[N] First Layout (part 3)
Bill Vandervok
For those of you reading these for the first time, these posts
are a periodic update on the progress of my first layout along with
tips I've noticed and problems I've encountered. They are intended
to help newbies like myself as well as maybe bring back some
memories to those that have been in the hobby awhile.
Again, I'm working on the layout described in "An N Scale Model
Railroad that Grows". In the last post I had finished the initial
stages of trackwork and the trains were running. The problem was
they were running on a fairly desolote terrain...spay painted
form core and road bed so ....
Scenery
For the landscaping I used Woodland Scenics fine turf: Weeds, Green
Grass, Burnt Grass, Yellow Grass, Earth, and Soil. I also used
Arizona R&M's Tan Granite Base Powder.
The granite powder (which is reddish not really tan) was used as
the soil in the hills (which were spray painted with fleckstone).
This gives a nice loook of reddish granite in the hills.
On problem I had with this product though is it's weight. Every time
I tried to sprinkle it on a test peice (not the layout) it came out
looking like cinnamin sprinkled in lines. I tried shaking from
the bag, using fingertips, using wide holded shakers nothing
really looked good. I ended up using a dixie cup with pin holes.
That allowed for a controlled application that looked very uniform
and rocky. On top of that I used the yellow grass and the burnt
grass with much rock exposed. The hills are alive ;}
The flat part of the layout was split into two sections ... dry and
fertile. The dry portion got a base layer of earth with yellow grass,
burnt grass and green grass on top. The fertile potion got a base layer
of soil with green grass, weeds (which are greener that green grass),
and a small amout of burnt grass.
The book reccomends painting 6:1 diluted matte medium (6 parts
water) onto the surface and adding the ground foam onto that a 18"
square section at a time. I did that but the glue beaded up in the
flat areas so I added some detergent to the mix (a couple drops) didn't
make n\much of a difference though. Maybe you have to add the detergent
to the water before you add the glue? Not sure. Once everything
was done I misted the whole thing with more dilute matte medium.
Even with just misting I still found some of the ground foam moved
into bunches from the spray...not to bad though and it ends up
looking like small plants so I didn't worry to much about it.
One thing to note here: you want to be sure and so the ground from
with the glue. I apparently did not use enough. When I vaccumed the
loose foam a couple of patches came up. Also, when I left the door
open to the room the layout is stored in, I found a set of cat paw
prints in the turf (to the foam core surface...I have images of a
timy Elmer Fudd following HUGE cat tracks -- be VERY quite, I'm hunting
cats. ;} ). This mishaps were easily fixed with more foam and more
glue.
The overall difference the scenic-ing makes is huge. From toy trains
on a board, it is a model train going through different terrain, from
the arid hills in the west, to the fertile farm lands in the east.
Quite a difference.
Structures
For the trains station, I wanted something simple. After my encounter
with the DPM model I was a little wary. I settled on the Bachmann
Plasticville USA train station, a snap together model. After trimming
the flash, the model looked good, but needed a paint job. I use
the Polly SCale paints because they are water based (no smell) and
they dry quickly. I painted the station brown and off white. Weathered
it with an india ink wash and dry brushing. It looks very nice on the
layout.
I also finished the Shady Junctures Water Tower in the same
color scheme (which is now the unofficial color scheme of the
railroad buildings).
Some more structures that I have for the layout and either in the
middle of painting or have not started yet are: Cornerstone Series:
Interstate Fuel and Oil, Shady Junctures (the rest of it), and
Universite Ave. Shops. I also have another Plasticville model (one
of the shops). These I will paint and add to the layout as I can.
More Track
For Xmas I received a 2-8-2 UP engine (Kato). It runs VERY well.
But it is slower than the deisel I currently have (which makes
sense). I can run them both at the same time using one cab, but the
deisel always catches the steam loco on the main oval...so...
I layed out the track for the passing siding. I haven't yet isolated
it as it's own block yet, so it is pretty useless as a passing
siding, but it will get there. One thing though. One of the switches
used by the siding replaced the 5" straight section I had to file
for smooth operation. I forgot this of course, burt several
dereailments jogged my memory nicely. Once the track was filed
the trains once again run smoothly.
Misc
I went to the hobby store this weekend and the guy working there
was a great source of information. Up to this point I had shied
away from the Kadee couplers and also the idea of cutting track.
The book recommends cutting a rerailer down to fit in a 3 3/4"
length to use as a crossing by the station. It looked nice in
the book but I was nervous about cutting the track. I had visions
of .... oh this isn't even, well I'll just take a little off of this
side, now the other side is too long, well I'll just ...
