Superior & Seattle Railroad Build (Volume 2) Started 2/25/17

[S&S RR]

Yesterday, I added about 20 feet of track and made it to the new area where I will be installing the new helix (see the clay mockup in my volume one thread). I will start taking the time to take some pictures of this last section. I will be able to show the intermountain helix as it goes together.  This area will have very little plaster work for the scenery so I can do the track work first. A welcomed change.  I will post some pictures tonight.

[S&S RR]

Pictures are going to wait until tomorrow or .  We are having power outages because of high winds today and I'm posting this using my phone as a hotspot - not a very fast way of downloading pictures. I made a lot of progress today cleaning out the old benchwork and have the spot ready to go - tomorrow I will begin construction of the helix.

[rpdylan]

looking back on the photos again, I really like the photo of the green water tank against the yellow trees. In fact, the yellow makes everything look so nice. I bought some yellow leaf material from Scenic Express in order to add some here and there amongst all the green trees.....

[S&S RR]

looking back on the photos again, I really like the photo of the green water tank against the yellow trees. In fact, the yellow makes everything look so nice. I bought some yellow leaf material from Scenic Express in order to add some here and there amongst all the green trees.....

Bob


Yes, the fall colors make all the colors pop.  I have spent a lot of time taking pictures and testing different flocking materials to get the color the way I wanted it.  I currently mix three colors of flock for yellow trees with some occasional orange which is very common in the mountain aspens. The green trees are also a mixture of three different shades of green. The key is don't put on to much flock.  You need to be able to see through the trees. Most of the trees you see in the catalogs have way to much flock on them to look realistic.  Thanks for stopping by the thread and the kind words.

[ACL1504]

John,

Some how I missed the first couple of pages of Volume 2. Thank you for the great compliment on my layout thread.

The pictures on the first two pages are absolutely wonderful. The depth of the mountains and backdrop is wonderful, in fact just unbelievable my friend.

You've done an excellent job of capturing the mountain region of the Great Northern.

Tom

[S&S RR]

John,

Some how I missed the first couple of pages of Volume 2. Thank you for the great compliment on my layout thread.

The pictures on the first two pages are absolutely wonderful. The depth of the mountains and backdrop is wonderful, in fact just unbelievable my friend.

You've done an excellent job of capturing the mountain region of the Great Northern.

Tom

Tom


Thank you for the kind words.  I'm making the final big push to get the benchwork and track work complete so I can start working on the stuff that shows again.

[S&S RR]

I have the internet back today so I can post a few pictures of the area I'm working on. First, here is the clay mockup I made of this area.  I'm making a few changes to the area up front.

[S&S RR]

The land on my clay mockup is ready for the little bulldozers to come in and start preparing for the foundations of all the buildings.

[S&S RR]

Here is a picture of this area (the working name is Mountain View) just after all the stuff was cleared off the benchwork.

[postalkarl]

Hi John:

I shall be watching.

Karl

[S&S RR]

The first step was to get the remaining track from by previous layout out of the way.





Let the sawing begin.

[S&S RR]

Hi John:

I shall be watching.

Karl

Hi Karl


Thanks for following along.  There will be sawdust!

[S&S RR]

Here is what we have after a couple days of measuring twice and cutting once. I'm cutting the old benchwork into sections for the helix.  You can see the first section of helix for the HOn3 line making it's way under the layout.  I have the track already in to a point just around the corner (about 15 feet away).  Most of the helix will be covered by the landforms as you can see on the clay mockup.  The helix will have two tracks - HOn3 on the inside and HO on the outside. There will be a Station that serves both lines. The small yard will service the Narrow Gauge line.

[S&S RR]

To give this area some perspective what you see in the picture is 6 foot deep and approx. 8 feet wide.

[S&S RR]

Today, I'm going to start putting the helix in starting with lowest level and working my way up - I will be putting the track in on each level before moving on to the next loop. It sure is nice working out in the open air where I can see what I'm doing.