Category Archives: photography

More on new buildings

This time partially completed Lumber Mill, kit bashing an old Suydam kit with changed windows, doors, reconstructed missing parts and eventually scratch built additions.

First side, adding new windows and doors from Tichy Train Group, with weathered and rusting corrugated siding

Assembling the structure on a steel machinists plate. Handy to hold things in position with magnets, since the walls are steel.

Assembling with Epoxy and CA Glue

Next brick portion

Brick incinerator building

Adding Weathering to Doors etc.

Freight Door

Then starting to plan positioning on the layout on the Lumber branch.

Mill Side

Whole area plan showing places for Log chute, pond area, log dump, stream and separate scratch built finishing building and loading dock

Partially completed Mill on Plan of area

More on building multiple structures

In the process of designing and constructing a larger city building, gluing up small sections and pilasters to form the building, and then adding the window frames.

Starting construction

Adding piece by piece and modifying some sections

Front wall taking shape

Starting to see structure come together with side walls

Building without first floor commercial facades, using machine tool hold down blocks for weight and right angles.

Next, airbrushing the structure and the windows their finish color.

Some of the airbrushed parts.

Then adding the first floor structure and trying fit in a location before putting all the finished roof, window detail, adding some interiors, and lighting.

Trying building in rough position.

Will put more on completing this and other buildings in future posts.

 

 

Kit bashing and Scratch building

Starting to  work on multiple structures for the layout using kit bashing and scratch building. I’ll be putting up various progress on building in the coming weeks. The first area is the passenger station area in the city.

Passenger station area test ideas

This second view in same area with some added wall ideas

Station area in the city

The longer shed part of the station is at a lower level and further along.

Almost finished train shed area

Will put up progress on this and other areas as I move along.

Continuing work on the Lumbering branch line

I have been concentrating on working on the branch line this week, so here are some photos of progress at the future site of the sawmill.

Getting the sidings in place for the log slide to the pond and a siding for finished product.

Next a series of Photographs showing creating the terrain around where the mill will be.

Adding slab of foam for base of mill area.

Adding slope down base.

Using some hydrocal rocks from rock molds and plaster cloth.

Then filling with more rocks and blending with sculptamold

Next will be determining the contours of the mill area (buildings, pond etc.

Forrest changes

Forrest being added to multiple parts of the layout, with modified commercial trees in the background and Supertrees and self made evergreens in the foreground.

Modified various trees populating the hills

Will still be modified a little more by subtle grey-blue toning, more as we approach the background

Famous Designers and Railroads

Another post about designers and railroads. A few posts back, talking about Raymond Loewy’s design for the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Famous GG1. Here we have the iconic Logo for the New Haven Railway.

New Haven Railroad Logo

Herbert Matter’s NH Logo. This a page from my Type book studying Graphic Design in college.

In 1954 Patrick McGinnis took over the financially strapped New Haven Railroad. His wife Lucille convinced him to come up with a new visual look, to compete with Car and Air travel. Herbert Matter’s fresh clean and modern designs are still seen in some stations and occasionally on a metro-north locomotive as a tribute to the great design. It still lives on even as the New Haven was absorbed into Penn Central about 50 years ago.

The Mammoth Amherst Railroad Society’s Railroad Show

Just returned from W. Springfield MA from the biggest model train show in the nation. Quite an experience. Over 400,000 square ft of dealers, manufacturers, modular layouts, etc.

Car in the parking lot right where I pulled in. No doubt I was in train land!

The show is in 4 buildings. this is the entrance to one of the four (Mallary Complex)

Mallary Complex

They have some canvas covered walkways between buildings

covered walkway

This is inside showing less than half of the largest building (Better Living Center)

Partial BLC Hall photo

Some of the manufacturers show a model in progress-undecorated.This is a Rapido Pre-production model at their booth

Pre-Production Alco RS11

They also have some special things like this Real 1895 Baldwin steam engine, built for SD Warren Paper Co, that has been restored to full steam operation.

SD Warren-No-2-2Ft gauge

All in all , a very enjoyable weekend