"From Eugene to Florence"; Southern Pacific on the Coos Bay branch

[Ronald48]

Oke, made a backdrop these days. The start with a light colour in the back:

 

20160908_103001 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

From a photo as guidance:

 

20160908_111531 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Mixing colours:

 

20160908_111902 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

First I did the mid and right side:

 

20160908_115610 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

And build up the layers:

 

20160908_123817 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160908_125544 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

And I'm satisfied. With the bridges:

 

20160908_125845 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160908_125855 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

It will look better when there is green stuff in front of the backdrop. Some see through:

 

20160908_125902 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160908_125907 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160908_125913 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Went on with the left side:

 

20160908_145117 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

And the connection with the middle piece:

 

20160909_141522 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Mixing the front colour:

 

20160909_143534 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Ready:

 

20160909_145109 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160909_145113 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Two panoramashots, judge for yourself:

 

20160909_145135 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160909_145234 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

In total I am satisfied with the result, considering it is the first time I ever painted a backdrop. Clouds will follow the coming days as also a light "mist" over the lower part.

[long island jack]

Excellent work there Ronald, interesting to see how others build there layouts.

 

one question, what length cars will you be running?, just looking at your corner modules there doesn't seem like a lot of clearance on the out side of the larger of the 2 curves, if your running 86' auto racks will the over hang catch the sides?

 

You've probably all ready tested the stock as you've built the modules, i once built something similar and tested with 50' cars then I decided I need bigger cars you can guess what happened!!.

 

keep up the excellent work

 

Ray

[Ronald48]

Thanks Ray! I knew someone would ask I made a video shortly after finishing laying the track Click on the photo:

 

20160902_151725 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Enjoy! And thanks for the compliments!

[long island jack]

There's always one who ask those daft questions  ,so your not running the big stuff then

 

Ray

[Ronald48]

Not the really big stuff... if you look on video's of this piece of the line you see a lot of smal equipment. So in model I will try to run the same stuff.

[Ronald48]

And it went on. Made the wiring for the corner modules. I do that by 2 wires under the module from which I feed the several pieces of rail:

 

20160912_111534 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160912_112335 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160912_113806 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

And both ready so far. Only will need theres connectors:

 

20160912_133158 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Needed some holders for the connnectors that will connect the modules. Made them:

 

20160912_135347 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160912_141524 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

And glued them under the modules:

 

20160912_160756 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

The staging yard needed extra connectors on both sides:

 

20160912_140757 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Made 4 connector holders for the corner modules:

 

20160912_163322 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Also made a holder for the displays on the back:

 

20160912_164715 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160912_180606 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160912_183720 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

So far so good, more to come!

[Northroader]

Lost in admiration in the amount of drive and energy you've got in recently, with plenty to show for it in widely differing skills. Any chance of saying what it is you're on?, I want some.

[Robatron86]

Great stuff! I love the line of bridges. That will make a fantastic photo backdrop.

[AndrewC]

Looking great. Wishing I'd now bought shares in the company that makes XLR connectors. I'd be minted.

[DanielB]

You're making great progress Ronald, on a great idea for an exhibition layout.

 

I'll be following this with interest.

[Ronald48]

Lost in admiration in the amount of drive and energy you've got in recently, with plenty to show for it in widely differing skills. Any chance of saying what it is you're on?, I want some.

 

Haha! Well, I can assure you; nothing Just a deadline hanging around my neck. I learned the past feww years when building exhibition layouts that the best drive to finish it is a deadline for a coming show

 

Great stuff! I love the line of bridges. That will make a fantastic photo backdrop.

 

Thanks! I think it will work out well.

 

 

Looking great. Wishing I'd now bought shares in the company that makes XLR connectors. I'd be minted.

 

If I had known I would have bought myself in

 

 

You're making great progress Ronald, on a great idea for an exhibition layout.

 

I'll be following this with interest.

 

Thanks, much appreciated. I will do my best

[Ozexpatriate]

Here's the bridge as of last Sunday morning (using a cheap online panorama stitching tool).

 

And one closer in:

 

The weather in Oregon for the last week or so has been simply marvelous with deep blue skies.

 

These photos were taken west of the bridge in the mid-morning around 10:30am PDT so the sun was still in the east. (This is daylight savings time.) There was a lot of contrast in the light, but I hope it gives some idea of the area.

[Ronald48]

The electric work is almost finished now, second power unit has arrived and is screwed in place:

 

20160915_182014 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

The connectors on the end modules are build-in's:

 

20160915_190515 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160913_202338 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160915_190742 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

That way I don't harm them during transportation of the layout.

