Building the Pinnacle Creek Mining & Timber Co. RR
- Thread starter HOexplorer
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Mike
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HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
Thanks, Mike. New modeling content in two weeks. Jim
Fifer
Member
I am keeping an eye out for it.Thanks, Mike. New modeling content in two weeks. Jim
Mike
BLewis49
Member
Jim, I used your technique for pouring rivers. I built and set up my river bed as desired. I used the WS Realistic Water and used the gloss Mod Podge over it as you suggested and it worked well. Except, I used my scenic "goop" as I described earlier, for my base. The WS water was about 1/8 in thick. I let it cure for about a week. When I checked, the level of the water disappeared. It apparently was absorbed by the "goop" mixture. I had to use several more coats of MP to build up the thickness I wanted. I used the tip of a 1 in. paint brush and "stippled" the MP. The ripples look pretty realistic. Overall, I am very pleased with the effect. Thanks for the tip. Bill
HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
Bill, Good for you I'm happy I could help. One thing I never mentioned I guess is that Realistic Water and ModgePodge are interchangeable. We can use them in any order. I once was not happy with my MP pond and put Realistic Water on it and it came out great. I painted on the Realistic Water, I only used a very thin layer.
As for your 'goop', yes, if the RWater didn't end up on the floor then it was absorbed. I generally use plaster cloth over plywood for my streams and ponds, paint, at ground cover if I need it, the pour RWater.
Jim
As for your 'goop', yes, if the RWater didn't end up on the floor then it was absorbed. I generally use plaster cloth over plywood for my streams and ponds, paint, at ground cover if I need it, the pour RWater.
Jim
HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
Announcement: Model railroading content will begin appearing on or about September 8th. I've gathered my wood and first need to build a frame that won't shake. Jim
HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
Tomorrow. Jim
HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
KB, Good for you. I have to make a quick run to the LHS and I will be ready to start in a couple of hours. Thanks, Jim
HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
Something new. Today marks the start of the PCM&T Co. Part Three thread.
When I was ten years old a friend invited me over to his house to see his 'electric train.' A marvel it was to me as our family was very poor, my friend rich. There in his big bedroom was the ubiquitous 4'x8' sheet of plywood with buildings, locos, rolling stock, and some phony trees and that 14" long tunnel in the corner that many folks had. Fast forward fifty years and I rediscovered 'trains.' I read books and magazines, I like to study before I do something new, and ten years ago that 4x8 piece of plywood was still filling the most pages in model train layout books. In the last ten years for sure layouts have evolved to 26" shelves running around the room walls for the most part. Well a flat piece of plywood wasn't going to cut it for me so when I moved to my current home I got my layout room and did the normal U-shaped layout that was popular then.
Now I'm building layout 6 or 7 and I'm tired of filling my train room with 'the biggest layout that will fit.' So, I'm going back fifty years and see what I can do to that 4x8 piece of plywood. In fact 4x8 fills my layout room so I'm going one big step harder and will settle with 4'x6'. In HO or On30 this size simplifies track plans and I've decided to make a pretty simple plan, a race track oval and one turnout and siding. Many of you may say hey, this too cool, I'm just starting out an this will be a help to me. Some may say going retro is not progress, but I disagree. Stick around and see what can be done in 4x6, I think you will like it. The evolution of this layout compared to the beginning to end should be worth the journey.
This layout will be built in On30 scale. Of course, HO equipment can be run on it and will be. Also, scenery, how to build this or that, planning, operations, and such is valid through all the scales so don't think this is not pertinent to HO or smaller scales. In fact where I will have squeeze in stuff in, in HO or smaller scales you would have bigger playgrounds in the same space. So it's all good. To make this layout different from that flat piece of plywood some magical things will have to happen. Trust me this will be a 'different' railroad from anything you've seen me produce. And, as an added bonus the scenery will be done in "Fine Scale." This means that virtually every plant on the layout will be separately modeled for example. I'm anxious to start, but all things that we want in the end have to begin somewhere, and what better place than the last photo of the previous layout. Jim PS Questions and comments are welcome.
When I was ten years old a friend invited me over to his house to see his 'electric train.' A marvel it was to me as our family was very poor, my friend rich. There in his big bedroom was the ubiquitous 4'x8' sheet of plywood with buildings, locos, rolling stock, and some phony trees and that 14" long tunnel in the corner that many folks had. Fast forward fifty years and I rediscovered 'trains.' I read books and magazines, I like to study before I do something new, and ten years ago that 4x8 piece of plywood was still filling the most pages in model train layout books. In the last ten years for sure layouts have evolved to 26" shelves running around the room walls for the most part. Well a flat piece of plywood wasn't going to cut it for me so when I moved to my current home I got my layout room and did the normal U-shaped layout that was popular then.
