The Kentucky Southern Railway...RS36 No 360.jpg
Karl, nice to see you starting this thread.
I will be happy to follow along as you make progress on your layout.
Karl great seeing you starting a layout thread; count me in for the ride.
I'm here Karl. i've got a bag of donuts and coffee to share ...let's do this
terry
Karl,
Okay now, off we go! Glad you decided to do the layout thread. I'll be following along as well.
Tom
I like the two different 'liveries' on the KS locomotives.
dave
I'm in Karl. Glad you started a thread on your RR.
Jerry
Karl,
Glad you started a thread on your RR, I will be following along.
All Aboard! ;D
Howdy Karl,
Thanks for starting this thread.
Have fun,
mike
Nice color scheme. That dark green almost looks like it's got some gold mixed into the color.
Bernd
Nice RR Karl, I will follow you on this too.
Rich
I'll be checking in too Karl, looking forward to seeing your progress..... :)
Same here! Looking forward to seeing updates.
Welcome everyone. Thanks for the encouragement.
A little background. Years ago, before the construction of Interstate 75. My folks would take a trip, usually Spring Break time to deep deep South Georgia, to the maternal grandparents farm. The first night out was usually spent in Corbin, KY within earshot of the Louisville & Nashville yard. That's where I'd develop a fondness for the Alco diesels we'd hear throughout the night.
I developed a fondness for the green scheme, I have at least 3 variations, based on the Southern Rwy Green. Just so happened to be the school color with white at Michigan State University where I eased into adulthood.
The basic idea of the Kentucky Southern utilized by my initials KS as a fictional line from Corbin, called Carbon on my world to Loyall, aka Royall, in the East Kentucky Coal fields much like the L&N EK line. Coal is king.
The layout occupies 2/3 of my basement ~25' x 35'. It is approximately 2 1/2 times around multi level no helix main line still under construction.
Most recently I've been working on building a first thing you see as you enter scene that will incorporate a trestle. It's an area I'd let sit undeveloped since starting the project longer ago than I remember.
As this goes on I'll delve into the project and show some shots of what I'm doing.
Before...
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Karl :D
Thanks for starting this Karl. it looks like you have a very nice empire underway.
I'll be happy to follow along.
Jerry
Karl, thanks for the background on the layout and RR.
Karl,
Thanks for the background and it looks like you have quite the empire started. This is going to be fun to follow long.
Karl,
Thanks for the info on the layout and the KS name. As a gator, there was no way I'm painting a diesel in Orange and Blue.
My A&S diesel is Green with White lettering.
This is going to be a great thread. Thanks for starting it.
Tom
Karl very nice start on your little empire; glad you decided to share it with the rest of us and I'll be checking in and see how you're progressing. Have fun with this endeavor.
Bout time! 8)
Howdy Karl,
Wow, that's a layout! I see many years of work ahead. Good luck with the trestle. The background story was enjoyable to read. Thanks.
Have fun,
mike
Over this winter I decided the entrance to my layout needed a finished scene to see up upon entering instead of sticks and plywood strips.
I extended the layout by
~7 " to build underpinning for putting in a trestle instead of the bland looking unfinished look. I built a web base for the area being planned. I also cut the roadbed before the curved section and moved it out.
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Using a jig saw I cut the roadbed to follow the outside edges of the ties.
Karl you have a larger layout than I thought you did.
Quote from: PRR Modeler on March 26, 2026, 07:12:48 AMKarl you have a larger layout than I thought you did.
Photo showing 1/2
Karl, thanks for the update.
How's the bridge construction going?
Quote from: Rick on March 26, 2026, 09:26:33 AMKarl, thanks for the update.
How's the bridge construction going?
Yes Karl how is the bridge doing?
Should be a really nice layout once you get to the scenery.
Jerry
Karl,
That is a huge empire your building there.
You know, we need a bridge update. ;D
Karl that'll keep you busy for awhile. Have fun.
Howdy Karl,
I like the idea of finishing the part of the layout that people will see first. You have a lot of nice benchwork to build on.
Have fun,
mike
I've done a little test fitting of trestle elements. Much scenic work and fine tuning to go. Much.
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Karl, it's looking great, you have the makings of a very dramatic signature scene there.
Karl, that's shaping up very nicely.
Howdy Karl,
The trestle area is looking great. It is going to be an eye catcher.
Have fun,
mike
Impressive trestle there!!! What mike said... a real eye catcher.
Karl great job what is shaping up to make people stop and take notice.
That looks great Karl.
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New angle...been shimming up foundation of bents. Lots of fussin' to do. [/b]
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Karl,
That is one nice looking trestle and will be a nice focal point for visitors.
Well done to this point.
