Quote from: nycjeff on May 31, 2025, 08:38:13 AM

Quote from: cuse on May 31, 2025, 08:05:14 AMVery nice...Relatively simple and versatile...those little see-through structures really make a nice "complexity" to your foreground. Well done

John

Hello John, thank you for the nice comments. It helps when you are trying to copy the work of one of our hobby's greats- Cliff Powers.

Yes. Cliff Powers has done some beautiful work...I know our buddy, ACLTom, considers him a major influence.

Bob, if the new BBQ met your approval, we'll have one more reason to put together an SBG North event soon...It'll give you, Greg, and I some motivation to build something worth visiting!

I'm still very early in to my new layout but I've been making progress lately and have some goals set for completion before the NNGC in Sept.

Very nice...Relatively simple and versatile...those little see-through structures really make a nice "complexity" to your foreground. Well done

John

Great stuff, top to bottom...the roof is especially well done.

John

Really nice Dale

I especially love the wharf decking and pilings...and the rusty rails are perfect

John

Morning All

Today looks to be a good MR day for me. I've got one more module to assemble, maybe even paint...when it's installed in place, I'll consider my benchwork essentially done and (maybe) even worthy of a few pictures. I have gotten the HOn30 section running and all track laid with the exception of a couple of engine house tracks that will ultimately lead into a Sierra West structure that I'll build elsewhere and then install.

Pouring outside and the dogs are going to explode if it doesn't let up - or they'll just have to accept their wet fates (and mine). 

Have a good  one.

Great great build....everything looks great -the shingles and decking, in particular, are outstanding.

John

Quote from: ReadingBob on May 24, 2025, 11:12:53 AM

Quote from: cuse on May 24, 2025, 10:50:48 AM7 weeks until we hit Switzerland and ride the Glacier Express and quite a few other trains.

We're down to 2 weeks until we head to Amsterdam for our river cruise.  We'll have to get together after your trip to compare notes (plus I have some finished detail castings for you).

Absolutely...love to catch up. We had a fantastic time on the (slightly different than yours) Netherlands river cruise last year. We're already discussing another next year.

Morning Gents...

MR day today...too hot outside and visitors tomorrow. Ambitious week with a lot of visible progress...I actually have the HOn30 loop running (with alligator clips) and expect to drop a bunch of feeders, clean the track and get started on an orderly wiring plan.

I'll really need to keep it neat as I have limited access underneath because the benchwork is largely on attractive cabinets and I have 3 independent loops (with sidings, etc)...HOn30 is the most complex track, with an HOn3 loop & branch just above, and an N scale loop way up in the mountains. All 3 loops have hidden turnarounds mounted on thin shelves on the wall behind the backdrop. 

The vision for the layout has really come together in my head and there's lots of directions I can choose to work on if I get bored or uninspired with one facet of the project or another...but I DID want to have at least a simple opportunity to run trains.

7 weeks until we hit Switzerland and ride the Glacier Express and quite a few other trains.

Morning all,

Tom, I went to Colonial Hobby for the first time in a while on a mission for track...brace yourself, the parking has become an issue. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

I'm actually gaining some traction over here and hope to have something to share soon.

Here's a little CPR for the thread...been sidetracked by lots of stuff, most notably the arrival of my new granddaughter and making plans to ride the Glacier Express through the Swiss Alps this summer...plus, y'know, work and life in general

I'm currently leaning towards an N scale "upper level" far far in the distance roundy round (mostly hidden)...probably between a mine and something like a stamp mill. The track and minimal structures and trees, etc will be around 66" off the floor with the main HOn30 level at about 46". Also an HOn3 loop somewhere around 52" or so...lots of hidden loops behind the backdrops (which will largely be covered with tall mountain peaks nearly to the valance.

pages of notes and scribbles poured out of me as I pondered this...so I think it'll work.

I was tormenting myself to try to connect the whole thing as a giant loop(s) with me in a crawl-under operating pit (I cannot fathom not being able to just let them go round and round), but hiding the loops behind the backdrop enables me to use the front section as a dead-end peninsula, largely as a structure "showcase", so I can use the back areas for the looming peaks and forced perspective I'm seeking...gears are turning, hammering soon to commence as the vision becomes clear.

Notice the N scale mockup "terminus" in the upper (way upper) left- that will be a mountaintop...with another one on a yet-to-be-built one to the far right. I hope to get a rough layout plan (track is always secondary to me  ) to help visualize what the heck I'm talking about...

I have had some success with the HO/N forced perspective in the past (when I was changing scales). If the viewing angles are carefully considered and controlled-it's a cool effect.

Let's go Greg...you and I will raise our layouts from the dead

Morning all,

The train brain is running hard this morning after an "epiphone" yesterday...I've decided that my true love is still N scale and I decided to revisit the huge scenery to train ratio that I fell for as far back as High School. Visions of tiny trains snaking through deep canyons and making dramatic scenery in my relatively small space...my benchwork is still just a basic shell, so that's not a factor. 

I've got so many beautiful built-up and not built-up craftsman structures (not to mention trains in HOn3 and HOn30) that I'm now wavering between my next move. 

There's a "YOLO" factor in just following my heart and, after all, it's a hobby and I'm still a spry 57 year old vs. "Are you nuts?" pragmatism which makes me want to shake it off....decisions to be made ASAP.

If nothing else, it feels invigorating to be so mentally immersed in the hobby...I've definitely had a hard time getting the juices flowing. I suppose if I can just hold out until the June 7 SBG (local gang) meet up, maybe my mentors can slap the s**t out of me and get me back on track 

Merry Christmas Tom...I guess you've been good!

I like it Kyle...that original G&D plan is brilliant, in my opinion...it's one you can quickly discount as "roundy round" and then keep coming back to and finding genius, then trashing it as "busy like a bowl of spaghetti", then see the multi-level scenic possibilities, then...

I like the point to point mentality, but I also can't imagine not being able to just let em run.

I'm here for it...

John