I might as well take a turn at starting this week.

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But---- don't forget to save your best shots to submit to OGR for possible publication in "Reader's Rails".
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Daylight is quickly fading as the photographer captures MTH Railking 2-8-8-2 at High Falls Gorge:





Claremont Park has a new football field right in the middle of downtown Mott Haven. It's named after my childhood hangout in Da Bronx. The old park always had some "interesting" inhabitants, and it looks like it still does. The crew in the Atlas RS-1 as well as those leaving church services have a good view of it all.



Jim

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jim Policastro,

I finally finished the last part of the scenery for my Lowell branch. This is a branch line onto a separate table to the town of Lowell which actually is a semi ghost town in the Bisbee, Arizona copper mining district. Except here the mine is for coal so I can load coal cars and send them to the power plant in Douglas.

The mine is a kit but I redid the supporting timbers to fit this location and added the tramway connecting the mine shaft building with the loading bin (still need to build a mine car to haul loads between the two and some workers). The loading bin is modified with operating doors to load the Lionel rotary dumper coal and haul it to the dumper which feeds my power plant.

Great pictures everyone !! I finally put the brick paper on my little building for my Cell Tower !! That's a flashing LED I have on top of the tower & had to use the bracketing feature on my camera to get it while it was on !!



Here's a closeup of the building.



Thanks, John

Noticed yesterday morning a shaft of sunlight striking the coaling tower I was in the process of weathering.

It was asked last week if I could sneek another building in this week and soooo the building shuffle continues on the Bellevue and Schenectady RR as urban renewal continues-Don Klose
Last Week



This Week



And so the saga of placement continues, stay tuned!

its good to see so many nice layouts from schenectady,ny.
i moved to daytona from cohoes and miss going to lenny's on
hamburg street every week.how is lenny doing?still smoking a pipe?
.i went to his store every week and purchased something
every time i went there.he never even said hello to me once in 5 years.
it wasn't to the last day ,3 days before i moved down here,i said to him
that this will be the last time i will be in his store and i am moving, did
he ever talk to me.i see you have several train stores now in the albany area.
miss the area very much-beautiful scenery.good pay-i worked for the dept. of health for 12 years.
from 1995-1999 i begged lenny to carry mth trains but he
wouldn't do it.i had to buy mail order from ross custom switches.
there was a store in scotia but never bought anything there,the place
always looked like a bomb went off in there.
nioe layouts guys-joe

Joe- Mohawk Valley RR store is still going strong,carries MTH ,Lionel, Weaver and Atlas,they sell on ebay, Lenny doesn't smoke a pipe, the store in Scotia is closed, sold inventory to a gent who operates in Schenectady as Model Train Parts. com. The Capital District is more like little NYC than ever before and you will appreciate the next issue of OGR because in some ways it will be a Schenectady issue with a layout article on my Bellevue and Schenectady RR and Jim Pollicastro's Red Rock Layout. I myself model many places here in Schenectady and Albany (eg Proctors, GE and Tobin Meat Packing Co.)so maybe that will help you reconnect to your old home. And yes we are doing a model of the Mohawk Valley railroad Co. store so watch for Pics soon.-Don Klose

deang,That is a GREAT,GREAT,GREAT shot.BF

Thanks, Sasquatch, that was one of those unexpected opportunities that just presented itself.

That's the way it goes sometimes, Dean.

Great stuff everyone! Running a bit behind myself. Don't really have much to show this week, I got a lot done, but it's the usual mundane, painting and weathering track, building up to start the scenery, etc. I did finish the coal hopper and get it installed in the pit. Here's a couple of shots from Schenectady, NC.

Hey, it's worth a shot !





Also, I did find where I left my shop towel.

"Sure Dana you can work on that corner, I have to wire some switches and finish this building." "What happened to my beautiful wall????"







Gene Anstine

Gene, looks to me like somebody who knows what they're doing got a hold of your wall! Did that come out right?

Tell Dana, "Great job"!

quote:

Originally posted by Gizzmo:
Beautiful work here gentlemen. I really enjoy seeing the different approaches . I'm finally making some headway on the lagoon and boatworks area. I moved the portal on the right back about 15" to it's current location. That opened up the view to the factory. Here's the factory with its foundation roughly in location.



Still having way to much fun !!

Gizzmo

Gizzmo,

That is so cool!

George

City Scenes

:

wonderful stuff ... i regret that i dont have anything to show this sunday. was hoping to get some more detailing done on the walthers building, but painting cast-in window sills is much more of a p.i.t.a. than i anticipated. slow going, but hope to have something to show for for next sunday's showcase.

jim: love the lighting and low-down and dirty angle for that first shot. i can almost feel the ground shaking ... nice feel! is that a pop-warner game being played on the gridiron? please, no smoking around miss aquanet: havent seen the bird's nest in a while ... where's her overprotective brother?

peter: great weathering work on the coal mine, and i like the color choice for the structures ... very similar to the choices i've made on my walthers build-up. your trees and scenery work is also top notch ... what are you using for trees?

