Pratt's Hollow Short Line RR in On30

Larry C · January 05, 2025, 02:58:29 PM

Since I'm new here I may as well jump in with both feet. About October of 2024 I started a new shelf layout; it's 7ft. long with the left half at 16in. wide and the right at 22in. wide. I won't bore you with all the pics but only those to give a "thumbnail sketch" of where I'm at so far.

Even though this will be a small freelance railroad I did use a place for inspiration. My Grandparents lived in a sleepy little hamlet out in the middle of nowhere called Pratt's Hollow located dead center in New York State. There were about a dozen houses, a few small farms, a disused one room schoolhouse, an old closed general store, a Methodist Church with a Bar & Hotel across the street, and a Post Office, next to the Church, in someone's house. At one time there was a railroad that ran behind Pratt's Hollow along the ridge.

So enough jabbering; here's the track plan:

This layout uses DC only with the track & turnouts being HO scale utilizing the chassis with On30 built on top.

Larry C · January 05, 2025, 03:25:19 PM

There are some definite ideas and inspiration for the new layout and I hope to accomplish a very rural looking short line railroad type of layout but still have a good variety of structures for interest.

Started at the left end of the layout with the first scene:

This is a scratch built simple engine shed using 6x6's for the framework, 2x10's for the siding. and 3x12's for the floor. All the wood was grained, colored with Rembrandt chalks & clear alcohol, then weathered with more chalks.

The windows are grant line with acetate added for the glass and the bench was also scratch built using 6x6's for the frame and 2x10's for the top treated the same way as the building wood. The smokestack was made from a straw and heavy paper for the cone.The signs are from my computer files and the details are either from the parts bin or are Sierra West. I since have added a belt to the lathe made from Tyvek with an electric motor attached to the rafters which you'll see in another photo.

Thanks for taking a look; there'll be more to follow. Any comments and/or suggestions are appreciated.

Jerry · January 05, 2025, 03:31:41 PM

Just one comment glad you posted the build here!!!!!

Jerry

Jim Donovan · January 05, 2025, 05:37:13 PM

Welcome and love it! I too have a small shelf layout (which I need to get moving on again)

Jim

Larry C · January 05, 2025, 05:46:46 PM

Thank you Jerry; figured I may as well just jump right in.

Jim thank you and it's nice to be here. I've always liked shelf layouts
and this one is my second one.

Philip · January 05, 2025, 07:12:38 PM

Got coffee

Looking good! Deja vu

Larry C · January 05, 2025, 08:02:53 PM

Thanks Philip. There'll be a few more "deja vu" moments until I get this thread
caught up to what I'm actually doing.

GPdemayo · January 06, 2025, 08:03:35 AM

Well done Larry, I'll be looking in.....

Larry C · January 06, 2025, 08:19:41 AM

Thanks Greg; great to have you following along.

Larry C · January 06, 2025, 08:47:43 AM

As promised here's the Engine Shed with the belt and motor added to the lathe:

The motor was a better option since there really wasn't enough room for a steam engine and boiler with the other things I wanted to include in the scene.

This was my next scene to be built; a salvage yard which I thought would be a good fit being across the siding from the Engine Shed.

The building is another scratch build from my previous layout that I refurbished; also used windows from Sierra West. The scene was built onto eighth in plexiglass so I could work at it at my bench. The fence is another scratch build using 6x6's for the frame and 2x10's for the boards; these were cut to various lengths with missing pieces, splits, and nail holes. The sign was done on my computer then printed on 100# paper (thin card) glued in place.

The salvage piles are resin castings from Rusty Rail painted then weathered which required a fair amount of time to complete. The items in the foreground are from the parts bin.

Used a combination of sand & dirt for the ground cover with scrub grass and weeds applied as needed. After the scene was placed on the layout, I used 2x10's around the edges to have a gradual change in elevation to the plexiglass then blend that into the layout.

That's about it for now. Thanks for dropping by and any comments and/or suggestions are appreciated.

ACL1504 · January 06, 2025, 09:23:29 AM

Larry,

Looks great and the engine shed is fantastic looking in every detail.

Tom

Larry C · January 06, 2025, 01:34:30 PM

Tom thank you for your nice comments.

Mark Dalrymple · January 06, 2025, 01:44:45 PM

Neat layout, Larry.

Some really nice modelling here.

Cheers, Mark.

Larry C · January 06, 2025, 04:30:36 PM

Thank you Mark, much appreciated.

Larry C · January 09, 2025, 11:58:46 AM

This is a water tower I scratch built for the layout. The base was constructed from 100# paper (thin card) over a framework of 6x6's. The stone is from a file on my computer printed then glued to the structure which measures 8ft. x 8ft. The tank part was made from 6x6'x for the frame and 2x10's for the sides both of which were grained, colored with chalks then given a coat of A&I. The spout is a piece of plastic sprue which I had on hand and the cables are heavy black thread after it was soaked in white glue then allowed to dry with weights to keep it straight. The ladder are 2x4's made on a template from a previously built kit. Here you can see the loco stopped ready to take on water.

The window and door, on the front side, are from grande line. Inside of the tank I cut a piece of foam to fit then covered with card painted tan. The water was achieved by painting on several laters of polyurethane and allowed to dry between coats.

The sand bin was constructed with 6x6's for the frame along with 1x10's for the sides both given my usual treatment. Inside the bin resides a piece of foam cut to fit then covered with a few layers of sand built on 1x10 boards that are weathered. Also added a few NBW's for detail along with a shovel.
The coal bin came out of the parts bin with some added coal in front for some spillage on the ground.

The area was finished off with dirt, weeds, and scrub grass. The tracks were given a dusting of white chalk to tone down the black ties. The car stop at the end of the siding was made from 6x6's and 2x10's glued into the foam. Added a cluster of rocks with weeds growing out of the cracks and added some random boards on the ground. On the side of the Engine Shed are a few barrels, one of which contains old wood, from SW colored and weathered with chalks then glued into place.

This is about as far as I've done on the layout to date. I'll continue on and will post my progress here. Any scratch built structures I'll post in the "scratch build thread" then I'll post the final pics on this thread. Thanks for looking in.