Thanx Phillip, thanx Curt; and abig ol' thanx to the folks that like to 'pop in for a gaze' at the project       ......

Phillip - the pink foam took a turn for the better today (Saturday); and Curt, "I knew somebody'd get it"...after 35 yeras playing, writing, recording, arranging, singing, and touring in the music biz...       ya gotta expect something ODD every once in a while........         ......

Here's what I did today.....
Gage helped install the casters.....

The TT got it's 'ring'      ....and the foam carving got going  in 'Ernest'......"Know whut I mean Verne ?" ...     (don't get me started on that guy)......I LOVE Ernest P Worrell......                 ....


Hope it all looks 'up to snuff'....         .....I'll carry on in a day or so...1:1 stuff tomorrow (Sunday) but I might be able to sneak in a bit of carving.........     .....
All for now, thanx again for all the comments and suggestions....it really helps....     ya'll stay tuned.......see ya.............            

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.   

Thanx Larry C*.,...and also thanx to Dave from yesterday-and anyone else that came by and looked in...    

Tell Robert Plant (Led Zepplin) that I found that "Confounded Bridge"-     he was so earnestly looking for....from the song 'The Crunge'...... off of the 1973 album 'Houses of the Holy             ......it's right here
It's in pieces but 'fixable'......           ....I'll scavenge parts to built the short bridge to PEAU-DUNQUE Jct. on the left side of the layout.....  

I also found Robin Trowers' "Bridge of Sighs"....                

I'll fix itup and put it here......


         (here we go again)...it's "Been a long time crossing, Bridge of Sighs"....             ....I guess so 'Rob' old boy,.................................... since 1974!..                

That's it for now; it's Friday, and I'm gonna take a break    ...I spent most of the morning finding those old 'Bridges' (don't you dare start again)   ......but at least I'll save myself the time I'd have spent doing a bunch of scratch building only to 'run across them' at some point; and then be really pissed         ...'cause I actually enjoy refurbising and redesigning stuff more than scratch building; in most cases...           ...soooo thanx for stoppin in...   ...don't be a stranger...have a great day and weekend     ....and I'll.........see ya.....          

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.   

Quote from: deemery on September 03, 2026, 08:07:30 PMThat looks like the Hogwarts Wizarding Hat on top of the styrofoam. 

dave

The what        ?  Hogworts what ?.....      ....I only ever saw the first movie; and only once....I've not ever followed the Harry Porter story......but thanx just the same......glad you like it....it looks alot different from the side............

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.

Hellow again fellas....     ..thanx Larry C*., and thanx Curt, and as always thanx to the 'browsers'...  

Today (Thursday) I continued on the left side of the layout...   ...I got the 2 interior tunnel separation walls that will butt up to the portals done    ...and I finished building up and gluing the base for the "ARCH ROCK FORMATION" although I didn't glue down the last part (the part that forms the 'ceiling' of the tunnels) a 1" thick piece of pink foam that the "ARCH" will sit on nor, did I glue down the "ARCH"...     ....that'll come later...  

I regards to ya'lls questions/comments/suggestions...Yes, Larry C*. the layout will come up about one or two inches when Gage and I mount the wheels, skewers are definitely the way to go..       ....Carl, thanx for the suggestion, the scenery will come up and the backdrop will get some more work done along the lower portion, which I never finished while I was building the previous layout.       ...also..now that I have some of the scenery started, I know a whole lot more about what I want to do...       .....thanx again for the interest....

Here's what happened today.......the black portion of a structure is where the MYTHIUM mine wil be..... ...I had to move it because of space requirements and clearance for the road to GEORGE... ...I'll use the old incline as the road since the trackage won't be going around to the old location (as of yesterday) of the mine....   I also had to move the PHARTZ & SCHMELLING BS production plant over where the SCAVENGER INC. yard was in HARRISON,    ...AND moved SCAVENGER INC. up to PEAU-DUNQUE Jct. next to the new 'pink foam depot' I carved today          , no worries; everybody got FULL MARKET VALUE FOR THEIR PROPERTIES, and  moving expenses and demolition/construction costs were also covered....NO TAX ABATEMENTS though..             ....I gotta make a few coins also..                 .......

The overall view.....

Here's PEAU-DUNQUE Jct.,..the Red arrow points to the location of the mine structure...the vacant incline will be the road to GEORGE...

Here's the 'pink foam' depot (blue arrow), and the new spot for SCAVENGER INC.(green arrow)......

This is now the BS production plant ....PHARTZ & SCHMELLING....                   the Black arrows show the boundry for the scenery/backdrop...the Orange arrow shows the BS plant               

Here's some of the carnage from the pink foam 'operation'...         ....

....and I found some of my 'pre-fab hand laid track'...-on the left.. HO flex track on the right............


That's about it for today.....thanx again for stoppin' by.....ya'll stay tuned.....     ....see ya.....        

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.

Thanx Curt, and thanx Mike..   ..also a big ol' thanx to the ones that wandered in for a look around...welcome...  

Today (Wednesday) I got back to work on gluing and shaping more pink foam...this time I worked on the 2 tracks on the left side (facing the layout) that connect to the 2 tracks on the right side of the layout; I needed to get the pink foam (soon to be rockwork) glued in and checked for clearances around the incline / decline ramps      ....I also decided not to continue the trackage that was to have gone across the back of the layout above everything and (NOT) continue off the layout via a tunnel...     this was also the trackage that serviced the I ME MINE in the little town of GEORGE... ....Instead ...I decided that it was going to be a royal pain in the ass to switch (too far to reach easily) without moving the layout out from the wall on that end...       and I just wasn't going to F%#k around with it....         .....so I decided to move the mine over to the left side near the PHARTZ & SCHMELLING BS processing plant...       .....now I'll just have a gravel & dirt road that connects PEAU - DUNQUE Jct. to GEORGE, I decided to include a very short length of std. gauge track at GEORGE as an interchange via the road to PEAU - DUNQUE Jct....           I really like this arrangement a lot better...     I'll just change out std. gauge locomotives and rolling stock (since it's not LIVE track) from time to time, and it'll be very cool         .......  I think John Allen would have approved...   Next I positioned (mocked up) more track in some strategic locations like the long bridge through HARRISON and a little bit around one of the inclines....       ....this helps keep me on track....

....Here's how it came out...............the rock formations with the pine trees aren't going to be located where they're pictured in these shots...     ........



the red arrow denotes the end of the trackage to the I ME MINE..........


this is where the 'long bridge' will go....  

And here's the revised track plan or "FIELD ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS"..              
Orange is D&RGW, Black is IMMR & T Co. main line, Blue is IMMR & T Co. spurs, Yellow is IMMR & T Co. yard tracks, Green is the Std. Gauge trackage..........      


I hope it makes some sense..   ...I know I was "mucho plenty - heap big" tired when I finished......       .....that's about all for now, thanx again for keepin' tabs on the project;     it's much appreciated as are always the comments, suggestions, critiques, raspberries, farts, belches and all manner of FUN COMMUNICATION                    ...." Baby let your mind roll on".......(The Rooftop Singers, 1963)...         ..............see ya.........             ........

KYLE CREEL
IMMR &T Co.     

Thanx Larry C*.....and thanx to anybody that popped in while I was away         .................

INSTALLING THE TURNTABLE.                 ....the little voice in my old and decrepit noggin   just wouldn't let 'it' go              .....so...     "I grabbed my knife and I did it"           ..."That's my story your honour, and I'm stickin' to it.."     ........here'it is....................




How's it look??...I know it's not completely leveled....I always install a half of a strip of cork roadbed around the edge under the lip of the TT in order to match the height of the entry/exit track and the whisker tracks...... ...it always works extremely well with this TT....so there it is........Thanx again for stoppin' in....."ya'll sit a spell next time", "and we'll visit proper"...             .....all for now .....see ya.....         .................

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.

Thanx Phillip, and to all those that opened the posting for a look around...   thanx to ya'll too.....  

Well I got busy this morning (Monday) doing a little more 'rough - in' carving and went back over the measurements to correct the width of the main rock formation...it was way too wide..   ...so I carved it back on the right side (if you're facing the layout) and worked a little on the left side as well....although not much came off that area in the way of width, it was more 'shaping'      ....The reason for all this 'modification', was in order to start laying out the track work, the open area needed to be a certain 'minimum size' width ... the depth (front to back) was OK but I had to take off about 5-1/2 inches from the centerpiece rock formation.. ...I decided to go ahead and use the 15-1/2 inch TT that I had; the one I put so much work into 'scratch-bashing' instead of buying a 12-1/2 inch TT...   ...and luckily I had left enough 'room' in the scale track plan for such an eventuality        ...and by 'shifting' some track a bit, I was able to add a siding.. ...so now it's back to gluing and then more carving... ...OH YEAUGH, I almost forgot...the TT fit just fine ..and it looks like all the structures will have enough room....and so the plaster 'paper towels' on the risers can begin as soon as the gluing and carving is done..... ...I'd like to finish that by this weekend if possible......       thanx again for stoppin' by......

