MORRISTOWN & ERIE RAILROAD - WESTERN DIVISION

[Erieman]

Since we all love pictures, here are a couple of photo updates of Chester. I have been working on the Ruggles Roofing building along with the topography of the scene. To make everything even more active, i have also been working on initial design / building layouts for the steel mill. I have been working with a friend in Tucson and he has been extremely helpful in defining the scene. A long way to go on that project, but that is another day or maybe month. Next week I will begin the tower that hopefully will complete the scene. No rest here.

Frank / Erieman

[ACL1504]

Frank,

Really enjoyed our phone conversation yesterday. The town of Chester is getting populated - with structures. Looks like you are having fun getting all the structures in the right location. Thanks for all the pictures.

Tom

[Erieman]

Frank,

Really enjoyed our phone conversation yesterday. The town of Chester is getting populated - with structures. Looks like you are having fun getting all the structures in the right location. Thanks for all the pictures.

Tom

TOM,

DITTO on the conversation. always good to talk to you my friend. Yes, Chester is almost sold out of real estate. Add the paving foe the streets and a  couple of traffic lights and then just a lot of trees and then it is on to the next town. John Siekirk an Wayne will be out here in February and give me a lesson on tree building.

I'll be posting more pictures over the weekend.

Frank / Erieman

[jerryrbeach]

Frank,
I really like the way you "fit" the structures into a given space.  They look so natural as a grouping, the curving roads and elevation changes really enhance your scenes.  Looking forward to your progress in Chester.

[Erieman]

Frank,
I really like the way you "fit" the structures into a given space.  They look so natural as a grouping, the curving roads and elevation changes really enhance your scenes.  Looking forward to your progress in Chester.

Jerry,

Thank you for your kind works. My layout is quite freelance and as such, I can get quite creative on the elevations of the layout. A lot of people would say I have too much in the layout room, but I like the overall appearance. I am trying to visually separate the towns along the right away. This is a real challenge, but I am having fun. I spend a lot of time seeking the right look.

Frank / Erieman

[cuse]

"urban sprawl" is my biggest enemy regarding the development of my layout. I'm really trying to keep the developed areas from connecting to one another at the expense of "nature"    Sounds like the real world!


I can attest as a witness, your layout looks amazing. The multiple levels really give you a much more varied landscape without taking up acres of pastures and forests to get a realistic effect. Please more panoramic-type photos to help everyone get the overall effect of the layout room.


Looks great!


John

[Erieman]

"urban sprawl" is my biggest enemy regarding the development of my layout. I'm really trying to keep the developed areas from connecting to one another at the expense of "nature"    Sounds like the real world!


I can attest as a witness, your layout looks amazing. The multiple levels really give you a much more varied landscape without taking up acres of pastures and forests to get a realistic effect. Please more panoramic-type photos to help everyone get the overall effect of the layout room.


Looks great!


John

John,

Good Morning. Thank you for your kind words on the layout design. Glad you got the chance to visit and see the layout in person. Its always nice to put a face to person on the forum. The layout is progressing since your visit. Once the trees go in place there will be an even larger visual separation between each town. Hopefully the tree planting ceremony will begin in February after I get some tree making instructions from John Siekirk and his buddy Wayne.

In the meantime, I will take some new pictures of other areas of the layout to show "Please more panoramic-type photos to help everyone get the overall effect of the layout room. As you recall, The city side of the layout does not have the visual separation that occurs on the country side of the layout. that being said, that is a 1/3 - 2/3rd relationship with the city scape being about 1/3 of the layout. The city side is actually both ends of the layout, split in half, creating four different towns. That is going to be difficult to visually separate them, but there will be changes as you move from one to another. At least that is what I am planning.

As far as the levels go, that was a big risk when I decided to do that, but it has turned out to be effective. A lot of people want to see the underside because of all the track that is hidden, but that is another story.

Always good to have visitors. If you are ever out this way again, please come on by. The same goes for the rest of the SBG. I'll post some more panoramic photos soon.

Frank / Erieman

[Twist67]

Hi,

I love the way those different levels are coming together.Fantastic work on those buildings.....

Cheers,Chris

[LongHornCaddy]

Nice thread here!

[Erieman]

Hi,

I love the way those different levels are coming together.Fantastic work on those buildings.....

Cheers,Chris

Chris,
Thanks for stopping by. Glad you are enjoying the build. I have attached a couple of photos of the current build with its land form base. Actually, there are two pieces, the road segment and the building segment. I am currently making the two components to appear as one. They interlock at the road joint, but the joint will not be apparent when completed. The landform with the structures / SRMW Hookers & co. and a yet to be built tower will occupy the main land form. I will be applying sculptamold on the foam to soften the forms, painting and then adding scenery soon

Thanks for your kind words.

Frank / Erieman

[Erieman]

Nice thread here!

Leo,

Good to see that you have moved over to the other side. Glad you enjoy the layout. I'm a lot slower on my build than you are on yours. Just glanced over and saw your amazing work. I can recall when you were just working on installing the building. I need to go back and spend some more time on your progress. More pics please.

Come back anytime.

Frank / Erieman

[Erieman]

Good Morning everyone.

I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving. The recent temperatures have been record highs. 86 degrees on Thanksgiving! Enough of the weather, lets talk about trains. I continue to work on the last building module for Chester. As you can see from the photos, several changes have taken place including relocating the smokestack. Thanks Mark for the comment. After moving it around,  I placed the chimney with the building complex on the other side of the tracks. The Chester tower is well under construction. Boy, was that a bit of problem. The first model was too big, then I made three roof configurations before settling in the on the current one. The tower still requires the the stairs, light fixtures, chimney, etc.. The Hooker out buildings still need the final roofing. That material has arrived from Northeastern earlier in the week. The rock wall facing the track needs to be cut and installed and then is lots of sculptamold to contour the module. There is also a catwalk from the main building towards the upper road.  Lots of little scenic details will be added around the structures including cars and trucks. At this rate, it should be done by Christmas, just in time to start the new SRMW kit!!!

Have a great day and enjoy the pics.

Frank / Erieman

[S&S RR]

Frank


Your making good progress - Looks great!

[jerryrbeach]

Frank,
That scene improves with every post!  I've been thinking, though.  Have you thought of renaming this town "South River"?

[Erieman]

Frank


Your making good progress - Looks great!

THANKS JOHN,
Just imagine how many trees we need to make in February to make this area look really, really, really great!!!

Frank / Erieman