Gordy Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 So after my trip to the midwest in April, i got planning permission to build a HO layout so long as I based it on modern day South East Wisconsin. No hardship I suppose!  I decided to build this layout the same way as my O scale layouts in small modules, this is for a few reasons i might need to move and don't want to throw the layout away, I can exhibit small sections of it. and i can get bits done with sceanery on really quickly without losing interest.  Part one of this layout is a simple rake of industrial spurs which will actually be in the middle of the layout, part two will be an L shaped section with run round loop and some more spurs. The third section is a yard and Junction between the CP and WSOR and will be the largest section built at one time. Section 4 is the fiddle yard.  The whole plan will look somethink like this but I review the plan after each section and so this may not be the final version.  But part 1 is this part, I have been working on if for a month but have been collecting photos so quite a few pictures going on all in one go but i will keep posting regular updates now.     Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 So baseboards come first, i decided to try out some Grange and Hodder baseboard kits. Â They are really easy to put together and took about 30 minutes each, but benifit from pins to hold the joints and i also used some metal strengtheners at each corner. Â Â and two boards done! Â Â I then painted the boards with a white undercoat (i can't paint!) which has a terrible finish but i will be putting a top coat on the whole layout when its finished. Â Â Then to finish the boards i painted them burnt Umber on the top. This means if the scenery gets chipped you won't see plywood underneath. Â Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 Time for a bit of track laying next. I used Peco code 83 no6 switches the crossing is from atlas. I used caulk to hold the track to the baseboard. As i am trying to model an industrial spur i decided to do away with a road bed and lay straight to the baseboard. Â So first things first marking everything out. Â Then tools, not much required its pretty low tech this job, the marking out is the hard part. Â I started at one end and just worked to the other, my top tip is to spread the caulk with a wet paper towel before laying the track down or it will bulge up between the ties. I learned this the hardway here and had to rip up my first section of track after i had layed it. Â Once all the track was layed i sprayed the whole lot with some brown camaflauge spray paint from Halfords in places i added some Black paint as well. While the paint was still wet i made sure the tops of the rails were clean. Â Â Then i wired the track, unfortunatley i didn't take any pictures of this but its fairly simple as the layout is wired for DCC with two wires between each baseboard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 So with the track down i decided to build a few structures before putting the ground cover down. Believe it or not this is my first pikestuff structure i have ever built and as i am going to be kitbashing my first structure for this layout as well i needed some practice. I was really suprised the kit was moulded in grey plastic i was expecting it to be blue but no worries at least it didn't really need painting. The plastic was easy to cut and the kit went together really easily it was a nice project for a couple of hours and was weathered with just an ink wash.  building and weathering test fit  Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 Time for some ground cover, i used Busch Quartz sand, using brown and grey mixed together. I put down a layer of PVA then put down the sand after I had mixed it. I mixed up small amounts of different ratios of grey to brown to give an uneven colour ratio across the whole layout. i just evenly dusted this across the layout avoiding areas where ballast would go down and masking round buildings and road areas.  once the sand was down i set it with isoproponol alchol from a spray bottle and then sprayed 70/30 water PVA over the top  For ballast i used light ballast on the main, not much of it though and used granite ballast on the spurs. I did all this on the Sunday of the Perth Model Railway Show whilst helping out on the NMRA stand.  So for the road way i wanted this to be no more than a dirt track to a old loading dock being used by a local construction company. i used woodland scenics fine light N scale ballast and laid it in the same way as the sand.  To finish the whole lot off i soaked ink wash into the edge of the ballast and the roadway to blend everything together, oh and added a wooden grade crossing and crossing bucks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 So to bring you right upto date with where i am. I then added static grass and i have added a some 60thou plasticard to create a concrete area for my craft brewery to sit on. I also got two backscenes in place and just sprayed them with light blue paint (i can't find the pictures so you will have to use your imagination haha). Â Here are some pictures of the grass and concrete area (note some are before i hoovered up to excess grass). Â Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 so finally what have i been doing today i butchered (kitbashed) my first background structure. I used a pikestuff truck terminal kit, threw away the instructions and got on with it lol. i also added a little walthers container office to  I didn't take any constrution photos but took a few when i test fitted it and one finished shot.  so first some test fitting shots  i painted the roof brown and added my little office  So thats as far as i am with this little project. I need to add some more details to my craft brewery and build my second background industry before part 2 starts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 I bet you find HO a bit on the small side now, Gordy, after O Scale!! Â Must admit I do get a bit jealous of the easy availability of kits like Pikestuff in HO. I'd be a lot further along with my own O scale layout if equivalents were available (& affordable!!