Bill’s been back in touch with his N scale mountain update:
“Hi Al,
Over the last weeks I’ve continued to work on the mountain that anchors one end of my N Scale mountain layout.
Since my last post I’ve gotten the top removable section of the mountain completed and have planted a forest on its sides. This was a fun endeavor for me as I really enjoy the scenery building that comes with making a model railroad.
In addition to working on the mountain I’ve also done additional small projects on the layout including weathering one of the engine houses and adding more trees to other areas.
As the weather starts to cool off I’ll start to make a number of automobile kits I have and paint and weather those. I also have a growing pile of people to add to the layout as I get areas farther along.
Always fun things to do!
The video shows rock construction of the lift off top and the second covers adding in ground cover and foliage.
Cheers!!
Bill in Virginia”
A huge thanks to Bill – stunning stuff. Can’t wait for his next one.
It’s quite a story he’s putting together with this N scale mountain – I do love the way he works, from adding wax paper to the existing scenery, to working out what part of the mountain will have trees, and what part will just have bushes.
It’s satisfying to see an update like this without any seam between the two mountains – that’s the great thing about plants and any kind of green. As Bill said – he had lots and lots of trees at the ready…
I did enjoy seeing the finished mountains on the bottom in the video – and the plaster on the new top mountain. It really shows the step by step by process, and Bill’s mountains really do look fab.
It’s hard to see the seam in the mountain before he gets busy with the ground cover and trees to hide it. Impressive stuff.
Gus has been in touch with his HO scale storage tank step by step:
“Alastair,
Gus again with some easy build storage tanks and water tanks.
The tanks are made from metal and cardboard cookie containers sprayed with red or white satin spray paint.
The bell end of the tank is made from a Styrofoam ball found at many craft stores, cut to fit the diameter of the container and shaped with a rasp to for the bell end of the tank.
To give it the smooth bell shape the Styrofoam was coated with a thin coat of drywall mud and sanded smooth.
The man way, pipe, valves and fittings are from Plastruct. Plastruct manufactures architectural details in various scales such as structural shapes, pipe, valves , fittings, pumps and motors.
The tanks also sit in a rupture basin built from square wood stock with a foam board, then filled with ballast. The Oil Company logos are from a computer search, scaled and printed the glued to the tanks.
The Nitro Gro anhydrous ammonia fertilizer and propane tanks are made similarly to the large tanks. The tank bodies are from thick cardboard tubes from a printing machine.
The bell ends are made from smaller Styrofoam balls cut in half and glued to the end of the tubes. The cradle is made from a 1” x 2” x 9” cut with a hole saw to cradle the four tanks. The fill and relief vents are made from small diameter dowel rods drilled and glued into the tanks. The signage are purchased decals from my local hobby store.
Last but not least is the water tank. Every time guests come over to look at the layout, they ask about the water tank. I always ask them what they think it is made from. I get a lot of different answers. It is nothing more than a toilet tank float ball glued to a 8” piece of ¾ PVC.
The base is made from a small kitchen funnel turned upside down and glued inside the PVC pipe. I added a red LED light from Evan’s Design to the top of the tank. The water tank is always a topic of conversation.
Have fun folks. Just look around the house and find endless items that you can use to build just about anything. Thanks for a great site. Ideas are endless.
He’s a man of very words, but I think that’s becasuse of a language barrier. His pics usually speak for him – and now he’s sent in a vid that does the same:
I have been following your blog for some time now and using tips from your Beginners Guide.
I am a newbie working on an N scale barn layout based on my memories growing up in Florida.
Yep it’s completely flat! There are not any railroad tunnels in the Sunshine State.
It is modeled on the Florida East Coast Railroad. I am doing it in diorama modules that can be taken out to change a scene if the spirit moves.
The only things that are ‘store bought’ are the two trucks, car, animals (Outland Models, Japan), and the people (unpainted from Preiser, Germany).
Everything else is scratch built using tips and tricks from Al’s Beginners Guide and other pointers found here on the blog.
Thanks to all who give insight on how I can develop my railroad empire!
