Building a Residential Area

After laying out the roads, I began to build a residential area on my layout. I cut grass mats to use for the lawn areas and glued them to the table surface. I positioned 5 houses on the lawn areas. I put glue on the table surface and sprinkled sand on to the glue to create a gravel parking lot. I positioned a general store next to the parking lot and a road sign on the far end of the lot. I then added a few people around the houses and the general store. I placed a few trees and the result is what you see pictured here.

Sandy will be adding additional landscaping around the houses I think I have a good start. There will be a lot more detail added in the future.

Adding Streets to the Layout

Now that the table is built, it is time for me to start adding detail so the layout will take shape. I am starting with streets and sidewalks so the buildings placement makes sense. I am using products by Woodland Scenics to construct the road beds. I place paving tape down on the outline of the roads and fill the center of my outline with Smooth it power mixed with water at two parts smooth it to one part water. I then smooth over the mixture to make a flat road bed. I let the road bed dry over night, remove the paving tape and sand the surface until I get a smooth level road. Then I paint the road with Asphalt Top Coat and let dry. I then lightly sand the surface again to add an aging effect.

Woodland Scenics also has a dry transfer sheet of road stripes that I can apply when all my sanding is done.

Finishing Construction of The Layout Tables

The last piece of table top is being put down on the frame today, most of the surface has been painted save that last piece, and the track is all in place. I have buildings waiting to be put on the tables to start the fine tuning and decorating with landscaping. My plan is to have the New York Central passenger train running by the end of the day. If I get lucky I might be able to start placing the buildings on the layout as well.

Power Outage Delays Layout Tables

Well after not sleeping the night before, We woke to discover we had no power on 4/17/2012. We had to delay the construction until today 4/18/2012. Oscar is going to pick up the materials on his way to my house, as I will be tied up with a doctors appointment. I ran out yesterday to pick up the paint for the surface of the tables. I watched a few how to videos on setting up my layout. and am now waiting to get started. I will be adding information to this posting as the day goes on. Hopefully a few pictures as well.

We were short a little plywood, so the plan is for Oscar to return on Friday to add the additional plywood to the table top, screw down the top to the frame and finish the job. Sandy and I are going to paint as much of the table surface as possible on Thursday.

Train Tables To Be Built Tomorrow

After  a long time waiting, The train table for the New York Central indoor layout will be built tomorrow Tuesday 4.17.2012. I have been planing it for quite some time. My friend Oscar Hagerman, a local builder, will be picking me up in the morning and will will head out to pick up the materials.

It took me all day Sunday to dismantle  the layout on the floor and make the space ready to set up the tables we are going to build. I can hardly hold back on my excitement to see the layout finally set up in its permanent location. I plan to post pictures of the progress in the next day or so.

It Got Nice Outside Again

The weather got warmer again and I began to think about the outdoor railroad. It was perfect for sitting and watching the train as it ran through the town. Sandy worked hard on the landscaping for the layout making it look very realistic. I was fortunate to be able to sit and watch the train for a few hours as I began to plan what I wanted to do to make the layout better. I thought hard about the layout's size and the size of my different trains I run on the track.

I checked online and found 2 new cars I would like to add to my G scale rolling stock. I found an Aristocraft New York Central Stock Car for $69.99 in stock at Trainworld in Brooklyn New York for use with my New York Central Freight train. I also found a 20 ft Boxcar at Trainworld for $35.00 to be used with my Santa Fe 0-4-0 switcher.

The track situation is not to good at the moment, as I find the track I am currently running the train on is to small. With the finances being the way they are, and my desire to acquire a table for my indoor track plus all the additional rolling stock I want for both the indoor and outdoor layouts, the track for outdoors will have to wait a while. maybe next year will find the times more favorable. So for now I will just put the track on next years wish list along with a transformer for G scale, wires to run from the track to the new transformer, plus some more track screws to keep the track together.

Attention is Back on the Indoor Layout

The weather has gotten colder over the past week, so I find my efforts going toward the indoor New York Central layout in HO once again. I have been testing where I should be placing the buildings and the farm. I have a good idea what I want to do with the industrial area. I think I want a park next to the hospital. I also placed the coal mine near where I want the freight yard to go. Once the table is built I will have to paint the table top to match the proposed layout. The passenger station and platform will be just off the downtown area.

I plan to pick up on kits for the freight train so I can add three new boxcars, New York Central Pacemaker design. I have also decided to park my NYC rolling stock with the cigar band logo in the freight yard. As of yet I haven't quite figured out just how I am going to configure that freight yard.

The passenger train is about as complete as I am going to make it for now. I just picked up on an RPO that matches the existing cars I have. That completed a task that was five years in the making. It was produced by Walthers and they stopped making it about five years ago. I got lucky after I posted my desire to find one on the internet. To my surprise someone wrote me back and informed me he had one to sell. The rest is history.