And build-in:

 

20160915_190759 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

My friend Ronald was soldering the cables:

 

20160913_202642 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

And on all the modules the DCC wiring is in place:

 

20160915_193313 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160915_193321 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160915_193327 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

All necessary cables are made:

 

20160915_214930 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

More to come!

[Ronald48]

Here's the bridge as of last Sunday morning (using a cheap online panorama stitching tool).

florence 20160911.jpg

 

And one closer in:

florence-ii 20160911.jpg

 

The weather in Oregon for the last week or so has been simply marvelous with deep blue skies.

 

These photos were taken west of the bridge in the mid-morning around 10:30am PDT so the sun was still in the east. (This is daylight savings time.) There was a lot of contrast in the light, but I hope it gives some idea of the area.

 

 

Top Michael!!!! If you have more pictures I'm happy to get them

[Ozexpatriate]

Top Michael!!!! If you have more pictures I'm happy to get them

I forgot that I had this one (cropped and resized) on my phone.

 

The 'panorama' option on the camera app adds a lot more curvature to the foreground. 

[Ronald48]

Thanks again, see you mailbox

 

Made the left connection today and glued the code 83 Peco US on the left module and aligned the whole thing:

 

20160917_114203 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160917_113654 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160917_113732 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

More to come!

[Ronald48]

Today I connected the rail to the DCC bus with red and black wire. For reliability I use 1 square millimeter::

 

20160918_121641 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

On both side I cut away some foam to insert the wires:

 

20160918_125118 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Through the underside:

 

20160918_132113 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

To the back:

 

20160918_130723 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

And there the train arrived ::

 

20160918_122926 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

More to come!

[Ronald48]

Today I made the left side of the landscape and gave it a layer of Celluclay. This is instant paper-mache. It works pretty good for me and is lightweight:

 

Making the stuff is simpel, just adding warm water to it and mix it:

 

20160919_155434 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

After that you put it on the layout, I use simpel tools like your stuff for eating:

 

20160919_155810 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Put it in shape:

 

20160919_160038 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

I even it out with a wet spoon:

 

20160919_160657 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Making the first part:

 

20160919_161702 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Part 1 finished:

 

20160919_164310 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

20160919_164317 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Later more!

[Ronald48]

And one more, right side:

 

20160919_190758 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

Now I have to work first

[Ronald48]

The stuff won't dry properly..... I now have put in 2 heaters in the layout:

 

20160920_145909 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

We will see.....

[roundhouse]

I haven't used paper mache in many years.

 

Not sure whether you get this where you are but if you do each coat a few mm thick then it can be applied a few coats a day. I just add little black or brown powder paint so when it chips it doesnt leave a white edge.

 

http://www.diy.com/departments/polycell-multi-purpose-powder-filler-900g/196428_BQ.prd?ecamp=Seapla&ppc_type=shopping&ds_kids=92700014019326680&gclid=Cj0KEQjwvIO_BRDt27qG3YX0w4wBEiQAsGu3ee4MFBOFg29_CrVGb_KgbjqwB5A0it6en6l_2OSs4c0aAhiB8P8HAQ&dclid=CK65gJmDns8CFaiu7QodCocN0A

 

There are plenty of other makes.

 

Ian

[AndrewC]

 

The stuff won't dry properly..... I now have put in 2 heaters in the layout:

 

20160920_145909 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

We will see.....

 

Give it a couple of days. I've been using Sculptamould which is pretty much the same stuff. Takes forever to really dry out. Heat didn't help much but running the air con did. (lowered the humidity in the shed massively) If you have access to a dehumidifier give that a shot.

[Ronald48]

@Ian and Andrew; thanks! The stuff is almost dry this morning due to the excessive heat I forced into it. Now I'm preparing the ground base for the green stuff that will go on tomorrow. Another friend of mine called Steef will do the grass for me. We both own a electrostatic grasser from RTS, the Greenkeeper. It is the 55 kV model:

 

20160921_105903 by Ronald-45, on Flickr

 

We both did a basic course in it but he already did his own and some other layouts so he is pretty well experienced in this matter. I myself have to build some confidence because it is a new technique to work with.

 

But first things first, preparing the base. Later!

[long island jack]

looking to use paper mache on my next build, for my notes, how wet did you mix the stuff, sloppy or stiff ??

 

Ray

[Ronald48]

Ray, I urge you not to do that.... the stuff will tear and is not fine enough. I would use Sculptamold, had I known before I used it myself from my own stash. The stuff dries much better than the Celluclay and has a better (=finer) structure to work with.

 

I work it in not too wet and not too dry. It must have a "poop" consistency