The Blackwing and Western division


How well do the cans work at holding down the track and cork underlay?

I use "t"-pins on my layout when I'm gluing down the underlay and track. Really easy to use and remove in the 1 1/2" foam I have under the layout.
 
I use push pins when I'm gluing down the cork, they work pretty well. I use the cans to do the track and it works well enough. This track work was on top of 3/4" plywood, so T-Pins would have been difficult to push in. :)
 
I'll agree that plywood is a little hard to use the T-pins in...lol although I did it through a small section of 1/4" ply. About broke the pins.
 
Good Morning Everyone....nice day in Wisconsin and partly cloudy.

Speaking about lumber....I used 1x4 lumber from Home Depot when I constructed my layout and the boards were mostly clear of knots and imperfections. The boards were stamped "Product of Sweden". I didn't have to pick and choose from the stack since the majority of the boards were true. I have several left and they are either in the basement or in a shed up at the cabin and show no shows of warping after 12+ years aftr purchasing them.

Short and sweet....later.

Greg

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MSN Loco 1.JPG
 
No pictures today, but over the last couple of days I got the control rods all hooked up for the four turnouts on the SW (I've been saying SE, but that's wrong) end of the layout. I also tweaked the turnouts to make them more in gauge and work better, but they still need a little more work.

I also added some labels to the fascia, so from now on I should have my compass directions straight.

Tonight I hope to get the wiring done on the SW extension. And if my additional BullFrogs arrive today I can get those turnout controls mounted up.
 
Last night I finished up the wiring, installed the last two BullFrogs on the extension and got the control rods installed for them. I still have a turnout or two that occasionally derail the locomotive, so I need to clean those up a little more, but other than that the track work is DONE. Still needs ballast, but that comes a little later.

Some photos:

The Southwest end control panel.


A train staged on the extension (forgot to add a caboose...)


A glamour shot just for fun.

Time to start working hard on the scenery. I'm going to start on the Northeast end and work my way along.
 
Man, that photo of the end of the layout makes it look like the corner is sagging really badly. It's not, it's level. :)

Guess I need to work on my photography too. Though TBH it was just a quick cell phone snap to show progress.
 
Last night I got tired of looking at all the pink on the Southwest end and painted the ground tan. Since I'm planning on starting the scenery on the Northeast end and working over, it would remain pink for a while yet.


Unfortunately while I was painting I managed to hook the shelf for the throttle with my belt and busted it apart.


I'm gluing it back together but I may want to re-think it and turn it into an under-the-layout drawer or something.
 
Friday evening I put down some ballast on the Northeast end.



I had purchased some "Iron Ore" medium sized ballast, but now that it's down I think it looks too large.



I think I'll buy some fine grade and see if I can glue some on top to make it look better.

I also had some black material that I got from a friend that might actually be "coal" but I thought it looked like cinders so I used it on one of the sidings. I think it looks pretty good. But I sure hope I can find some more ballast that looks like it.



I'll hit one of the local hobby shops tomorrow.

I am also now firmly a believer that the ballast should come before the static grass, not after. It's a lot easier to make it look nice if you aren't trying to brush ballast out of the grass.
 
More ballasting work. I stopped at the hobby shop and bought some fine black and fine iron ore ballast and did a section in the back in black and put another layer on the existing medium iron ore ballast. I think it's going to work out pretty well. It looks much better. (No pics yet really, it's still wet.)

I also laid down a bunch more 1/4" cork in the town/yard area so the track is almost level with the ground. I used some acrylic caulk to fill the gaps so it won't use as much material when ballasting.





I also started building the Right on Track Enterprise Stove and Range kit.



The brick foundation. If you look closely there are subtle variations in brick colors. Hard to see in the photo.



Edited to add a question if anyone is reading this: What happens to the ballast when the main line (Iron Ore ballast) enters the "yard" area. Does it just turn into the yard ballast (cinders) or does the main line stay Iron Ore through the yard area?
 
Not much getting done recently. Other projects are getting in the way. I did get a bunch of ballast glued down in the "industrial district" and it turned out mostly okay. I think adding some weeds and other detritus will make it look better.

Did some more paint work on the Enterprise Stove and Range building. Got the siding painted - went with a tan color, and added a light grimy wash. Also painted all the window frames green.

Did some mortar work on the bricks. I sprayed them with gloss coat, but it didn't turn out very smooth. Then I painted neutral gray acrylic into the cracks and wiped off the bricks. I think it looks okay. I'll hit it with some dull cote and call it good.



Edit to add: Forgot to add that I bought the DigiTrax WiFi module and installed it. I have an older phone that I can dedicate to use as a walk-around throttle. It works pretty slick!
 
I'm not dead yet. I've been working on several projects for the layout. I have the Frontier Range and Stove building mostly finished - just needs some chimneys, roof paint and weathering to be finished.


I've also gotten the concrete roads to a state where I think I like the looks and have started to glue them down and add some gravel. Here is the first piece of concrete - the pad and driveway for Earl's Oil.


I have some roads and more parking lots in progress.

I'm also working on two more buildings to put along the backdrop. These started as GC Laser flats, but I'm adding a little depth to them so they reach the track.

This one will be a grain elevator.


This one is a distribution center for something (not sure what yet.)


So, as usual, too many projects going at the same time. But I actually kind of like working this way because I can glue something on one project, then paint something on the next, and then move onto a third...
 
Also the blue flag in the last photo is to mark the switch because one of the point rails has come unsoldered from the throw bar. Grrr.
 
Here is a closeup of the knobs. They are just wooden beads from the craft store. I'm going to get some brass washers to put around the holes in the panel to neaten up the look a bit.

I'm not sure if you want to try this TW but I have one manually controlled double crossover with a similar type push pull system with the knobs painted green on the inside and red on the outside and reversed to let me know which way the switch is aligned. In Example - the knob pulled out the outer half of the knob is red the switch is diverging, the knob pushed in, the inner half of the knob is green the switch is straight.

George
 



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