DanielB Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Morning everyone, I got bored the other morning and wanted to run some trains, but I don't have a functioning layout outside of Operation Dark Winter, and I wanted something a bit bigger. Thanks to Nick Quinn, my interest in Louisiana railroads has been sparked again. So I started building. I wanted to make a modern era layout for a while, so I can make use of all the rolling stock I've collected. This is as far as I've gotten so far - some nice Jordan-inspired knackered trackwork: I've run cars over it by hand and they seem to work fine on it. I'll know if it works when powered hopefully tonight once I've had more time to work on it. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 A quick source of inspiration for this morning: https://hawkinsrails.net/shortlines/lnw/lnw.htm L&NW is now owned and operated by Patriot Rail, still based out of the same shop facilities at Gibsland, LA. Motive power for this layout will be a patched out ATSF Geep until I can get some more suitable power. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 And some videos: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Some of those dips look like they might fill with rain https://modelrailroadforums.com/forum/index.php?media/coming-through-the-swamp.2887/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 Isn't that Bob Boudreau's work? It looks familiar. Either way it's awesome. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 3 minutes ago, DanielB said: Isn't that Bob Boudreau's work? It looks familiar. Either way it's awesome. It is, I like the look of the train crossing flooded tracks. ISTR that he used clear resin poured to sleeper height for the water 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted April 15, 2021 Author Share Posted April 15, 2021 Quick update for now. I've been busy with work and a bunch of things going off that have used up what hobby time I have had. What I have done is put down the first layer of ground cover. I've had issues in the past where flock I've put down on a layout has ended up flaking off due to poor bonding with the glue, so I've been experimenting with some techniques I normally use for doing scenic bases for wargaming Miniatures: You can see the effect in practice here to represent snow. Essentially you can use it for any ground cover depending on the ingredients you use. The technique is simple: add modge podge (gloss or matte depending on the effect you want), a bit of water, and then either paint or flock, or both. For the snow above I simply used woodland scenics snow flock in the mix. For the layout here I wanted a reddish clay look that you get in bayou country, so I used fine aquarium sand and burnt Sienna paint. For the base layer for the faded gravel/asphalt road I used neutral grey paint instead. So you add the desired materials to the water and modge podge, mix it all together into a paste, then apply it with a suitable tool - I used an old wallpaper scraper. If you want it to bond quickly with your board surface, pre-wet the board with a thin layer of PVA glue left to go tacky. After about 12-24 hours it sets into a solid layer. I do believe that if you get it wet with hot water it should break down the glue bonds and allow you to easily remove it, if you need to in the future. Anyways, here is where I've gotten to so far - I'm building this up in layers and patches to make the area look neglected and overgrown. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 Very quick update today - some new purchases for the layout. A couple of Walthers and an E&L Shops woodchip cars. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickBrad Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Looking good, I haven't touched my model really for the last couple of years now, besides moving it around because it doesn't have a permanent home. Threads like these are spurring me on to want to do something again though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 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: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 And the last bit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 And some close ups of the dirt and the asphalt. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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