Signals, Scenery, and Ballast

And here is the first post of the new year.  Hopefully everyone enjoyed the transition and is looking forward to the blessings of 2016!

With the new year, I am going to do something new: this whole post of being created from my phone!  I figure I should start working my way into current technology uses.  This could be the new thing.

Anyways, on to the subject of the post.  I finally finished the ground cover scenery and ballast on my first module!  

The scenery is the same stuff and technique as before.  I was really worried that the little corner left would not blend with the existing, but even I cannot tell where the new begins and the old ends.  I'll call that a win.

The ballast is real stone made by AZ Rock & Mineral company.  I followed the techniques that regularly show up in MR or MRH.  It took four good glue soakings though as I did not have a good base secured.  Lessons for next time!

Here are some closeups of the signals.  The electrical cabinets are from BLMA and a pain to build for a novice structure guy like myself but they are nice and accurate.  The switch machine is by Details West.  It was simple install and build, but is non-functioning.  The Blue Point below the decking handles the control.  I also added exposed electrical conduit for effect.

Here are the signals past the turnout.  One head is turned away from the tracks on purpose.  The set of these I purchased had a double head that is commonly used in ABS or block territory.  I decided that the SRR left the block signal when it added the siding to keep costs down.  This turnout is controlled by a Caboose Industries stand.  I cut off the lever normally on these and added a more modern looking handle.  Might not look so bad or obvious now.

And now for the random pic of the day!

I hope I haven't used this one before but anyways, this is one of the test units for the ES44AT locomotives.  It is the first of the Tier IV locomotives and is made by GE.  They are currently producing these engines for BNSF, UP, and CSX.  I have not yet seen a UP one.  I caught this bad boy heading East out of Englewood Yard one afternoon when I was heading home from work, and was lead by a Citirail ES44.  A train with no class one engines!

2015 Layout and Club Visits, End of 2015

This year was a good one for model railroading for a lot of us!  Since this is most likely my last post for the year, I think it appropriate to show off some of the local layouts and clubs and showcase their talents.

First up are some images of the local layouts.  Yes this is a picture heavy post...  Sorry mobile users.

Next are images from my favorite club, the Byan College Station Model Railroad Society!  (Yes some of these are my trains).

And on the SRR layout front, I have gotten the second module out of storage.  Some plans have changed at home and we aren't moving for a little while, so I got the corner out of storage.  It definitely needs some sceney!  I also used some birthday funds and purchased some non-working signals.  These are from Atlas and are the type G signals that are prevalent on SP trackage like the SRR runs on.  There are several surviving even on the Sunset line between Beaumont and Houston!  While they do not work, they still look great andhelp set the stage!

Finally, the random image.

This is the Conrail heritage locomotive by Norfolk Sourhern.  I had seen her once before but only technically.  This time she was out in the open wanting to be photographed, so I obliged.

Until next time, have a great rest of the year!  See you in 2016!

Scenery Update

Last time I talked about my process for creating the scenery around the yard.  Well, as I was looking at it while working on other things I decided I didn't really like it.  I couldn't tell why at the time so I just ignored it and kept going.  A few days later I was trying to level out the garden in my back yard when it hit me: it was all too flat!  The fine turf creates a great blend of colors when viewed from above, but when viewed from a sitting or lowered view it is rather bland. 

To break up the boring, I decided to begin adding other types of turf.  In this case, coarse turf in Medium and Light Green from Woodland Scenics.

These two bags contain a product that is similar to taking the fine foam an rolling several pieces into a ball.  It takes a little work to spread around but is definitely a great product for my needs!  I spread it out in a random pattern and then glued it down using the same methods from the previous post.  While the glue was still wet, I sprinkled on a little more the coarse and fine turfs to add more color and blend it all together.  Below are the results.

So why it is all still as flat as a board (get it?!) this creates a better visual that draws the eye away from the flat land and creates a sense of elevation changes.

I plan on enhancing this using grass/bush tufts of various forms from several makers before calling it complete.

And now for the prototype photo of the day!

