Troy's Midnight Abbey Mythical RR 3rd Edition

[troyphoto]

Not really an update today, but more of a goal refocussing statement.

What I want to do this summer is get the track down. I've got the skeleton of the track plan figured out. It's just a matter of drawing in the curves and centerlines, then gluing down the cork and the track.

Then my arch nemesis: Wiring. Electrons will kill you! got to be careful.

After that... Paint.

Yep, paint. Make it look like something is there, even if something is a lot of empty space. Here's why:

EDIT: NOTE... the following vid is NOT me. Check out his channel. I'll soon be painting my own layout like this

So my goal is to have the paint down, and trains running in loops by the end of August. If that happens, Yay ME! If not, we'll see how close I get.

 

[traiNscale]

we are here for the progress updates! lets go TROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY

 

[Kusojiji]

Is it like watching paint dry? Oh wait...

 

[troyphoto]

we are here for the progress updates! lets go TROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY

NOTE... the vid is NOT me. Check out his channel. I'll soon be painting my own layout like our Dystopian modeller in Ontario did his

 

[traiNscale]

NOTE... the vid is NOT me. Check out his channel. I'll soon be painting my own layout like our Dystopian modeller in Ontario did his

i have not seen the video but according to you describing the youtuber, it has to be dystopian N Scale. or how his name is. hes an awesome creator, also hes videos have a really high quality. (cant view the video at work because youtube is blocked)...

 

[troyphoto]

Update time... and a major change.

If you're not reading the May 2026 Coffee Shop thread, then you won't know the following:

I'm switching to HO.

Why?

The auto, and the two figures on the right are Woodland Scenics car wash kit in N

I pulled those those out of storage, and started holding them up to the 15mm ACW figures. I decided my eyes can't take the strain of trying to paint what I want in Nscale.

Damnit Jim, I'm a painter, not an electron microscope!

And, I'm getting involved with the HO Club here in Fort Wayne. They do a travelling sectional layout. A lot of the members are also NMRA members. So the groups overlap, and there is a lot of help in there if I need it. As well as used equipment.

One of the gents works the train desk at the LHS. When a non-working used engine comes in, if it's not a simple fix, he buys it from the store. then he refurbs them and sells on FB or fleabay.

I picked up one of my two favorite colors:

The boxcar is a Tyco, so it will need some work on couplers. But it was green as well.

And with HO, I need bigger curves. I'm sticking with the freelance/fantasy shortline concept, so 50 ft boxcars will be the predominant rolling stock. Maybe a repurposed 40ft or two.

I began expanding the benchwork today to better fit the curves. First I put spare foam sheets on top of the existing to see how far into the spacious aisle I could comfortably go.

Then I pulled off the foam and fascia to see what I had to add to, or rebuild.

Above is the "Old" version. Closest section is 36: from left to right. Beyond that is 24 in wide.

Here's what it looks like now:

And I'll add another leg in the far corner of the front section.

Closest to camera is now 42 inch wide. I can sneak in a 19 radius curve. More than that and the aisle was getting very tight.

I'll angle a connector from the wide to the new 36in wide section beyond that to gradually ease into the transition.

Since I took the pic, I added a couple more cross joists in the end section. I'll probably add on to each of the larger open areas beyond.

Tomorrow a trip to Lowes for another sheet of 1in foam.

 

[Kusojiji]

A grunch of 40 ft boxcars, 3 bay hoppers, 4 axle power, shunters and stumpy old time pax cars should make those turns easily.

 

[troyphoto]

Update:

Got the benchwork redesign done.

Had to go to Lowes for a couple of sheets of 1" foam. Since I have a Toyota Camry, not a Tundra, it involved a T-square (4ft) and a snap-knife to cut it into 2x4 sections that fit in the trunk/backseat area.

Then I came back and finished the bracing on the East End. Got the foam cut and glued down.

Yep, one hobby (gaming) helps the other by adding "don't go anywhere" weights while the glue (Loktite PL300) sets up.

Then it was down to the other End:

More game stuff holding down the foam while the PL300 sets.

This (west) end is 44" wide, and the aisle to the right is 30+ inches wide.

Here's a benchwork diagram.

 

[troyphoto]

I changed the name of the thread to reflect the story I'm telling. Midnight Abbey will be the shortline run the railroad is serving. Conrail hasn't sold off the line yet, so we'll still see conrail blue and whatever other engines I acquire bringing supplies into the refugees in the abbey.

I've been running through Lance Mindheim's "how to design" book again. It really helped me focus my squirrel brain on what's important: Storytelling through the layout and scenes. I had to reframe my thinking that I want a storytelling landscape through which a trains runs. Not a railroad set for operations with cool scenes.

I've started drawing curves and turnouts on the graph paper. Need to get some painters tape and start marking the routes on the benchwork.

 

[Kusojiji]

My can't remember brain thought this was a new thread...

 

[traiNscale]

well iam also here for your H0 Build! Lets Go!

 

[troyphoto]

Well, on the west end peninsula, I had some sizable gaps in the foam sections as I tried to reuse some of what had been glued down before.

I was leaning toward using expando-foam to fill the gaps. When I was out at the home store this morning I saw some "Great Stuff" brand for around doors and windows. It's supposed to have some flex to it. That seemed like a good idea since at least one big gap is between two benchwork sections.

