“Alastair,
I cannot resist sending the attached photo to you for all those modelers who research real life RR sites for possible incorporation into their layouts.
That said, I don’t know how one might travel the track below.
Love getting your emails and photos/videos of what others are doing.
Sincerely,
John”
“Hi Al
Progress on the wharf model, 5 buildings shown in the photo. Must cut the pilings to fit under it and add the details on it.
Mirror show reversed signs on building in order to read them correctly.
Cheers
Brian”
“Hi Al.
Remember awhile back I made up a small power station. well im finally finishing it off. I started adding power lines and such.not finished yet. lol
Kim”
“ok, so you want my best tip,this is probably my only tip for scenery, when using styrofoam for mountains, spray with elmers spray on adhesive, small sections at a time. the glue will melt into the foam and make indentations lie real rocks have. i of course reccommend a little practice and experimentation first. have fun.
bojos”
“Hi,
I have an good tip; if you want to fill up your/a wagon with coal and you don’t want to use loads of it, you can fill your wagon up ¾ of the way with cardboard, then you can mix some coal with PVA glue until it makes a paste and the glue goes greyish, then you just put it on until you can’t see any cardboard and then leave it to dry. Once it has dried it will look realistic.
Adam”
Thanks to everyone who has mailed me.
Please do keep ’em coming. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Latest ebay cheat sheet is here. Still more comments on this than anything else.
Best
Al
great top photograph can you give away its location Please?
all the very best Paul
Beautiful modelling Brian. Keep up the good work!
Love the moss covered track. It looks a little like Cass railway in Wva. But their track is MUCH better.
Paul,
I sent the photo to Alastair having received it via email in a batch of unusual (and stunning) photos. So I have no idea where the location of the track is. Sorry.
John (Western Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
in order to “navigate” over those tracks, do it very carefully !!! Thanks for the other pictures.
I love the power station. Brilliant work.
Love the abandoned track photo. Looks like an old logging line. Would go great on a mountain scene!
I love the abandoned track. I am going to find a place for some.
Thank’s Rob.made from junk.needs more work.Love the photo’s.Makes you wonder who used it and how.with what traveled them.Be interesting to sit next to them and listen.never know something not of this world anymore may still travel them. Seem those tracks are very close together and agree with Wayne,or some mining work.But a very beautiful photo.And dang those are some nice building’s.very nice work.
I would love to model a moss covered track like that into a layout… Inspiration when least expected!
Fantastic picture … that beauty was placed there by the hand of God. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks to all that share their time, talent, pictures, video, with all of us!
We are motivated and inspired by your efforts.
Thanks Al
Best regards,
YOU ARE DOING A FINE JOB.KEEP UP GOOD WORK.
Very nice work on the wharf Brian, I await stage three when you install the pilings.
A real class job..
The power station is looking great. I think I’m going to try to add one to my layout. Thanks for the inspiration Kim.
The buildings on your layout are fantastic. They are unique and fit your scene perfectly. Are they from kits or scratch built?
Also, thanks for the great idea of modeling in abandoned track lines. It’s unique ideas like this that help make a layout outstanding.
great job being done, love the top photo, can you let us all know the location please
Just got back from Cass West Virginia yesterday. It does remind me of there with the steep grade and tight curves. It could be on one of their abandoned spurs. The company was a logging supplier of pulp for paper mills. About 1965 or so after several owners it is now excursion trains. They run several Shays, a Climax, and are restoring a Geisling. I am slowly making progress on my own layout. Thanks to all for the postings. They certainly help keep me going with the work on my own dream.
Norm in York, PA
The first pic with the moss covered tracks I believe is from Taiwan.
Just a tip for those of you thinking of using mirrors: there are two types. Some are silvered on the back and are common. This type of mirror is best avoided as you will see a gap when objects are placed against it. A better (but more expensive) choice is a mirror that is silvered on the front. Objects touching the mirror will apoear to continue into the mirror with no gap.
Just saw John’s photos of old moss covered track and wanted to know where he took the photo at?? Looks like part of an old narrow gauge railroad located here in Colorado.
love all the pics and tips thanks for sharing,
I have 1 tip fpr you all. dry lavendar flowers by hanging them upside down to dry then you can spray paint them any colour you like, they make great trees and bushes.
Looking at the photo of the track it looks like part of the old mining RR in North Western Tasmania Australia. InLand from Devonport.
Have seen track like that, once in I believe it was Essex, Ct at Gillete Castle. Was track that has been abandoned near the Castle.
Bumper
Only a ghost train could travel this line !!!
Re: expanded polystyrene [EPS] foam and elmers glue. Acetone does a far better job on shrinking the cell structure. Spray only tho! Very aggressive.
Check youtube for ways to build a hot wire to cut EPS using a 9 volt battery and a thin steel wire
Extruded PS [XPS] foam – insulation board – is best cut with a bread knife.
Re: mirrored surface. Look on ebay for mirrored plastic. Dollar Gen’l often sells plastic shaving mirrors. Can be jigsawed to any shape. Small pieces can be used to emulate wet roadways or small fish ponds.
I really like photos of old and overgrown tracks! A beautiful photo!
That abandoned track photo, I had to look at it for a couple of minutes to convince myself is was a scale model. It is absolutely stunning. Kudos!!!
What great ideas! As for the power station; time and patience have produced a fantastic result – well done!!
I believe the moss covered tracks are in Taiwan.
To add to what Bojos has said, acetone and general purpose thinners will do the same. I found out by accident when doing a painting with my airbrush years ago. I was cleaning my airbrush and accidentally sprayed the thinners onto some styrofoam. Use a small brush or air brush and be gentle with how you apply it. You can achieve an affect similar to what you imagined.
Kinda looks like Roaring Camp RR in Felton, CA. north of Santa Cruz.
Love the coast mountains!
you did a great job moss on track looks very very old nice power plant what an idea if i make one will take a long time have to use sewing thead from elect polls very nice got me thinking joe from the ozarks………
Brilliant! A microcosm of detail. You have a great artist/architect eye for form, texture, and hue. The key that makes it works is the harmony between each piece and the overall scene. Keep inspiring us!