Here we have BNSF 1244 and a sister, both 3GS21B locomotives, transfer some cars from the Pearland Yard to the South Yard in Houston, TX.  I love whole train shots so this was a lucky catch!   Plus it is always fun to hear the reefer compressor units running (all on the end of the train).  Now if only I could get rid of all of the weeds, signs, old posts, etc. 

Yard Ballast and Basic Scenery

Howdy everyone!  I have been using my recent free time to work on the yard on the layout.  This includes ballasting the tracks and putting down the basic scenery.  Below are the results of the first layer of scenery and what I know of ballast.

BALLASTING is one of those model railroading tasks that you either love or hate.  I have honestly never met anyone who is in the middle on that.  I personally fall into the love category.  I am only okay at doing it though , as this is maybe my second attempt in HO scale.  I had some basic experience while in N scale but that is a whole different beast. 

So while I am certainly no master, I will explain my technique.  Who knows, it may help someone out!  So the best ballast to use (and a lot of others agree and echo this opinion) is Highball Products ballast.  This is real stone!  The yard uses dark grey limestone.  Here is the bag I am currently using.

The first step is to pour a very small line down between the rails.  Put in so little that you don't think it will fill.  Trust me, it will.  Too much becomes difficult to handle once you spread it out.  Anyways, once you have the small line take a foam brush (I like and use the 2" brush with a 3/4" brush for backup) and spread the ballast between the rails.  Clean it off of the tops of the ties and be sure to clear it out of the web of the rail.  A quick tap of the rail head with the brush handle can usually do this.  Also, be sure to check the "tie plate" area where the rail is held to the ties.  The smaller pieces lodge in this area and are obviously out of place. 

Next is the shoulders of the track.  Now, my yard tracks are laid straight on the decking so there is not much of a shoulder.  I try to keep the ballast in close to represent yard tracks that don't handle a lot of heavy, fast traffic.  For mains and sidings, I would want more but that is for the future.  Today we are focusing on the yard.  So what I do here is pour a small line along the tops of the ties on the outside of the track.  Then using the same 2" foam brush, I come along and brush the ballast away from the tracks.  I use a slight angle as demonstrated below.  This allows the leading edge to clear away the larger piles and the back side to clean the leftovers off of the top of the ties.  In this case the leading edge is on the left of the pic.

Now you fill in any gaps or touchup as you see fit!  Then glue it all down and you're done.  One last note, be extremely careful around turnouts and crossings.  These little stone pieces can get in everything and foul it up beyond usability.

SCENERY is much different task for me.  It is so simple that you can't help but love it.  I start by painting the decking a standard brown color, but I certainly recommend using a tan color.  Brown does make a more realistic dirt color, but it make a really dark subcolor for all of the greenery.  So take that advice as you will. 

Once the paint dries, I apply a thin layer of full strength white glue every where that I want to have base scenery.  In this case, it is the grassey areas and the little gravel road.  Next I applied an even layer of Woodland Scenics Green Blend "grass" and some old Highball N scale ballast for the gravel road. 

Once the glue dries, I vacuumed up the extra grass and gravel.  ***IMPORTANT: put down the grass before the ballast so you don't vacuum up your hard work***
Next, I take various colors of ground foam and apply them over everything in a random pattern and density.  Here I used JTT green, WS burnt grass, and WS earth, all in the fine variety. 

Once you get something you are happy with, spray it all with the iso alcohol.  After a little time for it to soak in, I soak everything in a thinned glue mixture.  The glue is 2 parts water to 1 part while glue.  I use a syringe to apply the mix and soak everything in it.  I make sure it gets into all of the ballast and scenery.  Again, be extremely careful around turnouts.  The glue can glue turnout points to the rails...  Don't ask how I know this.

Lastly I sprinkle on a little more random turfs to accent what has been glued down.

The top of the picture has the scenery all glued down and the bottom is only prepped for gluing.

Again this is only the first layer!  So much more can and will be done. 

Hopefully this can serve as a basic guide to other beginners.  Also be sure to check out publications by the professionals, such as Pelle Soeburg or Lance Mindheim or the many great people at MRH E-Zine!