nycjeff layout

[postalkarl]

Hey Jeff:

Just beautiful. I always enjoy your layout.

Kael

[nycjeff]

Lovely work, Jeff. Your scenes are really popping with life!

I just wish your camera was up to the job more!

Hello Craig, thanks for the nice comments and I am with you, my camera sucks !  I am saving my pennies so that I can upgrade my little point and shoot camera to a SLR that I can manually adjust for better results. In past years I used a lovely Minolta SLR film camera with a nice assortment of lens, a 70-210 telephoto, a wide angle, several filters- none of which is doing me any good now in the digital age and unfortunately none of which is worth any money. Oh well, I got my moneys worth through many years of use.

Hey Jeff:

Just beautiful. I always enjoy your layout.

Kael

Hey Karl, thanks for looking in and I'm glad that you are enjoying my layout tour.

[nycjeff]

A short update to finish the tour of my upper shelf farm scene.



Another view of the plowed field, I can see that I have to put some more glue on the raised seam.



A view down the track behind the plowed field. I really like the fact that I can have long straight sections of track. It's nice to be able to walk along the aisle with the train as it runs down the track.



Another track level view. It's a challenge on shallow shelfs to get an interesting scene. I only have 14 inches to work with here, so I kept the track near the back of the shelf so that trains could seem to run through the landscape. The challenge is to get something that looks good in the 1 1/2 inches between the track and the backdrop. I used carved foam with various ground covers and some small trees to give some sort of three dimensional effect, rather than the train running in front of a painted backdrop.



A better picture of the plowed field. I really am looking forward to being able to take better pictures with a better camera. You can see the water tower in this shot.



A good look at the water tower, It is a Walthers kit. I have several of these on the layout, they make a nice looking example of the prototype. I think that the little shack is from Atlas. I am not using an operating system on my layout yet, but when I do the water tower will provide a stop for the steam engines along the long narrow shelf.



Another look at the water tower. I used brass wire for the spout supports. The kit comes with some string that doesn't really look very good. I have also used some black chain from A-line on these towers. The 40 links to an inch is a good fit for HO scale. That's it for now, more later.

[nycjeff]

Moving on from my farm scene on the long narrow shelf of my upper level we come to an interchange with another railroad. I represented this interchange with a 30 degree crossing and a separate track which connects to my mainline. This interchange takes up almost 12 feet of the shelf.



The beginning of the interchange area is marked by a turnout for a passing siding which leads to the interchange track- with the dark ballast.



Here is a view of the three tracks. The three tracks take up the full width of the shelf, but that's alright because an interchange is really a structure-less industry which can afford a lot of railroad action.



Here a train of empty coal hoppers is on the interchange track. My plan is to use this track to switch entire coal trains. On the prototype, the New York Central brought coal up from the coal mines of southern Ohio to Cleveland for the huge engine facilities located there. My plan is to start a train of empties from staging and run the train all the way to the junction where a train with full hoppers will be waiting. The engines will pull the full cars onto the main and leave the empties on the interchange track and then take the full hoppers back to Cleveland which is the staging yard on my layout.



This picture shows the end of the passing siding and a glimpse of the crossing track.



Here is the crossing, a 30 degree diamond made by Atlas. I used all Atlas code 83 track, crossings and turn-outs on my layout. More on the interchange tower to come.



Here's a track level view of the crossing. Again I used different colored ballast her to show the difference between railroads. That's it for now, more later.

[nycjeff]

Continuing on...



The interchange is looked over by a couple of Foscale kits- Yard Office One and Tower One. These were my first Foscale kits and I really enjoyed building them.



A closer look at the yard office- the signs really help make the kit.



And the tower structure. Both of these kits are small, but are both really interesting visually and they both look good on the layout.



As you can see, the interchange track runs off the edge of the layout seemingly to meet up with the crossing track. The hillsides are carved foam with various ground cover materials and a few real rocks stuck into the foam. The pine trees are from Grand Central.



A closer look at the pine trees and the hillside. I really like the look of trains running through scenery on both sides of the track.



Another look at the interchange scene from above the crossing track. The interchange gives me the possibilities for a lot of railroad action in a narrow space with very few buildings, just what rural Ohio looks like between towns. That's it for now, more later.

[postalkarl]

Hey Jeff:

Lots of great pics. Keep em coming. Love your RR.

Karl

[Janbouli]

The plowed fields are absolutely great , your scenery is top notch.

[cuse]

Very nice Jeff...I've used those plowed fields too and I definitely like howyou've put scenery between the trains and the viewer. Great work!

[GPdemayo]

Excellent job Jeff.....neat empire you've go going there. 

[nycjeff]

Hey Jeff:

Lots of great pics. Keep em coming. Love your RR.

Karl

Hello Karl, glad that you like my empire.

The plowed fields are absolutely great , your scenery is top notch.

Hey Jan, the plowed fields look good for just some textured cardboard. When I received the kit from Busch I was very skeptical, but once they were glued down and weathered a little, they looked great. As far as the scenery, I've learned quite a bit from members here on the forum and it's always an ongoing process. Thanks for the nice words

Very nice Jeff...I've used those plowed fields too and I definitely like howyou've put scenery between the trains and the viewer. Great work!

Hello Cuse, thanks for looking in. It's been a trial and error method doing scenery on narrow shelfs on my layout. There's not much room, but trains do look better when there is scenery on both sides of the track.

Excellent job Jeff.....neat empire you've go going there. 

Hello Greg, I'm glad you're enjoying my layout tour.

[S&S RR]

Jeff


I got caught back up with the tour, tonight.  Real nice work, great layout. I love all the details.

[postalkarl]

Hey Jeff:

I surely do!!!

Karl

[ACL1504]

Jeff,

Nice photo array of this part of the layout. Puts is all in perspective. Very nice.

Tom 

[Judge]

Jeff - Very nicely done.  Proof you can have a lot of railroading in a small space and still make it look real. 

[nycjeff]

Your Honor, thanks for stopping by and for the nice comments. Working on a shelf style layout presents many different challenges, but a narrow shelf does accurately represent a real railroad right-of-way.