A new layout for the new house!

[Trainman203]

Water isn't blue.  When you see "blue" water it is a sky reflection.  Water "color"  can vary with time of day and sky conditions, but the best water I've rver seen in model form was a murky green bordering on blackish toward the middle of the stream.  There are many how to videos, check them out.

[Terry Toenges]

I agree with Trainman on the water color. I've looked into it quite a bit and watched a lot of the videos.

[wiley209]

Thanks; I think I'll try that. I seem to remember they did it that way in the "Building Your First Model Railroad" video.
And I will try to make some diagonal edges for the water bed as well, probably once I begin the actual landscaping process but before I apply ground cover.
I also recently set up a couple of those Bachmann uncoupling magnets near a couple of sidings, and so far I haven't had much trouble with them. Though I found to get cars to uncouple efficiently, once I've stopped the train with the couplers I want to disengage over the magnet (marked by the brakeman figure), I need to back up the train a very short amount at a relatively slow speed, but it works. Doing it that way kind of reminds me of how in the past that would be done with those springy uncoupling ramps for the old horn-hook couplers. (Bachmann made a snap-in uncoupling ramp for that purpose, as did their rival TYCO; AHM and Atlas made uncoupling track sections with the springy ramp built in.) But of course the big difference is that a magnet is used, and the knuckle couplers look far more realistic than those old horn-hooks. (As I've often said, I'll often replace the horn-hook couplers with knuckles on any older rolling stock I get, so I can run them on my layout easily and improve the realism.)

[Len]

The 'backing up to uncouple' is part and parcel of how magnetic couplers work. An explanation of how it works, and what it lets you do in the way of 'spotting' cars past the magnets, can be found on the Kadee web site here:

https://kadee.com/animation/c1.htm

Len

[jward]

A couple of comments here:

First regarding the water colour. Model Railroader likes to paint the centers pf their bodies of water black. To me this is unrealistic. I live within spitting distance of several large rivers, and most of the time these are either a murky green as Len has described, or a muddy brown. I would experiment with the colour starting with an olive green shade and add various combinations of greens and lighter browns until you find something that looks right.

With regards to the backing to uncouple, this is entirely prototypical. Having worked in both the railroad and trucking industries, i can tell you that you can't release the couplings if they are under tension. With railroad couplers, you need to put some slack in the couplings, but not too much or theknuckles won't swing open when you pull the cut lever.

Kadee really hit on something all those years ago when they first made the magnetic knuckle coupler. Not only do they look like the real thing, they operate the same. They became the modeller's choice, and when the patents expired others were quick to offer their own versions as well. Better yet, manufacturers started using thses designs as their defaault coupler. To me, that, and the upgrading of the drives in the locomotives, are the two biggest advances in model railroading in recent times.

[Trainman203]

Down here in Bayou Country, the water in streams and lakes is mostly brown from churned up mud.  Or green in very sluggish bayous.  We do have "white water" down here sometimes though!  When they open the river spillways during spring high water!  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ITZZBsv2x18

[Terry Toenges]

This is my first attempt at doing water on the dinosaur diorama. The diorama is still in progress. I still have more work to do on the water fall. At first, I painted the lake and the river blue and it didn't look good. Then, I went back and redid it with browns and greens and black in the very center. It looks better now than it did at first.
This pic is with the blue.

The next two are after I redid it. It got kind of cloudy on me. I tried. I did about 6 different pours at about 1/4 inch at a time and let it sit for three or four days between pours. I have more strips of "water" to add to the fall so it will be water all the way across. I'm just doing it in steps. I'll be adding rapids to the rest of the river below.

When I got the river poured to the level I wanted, part of the bridge was in the water so I had to raise one end of it. Once I add the rapids, the cloudiness won't be so visible.

I'm making this for my great grand daughter. I already have the little Flintstone houses and people that came in McDonald's Happy Meals quite a few years ago.

[Trainman203]

A video of tangential interest , but the main reason I put it in is the multiple great overhead views of water, much like you'd see looking down on a layout .  Notice the variations in color and reflectivity as sun angle and water depth change.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wqp8R-xv8jE

[jonathan]

Just wanted to say have been enjoying the progress on this layout.  Seems like a lot of fun.  Thanks for sharing with us.  Can't wait to see what happens next!

BTW, my old Tyco power pack burnt out years ago.  Don't know what I did to it.  The other old power packs seem to last forever.

Regards,

Jonathan

[wiley209]

Well, it's almost time for me to begin the landscaping part of building my train layout!




