Switching has begun at the east throat of the north yard.

I did find the prototype .... http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/7/...988000.jpg ...of my street running tracks

Interesting, I recognized the PHL locomotive, but I'm curious about the back of an f-unit or e-unit behind it. It looks like a silver ex-Santa Fe, but I don't remember any of those units in the area around the PHL

faraway Wrote:I did find the prototype .... http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/7/...988000.jpg ...of my street running tracks

There ya go!

On the street trackage, I have seen it done by putting styrene strip inside the rails, then pouring plaster in, then as the plaster sets, the strips are pulled out. The strips are sized to leave a groove for the wheel flanges.

Some more details have been added to the north yard

Some spots with the most awful street running track have been filled with gravel / N-size ballast.


The RV air condition for the engine has finally arrived. A unique extra I like very much.


I need to rethink that area. The containers in the foreground can not be access anymore.


And the west side of the north yard


Some trouble at the pier?

Great job altogether..!! I like that cop scene...
Are those switch stands operational..?? If so...What make/brand are they..??

Steamtrains Wrote:Great job altogether..!! I like that cop scene...
Are those switch stands operational..?? If so...What make/brand are they..??

Thanks for the kind words.
The switch stands are not operational. They are "Phol low design switch stand" H0 scale No 1918 from N.J. Accessories.
I got them from Walthers.

Wow! Fantastic paved streets and track in those scenes!
Ralph

Things are looking good! I see you are using lumber for the fascia. Any thoughts on that versus masonite?

Gary S Wrote:Things are looking good! I see you are using lumber for the fascia. Any thoughts on that versus masonite?

I am using a real fascia on all other sides but at the table it is wood molding as a facing to look like furniture. The fascia is the same material you will find as the backside in low price cabinets e.g. from Ikea. It is some pressed material with a white cover on one side.

The material is Melamine. It has a nice white finish on the smooth side that works well in a furniture situation.

In the US it's more common to use Masonite ... almost the same but without the nice white finish on the smooth side.

Reinhard, if you don't have space on your layout for a container terminal, you could put a few on chassis hooked to trucks to be delivered, and the other thing is that used containers are the cheapest storage sheds you can buy. Many businesses and industries buy used containers for use as storage sheds. Over here in So Cal, they are generally painted in a gray or tan color to obscure all of the original markings by the used container dealers.

Russ Bellinis Wrote:... Many businesses and industries buy used containers for use as storage sheds. Over here in So Cal, they are generally painted in a gray or tan color to obscure all of the original markings by the used container dealers.

That is a great idea and a good reason to have an old gray container sitting at the ground. Thank you!

Hi Russ,

my implementation of your suggestion. The fence has a gate on the street side to access the doors of the container. The container is on a longtime lease or might be even forgotten...


ps. The photo shows that the very delicate ROCO turnouts with embedded switch machine and DCC decoder are not really ballasted but the ballast has been glued to card stock stripes that have been glued very close to the turnouts. I did not want to take the the risk of water or white glue in the switch machine or DCC decoder. Between the ties is no ballast but gray plastic with a similar shade of color as the ballast I use.