Good morning everyone. Let's kick off the party here although don't have any pictures to post myself today yet. Hope to get some work done and pics posted later today after church but wanted to get the Sunday Showcase started off so those of ya'll who have been busy can post your good work. Let's see what ya'll have been busy on this week guys.

Wow - Jim, that is a great scene! What did you use for the various pots/earthenware?

John

Slightly different locale than Jim's....

And back to suburbia:



John

Wow, Jim, John, Gizzi, John!

They are all shots of some great work.

As always, inspiring work on a Sunday morning!

Not much time for railroading this summer, but I did get half of the barn roof put on, using shingles from rustystumps:

quote:

Originally posted by JohnBoy:
Wow - Jim, that is a great scene! What did you use for the various pots/earthenware?

John

John,
I think I'm supposed to say "Buy the magazine to find out."

Don't tell anybody that I told you they are decorative beads from the craft store.

Jim

ddurling, very nice barn.

Jim, that would have been my guess.

For me, for now, a look back at what I'm NOT getting done.

The city of Delrea.



Maybe later, what I am getting done.

Vulcan - cool, what is that?

John

John, right now, that is my "Torment".

One corner of my nearly completed 12x16 HO scale Delrea Southern layout. That's been sitting pretty much unattended since April of '06. While I work on O scale shelf modules, I'm trying to make room for and wishing I had more space for. I could do a lot of O gauge in a 12x16 space. But first I would have to undo a lot of work.

It's sort of like a divorce.

Vulcan,
Think of how most of those HO buildings could still be used in the background of an O gauge layout. The cliffs in the background could be left intact. And I bet a lot of HO track could be left in place for an On30 narrow gauge branch line.

Sometimes you just have to let go. You had fun building it in HO and maybe could have even more fun rebuilding in O.

I've gone through the same soul searching in switching from HO to 3-rail O, to 2-rail O, to indoor G, and back to 3-rail O. And then there was that brief fling with N!

Jim

We're on the road for a while but we road the Western MD scenic RR Satuday a week ago.
I posted a video of the turntable and one of the 2-8-0 pulling our 6 car passenger train up a grade. They are over on the Real Train forum.
WSMR freight photos

canalman, nice shots.

Jim, deep down, I know you are right. Yes, thought of the background and background buildings, it's the other stuff that can't be worked in. Thanks.

But enough of my whining, on with the fun. Been doing mainly detail stuff, signage etc. And trying to take it easy on the green.

I added a center support to the postal and painted it. The two boards going across on the top in the back are to hide the edge of the actual tunnel ceiling. I made the portal taller than the tunnel to make the tunnel look taller. Until you kneel down to almost track level, the illusion works well.


I painted the shed and weathered the outside of it.



That shack is amazing, Vulcan.

quote:

I've gone through the same soul searching in switching from HO to 3-rail O, to 2-rail O, to indoor G, and back to 3-rail O.

been there done that until I found ya think the coupler incompatability/ faux scemes was bad in O guage...try G!

quote:

And then there was that brief fling with N!

And that's why you got the bifocals eh? YA! we warned ya NOT to fool around with the super weenie scales.... you can go blind...as well as being frustrated!

quote:

Originally posted by ddurling:
As always, inspiring work on a Sunday morning!

Not much time for railroading this summer, but I did get half of the barn roof put on, using shingles from rustystumps:

ddurling,

That ballasted Fastrack look is what I am aspiring to attain. How did you ballast the sides and with what materials?

George

George,
I just used a medium grey ballast from one of the major brands (honestly can't remember which!). I brushed lightly diluted white glue on the slope of the fastrack and dribbled on the ballast, then tried to blend it in to the existing terrain.

There's not much room between the rails, so in some places I used an India ink wash to tone down the bright grey of the Fastrack ballast, like this:


In the above shot I used a coarser black ballast for the yard.

I'm still looking for a quick way to paint the rails brown to lessen the shininess factor...

Hey Jim,

quote:

I've gone through the same soul searching in switching from HO to 3-rail O, to 2-rail O, to indoor G, and back to 3-rail O. And then there was that brief fling with N!

Jim

Would you mind telling me some more about your G gauge or do you have any photos? I am starting in 2rail O and am deciding to keep my G indoors or move it outside?

Joe

ddurling - I think that you have done a great job ballasting the Fasttrack. It looks very realistic to me from your photos. I have always liked the look of Fastrack but the bright plastic shine and look ruins it.

George - This looks like your answer to me. You can transition from this to Atlas track and no one will even notice. Any variations will look like it does on a real railroad as real track has many variations as well.

You just have to love this forum!

Layout Update: I am waiting for the carpet guy to tell me what day this week to expect him. Electrical finish work and connect the plumbing and layout construction mode offically starts! The only bad news is that I am still struggling with my track plan. Train display cabinet is finished except for installing the glass doors.

There may be a layout in my future yet?

Art

quote:

Originally posted by Enginear-Joe:
Hey Jim,

quote:

I've gone through the same soul searching in switching from HO to 3-rail O, to 2-rail O, to indoor G, and back to 3-rail O. And then there was that brief fling with N!

Jim

Would you mind telling me some more about your G gauge or do you have any photos? I am starting in 2rail O and am deciding to keep my G indoors or move it outside?

Joe

Joe,
The G gauge layout seems like a lifetime ago (well at least 20+ years) - well before digital camera days. All I have are a couple of blurry 3x5's. But that's just as well. It wasn't a really memorable layout. I got into it because I fell in love with the LGB Moguls with sound. Now, any modern sound system is far superior.

I had about 10 x 17 feet to work with, and the trains were just too big to create many believable scenes. I think outdoors is the way to go with G, but my yard isn't secure enough. Besides, I really don't like gardening!

Now, my only remaining G engine (a little 0-4-0) just does Christmas tree service each year.

Jim

Thanks Art. I do like the look. I may need to compromise a bit on color to get things to match right. Small price to pay.

Have you put anything on paper for your track plan? I was thinking an around the room layout, shelf style with at least two levels might work well for you. You should see if you can incorporate a reverse loop on each end, that way you could do just 3 walls. Maybe you could incorporate a peninsula or two in the middle. How about this for benchwork?



George

George -

I will try to make a general schematic of the space and where I envision putting the benchwork. I have a rough idea and am fairly comfortable with some sections, but just can't seem to put it together for some reason. I refuse to believe that it is old age related. I should also take a few pictures of the basement and how it is shaping up and that might help trigger some good suggestions too. My son is starting to bug me again about how soon he can come help put together bench work. And my grandson is thinking that he will "be on social security by the time I am running trains again." Some days I feel that way too.

BUT----My daughter is on her way over to help clean up the basement to make way for the carpet layers. We have lumber scraps to haul upstairs, sawdust to vacuum up, furniture to move and etc. before they can install carpet. At least something is happening!

Art

quote:

Originally posted by Chugman:
At least something is happening!

Art

It is great news Art! You will be there soon.

George

Slow news day, all the way around.

Vulcan - Awesome job! You never cease to amaze me. How did you create that great sign?

Art