nycjeff layout

[jrmueller]

Nice layout Jeff. Although you say there is still a lot to do, you have the advantage of being able to run trains. Jim

[nycjeff]

Jeff,

Thanks for the tour of the NYC layout. It's also nice to be able to get to many of the tools we use without having to go find them. I have tools at hand and still find that often I'll need one I need to go and find. Just part of the hobby I guess.

Tom 

Hello Tom, thanks for looking in. You're right, no matter how many tools you think you have handy, there is always one that you need to hunt down from somewhere else. I have enjoyed the tour of your layout, even though it's still being built, so much that I felt that I should do one of  my layout.

Nice layout Jeff. Although you say there is still a lot to do, you have the advantage of being able to run trains. Jim

Hi Jim, appreciate you checking in. It is nice to be able to run trains while still working on the layout. I remember how anxious I was to finally run a train, even for a short distance when I first started.

[nycjeff]

We have come around the corner at the bottom right portion of my layout track plan drawing and are coming into the single largest scene on my layout- the icing facility. This portion of the benchwork is 30 inches deep and about 6 feet long. In doing my New York Central research, I saw that the road had icing facilities in several locations. I don't know if they had one in central Ohio, but I am taking a little modeler's license because I like them. Before automated refrigerator cars, railroads had to ice down perishable loads every 24 hours of travel time. At some of these facilities whole trains were replenished with ice blocks and this is what I wanted to model.

At the front top corner of this area of benchwork, I had a small area that needed something special, so I came up with a small city street scene.



I wasn't sure about this little scene, but once I got going on it I liked it a lot. There is a lot going on in a small space. A city street with four buildings and an alley behind. The buildings are all styrene kits from Life Like, DPM and Woodland Scenics. I added some items to each kit to make them my own. Awnings, fire escapes, new roof materials and details and some street detail castings.



This is a Walthers vintage fire escape. It is a great little addition to any building.



The rear alley view.



A track level view looking past the rear of the street scene. All of my utility poles are from a Walthers kit. I really like the way the tracks curve around the back of the buildings. The track at the middle right of the above picture is the spur for the icing facility.



This a a view of the whole facility. There are tracks on both sides of the ice loading rack and they are long enough so that I can put an entire reefer train in. On my layout that's 12- 40 foot cars, a caboose and the locomotive. I can back half of the train on the front side and the other half on the back side. That's it for now, more later

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice job on the small section Jeff.

[ACL1504]

Jeff,

Love that long icing platform, looks great.

Tom 

[nycjeff]

Very nice job on the small section Jeff.

Hey Curt, thank you, I had fun doing that mini-scene.

Continuing on...



This is a track level view looking lengthwise on the icing tracks. I still have to ballast this area.



A closer look at the ice loading rack. I had to buy additional Walthers ice station kits to get the extra racks- I needed mine to be 4 feet long so I could get an entire reefer train into the facility. I kit-bashed the racks for an open top as is typical on NYC facilities. I scratch-built the "spotlights" from wood skewers and some styrene bits. The little people needed lights for the night shift. The street lights are from the Walthers utility pole kit, I used wood skewers for the poles here as well. You can find wood skewers at the grocery store in 100 packs for a very reasonable price.



At the end of the ice loading rack is this small GC Laser shack with an outhouse. I don't remember where I got the outhouse. They did come two to the kit. I'm pretty sure the pickup is a Classic Metal Works vehicle.



This is the business end of the ice facility. The main building is from the Walthers kit. I scratch-built the Y shaped ice loading rack from styrene and strip-wood. The office is also a Walthers kit, but I did scratch-build the ductwork on the roof to go with the AC unit.



The rest of the area near the main building is shown here. I kit-bashed the cooling tower building from parts of the extra Walthers kits. The cooling towers are from Alpine- they are a nice looking add on I think. The large tank is from Tichy.



Another look at the main building area. This is a busy area and I am pleased with how it came out. I will probably re-visit it at some point. I can definitely do a better job on the loading docks and I have some other ideas on improving the overall look. A layout is never done. More in a minute

[nycjeff]

Jeff,

Love that long icing platform, looks great.

Tom 

Hello Tom, thanks for looking in and for the kind words. I really liked the look of the pictures in my NYC books of their icing facilities and knew I had to have one on my layout.

Continuing on...



The drone view of the ice loading racks. I really like the length. I'm glad I had the space to do this scene right.