Here's what I've done so far.....................
I like the way the TT fits in ......


....all the other bldgs.(L.C.*) also fit in just fine.....        


Bubbles likes the progress            ...........

An overall view......................


That's all for now,...hope ya'll like the progress....I'm not able to 'GO AT IT' like I used to..       ....but I'll just keep "pluggin' away", and it'll move right on down the road.....         .......ya'll stop by anytime....   .....see ya......        

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.
 

Thanx Mike, and thanx to the "passers by" that grabbed a quick look at the project     ....all are appreciated and most welcome.... ...

I worked on the 'back side' of the layout today (Thursday) and yesterday    .....I got the land forms cut and shaped into their 'rough configurations' so as to check for fit and clearances, mocked it up and I'll start gluing them in place on Friday     ....next I think I'm gonna start work on the big 'main land form' in the middle of the layout; I think I'm pretty happy with the elevation of the big 'finished rock formation' (with the small arch) that sits atop the 'thing' and so it's getting to be time to glue it (the pink foam) in place so I can start 'carving away'...       ......

Here's what we got so far........the 'back side'..........







Hope they came out looking OK.... ...I kinda like the way it's coming into 'focus'...   ...thanx again for stoppin' by and for any and all comments , suggestions, or questions, raspberries, 'tounge wagging' etc.           .....all for now, ya'll come on by anytime.....see ya......           ....

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.

Thanx Mike, thanx Phillip, thanx Larry C*., and thanx Dave - also the window shoppers....thanx         ......

Well I got back to work on the project yesterday (Saturday) and got almost all the rough 'land forms' in position on the PEAU-DUNQUE JCT. end of the layout (the left hand side looking at it from the front)   ...I'm gonna glue 'em down and start on the back side and the other end this afternoon (Sunday)....   ....hopefully I'll be able to start adding the paper towel/plaster to the road bed and some of the scenery later this week   ... There's NO plaster on the rock formation in the center of the layout,  ..it's only carved and then painted pink foam; with washes added after it dried for 24 hours....     I really like the way it turned out...plus it's extremly light weight        ...I'll just try it out and see if I can replicate the results....           ......

Here's what I'm talking about.........NO PLASTER.......      


....the rest of the land forms...............




Hope the shots look OK, .....thanx again for keepin' tabs on the project....all the comments and suggestions are a real inspiration and appreciated so very much.....     ....it helps immensely with the focus and direction         ......ya'll stay tuned......all for now.....see ya....         ..

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.

 

Phillip - because it's the same reason that Doctors and Lawers are PRACTICING medicine, and PRACTICING law...       ...it's all just an EDUCATED guess, a very expensive EDUCATED guess....but a shot in the dark none the less ....         That's what my dad always said when my mom would ask "Why don't you just go to the doctor Compton?"........."'cause their just PRACTING medicine honey; I'll go when he figures it out and gets it right.....           ..........thank you"..........................................

Thanx John, thanx Michael, thanx Larry C*, thanx Phillip - and a big 'ol thanx to those that just cruised by for a look-see....       ....

Well it's Friday and I did some more work on the project...   .....we had a major 1:1 issue last week or should I say for 9 days ....from the 9th thru the 18th....we had a major sewer line 'malfunction'..                       ....Sunday the 9th, I paid a company $275.00 to unclog the line.....he couldn't get it to 'work'; said he believes it is a broken and misaligned pipe      and it would cost $6875.00 to replace it or about $3500.00 to trace down the 'break' and do a 'spot fix'  , which is cutting out the fractured section and replacing it with a new section...and he would come back on the 10th to try one more time to 'unclog' it         no luck .....so I called my nephew TRAVIS who "knows people" and he fixed us up with a 40-ish man and his crew... ..they couldn't get there for a few days, but came out Wednesday the 12th; looked at the situation, and said we'll be back Saturday the 15th and if it's a broken pipe we can fix it for about $1800.00 and "you can pay me over 90 days, 'cause your nephew and I have some 'business deals' going on together"           OK GREAT - .....My nephew (Travis) owns a pawn shop and he buys 'n sells a lot of gold and other jewlery...     ...... The contractors' name is Moses (really, I'm not making this up) and he is a wonderfull guy (40ish) with a 2 man crew that wound up doing all the hard stuff....that was on Wednesday the 12th; he had a job to finish by Friday the 14th and would call me that night...that next day -  Saturday morning he took a fall off a 15ft. tall ladder on a job, and spent a night in the hospital...   He called me and said he was sorry for the delay, and that his crew would be out on Monday the 17th; and sure enough his crew came back on Monday the 17th and traced the pipe to the main connection with the city sewer...     NO BREAK OR MISALIGNMENT...     ...just a good solid heavy duty 6" PVC pipe all the way to the curb, where it connects to the city main sewer line;....           he ran a camera through the line, then 'power flushed it' to clear out the clog, ran all our faucetts, tubs, and toilets to check for leaks, and  when he was satisfied it was 'all good' they put back all the grass and dirt....and charged me only $500.00      .....$500.00...         he owns a constuction and renovation company.....what a break......"God helps them that helps themselves"....(my dad always said); wow what a blessing...           .....

So now I'm able to get back to the RR.......I put in some more of the ramps and some of the scenery elevations....   ...and now I'm tired...I can't go all day and night like I used to....     ...anyways..here's some shots of the progress.......hope they look OK..........

From the door way.........


a little bit closer..........


This is the end I worked on today.........



This in place just to check height and 'facing angle'......


I think it's coming along nicely; slowly but nicely just the same....     ....ya'll come back now anytime...th' door's always open......all for now....see ya.....        

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.

Thanx Karl, and a big 'ol howdy and a hat fulla thanx to the ones that 'keep-a-peekin' in'....     hope the slow progress doesn't get on your last nerve, (as the wife says)            ......

OK here's an update   ...today (Thursday) I begn work in earnest on the scenery   whaaat?     ....yes; I like to get some of the scenery in place before I lay the track, after all that's how it is in the "prototype"                .....it helps me to maintain a better 'visual guide' to clearances and to "overall concept viability"       How's that for a 'fifty cent word'? ......I just have always done it this way.....so what the heck...........

Here's what we got so far.....         .....I did the best I could with 'salvaged materials'..  








.....only the inclines and declines are glued in place, along with the pink foam 'crossover' section.....I'll start gluing down the pink foam 'scenery layers' in a day or so.... there's still two more sections (one of incline and riser, one of just riser) to go but, my back says..."What the F&%K are you trying to do to me?       ......so I gotta take a break.....     hope it looks OK.....thanx again for stoppin by and all the comments and suggestions are certainly appreciated .....

All for now ......see ya.......          

KYLE CREEL
IMMR &T Co.

Well...I got the thing up on the 'benchwork'        ...I think I might like the height; although I need a while to process it in my feeble old noggin        ......It'll also depends somewhat on how the scenery blends into the backdrop and at what point it's too tall to be 'feasible' and look natural ...       ...Dave Meeks says "Sometimes scenery looks better when it's 'good enough' instead of perfectly realistic;...   at that point 'perfectly realistic' can start to detract from other 'highlights' or other things that could be 'more interesting' if not 'overshadowed' by a 'way too dominating' piece of scenery"......         ...and I totally agree.    Scenery and backdrops are one of my favorite parts of the hobby, and should be done with an eye on the 'overall' presentation and should blend together seamlessly in away that 'completes the scene' and doesn't  detract from the rest of the layout...       ....I'm really anxious to get started....     ....

Here's what I've got so far....just some tidbits of scenery to get a 'feel' for how things 'ought to fit together;    the only bits of scenery pictured that'll actually be on this portion of the layout are the ARCH ROCK formation in the center, and the small bit of rocky pines immediately behind it against the wall, the larger section of 'rocky pines' on the left end of the layout are from the old corner scene and will be put back there in its' OWN DIORAMA        ................




Whadda ya think ?          thanx for checkin' things out, and ya'll keep those cards n' letters comin'...all for now.....see ya.....        

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.

Thanx Larry C*., I saved the benchwork from the apartment layout I built back in 2023 for the NMRA National Convention here in DFW....     ....thanx also to the 'eyeballers' for dropping by......

KYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.

Thanx Larry C*., thanx Michael, and to all the ones that checked in...thanx to ya'll also     ......

AND THEIR OFF......                  

Mark and I cut the foam sheet down to size and shape today (Sunday)       ....then I drew in all the trackwork, black for the ground level, and red for the elevated portions....I know........... we should've used the other side          oh well........"Never mind the mules, just load the wagon".....John Madden.......

Here's today's progress............
front side.................

this end goes against the wall............

this corner goes in the corner  

this SIDE (long dimension) is the back of the layout against the window wall that's covered by the backdrop

this is the location in the room; but it'll be pushed back against the wall, and will be about a foot higher up........          


Thanx again for stoppin' by.....     ....all for now.....drop by anytime......see ya...      

LYLE CREEL
IMMR & T Co.