I came home from St. Louis RPM full of motivation to finish up some important things on the layout.

The primary area of concern was the south side of my 16 x 2-foot layout.  I was unhappy with the photo backdrops I was using so while I was in St. Louis I took a couple of hundred pictures out east of the city in the farm country around Litchfield, hoping that some of those photos would work for backdrops. 

Below.  Here’s what I started with when I came back home.  I removed all the trees, buildings and detail parts from the layout and got to work.

Below.  With everything out of the way, I decided to install new concrete blocks that held the control rods for the mechanical interlocking system.  The mechanical interlocking was gone in 1940–I model 1950–but I thought it would be interesting to add the blocks.  I used Evergreen styrene strip for the job, measuring six inches by 12 inches, and then cut a whole bunch of them using a NWSL Chopper.

Then I made a little jog to install them at the right height and distance from the rail.  It would’ve been much easier to do this before applying any scenery.

Below.  Nevertheless, I was still able to install them all at relatively the same height and distance from the rail.  I continued installing the pads on all the tracks within about 200 scale feet of the interlocking.  I painted them with Tru Color Concrete.

You can also see the photo backdrops I was using originally.  That was my first-ever try at using photo backdrops.  They were an improvement, but I wasn’t happy with them.

Next I re-ballasted the IC mainline track per the 1940-era photo below.  The ballast profile on my layout as seen above just wasn’t prototypical.  The steam-era ballast profile is very prominent in the prototype photo:

• Ballast up to the top of the ties in the middle
• Exposed tie ends 
• Shallow ballast profile out to six feet

Isn’t this a great shot?  You’re looking down the IC towards Chicago.  The IC – M&StL transfer (interchange) track is just to your right.  This photo was provided by Doug Harding, courtesy the Ackley Historical Society.

The ballast used on the IC line on my layout is Woodland Scenics N scale light gray ballast.  I don’t know if it is prototypical but I wanted to create some contrast between the IC and M&StL lines.  

I simply added more ballast where I wanted, wetted it down by spraying it with a fine mist of rubbing alcohol, and then applying ballast glue.  My ballast glue formula is about 25% Elmers Glue All, 25% rubbing alcohol, a few drops of dishwashing soap, and the rest water.  This formula works good and doesn’t leave behind any white residue.

I also touched up the scenery a little bit here and there, and added a little more ground foam and static grass in a few places, and in general cleaned up a lot of minor problem spots in this area. 

New Backdrop Photos

The photo above shows some of the new backdrops photos I’m using after some of the IC line details and a few trees were reinstalled.  Here are three of the photos I used in this area, all of which were taken around Staunton, Illinois (near Litchfield).

When I was shooting the “backdrop photos”, I tried to follow a simple set of guidelines that I learned from the first round using backdrop photos:

• Take photos of an entire scene from end-to-end.
• When possible, include in photos an area that include a transition, such as foreground trees with a corn field in the background.
• If taking pictures of trees or other tall features, include the whole tree–don’t chop the top of it out of your photo. 
• Take some pictures that have diagonal land features.  We railfans tend to take pictures that are always nicely boxed in, or 3/4 views.  Note the photo above–see how there’s a diagonal transition at the bottom right?   Those features break up vertically-stacked scenes, and come in handy for creating backdrop transitions, so “think outside the box”.

To use the photos, I simply printed them out on an 11 x 17-inch sheet of legal printer paper, in landscape model, and that was it.  Then I cut out all the sky around the trees, test-fitted them, and then glued them on the backdrop using Elmer’s Glue-All.

Because I took series of photos I was able to easily match up different photo prints end-to-end.  The photo below is much improved!

I worked my way around the entire south end of the layout, slowly adding the photocopied backdrops. 

Below.  This is one of the three road crossings in downtown Ackley, Iowa.  This picture was taken in downtown Litchfield, Illinois.  It worked out nicely.  The large black line in the left center is a separation in the Masonite backdrop; this is where the two major benchwork sections separate (for moving and transport).  I needed to cut the backdrop photo several times to lay it over that break in the backdrop.  I also need to match the road color to the photo. 

Below is another photo of the new backdrops.  Behind the cement dealer there is a transition from foreground trees to a background soybean field, hidden by a couple of 3-D puffball trees. 

I added the dead tree to attract the eye away from the backdrop.  That tree was cut from an ornamental bush I found alongside a highway in Switzerland.  I got a giant handful of them before the family knew what was going on.  I dried it and painted it gray and that was it.

I’m happy with the new backdrops so far.  They are not very “Iowa Cornfield” but this area did have quite a few trees in the 40s and 50s, so the backdrops are prototypical although not quite representative. 

I continued to touch up grass, ballast, plant trees and add details as I worked my way down the layout.  I don’t want to install too many trees, but rather use a few trees here and there to provide a 3-D effect. 

