Another Miami Layout

[Justinmiller171]

I am not too concerned with sound-dampening so I would be ok with just covering up knots and other problems with the wood.

Would paper towels or newspaper be an ok alternative to plaster cloth, I ask this because it would cost about $60 worth of plaster cloth to cover my layout. and it would be free to use newspapers, but I am concerned with how they will look once painted, I plan to put some sand on top, but I am still worried that the edges will show.

[P5se Camelback]

Justin ...

I don't know what your experience level is as a model railroader, but there are some people on this forum who are, lets just say, experienced. (I may or may not be one of them, that's for someone else to say.) I'm sure you are anxious to get into building, but before you get too deep into it, I have some homework for you. I suggest you at least surf through the following three threads on this forum, the Great Big Blue at The-Gauge! All three are shelf layouts, the first two depict Miami and the third is Houston.

When I first got here I read as much as I could to get to know everybody, but these three threads ... I read every word and studied every photo ... these three guys have a clue and could help steer you in the right direction with your layout. Just take a look at what they've done and see if it's not somewhat similar to what you have in mind and then ... get involved in their thread. Ask them questions about what, because you followed along through their "build," you want to know aboutwhat they did and how they did it. You will learn what you need to know.

This place has lots of very nice, helpful people on it. Everybody here is open to helping someone who needs help and asks for it.

So ... check out these three threads, enjoy the visuals, soak up the "build experience," and then get involved ... we're here if you want some help. I'll "subscribe" to this thread so I will know to come back and check in when there are new posts.

"Good things com in narrow packages"
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"NW 58th Street"
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“WooHoo! Good weather = Time to Build”
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All three are Good Stuff!

[odave]

Justin:

One tweak I would suggest is changing the LH turnout by the label "Tropical" to RH and adjust the trackage as needed. Doing this will eliminate an S curve and make the track flow better in that area. The issue is similar to the one Byron Henderson calls out in this blog post. While that S may or may not cause problems, I think changing the turnout config would make things more "comfortable" for trains doing shoves.

Keep posting!

[Russ Bellinis]

Justin, what part of California do you live in? Arnies' Trains in Westminster now carries blue foam. Home Depot carries a brown foam with an aluminum foil type coating on one or both sides (don't remember which). According to Bragdon Enterprises in one of their work shops I attended at a train show, the aluminum backing peels right off and the foam can be easily cut with an old steak knife.

[Justinmiller171]

Alright, I looked through those threads you mentioned awhile ago but I will look through them again just in case I missed something important.

odave, I added some straight track in-front of the the S-curve and that seemed to have solved the problem, thanks for pointing that out

Russ, I live in Northern California and the only kind of foam board I can find are the white kind which don't cut smooth. I haven't seen that brown foam yet so I will look for next time I visit the Home Depot.

I am currently putting newspaper down of my benchwork to cover-up the knots and stuff in the plywood, I will then Paint it in a tan colored paint and see what it looks life, if it is too bad I can always remove the newspaper and try something else, I plan on adding sand over the paint later so that should cover up most anything that could go wrong, my only concern is that the newspaper might not stay down that easy, I am using a spray glue so there are some small gaps in coverage. Anyway I will post some pictures later after I paint them so you guys can see how it turns out.

[nachoman]

I wound up using a combination of MDF and 1/2" plywood over an L-girder framework. The MDF is not the best stuff to use, but I am on a budget and it came free courtesy of my dad's new home construction. Since I didn't have enough MDF, I also used plywood that I got for free. One day, there was a man walking down the street near my house carrying a 3'x6' sheet of plywood (for who knows why - I think he found it behind a store at the corner that sells windows and doors). It was hot outside, and he asked if he could put it under my carport until he came back with his truck. I told him fine. A month later, he had never come back, so I used the plywood for my layout. Neither of these materials are ideal to use, but I have built layouts with low-grade plywood before. It works fine as long as it is properly supported.

The knotholes and irregularities are really only an issue if they are under where the track will go (you don't want dips in your trackwork). I would suggest a floor leveling compound from the home center to fill those holes. Just trowel it on and sand it down. No need for any kind of cloth or newspaper.

Since your entire layout has a plywood base, the white foam will work perfectly fine as a track underlayment. The drawbacks of the white foam are that it is not as strong (unimportant if it is laid atop plywood) and that it is messy to cut and shape (I don't see any mountains or terrain on your layout). If I was in your situation and concerned about knotholes in the plywood causing dips in the track, I would go to the home center and pick up a sheet of 1" thick white bead foam, cut it to match the plywood top, and glue it down with liquid nails or gorilla glue.

