Odds and Ends Part I

I am still waiting for some help painting my back drop so I do not have any big changes to report.  There are a few small things going on, so I haven't been completely idle.

I have had a request for a track plan so I will give it a try.  I have not posted a plan before because it kept changing as I tried to work in the features that I want on the railroad.  Like most of us I want many more things than what will actually fit the space.  I still have not worked out the rat's nest of track that is in the lower left-hand corner.  It includes an upper track, a lower track, a track onto the dock, a track to the elevated tipple and a track leading down from the switch back.  Way to much going on but I really need it all.  It will be interesting (at least to me) to see how this all comes about. 

I have not even thought about the design of the yard, but I know that it must include an engine house with machine shop, a small station of some sort, and storage for a few cars and engines.  I would also like to have a run-around track if possible to help make up trains.

This is the track plan as of July 23rd at 9:40 AM PDT.  Nuff said.

I have been carving 2" extruded foam into some rough shapes that will be the basis of the background scenery.  It is still pretty crude at this point but I will do some final shaping and then add some Sculpamold (which I have never used) to add the final shape and smooth out the transition between pieces of foam. 

I have also been experimenting with making trunks for my twisty wire evergreen trees.  This one may be a little too large diameter wise.  Any thoughts?  My plan is to use this type of tree behind the upper track all the way around the layout.  The foreground trees will be made using Caspia branches.  I may throw in a few furnace filter trees also to add a little variety.  Other trees to be included are yet to be decided.

A friend and fellow modeler by the name of Brain Smith has a rather elaborate machine for making trees of twisted wire and sisal rope and I hope to make good use of it and his skills as I will be needing several dozen tree to get the look I want.

About five years ago I bought a small table saw from Micro Mark and to try it out I took a 1" by 10" by 5' picket from an old redwood fence and ripped it into 3/4" strips on a full-size table saw and then used the new saw to create O-scale lumber.  This trestle is the result of that experiment.  It was a fun project but since I had no plans at that time to build a railroad it just sat around taking up space.  When I decided to try building an On30 layout I decided I would have to work it in some place.  This may be the place.  At some point in the construction I will be showing the trestle in greater detail.

I like to place railroad equipment into the area I am working on to get the feel of what a scene may look like.  This represents a pair of Shays that have just pushed some log cars up the switchback and are now crossing the high trestle to enter the log-loading area.  Yes, I know the log cars should be empty.  As you can see there will be a lower line also crossing the same area on some sort of a low bridge whose design is yet to be determined. 

If anybody is still with me, I hope you find this of interest.  Comments are always welcome.