Miss my trains

[montanan]

I
A little over 4 years ago, I had top downsize and dismantled my Logan Valley railroad that I had worked on for over 35 years. I moved from a 3,299 sq ft home to a 1,000 sq ft 2-bedroom condo with no room at all for a layout. I was able to sell some of the remanents of the layout, buildings trees, some vehicles but still missed trains, having grown up with the real ones.

After 4 years, I was able to at least start a display. I had a space above my TV in an entertainment center. There was a space that was driving me crazy having to look at wires and cables going up to the shelf above the TV. The space was 14 inches deep by 44 inches long. Not gonna be able to run trains, but I could build a display shelf. I always enjoyed building scenery so with a piece of OSB, I managed to get started.

Using mirrors on each end of the shelf made it look larger when you got closer. I was fortunate enough to have operated on John Allen's Gorre& Daphetid railroad in the late 70'swhen on temporary instructor duty at Mare Island, CA. Got the mirror idea from him.

You can make out the mirror on the far right.

Here you can see the mirror on the left. Bushes will cover some of the end of the shelf.

Here gas pumps more to the 1957 era replaced what I had saved from the old Tschache Oil.
I am waiting for more items to come in. I need to put a guardrail between the road and the tracks and some gravel and ground cover in front of the homes and other small details and figures, which ad so much to a scene.

As details arrive and are added, more photos will be added.

LATER

 

[santafewillie]

Looking really good, Chet.

 

[DeaconKC]

It looks awfully good from here!

 

[shortwrench]

Nicely done. Some layout is better than no layout.

 

[migalyto]

Wow!

Great use of space. You have put a lot in a small space but it doesnt look at all over-crowded.

Well done Chet.

 

[Rico]

Very nice!
Really shows what can be done when you think it can’t be.

Oh and by the way we miss your trains too.

 

[Marlin39]

I can understand completely Chet. Our previous home had the room for a "rail empire", but I didn't have the interest. We downsized when we moved here since we knew this would be a great retirement home. I've learned to appreciate a 13'x2' switching layout and building dioramas.

 

[RhB Michael]

Very nicely done. Proves you don't need a warehouse to have a nice railroad scene.

 

[montanan]

Back again. The guardrails arrived and ended up being quite a job for me. I didn't have a proper space to work, the tools that would have helped a lot, and at my age, it was a lot more difficult than it would have been a few years ago.

Here are some photos of what was done.

Here is the guardrail installed and ground cover also between the rails and the road.

In a closer view, if you look over the fence behind the pick up,,there are kids playing on swings. Hard to work when the phone has no depth of field.

This shows how the mirror at the end helps enlarge the scene. Thanks John Allen.

I want to try to put in some sort of piping for loading the fuel trucks and some signage. Also have to start painting people.

LATER

 

[DeaconKC]

Chet, your work is excellent. I truly enjoy it and get many ideas for my own layout from you. Thanks

 

[santafewillie]

Chet, your work is excellent. I truly enjoy it and get many ideas for my own layout from you. Thanks

If you get a chance, look at his videos of the old layout in his signature line. You'll recognize some of those structures that now reside on my layout.

 

[montanan]

Good Morning, back again. Went to work on Tschache Oil, putting the hoses on the loading platform. This was a major pain in the rear end. They're in there, but hard to see, but I know that they're there.

Have 3 more photos I can post.

The server is giving me fits again. I may go paint some figures.

LATER

 

[Rico]

Lookin' good Chet!
You better get Tschache to put another nail in the “no trespassing” sign.

 

[DeaconKC]

Chet your work is always impressive. I really love the Woodland Scenic's Gas Station, you did such an ... elegant...job on it. And those hoses look really nice, they turned out really well.

 

[montanan]

Lookin' good Chet!
You better get Tschache to put another nail in the “no trespassing” sign.

Got someone on that.

 

[montanan]

Back again. Some figures have been added which brings life to the display.

This old Urlich Mack tank truck is one of the first vehicles that I painted. Tschache Oil on the door was done letter by letter as was the trailer and all of my locomotives and freight equipment for the Logan Valley.

Slowly getting close to finishing the display. Running out of things to do in such a small space.

LATER

 

[Rico]

I think the brakeman is a little distracted by Marilyn in the red dress!
Looking good!

 

[flyboy2610]

That looks great, Chet! Figures really do add life to a layout.
I know what you mean about missing your trains. We sold our house at the beginning of the year and had to downsize to an apartment. No room for a layout now.
I kept the loco's that were most important to me, and the Branchline Trains boxcar kits plus some unbuilt structure kits, but everything else either got donated or became food for the landfill.

 

[DeaconKC]

If I can offer you guys a suggestion, look at TTrak modules. You can do a single or a corner module in a bit over a square foot of space. You can store them in a plastic container. But it allows you to get to run trains again.

 

[montanan]

Here again. Having a hard time with the forum, again. Tried a number of times over the past few days to post. Got a few photos downloaded and then it froze up.

I am pretty well to the end of the shelf display. I would have likes to weather and stripe the roadway but the matte finish wouldn't allow me to use chalks and a white marker for striping didn't work well. Going to go through the scene from beginning to end. Will take more than one post as the forum only allows 8 photos.

These photos show how the mirrors on the ends give a lot of depth to the shelf.

That's all the photos for this post. On to the next.