DanielB

I don't have anywhere near the space to do any real location on the Interstate any justice. If I did I would model Dorchester Junction and Dorchester tipple itself. If only I still modelled in N scale! No, I'll be going for the feel of the railroad and taking inspiration from a bunch of places, but space restrictions dictate that the layout itself will be purely freelance.

Might I introduce you to Anorak's Anonymous - you can find their shop information on Facebook or online. Sophie has massive amounts of US outline stock for very reasonable prices.

I do indeed - a home layout not for exhibitions.

Glad to see he is still inspiring modellers. I think he'd get a kick out of it. Be sure to show your progress on the forums here, Jack did love a good micro layout.

EDIT: DOUBLE POST

Following on from my previous post, I am seriously considering selling off Piedmont Blues and freeing up space to make a proper go at the Interstate layout. The pandemic has made me revaluate how I engage with this hobby, and I don't see myself engaging with exhibitions nearly as much as I used to, especially with such a large layout. Clearing out the space in my layout room will give me the opportunity to build a layout for my own entertainment rather than for others. I'm considering having a layout building company come in and do all the parts of the process that I don't enjoy - baseboards, trackwork and electrics. This will give myself the freedom to work on scenery, structures and rolling stock whilst still allowing me to run operations whilst I do. I guess we shall see where this goes.

Cheers Al. I'm finally ready to start working on my layout again so I've just purchased 5 bags of it. Should last me a while.

Hi guys! Just touching base so you know I'm still alive. Not exactly a given these days. Not a lot to update the thread with, besides another couple of freight car purchases - including a Walthers Interstate lettered coal car. I think I have five ready to run Interstate cars now. I also managed to snag a Bachmann Spectrum decapod for the princely sum of £60 plus postage from an eBay seller. Not sure what I'll use it as but for that price I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

As for modelling a shortline - Lance Mindheim's Miami Downtown Spur layout is a fantastic representation of a US shortline without actually being one - as he runs it as a CSX operated branch line, as per the prototype. https://lancemindheim.com/model-railroads/downtown-spur/

To me, that's the draw of US railroads - they're still operating "branch lines" as it were - US operations are reminiscent of steam/transition era UK railways.

You can't let us have all the fun Nick.

Drayton Blackgrove of Scaletrains has his own YouTube channel, Delay in Block Productions, and there are some fantastic videos focusing on Shortlines. https://youtu.be/ZIzXJMyw6fE And of course, the return of The Rock: https://youtu.be/OUWU7gGf6EU

And some close ups of the dirt and the asphalt.

And the last bit...

With it being nice and sunny here this week I decided to get out into the garden and get the first layer of ground cover and ballast done. It appears the glue has pretty much set so here we go: