What did you do on your layout today? (N scale)

[cteno4]

Lol,

 

yes I remember the cadaver days of anatomy class! Half the students lost the first week were the smell and the other half looking at the cadavers! I remeber my Ben fondly. I got to do most all the hacking and whacking as my lab partner was on the very squeamish side.

 

Plus I was always the biology TA thru jr and sr high school so I unloaded 55 gal drums of cats, rats, frogs and fetal pigs soaked horrifically in formaldehyde for classes! I came to almost enjoy the smell of formaldehyde! I think my body is probably absorbed a lot of it so maybe I’ll make it to 100...

 

Glycols are use in ebalming the same way they are in lichens, to keep thing moist and formed! Formaldehyde is the fixative and preservative.

 

jeff

[medusa]

Glycol doesn't smell by itself. It's the Iceland Moss lichen that smells so strong. It's used in some medicine stuff like teas which smell almost the same as my model train hill forest. It's not bad but sometime a little bit too much.

 

However, the shape of the foam clumps really looks like an improvement. Plus it probably does not fall off every time I take it from its storage bag. Let's see how much it compares in price for a kilogram...

[medusa]

Almost forgot: today I did a run-in of my Shikishima. Put just a plain "8" track on the table and ran the train at different speeds in both directions for some time.

When I watched it all that time, dusk fell and I thought it might be nice to have all the cars lit... ;)

[gavino200]

8 minutes ago, medusa said:

Almost forgot: today I did a run-in of my Shikishima. Put just a plain "8" track on the table and ran the train at different speeds in both directions for some time.

When I watched it all that time, dusk fell and I thought it might be nice to have all the cars lit... ;)

Of course! An unlit train is only half a train.

[Pauljag900]

22 minutes ago, medusa said:

Almost forgot: today I did a run-in of my Shikishima. Put just a plain "8" track on the table and ran the train at different speeds in both directions for some time.

When I watched it all that time, dusk fell and I thought it might be nice to have all the cars lit... ;)

Any train running is good running😂😂👍👍

[railsquid]

Going back to lichen, I find it has its uses here and there in N gauge to represent smaller trees, here's a bit I used to blend in the scenery with part of the background image.

 

Scenery blending by Rail Squid, on Flickr

Could probably be improved by adding some bits of scatter and fixing in place etc.

[Pauljag900]

Got two Outland models police stations from my son for xmas and today I fitted windows,lights and kit bashed the two together,turned out ok I think.42cm high now👍👍bit of weathering,and roof detail will finish it off.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Pauljag900

[Pauljag900]

 

I could nt upload this earlier for some reason.

It all got a bit messy inside with the hot glue and bulbs.I had to fit six bulbs,one in each section as removing any floor sections made it a bit unstable due to the height.

[Kiha66]

Learned a new skill, painted some plaster retaining walls and a tunnel portal for my latest diorama.  

[railsquid]

Finally wired up the points in the tunnel so I can put the rest of the roof on and start building up scenery.

 

controller by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

 

[lighthouse]

my first modules for the fiddle yard got legs 

[kvp]

 

 

"Ewww, Lichen is so 1970's, I gave up on using it over 20 years ago when I switched to Woodland Scenics Poly Fibre and Coarse Turf, to glue the Coarse Turf to the Poly Fibre you can use cheap hairspray it works perfectly."

 

When i was a kid, layout vegetation construction material was mostly colored sawdust, cut up plastic fibers and very little ground plastic sponges for flowers and tree leafs, combined with wires and twigs. No litchen or anything really biodegredable at all and most layout surfaces were constructed with wood, newspapers and glue, then covered with the painted sawdust and was hard as solid wood once it was dry. Foam was not available either.

 

The first time i saw some litchen it was after 2000, installed on a layout and already starting to get mold on it. When it dries out it falls apart, when it gets glued on or hairsrayed it dries out and when it's dry and gets some moisture from the air it usually gets attacked by a whiteish or dark grayish mold that slowly covers it then progresses to eat it. Imho it's not nice at all.

Edited January 7, 2018 by kvp

[gavino200]

I added a double crossover. The other one ended up in the station due to some layout modifications. Kato doesn't make it super easy to do this, unfortunately. I had to modify the viaduct a tiny bit. 

 

[gavino200]

On 1/6/2018 at 12:48 PM, lighthouse said:

my first modules for the fiddle yard got legs 

 

That looks great. What are the legs made from? Are they completely rigid, or are you going to add cross supports?

[lighthouse]

@gavino200

 

The legs are aluminium tubes with cross section 25x25x3mm. I will install a cross support if necessary. When all the modules are combined, nothing really can happen.

Edited January 8, 2018 by lighthouse

[nah00]

On January 7, 2018 at 4:24 AM, kvp said:

 

 

"Ewww, Lichen is so 1970's, I gave up on using it over 20 years ago when I switched to Woodland Scenics Poly Fibre and Coarse Turf, to glue the Coarse Turf to the Poly Fibre you can use cheap hairspray it works perfectly."

 

When i was a kid, layout vegetation construction material was mostly colored sawdust, cut up plastic fibers and very little ground plastic sponges for flowers and tree leafs, combined with wires and twigs. No litchen or anything really biodegredable at all and most layout surfaces were constructed with wood, newspapers and glue, then covered with the painted sawdust and was hard as solid wood once it was dry. Foam was not available either.

