My Indiana Layout - Part 2

[deemery]

A sawz-all is the most dangerous tool in the hands of the homeowner!  Guys working on our house had some stories about what happens when you find an unexpected wire in the wall when using one...


dave

[postalkarl]

Hey Dave:

that wire in the wall is not A good thing.

Karl

[John B]

The overpass didn't turn out half bad. The bases are not installed because I still have some track to lay. I removed the overpass and put it safely up. I will repaint all the frame work with antique concrete; but will leave the road itself gray.

[John B]

I installed a master electrical shut-off mushroom switch at the far end of the layout. Bad thing was; when I turned off the power, it was hard to tell if the power is off or on. I bought this led panel light switch for 10 bucks on eBay. Pretty cool

[John B]

Joanstown is getting a little crowded; but not enough buildings.

[John B]

I have a little dilemma going on. It all revolves around the huge amount of mountain area that I built at the get go. Can't get around the huge mountain; but it continues to the complete right hand side of the layout.



The mountain takes up TOO MUCH area.



There is going to be a coal tipple placed in the large mountain.



I am going to place Laserarts' Cobleskill Coal along this turnout. I have a cardboard footprint laying there. 



There are a couple of options available. I can cut away the mountain straight down along side the tracks. I have a Brandom stone wall mold that I can cut down to height to follow the track elevation. The Laserart Cobleskill coal would fit in.




Or...I could remove the entire smaller mountain and hide the track with false front buildings. The latter is a lot of work; but I could cram so buildings it there. The former is easier and would still maintain a mountain range.

[postalkarl]

Hey John:

Looks like you are moving right along. Looks just great.

Karl

[John B]

Thanks Karl,


I guess the old adage 'when in doubt; cut it out' applies here.








Plan on putting a Branchline Cobleskill Coal in the cutout. I have never worked on a wood kit that have peel-and-stick siding

[John B]

When in doubt, rip it out. The smaller mountain was driving me crazy. Too much mountain on the layout.



I couldn't take it any longer so I ripped the mountain out. A lot of hours went into the mountain; but it takes up too much space. I am going to place an Ed Fulasz kit with a center cross-over to hid the train going away. I am going to place a multi-level arrangement of different structures in the corner

[John B]

I am going to buy a new set of inclines from Woodland Scenics and move them flush with the backdrop. I plan on incorporating some some of rising and falling road plan like Tellynott. As soon as I saw the thread on it, I knew that I had to do something like.

[John B]

I get side tracked so easily on my layout. Constantly starting one project the going to another
This was the result of removing the long mountain area


I cleaned up the mess and figured out the height of the small town by using the rock wall mold as a guide line. I glued 3/16 inch square strips of basswood to hold the rear of all the building kits.




The buildings will rest of the basswood in the back and the white foam in the front. Of course a piece of 1/32 paper board will be attached to the rock wall and on top of the white foam.



I extended the piece of track that had a bumper on it by removing the bumper and adding track inside the mountain the ends about a foot inside of the mountain. Just for looks. Plan on having a small station on that track.


This last picture gives you an idea of what the strip of buildings will look like head on. Of course, as you can see, the track will ascend underneath the buildings. I measured all the proposed kits and the all will allow a train to go under and through them. The first kit on the far left will look normal; but each kit to the right of that one will be opened up on each end to allow the train to go through it. The last building will be followed by a billboard with a few trucks parked in front of it allowing the train to go into the mountain without being seen. I have 3 rerailers underneath this enclosure to assure (yeah, right) no problems.SP&S is no more, now small steam and geared engines...because I like the looks of them.

[John B]

I sanded the backdrop where the cardboard strips were hot glued to the wall.




I had a little of the blue left from my sky paint job 8 years ago. I think I blended it pretty nice.       




I glued down the block wall and added cardboard strips to the new section





The little factory will butt up against the mountain to hide the train going into the mountain.  The train on that track will be hidden for about 20 feet.






The track going into the portal on the right only goes about 10 inches

[John B]

I have all of the block walls up and glued down, the foam road supports on glued in place and there are pieces of strip wood glued at road height on the plaster wall castings. Also road support strip wood glued to the backdrop. The first picture shows the walls leading into the mountain. The 2 Walthers freight house kits show the how they have to be cut away to allow trains to go under them. Just a little beyond Grandma's house from the Bates Motel will not require any cutaways, as the train will go completely underneath it. The station is The Horseshoe Station and the two story 'gentlemen's' club is an RDA kit.


The second picture shows the overpass the leads into the brewery. I need to add road onto the overpass and it is just there for a photo op and I will put it out of the way until I am ready for it.


The last picture show the overpass connecting to the wrap around block wall section. The Railroad Kits Toole building hides the train entrance into the section. The entire block wall section will be full of buildings, like a smaller version of Joanstown.


Thanks for viewing my update to my layout in Indiana...things are going to change again and again.  "You ain't seen nothing yet"

[cuse]

I've alluded to it before, but the reddish and tan accents on those walls really looks great.


John

[John B]

John,
Thanks for the compliment. I really got lucky on those plaster walls