Hedley Junction

[sailormatlac]

Good to hear that Alan!

Well, Louis was sick and decided to build this locomotive wheel cleaning device! He calls it the "Patente", a crude generic word to mean home made but cheap ingenious device. It's quite crude, but should do the job. You only need to soak the towel with isopropyl alcohol and make the run.



I guess it's time we start to work ON THE LAYOUT again!!! hahaha

Matt

[MLW]

Bonne idee la patente!!

Good to see the drawyer "in action" looks very good! And so does the layout

Keep it up - always look forward to your next set of pictures

A la prochaine

Syl

[sailormatlac]

Last Friday, we had a short work session on the layout. Just enough to complete terraforming lands surrounding the tracks near D'Estimauville. As usual, it was done using pieces of various foams and the highly workable mix of latex paint and papier-mâché.



A concrete culvert was built using scraps of MDF to hide where the small creek disappear near the fascia. On the propotype, a similar culvert exist. In fact, the river itself is cast in concrete over 1 km thanks to the 60s' peculiar vision of progress!



As you can see, we quickly tried to add vegetation to see how the scenery will work together. Most of them are natural unpainted dead twigs. Nothing great, but looks already good enough for a mockup.



So far, using photobackdrop depicting an early leafless spring was seen as a good idea, however, we are gradually moving toward later spring, when leaves start to appear in their tender light shades of green. What convinced us was the striking impact of the yellowish twigs on contrasting rolling stock. Better, those very light shades bring improve the overall scene by making it apparently brighter.



The reason is simple, the layout isn't very large and photobackdrop are qui costly. Also, blending the photo with the painted sky is tricky at best. Near Maizerets, there isn't no recognizable features n the landscape and not real horizon to define the sight. Only bunch of thick bushes and trees. We also feel leafless trees won't be able to blend effectively with the backdrop. Mike Confalone did, but is backdrops show lots of variety. They aren't a coastal plain. That plays at lot in the end result. It doesn't mean we won't use photoback drop. But we will use them when the scene depicts a landscape with a far reaching horizon and hard to replicate feature (highway overpass, mountains, cityscape, industrial location, etc...).



However, working with a later spring scene makes an interesting backdrop. You have a mix of trees: with and without leaves. Some patch of grass are green others are still straw colored. Also, the light color of greyish trunks and scarce light green foliage make an interesting neutral background on which CN bold corporative colors stand out. And to be honest, making trees with leaves is a little bit easier than doing them without it.



A new railfan spot is born!

The following picture, found on Flickr, gives you a good idea of what we are trying to achieve in terms of color and season.



Early spring trees near Lyna River, Poland (credits: Flickr, Andrzej1000100101)



Anyway, whatever the final decision, it is great to start thinking about such things as trees, bushes and grass. I didn't do any serious landscaping since I scenicked the peninsula



It's quite impressive how little vegetation can bring a scene to life. I think recent blog posts by Trevor Marshall (Port Rowan in S Scale) really prooved the point trees can't be overlooked. They are probably a KEY PLAYER in building a credible scene. Look everywhere and you'll see any piece of track in the real world is defined by the vegetation surrounding it. You can add any craftman building you want, if vegetation isn't doing its job right, you'll fool nobody!



By the way, Louis-Marie started experimenting with ambiant sounds. He collected unused old computer CD player and will use them to broadcast various sounds in key scenes. They include the ducks in Maizerets and various industrial noises near the cement plant. He's also trying to device his own crossing signal sounds. So far, his sample exceed what's available on the market. At some moment, I was doing some switching moves at Maizerets while the ducks sound file was playing. Seriously, for a moment, I felt I was really there. I remember last summer and fall when I took several trip there to document the scenery, the bridge and other details. Ducks were completely surrounding me. Once again, I think Louis-Marie is gonna surprise us!

[sailormatlac]

It's been about 2 years, maybe more, since the last big scenery work on the layout. It was the peninsula and involved doing rock faces and riprap.



Now the new challenge is to scenic Maizerets between the staging area and D'Estimauville Avenue. The first step was to paint the track. A trusty can of Krylon Camouflage Brown did the job perfectly. Later, this brown coat of paint will be covered with different acrylic color variation to weather the ties. Rail side will be weathered with powders later on, after ballasting.



Cleaning the rail heads was done while paint was still fresh, yet, there's always a small paint film that stays on the metal. We used a block of MDF to clean that and make the rails shine. We found out it did a great job without scratching the metal. That's probably going to be a favorite method to use in the future. Unfortunately, we found out quickly Rapido's GMD1 have a different wheel geometry that pick up electricity from the side of the rail head.



Both GMD1 didn't perform well over the painted track while other locomotives ran just fine. So we had to clean the rail head interior side again. It took us two hours, involving two people, to clean about 15 feet of double track. Not a funny experience. We felt like North Korean laborers sanding down welded joints on Pyongyang's tramway using emery pad! Seriously, they really did that about then years ago!



When cleaning was done, it was time to work on the river bed. First, cork roadbed strips were used to make sand embankments inside the meanders according to the prototype. Then, using acrylic caulk, I sealed every little cracks I could find in the roabed. That is necessary to ensure diluted PVA and other liquid scenic material won't find their way under the layout, on the carpet. The riverbed was then completely painted a dark brown to hide the styrofoam blue hue.



Next step was to pour sifted river pebbles. They are actually real pebbles from Malbaie River gathered near Clermont bridge. They have the correct shape and color for this application. In Maizerets, the river bottom is full of round stones, some emerging from the waters and smaller ones covered the embankment where ducks gather.



Pebbles were poured over a layer of PVA glue. When I was satisfied with the rock material appearance, I wetted the rocks and sand with isopropyl alcohol then covered everything with a generous coat of diluted PVA.