The tracks coming out of the ice facility area are starting to curve around to the shelf area at the bottom of the track plan drawing.



A track level view of the same area. I had a good time with the ice facility scene, it was a lot of work, but well worth it. That's it for now, more later.

[SteveCuster]

Looking good Jeff. I'm jealous of the size of your layout.

One critique or recommendation...It looks like you might be using a flash for some of the photos and it's really messing with the colors and shadows. I've had good luck using a few cheap aluminum work lights with 100w equivalent LED bulbs to take pictures. Easy fix and it would only cost $20-30 for a few lights and bulbs at most. Just a stationary light clamped somewhere and directing straight light onto the subject. Just my recommendation of course.

[nycjeff]

Hello Steve, thanks for your comments. I've been working on taking better pictures. I know what you mean, sometimes when my camera automatically uses the flash, the pictures are not as good. I will take your advice and get a couple clamp on light fixtures with LED bulbs. I sure like the quality of the pictures on your threads. Thanks again for the advice.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking good, Jeff.

Impressive icing facility.

Cheers, Mark.

[PRR Modeler]

Outstanding icing platform and all the associated equipment and details.

[postalkarl]

Hey Jeff:

Layout is looking just gorgeous. Love that icing platform

Karl

[nycjeff]

Hello Mark, Curt and Karl, thank you so much for the nice comments. I really wanted the icing facility to be a signature scene on my layout and I'm very pleased with how it's come out to this point. I still have more to do and by looking at the pictures, I have several areas that I can improve on.

Continuing on...



We are coming around the corner from the ice facility to the 12 inch shelf that goes along the doorway wall of my layout. It is the bottom left on my track plan. The far wall in this picture is about 18 feet away. On the right side of the picture you can see some of the shelving that I built under the benchwork. I used 1 x2's and 1 x 3's and 1/2 inch 5 ply plywood for the shelves.



A reefer train led by two GP-7's is coming around the corner. You can see the masonite fascia board and the painted distant hillsides on the backdrop.



Looking over the top of the reefer train at the corner. I took Steve Custer's excellent advice and went to Home Depot and picked up two clamp on work lights for about $10 each and some 90 watt LED lamps in an effort to improve the lighting for my pictures. Now I have to learn how to position them to get the best advantage. You can see one of them in the picture.



Here is a view under the shelf benchwork. You can see the vertical 2 x 2's that I attached to the walls as well as the 1 x 3's that are the horizontal pieces and the 2 x 2 angle pieces. This is a very simple, yet sturdy set-up for the plywood shelf.



Next up is the swinging gate that carries my two track mainline across the pocket doorway to the train room. As you can see I made this a river crossing with Atlas bridges and abutments. The gate structure is made of 2 x 3's and 2 x 2's with a masonite front and back plate. I got the idea for this gate from an article in Model Railroader magazine.



Here is a view of the other side of the swinging gate. As you can see in the pictures I attached a simple pull handle to each side and a door hasp to hold the gate in place. More in a minute

[nycjeff]

We are looking into the interior of the gate here. It took a lot of measuring and several attempts at framing the gate correctly to get a sturdy structure. The left side vertical piece had to be cut at an angle along it's length to allow the gate to close properly. The round hole in the right vertical was put in so that the gate in the closed position really locked in, I will explain more in a minute.



I used a piano hinge at the swinging end of the gate.



This is the track at the swinging end. I cut the gate and tracks at an angle to allow for easy movement and to match the tracks when the gate is closed. The gate is 51 inches at it's longest point and it is quite heavy. It took a lot of trial and error to get everything to match up properly.



This is the track at the other end of the gate, it was also cut on an angle.



This is the little shelf that had to be built so that the free end of the gate had a place to land so that everything matched properly. You can see another round hole in the vertical piece here, I had to drill these holes because that door hasp that I installed to hold the gate in place had a little slop and the tracks did not match perfectly, which they have to do or there is a train derailment. I used a piece of 1/2 inch electrical pipe through these holes and this locks the gate in a very rigid position. The swinging gate was a lot of work, but worth it. I could not have a duck under at this point- this is the only entrance point to the train room and I'm getting too old for a low duck-under, as well as any guests that I may have in the train room.



Here is a closer view of my gate locking system. You can also see the small shelf that supports the free end of the gate. That's it for now, more later.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Nice work, Jeff.

Enjoying the tour.

Cheers, Mark.