Ian Holmes

Well, the Granite City Train show is on March 1st this year which isn't so very far away especially as I still have a few road rally commitments with the SCCA (including putting on my own event). So lets get busy! Right then. First things first, in order to get the creative juices flowing I whacked the US outline stock on the baseboard to see how it looked. If you remember this is one of the selling points of the layout, able to be worked as both English outline 4mm scale and US HO scale. The first couple of pictures show an Athearn SD45-T shoving a quad set of ore jennies into the receiving road. Where the Bachmann GE 45 tonner takes over to shove them over to the loading point. The first thing that I notice, and now it's really bugging me, is the quality of the loading point. It was originally built as a mock up to test the fit and the function of the loading system. I clad it in the Scalescenes corrugated paper to have it ready for the December Granite City train show, which in the end I didn't attend due to my late father in laws then failing health. I was happy with it back then. Now I'm not and I think a rebuild, this time using embossed styrene is in order. Getting the second loading point to work would be great too. The one in question is the rearmost one. The tube that can be seen running between two structures. It's too narrow and the loading material gets stuck in there. A larger size tube is needed. On a not totally unrelated subject. I just purchased a 2 car Bachmann Derby Lightweight DMU set for a different project. I think it might be fun to build a short ramshackle timber platform somewhere on the front receiving road so I could run it as a workman's train. It would add a little extra variety to the operations. So, rebuild the loading facility, add a platform and make sure the darned thing works. Do you think I can do that in 4 1/2 weeks?

Looking good. It's coming together well. Overall it's looking very believable.

Sorry for your loss. I lost my father in law at the end of November so I know how things must be for you. You make some very good points here. Everyone should read a post like this when they find themselves feeling down on their layouts

The last entry on this blog was back in October. It was shortly after that that my father in law was taken ill and ended up sadly passing away just after Thanksgiving. The layout has lain untouched since the last entry. Hopefully the new year leads to a new start. The layout is booked at the Granite City train show in St. Cloud, MN on March 1st.

Those last two picture bring back happy memories. I used to love running across that footbridge watching the trains below. Ian

Thanks Kelly. I might have to take a look/download it.

Much of today has been spent working on the working hopper system. It's very much a bodged, cobbled together system that developed as I worked on it. It's a fairly simple idea. Coal or ore (or whatever) will be poured into a receptacle behind the backscene which is then tipped into the wagons through a tube and... Well, I think the picture illustrates the idea well enough. Overall, how does the layout look? Like this. Looking like a layout and now looking "bare". The structures need staircase and walkways and pipework and suchlike. The yard needs clutter, like the porta-loo's and skips. Some wire fencing would be good too. You know what they say. The last 10% of a layout takes 90% of the time.

Ever since I started the construction of this APA box layout I have had the belief that the structures would be sufficiently anonymous to enable the layout to be operated using British outline OO scale stock and US outline HO scale stock. I think the two attached pictures back this opinion up. The backscene might be a bit of a letdown for the iron range of Minnesota as I would plan for this layout (a few more trees and no wheat fields) but other than that I think it's OK.

I spend a lot of time looking at the layouts I build as they progress, I really do. It wouldn't surprise me if I spent as much time looking as I do actually constructing. The relationships between the size of the structures and the space between them is very important to me. I've seen way too many nice looking small layouts ruined (to my mind anyway) by the builders need to cram track or features in there. For example, I'm sure there are modellers who would think it a good idea to have a siding running into the workshop at the right. Not me, I did consider it but I discounted it almost immediately. It didn't fit in with my small layout ethos. I study all aspects of the model, getting all kinds of ideas from where the walkways will go around the loaders to the size of the trees hiding the fiddle yard exit. Talking of the fiddle yard it time to give some thought to its construction, using the lid of an APA box....

Thanks.

I really like this. I really, really like this. The tall low relief structure in the middle needs its "other half" but that will have to be stuck onto the backscene so that will have to wait until the end. As you can see, the corn field is becoming less and less noticeable. Its been a worthwhile couple of days work.

There's always a certain stage in layout construction, that when you reach it. You say to yourself. "Yes. That's it. It's feeling like a layout now. " I reached that stage today. It happened when I fixed the ScenicKing background in place to get a feel for how the light colored structures would stand out. This background works quite well, much of the wheat field (for this is the "wheat field" background) will be hidden behind a high wall and other structures. The hole in the wall exit to the "fiddle yard" will be hidden by trees. It's a nice background. It was the cheapest in the store so I lucked out there. It came as a pack of sheets which will stretch out to about 15 feet by eight inches. Eight inches being perfect for the APA box interior the way I have things set up. Fifteen feet means I have plenty left for other APA layouts Still fiddling with the layout of the structures and how to make the hopper loading work , but overall I'm feeling quite pleased with the way things are going

This is an APA Box http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20078031/ A flat pack storage box from IKEA. Interior dimensions are 2' x 1' approximately . I "discovered" them a couple of years ago and suggested that they would be suitable for a model railway layout. A Google search for "APA box model railroad" should give you plenty of other information. Hope that helps Ian

This afternoon it hit. The enthusiasm. I felt the need to start work on the APA box layout. Perhaps the nearing deadline of the Granite City Train Show prompted me into action. Whatever, I felt the need to work. I'm 4000 miles from a location that doesn't exist anymore so fidelity to the prototype isn't an issue with regards to size. Especially so as everything is supposed to fit in an APA BOX. So I just cut card to the right sort of shapes and sizes, measuring it against hopper cars and locos until I felt it looked right. I think for a roughed in shape it's about right. Tomorrow I should clad the shape in Scalescenes corrugated effect paper and work on the scenic development of other end.

You're welcome Don. I'm looking forward to seeing this develop.

Ooh lummee... I'm being blamed.. Better try and redeem myself. I use board that is about 5mm, I think it's 3/16" in old money, you know these colonials haven't moved over to metric yet . There's also 10mm available I believe. I want to say someone on this forum has used 10mm foamboard as a layout baseboard. (Chris Nevards' Catcott Burtle was it?) When I've used foamboard it's been on larger structures, like buildings in G scale or large factories where the thickness of the card mean the walls don't warp. I don't think there's any foamboard masterclass on the web I just made things up as I went along.

I've used foamboard quite a lot over the past few years. It's not perfect but I like it. Here's a few observations. Perhaps use a heavier duty knife than a scalpel for the cutting. I use a Stanley knife or similar. Sometimes the type of foamboard can make a difference too. Perhaps the fact that I'm in the US might mean things are different here to back home in the UK. But my local Office Depot changed from Elmers brand of foamboard to a "recycled" brand. This stuff is rubbish! The card surface is matt and softer, you can indent it just by holding it too hard. The foam doesn't cut so cleanly either. The Elmers brand was firmer to the touch, didn't indent and had an eggshell finish to the card facing and cut cleanly and firmly. Foamboard does work. Some people get on with it easier than others. Just a couple of thoughts if you don't mind them.