Now I'm building layout 6 or 7 and I'm tired of filling my train room with 'the biggest layout that will fit.' So, I'm going back fifty years and see what I can do to that 4x8 piece of plywood. In fact 4x8 fills my layout room so I'm going one big step harder and will settle with 4'x6'. In HO or On30 this size simplifies track plans and I've decided to make a pretty simple plan, a race track oval and one turnout and siding. Many of you may say hey, this too cool, I'm just starting out an this will be a help to me. Some may say going retro is not progress, but I disagree. Stick around and see what can be done in 4x6, I think you will like it. The evolution of this layout compared to the beginning to end should be worth the journey.
This layout will be built in On30 scale. Of course, HO equipment can be run on it and will be. Also, scenery, how to build this or that, planning, operations, and such is valid through all the scales so don't think this is not pertinent to HO or smaller scales. In fact where I will have squeeze in stuff in, in HO or smaller scales you would have bigger playgrounds in the same space. So it's all good. To make this layout different from that flat piece of plywood some magical things will have to happen. Trust me this will be a 'different' railroad from anything you've seen me produce. And, as an added bonus the scenery will be done in "Fine Scale." This means that virtually every plant on the layout will be separately modeled for example. I'm anxious to start, but all things that we want in the end have to begin somewhere, and what better place than the last photo of the previous layout. Jim
PS Questions and comments are welcome.
Last edited by a moderator:
HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
dm, I agree luck is good most of the time.
As many of you know I try to make these layouts at a reasonable cost. I used the mess you see in the above photo on 6 layouts. So the cost of wood was virtually nothing. This new layout is the same and is being built using the wood on the floor above. I guess I'm a good recycler because I'm going to spend only $25 on a piece of plywood for this layout.
First, I had to make a structure to hold that 4'x6' plywood. I extended the original layout frames to provide a steady base.
After adding a bit of wood to the legs I came up with this idea.
Using casters will allow me to turn the layout around of course, but also give be better lighting possibilities for photography. Jim
As many of you know I try to make these layouts at a reasonable cost. I used the mess you see in the above photo on 6 layouts. So the cost of wood was virtually nothing. This new layout is the same and is being built using the wood on the floor above. I guess I'm a good recycler because I'm going to spend only $25 on a piece of plywood for this layout.
First, I had to make a structure to hold that 4'x6' plywood. I extended the original layout frames to provide a steady base.
After adding a bit of wood to the legs I came up with this idea.
Using casters will allow me to turn the layout around of course, but also give be better lighting possibilities for photography. Jim
HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
Next I'm putting the under structure together. Notice the L-girders for long leg joiners. L-girders a simply a 1"x3" with a 1"x2" attached to form an L shape. Very, very strong and will support my at 220 without sage. In this first pic you will notice that other pieces need to be added so the top doesn't move.
In this photo you can the diagonals added to really make this under support bomb proof.
Jim
In this photo you can the diagonals added to really make this under support bomb proof.
Jim
HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
Thanks Dan.
I have a small, maybe medium, or maybe large problem. You may have noticed I don't have a name for this division of the PCM&T Co. layout. Above I just called it Part Three. I know in my mind what I want the layout to look like, but I can come up with an area of the country that might have this "Look" I'm trying to model. First time something like this has happened to me. I generally have the 'next' layout all planned before I finished the one I'm working on! I don't know even if I want to model it representing October 1, 1931 or not like most of the others. I know I have to come up with something but I'm not 'feeling' it right now. Any help or suggestions would be welcomed. Jim
I have a small, maybe medium, or maybe large problem. You may have noticed I don't have a name for this division of the PCM&T Co. layout. Above I just called it Part Three. I know in my mind what I want the layout to look like, but I can come up with an area of the country that might have this "Look" I'm trying to model. First time something like this has happened to me. I generally have the 'next' layout all planned before I finished the one I'm working on! I don't know even if I want to model it representing October 1, 1931 or not like most of the others. I know I have to come up with something but I'm not 'feeling' it right now. Any help or suggestions would be welcomed. Jim
Railrunner130
Well-Known Member
Trois Pistoles means "three coins" in French. You'd think it meant three pistols, but it doesn't. It's also a town in Quebec and a pretty good beer. What area are you modeling?
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