I began by taping down the edges of the seams, knowing this stuff loves to expand. I did find one gap only about 6in in length, after I had the gloves and apron on, foam can in hand, and most of the others already filled. So it went without tape.

I found the disposable putty knife to be excellent for pulling, pushing, scaling excess off immediately. In the larger gap, it was also deep, so it helped level out the mounds into the voids. Do this immediately after spraying.

TomO suggested a hacksaw blade to make a flush cut with. Yes, the blade is flexible enough to bend. Fortunately I have a handle for it. In the photo above, please note the red line. That's a 20 inch radius curve on the West peninsula. I'm drawing in the curves that HAVE to be first. Then I'll come back and connect the dots to make it interesting

It made short work of slicing it. However, the wider sections weren't fully cured yet. So I'll wait a few hours to finish.this is the deepest of the gaps. All two inches of the foam. The putty knife helped here to spread the foam.

And a cheap snap-blade knife made short work of the excess.

 

[migalyto]

This is a handy tool for foam work. Its cheap and can be picked up at any big box or local hardware store, Amazon, etc.. It also works
for plaster.

Stanley Surfoam tool:

 

[Kusojiji]

Awesome! Didn't think of the tape. This type info comes in handy!

 

[traiNscale]

This is a handy tool for foam work. Its cheap and can be picked up at any big box or local hardware store, Amazon, etc.. It also works
for plaster.

Stanley Surfoam tool:

View attachment 266447

with this thing, stuff gets really messy....
cant really recommend this one, also with all the small little particles..

 

[troyphoto]

with this thing, stuff gets really messy....
cant really recommend this one, also with all the small little particles..

I had its big brother. Run a shop vac when you use it. One hand holding the vac hose, the other scrubbing with the foam tool

 

[troyphoto]

Decisions have been made.

Yep.

I found the Midnight Abbey building.

It's a 3D print file on My Mini Factory's store:

Comes with a Gothic Fence and a "gazebo"

The idea of the building is to be a centerpiece at one end of the layout. Your scientists and magic experts are holed up in the abbey, observing the zombie outbreak.

The Midnight Abbey train has to deliver supplies to the researchers in the abbey, journeying through zombie infested zones.

The abbey will sit at the end of the West peninsula.

Here's a rough idea of where I want my scenes to be:


Blending advice from both Lance Mindheim (negative spaces) and Gerry Leone (spaces between places) I've left a lot of space to develop between the major scenes.

The Midnight Abbey (MA) branch line train will run in this order around the outer edges of the layout.

1. Military Outpost - Of course the zombies are in a quarantine zone. So the military is there, blocking escape, and sightseers.
2. Ghoulstone Asylum (GA)... where the breakout began
3. Goshen Main Street ... (My home town) the rail line runs three blocks behind Main St. IRL, so having the "Friday Night Cruise" going with zombies seems like a natural fit. Of course we have to keep the zombies happy to stay in Goshen and not elsewhere... so the MA run will stop with a fresh load of BRAINZ for the zombies and unload at a wharehouse there....
4. Goshen College - When the outbreak occurred at Ghoulstone Asylum, the staff and faculty from GA fled and found refuge in the college. The campus is fortified and occupied with the living, trying to protect the people, and get a good education. The MA train will have to resupply here.
5. Midnight Abbey: Entering the bluff below the abbey via an old rail tunnel that collapsed half a mile farther on, the abbey's supplies arrive.

My plan is to have the spur line come under the abbey, but have the subterranean unloading favility visible via a cut-away side of the bluff on which the abbey sits.

I need the abbey printed (first floor anyway) to get the footprint marked out. Then I know how much of a rise and bluff I'll need to build. The top of the bluff with the Abbey will be a removable section to access the subterranean unloading facility beneath.

Backing out of the abbey, the Loco can either do a run around maneuver, grab the other end of the train, and head back the way it came. Or, for continuous runs, it can back out of the abbey and jump back on the branch line and loop around the back side of the layout. I'd like a 2 inch elevation behind Goshen College, through the tunnel in the divider on the center aisle, behind Ghoulstone Asylum, then dropping back to main level at it approaches the military encampment.

Two potential expansion zones for shelf style staging yards exist. Breaking off the east end, can be the primary staging coming in from points East. Or the elevated part behind Goshen College can head West to a potential future extension in the crew lounge. I'll install the turnouts to access those as I design and lay the track.

 

[Kusojiji]

Wow, nice! That's what I had in mind, going from one era/area/time as the train moved across the layout. Never cared about sticking to prototype. My mind had US trains going from downtown Chicago and traversing through the farmlands in Japan, and vise-versa. Mouths would be on the ground, but they'll get over it.

 

[troyphoto]

Wow, nice! That's what I had in mind, going from one era/area/time as the train moved across the layout. Never cared about sticking to prototype. My mind had US trains going from downtown Chicago and traversing through the farmlands in Japan, and vise-versa. Mouths would be on the ground, but they'll get over it.

This is still self-contained geographically and time wise. Who knows what kind of buildings you'll find in rural Indiana?

It's the zombies man!

they want Brainz!

 

[DeaconKC]

Simple explanation for both you guys...just have a TARDIS sitting somewhere on the layout!