La Mirada, CA Industrial Switching Layout Progress
- Thread starter BNSF_Denali_Sub
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LOL nope we just went up to the mountains for a week, we did go through the Cajon Pass on the way up though, even at 6 in the morning that is a busy place! 1 Train going up, 2 trains coming down, and 1 waiting at the bottom to go up. It was just as busy when we were coming back only i was driving so i couldnt see much lol
My foam is pink so even before I laid any roadbed, I slathered cheap dark green acrylic paint over it and then smeared in some dark brown blotches to break up the green. It's not great but much more pleasing to the eye than pink.
I will have to repaint, etc once I start adding some contours to the ground but I figure that's no big deal.
I'm going to try some CV tie strips - I like not needing many rail joiners and not having to always cut off ties at the ends of flex. Wonder if one could weather the rail before putting it into the strips. I brush weather so maybe that would save some time...
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BNSF_Denali_Sub
BNSF SD70MAC's
Got some Caboose Industries Ground Throws in yesterday. Next time I bring the module down ill mate the with the switches 
Going on Vacation with my family, leaving for a week to Mammouth, CA on this coming Saturday so wont be back till August 7th, and that means no more progress on this module for a little while.
When I come back, the Red Caboose Coil Cars should be in and waiting for me
Going on Vacation with my family, leaving for a week to Mammouth, CA on this coming Saturday so wont be back till August 7th, and that means no more progress on this module for a little while.
When I come back, the Red Caboose Coil Cars should be in and waiting for me
BNSF_Denali_Sub
BNSF SD70MAC's
LOL nope we just went up to the mountains for a week, we did go through the Cajon Pass on the way up though, even at 6 in the morning that is a busy place! 1 Train going up, 2 trains coming down, and 1 waiting at the bottom to go up. It was just as busy when we were coming back only i was driving so i couldnt see much lol
BNSF_Denali_Sub
BNSF SD70MAC's
Got the WYE Turnout and the other 2 #6 LH's I needed to make the crossover on the left end of Module #5. Got them laid down and nailed in place. Now I can mask and weather the track/rail and then ballast the module.
I also got 2 of the BNSF GP60M's, I need 4 more lol. So far I have one BNSF in the H2 Paint and one in the BNSF Warbonnet Paint. I just bought the Warbonnet a few mins ago from Milepost 38 Trains, they had one sitting in the case and i could pass it up since it was one of the latest run units and i cant seem to find them anywhere
Ill post some pictures of the new engines and the latest trackwork later this evening to update further and bring the life back into this thread since i know everyone likes pictures and not just boring text
I also got 2 of the BNSF GP60M's, I need 4 more lol. So far I have one BNSF in the H2 Paint and one in the BNSF Warbonnet Paint. I just bought the Warbonnet a few mins ago from Milepost 38 Trains, they had one sitting in the case and i could pass it up since it was one of the latest run units and i cant seem to find them anywhere
Ill post some pictures of the new engines and the latest trackwork later this evening to update further and bring the life back into this thread since i know everyone likes pictures and not just boring text
BNSF_Denali_Sub
BNSF SD70MAC's
LOL i ran out of time to take the pictures last night, ill snap some off in a few mins here
I just got off the phone with Phil @ Arizona Rock & Mineral. He is a nice guy and i threw some business his way. My La Mirada project will be ballasted exclusively with his products
Here is what I just ordered:
(4 bags) 1052 - Penn Fine
(4 bags) 1053 - Penn Mainline
(6 bags) 1172W - ATSF Fine
(3 bags) 1173 - ASTF Mainline
(3 bags) 1381 - CSX/SP Fine
(3 bags) 1382 - CSX/SP Medium
When this order comes in i should have the track painted/weathered and ready to lay some ballast down to hide the ugly blue foam base
I just got off the phone with Phil @ Arizona Rock & Mineral. He is a nice guy and i threw some business his way. My La Mirada project will be ballasted exclusively with his products
Here is what I just ordered:
(4 bags) 1052 - Penn Fine
(4 bags) 1053 - Penn Mainline
(6 bags) 1172W - ATSF Fine
(3 bags) 1173 - ASTF Mainline
(3 bags) 1381 - CSX/SP Fine
(3 bags) 1382 - CSX/SP Medium
When this order comes in i should have the track painted/weathered and ready to lay some ballast down to hide the ugly blue foam base
BNSF_Denali_Sub
BNSF SD70MAC's
Here are a few pictures showing the 2 new GP60M's and the latest track that has been laid on the left end of the module. The numbers on both locomotives will be changed to match 2 of the engines that serve La Mirada
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BNSF_Denali_Sub
BNSF SD70MAC's
Thanks Kellan!
When I got off the phone with Phil @ ARM he said he would be shipping in the next day or so, hes right next door to me in AZ so it should take a day or so to arrive, so im thinking sometime early next week
When I got off the phone with Phil @ ARM he said he would be shipping in the next day or so, hes right next door to me in AZ so it should take a day or so to arrive, so im thinking sometime early next week
brickbuilder711
FEC Train 222
EXCELLENT progress, Josh!
Littlefoot14
Active Member
Looks great Josh! Those GP60Ms always reminded me of Chevy Suburbans for some reason. The track looks impressive too. Theres certainly alot of industries there.
I have to agree with Fiend, we need to have a chat about good energy drinks, Monster will not be mentioned in the conversation
I have to agree with Fiend, we need to have a chat about good energy drinks, Monster will not be mentioned in the conversation
Beachbum
Member
When this order comes in i should have the track painted/weathered and ready to lay some ballast down to hide the ugly blue foam base
My foam is pink so even before I laid any roadbed, I slathered cheap dark green acrylic paint over it and then smeared in some dark brown blotches to break up the green. It's not great but much more pleasing to the eye than pink.