Tom
I'm putting a new tunnel in just down from the trestle that continues to be landscaped
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A little more static grass and it will look great. ;D
Karl, that tunnel fits well in your Appalachian area, I think, with the N&W boxcar. ;D
dave
Karl the trestle looks great.
But the addition of tunnel really will set it off!! >:(
Karl the bents and trestle look great!! I can see why it's taking some time....lots of fuss'in for sure.
Karl, I somehow missed the post with the trestle.
Very nice indeed.
But the real highlight of the layout will be the tunnel.
Karl the trestle is outstanding and the tunnel is spectacular! ;D
Cool trestle sir! 8)
I snuck away from my creative block and worked a bit more on the trestle. Gluing bents to the deck.
I will fill in the ground cover around the bases of the bents.
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It is looking somewhat better with some ground cover. I find steep hillsides hard to cover.
Howdy Karl, it's looking good. Nice work on the trestle. The bents look strong enough for lots of tonnage. Have fun, mike
Karl, that looks excellent!
Karl that is outstanding!
Jerry
Very nice indeed, Karl
terry
Great job Karl. Looks impressive.
;D Thanks!
Excellent modeling Karl.
Very very nice!
That's a ton of work!
I had a 24" tall one on my On30 layout.
Great job!
MJinTN
Well as usual I am a bit late but that trestle scene is killer. Well done. Looking forward to seeing more
Karl,
The trestle scene is looking great, it's going to be a showcase scene when completed.
What Ron (and others) said! Keep plugging!
Pete
in Michigan
Summer is winding down, July was a hot mess and August has nearly vaporized...September promises to start out hotter'an...IMG_0769.jpeg
I filled in some of the trestle scene and have heavy power testing it out. Still thinking out process of tie-in and cross bracing on the bents, very tight clearance :-\
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This afternoon I headed to the other end to begin some plaster cloth work and could only find a partial roll so it limited my progress. More coming tomorrow from Amazon ;)
Back to your regularly scheduled programming ;D Thanks for tuning in.
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Howdy Karl, looking good. Hope your plaster arrives quickly. Have fun, mike
"Karl's down in the basement, getting plastered...." ;D
dave
Karl when it gets cooler and the "white crap" starts flying maybe you can get more time
working on your Empire. Looking good so far.
Karl, nice to see you back at the bridge scene.
I'm sure you'll figure out the cross bracing.
Hope the new rolls of plaster show up soon.
How's that coffee? ;D
I was going to say more but :-X .
Karl good to see you back working on the layout.
Looks good so far.
Amazon you should have the plaster this morning!!
Jerry
AMAZON came thru by late afternoon.
I picked up a couple shake the box projects lately
A Data Only Accurail Reefer
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8 Athearn B&O hoppers, all same car number
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So I sat down with Corel Draw and made up some decals, patch out rename for the reefer and renumber patches for the hoppers. I printed them out let the ink-jet ink dry then gave them two light coats of Testors Decal Sealer. I'll give them a try this evening after time for the sealer to set/dry
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Will check in with progress as I'm able. Danged weather is too nice for any progress today (9-24-26)
Howdy Karl,
Nice work on the decals; they look terrific.
Are the lower decals in white on a stencil or clear on a black background?
Hope you enjoy the weather.
Have fun,
mike
Nice job doing the decals Karl.
Karl, nice job designing the decals.
They look good.
Karl, for someone trying to figure out Coreldraw, the decals look great.
Quote from: friscomike on September 24, 2026, 05:10:57 PMHowdy Karl,
Nice work on the decals; they look terrific.
Are the lower decals in white on a stencil or clear on a black background?
Have fun,
mike
"White" is black printed on white decal sheet, so 'clear' with black surround. The typeface is labeled as STENCIL in the Corel menu and is displayed as "White" in the program. If that makes sense. :o
Karl great job on the decals!
Impressive work on those decals!
Thanks all for you encouraging words but...
Not sure the problem but the decal project was a bust :-*
I applied them according to general practice, using the two MicroScale solutions the blue bottle SET, applied the decal, moved it into place the an application of the red bottle SOL. Ended up the whole thing wrinkled like Ma Barker's Blue Tick coon hound
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I tried to get :o to settle but was unable. I removed it all before it ruined the car.
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Nothing ventured... ::)
I guess my material was old. Upon close examination the resolution of the printed material was not good, either.
Time to evacuate the work room. Seems a skunk just sprayed right outside my window :o thank goodness it was closed. :o
Karl, that stinks and not just from the skunk.
Will you try again with new paper?
I agree, the problem could be the paper. I observed that in some decals a friend did for me (he has a Ghost Cartridge printer.) One set didn't work well at all, but the replacement was fine. We agreed the problem must have been the paper.
dave