Since I'm new to here, I figure I better show you guys a little of what I'm doing. I model CNW and Milwaukee Road around Mankato MN in the 1950's. The layout is 14x8 built into 2x6 and 2x4 foot sections. I built it this way so I could move it in the future while only partially destroying it!

The first area I built is the Red Jacket Trestle. This trestle was part of the Milwaukee road and is still standing five miles south of Mankato. Some of these pictures were taken a while ago. The areas have had more work done, but you get the idea.





The other main thing I wanted to model was the area behind Front Street in downtown Mankato. The key structures are the CNW depot, a local hotel, and the Hubbard Mill. The depot and the Mill still stand today.











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Now I'm really glad you joined Corey---beautiful scenery with steam,what more could you ask for

Thanks for posting the photos of your layout. I love the urban arangement of the buildings

Welcome aboard!!

Thumbs for this large classic hotel! And of course, your nice layout.

Matt

Thanks guys. Feed back is always nice, especially positive feedback! Here are some more.

Outside of Mankato is rural farmland and river valleys. Of course I had to have a farm then.







The side away from Mankato and across the bridge is the Town of Wells MN.









I guess that's the dime tour!

Very nice! HO scale?

Great looking stuff Corey! I really like your work on Red Jacket Trestle! Nicely done and very inspiring! I'm glad you gave us a look at your layout.
Ralph

with all of the preceding comments. Very nicely modelled, both the urban and rural areas.

Wayne

Looks very plausible - bravo!

Smile,
Stein

The corn field looks like the real thing. The photo with the pickup in the foreground and the 2-8-0 in the background is like the prototype

Secondhandmodeler,

very nice pictures of a very well configured layout. Thanks for showing!

Welcome to the forum!! A lot of great people here. May I just say that your layout is very impressive! I look forward to seeing more photos.

Tyson Rayles Wrote:Very nice! HO scale?

It is HO, I forgot to say that in the first post.

Thank you very much everyone for the compliments. I know it's not the best layout, but it's my best so far!

faraway Wrote:The corn field looks like the real thing. The photo with the pickup in the foreground and the 2-8-0 in the background is like the prototype

Did you ever consider doing hair transplants?
Couldn't be any more complicated than planting those corn rows !! Nicely done !!

Sumpter250 Wrote:

faraway Wrote:The corn field looks like the real thing. The photo with the pickup in the foreground and the 2-8-0 in the background is like the prototype

Did you ever consider doing hair transplants?
Couldn't be any more complicated than planting those corn rows !! Nicely done !!

You aren't kidding! The corn comes in rows of ten. There are 40 rows in a box and I used 4 boxes. That's 1600 corn stalks that each need to be twisted three times by hand since they come flat out of the box. That's 4800 twists with the tweezers! Then you have to dip each of the 160 rows in yellow fuzz for the tassels and 'plant' on the layout. After that I used scenic express dirt sifted over the top to cover the bases. It was quite the process, but if I'm modeling Southern Minnesota without corn and soybeans then I'm not doing a very good job.

Thanks for looking.