I will have to repaint, etc once I start adding some contours to the ground but I figure that's no big deal.
I'm going to try some CV tie strips - I like not needing many rail joiners and not having to always cut off ties at the ends of flex. Wonder if one could weather the rail before putting it into the strips. I brush weather so maybe that would save some time...
BNSF_Denali_Sub
BNSF SD70MAC's
Thanks Guys
If you do do that, make sure you leave a small section un-weathered where you will be soldering feeders to the rail so you dont have to go back and remove the weathering when it comes time to solder. That is the one major dis-advantage of Micro Engineering Weathered Rail, its nearly impossible to solder to without cleaning. It is also the reason i will not be using pre-weathered rail anymore... I will be painting the ties anyways, so ill use regular rail, solder, and then weather the ties and rails.
BTW, I got my feeder wires soldered on for Module #5. Now comes painting
I also got my large ballast order in from Arizona Rock & Mineral yesterday. I have to say, that was some extremely fast service and I am very happy with the order. Everything arrived in great condition and un-damaged. i would highly recommend buying from them, there prices are a little high but Phil is a very nice guy and has a very quick turnaround after the order has been placed. His products are also made from REAL crushed rock, so you actually have a piece of the real thing on your layout
Ill post some more pics after i get the track weathered later on this evening
If you do do that, make sure you leave a small section un-weathered where you will be soldering feeders to the rail so you dont have to go back and remove the weathering when it comes time to solder. That is the one major dis-advantage of Micro Engineering Weathered Rail, its nearly impossible to solder to without cleaning. It is also the reason i will not be using pre-weathered rail anymore... I will be painting the ties anyways, so ill use regular rail, solder, and then weather the ties and rails.
BTW, I got my feeder wires soldered on for Module #5. Now comes painting
I also got my large ballast order in from Arizona Rock & Mineral yesterday. I have to say, that was some extremely fast service and I am very happy with the order. Everything arrived in great condition and un-damaged. i would highly recommend buying from them, there prices are a little high but Phil is a very nice guy and has a very quick turnaround after the order has been placed. His products are also made from REAL crushed rock, so you actually have a piece of the real thing on your layout
Ill post some more pics after i get the track weathered later on this evening
BNSF_Denali_Sub
BNSF SD70MAC's
Kellan, you wont be disappointed with Phil's products
Andy, If I remember correctly, its more of a reddish color on the mainline... In fact, I have a couple pictures:
Michael, I agree with you there, AR&M is WAY better then the WS ballast
Andy, If I remember correctly, its more of a reddish color on the mainline... In fact, I have a couple pictures:
Michael, I agree with you there, AR&M is WAY better then the WS ballast
BNSF_Denali_Sub
BNSF SD70MAC's
Well I just finished painting all the track. It took a long time (about 4 hours) but I got it down and I like how it turned out. I followed Lance Mindheim's blog entry for painting track, which can be found here: http://www.shelflayouts.com/blog.htm (scroll down to the June 29, 2010 entry). He suggests using Floquil Roof Brown followed by a dusting of Floquil Grimy Black, so, that is exactly what I did and I am happy with the results. Cleaning the railheads was the most tedious and time consuming. I did small sections at a time because of the large amount of track, which ensured that the paint didnt completely dry to the tops of the rails.
I sorta came up with a little system to get the paint off the tops. As I have mentioned, im using Micro Engineering Code 70 Weathered rail. When its painted and you wipe the paint off the tops of the rails, you cant tell if its clean because it was pre-weathered. So I laid a small piece of papertowel down ontop of the track and took a putty knife and scrapped the paint off the railtops. After that, I took small pieces of papertowel's soaked in Paint Thinner and ran them along the railtops to remove the rest of the paint until the rail tops were smooth. Of coarse, doing small sections at a time meant overspray on sections that had already been painted/cleaned, so once everything was painted and cleaned, I re-cleaned the entire module by repeating the cleaning process. The Turnouts railtops are shinny as they should be. And as I mentioned before, I will NOT be using Weathered rail on the rest of the layout, too much of a headache when soldering and cleaning after painting
I also got the Ground Throws in place for the turnouts. One of them will have to be customized because there is not enough room for the throw to sit. Ill have to figure that one out a little later
Ill snap some pictures a little later of the painted track so you guys can see the latest progress
I sorta came up with a little system to get the paint off the tops. As I have mentioned, im using Micro Engineering Code 70 Weathered rail. When its painted and you wipe the paint off the tops of the rails, you cant tell if its clean because it was pre-weathered. So I laid a small piece of papertowel down ontop of the track and took a putty knife and scrapped the paint off the railtops. After that, I took small pieces of papertowel's soaked in Paint Thinner and ran them along the railtops to remove the rest of the paint until the rail tops were smooth. Of coarse, doing small sections at a time meant overspray on sections that had already been painted/cleaned, so once everything was painted and cleaned, I re-cleaned the entire module by repeating the cleaning process. The Turnouts railtops are shinny as they should be. And as I mentioned before, I will NOT be using Weathered rail on the rest of the layout, too much of a headache when soldering and cleaning after painting
I also got the Ground Throws in place for the turnouts. One of them will have to be customized because there is not enough room for the throw to sit. Ill have to figure that one out a little later
Ill snap some pictures a little later of the painted track so you guys can see the latest progress
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