Morning All, 

Nice setup Dr Jeff.

My son is a seasonal driver for UPS, so we've had a LOT of time with the grandkids...and they are a LOT. My wife is absorbing 90% but I'm still exhausted just thinking about chasing around the 2-year old boy of joy. 

Lots going on with the layout - 90% in my head, but some in the real world. I ordered backdrops from TrainJunkies and had it somewhat "customized" to fit my scenery plan. I've already cut foamcore backdrop supports to fit the modular nature of my layout. I imagine that roll will be arriving soon and, hopefully, I'll have time to get it done while still babysitting, pursuing (surviving?) fitness and jiu jitsu, holiday stuff, and (oh yeah) work.

Good news is the last one might be OVER some time in February if all that has been agreed to comes to fruition 

I'm liking the changes I've made to simplify some of the trackwork and focus more on the "scenes" I intend to create...That's NEVER been a choice I've regretted. I'm very excited to share the accelerated construction over the next months and years.

Quote from: IWannaRetire on November 28, 2025, 08:13:22 PMI'm really intrigued by the roundhouse in Post 1024.  I like it a lot.  If I understand correctly, it's from an older layout.  Any chance on more photos or information?  i.e., was it a kit or a scratch build? 

Thanks in advance, Mark

Mark, 

I should mention that your handle is what my primary priority is right now...as it stands, I should (should should should) be popping corks in early February if everything comes together as planned. 

then, I'll have PLENTY of time and, even more significantly, brain space and energy for this fun stuff.

John

So I placed an order with William from Train Junkies for a somewhat customized 25' backdrop...I plan to mount it to foamcore panels that I've already cut to fit the 5 modules and, I hope, will make for fairly clean attachment with some hot glue to the module frames (I've also attached some 2x2's to give a little more support for the foamcore and a larger surface area for the glue. I've got a worktable out in the barn for cutting & gluing...so now I wait. Here's the proof - I've asked for small shifts to best fit my planned scenery, but this is basically it...My modules are 48" tall, so there will be ample room for dramatic scenery up to and somewhat overlapping the 18" tall backdrops.

Quote from: IWannaRetire on November 28, 2025, 08:13:22 PMI'm really intrigued by the roundhouse in Post 1024.  I like it a lot.  If I understand correctly, it's from an older layout.  Any chance on more photos or information?  i.e., was it a kit or a scratch build? 

Thanks in advance, Mark

Hey Mark,

The red enginehouse you see is from the Hangman Creek modular layout in On3...you can find tons of photos, etc...especially if you're on Facebook. It's an all-time great and the primary reason I made the trip from FL to Seattle for the NNGC a few years ago. I was able to study it in depth and it didn't disappoint. I love that structure and the detail around it is endless. Here's another from my saved photos....every inch of this layout is amazingly detailed and it all fits together so well...

Wow...amazing stuff. I'm pretty pleased with myself when I solder a pair of feeders and call it a good week's progress 

Loving this.

I purchased a pile of foamcore to re-work my backdrops but I've hit a "decision wall"...

I'm pondering investing in photo backdrops vs a simple paint job. I'm not interested in trying to simulate distant mountains and trees with the usual painting methods - it would be more akin to just "suggestions" of darkness behind 3-D trees and it could work out (as it has for others) because my scenery vision is largely 3-D rockfaces way up the back. I've attached a pic from the beautiful Hangman Creek modular layout to show what I mean.

On the other hand, I've done photo backdrops before and they can REALLY transform a layout like nothing else.

Either way, I love a dramatic early winter gray sky...I've attached a pic of one side of my old layout showing a previous photo backdrop a friend did for me...he, unfortunately for me, sold his biz and all of the big printers he used for wrapping buses and cars.

So, that's my decision assignment for today.

Well, despite the many distractions in my life...mostly good ones...I've gotten the HOn3 loop running (along with the HOn30 level). It's awful nice to hit the button and let them chug around and around behind me - even if I'm absorbed in something else.

Shout out to Blackstone...of all of the manufacturers out there, what they did (albeit briefly) for HOn3 and the hobby in general is astounding. I've never had anything as reliable and forgiving as their steam engines and rolling stock. I'm an impatient modeler and, admittedly, my trackwork and benchwork tends to go together quickly and in spurts but it certainly doesn't hold up to ACLTom's exacting standards...these Blackstone engines just don't care- they run beautifully through inconsistent radii, bumps in the homasote joints, gaps in the rails, minimal feeders, you name it - thank you Blackstone.

They make this sometimes frustrating part of the hobby a breeze for us non-engineers.

