03-10-2020, 02:46 AM
...although I doubt that I'll be able to stand on one foot for all that long.
Anyway, I've recently been doing some work on the lower part of my layout, motorising, and/or at least making a number of now hard-to-reach (because of the second level over that area) turnouts remotely controlled. I'm using Rapido RailCrew motors for four of them, BluePoint switch devices for at least five of them (I have another 10 available), and, if I can overcome installation difficulties, four more using PFM/Fulgurex turnout motors.
While all of the above wouldn't seem at all related to this Challenge, the fact that I will no longer need to reach in to flip Caboose Industries turnout devices means that I can fill-in some areas which might benefit, visually, from having something there other than patches of Woodland Scenics ground foam.
The idea came to me just tonight (it's just past 3:00 AM here - prime time for doin' stuff that doesn't make too much noise), and I think that I can build a square foot's-worth of something to fill-in those vacant spots.
These first two photos show a couple of Train Miniature boxcars that were damaged when I was removing the original paint, in order to detail and re-paint them. Both suffered large cracks in one side of the body, and while I cemented them back together, the flaws were still somewhat noticeable.
Luckily, on an around-the-room-layout, the backside of most structures is seldom visible, although I do place the camera on-layout to get views which are otherwise unavailable.
I made one car into a shed for MoW crews and material, as seen here...
...and another into a temporary freighthouse for LCL shipments near the Elfrida station...
However, both cars were originally PRR X-29 boxcars, which were very prominent in my late '30s layout era (almost 29,000 real ones were built), and would not have been downgraded to such uses at that time. Eventually realising that, they were given to a friend who models the '50s, for use as railroad outbuildings.
Here's the vacant area near the Lowbanks shop where the MoW shed stood...
...and the now-vacant spot in Elfrida...
Here's another possible site in Elfrida...
...and a place in Lowbanks, east of the car shop...
...and another west of the car shop...
This empty space, across the track from the oil house, which is behind the loco shop, will be the re-fueling site for the Bee, which calls for a tank of some sort, and perhaps a pump house...
I don't have any drawn plans for what will be built, but seldom do, so we'll see which spaces get used (all, I hope) and what ends-up in each.
The total area covered may exceed the 12"x12" limit though, in which case I'll simply choose the ones which come closest to that total...or maybe do them all as a cubic foot rather than a square foot.
Here's some of what I'll be using for materials, but I do have lots more from which to choose...
Wayne
Anyway, I've recently been doing some work on the lower part of my layout, motorising, and/or at least making a number of now hard-to-reach (because of the second level over that area) turnouts remotely controlled. I'm using Rapido RailCrew motors for four of them, BluePoint switch devices for at least five of them (I have another 10 available), and, if I can overcome installation difficulties, four more using PFM/Fulgurex turnout motors.
While all of the above wouldn't seem at all related to this Challenge, the fact that I will no longer need to reach in to flip Caboose Industries turnout devices means that I can fill-in some areas which might benefit, visually, from having something there other than patches of Woodland Scenics ground foam.
The idea came to me just tonight (it's just past 3:00 AM here - prime time for doin' stuff that doesn't make too much noise), and I think that I can build a square foot's-worth of something to fill-in those vacant spots.
These first two photos show a couple of Train Miniature boxcars that were damaged when I was removing the original paint, in order to detail and re-paint them. Both suffered large cracks in one side of the body, and while I cemented them back together, the flaws were still somewhat noticeable.
Luckily, on an around-the-room-layout, the backside of most structures is seldom visible, although I do place the camera on-layout to get views which are otherwise unavailable.
I made one car into a shed for MoW crews and material, as seen here...
...and another into a temporary freighthouse for LCL shipments near the Elfrida station...
However, both cars were originally PRR X-29 boxcars, which were very prominent in my late '30s layout era (almost 29,000 real ones were built), and would not have been downgraded to such uses at that time. Eventually realising that, they were given to a friend who models the '50s, for use as railroad outbuildings.
Here's the vacant area near the Lowbanks shop where the MoW shed stood...
...and the now-vacant spot in Elfrida...
Here's another possible site in Elfrida...
...and a place in Lowbanks, east of the car shop...
...and another west of the car shop...
This empty space, across the track from the oil house, which is behind the loco shop, will be the re-fueling site for the Bee, which calls for a tank of some sort, and perhaps a pump house...
I don't have any drawn plans for what will be built, but seldom do, so we'll see which spaces get used (all, I hope) and what ends-up in each.
The total area covered may exceed the 12"x12" limit though, in which case I'll simply choose the ones which come closest to that total...or maybe do them all as a cubic foot rather than a square foot.
Here's some of what I'll be using for materials, but I do have lots more from which to choose...
Wayne