New month, new place.
[#welcome] Taylor!!
Sawyer, the diorama is lookin good!
Tyler, West Canaan looks great! (I know I already said it, but it looks really good in the vid) And I like the new pictures on the site! [tup]
GG, you mean something other than the 2 GP18s??
thanks Joe!
GG, looking forward to that WRS loco though.
I’m hopefully going to pick up some more wire soon for the layout. Also, the scratch build of the furniture factory may start soon.
I think my airbrush is clogged though; cleaned it after that model master paint like I clean it for polly scale; guess it didn’t get all the paint though. My b-day is in 22 days though, I think I might ask for a better airbrush then. But I’ve got some ideas to unclog my current one.
It’s good to soak an aibrush in an alcohol bath every few months, and use a toothbrush to remove all paint you can. What model master did you use? Acryl or Enamel?
Enamel thinned w/ testors thinner. It’s a Badger model 250, and the paint nozzle is clogged; at least I think it is, ain’t tried it but noticed that it had some paint dried over the top. I was like what the heck b/c I thought it was clean.
You need to use the thinner and a toothbrush and clean the entire airbrush with that… Water wont work when cleaning up after enamels.
gotcha, thanks man!
Hey
Is your layout finished and do you operate yours with like car cards or a switch list and is this your first layout because your diorama pixs were really nice, better then some of the ones in mr.[swg]
What kind of airbrush do you use because I would like to get one but have no idea what brands are good or what I even need.
Taylor
I recommend nail polish remover. that makes short work of ANY kind of paint, and it WILL clean your airbrush parts. alcohol works to, but it takes longer, and I’m impatient. since your airbrush is made of metal, we don’t have to worry about it damaging parts, so its OK to use a stronger chemical.
Hey
How long have you been modeling and do you guys all have websites because its pretty cool, when I went to the wrs website, I thought it was real till I read the disclaimer. lol
Taylor
It sounds like you are addressing Sawyer, but I guess I’ll throw my [2c] in…
I operate my layout with a car card and waybill system, with a crew of three operators being the bare minimum that can run a full session. I want to hold sessions every month, and so far I’ve held two, then had a large break so I could install a fascia. Right now I’m waiting to schedule my next one until I fix the lift bridge to my staging yard - the track joints are messed up on the opening end. I use a sequence system to schedule trains.
This is my 3.9th layout. That 0.1 is one hill, the Mascoma Lake Grade, the backdrop, and the benchwork from my previous layout. Long story!
Hey
It was really to anyone but I just used his post to reply to. And so Its really your 4th layout? I wish I could operate my layout but I desgined it when I first got into the hobby and had no idea what to do [swg]and how big is your layout? It must be somewhat big if 3 operators is the bare minimum.
Oh and I like your website, its really cool and realistic.
Taylor
I’ve had three, and soon to be four layouts. It started as the track from under the christmas tree (tacked on the back of what I believe was spare wall panelling…) which was then moved downstairs for me to use full time. I rebuilt that, but that didn’t last very long.
About 2 years ago, I completely started over. However, this never even got past the track stage. It is simply a sheet of plywood, covered with 1" foam on top of an old table. The track is Bachmann E-Z Track, and there is a total lack of scenery (aka White Desert), except for two small areas of grass and the lake and surrounding area.
Once I get funding, I’ll start on a real layout, which I can hopefully finish before I move out to college in less than 3 years. I’ll get rid of everything I have now (except the one structure I own, rolling stock, and locos [I’ll save the track for something else]) and start over (again) on a 10.5x7 layout. This time I’ll have real benchwork, real track, and full scenery.
My website is here. However, I am moving back to Google Sites (that’s what I used for the Watchinson Secondary site, then tried Webs when I changed to the Tri-State Railway), because I found Webs more difficult to use. I’ve started on the new site, but haven’t mentioned it yet because I still have a lot to do before it is presentable…
Hey Ns3010(don’t know your name, sorry)
Im still on my first layout and mine is sort of like yours but its held up by sawhorses. [swg] I use E-Z Track too and have one of those horrible woodland scenic grass mats down, I also have some poorly made trees and woodland scencis bushes and underbrush. I know what you mean, I want to build a new layout with staging yard and to have it portable so I can take it with me in 3 years when I go to college, Scary!
Taylor
P.S. You shoul see my lake its horrible, I just painted it on the grass mat after I scraped all the grass off.
It’s cool, you can just call me Joe
The grass mat I what was on the first (and second) layout. It was crap (that green stuff ended up all over the place) and just looked horrible.
The trees I have are kinda so-so. I bought them for a World History project last year, and used the leftovers on the layout.
For my lake, I used WS Realistic Water, which looks really good. I painted the plywood below it black (that’s what was reccomended), although a dark shade of blue would look a lot better. For the shore around it, I used real sand that I took from down the shore (sadly, I do not have a layout down there, so I spend my summers trainless). It’s way out of scale, but looks fine anyway.
My future layout will be way too large to bring with me. I doubt I could fit a 10.5x7 layout (staging included) in a dorm room! Hopefully my parents won’t get rid of it while I’m gone… I may build a small N scale (the thought of that is bad. hahah, jk Sawyer!!) shelf layout. But that’s too far ahead to even think about.
Welcome Taylor!
My long awaited Athearn F units have finally come in! First we have ATSF 90, which will be patched evenutaly to WC 6652.
Here we have WC 6654.
Spiffy, although you need someone to redecal the number boards when you change the number… [:D]
Uh, sort of. In physical construction it’s my 3rd, since the benchwork and general design stayed the same, but every single town was changed and almost all of the track rebuilt. So I guess in terms of moving forward with my skills, it’s my 4th. This was my first layout! That’s me at age 7 in the green shirt…that black rope on the ground behind my brother traces the outline of my current layout, the pole next to it is in the middle of a hill next to the Mascoma Lake Grade.
My layout measures about 12’ by 22’ in a kidney shape. I wish I had an accurate track plan, but the only one I have is really skewed from it’s real dimensions and the layout is so different that it’s almost unrecognizable.
3 operators isn’t all that many - one each for the yard job, the through freight, and the local. But I can actually only fit a couple trains on the mainline at any given time. I have a single double-ended siding for meets plus a long running track for the local to hide in, a yard with two double-ended tracks and plenty more space for the local or yard job, and a four-track staging yard that stretches a good 20 feet. The trick to realistic operations is to spread the trains out. Waaayyy out!
Here’s a video tour of the railroad, which is narrated and for added fun, includes some train footage! It’s neat to see how mu
Hey Joe
Ha I hate the grass mat, whenever I vacuum the dust won’t come off it and woodland scenics own scenic cement stains the grass mat, found that out the hard way. My trees are good for first try but I think I am gonna go with super trees since they look really realistic. My lake is crap because I didn’t cut out the foam and its more of a pond.
I’m pretty sure your future layout will be as big as the dorm room lol.
Taylor
Hey Tyler
Oh gotcha and Your layout is huge! Thats bigger then some of the layouts in MR. I don’t even have a track plan, never did, just bought track and put it together on the plywood. Well 3 is pretty good and do you have a dispatcher. Your layout sounds like it was made with operating in mind, I can’t even add a staging yard, no way to add a track to get to it and not enough industries.
Taylor
So you’re using a foam base for your layout?
EDIT: No, I have no dispatcher. I run my trains with a sequence system, where each operator has a timetable. Here’s a link to the newest version of the schedule.
WRS Schedule as of August 23, 2009
You are correct that Version 3.9 was designed for operations! That’s where the most fun is for me in this hobby.
EDIT 2: Wow, this place is HOPPING tonight!