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+--- Thread: Plymouth Street (/showthread.php?tid=3093)
Re: Plymouth Street - tetters - 09-23-2010
Kurt if there I was one way I could describe the work you do I think it would have to be "Precision".
There is a certain precision that seems to follow from one layout to the next as I watched you construct the previous two and now this third one. Your planning is excellent and you always seem to have a clear goal of what it is you wish to achieve when you start (unlike someone like me who gets the basic wants and needs and then starts winging it) Ha!
This is surely going to be another incredible shelf layout my friend.
Re: Plymouth Street - cnw1961 - 09-23-2010
Justin, thank you
.Herc, these mockups are a big help for me when planning my layout. Without them starting to scratchbuild a structure would be much more of a risk.
P5se Camelback Wrote:Ahhhhh! This time I'll get to see it happen from brick # one!
I'm so looking forward to it!
So do I
. I hope we won’t get disappointed 
ocalicreek Wrote:How will you make your backdrop? Specifically, how will you mount it - to the layout or to the wall or both?Good question. The answer is: I don’t know. I have been thinking about the backdrop for a while now, but could not come up with a decision yet. Painting the whole wall light blue might be the best solution, but that would mean that I had to replace the wallpaper to get a smoother surface. Being the lazy slob I am, I still hope to find a better (easier) way. I don’t want to mount the backdrop to the layout. I did it that way on my first layout and I did not like it. I think it is better to mount it to the wall, especially as it should be at least 2 1/2 ft. high. So I am still looking for the best sloution. Any ideas?
Tetters, it is true, I have a relatively clear vision of this layout in my mind. That does not mean that I already know what each structure will look like. Some things I find are even better than what I have imagined, like these three small stores that will line the big street on the left end of my layout: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=plymouth+st,+ny&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=59.249168,135.263672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Plymouth+St,+Brooklyn,+Kings,+New+York+11201&ll=40.701537,-73.986633&spn=0.006832,0.020599&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.701439,-73.984761&panoid=ij9HxJgIh9qeK_LuWxZVkA&cbp=12,53.51,,0,10.06">http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 1,,0,10.06</a><!-- m --> ... and that mural on the sidewall is the icing on the cake
Re: Plymouth Street - Steve - 09-23-2010
If it already looks sweet.....and it is mostly just mockups.....................how good will the finished product be?
![[Image: faint.gif]](http://images.davtra.net/emoticons/images/faint.gif)
Re: Plymouth Street - ocalicreek - 09-23-2010
Quote:So I am still looking for the best sloution. Any ideas?
I'm planning on using 1/8" hardboard on a 3/4" wood frame. Not sure if I'll curve corners or have a straight joint. On the one hand I like the look of a curved corner. On the other, I like the additional space a square joint affords for scenery & structures. And I have to decide if it will sit behind the layout or above it. If it's going behind the layout, the time to do that is NOW, before I build the connecting segments between the two sides of the room. The bridge section will be 1/4" shorter if that's the case. However, I can set the backdrop on the shelf brackets if it drops down behind the framework. This is the direction I'm leaning but purchasing material for the backdrop is not in the budget at this time. Soon, hopefully.
Going above the framework would allow for a taller backdrop as I'll probably purchase the hardboard in 4x8 sheets and have each cut into two 2x8 panels. Dropping it down behind the framing means I lose 4-5" of backdrop. But 20" of backdrop above the base level of the framework is more than adequate, especially since the layout is mounted high on the wall. But mounting the backdrop below the framing will complicate coving the corners. Either way, the backdrop will not be attached to the layout, but screwed to the wall.
I hope this helps your planning/thought processes.
Galen
Re: Plymouth Street - Trucklover - 10-05-2010
Layout is coming along Kurt, and as always, that multi-story building looks fantastic! I love all the detail you managed to pack into it! Its a truly ugly structure, but thats what gives it its beauty in the modeling world
Re: Plymouth Street - bob_suruncle - 10-21-2010
Kurt: seeing work like yours always gets me motivated to work on my own projects! Glad to see a new project coming along so well and happy for further motivation for my projects too... My personal layout is on temporary hold while I build a new switching layout for the store and your new build has gotten me back on track as I am often distracted by something shiny and loose focus.
Thanks again!
Re: Plymouth Street - Gary S - 10-23-2010
Awesome! Kurt, the new layout is coming along nicely. Looking forward to learning more great techniques as you build this one.