Speaking of trees, Jim DuFour explained how he made trees in one of our many conversations at St. Louis RPM.  I finally got a new box of Super Trees shipped so I’m going to give his methods a try soon.  Jim told me he wasn’t happy with puffball trees.  I’m not either, although there are a couple still on the layout as you can see in the photos. 

By the way, if you ever need motivation to do better scenery work, look no further than Jim DuFour.  The photo below on Jim’s layout is an example of how Jim mixes model trees, photo backdrops and ground cover into a perfectly natural scene.   It was photos like this from Jim’s layout–and meeting the master himself at St. Louis–that got me motivated to get to work.

A few additional details and trees later, everything was back to better-than-normal.  There’s more work to be done but I really wanted to get some trains running again.  The work can wait.

One last photo–down by the depot–just for fun. 

I hope you guys have a blessed week!  – John G

 

The final light fixtures for the Ackley layout were installed last weekend.

You may recall that the layout is built at sit-down height under a sloped ceiling.  I placed LED lights in a triangular-shaped valance and installed the fixture on the sloped wall above the layout.  Then I installed a 4-1/2-inch Masonite fascia in front of the valance to clean everything up.  I still want to paint the fascia green to match the rest of the layout fascia and will get to that as time permits.

Looks like I’ve got a little bit of “mission creep” above the fascia on the valance at left.  

INSTALLING THE VALANCES

Below.  I went to out neighborhood Lowes-look-alike, called Obi, and bought a thin piece of Masonite and had them cut it into 4-1/2-inch slices.  No muss, no fuss, and no charge for all the cuts.  They were happy to do it.  Gotta love that about Germany.

Below.  The valance for the center section of the visible layout is seen below.  I made a triangular-shaped fixture and screwed it into the wall, installed the LED light inside, and ran the wires down the sloped ceiling with conduit.  This center section of the layout is hidden behind a chimney and it’s very dark back there without lighting.

Below.  Here is the valance with the new 4-1/2-inch fascia installed.  It looks a lot better.  I decided to run the fascia all the way to the skylight window at left.  I did not install lighting across the window opening, however, hoping that enough ambient light will get in from outside to keep everything well-lit.

Then I installed the last fixture, below, on the left side of the layout.  The south side staging yard is to the left.

Below.  Here’s a general view as you enter the room.  I get a little extra light during the day.  I get a whole lot of extra light during the summer months.  We’re up at 52 degree Latitude and the sun comes up at 0400 hrs and goes down after 2200.

Below.  This is a whole-layout view from the other end of the room.  You can see the entire visible layout, the chimney (which I have surrounded by cabinets) the lighting valance, and my workbench at far right. 

As a reminder the sloped wall is 21-1/2 feet long and the “visible” or scenicked portion of the layout is exactly 16 feet.  At each end of the layout is a 2-1/2-foot “curve module” that is covered by fascia; the main track curves behind each of the curve modules to reach a small staging yard on each end.

I did not intend to run the fascia all the way to the wall–just to the edge of the visible layout.  However, I ran it all the way to the wall on the left side and I think it looks pretty good.  So now I have to run it all the way to the right wall as well to satisfy my OCD.

Below.  This is the South Staging Yard.  There’s about 12 feet of wall space here, and I’m thinking of installing a small city-themed layout above it.  I’m thinking of a British-style traveling layout with a valance on each side, just small enough to fit into the family van.  More to follow on that later.  Right now I’m thinking of an industrial layout…somewhere in St. Louis…

I spent the rest of the week working on freight cars and made some significant progress and finished three cars and got a few other weathered.  Here’s a photo of my P48 WP car, below, which just needs Dullcote and couplers to be “done”.  I’ll cover all this as soon as I can get some computer time.

Looks like I need to re-install the grab under the placard area before we’re ready for Prime Time…

Hope you all have a blessed week.  – John G

 

Being broke from ski trips, swim team trips, car repairs and Christmas expenses, I tried to stay home in January to “decompress” and recover the bank account.  My son managed to get away for a week in Prague for a school event, but apart from that we spent a much-needed month at home.

Photo Backdrops

During January I got a lot of modeling work done.  One of the last great hurdles remaining on the Ackley layout is installation of photo backdrops.  Inspired by a photo sent by Jim DuFour, I printed off a number of photos and cut them out and installed them on the south side portion of the layout, which is the part of the layout by the IC crossing and interchange.

Here is one of Jim’s images, and it’s the Gold Standard.  Man, everything just fits perfectly.  The colors, the models, the clean track and ballast, the trees and backdrop, and the road and the depot–everything fits just right.  