The guy at the store recommended a good pair of nippers and let
me try it out on a piece of 5" track at the store. Piece of cake.
I also talked to him about the Kadde couplers. He was a big fan.
I was worried about installing them in on my cars. He told me
how to do it. I bout a decouplker ramp and one set of trucks.
I put on set of trucks on two cars (I also bought a Micro Trains
car). This was also very simple to do. Too much worrying not enough
trying things out. Well that will be the last time for that!
One problem I am running into with the couplers is with the uncoupling.
Between two of the cars (a light box car and a heavy tanker), it
works great, they uncouple and I can spot the box car anywhere.
Between the other two (2 tankers) they uncouple OK, but the couplers
aren't spread far enough apart. When I try to spot the tanker they
re-couple. Not sure what the problem is. The weird thing is if I move
both cars off the magnet (seperately in opposite directions) then
bring the back to the magnet, they are far enough apart and I can
spot the tanker wherever I want.
That's pretty much where I'm at. If you made it this far I hope
you enjoyed the post.
Any comments/suggestions are always welcome. Until next time,
have fun with working on the railroad!
Bill
--
Bill Vanderbok
To reply via email remove _NO_ and _SPAM_ sorry about the inconvenience
Chris Arsenault
<van_NO_de...@mediaone.net> wrote:
> One problem I am running into with the couplers is with the uncoupling.
> Between two of the cars (a light box car and a heavy tanker), it
> works great, they uncouple and I can spot the box car anywhere.
> Between the other two (2 tankers) they uncouple OK, but the couplers
> aren't spread far enough apart. When I try to spot the tanker they
> re-couple. Not sure what the problem is. The weird thing is if I move
> both cars off the magnet (seperately in opposite directions) then
> bring the back to the magnet, they are far enough apart and I can
> spot the tanker wherever I want.
>
> That's pretty much where I'm at. If you made it this far I hope
> you enjoyed the post.
>
> Any comments/suggestions are always welcome. Until next time,
> have fun with working on the railroad!
Bill - I'm also in the process of building a starting layout. I revived an
old Atlas N-scale set that was buried in the attic for twenty-five years!
I'm sort of experimenting with track plans first before selecting a final
to landscape. Part of this was my decision to go with the MicroTrains
uncouplers early on. I'm rethinking the track plan based on this initial
experience.
Anyhow, after getting the track down I swapped in MT trucks on my old cars
and mounted several uncouplers in carved out rerailers. I found that it
took a fair bit of playing with both the trip pin height and angle to get
things to function properly with the uncouplers. I had used the trip pin
height gauge initially, but found either cars would uncouple prematurely
or not at all. Eventually, I just adjusted heights and pin angles till
everything worked.
It sounds like the spread problem you're having is the trip pin angle.
Remove the pin, rotate it out just a smidge and set it back in at the new
angle. It really helps if you look down from the top and eyeball the
knuckle before reinserting the pin.
From what I've seen the trip pin angle seems to be the trick more than the
height, because too much angle keeps them coupled and not enough gives
that recouple problem.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the journal update. Lots of good info :-)
Chris
--
Remove the "_nospam" to reply to: chrisat...@ids.net
T...@nospam.com
I am also building the layout from that book (just starting) as a
first time layout. I have found your status updates very useful.
Keep up the good work and I look forward your next update.
Gord
DLyon4
all the directions are there. I mean like for the initial layout you need more
track then was mentioned. Something else I personally changed has to do with
scenary. I wanted to lay out all of the expansions for the mainline before I
scenicked. that way I wasn't scraping and repainting base coat etc. I'm waiting
till next month for the final steam siding and the turnouts for the highline
loop. As far as triming track, something else that works well is Xacto's
miterbox and razor saw. I measured and then cut and it fit perfect. I was leary
of cutting the uncoupler and fitting it in the cut track, but it worked well. I
would appreciate a resend of your first two parts, and it is great to find
people new and trying the same thing I am.
DLy...@aol.com
"A pat on the back is nothing more than topical anesthesia for a knife."
DLyon4
I wanted to respond by e-mail too to tell you that I am also starting that
layout. ANd would appreciate your first two posts. I noticed that sometimes the
book is vague, like building the switch building )DPM), I mutered throughit and
it came out great. They kitbask alot and don't tell you. Good luck and keep up
the posts
Dave
Tim Bittes
>Bill,
>I wanted to respond by e-mail too to tell you that I am also starting that
>layout. ANd would appreciate your first two posts. I noticed that sometimes the
<SNIP>
Go to www.dejanews.com and do a PowerSearch on the rec.models.railroad
forum.
Search on the author or the First Layout subject and you will find
them all without Bill having to repost them.
Gord