[Justinmiller171]

I already have some white foam but the beads are so big that the edges would look awful when I cut it to shape. I have plenty of spare newspaper around and it seems to be working good so far, I just hope it looks good when I paint it.

I am still deciding about what to use for ground cover, I know I will use Heki for grass, but I am still deciding between what to use for dirt/sand
There are White sand http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Highball_...30-150.htm
Light Brown Earth http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Highball_...30-170.htm
or Z-scale limestone ballast http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Highball_...330-20.htm

What Do you guys think will work best?

[Russ Bellinis]

I've never been to Miami, but most of Northern Florida where I have visited seemed to be covered with sand. I think the entire state is a big sand bar!

[P5se Camelback]

Give that Man a Chunky Bar!

Sand on top of coral and crumbly sand stone ... the highest elevation around here (Gulf Coast side just east of Fort Myers) is about twelve feet above sea level (well, 35 feet if you are on a "fly-over" ... an over-pass that is just locally over the cross street.)

But you are right on ... this is basically a big sand bar with houses built on slabs. Building code here requires the roof joists to be metal-strapped to the slab ... you know ... hurricanes! hock:

[Justinmiller171]

This is only an idea, but I am thinking of maybe switching to the trasition era, and......Changing location .........
I know This sounds crazy to change my mind know, but this is still just an idea. The reason I am thinking of changing to the transition era, is that I am starting to miss early diesels like Alcos and early geeps.

If I do change era, I also want to change my setting to the San Francisco area mainly because I could chose from either Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, or Western Pacific. If I due change era, I will keep the same track-plan, I will just modify the industries and buildings.

So is this Idea plausible, or should I stay with CSX in Miami?

[torikoos]

This is only an idea, but I am thinking of maybe switching to the trasition era, and......Changing location .........
I know This sounds crazy to change my mind know, but this is still just an idea. The reason I am thinking of changing to the transition era, is that I am starting to miss early diesels like Alcos and early geeps.

If I do change era, I also want to change my setting to the San Francisco area mainly because I could chose from either Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, or Western Pacific. If I due change era, I will keep the same track-plan, I will just modify the industries and buildings.

So is this Idea plausible, or should I stay with CSX in Miami?

Both are fun to do, the modern theme has the advantage that you can do research right here, right now! Building anything from the past means you'll have to study books, archives, pictures and other footage from the area to make sure you get everything right, from architectural styles to fashion, billboards, cars, etc etc. That can be a hobby in it self, but of course, makes for interesting railroad operations due to a large® variety of loco's from various builders, and not forgetting the mix of steam and diesel. (each need their own infrastructure). In the end, I'd go where your heart is. It may mean a tougher task ahead, but you may find more enjoyment out of that in the end. be sure to show us the revised track plan :-)

[faraway]

This is only an idea, but I am thinking of maybe ...

Welcome in the club! I am thinking twice a week about such a change, plan for it monthly and actually do it about annual. It is very painful because each location and time has it's advantages and disadvantages. No body can help you as there is no final solution. What ever you build means to omit something you would like to have too.
May be my home page ( <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rub-peters.de">www.rub-peters.de</a><!-- w --> ) gives you an idea how you can "convert" a layout without starting from scratch. Most time most or even all tracks are unaffected and you can concentrate on buildings, fences and ground cover only. I suggest to go ahead and keep the alternative in mind. It is a good feeling to know "I could if I would".

[Russ Bellinis]

I presume you are talking about the San Francisco Bay area. I'm not sure how many trains actually ran into the city of San Francisco. I think the S.P. passenger trains may have crossed into San Fran on the Bay Bridge, but SF and WP terminated in Oakland. I don't think any freight trains actually came into the city. They either terminated in the East Bay or in South San Francisco or Daly City on the peninsula coming North from San Jose. I grew up in the Bay area, but I wasn't into prototype trains at the time, so I haven't studied it as closely as I have the So Cal scene.

[Gary S]

Another option would be to freelance a shortline in Florida, you could run older Geeps and still be in the modern era.

Oh... ol' lance is not gonna be happy about this....

[Russ Bellinis]

I'm not sure you would need to freelance a whole lot to back date the area of Miami that you want to model. Most of those buildings look like they date from at least the early 1950's. Just put in older locomotives and rolling stock with older vehicles to back date it.