Don't laugh too hard...It's my first attempt!

[steamhead]

Steve,

Love that drool-catching car...!!! The story & Kurt's is great...!!! Something that you all seem to have missed: the car can be flipped on its back, and with the proper amount of spit, used to clean the track...!!!

You say you're loving the ballasting...So many people cuss & swear when it comes to ballasting...I also enjoy it...So keep it up!!!:thumb:

 

[tetters]

:thumb: Your ballasting looks great.

 

[COMBAT]

Nice looking Freight Station!

 

[steamhead]

Oh...forgot to ask. What model/kit freight station is that...??? and how big is it ("footprint")??? I concur with Combat...great looking station...!!!

 

[prodigy2k7]

Sorry if you responded to this already i just cant read all these posts lol, what did you use and how did you put those rails on the bridge? the protection rails or w/e inside the real rails...?

 

[UP SD40-2]

Steve!!!, WOW! for someone that hates ballasting, YOU SURE DID A GREAT JOB!!!:thumb: VERY NICE! your freight station looks TOP NOTCH TOO!:thumb: i cant wait to see whats next. GREAT JOB! -Deano

 

[fuzzyloggin]

hey steve, its been awhile since ive posted on the gauge but ive been checkin out your progress from work and like everyone else i think you are continuing to do a fantastic job.
can you send the sponge car round again...
ive started my benchwork in the garage and so ive returned to the start of your thread to read through again at how this all began, what i love about your layout is just how well it is set out. there are so many money shots

 

[cnw1961]

Kurt...I thought my knowledge of made up railroad history was good...but yours is incredible!!

Steve, always eager to show that I don’t know nothing .

I concur with Deano, it does not show that you loathe ballasting. You are doing a very good job. I like the color of your ballast, what ist it?

 

[Nazgul]

Thank you Gus, Shane, combat,Deano, Fuzzy,and Kurt....for the nice words...they are much appreciated!
Gus...The sad reality is "I HATE BALLASTING!"TM....However, since it has to be done...I am trying to make the best of it. As much as I want to, I don't rush it. It does make everything so much better looking.
I bought the freight station and coal mine already assembled at a show so I don't know what company makes it.ops: the station is plastic and the footprint is 10"X4.5"....
It bothers me that I did not make either of those structures, but I bought them a while back just to get a couple of buildings on the layout....I do really like them though and I will probably re-paint them when I start structures just so I can say I did something on them

prodigy2k7...I pulled this out of a prior post:

The bridge track is Micro Engineering bridge flex track. It does not come with the kit....I found out the hard way!. The guard rails are packaged with the track but they are not attached (you have to do that with super-glue) It is very easy because the "rail spikes" are molded into the ties and you just place the guard rails between them.

fuzzyloggin...good to see you back:thumb: I will check out your thread tonite!

Kurt...I am using Woodland Scenics medium buff ballast:thumb:

I am doing the ballasting around the mine tonight and I will post some pics if I get enough done
take care

 

[Nazgul]

Well...I did get the ballasting done tonight. The ballast is WS medium cinders. I also added some brown ballast material around the edges (if you look really hard you might notice a little fine turf in a few places)....just seeing how it would look, won't know until everything dries tomorrow. I tried to keep the surface uneven and I covered the ties with the cinders here and there...hoping to keep it random looking. When it dries and I place the mine, I'll have a better idea if it needs tweaking. I was extremely careful with the ballast and glue around the turnouts. I used Russ' oil on the ties trick (thanks Russ):thumb:

I would also like to thank Deano and Kurt who patiently answered my questions about cinders, mines, and ground cover techniques:thumb:

Painted the plywood brown:

 

[hiscopilot]

looks great!

 

[wickman]

Wow Steve your ballasting really does look great especially the black , I did the same on my industrial spurs and the black really makes yours look great and I really like the little building . Great job keep up the great work Steve

 

[lunatic]

Looks incredible! Keep up the good work!

 

[Nazgul]

Gus... Look familiar?



the top pic is a structure by Faller Gmbh:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/272-120250
It's animated so either there is a no frills version or this was a previous model or kitbashed or both


anyway...trying out some greenery around the mine





You know...I have a scenery book with an article entitled "Scenery in one night" or something like that...in it, a guy does all the ground cover on a pretty large layout in one evening..............YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!!! no wonder they never showed a up-close shot of the end results...What you see in the above pics took well over an hour, just trying to place plants in a aesthetically pleasing arrangement was not all that easy. I'm sure it will speed up as I figure out what I'm doing, BUT.....IT WAS FUN!!! and that's all that matters:thumb:

take care

 

[COMBAT]

FUN! Who cares if it was fun, it looks GREAT!

 

[wickman]

Nice to see you doing some green. My feelings with doing greenery is to build it up in layers and kinda don't make it too well placed. Since I've started this great hobby I continuously find myself looking at vegetation rocks all the natural beauty while I'm out and about, even old buildings trying to get the feel for how things really look.
Enjoy Steve lots of fun ahead.

 

[viperman]

Sorry I haven't said anything in a while Steve, haven't been feeling myself, and have had a lot of mental anguish. Anyway, I like the ballasting job you've done, and the green looks good like that. Where you putting that warehouse at?

 

[fsm1000]

Well Steve first off I liked the 'sponge car'. LOL Very funny
Second, you really should start a "how to" website. If nothing else so I can link to it LOL
[I suggest googlepages of course]
Third, are you sure this is your first attempt at this. You skills are incredable. I look at this every few days and it astounds me what you are doing.

Anyhow, keep up the good work. Two thumbs up for you.

 

[wdsrwg]

Thanks Lynnn you just saved my sanity. Well kinda.
sign1 sign1 sign1
I thought I was the only one when driving down the
road will stop and gawk or take the old cell cam out and
have people look at me as if I am NUTS! (they may be right)

Weaving and dodging while looking at various cliffs,
grass areas and assorted tree configurations.
Even when going through old towns I drive down the
back alleys just to see what might be the best look for the
older buildings!
Yes, my wife thinks I am just plain goofy but I don't listen
to her anyway! (I did not say that)


Steve,
As always you are just creating one masterpiece after another
one section at a time.
:thumb:

Have a great Sunday all,

Russell

 

[cnw1961]

Looing Good, Steve. You are right, no need to hasten with the greenery – let the plants grow slowly.