Superior & Seattle Railroad Build

[Erieman]

Good Morning John,

The layout and building is looking great. That was a lot of clamps and weights on the structure. A good test for it. Keep up the good work.  Need to get back working on my layout.

Frank / Erieman

[S&S RR]

Good Morning John,

The layout and building is looking great. That was a lot of clamps and weights on the structure. A good test for it. Keep up the good work.  Need to get back working on my layout.

Frank / Erieman

Frank


Thanks for the encouraging words and stopping by the thread.  And yes,  we need to weight test our structures around here - snow load - something you have forgotten about from all those years in the sun.  Good to hear from you - already thinking about following the sun.

[S&S RR]

I have spent the past few days at my cabin trying to catch some fish.  The fishing in Michigan has been in a steady decline for the past 10 years because of the new species being deposited in the Great Lake from all those boats from China. The economic pain to Northern Michigan is getting very evident - all the little tackle shops, boat dealers, hotels, and restaurants are really hurting.


So what does this have to do with my layout build - well I have spent many hours by the fire this week working on the design for the two major cities of Superior and Seattle.   Over the years I have collected many pictures and plans for possible prototype structures for both cities. The problem is that I don't like the way the actually cities would fit my layout space.  So I have decided to keep the freelance thing going for the complete layout. I have reversing loops at the ends of the track which are hidden - so the tunnel portals to these loops are going to be labeled Superior and Seattle and the town/cities at each end of the layout will be freelance cities with freelance structures.  I'm working on names for them.  The idea is that these towns/cities will be a stop before you get to Seattle or Superior.  This way the structures can be a collection of buildings I like and I don't have to worry about being prototypically correct.  This is not stretch from the original concept for the layout which was to have a railroad that went from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest along a route that caught all this wonderful mountains in-between. Also, because I have already built the mountains the large towns/cities will be designed and built in the terrain that is there instead of having the scenery and terrain be an after thought.   So for those of you that prefer prototypical modeling - sorry it's my railroad. I hope you will follow along and see where this takes us. 

[Twist67]

Hi,

You have done fantastic work on that structure. Great modelbuilding.
I like the way you think about the new concept for Seattle and Superior....Sound very interesting for me. Keep it going that direction.

Regards,Chris

[Mark Dalrymple]

Interesting, John.

Nice idea for the cities being a stop back.  I assume you will still base some of the structures on your collection of prototype photos?  I guess you can call your layout 'freelance-pro' rather than 'proto-freelance'.  Has a nice ring to it.

Cheers, Mark.

[GPdemayo]

Hi John.....in the final analysis, yours is the only opinion that really counts. If you are happy with freelancing (my personal favorite) rather than prototypical correctness, then go for it. 
 
I have had little exposure to the guys in the hobby that have the mind set of modeling down to the last rivet or brick, From what little I have been around these types, my general impression is that they aren't a very happy bunch, unless they are harshly critiquing someone else's efforts, and they are very serious about everything they do.
 
I guess what I'm trying to say is have fun and do it your way and don't worry about those others out there that criticize anything they don't deem as proper. It's just a hobby.
 
By the way, your approach to putting the towns into the terrain is just the way we do it in the real world and should give you the natural look you are aiming for. I, for one, will be following you along.   

[S&S RR]

Hi,

You have done fantastic work on that structure. Great modelbuilding.
I like the way you think about the new concept for Seattle and Superior....Sound very interesting for me. Keep it going that direction.

Regards,Chris

Chris


Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. I think my design work is about 10 years ahead of the build, who knows, it's full steam ahead.

[S&S RR]

Interesting, John.

Nice idea for the cities being a stop back.  I assume you will still base some of the structures on your collection of prototype photos?  I guess you can call your layout 'freelance-pro' rather than 'proto-freelance'.  Has a nice ring to i

Cheers, Mark.

Mark


Thanks for the encouragement - Yes the prototype photos of the structures will be used -  just not in the locations of the prototype cities.


I like your names for the layout much better than the ones my wife - the boss and CEO of the Superior and Seattle,  uses. Thanks for following along.

Freelance-Pro does have a nice ring.

[S&S RR]

Hi John.....in the final analysis, yours is the only opinion that really counts. If you are happy with freelancing (my personal favorite) rather than prototypical correctness, then go for it. 
 
I have had little exposure to the guys in the hobby that have the mind set of modeling down to the last rivet or brick, From what little I have been around these types, my general impression is that they aren't a very happy bunch, unless they are harshly critiquing someone else's efforts, and they are very serious about everything they do.
 
I guess what I'm trying to say is have fun and do it your way and don't worry about those others out there that criticize anything they don't deem as proper. It's just a hobby.
 
By the way, your approach to putting the towns into the terrain is just the way we do it in the real world and should give you the natural look you are aiming for. I, for one, will be following you along.   

Greg


Thanks for the kind words and for following along.  Maybe it's the Engineering training but making the structures fit the scenery is much more natural, for me, than making the scenery fit the structures.

[S&S RR]

I just finished up the trim and installed the lights, so I decided to take few photographs of the build before I add the roof. 











You can see a few places where I added more pigments and haven't blended it out yet.  Time to bring in the roofers.

[S&S RR]

Yea I know, I missed half of the back of the false front with the green pigments.  I'm off to take care of that.

[Twist67]

Hi,

Great looking structure. Can´t wait to see it on the layout. Very well done.

Regards,Chris

[S&S RR]

Hi,

Great looking structure. Can´t wait to see it on the layout. Very well done.

Regards,Chris

Chris


Thanks, I'm looking forward to adding this one to the layout too.

[S&S RR]

Yesterday, I finished painting another box full of detail castings.

[chris.mincemoyer.3]

John,

Do you have a post or any hints on how you painted the castings.  Look great!

Chris