oddly enough, I was reading the issue of MR with that article in it this morning while I had my coffee and toast.
 
Made some good progress tonight with a couple uninterrupted hours in the man cave.

Roughly completed two tank loading racks for the ethanol distributor. Very happy to have them in place, even if they still need paint and final touches. Makes it feel a little more complete! I'll paint and add the piping later. These things are tiny!

Sprayed a base coat of scenic cement on the dirt access road along the front of the layout as well. Its nice not to have to worry about touching any of the scenery now! Its all so solid.

Thanks to everyone who's contributing. I'm planning to pick up the book Larry suggested tomorrow on my travels at the LHS. Very much looking forward to having a read through it and re-attempting the fence work!

Still happily using 'SwitchList' to run ops. Its simple and effective. Kudos to the creator.

I'll update again soon.
R

Raw Plastic Rack:
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View South Across the Yard:
syruc0.jpg


Looking East from above:
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Looking West down the departure track:
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Have you thought about incorporating what you have into the new layout? When I first got out of the service and we stuck living in an apartment I did build a small N scale layout. When I finally moved home to Montana and had a basement, I used my small layout into what turned into an N scale empire with over 11 scale miles of mainline. Unfortunately, back in the 70's N scale locomotives were garbage compared to what they are now and I tore everything out and switched to HO scale for the better running locomotives and the abundance of detail items available in HO.
 
Odie-r said:
Hi All,

Newbie here.
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You call yourself a newbie? Really? Awesome scenery work!!!
I'm just getting back into the hobby/craft myself and you are blowing me away - as you being a self-proclaimed newbie.
I couldn't have touched that back decades ago when I was real serious about it. Of course a 14 year old kid on paper route money doesn't exactly have the resources - i.e. time, money, etc - to spend on it.

The question only I might ask is why you went with a black ballast instead of grey?

I would love to see what you could do with a couple hundred sq/ft on a bench layout. That would be just plain old awesome!
E.
 
BigE said:
You call yourself a newbie? Really? Awesome scenery work!!!
I'm just getting back into the hobby/craft myself and you are blowing me away - as you being a self-proclaimed newbie.
I couldn't have touched that back decades ago when I was real serious about it. Of course a 14 year old kid on paper route money doesn't exactly have the resources - i.e. time, money, etc - to spend on it.

The question only I might ask is why you went with a black ballast instead of grey?

I would love to see what you could do with a couple hundred sq/ft on a bench layout. That would be just plain old awesome!
E.
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E,

Thanks for the lovely compliments! Unjustified praise I'm afraid..

Now that I've got the budget freedom (that I didn't have when i was 10) I've been able to improve my scenery game. I tried to buy the book that Larry (68 Camaro) recommended today but my LBS didn't have any left. I would say I've drawn inspiration from Pelle Soeberg's work, but that isn't really true. I'm just modelling what appeals to me.

The black ballast was chosen because my inspiration was this shot of Symington yard in Winnipeg, MB:
29c3nd1.jpg


I used the light gray ballast for the yard and Canpotex facility as I wanted to clearly define the two different areas; One that is a small yard ON the main, and one that is a small industry with its own property. Once I get a pin vise and am able to use Larry's advice, I look forward to completing my fences and really creating a sense of separation.

I have a new purchase for the Canpotex facility that will hopefully arrive tomorrow. I'm looking forward to posting it here! I also bought some weathering colours for my ties and track today. I worked some on the ties, and found it to be a slow process. I will keep gnawing away at that over the coming days.

Ran another 35 min operating session with Switchlist again tonight - running trains is the KEY to this whole thing.

R
 
My new purchase arrived in the mail today! Thanks to Paul at Federal Hobbies in MA.

Canpotex got a new Trackmobile! (on loan from CN)
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The build quality of this unit is impeccable. Credit to Broadway Limited for building a beautiful little machine. I'm totally impressed with the power, however I find the noise coming from the motor a little high pitched for my taste! Ran two Intermountain covered hoppers behind it and the sound settled a bit. Guess its meant to be used.

Moving a freshly serviced Potash hopper from the maintenance facility:
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BigE said:
That thing is cool!! Where did you find it?
Click to expand...

E,

Its a Broadway Limited Imports model. Took me a while to find a CN model with DCC. They were made in limited numbers in both DCC and DC. I looked at the LHS's and most people only had DC models left. Was able to locate this in MA. Its a lovely addition to the layout.

R
 
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Had an hour uninterrupted tonight working in the basement.

Got a good 15 mins of run time in on the Trackmobile. Still totally impressed. Really adds to the Canpotex facility.

I also managed to get two of my tank unloading racks painted and got some detail work started on them. Liquitex paint is worth every penny. Picked up some more spray cans on sale at Michaels today. Still have all the pipes to complete but I'm happy with them so far. Pics below..

R

On my melamine work bench:
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First one placed for a photo op:
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