Hopeful to get some scenery going soon.

(one of the 'distractions' is working out the details of my imminent retirement in the next handful of months - so that should have a real effect on my modeling priority...one of the others is my return to jiu jitsu, which might have a real effect on my health  )

Best wishes to your wife, Dave. Hang in there!

Quote from: Dave Buchholz on November 10, 2025, 11:24:38 AMThe officers of the North Coast Narrow Guage Railroad went into executive session over the weekend,and by unanimous boisterous approval,  after several rounds of tequila and jelly shots, sends their absolute encouragement to go light up the boilers and crack the throttle open to go full speed ahead ion plans for the narrow gauge portion of your empire!

( They would have encouraged you more, but in an untimely twist of fate, they ran out of tequila, and a few wives showed up with rolling pins to drag their sorry butts home)

Fifth Dave to the right.

Dave, it's ALL narrow gauge - now that the N scale roundy has been excised...HOn30 and HOn3...I've been narrow minded for decades. Frary & Hayden hit me hard in my formative years, even though I watched them (and Furlow and Olson) in the pages of MR like they were pro athletes. It oddly never occurred to me that I could do what they were doing until much more recently.

thanks for checking in guys...yes, Dr. Jeff, the NNGC is always a kick in the pants, but I've got a LOT going on at work - primarily getting out of it - for good - going on. 

Quote from: ACL1504 on November 10, 2025, 09:17:48 AMJohn,

Great to see you have recovered, some what, from the paralysis. You have to admit it feels good to be modeling again.

It is looking good as well. Is that hole in the backdrop a future tunnel portal?

Tom

Actually...former tunnel portals. I've lowered the HOn3 track level for more realistic scenery...and I removed the hypothetical N scale level. The holes in the backdrops will be behind mountains, so not a problem...in fact they might help with a "reach in" point for any derailments or track cleaning etc.

Well, I busted through my "paralysis by analysis" wall today...I actually built some benchwork and even laid some track...the HOn30 main level track has been down for a while, but the upper level(s) had me really stuck and unsure about construction and scenery opportunities.

I simplified things and decided to focus on getting the HOn3 upper loop running and track plan somewhat finalized. I lowered the HOn3 loop a few inches because it was becoming clear that my 'not that deep' layout would make it very difficult to have any kind of viable scenic transition between the track levels. 80' stone walls running the length of the layout seemed questionable. I originally decided to add the HOn3 element so I could take advantage of DCC sound in those beautiful Blackstone locomotives - for my grandson's benefit (my kids all resisted, but I'm taking a swing at the next generation).

I decided to forget about the N scale loop higher up the mountains but may still work in some structures if it makes sense and looks right, once I get to the stage of raising mountains. It's tough to describe this layout, even with a track plan that I'm working on, but each module is 4' tall with the idea that tall mountainsides will climb way up to dwarf the trains appropriately. The two gauges are independent loops that disappear into tunnels and circle back on shelves along the back wall. I am all about scenery and really don't have any interest in operations beyond having two trains slowly creeping through the scenes on different levels...but never say never - I'm also a believer that at least appearing to have a "purpose" makes for a more realistic appearance, even just as a side effect. Ultimately, I'll attach larger upper facia panels to further enhance the shadowbox effect and viewing angles - but that'll be some time away as I'll want to get much of the upper scenery done first...still agonizing about whether or not to go with a photo backdrop or just paint it that awesome winter dull gray sky and build 3-D scenery nearly to the top.

I rediscovered Mike Confalone's modeling video and that took me down a deep YouTube rabbit hole. If you're not familiar, check it out, he's unbelievably talented and his layout might be the most realistic one I've ever seen...he's got an amazing knack for capturing New England's "mud season" where most of the snow is gone, but it's still cold and mostly leafless. Muddy log-loading yards and quarries are done so well and he does a uniquely great job at allowing simple scenes to have all of the space they really would occupy, instead of the very natural practice of shrinking scenes to fit our layouts. His "in between" scenes are basically just muddy, wet-looking ground cover, melting snow piles, and trackside details and they are spectacular.

...as long as I'm running off at the mouth, check out Tom Johnson's Cass County RR...absolutely amazing detail and perfectly captured the colorful brilliance of Autumn without looking toy-like. For you SBG'ers...Tom's in Kissimmee and welcomes visitors.

Wow...great kit. Great build!!!

Happy Birthday Bob!

Thank you guys...I'm celebrating my 58th by going back to Jiu Jitsu next week   and, not coincidentally, upgrading my health insurance first of the year.

Nothing new on the layout...but I am thinking about it a LOT.