Potter's Pond - in memory of Mr. Potter

My good friend and fellow model railroader Mr. Potter passed away recently and I wanted to post this picture of "Potter's Pond" that is located behind the roundhouse in his memory. Mr. Potter was an avid N scaler that had a super layout featuring over 400 feet of double main line. He will definately be missed! Rest in peace, my dear friend.

Just a shack - click on pictures for a larger view

Well, it's not a masterpiece - just a shack I added to the forground area of Hoovertown. This area was originally done with ground foam and about 50 "store bought" trees. After purchasing and watching Joe's videos I was no longer happy with the way the area looked. I decided to add long static grass and some better looking trees. The shack is a little wood kit I did including interior (bed, stove, table, chairs, shelves, and lighting. The area is still under construction as I make the trees. I'll be adding an outhouse behind the shack along with some junk.

Curving hardboard for coving corners

I recently added curved (coved) corners in the train room addition using the "brute force" method. I took flat hardboard 4' x 8' x 3/16" panels and forced them into the corner. This was an extremely difficult and frustrating method.

I'm getting ready to cove a corner in the expansion area and decided to use a curving method that I had used previously on some fascia board they worked very well. Here are the steps (refer to the picture below):

1.) Clamp boards on the edges using C-clamps evenly spaced (spring clamps will NOT work for this).
2.) Tie a rope to one of the end C-clamps and thread it through the other clamps going back and forth from side to side.
3.) Push on the face of the hardboard to start the curve and then tie off the other end of the rope.
4.) Wet the back (unfinished side) of the hardboard - I used a pump up sprayer because of the size of the panel. You just need to wet the back - don't soak it.
5.) Wait for awhile (I never looked at the clock) for the hardboard to "relax" a little.
6.) After waiting push down on the long edge "just enough" (I don't know what that is, but I do know what "too much" is!) and tighten up the rope. Take your time so you don't break it!
7.) Repeat steps 4 - 6 as many times as necessary to get the curve that you want. NOTE: the board will relax quite a bit back to its original shape when the rope is released so you will need to curve more than the final curve. If you're looking for a 90 degree curve you will need to curve is 110 degrees or more.
8.) After the back of the hardboard is COMPLETELY dry seal it with a good grade sealer. NOTE: latex paint is not a sealer.

Guest engineer visits the railroad

Recently my Granddaughter Laua came to visit with her Mom Stephanie and as usual Laua wanted to head to the basement to run trains with her Papaw. She's a very good engineer keeping her train under control (using the Digitrax wireless radio control) and ran both the 4-4-0 steam engine and the U28B diesel loco. I also ran a train at the same time and really enjoyed the visit!

Forced Perspective - A Basic Primer Video

Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine(tm) published a video I created showing the basics of using forced perspective on your layout to make it look deeper. Please click on video below to view it and remember your comments and suggestions are welcome. Once you click on the video and it starts playing if it doesn't play in full screen, click on it again and it will route you to YouTube(tm) where you can see it in full screen. Also be sure to check out Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine(tm) for the best on-line mag in the industry!

The Henderson Building - Part 2

Construction continues on the Henderson Building. Since the last post all cutting, fitting, filling, painting, mortar lines, and weathering on the outside have been completed. I've also added the interior window treatment and I'm presently working on the lighting (thus the wire hanging out)


In this picture (sorry for all the junk) I've attached the back and two side walls together. I'll leave the front off for access during the lighting phase. I haven't painted the store front yet and will do that later.


I'm trying something new for the lighting - a "light tunnel". I used foam board to create a box the entire height of the building. I cut out openings on all sides for all floors and covered the openings with translucent velum paper printed with a wallpaper pattern. I added horizontal pieces for each floor covered with wood grain. The lighting will actually be multiple lights hung down from the top inside of the box to provide a glow through the translucent paper. The idea is to make sure that you can't see any "naked" light bulbs. I've yet to add some "walls" on each floor that will act as view blocks so that you can't see through the building from one side to the other.

More to come.......

What a Deal!!! - Hobby Lobby closeouts

I was in the local Hobby Lobby the other day using a 40% off coupon to by some epoxy and as usual I cruised by the "Closeout" back wall. A few months ago they discontinued stocking specific model railroad supplies and apparently I missed the closeouts on the stock. When I had checked the closeout wall the previous week there were only a few HO figures and that was it.

Well, what did I see this time? A number of DPM HO structure kits deeply discounted! The picture below is of the "Goodfellows Hall" which Hobby Lobby was listing at $17.99 and it was discounted to $6.47!