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 Yes HO is a bit smaller than O scale for sure. I just havn't got the room anymore to expand the O scale but using modern equipment it isn't so bad I don't know if i could be doing with fiddly little locos and under 40ft cars.  The availability of kits though compared to O scale is great, but if pike stuff would only sell some of there parts rather than full kits i think some of the walls and roofs could be used for O gauge and knock up buildings quite quickly.  I have to decide now what i do as another background building on the left hand side of the layout, that might be a walthers kit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 Not done much but the layout has moved to my workshop for finishing so i just got a few shots. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
squeaky Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Looking really good, I bought the Grange and Hodder baseboards for my Freemo layout. They work out quite a bit more expensive than cutting your own wood but they go together easy and are very light also. Â Anyway my woodworking skills are not the best Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Looking good Gordy. That's one quick build. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 Looking good Gordy. That's one quick build. yes, i don't mess about, i am hoping to get this section into the contest at the NMRA BR convention in October so fingers crossed its good enough and i can get a merit certificate towards an AP award I am also working on three super detailed turnouts in O Scale for the Civil section and a scratch built Highway over pass for the next section of my layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 So this weekend i have built two new baseboards and slightly modified my track plan to now include a pair of huge highway overpasses 900mm long i started on the peirs for them tonight. I am hoping that i can enter it into the NMRA-BR convention in October, so i need to keep going on this one its a huge project. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 Spot on Simon, I uploaded the wrong plan, this is my current plan with WSOR in Green. I am hoping to add more staging round the back of the layout and possibly move the dispatcher (if i ever have one) into another part of the house so that they are distant from the action. i.e. can't cheat. Â If i add more staging once the sceanery here is built it will be behind basin street and the miller valley sections of the layout to simulate the WSOR/CN from Glendale and possibly the UP from the mitchell belt yard, south of downtown. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 by the way the reason the CP staging tracks cannot be longer is that there is a brick pillar in the middle of that wall that I cannot remove. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted August 2, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 2, 2016 by the way the reason the CP staging tracks cannot be longer is that there is a brick pillar in the middle of that wall that I cannot remove. Nothing a rock drill and dynamite can't shift Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 Not sure i can get permission from the boss to blow the wall up. Lol i have a builder freind though who i am going to get looking at it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted August 2, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 2, 2016 Looking through it is what you need.... a tunnel in fact. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Planning for a Dispatcher's desk..?? Â Oh gaaaawd... I read the Andy Sperandeo article on the subject in a fairly recent Model Railroader; was none the wiser afterwards, & the job seemed like a lot of hard work and not at all relaxing, which really should be the point of participation in any hobby. It might be "how it's done" across The Pond, but I can fully understand why modellers such as Lance Mindheim have such a hard time convincing people over there that fast clocks and a mammoth operating session are not essential requirements for 'success' in the hobby. Â Sorry Gordy; not a rant against your plans, mate. Good luck with the wall demolition!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 I would call it more of a doing paperwork desk, david popp had something similar on his n scale layout near his yard. I dont think you need to dispatch too much on this layout. Â I ran the basin street part of the layout (thats already built) the other day and i am going to use track warrents and car cards to run the layout. Its very simple to be honest. I have little a5 clip boards for each crew but i still want a book to record who ran which train and when and i need somewhere for the boars and other stationary to live lol. Â I am going to be moving the layout into the garage tonight and have some new boards made up so i will post some more photos. There are only two more boarss and the fiddleyards left to build so its coming alog quite quickly. I am helping the NMRA scotland region stand at st andrews mrc this weekend though so no leaps in progress unfortunatley Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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