Class 74 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 (edited) Hi modellers This time you can see my progress on my US-layout. It is either in Illinois between Matton and Terre Haute, a Union Station were the NYC/PC and Illinois Central meet. Or it is Albany's Union Station with PC and Delaware and Hudson trains. Of course there is also everything possible in early Amtrak times. I reused a lot of my old buildings from the Kilmister layout, walls and other stuff, bought nothing new, just the tracks and wood for the baseboards. Let's see some pictures now! Sorry for the bad quality, but here you can see that I built the boards like a box Track laying begins! Edited March 22, 2020 by Class 74 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 (edited) The complete size is 420 x 45 x 30 cm. The scenic boards are 80 x 45 cm each. Left FY is 100 x 45 cm, right 160 x 45 cm. Here I glued the background Soldering, something I really don't like... First tracks on the first part of the right fiddle yard The ramp for the REA/Freight house Edited March 22, 2020 by Class 74 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 (edited) The left fiddle yard A complete overview (the class 37 is just helping testing the tracks) Angus is watching! British icons!!! (No class 37 was harmed) The view in the other side with my chaos in the background! Spraying the tracks Creating the side backgrounds The I laid the platform basic before ballasting the tracks Looks good with ballast. The building was for the US-version of my Kilmister layout, no problem to reuse it. Edited March 22, 2020 by Class 74 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 (edited) You can see a lot of ground signals in bigger stations in the USA, so I tried to create something looking like that with coffee steers, plastic parts from a pipe kit and cardboard. Here the gallery for the REA area The loading bay First step for the overbridge The buildings are not glued at this state, but it will give you an idea of how it should look. More pix in the next days! Cheers and stay clean! Simon Edited March 22, 2020 by Class 74 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Now you can see the embankement, it's done with some cardboard and hardfoam Always a big mess with that material, but it is very light, and it worked well! Here I painted the tracks and ballast with some brownish color The upper and removable top of the side backgrounds After working a lot on the bridge and embankement I cut the platforms into the right shape Looks nice (there not glued at this state) A lot of heavy books for glueing the bridge! Edited March 23, 2020 by Class 74 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Some more... Here you see some wooden crossings, as most stuff made out of cardboard. Of course they will be weathered, but I think it will be the last thing to fix them. Some details in the loading area The white building is one I never used but built years ago. Now I painted it white, and I shortend it in the height. It will receive also a damn cool advertisement, still have to find something (NO Coca-Cola ad, NO). Here the finished bridge and embankement. Plants and ground cover from Welberg. Fantastic stuff, also some model scene plants. The station building! Placed completely on the right side of the scenic part it is a mix of cardboard, wood and some leftovers from some Walthers buildings. The only concrete crossing These shops were another part of the Kilmister layout but you will barely see them behind the window front. But I thought why not using them... The left side tracks are for the IC or D&H, the right ones for NYC/PC Hopefully I can finish the lower level of the station this week(end), then the station building on the top will be made from a Faller kit. See ya Simon Edited March 23, 2020 by Class 74 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Hi Simon The layout is looking really good. How will the layout operate? Will it be simply through trains or will there be a bit of shunting of passenger trains? Regards Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Thank you Nick There are two ways to operate it but it will be a through station for both. First as the empire service, every 2 hours a train with normaly 2 - 4 coaches and one or two E8's. In my Albany there would be still a D&H local to Saratoga Springs as well as the famous Laurentian (with Amtrak the Adirondack). Unfortunately the only train I have to miss is the Montreal Limited, arrived in both ways from NY and Montreal in the middle of the night. The local Boston with an E8 and a single coach will be a part as well as the shunting of a coach and sleeper for Boston from the predecessor of the Lake Shore Limited, coming from Chicago. And of course the Laurentian with through coaches to New York will require some shunting as well. And there is the REA/Freighthouse... The only problem is that there are no D&H diner and baggage, just the coach from Walthers, just Rapido did the coaches, baggage and diner for the 1974+ train. But this stuff is hard to find and the prizes are extrem... still have to found a solution. The second way to operate is in the early 60'ies, about 1962/63 with NYC running through, and the IC ends here, coming from the right. This will need a lot of shunting together with the REA loading bay. Really can't wait to operate it!!! Rock on! Edited March 23, 2020 by Class 74 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, Class 74 said: The only problem is that there are no D&H diner and baggage, just the coach from Walthers, just Rapido did the coaches, baggage and diner for the 1974+ train. But this stuff is hard to find and the prizes are extrem... still have to found a solution. One possible solution is time. Given you are talking about the Rapido Budd stainless steel equipment, the molds (which were damaged) are being fixed and the Budd stuff will be re-run in the future. The first item (unknown which item) should be announced by the end of the year - though as with anything at the moment that is subject to change - but that was the information provided in Rapido's Facebook Q&A last week. (and as with anything, you could always email Rapido to let them know what items you are interested in, it may help influence the decisions they make). Edited March 23, 2020 by mdvle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 7 hours ago, mdvle said: One possible solution is time. Given you are talking about the Rapido Budd stainless steel equipment, the molds (which were damaged) are being fixed and the Budd stuff will be re-run in the future. The first item (unknown which item) should be announced by the end of the year - though as with anything at the moment that is subject to change - but that was the information provided in Rapido's Facebook Q&A last week. (and as with anything, you could always email Rapido to let them know what items you are interested in, it may help influence the decisions they make). Thank you. Unfortunately the D&H had no Budd equipment, those where Pullman's! I have a NYC Budd baggage car that could be resprayed as a compromise. But the main Problem ist the diner or the lounge/bar, the lounge was produced by Walthers, but just as a C&O car, the "Chessie Club". This would be the correct car, but it's not only hard to find, they want 160 -220 Dollars on eBay! And another 100 for a respray for a car… you see, thats a lot of money. Just don't get it why Walthers didn't produce the D&RGW and the D&H versions. But time will tell, and yes, I wrote to Walthers... but I don't have any hope for that. Another solution is to respray a cheap grill diner but it's just not the same! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 (edited) Confused then, because you said Rapido did the coaches, baggage, and diner and the only diner Rapido has done in the past is the Budd diner. Or were you perhaps referring to the cafe car they did (I think)? Regardless, letting Rapido know what products you would see another run of won't hurt. Edited March 24, 2020 by mdvle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Reichert Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 I do like the idea of a passenger through station with double fiddle yards as a US layout. For me personally, it's far more interesting operationally than pulling freight cars on and off of a few factory spurs. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 3 hours ago, mdvle said: Confused then, because you said Rapido did the coaches, baggage, and diner and the only diner Rapido has done in the past is the Budd diner. Or were you perhaps referring to the cafe car they did (I think)? Regardless, letting Rapido know what products you would see another run of won't hurt. Hope is here because they are doing the PA's, probably that gives a kick! Here is the diner: https://myrailroad.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/img_3327.jpg?w=500&h=375 The coach Rapido was doing I think it was a Erie Lackawanna coach. The D&H sold the coaches to Mexico after 1971. They removed the steel panels when using the diners and lounge for the Adirondack. The equipement just looked like Budd's. At this time they didn't used the baggage cars anymore. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 37 minutes ago, Andy Reichert said: I do like the idea of a passenger through station with double fiddle yards as a US layout. For me personally, it's far more interesting operationally than pulling freight cars on and off of a few factory spurs. Andy Yes Andy, it will be fun both ways. For longer trains I have to remove cars, I will pull out the rest with a Roco BR 260, that's the shortest locomotive I have. And a strong one! So there is the possibility to have a 7-coach train with 2 E-units! Not bad! I planned a loooot to reach that, hehe... and the fiddles are long enough for one loco and 4 coaches. That's the good thing about US-railroads in the late sixties/early seventies, short passenger trains. I ordered a lot of these "Through passenger trains" from Morning Sun Books, and there are so many short trains to see... perfect for smaller layouts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 2 minutes ago, Class 74 said: Here is the diner: https://myrailroad.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/img_3327.jpg?w=500&h=375 Okay, that was a CC&F Cafe-Bar-Lounge car, part of Rapido's Super Continental line of models. Be careful because Rapido is actually coming out with a proper diner in that line of cars (the PS diner has left the factory and thus should arrive in a couple of months) https://rapidotrains.com/products/passenger-cars/ho-scale-pullman-standard-lightweight-dining-car So if you do make a suggestion to Rapido make sure you suggest the correct item that you want. 2 minutes ago, Class 74 said: The coach Rapido was doing I think it was a Erie Lackawanna coach. The D&H sold the coaches to Mexico after 1971. They removed the steel panels when using the diners and lounge for the Adirondack. The equipement just looked like Budd's. At this time they didn't used the baggage cars anymore. If they were the flat sides (ie. not the Budd corrugated sides) then the coach and baggage car were part of the Super Continental line. Again, pays to be specific given that Rapido now has several varieties for some of these items given the Super Continental line, the Budd equipment, the NH stuff, and now the Horizon / Comet coaches if you email suggestions to Rapido. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 3 hours ago, mdvle said: Okay, that was a CC&F Cafe-Bar-Lounge car, part of Rapido's Super Continental line of models. Be careful because Rapido is actually coming out with a proper diner in that line of cars (the PS diner has left the factory and thus should arrive in a couple of months) https://rapidotrains.com/products/passenger-cars/ho-scale-pullman-standard-lightweight-dining-car But that was probably not even the correct diner... they were unique because the D&RGW rebuilt them from 44 seat diners into a 22 seat diner with a 16 lounge section... it's complicated! The diner Rapido is producing now is definitely not the correct car. They had a unique window arrangement after the rebuilt. But I rather have the lounge from Walthers. Just don't get it why they cancelled the release... 2 cars were built in total, one for the C&O (Chessie Club) and one bought the D&RGW (Castle Gate), the one that the D&H bought from Rio Grande. You can buy a lot of non existing stock, just like my NYC coach with the small windows you can see above. I've never seen that one as a NYC coach. Or dome cars for NYC/PRR/PC and a lot of other "wrong" stuff. Then they produce the lounge, a very rare coach in the whole US, but they just released the C&O version instead of at least 3 possible designs... I think this car still exists and was also part of a business train for Guilford. I'm sad now... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 Ok guys, look at this beauty. Some stock and locos still have to be weathered, but.....mmmmh! Really bad that Walthers also cancelled the Cigar Band E8's. But at least the IC version came out last year! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 It's funny comparing my original Kilmister layout, starting as a highland terminal, looked a bit different after some years... I made a lot of buildings for the US-version of that layout after a complete rebuilt into a city terminal. And hey, it seems that I used the "white building" on that layout... but I arranged it in different versions, I had a lot of possibilities. All E-units are from Broadway. Not really happy with them, some are really bad runners. I spent 2 E8's and one E7 a respray. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold simon b Posted April 11, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 11, 2020 Love the way this is shaping up, E8's just look so good in PC black. Do you have any more pic's of the US version of Kilmister? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 Hi Simon Yeah, they are looking pretty good. Sad that there is no manufacturer doing them. I wrote already years ago Walthers and Rapido to bring out "modern" versions, means late 60's -80's specific version. Hopefully one day... I would love to have a E9 in Amtrak phase 2. Kilmister: Yes, but they were the best pix. Here we have some news from the Union Station! The side wall Here three advertisement to choose from, I decided to use the Jack. Then I used this photo transfer creme. Some parts missing, but its ok I think. Some corrections... Still have to apply a bit of weathering, then it's fine! We go on with the side building Here you see how the background is done The entry The trainshed Looks not bad so far! Here the finished entry I painted the trainshed in a very dark grey, still some weathering to do. (and it's not finished yet) Then I started the foreground. Several layers of carboard, ripped in to pieces and glued. Looks pretty good and realistic Next was the wall on the back Now both pieces united again! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold simon b Posted April 20, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 20, 2020 That's looking great, I'm impressed with what you have achieved in card. The trainshed over the IC tracks is something I may have to recreate for myself. Which Faller kit are you planning to use for the main building? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 4 hours ago, Class 74 said: Yeah, they are looking pretty good. Sad that there is no manufacturer doing them. I wrote already years ago Walthers and Rapido to bring out "modern" versions, means late 60's -80's specific version. Hopefully one day... I would love to have a E9 in Amtrak phase 2. If VIA's E8s made it to the Kingston sub in late 1980 it would seem an obvious Rapido choice, but given the amount of possiblities it may not be high on their list of things to do. Regardless, it would be worth anybody interested in the later E* units (or any loco/freight car/passenger car/etc) to not only email the various manufacturers that you are interested (in their recent live Q&A ScaleTrains indicated that they make note of and track every suggestion to sales@scaletrains.com), but make a point of resending your interest every year so to make it clear you are still interested in the item in question. While they all have plans and ideas, customer feedback is helpful in trying to guess the viability of a prototype. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 The Faller kit is Oehringen, a beautiful station kit. Can be used for UK, rest of Europe and USA as well. Here's the one: https://www.faller.de/App/WebObjects/XSeMIPS.woa/cms/layout/lid.223/bid.16519/index.html It's good to cut, good plastic, not like the stiff Walthers stuff, it's like trying to cut potato chips!!! I ordered two bridge kits from Faller for the trainshed. I want to use the lower metal supports for the top roof. Here are some more pix with the not complete finished station... First I added a railing Lower support for the big building, the only removable building with the upper station building. Start building the upper part of the station. Loooooot of parts to paint. I painted it even twice! The windows Ta-taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
webbcompound Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Very impressive station. I'm trying to formulate something similar. how deep is your board from front to back? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 The boards are 45 cm deep and 80 cm long. The height is 30 cm. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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