Show us your layout

[Balrog21]

Thanks, guys for the comments. I do let him have pretty much free reign over the layout. I hope it does endure throuhg his lifetime.

Jonathan, yes, I will be painting the AC6000 in my own rail line. If you watch another vid towards the end I show what it will or I HOPE it will end up like.

well, I was impressed with BLI so much I got an undecorated SD40-2 here is the video for that one as well. =) Thanks again for the comments!


well, darn..can't get the link to work..will post it up when I get home!



and here is the photo I was talking about in the SD40-2 video...I don't think they will be able to do it. The BLI has only 2 top lights the photo ref has 3....kinda bummed...

[Balrog21]

here is the link for the SD40-2 BLI engine. =)
Enjoy,
Bal

http://youtu.be/zCbLO4hadPw

[M1FredQ]

Balrog

Really enjoyed the video. I watched it tonight with my son Joey. We really liked seeing

Illinois Central Gulf and lots of Santa Fe. What are your plans for the unmarked Engine we are all curious.!!!!!??

I am sure after school tomorrow Joe will probably hook up all our rolling stock to see if any of our locomotives can pull the whole bunch of them!!!

Thanks for sharing!!!!

[M1FredQ]

I liked the "drag race" between the 2 locomotives!!!

Please let us know how you paint those!!

[jward]

bal,

ic/icg had several different groups of sd40-2s. the one you had a photo of was one of 4 bought new by icg. they also inherited 10 from the rock island, and bought 60-70 from the Burlington northern. perhaps one of those would have the light package on the bli units. or, you could look into detail parts for the headlights you want.

[Balrog21]

Thanks, for the comments! I am scouring Jward for the headlights. =) Thanks for the info!
Bal

[Balrog21]

Some changes to the layout not to terribly much, but some. Changed the #5 turnouts to #4's, and got another line because of it. Changed the industry area a bit to allow for two plastic plant buildings and holding areas. Still haven't decided what will go on the offshoot to the left of the industry area. Widened the bottom right area for a bit more room for the Shaleford Rail head office, Railroad museum, static steam display, and the two amtrack cars that will be converted over to a diner and bar car.  Anywho, here ya go!
Best,
Bal

[Balrog21]

Well, I figured a video would be better than pics eh? 
I forgot to say in the video that on that Sunday afternoon those were Accurail hopper car kits I found in an Ebay auction, and those specific cars are VERY hard to find, so yeah, I feel lucky to have them. All of those were assembled in one afternoon. I like them very much and I'm slowly adding metal wheels to all of them.

For those interested I'm doing a video series of all the buildings that will go on my layout, the pitfalls, tips, and things to avoid if you choose to get one of these models. I will have some Bachmann structures as well in the near future so give them a watch if you want! Just look through my channel it's labeled, Modeling Series.

Best and Enoy!
Bal

http://youtu.be/QUMK9fMGko0

[jonathan]

I've been repainting the backdrop of my layout.  I started with a quart of flat, bright white household paint and added a dollop of true blue acrylic paint—just enough to add a bluish tint. For the hills in the background I started with some cobalt blue which is a bit purplish, you know, for the "purple mountains majesty".  To that I added a touch of green, gray and white.  The front hills are various shades of green.  I'm no artist, so being able to give a sense of depth was quite a challenge. The photo below shows about 18 inches of depth from the front tree line to the backdrop.  It seems to work OK:



Finally I took about 100 shots of the northeast end of my layout.  A dozen or so are shown below.  I find the camera is a great tool for finding things that need to be fixed.  For instance, my rock faces are too bright and need to be darkened a bit.  Also, that curved bridge desperately needs to be changed.  It's just a piece of 22" radius EZ-track.  Haven't figured that out, yet.  I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about the electrical box in some of the photos.  Anyway, here a few pics of my layout progress so far:



















Regards,

Jonathan

[M1FredQ]

Breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I always get inspired to keep trying and just keep it fun.

Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!

[rogertra]

Jonathan.

To put it simply, I'm impressed.  :-)

BTW, do not put your artistic skills down.  Your hand painted backdrop is excellent and your skills show in the scenery.

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

Jonathan, wow that's nice! Inspiring! I don't think anyone would be angry if you loaded us up with a few hundred photos of your layout.  

[Doneldon]

Jonathan-

Is there any aspect of this hobby at which you do not excel? Like all of
your other work, your scenery and backdrop look professionally done.
I envy your advanced skills.
                                                -- D

[Jerrys HO]

Wow, NO....WOOOOW!

I am speechless so I'll just say ditto to everyone's response's

Jerry

[Balrog21]

That is quite impressive, Jonathan! VERY VERY nice! I have an idea for your electrical box. You can make an addition to the mountain that's already in place. A VERY steep face and just use Velcro on the back, so if you need to access it you can just peel it off. Blending the two together shouldn't be that hard. That would be my idea anyway, and by all means please post more pics!