My wife thinks I am probably off my nut making narratives on all this, but I have Calhoun’s Moonshine till, Happy Gator Campgrounds, and Paul’s Pure Oil gas station in progress. This I can share at another time if you like. For today allow me to introduce you to the Goode Family Farm.
Welcome to the Goode Family Farm.
Nestled at the end of a dirt lane is the Goode Family Farm. Well, its more of a farmette. In this world of ‘N scale’, it is just under 5 acres. Although its small, there is a lot going on.
In the barnyard you will find Mr. Hank Goode standing next to the hay truck watching Bossy sneaking some hay before it is unloaded. Then there is Mrs. Franny Goode feeding the chickens at the chicken
coop. Mister the horse, and Berta the cow, are taking drinks at the stock tank. Maude and Grace are feeding on a hay bale while Paint stands alone in the pasture.
Bucky and Bonny go to the fence to have their noses rubbed by family friend Tom and his daughter Gail.
In the pig pen are the four pigs that will soon be ready for market. While it’s a quiet place, in the background you can hear the sound of the squeaking old wind wheel pump as the breeze blows the Spanish moss in the trees.
In the yard, the oldest daughter Anna is in the back yard hanging the laundry out to dry. Becky, the ten- year-old, can be seen swinging little brother B.J. on the tire swing. In the garden the oldest son Dicky is weeding the vegetable patch.
The farmhouse is a typical old Florida farmhouse with large windows for ventilation and a brick fireplace to add warmth on the occasional cool evening. The porch invites you to sit on the rocking chair or the porch swing while you enjoy the aroma of the potted flowers.
When the evening rain falls on the tin roof it lulls the Goode family to sleep. A well-deserved rest after a hard day’s work.
Hey, thanks for stopping in. Y’all come see us again now hear?
Terry”
And now on to Brian from the archives:
“Hi all,
This is the third report from Grandpa’s Wonderful Railway (N Gauge) here in Wokingham, UK.
It’s a busy day on the layout especially at the Northlew Station which is hosting a Thomas and Friends Weekend. Thomas, Annie and Clarabel are as popular as ever giving family rides, James is desperately trying to control some troublesome trucks, and Percy has been assigned to display his amazing pulling power! (All the models are Tomix)
On the middle section, a special visitor to West Hoe is the Orient Express (Kato) being pulled by the Swiss Re460 loco (Fleischmann, you may remember this one in my Poirot video). On the other line is a Class 47 loaded with Yeoman, Lafarge and Shell wagons (Graham Farish).
On the lower section, the unusual load of a British Army Warrior armoured vehicle can be seen at the front of a container train pulled by a EW&S Class 66 (Graham Farish). What’s that all about? And that’s the A4 Mallard in BR Green pulling a rake of LNER Gresley teak carriages (Minitrix – still running well despite being about 30 years old!). And, that’s a Class 170 2-car DMU London Midland (Graham Farish) at Millbay Station.
On the layout you’ll see various things of interest – James Bond ‘Licence to Kill’ (not one of the best ones) is showing at The Odeon, the goods depot at Northlew looks pretty busy, Farmer Jackson’s sheep are waiting in the cattle dock to be loaded.
Rock’s Chocs chocolate factory has had it’s delivery of milk, the allotments are busy today, that’s the Ding Dong Tin Mine pumping house heritage site that Thomas is passing.
The new house is coming along nicely with a view over the cable ski water park (scratch-built cable ski rig), always nice to see a wedding with music by an ensemble from the the groom’s mates in the Parachute Regiment Band, and traffic has come to a standstill at Wenham Farm because of a stubborn cow!!!
Music accompanying the video by the way is ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’ from the musical Starlight Express, a family favourite.
Hope you enjoyed it?
Many thanks Al for your continued hard work and commitment to the blog – always interesting to see railway modelling at all levels.
All the best
Brian”
A big thanks to Terry for sharing his N scale barn and to Brian.
That’s all for today folks, please do keep ’em coming.
And don’t forget, the Beginner’s Guide is here if you want to take your first step towards your own layout.