I also bought the following discounted DPM kits: "Robert's Dry Goods", "Front Street Building", "1st National Bank", and "Pam's Pet Shop" - all at similar or better discounts. I got $85.00 worth of kits for $32.00! I already have many of the kits; however, I can use these kits to add extra floors / stories and/or as kitbash material.

Sometimes it pays to be persistent. I'll be sure to check the Closeout Wall each and every time!

The Henderson Building

My latest kitbash project for the Hoovertown expansion is The Henderson Building named after my sister and family. It is a combination of Bachmann's Ambassador Hotel and Walther's Merchant's Row II. Actually, it is mainly the Ambassador Hotel as the only parts I'm using from the Walther's kit is the ground floor retail front and the very top cap.

Here's the Walther's kit after I cut the sections out that I will use.

This is just one wall that I cut up from the hotel kit and I'll use the upper right section.

Here are the four assembled walls - from left to right: Right side / Left Side / Front/ and back. The walls looked like they are curved, but that is a distortion from my camera.

Here's the front after painting, motar lines added, and a black wash. I've got a ton more work to do, but when it's completed I'll have an eight story building that is 12-1/2 inches tall. Stay tuned for more progress reports.

The Chicken or the Egg?

I currently have the "Merchant's Row" structure on my layout and the other day I was cruising the web looking for structures when I ran accross the "Burlington Street" structure by SS Limited. The only difference I can tell between the two structures is that the Burlington Street has a column on the left corner building. I wonder which came first, and who copied who?

Alcove expansion continues - walls painted

The alcove expansion was limping along as I seemed to be taking FOREVER doing the finishing on the drywall mud work. The other day I decided to get at it again, and to my surprise there was very little finishing to do, which I finally completed. Since I was on a roll I went ahead and painted the walls and everyting came out fairly good (I'm no drywaller!) I really like the way the curved walls "blend" the back wall and make the area look deeper.

The next steps are to paint the floor, add molding around the bottom, and trim rings for the lights. After this is completed, the area will be SCREAMING for some track!

L&N Steam Passing behind my house in the 50's

This 11 second film clip was shot from my backyard by my Father in the 50's as a double headed steam heads West through St. Matthews, Kentucky.

Two Story Farmhouse diorama

Recently I did a "show & tell" of my homemade static grass applicator at the Piedmont meeting. I wanted to show what the device could do, so I created a little diorama using my 2 story farmhouse (by AMB) that I had previously built. This structure will probably occupy the residential district of Hoovertown that is presently under construction. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Hoovertown residential construction begins

I've finally started to do the residential area behind the Hoovertown business district. As with the business district I want to do the work off the layout, so the first step is to make a removable support structure. Once the support structure is completed, I'll remove it from the layout and place it on my work table to add the streets, landscape, structures, etc.

I wanted something light and easy to work with, so I opted to try for the first time PVC lattice. I know that it's expensive compared to wood, but I like that you can bend sharp curves (using a heat gun) and that using the standard PVC primer and clamps can work very fast. For you engineer types this may look over-engineered and you are probably correct. I never claimed to be an engineer!

The next step will be to add a 2" thick foam top to the PVC base and then add individual foam pieces to get the contours I want. As you can see in the back left of this picture where the track crosses over itself there is a big change from in track heights around this area. So, basically the foam top of this area will have to be built up more on the left and even more in the left rear.

Roy's Safe & Lock at Night

You can see the customer talking to Roy behind the counter. Maybe he's getting some keys cut....or just chewing the fat. Looks like Roy is having another sale on his large safes.

Pretty much the same angle shot with my room lights off.

It's subtle, but the lighting is different in different rooms & floors.

Maybe some day I can get some good shots with the exposure correct.

Roy's Safe & Lock Kitbash

Well, it's almost done. Here are some pix.

Little Gold House

I'm finishing up my latest wood structure kit - this one is by Mountaineer Precision Products (Kit #1) called "Historic Little Blue House - LaGrange, Kentucky". It's based on a real structure that is still standing in Kentucky. As you can see I didn't finish it in blue. I usually don't finish a structure in the same color as the kit shows and I prefer gold for this kit.

The kit has a 6" x 5" footprint and is well made. The gold color is actually a chaulk that I rubbed on the wood. I really like the way it doesn't fill the pores of the wood and allows the grain to show.

The foundation is kind of wacky in that it's two layers of wood. I used putty to fill the crack between the layers and painted it a concrete gray.

The differences in the shades of gold is the natural result of applying the chaulk and then handling the structure.