I've been removing the track and buildings and such from the foam base so I can get ready to glue them to the plywood, and then I can start using the paint and ground cover. I will probably end up saving the roads for last, as I am waiting for Walthers to come out with their new SceneMaster flexible adhesive paved roads.

[bbmiroku]

Lookin' good!

[Trainman203]

Man. I wish I'd been allowed all that space when I was still living at home with the family.  I had to negotiate very hard for a 2x8.  Still in all, though, never had more fun, even in those days of limited everything.

[wiley209]

Did some more carving of foam for the scenery!


Trying to improve the water body a bit.


On this corner, this ledge is going to be a "lover's lane" that overlooks the downtown area.


Testing clearance of another ledge that will be placed alongside the tracks.


Then I decided to add a second layer like this to make it more visually interesting.


Preparing a small stream that will go to the logging mill.


I have now glued the extruded insulation foam to the plywood, along with the ledges and such. The stuff on the table is to help push the foam down until the glue dries, to allow a firmer bond.

[wiley209]

I've been working on landscaping the layout since last week!



There's a feeling of satisfaction I get when I do model railroad layout landscaping like this, watching the bare platform being covered bit-by-bit.


Getting started on the ballast gravel ground for the industrial yard section of the layout.


I applied more grass on another end of the layout, using Life-Like SceneMaster light green ground cover.


I have now painted and added ground cover to the hill on one corner of my layout, where my "Lovers' Lane" will be going.


For this area on the layout, I am using older Life-Like "grass" ground cover, which was basically sawdust dyed green. It seems to look as good as the ground foam stuff. Several other model railroad companies that made scenic products also used to have grass that was made this way, including Bachmann.


Another angle of the grass "growing."


I'm also decorating the styrofoam "building sites" that certain structures that have to be raised to the height of the track are to be placed on.


Here I am trying out the Woodland Scenics Smooth-It Road System, which involves a plaster-like material. Kind of messy to work with and hard to make it exactly smooth, but the paving tape helps!


I've got the dirt patch for the farm ready here. I used a mix of Woodland Scenics earth-colored fine turf and some Life-Like SceneMaster light-brown ground cover.


More grass has been added, and I also painted and applied ground cover to the other ledge.


Just after painting my attempt at using the Smooth-It road system. The light-colored parts are supposed to look like concrete (Woodland Scenics's "concrete' top coat), but it's a rather odd color. I just use that for areas where rows of city buildings are to be set up.



A lot more gravel has been added to the industrial yard area.


I have also "planted" more grass here (for this area I used the Woodland Scenics green blend fine turf; I'm varying the grass in different parts of the layout to allow for a bit of variety and more realism.)


The area where the coal yard will be going.


More grass "planting," still using the older-style Life-Like grass. Once I get more earth-colored paint, I'll do that ledge in the foreground. (I've discovered when I paint the cut foam looking like that, the finished result looks a lot like actual dirt! But I still enhance it with ground cover anyways.) The paved area is where the drive-in theater will be going.


Still working on putting the coal yard together...


More painting of the surface and placement of structures and track. Note the Pola Truck Terminal; that's new. I bought the Walthers Trainline version, but it's otherwise the exact same kit that TYCO, IHC and Model Power used to sell. (I don't think AHM sold it though...)


This side is practically almost finished with the landscaping and scenery. Once I get more asphalt-colored paint, I will paint that piece of foam between the two track rerailers near the station. Then I may eventually replace that AHM dummy crossing signal down the line with an operating flashing crossing signal (even though I'm only going to be using one.)


The coal yard is practically finished! The reason for the boxes there is to show how I'll often combine different companies' products on a train layout for greater realism and variety.


This farm provides another instance of me doing so: the farmhouse is Pola's "Aunt Millie's House" (TYCO version), and the barn and other farm buildings are Bachmann Plasticville kits. I added some white trim paint to the barn to make it look more realistic. Then I just need to apply the fences, crops, trackside stock pen and figures.


The TYCO Freight Unloading Depot and Lighted Signal Crossing now positioned on the layout. I will reinforce the track joints at the crossing with duct tape on the bottom.


The TYCO manual piggyback loader/unloader setup. I just need to get some gray paint for the styrofoam base under the loader/unloader and a few other similar building sites I've made as well...


For the downtown area, I am trying out the Walthers Cornerstone Street System. They haven't been completely painted yet (I had a small paint accident on one section), but I will do that before I glue them together and down. Then for the residental area I will use the Walthers SceneMaster adhesive roads once it comes out.

[Len]

I find mixing the 'Smooth-It' road plaster a bit thinner than the directions call for helps. Also using a plastic putty knife, that's been dipped in water, slightly wider than the roadway to smooth it.

Len