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Thanks for showing us your process, Tony.
I used a spoon for my ballast, too, then I found out that if I cut the nozzle kind of big on a container like your glue is in it will pour out of that and I have good control and I can do way more track at a time.
I don't think there is a wrong way, unless your train doesn't run!!!! lasm
lasm, normally I buy my ballast (or anything) in the bags and pour the ballast directly from them. I don't really like using a spoon as I don't seem to have as much control; however, I do like the idea of the bottle with a largish opening for pouring ballast from. That is a great idea. I also agree that there are no right or wrong ways to do this, just so long as it all works and looks decent at the end of the day.
Lookin good Tony. But you forgot to add the ties where you removed them to add the rail joiners. Just wet the ballast a little there, and push a couple of ties under the rail where the joints are.
And try to add some grass/weeds there were you can see the wires exposed.
Okay, the "missing ties and exposed wires". I did miss putting in ties in a couple of places, not sure why as that is normally the first thing I do after laying the track or before ballasting. I just forgot those area's. The wires will be painted to blend into the ballast and will be hidden behind ground cover so they will not be visible unless you get up close and personal
Nice little tutorial Tony, good base to start with. Hard to tell from the angle but what I've found really breaks up the scene and being able to see the track all the time is build up high mounds on both sides of the track kind of like a rock cut. I remember the first time I did it on a spur of the moment, I grabbed a 4 inch long 2x4 and plopped in in place then grabbed a couple hand fulls of dirt threw a rock cast into the dirt applied wet water then doused the area in water/glue mix and just kept building up the area finishing off with bushes, scene fit like a glove. I probably even saved the little mound from when I tore down the last layout. Get creative go crazy.
Michael also had a good point if you still want to slip some ties in the blank spots on the rails.
For this part of the layout, I intend keeping it fairly low level terrain. I don't want to be reaching over scenery to get to something in the middle of the area directly behind it. Also, I am trying to maintain the fall of the land and to create what (if it were extended outwards) would be open fields.
If you looked at the layout at layout height though, it is raised around the edges and not entirely flat which the photo's tend to make it look.
Thanks for the comments and for looking guys, appreciate it a lot.
Excellent Tony, the green color you picked looks VERY realistic and the ballasting looks very tidy! Forgot to mention the very well thought of step by step explanations and pictures.
Yannis,
Thank you. That is one thing that I have come to learn here .... people like explanations and pictures, LOTS of them
As such, here is what I did last night:
The photo's aren't that great sorry but hopefully they show the lay of the land better than the first. I took Lynnb's advice and (for me) went a little radical with Scenic Express Dead Fall, Woodlands Fine Leaf Foliage, Burnt Grass, Clump Grass and pretty much anything I could lay my hands on.
Now I have done this, it looks a little bland BUT, is reminiscent of bulldozed tree's and stuff. Now I have had a "what the heck" moment, think I will continue with it through out and see what happens
Excellent Tony, I usually have a couple glasses of wine with the misses before I do my radical work this way I find my inner potential a bit easier.
Just curious Tony, I know your planning to cover them up but why is it your feeder drop wires are coming off the rails then outward? I've always been able to drill down between the ties outside of the rails and string them straight down. Basicly I cut a length of wire, strip a bit more than 1/8 of insulator away, put an L bend on the copper wire, dip wire in flux, tin the copper wire with solder , solder to rail, string the other end of wire through hole and pull from underneath and voila Bobs your Uncle.
Thanks Lynn, and to answer your question re the feeders - incompetence!
Actually, there is a more reasonable explanation.
Firstly, I am not that great at soldering to begin with so took the line of having more exposed wire would make getting a good contact easier. As such, most of my feeders have about a 1/2" of wire soldered to the side of the rails.
Secondly, the wire I used (automotive type) is fairly stiff and didn't like to be bent at right angles so almost all of my feeder holes are next to the road bed to give me a fighting chance of getting them down to the main bus without breaking them from the rails.
Finally, where the feeders running along the side of the rail before going through the layout, is due to a lack of fore thought on my part taking into consideration where my benchwork supports were located.
I realise they look terrible, and now wish I had soldered the feeders to the bottom of the rails instead of the sides. Ironically, some of my feeders are not visible at all, but not many. We live and learn.
ah huh I see, yes we do live and learn. Well your doing an excellent job anyway, keep it up.
Thanks Lynn, appreciate it and I try.
More ballasting is finished. This time I have begun doing the turnouts. After taking the pictures, I did notice a little bit of ballast on the ties and near the rails, just want to point out that they are "loose" and the point operation is as smooth as always
Ballasting:
I also completed a little more of the ground work and have positioned one structure for effect. Because the lay of the ground was uneven (sloping) I made up a stone foundation for the building to sit on and to level it up. The stone foundation is not as yet attached and still needs a little more work, to get it to fit in properly. There is going to be a few little gaps between the foundation and the ground, but they will covered with some sort of foliage
Well, I have been inhere all day working on stuff, time to take a break and get a second wind. Thanks for looking guys.
Looking good your really moving forward at a nice pace. I might suggest you move your turnout points back and forth every once in a while as the glue dries. Please don't ask me how I know
Thanks Lynn,
Not sure if I am moving along all that quickly really, heck, I've done about 12" of the layout (right to left) over the past 4 or so days. But I guess when the weather is crappy and have nothing better to do than sit at the layout all day, it probably does move quicker than most peoples.
Probably the same way I learnt
I flood the points area (tie bar) with alcohol or water and keep moving them back and forth and check the guide rails and where the points contact the main rails.
Nice scene there in the porch Tony! Are these peco #6 turnouts (code 83) ?
Yannis,
Thank you and yes they are Peco Code 83 Insulfrog Turnouts, but are #5.
Evening All,
Have been continuing with the Ballasting and am about 75% completed it:
Have also been "slowly" updating the scenery from right to left and around the outer main line track:
Almost ready to clear everything off of the layout and concentrate on the buildings and wiring.
The ballasting and scenery is looking real good. Tony have you thought of maybe splashing a bit of brown craft paint or something that will blend in with its surroundings for the track wires?would be a simple fix.
I haven't moved onto the inner track, scenery wise, as yet but am going to have to do something to camouflage the wires. The red one you see in the above picture is sitting loose, when I get to that part of the track I will tighten it, pulling it in closer to the embankment, perhaps even embed it into the embankment a little. Once I have done that, I was going to cover it to make it look like a pipe running down from above or cover it with foliage. Painting it a brown color would help that process as well.
what to do?
Hi Guys,
Much of this past week has been devoted to my Pedestrian Bridge Build but tonight I did a little more work on the scenery of the layout and started looking at specific areas.
At the very front of the layout (in the U) I have 31" X 1 1/2" strip between the roadbed/track and the front edge of the layout and have no idea what to do with it?
This is the area (shaded in green) that I am referring to:
What I am trying, unsuccessfully, to image is what would be on that side of a railway line on the outskirts of town, opposite houses, in a rural area? As it is now, and keeping in mind the space limitations here, it looks very bland and uninteresting so I am looking for any suggestions for what to do with it.
PS: The very light area that is to the bottom right to center of the picture is the FACE of the layout. Only the darker area is on the layout.
Tony,
How about a track maintenance road with some weed's ,debris or rail tie's...
gator,
There's a thought - cheers.
Tony, if we are talking about 1.5" of width, i would go for something simple ie, a small b-road as gator said, parallel to the track and then diverging away.
Yannis, yes it is a small area and I will most likely go with a road/track of some sort. Thanks for your input.
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