Y_Rail Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Hi all, After a few months of work involving tearing down my previous layout I managed to build a new one up to a point of being able to run trains. I am uploading the track plan and a few photos of the benchwork construction in this opening post. I will follow up in subsequent posts with updates so that i don't cram all the photos in this post. I hope you like it and thank you very much in advance for your time and replies. The theme of the layout: ATSF operations in eastern LA, focusing on Pasadena from 1968 to 1970/71. The current layout is made up of modules most of which make up a larger more complete layout for a future space. Bringing back the focus to the present time and layout, it is a point to point layout around the walls, with staging in between representing points east/west. Dimensions are circa 17' x 18.5'. A lift-gate is used in order to gain access into the layout. Track specs: Peco code 83 track / turnouts. Min radius 30-32", #6,#7,#8 turnouts on mainline/sidings and #5 on industrial spurs. Trackplan: Starting clockwise from staging (going east), we pass through the industrial area south of Pasadena / East LA, where we got in sequence, a warehouse and a brewery, fruit distributor and a printing house. Then we reach the Pasadena main depot and it's freight house. Leaving the depot we cross Colorado boulevard (route 66) and snake through the urban area. Exiting the urban area we pass through a plastics factory east of downtown and then we are off to staging. Benchwork: Baltic Birch plywood construction, using pocket holes. A few photos of the stacked plywood in day one, and aspects of the tables/modules framework. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 (edited) Construction of the lift-gate. I used spring loaded ball-roller catches in two different orientations. These, in combination with a couple of brass barrel locks, ensure proper alignment in XYZ axes. The barrel locks also double-up as kill-switches for the main dcc-power. This ensures that i won't be having any flying trains if the bridge and locks are not in place. The hinges are placed with their axis higher than track level. This ensures that railheads are not binding when the gate opens and at the same time the gap between the two rails is minimized when in closed position. I did experiment with kitchen cabinet hinges but i could not make this work. Edited May 16, 2018 by Y_Rail 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 Backdrop construction: Made using insulation EPS boards and PVC sheets for the coved corners. Following careful sanding and priming, i used acrylics for the sky and mountain. Several shades from blue to almost white were used in order to get to the final result. The final atmospheric haze was done using my airbrush and acrylics. The mountains and respective hue were done based on several photographs of the actual San Gabriel mountains as seen from the Pasadena depot area looking north. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 Fascia & Control Panels Fascia is made using tempered hardboard. The turnouts are operated using tortoise switch machines. I have designed and built fascia control panels out of styrene for mounting the toggle switches and leds for the tortoises. The switch-guards are stainless steel, 3mm leds and dpdt switches. Labels are also made out of styrene. The panels were painted using hammered-effect paint. This was heavily brush painted in order to simulate the industrial look of dashboards and panels seen in EMD F7 interiors. The silver art-deco details were airbrushed. Primed panel and Panel after a first coat of hammered-effect paint Panels everywhere!!!!! Finally on the layout. The final result I hope you liked it and thanks for stopping by (and for your patience going through this sequence of posts ). 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted May 16, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 16, 2018 Very nice detailing on the fascia, can't wait to see the modelling Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 Thank you very much Paul! Will sure update with more modelling results (hopefully) soon! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Not sure if I missed it, but is the trackwork at the back of the town scene within arm's reach in case of derailments? Your benchwork is absolutely stunning, by the way. I only wish mine was anywhere close to that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted May 16, 2018 Author Share Posted May 16, 2018 Thank you very much Daniel for the kind words. Yes indeed the trackwork is seemingly off reach at the back of the downtown scene/area. For this reason, the entire downtown area module is on wheels and is able to easily roll out of the way when i need to access tracks for cleaning/working etc. There are no tracks on this roll-out module, just scenery. I hope this makes sense. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendell1976 Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Another nice layout representing my hometown of the Los Angeles area. Keep up the good work! Wendell Idaho, USA Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 I do like the amount of space devoted to 'real estate'. I think here in the UK due to lack of space we tend to have narrower baseboards, & rely more on low-relief building fronts, which can be effective, but not always. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 Wendell and F-UnitMad, Many thanks for your kind replies! I really like California as a theme as you can understand . As for the real-estate, i tried to put more weight on the downtown area since the urban environments are one of my favorite elements in layouts. Having said that, it is true that shelves and front-only / low-relief structures are VERY effective and convenient and i am using such solutions in one part of the layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Commendable restraint in that plan, the non-industry area top right should provide some interesting views. And if the turnout control is anything to go by, it'll be an interesting view of some impressive modelling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted May 21, 2018 Author Share Posted May 21, 2018 Many thanks Zomboid for the motivating feedback! I ll try to take some pictures sooner than later of a train on the layout. I only got some finished rolling stock modelling-wise at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 Time for an update at the LA, Pasadena RR. The time has come for some scenery at last! I have been working on the South Pasadena modules where a brewery and a furniture factory (and a warehouse) will be placed. Between them there is a bridge (road) scene that i sort of focused. While working on this i did finish all the ground work and almost all foliage for the modules. I hope you like the work, and many thanks in advance for your time! Yannis Scratchbuilt bridge (with Wills girder plates added on the sides) Piers made out of parts from a Vollmer truss bridge and some Wills parts. Bridge finished... East bound local freight just passing below the Fair Oaks avenue bridge The other side of the bridge... A foreman overseeing switching of a boxcar from the brewery Overview of the same scene... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendell1976 Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Yannis, you are doing a good job capturing the spirit of Southern California. Pasadena can be an interesting place to model due to the fact that the Santa Fe Railway(including the Super Chief) and Amtrak's Southwest Chief used to run through Pasadena. Colorado Boulevard(Historic U.S. Route 66) is a major street in Pasadena and is home of the annual, world-renowned Tournament of Roses Parade every New Year's Day(January 1st). Today, the LA Metro Gold Line light rail train runs through Pasadena. Wendell Idaho, USA Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 Hello Yannis, Very nice modelling indeed, you are setting the scene wonderfully. May I ask, please? Are you Greek? I spend a lot of time in Greece myself and recognise the name as I think it's 'John' in Greek! I understand that every home should have a Yannis! Yasass, John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted November 15, 2018 Author Share Posted November 15, 2018 (edited) Wendell and Allegheny1600 (John), thank you very much for the kind words! Wendell: True that the Pasadena subdivision is very interesting. You mentioned a few of the reasons that made me choose it as a subject, ie urban railroading crossing the Route 66 at Colorado boulevard (which is my major scene in the layout having 10' on the layout modelling the Boulevard across three modules), and having several famous passenger trains on the line. Another important factor were the manageable size freight trains on the line, their routes and switching involved. So in choosing the LA area (which is by far my favorite part in the US), Pasadena came first as a choice. I am glad to hear that i have captured the feel-spirit of the area! This is a great compliment for me. Allegheny1600 (John right?). yes indeed i am Greek, and correct on the Greek saying with every home and a Yannis... . I am glad that you like the layout! Thanks for your kind feedback! Edited November 15, 2018 by Y_Rail 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 Hi Yannis, You're welcome! It's nice to 'meet' another Greek modeller on here, not that I am Greek you understand - I just feel Greek and my friends call me an honorary one, my wife and I are planning to move there next year. I used to model your neighboring railroad, the SP but still like the SF too and have spent some time in/around Los Angeles, I agree that your layout captures the look and feel of the area. Cheers, (yes, it's) John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted November 15, 2018 Author Share Posted November 15, 2018 (edited) John thank you once more for the kind feedback! Glad to hear that you will be moving over, the weather can be good here. Also glad to hear that you modelled the SP, i see that you moved to modelling German prototypes right? Splendid work by the way! Edited November 15, 2018 by Y_Rail Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 Thanks Yannis, Yes, German outline is my current favourite although that changes every week and I still have an American layout called "New Ulm" that I run mainly Chicago & North Western stuff on. See: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/110565-new-ulm-mn-on-the-cnw-in-h0/?p=2284190 I still have a couple of SP (and SF) locos though - somewhere! I'm a man of many interests - all H0 scale (including some Greek!). Cheers, John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted November 16, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 16, 2018 You may want a station announcer. Mel Blanc on the Jack Benny show. Once he managed to stretch Cuc----amonga across the commercial. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted November 16, 2018 Author Share Posted November 16, 2018 John great work there! Cheers for the link!!! I ll take a detailed look! David very nice clip! I had Bugs in mind (when choosing Cucamonga & Azusa) when he mentioned Cucamonga at some point in a cartoon, while trying to get somewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y_Rail Posted November 21, 2018 Author Share Posted November 21, 2018 (edited) Quick update, I finished work on a few foreground trees. An Elm, a coconut Palm tree and a Washingtonian Palm tree. I hope you like them. Thanks for stopping by! Edited November 21, 2018 by Y_Rail 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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