nycjeff layout

[nycjeff]

Continuing on...



A closer look at the general store. I used several Life Like plastic kits when I started to build structures for the layout, they are reasonably priced and look good for the money. Now that I have started to build wood craftsman kits, I am slowly replacing my old plastic structures.



This small house is also a Life Like kit- the western homestead.



This is a view of a city street running across the peninsula. I used cardboard stained with India Ink. I made a center stripe template from an index card and dry brushed some light grey stripes. I then used some weathering chalks on the road.



My lumber mill is next up on the trackside tour. I used several different kits for this little complex. The stacked lumber piles are from Atlas and the logs are just twigs from my yard. I used a piece of homosote for the base and painted it with a tan base color and then sprinkled on sifted dirt from my yard.



This is an Atlas kit. I made the sign on my computer- it is named after an actual lumber store in central Ohio that was near the family cabin we had in that area. This was an Amish owned business. Holmes County in central Ohio is one of the larger Amish communities outside of those in Pennsylvania. I've been looking for some Amish type buggies for the layout and haven't been able to find any. If anyone knows of something I can use, I would appreciate it. It was common to see horse drawn buggies on the road and parked in town on weekends in that part of the country.



This lumber mill is an IHC kit. The IHC kits are also reasonably priced plastic kits that I used when starting out. That's it for now, more later.

[nycjeff]

Continuing on with a short update...



Moving logs from a truck onto the track leading into the saw mill is done with this small traveling crane from Durango Press. I want to further detail this little lumber complex at some time.



This is the town water tower, it is a kit from Bar Mills. The fencing around the tower is more from central Valley. The town name is on the tower- Killbuck. I placed individual letters from a decal sheet on the tank. Killbuck is the name of the small town in Holmes County, Ohio near the location of my old family cabin.



Next to the water tower is some abandoned track-bed that runs through a small wooded area. 



Behind the lumber mill area is another wooded area with the approach road to a grain elevator located in the corner of the layout. That's it for now, more later.

[S&S RR]

Jeff


Very nice work.  I am enjoying the layout tour.

[postalkarl]

Jeff:

All looks beautiful. Love the lumber yard.

Karl

[ACL1504]

Jeff,

Enjoying the journey around the layout.

Tom 

[Judge]

Good stuff, Jeff.  You can almost smell the sawdust in the lumber yard.

[nycjeff]

Jeff


Very nice work.  I am enjoying the layout tour.

Hello John, thank you for looking in and I'm glad you're enjoying my layout tour

Jeff:

All looks beautiful. Love the lumber yard.

Karl

Hey Karl, thanks for the kind words. I did the lumber yard many years ago and I am planning on updating and improving now that my modeling skills have improved.

Jeff,

Enjoying the journey around the layout.

Tom 

Hello Tom, glad you're along for my journey. I'm sure enjoying yours

Good stuff, Jeff.  You can almost smell the sawdust in the lumber yard.

Your Honor, lumber yards are sure a lot of fun to build. I'm so glad that you are well on your way to recovery.

[GPdemayo]

The lumberyard makes an outstanding scene Jeff.....

[postalkarl]

Hey Jeff:

You are quite welcome.

Karl

[nycjeff]

We are now entering the upper left corner of the layout plan for the upper level. So...



The corner scene is a rural grain elevator. The main line is behind the grain elevator and the track in front is a spur for the elevator. My main line track ballast is a lighter color- the New York Central used a type of limestone for it's mainline ballast so I tried to stay with the prototype in this regard. My yard areas and spurs use a darker color ballast- a mix of black and dark grey materials. The grain elevator is a Walthers kit as is the small grain warehouse building. The field in the curved corner area was elevated with carved foam, painted with a tan color and sprinkled with sawdust to represent a cornfield that has already been harvested, but not yet cleaned up. The two Big Four boxcars were a real find, I forget who made them, but I bought them a long time ago. The Ohio Division of the New York Central was called the Big Four because it served Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.



A closer look at the grain elevator



And a closer look at the grain warehouse. I would like to revisit these two buildings in the future and update the roofs and other details. This part of the layout was the first area that I worked on and for that reason I think I could do a little better now.



We are now coming around the corner and entering the shelf which runs the length of the wall- 32 feet. The shelf is 14 inches wide and this picture shows how I attached it to the wall. The verticals are 2x2 which I screwed to the block walls with Tap-Cons- a type of masonry screw. The horizontal shelf support is two pieces- first a 1x2 that butts up against the vertical and then a 4 inch tall piece of 1/2 inch 5 ply plywood that screws onto the vertical 2x2 with 3 screws. The 1x2 and piece of plywood are screwed together. This gives me more of a surface to mount the 1/2 inch plywood shelf to the supports. It has now been almost 15 years since I installed this shelf system and I have not had any sagging.



This is a view of the front of the shelf support system. As you can see, I attached a horizontal piece of 1x2 between the shelf supports which are on 32 inch centers. This solidifies the whole support system and also gives me a surface to attach the masonite fascia. The two holes in the horizontal piece are for the low voltage track wiring to the left and the 120 volt wiring for the lighting on the right.



The lighting for the underside of the upper level is shown here. I used plastic lampholders which are screwed to the front horizontal support piece. I started out with CFL bulbs in 2007 and I am now replacing them as they burn out with LED bulbs which use less energy and seem to be brighter. More in a minute

[postalkarl]

Hey Jeff:

Love the farmers cooperative scene.

Karl

[nycjeff]

Continuing on...



The first part of the shelf is a wooded area. You can see the spur for the grain elevator. My ground cover is a mix of Woodland Scenics fine and course turf colors, some Scenic Express foilage colors and some moss that I buy at Michaels in their floral section.



At the end of the wooded area we come upon my farm scene. This farm scene is about 8 feet long on the 14 inch deep shelf. The first part of the farm is an area with the farm outbuildings. I scratch-built the structures here and if you are interested, a build thread can be found in the Scratchbuilding section of the forum under farm outbuildings by nycjeff. The first building is a barn under construction.



I had a lot of fun with this scratch-build. I used 1/8 square strip-wood for the timber framing and I even built a section of wood scaffolding which can be seen in the front. The farm animals are very interested in what's going on as you can see.





I would like to add some little people workers to this scene when I can find some appropriate ones. To be really accurate, I would have to find some Amish workers. My layout is located in Holmes County, Ohio which is a large Amish community area and the Amish built most of the timber frame barns in the area.



Next to the barn are two more scratch-built farm outbuildings- a chicken coop and a hay shed. The chicken coop was inspired by the great job that John Siekirk did on his coop in his layout tour thread. If you haven't looked at that thread, you definitely should. John is one of the modelers that sets the bar that the rest of us can only aspire too. That's it for now, more later.

[nycjeff]

Hey Jeff:

Love the farmers cooperative scene.

Karl

Hello Karl, thanks for looking in. Corner scenes like the farmers co-op are always fun to do. When trains curve around a corner they look so good.

Continuing on...



A closer look at the hay shed and chicken coop. The hole in the hay shed roof was made by cutting a jagged hole in the roof card and then gluing some 2x6 strip-wood underneath. I then cut uneven edges in the roll-roofing where it met the hole. An easy method for a good looking mini-scene. The fence posts are pieces of wood skewers from the grocery store cut to length and painted. I did not attempt to model the wire of the fence, I have not come up with any method that looks good to me yet.



The chicken coop was a fun little build. I used 1/16 square strip-wood for the framing and 2x6 and 2x4 for the smaller pieces. I used some material leftover from a Walthers chain link fence kit for the "chicken wire". I then put on some AI and weathering chalks.



The hay shed was built using the 1/16 square strip-wood as well. I used 2x8 for the wall cladding boards. I distressed them by using my Exacto knife to cut corners and some middle areas.  I then sprayed the walls with rattle can dark grey primer and when dry, I dry-brushed the walls with a barn red color. I was pleased with how it came out. The hay pile is carved foam with glue and sawdust.



A track level view behind the farm outbuildings. The small incline to the left of the track is just some carved foam with various ground covers. Above you can see my upper level lighting, it is just plastic lampholders with CFL lamps to start and LED lamps to replace them as they burn out. For the valence I bought some fabric at Joannes Fabric and cut 12 wide pieces which I mounted on metal channel left over from my drop ceiling material.



Next to the farm outbuildings is a small paved county road. I make my roads with cardboard painted with India Ink and then weathered. The center stripes are dry-brushed on with light grey craft paint using an index card with small holes cut in.



A drone view of the county road and the next portion of my farm scene. I used 2x12 strip-wood stained with AI solution and then dry-brushed with brown paint for the wood crossing. More in a minute

[nycjeff]

Continuing on with my farm scene...



Next to the county road is the small farm house. I scratch-built this little structure. The porch roof sagged at the corner, but I decided to leave it. Farmers are always more concerned with the rest of the farm buildings than their own house anyway.



A closer look at the farm house.



And a look at the rear of the farm house.



Next to the farm house is the beginning of the plowed field. I don't remember where I got the hay wagon, but I think the hay bales are from Busch.



Looking down the plowed field from the farm house end. The field is some formed cardboard from Busch.



Looking down on the plowed field from the other end. I believe the tractors and plow are from Woodland Scenics. That's it for now, more later.

[Keep It Rusty]

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

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