The roof stack didn't come with the kit. It's a piece of brass tubing that is drilled out the inside to thin the wall. The metal roof is painted gray, then brushed with a very thin solution of metalic silver and thinner. I used chaulks to add dirt and rust to the silver/gray.

All the pictures of the kit show three chimneys; however, the kit only came with two and the roof was only notched for two.

There were some fairly large gaps where the chimneys went into the roof. I used my old "tar" formula to fill the gaps (gray paint & white glue). I take some of the tar out of the bottle and let it dry and thicken to the point where it will fill the gaps.

See those two verticle lines? I don't know what caused them!

The porch columns are plastic. I liked the detail wood work on the front of the porch. The little house will probably be part of the neighborhood in the back of Hoovertown.

Just a few pictures

Haven't posted for awhile, so I'll just put a few pictures. Some may be a repeat, but oh well!

Rick's Ribs - the best BBQ in Hoovertown!

Potter's Pond behind the roundhouse in the Matthews Freight Yard

Who's that behind those Foster Grants passing Peggy's Health Club

It's a busy time at Midge's Corner Cafe, although there's no food on the tables!

Hoovertown park is a great place to play a game of checkers or just relax & chat.

What did that guy drop? Downtown Hoovertown is a busy place.

A man's home is his castle, but it that true when it's a shack? A hobo is passing time at his castle.

Matthew Frieght yard is a little packed today, but that won't be the case for long.

O.K., it's just a joke! We don't cook any of our cats at Ashley's Pets. How much is that kitty in the window?

1303 rounding Hoovertown

Matthews Freight Yard

Haven't posted for awhile, so I thought I'd upload another excellent picture taken by my friend, Bob W. He's from the Great White North, and thus insisted on putting the CN gons on the layout for the picture. Bob does most of the painting on his locos and rolling stock and does a great job.

Click on the picture for a larger view

Kitbash progress - B. Moore Showroom / Roy's Safe & Lock

Here's the latest progress on the kit bash of the DPM #10400 "B. Moore Showroom" which will become "Roy's Safe & Lock" plus some upstairs apartments. The original structure kit is shown on the left. Since this will be a foreground structure, I installed floors (with wood grain covering), walls (with patterned wallpaper) furniture (made from carved foam), figures, and lighting (which is different brightness in different rooms / floors).

For the ground floor there will be interior steps just beyond the left door that go up to the apartments. The balance of the windows and doors belong to Roy's Safe & Lock . As a kid I hung around a lock shop that was in a Sears parking lot along with a buddy. The locksmith was a very nice gentlemen and we actually learned a great deal about locks. As an adult I also hung around a locksmith shop and did some work for them, so the concept brings back fond memories.

The locksmith shop area on the ground floor will be fully detailed including a large key exterior hanging sign, window signs, a large safe (with the door open), counter with a cash register, wall displays, and figures. The wiring for the interior lights is now visible in the back interior of the ground floor but will be hidden by the removable ground floor interior.

Stay tuned for more as I continue to work (on and off) on this project.

Wire Armature Trees

A few weeks ago our operating group had a tree making clinic at one fo the member's home. We tried our hand at making many different sytles of trees using a number of methods. I took a "shining" to the wire armature method. This method uses florist wire (28 gauge) with twisting and forming the wire to make the armature. Unfortunately, we didn't have any gesso to coat the bare wire armatures to continue the process so I couldn't create the finished result.

When I got home I made a few armatures with the intent of coating them with gesso. When I went to my local craft store to purchase the gesso I was surprised to find out how costly it is. Instead of purchasing the gesso I made a poor man's version using white glue, a dash of gray liquid concrete colorant, and a secret (all purpose flour)thickening agent. I applied the mix to the armatures with a brush. The nice thing about this glue mix is that I can "set" it with a hair dryer in about 2 minutes and then apply a second coat. The mix also lasts well without drying as I've been using the "tub" of it for 10 days and it still it very usable. I've heard of possible "bug" problems using flour; however, the trees are painted which should seal them against attack by insects.

After the final coat (usually two coats are required) drys I use a hobby knife to scratch the trunk to simulate bark and then dry brush the entire armature with a gray craft paint. The foilage is Wood Scenics(tm) green poly fiber is stretched thin and attached with Hob-e-Tac(R). The fiber is misted with hair spray and sprinkled with coarse green foam.

These are intended to be forground trees, mainly because of how long it takes to make them which is about an hour each (ouch!). Making these trees is a "TV Time" activity for me mainly at night. The good news is the trees cost little to make and I believe they look good. Click on the pictures for a larger view.

Here are a couple of the armatures ready for foilage

All of the trees of course will have different trunks and limbs.

