Hi all,

This is the start of my new HO layout, it is a very simple inglenook design 7 feet long by 1 foot wide plus a fiddle yard of single track abut 3 feet long.

It lives in my living room hence the dimensions.

The setting is the present day some where on the East Coast of the US.

The plan is to have a large where house along the rear track with 5 car spots to make switching interesting and the front track will be a transload track mainly for steel rebar and lumber. Most of this track and the middle track will be set in concrete to allow forklifts access to both sides of the lumbers cars.



The foam has been used so I cut below the track bed so I can have a small culvert just past the swtich.

Looks like you have a good start..Keep us posted on your progress.

You're off and running . Keep at it and post lotsa pics !

T

No pictures to post as yet, I still need to retrieve my tripod from my cousin.

Some progress has been made, the track is now painted and bumper stops have been added to track.

I have purchased the sheet material to make the back scene, just need a dry day at the weekend to cut it outside, not much hope of that in the UK at present!

I have also made a couple trucks to add to the lumber yard scene.

Next job will be the concrete for the lumber yard area, I have some Smooth-it so I am going to use that.

The big job to come is building the ware house along the back scene, as it will be about 5 feet in length I want ensure it is interesting to look at, so I am thinking about an older 'core' building with a modern extension.

Here are the trucks for the lumber yard:





Both have quite a lot of work in them, the trucks are bit of secondary hobby if I am honest, enjoy making them.

Very nice looking layout. Even the simplest track plan like this can provide a lot of switching in a small space, and is quite prototypical. No need to try and cram track into every inch of the available space. Looking forward to seeing this progress.

Great looking trucks!

The next step was to add the concrete area for the lumber yard, for this I used smooth it, never used it before and learnt some valuable lessons:

1. Instructional videos should be watched prior to doing something you have not done before!
2. Foam track bed is not a 'hard surface'
3. It's not failure it's a learning experience...





As a result:



Now do, I try again with smooth it or try another method?

I think the problem is that as I was at the edge of the layout I need to shutter up at front so there was a former for the smooth it, at the edges I had used plastic l shaped strip, which worked well but at the front I used card, this did not work. Maybe I was trying to bigger area?

Ok so here is the next attempt at the concrete, this just a sample to test the method:



This time I built the area upt to just below the track level, I then used the grout to cove the area and pointed with the Woodland scenics top coat concrete, I think it worked OK, opinions welcome.

Looks effective and I like the colour too.

Cheers,

Kev

Take two...





The camera is quite unkind, the imperfections are very small and I hoping they sand out when it is all dry.

The colour is not the final colour, I added some dark grey paint to the grout in case it chips in the future, I will use the Woodland scenics concrete top coat to finish it when it is dry and sanded.

Looking good . Indeed cameras can be quite unforgiving, but a bit of sanding and weathering will sort it out I am sure.

Koos

Work continues on the lumber yard, I have now painted the grout with WS topcoat concrete and I have started to add the expansion joints to the concrete.



These are only in pencil at present, once I am happy I will go over them in black marker. Not sure how the expansion joints should work, these are spaced at 25 scale feet intervals, once this done I wash the whole area with Sepia wash and exaggerate some of the cracks in the grout.

Not being from the US I would appreciate some input as to if this realistic for concrete yard area?

That looks good and the surface is by far good enough. How are the top of the rails and the top of the street aligned to each other? Can you run e.g. a rail cleaner over the rails without ruining the street surface?

faraway Wrote:That looks good and the surface is by far good enough. How are the top of the rails and the top of the street aligned to each other? Can you run e.g. a rail cleaner over the rails without ruining the street surface?

The surface drops away from the rail head not by much, but just enough to put a rail cleaner across it. I have been using a cotton bud (que tip) to clean the rail and that has been working but it can just take a rail cleaner.

I can't wait for the days when loco's come with on board power supply!

Some on another forum has the raised the point that most yards in the present day are asphalt and not concrete, can any other any insight to if this the case?

It would not be a huge issue to repaint with the asphalt top coat if that was the case.