 

The first time i saw some litchen it was after 2000, installed on a layout and already starting to get mold on it. When it dries out it falls apart, when it gets glued on or hairsrayed it dries out and when it's dry and gets some moisture from the air it usually gets attacked by a whiteish or dark grayish mold that slowly covers it then progresses to eat it. Imho it's not nice at all.

 

I did find a somewhat useful purpose for it. I'm drying out the whole bag and plan to crumble it all up to use for weeds/ground cover mixed in with foam turf. 

[Pauljag900]

Tram layout back in doors for now while I finish taking the main layout to pieces and construct the new baseboards.

Placed the two kit bashed buildings on the layout,not fixed down or wired in yet.These wo nt be fixed down and will have a plugable connecter at the rear so they can be removed when the layout is being moved or worked on.They re pretty tall😂😂👍

[Nornicle]

Painted a board for a semi permanent 4’ x 2’ mini setup figure trains on the outside, trams on the side and a tomytec bus? A lot to cram in!

 

Its actually on top of a fish tank cabinet instead of a fish tank! 

[Nornicle]

On 10/01/2018 at 2:14 AM, Pauljag900 said:

Tram layout back in doors for now while I finish taking the main layout to pieces and construct the new baseboards.

Placed the two kit bashed buildings on the layout,not fixed down or wired in yet.These wo nt be fixed down and will have a plugable connecter at the rear so they can be removed when the layout is being moved or worked on.They re pretty tall😂😂👍

 

Your stuff is inspirational! What a happened to your big Japanese set in the wood lodge the last update I saw was July 2017?

[Pauljag900]

Hi Nornicle,

strangely enough I m hoping to have the framework done for the new baseboards today.

I have a few minor health issues and was finding the old layout dificult to maintain as it had some areas that were dificult to reach,I knew this but did nt for see my health issues,nothing serious by the way,I m waiting for a new hip that’s all.

At the moment it’s all packed away in boxes,hopefully by the middle of next week the new baseboards will be in place and I ll start posting my progress from there onwards.

I ve gone for a simple 8 track square loop set at 3 heights,no inclines but the tracks just cross over at the front.I will need to climb under at the front or make a lift out section,but the boards are all narrower now and are six inches higher than before so I will be able to clean all the layout from the center.I also want to use it to display my trains so it will have about 20 sidings.I m just finalising the track plan now and will post shortly.

the tram layout will be part of it but will be operated independently of the main layout,tho I m hoping to extend the viaduct down and across the tram layout.

thank you for your comments and encouragement mate,will update shortly,as soon as I have something to post ha ha👍👍😀

paul

[IST]

The lavender field story continues:

 

Edited January 13, 2018 by IST

[Pauljag900]

After months of planning,thinking and discussions with forum members I ve decided on a plan that will work for me.

My wish list was 8 Trains running,three levels of track but with no inclines,just crossing over at the front to maximise viewing,two height,four track viaduct station and as many sidings as I could fit in as I want to use the layout to display the trains as well as run them.As I now have a reasonable amount and selection of Trains I wanted the layout to be as much about viewing the Trains as anything else whilst also making it easier to maintain.I soon realised that if I wanted my wish list then I would have to simplify the track plan due to the space I have.Overall I have 8’x8’ ,not including the tram module.I ve raised the framework by 6” and the widest board on the left is 3’2”,So all are now very reachable from the center.

the road plates and grey area next to them are ground level set at a 3” height and will be removeable and the four inner tracks will run under them with the inner two tracks forming a subway line.An idea suggested by jeff,thanks jeff.this will also give me more Area for scenics.

so this is the plan I ve settled on,

The tram module and station rd plates will form the city area,one of the corners will have a mountain and the shrine and village will sit on top,tho not sure which one yet.Hopefully the framework will be done later today and the boards done later in the week.

[cteno4]

Paul,

 

glad you found the happy medium for the new design. Layouts are always an exercise in tradeoffs, but it shounds like you now have pretty much what you want. Glad you are going to also mock up as much as possible as a final check on things for your list.

 

good luck with reconstruction!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[serotta1972]

10 hours ago, IST said:

The lavender field story continues:

 

Looking good IST, when is the next to show to showcase your wonderful work. 

[serotta1972]

5 hours ago, Pauljag900 said:

After months of planning,thinking and discussions with forum members I ve decided on a plan that will work for me.

My wish list was 8 Trains running,three levels of track but with no inclines,just crossing over at the front to maximise viewing,two height,four track viaduct station and as many sidings as I could fit in as I want to use the layout to display the trains as well as run them.As I now have a reasonable amount and selection of Trains I wanted the layout to be as much about viewing the Trains as anything else whilst also making it easier to maintain.I soon realised that if I wanted my wish list then I would have to simplify the track plan due to the space I have.Overall I have 8’x8’ ,not including the tram module.I ve raised the framework by 6” and the widest board on the left is 3’2”,So all are now very reachable from the center.

the road plates and grey area next to them are ground level set at a 3” height and will be removeable and the four inner tracks will run under them with the inner two tracks forming a subway line.An idea suggested by jeff,thanks jeff.this will also give me more Area for scenics.

so this is the plan I ve settled on,

The tram module and station rd plates will form the city area,one of the corners will have a mountain and the shrine and village will sit on top,tho not sure which one yet.Hopefully the framework will be done later today and the boards done later in the week.

Looks like you got some work to do there Paul, looking forward to seeing the progress and seeing 8 trains running at once.