Here's a tree with foilage

General stuf...

I haven't posted in a few weeks and wanted to update what's going on with the railroad. Presently I'm writing an article on quick & easy window treatment that may or may not get published.

I've also been working on making a few wire armature trees like the ones I learned to make at Scott's tree clinic. I may have developed a cheaper coating than using the gesso that is $25.00 per quart. The coating is in testing right now.

And...... I'm still working on the B. Moore kitbashed structure. I've got the upstairs floors interior detailed & lighted. I'm working on the ground floor business which I plan on being a safe & lock shop.

More to come (with pictures).

Track rework in thru plate girder bridge area

When Coalfinger Ken was over with the NCIOG group he was running his steam engine on the layout and discovered a REALLY bad track area on the uphill side of the plate girder bridge. Notice below that there is a big gap between the bottom of the level and the rail. This "hump" was de-railing his loco and it had to be repaired.


To make matters worse, there was also a kink in the track on the entrance to the bridge - a double whammy!

Since I had only put a couple of drops of glue on the bottom of the bridge it was very easy to pry it loose from the Styrofoam "concrete" piers.

Here I've put a spacer under the bridge to show how much the track leading to the bridge needs to be raised. I think where I went wrong originally was when I cut plywood sub bed it sagged resulting in the mismatch.

The track has to go, so I start by cutting the feeder wires.

Next I cut next to the cork where the landscaping is attached. Note the mother and son watching the process.

I used 50/50 white glue/water to glue down the cork, so an application of 70% alcohol helps dissolve the glue. As I put down the alcohol it wicks under the cork.

With the track gone it's time to use some elbow grease (and extra alcohol) to get up the rest of the cork.

It didn't take long to discover that this was going to be a long process, so I grabbed a nice soft rubber mat to help save the Dogs!

Here I'm checking the track with a car to make sure it's free rolling and no more hump.

The Styrofoam spacer has been cut and attached using 5 minute epoxy. Why epoxy? It's strong, foam safe, dries fast, and doesn't add much extra thickness. The spacer and existing support both had their edges beveled so that the lightweight Spackle would fill the crack.

Here's the spacer after it's been painted. Note the prototypical crack along the top horizontal edge - just like the real thing!

Graph paper was taped together and cut to make a template for the new roadbed. The new ramp piece was cut out of a piece of 3/16" Masonite following the template.

What the heck are these? They are 3/8" dowel rods cut into 1-1/2" pieces. They will be used to support the roadbed Masonite piece.

The 3/8" dowel rod pieces were inserted into holes drilled into the existing sub roadbed. They are a tight "slip fit" to allow them to be moved up and down.

After all of the holes were drilled and the dowels inserted, the Masonite roadbed piece was put on top and the dowels moved up or down to get the proper slope to the piece.

Here's a closeup of the dowels.(not in final position).

Once the Masonite roadbed slope was set properly, the dowels were affixed in place using the 5 minute epoxy.

Next the top of each dowel received a coat of yellow carpenter glue and the Masonite roadbed (with cork already installed) was installed on top. I used what I had handy for weights, which happened to be soft drinks from the NCIOG Friday night session.

Even though I had beveled the Masonite using a rasp it still was a little too thick. I cut it short and used styrene sheet of reducing thickness to make the transition to the final level ( existing plywood). The sheets were glued to each other using styrene glue and glued to the plywood with Alene's Tacky Glue. After the glue was dry I glued on the final strips of cork roadbed.

What's going on here? I saved the Masonite template and used it here to attach the track and curve it to the final angle. I soldered a piece of 36" Atlas code 83 flex track to a 9" piece of sectional track while they were straight, thus eliminating the possibility of a kink. I'm using this "jig" to paint the track with camo dark brown spray paint. The reason I painted the track in the final position is because when the track is flexed (curved) and painted it covers all areas.

Here's the track after it was glued down using latex caulk and weighted while the caulk was drying.

Of course, the scenery has to be reworked in this area because of the new roadbed and elevation. The area was sprayed with 70% alcohol and scraped to remove most of the grass. The trees and bushes were also removed.

When I first started model railroading I bought a 25 lb bag of Sculptamold because I read how great it was. I've never used it since purchasing it; however, I needed something that wasn't as messy as plaster. I mixed it according to the instructions and it is the perfect material for this process as it is easy to use, not messy at all, and has a generous working time ( 15 minutes or more!). The product is slow drying, so the landscape will have to wait a few days.

I ran trains over the new section and it is much improved! No more hump or kink. Thanks, Ken!