Brooklyn 1st Ave waterfront

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

So what do you think happened? Bad batch of paint or clearcoat? The 1500 looks right at home on the bridge.

[Rscott417]

Peir I thought maybe I didn't clean it enough before painting but I honestly think it's the tru color primer. I've noticed even when painting locomotives it doesn't stick very well. I probably should have let it dry longer than clear coated it. More than likely I painting over it while it was still a little wet. This go around I scraped off all the loose paint with a tooth brush and skipped the primer.

[Rscott417]

While I sort of sit and twiddle my thumbs waiting for supplies, I put the mock buildings back on the layout to run some trains around. As I put these foreground buildings back I thought I might be able to replace the middle one with an overgrown vacant lot. I'm slightly torn between keeping the buildings the way they are as kind of a visual break and being able to see more background scenery and street running. Lighting will be addressed also.

[Rscott417]

I got a 4 foot section of track lighting to try out. I would've rather mounted it to the ceiling but it'll be easier to hide the cord in the wall and I also hit a pipe in the ceiling while drilling a hole for the anchor. I know where the studs are in the wall so I'm just going with that to be safe. I'm going to replace this 4 foot section with an 8 footer and put the 4 foot track on the other end of the layout. They don't look as great in the photo as they do in person but here's a before and after

[doctorwayne]

While I use fluorescent fixtures to light my layout (room), I found that many needed to be moved closer to the front (fascia) edge of the layout, as under normal viewing (or when taking photographs), the subject was in shadow because the lights were centered over the layout.

As you can see in the photo below, the light fixtures in the ceiling are roughly centered within the rectangle of the lighting panel....



....while this more recent photo shows the fixtures (now 8'-ers rather than 4'-ers) closer to the aisle, resulting in more light on the visible side of trains, rather than leaving the viewable side in shadow...




While it was a bit finicky to move the fixtures, the improvement in illumination was worth it.  That 4' fixture at the end of the aisle will be replaced with an 8'-er, too, as it's a little too dark in the back corners of the upper level.

On the lower level, the end is lit by a 4' fixture, but I added an LED fixture in both corners to brighten the area a bit...another annoying job, but worth the effort, I think.

Wayne

[Rscott417]

Your lighting looks very good Wayne. I originally wanted to install the lights towards the edge/fascia of the layout to minimize the shadow on the viewing subject but I had some issues trying to mount them to the ceiling. To start off the ceiling in my basement isn't very tall, I'm 6' 4" and in some areas (because the floor is pitched) my head hits the ceiling. If I mount the lights on the ceiling towards the front edge I thought I'd have lights right in my face. Part of the ceiling towards the corner drops down an inch (I assume to hide plumbing, etc.) so I'd have to come up with a way to make an 8 foot section flush with both ceilings. Lastly mounting them to the ceiling I wouldn't be able to hide the power cord as well as I could mounting them to the wall. Now that they're on the wall,  I might try flexible gooseneck lighting fixtures. That should help get the light further away from the wall and more centered on the layout.

[Rscott417]

I got a few cobblestone styrene sheets that I cut and placed along the street running track. It's not permanently glued down yet but all the segments seem to fit pretty well.

[Rscott417]

Been a while since my last post but I've been getting a few things done.
The cobblestone street is painted and weathered with a wash. The carfloat is painted and wired with track power. I was messing around a bit with ground cover. Also experimented with Lego garage door kits for the roll up doors for Franklin Polymers and Atlantic Waste.

[Rscott417]

Well, it's happened again...considering changing up the layout...again. As I'm working on the street I realized there's no way I want to pave 24 feet of a roadway and then attempt to maintain the track that's burried in it. I'm already having a difficult time keeping the portion clean in the styrene cobblestone sheet and not ruining it. I really like the idea of modeling an urban waterfront rail yard but i dont think its a realistic option for me. I'm going to attempt to come up with a plan that doesn't involve ripping up all the track and using most of the current track arrangement as best I can. What I have in mind is to combine the Northern Branch in Bergen County NJ with a small industrial branch in Mamaroneck NY. I would start by making the carfloat lead an industry on the collapsible peninsula similar to Weyerhaeuser in Closter NJ or Cove Industries in Northvale NJ


The team tracks would be changed to just a lumber yard.


Franklin Polymers and Atlantic Waste would be converted to a food processor. The Franklin Polymer track would spot 2 reefers and Atlantic Waste track would be tank cars.



The Yi Pin and East Peak Trading spur will be replaced by a plastics industry similar to Colorite in Ridgefield NJ just condensed to half the rail capacity


The tricky part now was how to make this new track arrangements work. 3 of the current yard tracks and the engine house tracks will be removed. This leaves the track closest to the edge of the layout in place for access to the new lumber yard. I remembered the industrial spur in Mamaroneck NY has a very cramped track arrangement that could work for me. It has 2 very long track leads that at one time numerous industries shared. Currently a plastic pellet industry sees the most traffic (possibly the only one) but it's all the way at the end of the spur and covered hoppers squeeze between long and narrow buildings once rail served. I'm thinking I could take advantage of this long narrow building and use it on the layout.i could add 2 more industries with 2 car spots each sharing the same track and that also solves the question of how I would line up the lumber yard.



Once I find my grid paper notebook I'll sketch up a track plan. I'm curious what others think about this, constructive criticism is always welcome.

Edit: Looking at the street view images in Mamaroneck that long narrow building seems to get refrigerated trucks so I went with reefer cars at these 2 spots.

[Rscott417]

I switched some cars around yesterday and today on the tracks that will remain on the layout with the new industries and I'm not totally sold on this plan. I know I'm going to get bored of it. I think I just really need to knock out this 24 foot roadway and keep the harbor layout moving.

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

It's good to figure that out before you got everything permently in place. I'm going to be starting mine from scratch in 2019 and it's going to be a long road.

[Rscott417]

Thanks PEIR, luckily I didn't jump the gun and start removing track. I decided to get as much paving done in the back corner of 1st Avenue as I could since this was the area I feared would be most difficult. Once I get the flangeways clear and get the sanding done I'll continue paving. I'm glad I stuck with this and got this section of street over with.

[Rscott417]

Here's the road sanded, tape forms removed and some sidewalks added. Originally I wanted to recreate the corner of 1st Avenue and 41st street but having a building in the foreground will block that corner and the background scenery and almost all the street running track. So instead of a building there will be some type of truck lot next to an over grown vacant lot then finally a building to block the hole in the wall leading towards the interchange track

[faraway]

That looks great. How to you ensure the rail heads are above the road plus the future paint coat to permit track cleaning without damaging the road?

I wish I could handle plaster without making a mess. The Luna tracks are PITA.....

[Rscott417]

Reinhard I sanded in between the rails using the side of a sanding sponge, it fits between the rails pretty well. I just sanded it until I could feel with my finger that the road surface was a little lower than the rails. For the sides I basically sanded the edges down with a bright boy cleaning block, it's caked up with plaster now but I didn't want to use something too abrasive on the rail heads.