Welcome to the Maine Highlands Railroad


M

mainetrains

New Member
The Maine Highlands is my latest layout. It is a fictional railroad located in north/central Maine. Since my greatest joy is just
watching the trains travel through wooded areas that will be what I hope to accomplish with this layout.
I started construction back in May. The benchwork is from Sievers. I have found for those like me who are carpentry challenged
they are a wonderful company to work with. Even though the railroad is set in Maine as times go on you will also see locos and
rolling stock from the Midwest. Growing up in Chicago I would spend many hours watching Chicago & Northwestern trains. Also you will see some Wabash freight cars in memory of my Dad who grew up in Indiana and I've named the river the Maumee in memory of my Mom who grew up along the banks of the Maumee in Grand Rapids, Ohio. Fictional railroads are great. I will try to post some pictures of the river.

Let's see if that worked. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Dave
 

Attachments

  • 6-25-16 -- 3.jpg
    6-25-16 -- 3.jpg
    108.3 KB · Views: 252
  • 6-25-16 -- 2.jpg
    6-25-16 -- 2.jpg
    111.3 KB · Views: 253
Welcome aboard Dave. Looking forward to your progress. Check out the rest of the forum, the friendliest on the Internet. Drop by the Coffee Shop for general BS with other members. Glad that you came aboard.

Willie
 
Dave,

As with Willie, welcome aboard and have fun here. Although I am an N Scale convert, I too are looking forward to your progress. Ask anything you want as well, there is a huge amount of expertise and experience here, oh and post lots of pictures - we like pictures :)
 
Hi all - I've got some more pictures for you. These are of the Campbell Scale Models Campbell Supply Company. I love this kit. This is the
third time I have built it in the past 20 years. The wires you see are part of Woodland Scenics just plug lighting system The wire coming from the
small office building is from the light over the door - looks very cool when turned on. I'll try to get some 'night' pictures once the building is
"planted". The other wire is from interior lighting in the shed on the right-hand side. I really like the Woodland Scenics lighting system. A little
pricey but at my age much easier to work with. Especially the gooseneck wall mount lights. I may add one over the door on the back of the main building. I also have some Woodland Scenics street lights to add to the scene. Enough yakking - here are the pictures --

As always all comments and suggestions are welcome.

Dave
 

Attachments

  • 8-13-16 -- 006.jpg
    8-13-16 -- 006.jpg
    109.1 KB · Views: 223
  • 8-13-16 -- 007.jpg
    8-13-16 -- 007.jpg
    90.7 KB · Views: 219
  • 8-13-16 -- 008.jpg
    8-13-16 -- 008.jpg
    152.5 KB · Views: 226
  • 8-13-16 --005.jpg
    8-13-16 --005.jpg
    96.8 KB · Views: 220
Promised I would try to get some night pictures for you so here they are - maybe they will get some reaction.



Dave
 

Attachments

  • 8-20-16 -- 001.jpg
    8-20-16 -- 001.jpg
    69.9 KB · Views: 215
  • 8-20-16 -- 002.jpg
    8-20-16 -- 002.jpg
    83.5 KB · Views: 216
  • 8-20-16 -- 004.jpg
    8-20-16 -- 004.jpg
    91.9 KB · Views: 222
  • 8-20-16 -- 006.jpg
    8-20-16 -- 006.jpg
    126.4 KB · Views: 240
mainetrains said:
The Maine Highlands is my latest layout. It is a fictional railroad located in north/central Maine. Since my greatest joy is just
watching the trains travel through wooded areas that will be what I hope to accomplish with this layout.
Click to expand...

Hey, Dave. I grew up on Long Island, but spent lots of time in the New England states, skiing Vermont, camping in Maine and NH - got a cousin who lives in NH. Love that part of the country. So our layout (I'm new to the hobby) is kind of like yours - - fictional small town and lots of hills and woods for the train to travel through. Loco and most rolling stock are of NY and VT, but MO and TX are there too, since those are places I live now or have lived.
Anyway, just saying hi. Nice river and bridge.
Happy railroading!
Raincoat2 (aka Johnny)
 
Very nice indeed. Is this a continous run or point to point layout? Size? DCC or DC? Inquiring minds want to know.
 
Apologies on my lack of attention. No excuse. I have been making progress on the layout and I promise to post some pictures this weekend. To answer the questions from Gene. It's a continuous run layout with a small yard. DCC. Size? Hard to say but it fills up most of a 10x15 foot room. I'm using Atlas switches...most of which are controlled by under the table machines. The rest are by "the hand of God".
 
Really nice, would enjoy seeing a track plan of the empire. I have about the same size room that I'm looking to put a folded dog bone into.
 
Promised some pictures -

First group will be of the Birch Cabins - a popular getaway spot. Especially for railfans as trains pass by as they head over the river. The scene is located in the upper left portion of the layout looking from the doorway of the train room. (I will have to find a picture of the whole room to help you get things orientated.)

10-30-16 -- 006.jpg

10-30-16 -- 001.jpg

10-30-16 -- 008.jpg
Next post will be pictures of Clayton County Lumber.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Dave
 

Attachments

  • 10-30-16 -- 002.jpg
    10-30-16 -- 002.jpg
    92.4 KB · Views: 189
I don't know if a track plan will ever be possible. I pretty much started slapping down track and went were it took me. I will try to come up with at least a rudimentary plan for you. I love fall trees also - they add color to the layout. Especially if you model a summer to fall type period which I'm trying to do.

Now for some more pictures of Clayton County Lumber -



10-30-16 -- 003.jpg

10-30-16 -- 005.jpg

10-30-16 -- 007.jpg

I apologize for the same picture twice. Can't quite figure out how to delete it.

Anyway, I enjoy your comments and suggestions so keep them coming.

Dave
 

Attachments

  • 10-30-16 -- 002.jpg
    10-30-16 -- 002.jpg
    92.4 KB · Views: 196
Last edited by a moderator:
Here's another 3 pictures of Clayton County Lumber -

11-13-16 -- 007.jpg

11-13-16 -- 008.jpg

11-13-16 -- 006.jpg

And a teaser for the next group of pictures -

11-13-16 -- 015.jpg

As always - comments and suggestions always welcome.

Dave
 
Looks fantastic! I love the light poles. One suggestion I have is the rail, I believe I used Rail Brown with a brush and painted the isle facing rails. It's a pain in the butt unless you have patience but it really shrinks down that bright rail look. You could always do sections at a time, like areas you are going to photograph. Just a thought.
 
Hey Sauced07,

I always keep thinking that today will be the day I paint some rails but that day never seems to come. Sooner or later it will. In the past I have used Floquil enamel paint markers. I don't even know if they still make them.

Thanks for your input,

Dave
 
It's always easier to paint rails before ballasting of course. I use Model Master "Light Earth" rattle cans to spray entire sections. I do about 3' at a time and immediately wipe off the tops of the rail before the paint dries. Afterward, I use various shades of Polly S brown to highlight random individual ties and occasionally vary the rail sides. I do end up painting both sides of the rail with this method, but there's no problem there. Just my method, there's no right or wrong way to do it, nor does it really need to be done to run trains.

Willie
 
mainetrains said:
Hey Sauced07,

I always keep thinking that today will be the day I paint some rails but that day never seems to come. Sooner or later it will. In the past I have used Floquil enamel paint markers. I don't even know if they still make them.

Thanks for your input,

Dave
Click to expand...



It was always something I had to be in the mood for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top