csxt30: nice shot of the tower ... and its nice to see a wider angle of your layout. you have done a nice job spacing things out ... a very realistic look to this section. many times i try and cram too much into a scene: you seem to have learned just how to pull it off. btw, those bricks look great ... hard to believe its 2D!

pk4: those last two shots are my favorite of the lot ... is this new scenery work? color selection and the variation in height and textures really add a lot to the scene.

deang: thats just stunning! finding the right lighting is so tough, actually much tougher imho than scenery or scratchbuilding. amazed that you got such defined shadows without drowning the scene in light ... talk about mood lighting! fantastic shot!

don: building tetris! everytime i see your shots, it seems like i find some new detail to admire. well done, and your lighting is always 'spot-on'!

vulcan: me likey! the thesaurus i've consult when viewing your posts has really gotten a beating ... i've run out of words to describe the skill and artistry your work continues to showcase. while the shop rag and the rusty spike are wonderful details, the grate over the coal dump is by far my favorite! is that a scratchbuild? stunning stuff!

gene: does your moaning about the wall make it the 'wailing wall'? i do like the results! about the house above it: is that a scratchbuild and is it plastic or wood? if plastic, can you share the steps you took to get that great looking wood coloring ... i have a project coming up that could use some of your tips.

gixxi: been following your build now for some time and havent been dissappointed once either with your progress or ingenuity. what a great idea, and what great work you've accomplished thus far! what did you use for the siding on the second level? is this the same type of 'planked' boarding you wrote up for the token blog? and what technique have you used to weather it so well.

john: spectacular lighting and color selections! your shots always pop right out of the monitor. and that gas station is my personal favorite! i like the positioning of the last shot especially ... that tree on the right makes all the difference in selling it: well done! btw, i've been looking for more two story building for detailing ... those dont look like walthers buildings: mth perhaps? where can i pick some up ... and where might i find another gas station as nice as that one?

wsdimenna: nice scene ... looks like a postcard. your tree is beautiful and i enjoyed the entry on your website! care to write a how-to up for the forum with eventual consideration for the token blog? i think we could all learn alot from your experience and work.

again, a pleasure to see such fine work here! thanks for taking the time to post your pictures and description ... wonderful!

Thanks BFish !! You're a real asset to this forum & your compliments on the guys reflect my thoughts also when I see their work !! These guys are really good at building !! I'm just not to good at posting too much !!

I'm redoing my electrical substation now !! I wanted it to look more like Rays & did away with the trestles I had in there & got the Plastruct I beams. I thought I got it right but already the side beams are not in the right places !! Close enough I guess. Still lots more to do & paint it. Here's where I am so far & running low on Plastruct, too !!



Thanks, John

Dear Mr. Fish man, That is a Branchline Trains Laser Cut wood building. The wall color is Rose Wood stain. I can't remember what the trim color is, I'll ask Suzy when she gets out.


What are you trying to say Vulcan??? Is your rag the tissue paper technique?

Nice work and pictures everyone.

Gene Anstine
Still looking for cops to visit Suzy's.

Gene, Yes, that's the tissue technique, except I use mod-podge instead of white glue to set it. While the mod-podge was still wet I did a wash of crimson red acrylic, too red, then a wash of harvest orange. When all was dry I washed it with white acrylic to tone it down more. Then a light wash of I/A. I built it, off stage, on the dull edge of a single edge razor.

K-line made a police figure set which I think KBL has carried on.

Fish, the grate was a simple build. I used plastruct 1/4" channel to build a frame. Then took Evergreen styrene .030 rod and glued them in place with Testor's plastic cement, applied heavily, so when dried and painted the rods look like they were tack welded on. The mounting brackets were cut from .020 sheet styrene and some nbw castings added. Painted brown and washed with raw sienna.

quote:

Originally posted by grfd59:
I can't remember what the trim color is, I'll ask Suzy when she gets out.

curtains dont match the carpet?

quote:

peter: great weathering work on the coal mine, and i like the color choice for the structures ... very similar to the choices i've made on my walthers build-up. your trees and scenery work is also top notch ... what are you using for trees?

bfishma: The trees are made the old fashioned, meaning "hard" way. They're scratch built from Sage cuttings for trunks, sprigs of dried flowers from the craft store superglued on and then sprayed leaf green and finally coated with Woodland Scenics coarse texture material. Make really nice trees, but about six are an afternoon's work.

Great stuff! Some questions:

Don Klose, what are those 2 great looking buildings (kits?) on the right of your first photo? The German restaurant building is really a mind-blower.

John Sethian, who made the gas station? I like it because it's not real "deep" (good for a module I have in mind).

Vulcan, wonderful window detail. That would be a winner in a "real life subject" photo contest.

Joe- they are scratchbuilt copies of buildings in Schenectady, The Wallace Armer Hardware store(Now Closed) and The Nicholas German Restaurant( Now a Thailand Bistro) built from photos for me by Mark and Maria Pokemba -M and M scale structures, each is illuminated and have full interiors.-Don Klose

Fish, It's all hardwood floors. After much discussion last night we came to the conclusion that it was Depot Gray.

Vulcan, does the tissue stay flexible or do you have to sort of have to form it?

Gene Anstine