Freelance 2012

[faraway]

The four tracks of the small yard in the foreground looked all the same and somewhat boring. The first track became a low used track that did not get any weed spray over the last years. It is indeed less used because it is immediate at the rim and is not a save longterm storage place for expensive rolling stock. I use it as a temporary storage track while switching but never leave a cut stored there.

[faraway]

That is how it looks to my in my chair while operating the layout. It eases the "all ballast" area in the foreground.



Later that day:
I did remove about half of the grass patches. An unsprayed track should not have more grass than the surrounding ground to look realistic. Ties and rails are no fertilizer (even ties might be a temporary water storage when they are soaked after rain). I was a little bit to enthusiastic planting grass patches last night...

[mountaingoatgreg]

I totally understand your thinking when putting down the tufts, they are fun and an instant bit of scenic delight that it is hard to stop. I am glad you have taken some of them off in order to model tracks that look to me a little bit more in service. I know that if a track is not sprayed the weeds can get pretty out of hand but then the crews usually complain and someone has to spray or mow the grass. Now with the grass in place are you going to start adding some debris, garbage and other assorted stuff?

[faraway]

...Now with the grass in place are you going to start adding some debris, garbage and other assorted stuff?

I would like to do so. How to do a coke can (no Pepsi please on my layout!), a miller lite bottle, a burger carton and a saveway plastic bag? How to do 1:87 scale garbage?
Do we have a sample layout in the web I could look at and borrow/steal some skill?
I did cut thin wood into very little pieces and piled them up. Someone dumped them there but that is not the typical garbage.

[shortliner]

Reinhard - I don't know if these help
Item number: 190607450274

[FCIN]

I would like to do so. How to do a coke can (no Pepsi please on my layout!), a miller lite bottle, a burger carton and a saveway plastic bag? How to do 1:87 scale garbage?

Never tried that yet, but just an idea here. Since a Coke can (also no Pepsi here!), and beer bottle would be so small in HO scale, perhaps just using bits of plastic rod painted bright red would work for representing a Coke can and then use plastic rod slightly carved to shape and painted light brown would work for the beer bottle? I'd say that very small pieces of actual plastic bag material might work okay for that type of trash. Some the trash bags my wife buys are so thin, they tear if you look at them sideways!

[faraway]

Reinhard - I don't know if these help Item number: 190607450274

I am not brave enough to have rubbish sacks on Santa Fe tracks. There are to many Santa Fe fans at Big Blue :oops:

[faraway]

Coke cans and brown bags (used for ice cream!) at the factory



and at the scene

[Len Turner]

More very nice work, Reinhard!

I was going to make a joke about a 1/87th. gallon of RoundUp, but after seeing the Coke cans...

[shortliner]

Plastic from a real plastic bag,( a single layer) about the size of those brown paper bags, with a U-shape out of one narrow end to leave the handles each side. and a squiggle of paint on it would make those carrier bags that the supermarkjets use, that you see decorrating bushes and fences. Small rectangles of paper with tiny ink dots and lines on them - folded in half and crumpled, then opened out ,will make newspaper caught on fencing too - more fun - love those coke cans
Jack

[Tyson Rayles]

Great modeling even though you kinda trashed the place!

[faraway]

I have got a question about the possible placement of utility poles.

The usual place is along the street at the front of the buildings/industries. The lack of the street and the front of the buildings on my layout inhibits that primary choice.

Can I place the utility poles behind the industry across the track serving the loading docks? Those poles carry also power transformer etc. All final power lead to the buildings would cross the track.

[sailormatlac]

Reinhard,

While studying my prototype, I came across the same question as yours. Habitually, utility poles runs on the property limits. For this reason, they can be found between the "main line" and the sidings just as you depicted it on your layout.

A few weeks ago, on my resolution thread, I posted an historic picture showing utility poles. They were (are) located just as I explained and a lot of industry trackage is behind them.

BTW, nice work on the trash! Modelrailroading is a strange thing, you always compliment others about how dirty, grimy and trashy their layout is!

Matt

[faraway]

Matt, thank you. Very valuable information.

[Gary S]

Lots of great ideas here for me to use on my layout. Keep up the good work, Reinhard. It's a pleasure following along!