The process of installing photo backdrops was easy.  I did not over-analyze the process–I just did it.  I simply printed the pictures, cut out the “land” portion of the photos, measured and fit the photos, and glued them to the backdrop.  I used a few photos I took over the years, and also a few photos I found online.  Here is one of the photos I used–you’ll see it again on the layout. 

Generally I tried to use only photos that were sharp, properly backlit, and of the right season (late Spring to early Fall).  I set the horizon at two inches above the benchwork and tried to maintain that around the south side corner, although if you take out a few trees you would notice that I didn’t quite get it right in a few spots. 

Below, here is that photo again with the sky cut out.

And below is a photo of it glued to the backdrop.  I used multiples of the same photo and didn’t worry too much about making the seams perfect, because this area will be covered with trees.  It doesn’t look great, but it doesn’t look too bad either.  Then I feathered the edges with the backdrop paint to blend it all together.

I was also inspired by this Clark Propst photo (below) on his new M&StL layout.  The backdrop is so subtle that you almost don’t notice it’s there. 

I picked a low-horizon photo and used that behind the corner on the backdrop where the second farmer’s field is located.  Here’s the photo…

…and here it is cut out and installed on the backdrop.

That’s not too bad.  Then my daughter Kirsten added the farmer’s field.  I chose Silflor soybeans again, late summer colors, because they’re easy to install.  We just laid down a bead of glue and installed the rows neatly, and that was that.

Here’s the “After” photo below, with a train in the way for effect.  That’s a little better.  The interlocking tower and all the junction buildings and stuff will go in the foreground.

Making Trees

Next Kirsten and I built some trees.  I’m no expert at this, so I asked my daughter Kirsten–who has a pretty good eye for these kind of things–to help.  We set up a little tree-building area on the floor of the train room and got to work. 

Above.  We used mostly Woodland Scenics tree trunks because they’re simple and relatively inexpensive, and they’re pretty easy to work.  I bought two packages of WS TR 1122 3 to 5-inch tree armatures, and two packages of WS TR 1123 5 to 7-inch tree armatures.  I painted them light gray, then brushed-stroked each trunk lightly with a dark brown paint (Testors “Rubber”).

I also prepped and painted a few weed branches I picked up along the side of the road somewhere in Switzerland this summer.  I thought they looked alright and painted up they looked a little better.

Once the trunks were dry we began building trees the time-honored way, by pulling apart Woodland Scenics green poly-fiber , spraying it with glue, and adding leaf material.  Specifically we used Woodland Scenics FP178 green poly-fiber, unscented hair spray for the glue, and used Scenic Express Super-Leaf material for the leaves.  Once everything was built-up we hit the outside of the tree with more hair spray to seal the leaves in place.  It was easy and fun and I got to spend more time with my little Kirsten, which is always a win.

The result looked something like this:

During the process we pulled up a couple of photos on the iPad and compared our work with the photos like the one shown below.  This photo is from the Woodland Scenics site. 

After looking at that photo we weren’t happy with a lot of our trees so we rebuilt about half of them.  Even then, we were only satisfied with about half of the total trees we made.  Then we ran out of poly-fiber.  We had a lot of fun and learned a lot, and we’re looking forward to making the rest of the 40 or so trees needed for the layout.

To put everything together, once I had added the photo backdrops I went back and planted the trees.  That process was simple–I used a reamer to punch a hole in the Hydrocal shell, added a small dab of hot glue to the bottom of the tree, and planted it.  I tried to plan the trees a little randomly, and the scenery is not too perfect or overly complicated, but I just wanted to get something done.  I can always go back later and rebuild it.

 

Below.  A photo for fun. 

I hope you enjoy and I hope you have a wonderful week!  – John G

 

 

Merry Christmas!  I hope you all and your families had a wonderful Christmas celebration!

My wife’s brother and sister and all their kids came to visit us in Germany for Christmas.  We took them to Ehrwald, Austria for a week of skiing.  It was a wonderful trip and we got back in time to celebrate Christmas at home.  Below is a photo of my son, Jacob, at the top of the mountain at the Ehrwald ski area.  The scenery here was spectacular in every direction and we practically had the entire ski area to ourselves.

I wasn’t able to do any railfanning on this trip, but we drove to Garmisch-Partenkirchen one day to ski and visit the Christmas market there.  On the way we paralleled the S-bahn passenger line for a short time and Jacob was able to catch a photo of a snowplow at work on the line.  It was moving the opposite direction but he did a good job shooting through the windshield as we zoomed by.

Informal Operating Session

When we got back home on the 23rd, all the young boys came upstairs to run the trains.  The little boys got their turns first.  Here, below, Zuri is in the foreground at the throttle and Reid is getting a lesson on how to control switches and uncouple cars.  I told Reid he was the conductor and the conductor is “the boss”.  Zuri didn’t like that notion very much!