![[Image: ply19.jpg]](http://www.cnw.mattheydesign.de/ply19.jpg)
Re: Plymouth Street - cnw1961 - 10-24-2010
Galen, thank you for the information about your backdrop. I think I will go with something similar.
Josh, thank you. We modelers are queer folk, aren’t we? The uglyer a strcuture, the better
.Bob, always glad to help!
Thank you for your kind comments.Gary, that side of the layout was the easy part. I already know what all the structures will look like. On the right side of the layout it is another story ... still looking for the right structures ...
A small update, though without pics, because there is nothing worth being taken pictures of. Since my last post I did the wiring and painted an ballasted the track. I am glad that these basics are done now and I can concentrate on buildings and scenery.
Re: Plymouth Street - tetters - 10-24-2010
Hey Kurt. Haven't seen you post in a while. Missed ya big guy. How have you been?
Re: Plymouth Street - cnw1961 - 10-24-2010
Tetters, we’ve been on vacation for three weeks and since we came back about a week ago, I have been very busy. So I did not post anything … Thank you for asking
Re: Plymouth Street - tetters - 10-24-2010
Well then, let me be the first to say, "Welcome Back!"
Re: Plymouth Street - cnw1961 - 10-29-2010
From today on the New York & Atlantic Railway will take over freight service on the Plymouth Branch.
The NYA is a shortline that took over freight operations from the Long Island Railroad in 1997. It operates about 260 miles of track and it runs 12 engines: a few SW1001, MP15AC, GP38-2 and a SW1200. I have been looking for a shortline to model for the last few years and with the NYA I found what I was looking for. Their Bushwick branch inspired me in the first place to model an urban scene from New York and the structures on the right side of my layout will be from along this branch. Unfortunately only an old Athearn RTR GP38-2 was available in NYA colors so far and as long they don’t replace these junk motors with something that is running decently, I won’t buy them. But besides the motor, only the colors and the 81" short hood is right for the NYA GP38-2, almost all the other details don’t match. I am not a rivet counter, but that engine is not close enough to the prototype. I had been looking for decals of the NYA, but could not find any. It is funny that now shortly after I started to build this layout, Athearn announced that they will release a NYA MP15AC with their next run – so I immediately preordered an engine. I hope to get it next March or April. A few days after I ordered the MP15, I found a source for NYA decals – now, how good is that?
. So my layout will be a fictional branch of this railroad. The next thing after I found the NYA decals was to get a P2K GP38-2 that I can turn into NYA #268: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=256356">http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=256356</a><!-- m --> . The NYA GP38-2s were built 1976 and neither the P2K model nor the Atlas Trainman Geep represent that version. So here is my to-do list: replace the 88" short hood with the 81" hood of the older version, "chicken wire" radiator grilles on the long hood, new anticlimber, small snow plow on the front pilot and weed cutter on the rear pilot, new air hoses, ditch lights (non-working), 3000 gallon fuel tank, shorten exhaust stacks, 5 chime air horn, replace plastic grabirons with wire grabirons, new stanchions and railing for the front, get the airtanks in the right positon and don’t ruin it by doing so.
I already started that project. First I stripped the paint from the shell by putting it in 99% alcohol. I was surprised that after only 15 minutes the paint started to come off. After 30 minutes I could easily brush off the paint with a toothbrush. When I used this method on an Atlas engine, it took about a week. I did all the cutting so far (anticlimber, grilles, fuel tank, exhaust stacks) and did not ruin the engine yet. So after this is done, I hope this project is on a good way now. To finish it will take some time, because the detail parts are not all readily available for me here on this side of the big pond. I will keep you informed as I am moving along.
![[Image: 268-1.jpg]](http://www.cnw.mattheydesign.de/268-1.jpg)
Re: Plymouth Street - Ralph - 10-29-2010
Nice choice for the shortline Kurt! Good looking scheme. I am very admiring of your plans to convert the P2K GP38-2 into an NYA loco. I know it will turn out beautifully. I'm looking forward to photos of NYA action on your branch.
Ralph
Re: Plymouth Street - Brakie - 10-30-2010
![[Image: ply21.JPG]](http://www.cnw.mattheydesign.de/ply21.JPG)
Yawlsur! A urban canyon.
Very nice!
Re: Plymouth Street - torikoos - 11-07-2010
That's again a beautiful choice for a layout, and I like reading along about your progress. Great also that you're including how you're working on your GP38-2. Great and thanks for posting!