Update on the layout

[Ray Marinaccio]

I have most of the ballast down, cleaned the track and have trains running again.
I've started adding roads and now have to make a few decisions I've been putting off.
What Industry will I put at the top of the mountain?
Originally I planned to have a mining complex. But now I'm thinking of putting a freight depot at the siding and a flat passenger station (or picture of) against the wall on the other side of the bridge.
Any suggestions?

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

At the bottom of the mountain I was planning an engine servicing facility for helper service.
The original plan included an 2 stall engine house, turntable, coaling tower sand house and an ash pit.
I'm not sure its all going to fit.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

I am planning to put some buildings in this area. Maybe a railroad hotel and saloon.

 

[TomPM]

Great to see the progress Ray. It is looking better and better.

Are the walls a commercial offering or did you "scratchbuild" them?

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Thanks tom,
The walls are all scratchbuilt from cardboard laminated over 1/4" foam.
I've built this whole layout with Mostly used materials.
I bought some of the screws for the benchwork, Elmer's Carpenter glue, a Qt. of drywall joint compound, aquarium sand and acrylic crafts paint new.
I bought a Gallon of latex paint at a thrift shop for $1.
The lumber, foam, track, turnouts, wiring and electrical components were all things I had scrounged and had laying around.
I had to laugh when MR ran that article on building a layout for under $500.

 

[Chessie6459]

Great Work Ray. :thumb: Keep it up. Getting better & better everytime you post more pictures. :thumb:

Some suggestions: Small Chemical Plant, Coal Tipple, Grain Elevators, or freight depot ( as you mentioned ). Just some of my suggestions for you Ray. Can't wait to see the railroad when it is finished, although a model railroad is never finished. LOL

 

[Iron Goat]

Ray,

Neat looking start to your layout ! What did you use to get that "soil" color, it's very lifelike. I hope we see more progress photos....

Bob

 

[Matthyro]

Great progress Ray, I still like the idea of a mining complex on the mountain. It gives a reason for track to go up there.
Depending on the size of turntable, you should be able to fit the engine servicing in that area on the second photo. The engine house doesnt have to be full length if it wont fit. Just run the back into the embankment.
A road along the track in the third photo could serve the hotel and stores/industries quite well.

 

[RailRon]

This is looking good, Ray. However, I think it doesn't make sense to put a (big) freight depot on top of a mountain. Who would transport lots of freight by truck on a mountain top, just for transporting it down again by train?

It's quite different if you install al LCL (less than carload lot) freight shed plus a team track (perhaps with a gantry crane) for a mountain community, with a passenger station in the background as you planned. After all, the farmers in the vicinity have to have a way to ship their produce from and to the wide world!

About the helper service: Do you have enough room for an enginehouse somewhere on the mountain top? (This would give some more places of employment for your mountain community. ) In this case a turntable, coaling facility and water tower would suffice for the lower end turnaraound point for helper engines. And I think, your available space would suffice for that.

Just my 2¢ of ideas...

Ron

 

[kchronister]

Ray - Looks great! One response, one question:

Response: Personally I will have a coal mine and logging camp on top of my mountain. I model early 20th century Adirondacks, so that makes sense... I think a mine is a great option - all kinds of related elements you can build around it... For instance, the other occupant of my mountaintop is a bordel... I mean... House of Ill Repute frequented by loggers and miners both...

Question: What's your base scenic material there? Looks sort of like actual dirt, which is my intention to use too. If so, how's it worked out for you. If not, what is it?

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Thanks everyone,
Great input also.
Using real dirt seams to work well.
After I sealed the foam with latex paint I used washes of different shades of brown and gray acrylic paint. Then I applied sifted Arizona dirt (more sand like than dirt). I was lucky enough to find a few different shades of dirt from different spots in the yard.
The dirt was sifted through a window screen, then a speaker cover with slightly smaller holes, then through some copper mesh screen used for shielding in old radios with holes similar to panty hose.
The finest grit (which was as fine as powdered sugar) is what was mainly used. the next finest grit was used for gravel, the next grit represented stones and what was removed first with the window screen was used for talus at the base of the cliffs.

 

[Ho Modeler]

I would DEFINETLEY go with the mining complex. You can make anyhting fit into any space with a given amount of ingenuity. Definetly would work to have a wooded mountain to block the view of the train sometimes then have a roaming logging camp taking down trees for an incoming railroad spur. The two seem to fit well together and are visually eye appealing. A spar tree,logging crane or boom log loader may be in order to haul logs up the mountain or simply lift them onto cars. Then you might as well throw in a sawmill or plank and tie mill on the other side of the layout for the cars to travel to.

Eric

 

[Muddy Creek]

A steam era resort town might be a good alternative to a mine. Gives you a destination for passenger trains and local freights bringing in supplies in a variety of cars.

Like kchronister, I'm modeling early-20th century Adirondacks, but I'm unaware of coal mines in my area. Iron mines were a big industry though. The layout will have a couple of "Great Camps" that were the summer homes of industrialists, robber barons and common crooks like Thomas Clark Durant who bought hundreds of thousands of acres with the proceeds from gouging the US treasury and the Union Pacfic. (I'm trying to think up a fun way of rewriting history at his expense.)

Wayne

 

[jim currie]

looking good Ray another thought would be a paper mill .

 

[kchronister]

Wayne - Just an FYI: I was using Adirondacks pretty loosely. I actually model the Elmira branch of the PRR, where they did have some coal mines (though not technically in the Adirondacks I think).

 

[Muddy Creek]

I knew there was (and still is) salt mining in the Finger Lakes region and am thinking about stretching the Adirondacks "boundaries" a bit to include one. I don't have any info on coal mining in NY State yet. I'm reading a lot about iron mining in the area now.

I just learned that the largest wollastinite mine in NY is just a short hop from here. (A white fiberous calcium silicate mineral that you could model with raw, unfinished hydrocal. A week ago, I had never even heard of wollastonite.)

Wayne

 

[philip]

Ray.
The track looks great and the landscape Looks very natural with real dirt.
Keep us posted! :thumb:

Philip

 

[JAyers]

Ray,
Nice work! Can you post the diagram/drawing of your layout? I like what you've done with the curve in the second shot and am curious what your whole layout is.

John

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Thanks John,
This is a rough sketch of my layout.
It's 8' wide and 10' long.
Minimum radius is 18" and all turnouts are #4.

 

[Jamison1]

Looking great, Ray.