Bridge structures were put back in place and we resumed operations right after.



Matt

[MLW]

Matt

Du beau travaille!! Vraiment fait comme un pro.

This is coming along marvelously! WOW! I realy like the method and finish of the scene (and the previous ones) I did not know the GMD-1 had that issue. I ran my Rapido F40 over weathered tracks no problem. Could it be the type of metal use in the wheel set of the GMD-1? :?:

In any case very inspirational!

I haven't done any work on the layout in a month too busy. Will rectify that sometime in April

Cheers

Syl

[sailormatlac]

Matt

Du beau travaille!! Vraiment fait comme un pro.

This is coming along marvelously! WOW! I realy like the method and finish of the scene (and the previous ones) I did not know the GMD-1 had that issue. I ran my Rapido F40 over weathered tracks no problem. Could it be the type of metal use in the wheel set of the GMD-1? :?:

Syl

Thank you Syl!

I wouldn't say the GMD1 has a problem. We only found out the wheel thread is angular and not flat like most other locomotives we run (P2K, Atlas). Paint built up on rail side was quite important too. I guess Rapido wheel profile pick up a substantial part of electricity from the rail side while Atlas will pick up directly on top of the rail head. As said, once the railhead interior sides were cleaned, everything ran smoothly.

Matt

[sailormatlac]

Before painting track in Villeneuve, we decided yesterday to slightly modify the track arrangement to improve operation.



The right yard ladder was a complex assembly of curved turnouts branching off the main line. Worst, it meant the track radius was getting quite sharp there. Also, there was no hierachy in turnout location, so it was always confusing.



We decided to get rid of every curved turnout on the mainline and only use a large one on a straight stretch of track. We also made room to have enough place for a switcher and 3 cars to make move in the ladder without having t ofoul the main. The prototype did have something similar.

While operation later during the evening, it was evident we did the right thing.



I also took some pictures of my newly weathered cars on the layout. To be noted, the backdrop looks good on my pictures, but in fact, it looks quite ugly in real life. We are seriously thinking about bumping our season from April to May to be able to better handle the scenery with trees with leaves.





Matt

[MLW]

Salut Matthieu

Toujours aussi captivant! I looked at your blog and it is fascinating.

You and your crew have a great deal of skills. Bravo ! Great job on the refrigerator and the
other cars as well. I like what you have done for the backdrop. That is the best way to go
(taking real picture of the real thing and having them printed) . Something I just cannot do -
mainly due to location etc. Moving time foward is also a good idea (re: leaves in the trees)

Le fond de decor semble tres bien sur tes potos.

For ops purposes it is always better to keep thing simple to prevent confusion, derailment and headache,
so I believe that you did the right thing by re-working, removing and relocating the turnouts as well.

C’est toujours un grand plaisirs de voir tout ce que vous (et vos amis) avez accomplie
sur le réseau. Simplement superbe.

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

I think your scenery looks very well done Who is the manufacturer of the CN reefer? TLT?

[sailormatlac]

Thanks guys!

@MLW: you're right, it's always good to take time to operate and experiment before starting to scenic things once for all. Yes, even a "generic" photo can do a great job to improve a scene.

@Railnet: yes, it's TLT. I was among the lucky people who got and extra shell.

Matt

[MLW]

any progress or new pics ?

[sailormatlac]

any progress or new pics ?

July is always the most lethargic month on the layout. We hardly had time to gather together and the few times we did, we worked on locomotives and operated the layout. As you can see, most of my efforts went on Harlem Station during the last month.

I just took a trip on Charlevoix train today, got lots of pictures. If possible, I'll try to rebuild the peninsula as soon as possible.

Matt

[Painkiller]

Man those GMD-1.s look good.... Got to get some..

[sailormatlac]

Man those GMD-1.s look good.... Got to get some..

Not only look good but they run extremely well. It's now the favorite engine on the layout.

Matt

[sailormatlac]

After a short summer hiatus, construction season is back on Hedley Junction. I painted all tracks at Donohue. The consensus among us is to complete the paper mill scene first and quickly.



Before moving forward with more scenery (we decided to model late May instead of late April), we reached an accord about completing the code 83 track conversion program. It means all rail in Montmorency and the peninsula will be replaced with Peco tracks.




I often discussed about enlarging the peninsula. After some thoughts, we decided to keep the track where it is, but to enlarge the river scenery. Having atrack near the fascia on a highly scenic part of the layout really reduce the overall impression. Now, there will be about 12 inches of scenery in the foreground. Louis-Marie already started the complex carpentry job with is amazing skills.

The next picture shot from the passenger train in Charlevoix last weekend gives a good idea of what I want to achieve in term of scenery with the peninsula.



We also ended the long chapter about the returning loop located on the peninsula. I asked Jérôme what were his conditions to remove it. The answer was simple: a long enough runaround siding to make operation easier in Clermont. "Can do!" I replied!


To keep the actual mainline geometry and have room for the siding, I had to be creative and think out of the box. Peco Code 83 curved turnouts are nice piece of engineering, but fitting them on a 24" radius curve ain't easy, or so we think. The answer was quite simple. Using an Xacto knife, I cut the plastic webs linking the ties together the same manner flextrack ties are made. It means only the outer rail kept its webs. Once done, I heated the turnout with a hairdryer and gently bent the turnout. Yes, it does work fine if you are careful. The result was a 24"/30" radius turnout fitting perfectly the actual roadbed. I'll try to take a picture of that next time. I think it is quite a useful trick when a turnout need a slight geometry alteration to fit the bill. But I have to say I was cereful to not alter rails in the moving area.

Matt