Northern Pacific Rocky Valley Branch Switching Layout Build


Marlin39 said:
See, this guy gets it.;)

Perfection is for the OCD prototype modelers. Not knocking their enjoyment of the hobby. I just don't have that much patience or desire for perfection.😁😁
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I’ve always been a results driven kind of person, sometimes too much haha. I have been working on being more laidback about certain things though.

I was annoyed for about the first two hours but I’ve already come up with ways to incorporate the mistakes into the layout and use them to my advantage:)
 
Rico said:
Ah that first run down fresh laid track, nothing quite like it!
And the original track plan looks just fine, just disregard that bill for consulting fees that’s on its way! 😝
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I wanted to use your version but I didn’t quite have enough space for the ground throws, something I forgot to consider lol.

Don’t worry about the bill, I already received it in the mail and tore it up the moment I saw it lol.
 
Made a little more progress! I prepared the turnouts for the ground throws. I realized the foam material would be too soft to support the ground throws when flipping them back and forth. So…I decided to use layered cut sections of popsicle sticks in place of the foam where the ground throws will be placed.

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As you can also see, I’ve begun prep on the tracks for painting. I’m hoping to have the tracks painted by the end of the weekend.
 
Okay….progress was not made this weekend as originally planned. I began painting the track on the left module with a brand of paint I wasn’t familiar with. Needless to say, it messed things up! The color was great, but when applied the paint came out extremely thick and dried very quickly despite not being labeled as a quick dry paint. This ultimately got me into a sticky situation! I was able to clean the paint off the tops of the rails prior to it fully drying but the paint became very goopy and left clumps along the rails.

I was not happy with this and tried to remove those clumps. However, I ultimately left some areas where the nickel-silver rail shined through and therefore I decided to apply a tiny spritz of paint here and there. This was also a mistake!

I was therefore left with horrible results and after thinking about it, I decided to spend five hours today removing most of the spray paint with a small hobby knife as well as q-tips and isopropyl alcohol. The tracks are almost as they were prior to painting.

With this delay and a few others I’ve had since construction began, I unfortunately will not be able to complete the layout to a satisfactory level prior to attending the train show. I sent an email to the coordinator today canceling my exhibition plans for the show. I will continue to build this layout at my own pace now and hopefully I can exhibit the layout in the near future.
 
GuilfordRailman said:
Okay….progress was not made this weekend as originally planned. I began painting the track on the left module with a brand of paint I wasn’t familiar with. Needless to say, it messed things up! The color was great, but when applied the paint came out extremely thick and dried very quickly despite not being labeled as a quick dry paint. This ultimately got me into a sticky situation! I was able to clean the paint off the tops of the rails prior to it fully drying but the paint became very goopy and left clumps along the rails.

I was not happy with this and tried to remove those clumps. However, I ultimately left some areas where the nickel-silver rail shined through and therefore I decided to apply a tiny spritz of paint here and there. This was also a mistake!

I was therefore left with horrible results and after thinking about it, I decided to spend five hours today removing most of the spray paint with a small hobby knife as well as q-tips and isopropyl alcohol. The tracks are almost as they were prior to painting.

With this delay and a few others I’ve had since construction began, I unfortunately will not be able to complete the layout to a satisfactory level prior to attending the train show. I sent an email to the coordinator today canceling my exhibition plans for the show. I will continue to build this layout at my own pace now and hopefully I can exhibit the layout in the near future.
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WOW! definitely a frustrating and time consuming day with much smaller progress than anticipated, and having to cancel you exhibition must have been very disappointing for you.
 
Smudge617 said:
WOW! definitely a frustrating and time consuming day with much smaller progress than anticipated, and having to cancel you exhibition must have been very disappointing for you.
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It certainly was! I didn’t want to cancel my attendance for the show but I’ve been behind the last couple weeks due to a new job and some family stuff so I had a feeling I wouldn’t get it done in time. Hopefully another opportunity comes along soon 🤞
 
Finally did a bit of work last weekend, but didn’t have a chance until today to take pictures. I was able to successfully apply spray paint to the tracks! Needs a few touchups here and there but I like the color and i’m happy with the results. I think it will look even better when ballast and weathering powders are applied:)

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GuilfordRailman said:
Finally did a bit of work last weekend, but didn’t have a chance until today to take pictures. I was able to successfully apply spray paint to the tracks! Needs a few touchups here and there but I like the color and i’m happy with the results. I think it will look even better when ballast and weathering powders are applied:)
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Definite improvement over the shiny plastic look.

What color did you use?
 
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