Cypress Creek Railroad

[nycjeff]

Hey Steve, you are doing a great job, as usual, with your layout build. I learn something with almost every post of yours. Thanks for sharing with all of us.   Jeff

[postalkarl]

Hey Steve:

You are quite welcome.

Karl

[Oldguy]

Absolutely fandamntastic!

[SteveCuster]

Thanks guys! I've been super busy lately but I should have another update soon. I've been working on some smaller uninteresting bits lately like overhead light replacements and some switch machine installation.

[SteveCuster]

I got quite a few things done on the layout over the last month but not much interesting, mostly finishing some switch machine installs and adding some wiring drops. I did get Crocker Bros installed and I started working the area around it.


I glued Crocker Bros down and added the track going to it. I also started adding some trees to the hillside behind it.

This shot hopefully gives an idea of the flow of the area or at least some idea of where I'm heading. The road behind the station will continue along in front of Crocker Bros and I'll be adding something small between Chippy Hollow and Crocker Bros. Maybe some store fronts or light commercial buildings, I'm not sure yet. I'm trying to get the road and all the track mapped out so I can decide what I can make fit in the remaining areas.


I removed everything from this center section so I can finish the hillside and the track along the back wall. I have a few structures and dioramas to fill this area in once I get that completed. My latest build of Barnstead Lumber will fit in the back area, also my O'Neills diorama will help fill it in as well.

I've been jumping around a bit trying to work my way forward so I can really dig into the super detailing of the more foreground structures. I really like superdetailing small scenes but they take lots of time and sometimes it feels like I'm not making any progress on the overall layout if I do too much of it. Once I get the majority of the non-foreground areas finished I can really focus on that.

Thanks for following along...hopefully it won't be another month for a decent update.

[PRR Modeler]

You're doing a great job Steve.

[S&S RR]

Steve


Your layout looks great - I especially like the elevation changes. It really shows off your beautiful structures. The time your spending with the "uninteresting stuff" is time well spent. You would be surprised how interesting the "uninteresting stuff"  is to our forum members. Everyone has a little different way of handling what I call the mechanics of a layout - I would be interested in some pictures of that, too.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking great, Steve.

Its lots of fun watching and reading about your progress.  I always look forward to your posts.

Cheers, Mark.

[Lynnb]

That was a real treat to see how your progress is coming along.

[SteveCuster]

Thanks everyone!

John, I'll post some more updates of the more mundane stuff so everyone can see how I work out areas and smaller problems.

[Jerry]

Thanks for the update.


Just a pleasure to see you progress.
I agree with John on more pictures of that kind.


Jerry

[SteveCuster]

Thanks Jerry

[SteveCuster]

Todays update...I'm spending some time filling in some little areas with scenery and tying things together. I think this falls under the not so interesting category but the feedback from my last posts was that some of you guys wanted to see some of the "filler" stuff. I also started to plan out the small area between Crocker Bros and Chippy Hollow.


I had some holes in between the foam I needed to fill between the tracks and the mountain. I used some newspaper to fill the hole then I just covered it with some plaster of paris mixed with a little brown paint (doesn't matter which color- just want to kill the white). I mix my plaster pretty thick- like ice cream consistency. Adding craft paint thickens it up a bit too. The thicker the better to help fill and prevent drips.


Here is the area after it dried. I already dumped a little pile of dirt (real dirt, ground up using a coffee bean grinder).


Same thing was done to this area. This is the kind of project that only takes 20-30 minutes but I'm never motivated to do because it feels mundane and boring. The mountain has many bare and unfinished spots as well...I'll get to those later. The floor is a huge mess due to cutting and fitting foam bits for some other spots I'm fleshing out...more on that later.


Adding the dirt and some basic foam ground cover to start. I can reach this area from the front of the layout so I'm not sure concerned with completely finishing it before I start to work the area in front of it. If you compare the before and after pictures you'll see I added more foliage to the hillside as well.


Ground cover added here...most of it will not be able to be seen well from the front or side of the layout so I won't be adding lots of details trackside here.


Another shot of the same...The track still needs some weathering but I won't go crazy because the area directly in front will most likely be littered with structures and I'm thinking I may even elevate it an inch or 2 to add some variety.


Different angle...same area.


I started to stage this area.


The brick building is The Gazette from Model Masterpieces, I repurposed it as a small engine parts and repair business. It's an older plaster kit, pretty decent quality and it only took me 2 days to put together (I really dislike plaster and I bought it because I thought it was resin..unfortunately for brick your options are limited to plaster, super warp-prone laser cut wood or plaster that really lacks detail.) The building to the left is Jerry's Small Engine Repair from Bar Mills. I thought it was a cool little structure, I still need to add some signage and details. Nice little kit, easy to put together but maybe a little expensive for the size ($47.95). I need to go through my details bin and find some that will work with this area.


I started to plan the road and the concrete parking lot for the area between the 2 structures. I did end up pouring the road last night but I've yet to take a picture of it. I may start to detail the road this evening.


I staged 2 of the Ed Fulasz/Railroadkits buildings I had completed on my shelf to get a feel for the area here. The road will run across the front I believe but I haven't committed to anything yet. I also haven't committed to using these 2 structures here, they were just the ones I had that fit the type of building I think I want here. I might use something shorter so I don't completed obscure the feed mill. Maybe something shorter and long. I recall a diorama Karl O. did that had a small produce structure that was really cool, low and long. Maybe something like that.

That's it for today..Hopefully this gives an idea what direction I'm going. The tough part is I don't know where I'm going until I get there so it's difficult to show my plan since I barely have one.

One of the things on the wish list is a covered vehicle bridge so I'm probably going to add some more water to the area to the right.

Thanks for following along...as usual any feedback is appreciated.

[deemery]

When you're looking at 'urban buildings' like those Fulasz brick structures, it's worth remembering that downtown real estates was pretty expensive and therefore structures tended to fill the full lot.  From a modeling perspective, they should generally be jammed together.   2 or 3 structures can make up a block, with an alley if you don't want a full street.

Those cliffs are pretty awesome (like the coloring), but looking at them from my amateur geology eyes, it's not quite clear how they formed.  Are you thinking about a river running parallel to the tracks? 

dave

[SteveCuster]

Dave,

I only placed those there to get an idea if that will work there. I'll definitely add at least 1 more building to the row but probably 2 or 3 to completed to strip. I'm not really sure how it flows or feels just yet. I'll have to think on it a bit...doesn't feel quite right as of now.

When I did the rock cliffs I was sort of emulating the rock faces you see on the sign of the turnpike, I believe they may be due to blasting but I really don't know. I know nothing about Geology so I'm just going off what will give a cool dramatic effect without having to take up lots of real estate with a long mountain hill that tapers across the front of the layout.