The little boys had fun and did well.  I didn’t give them any lessons on switchology or how to run the trains; instead I just threw them at the layout and helped them at every step along the way.  After all they just wanted to have some fun.  Zuri was a more patient motorman and was respectful of the delicate models; Reid seemed to grasp the complexities of how to run a railroad a little sooner.  They took turns being engineer and conductor and they had a good time.

Later that evening my nephew Stuart wanted to run so we came upstairs and I set up an informal operating session for him.  Stuart is 15 so I explained what the layout represented in a little more detail , and I explained how to run the engine, and how to work the switches, and so forth.  I served as his conductor.  He did quite well and he enjoyed it.  We ran for about an hour.

This morning Stuart asked if he could run the trains again so I got everything powered up and went over a few details, and then I left him alone with the layout.  He ran for about two hours, moving cars back and forth to the industries, building trains in the staging yards, making mistakes, learning, overcoming, and enjoying the process. 

Stuart is a very bright guy and I deliberately left him alone so he could have fun and learn on his own.  Occasionally I would come upstairs and asked if he needed anything.  One of the things I mentioned to him along the way was “It might be helpful to look at the layout as a two-dimensional logic problem” and I could swear I saw the light bulb switch on.  At that point I went into a little more detail about how to run the railroad, and we discussed how to make a switching plan, how and why to use the two run-around tracks, and how to switch cars efficiently from both ends of a train.

After another hour I came back upstairs and built a few trains in each of the off-layout staging yards.  Then I ran a few opposing trains at him, forcing him to stop his work and clear the main line so my train could get through.  That threw a wrench into his logic puzzle, but each time–after my train left town–he got right back on the main line, rebuilt his switching plan, and got back to work.  Smart kid.  

Below.  A short while later my son came upstairs, took the second throttle, and started running trains too.  

The boys had a good time learning about railroading but after a while things went downhill.  My son talked Stuart into a train race and before I knew it they were racing RS-1s side-by-side on the main line and the passing track.  The races were nothing like you’d see on old Top Gear episodes though–those momentum-equipped RS-1s are pretty slow starters.  Anyway I left the room and told the boys “I’m leaving because I don’t want to know what you’re doing!”  Jacob knows everything about the layout and I trust the boys enough to have fun without destroying anything.

I’m happy to report that the layout ran well with very few hiccups.  One car had a coupler problem and was removed, one car had an apparent wheel-gauge problem (it seemed to derail in unusual places), and one of my Atlas RS-1s stalled a few times.  I didn’t think the Atlas RS-1 was capable of stalling…

By the way, I had the kids run almost exclusively with a Proto GP-7 which was retrofitted with a Tsunami 2 DCC/sound system with Keep Alive.  That engine runs like a dream.

The boys ran for over two hours today.  I’m sure they will want to run again so when I get off the computer I’m going stage a few trains for another ops session.

Completing the Portage Tower Project 

You may recall that I am building a few structures for Mike Moore’s new layout, which depicts the Illinois Central, Chicago Great Western, and Burlington lines in Iowa, circa 1965.  A central feature of the layout is the junction of the three railroads at Portage, Iowa.  Clark Propst and his crew of scurvy mates from Mason City built the layout and I offered to build Portage tower and some other buildings for the Portage scene.

The buildings have been complete for some time but I had a heck of a time trying to complete station signs for the tower.  I made three attempts and finally—on the third try, just before we left for our ski trip—I was able to makes signs that were acceptable.   

I made the station signs by printing out the name of the station (I used Calibri font, 11-point) and gluing the paper to a .010 styrene back.  The purpose for adding the styrene back was to provide some rigidity to the paper signboard. Then I built a frame made of styrene shapes around the signboard, and that was that. 

The first step is shown below; I used a dab of Gorilla Glue, spread around with a Q-Tip, to secure the paper to the styrene.

Next, below, I painted .010 x .030 styrene strips with Testors Black and applied them to the signboards.  This was a whole lot harder to line up than it looks.  I used heavier styrene strip on a few previous attempts and those signs didn’t look quite right. 

Then I secured the completed signs on a piece of scrap plastic using tape, and painted around the frame on all sides, per the prototype.

When it was all dry, I the completed signs looked like this (below).  They look a little beaten up, just like prototype signs do…although I didn’t do that on purpose…

The finished tower model isn’t perfect.  I didn’t have time to add the screen door, the outside porch, and a few other details that were found on the real tower.  The chimney isn’t quite right, and I did not add an any interior detail.  The model captures the look of the prototype, and the tool houses that I also built will add a little interest to the scene.  It was a fun project and Mike is a great guy and a good friend and I’m honored to be able to contribute something to his dream layout.  

May God bless you and your families this Christmas!  – John G