Waldenburg Midland

[Jaz avalley]

It's been a while, i just don't get into scenery like some others. But things on Waldenburg Midland have progressed today. Wire, news paper and plaster put to form some terrain around roundhouse area:View attachment 241764View attachment 241765View attachment 241766View attachment 241767


View attachment 241769View attachment 241770View attachment 241771View attachment 241772View attachment 241773
I guess a 24 hour period for curing and maybe tomorrow i'll paint the plaster in some earth colors. I also do want to form some rock outcroppings at the outside mainline curve since this will be one of my photography spots.

I hope you bought a large supply of the plaster cast, and not lots of little packets, I did still got loads left over and saved a packet….actually saved a number of packets lol
You may not be ‘into’ the scenic side but you are doing a cracking job

 

[KriegslokBR52]

I hope you bought a large supply of the plaster cast, and not lots of little packets, I did still got loads left over and saved a packet….actually saved a number of packets lol
You may not be ‘into’ the scenic side but you are doing a cracking job

Thanks, i keep running out of plaster cloth, this is what i use mainly for the basic terrain. There will be rock outcroppings in one major spot and i've got plenty of plaster for that. Besides that 3 more tunnel portals are in:

Time to run to hobby shop for more plaster cloth.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Thanks, i keep running out of plaster cloth, this is what i use mainly for the basic terrain. There will be rock outcroppings in one major spot and i've got plenty of plaster for that. Besides that 3 more tunnel portals are in:View attachment 242099View attachment 242105View attachment 242104View attachment 242103View attachment 242102View attachment 242101View attachment 242100
Time to run to hobby shop for more plaster cloth.

Just make sure you can get your hand in in case any rolling stock derails

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Just make sure you can get your hand in in case any rolling stock derails

Yes, two of these portals are rather large and the inside of the "tunnels" are reachable from underneath.

 

[jim81147]

Dont know how I missed this thread . Great work and love the history ! Its amazing what a difference in appearance a little plaster makes !!

 

[KriegslokBR52]

The rest of the plaster cloth is done and few pictures:

I will have to make some kind of moveable "sky" to be able to place behind the layout for pictures. I think they will convey realism far more then. I already have an idea how to do it. But first thing after this plaster cures is painting the "ground" in some light earth colors. That's it for today.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Last day of vacation, so i figured i'll rep out another larger project, placing the church up a mountain. The little church was purchased years ago and not wanting to get rid of it, i found a place for it half way up the "valley". I used hydrocal plaster to form a road and embarkment for the building itself.

The road to the church leads from a town in the valley (not modeled) and after the plaster cures i'll fine tune it with a scalpel and sand paper to make it cleaner looking. I don't like how buildings on many layouts seem to be hovering in the air, so in the words of famous singer: "I did it my way" to make it look like it has foundations. Basically i mixed a very runny batches of small amounts of plaster and poured it around the plastic base of the church and using my finger made sure it filled all the empty spaces.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

A little bit more progress on the railroad and the inbound inspection track for steam locomotives is down in its place. Did drill out and cut out the actual inspection pit, since this will be one of my photography spots and i'd like the place to look realistic. Used kitchen and bath sealer to keep the track on the inspection pit down and it's drying now.

When it cures by tomorrow, i'll post few more pictures with it fully visible. The water tower and coal warf will stay in their approximate spots.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Inspection track with a pit is in... just some picks for today:

I am planning a fourth track added coming from one of the freight tracks, but that will involve some major track work on the curved branch line track to the left, since the inbound to the turntable will be crossing it on a diamond.

 

[diesel]

Love the three-dimensionality.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Today work on the railroad continued and all the tracks are practically done, except the radiating rails into the roundhouse itself. Those will require probably a whole another weekend. So a siding to the warehouse and a pair of coal mine tracks is in place:

Next was finishing of the engine house area tracks. I have eliminated the double slip switch from the freight yard to keep things simple, instead i have put another switch from the bridge into the inspection pits:

So from left to right, Inspection pit with water tank and coal warf (there will be an ash removal facility also). Next track an inbound with just a water column for quick turnaround. Third track is a siding for coal cars and ash gondola. Last track is the ready (outbound) track. It's tight, but 5, or even 6 locomotives can be present in the inspection area.

And a few out on the "road":

 

[KriegslokBR52]

More work done on the railroad. In the morning i weathered the ties in the yard. Next, I've just had to have an electric locomotive service area and idea which is not new, was to put the electric locomotive inspection between the turntable and mainline tracks. I had to install another switch to accomplish that and as is in many of my switches on the layout, this one was also chopped up, modified and fit in what little space there was;

The track can comfortably fit two six axle full size electric locomotives. There will be a sanding tower coming up, since i wanted to build one anyway.

Company photographer went up on the roof of the roundhouse to get this one:

Then he did one better and climbed all the way to the top of the coal tower:

And a standard on the table shot:

I just tested the electric inspection track as well as the turntable track itself, everything is smooth. Switch will eventually need an electric switch machine since reaching over future catenary will be out of the question.

 

[Colorado Midland Modeler]

Nice work! I'm loving the roundhouse scenes.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Besides cleaning up the joint, not much was done on the WM. Got all the foliage out of the garage, stone and concrete retaining walls ready for sceniking;

Besides that i was still running the F-1 by itself and with a light load.
The beast was still being fine tuned.

I was hoping to weather it over the weekend, only to find out that the hose from propellant can didn't want to seal in the airbrush and was blowing propellant all over. Well, time to invest in new airbrush.

 

[Colorado Midland Modeler]

Besides cleaning up the joint, not much was done on the WM. Got all the foliage out of the garage, stone and concrete retaining walls ready for sceniking;View attachment 245026View attachment 245030
Besides that i was still running the F-1 by itself and with a light load.
The beast was still being fine tuned.View attachment 245029
I was hoping to weather it over the weekend, only to find out that the hose from propellant can didn't want to seal in the airbrush and was blowing propellant all over. Well, time to invest in new airbrush.View attachment 245031

That is a beautiful engine! Makes me want to try scratch-building an engine some day.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

That is a beautiful engine! Makes me want to try scratch-building an engine some day.

Pick your favorite and go for it. Many engines can be had with kitbashing or even small modifications if you have the basic model. I just happened to pick something which i've had no clue how rare it was, only because i like the look myself. But the big part of the fun was actually also the research involved. Because of it i've gotten to know the rich railroad history in my area.

 

[trailrider]

Is that a Burlington O-5 #5601 on the track leading to the turntable? Great job! Thanks for posting all the photos!

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Is that a Burlington O-5 #5601 on the track leading to the turntable? Great job! Thanks for posting all the photos!

Unfortunately not, this is Bachmann 2900 class (Santa Fe) dressed up as the "Q". I wish it was an O-5.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Today was a big train show in Syracuse, New York. It was a ride (4.5 hours), but worth it. There were several layouts on display and a great motivational material to look at. I eyeballed a warehouse to fit on the layout for my industrial area, and decided to purchase it. It turned out to be a great fitting building on the railroad and quite unique:

Someone obviously custom built it and i like the look it gives. It will need a little cleaning and touch up where the white paint is not accurate, but it's great nevertheless.
Little scene in progress:

 

[Rico]

I’m just catching up now from my summer break, looking good!