Many paper model containers do come with a bottom. Weather with colored pencils. I see you figured the marker trick. Grey works with all base colors i feel.
Look good. FWIW I reinforce mine with foam core to keep the straight and make them stronger for stacking. APL is American Presidents Line. Another tip is run a grey marker over the corners or any edges where your white paper is showing. Thanks for the show
So much work to cover up a switch. Easier solution would be to buy a corner stone background building that comes out 1/2 a inch and then take a piece of polystyrene plastic paint it so it looks like a smoke stack to cover up the gap. By repeat on the other side with a structure and now the two structures hold up the background and allow for it to slide up if you need to remove it.
Hey Paul, thanks for the comment and suggestion. That area is theoretically farmland so not sure that a building would work in that spot. Also there's not much room between the backdrop and track do a structure. If I had been thinking ahead way back when I had the track plan designed I would have moved the mainline further from the wall which might have allowed for a solution like you suggest.
What I remember about " old " cities/startups and there was first industries ( wool/wood/etc and then the city would grow up around it, so I wouldn't put up a screen on your island...
Layout is looking good sir love the scenery work so far. Good news I'm building a Layout and I won't be tearing this one down. So your not moving anytime soon lol
First, great video! This looks like a great conversion. How much height does it add to the moto?. I have a BB SW1500 that I tried putting a Digitrax DH166D in. Not enough clearance between the motor and the shell to put the decoder on top of the motor. I ended up getting a smaller DN136D and mounting the decoder in the cab. Wondering if you've had similar issues?
Hey Bill! Thanks for the comment! On the loco, there was an area below the dynamic brake covering that housed a weight. I had to cut that out to allow the decoder to fit. Most of the other Athearn locos I've had did not have this area so the decoders fit without issue. I've not had any SW units, only GP and SD style.
I don't know how I missed this video, but it was good! I liked everything you had in it. I also watched that video you recommended, and the corn field ideas you both had are excellent. I'll try to do it that way. Thank you much for the advice. That F unit is nice, I'm not much for wiring and installing my own DCC, but I have about 40 locos that need installs lol. They just keep building up. That's the same kind of foam sheets I use for my roads and sidewalks, and it works great. I like the grey and black for most of my projects. Sorry to hear about the sliding drawer, I really liked that idea too. Take care buddy, Dave B.
Thanks Dave! Glad the cornfield ideas helped. That loco runs pretty well although I've not been running many trains lately while focusing on scenery. I'm pleased with the foam sheets but now I've got to get around to blending all of the pavement colors to a more uniform pallet. Take care, my friend.
Hey Anthony! Thanks for the kind comments! I think you covered it all. I still have some tweaking of the backdrop clouds and getting ground cover installed but I'm happy with the current status.
Holy moly Brian, you pretty much finished the layout in an update video. That all looks great buddy. I'm a huge fan of scrap yards on model layouts, and yours looks cool. I like that corrugated metal fence a lot, it came out awesome. The backdrops also came out awesome, the clouds are a nice touch. Keep up the awesome work and you'll be done in no time. Take care buddy, Dave B.
Hey Dave! I had about 4 days of uninterrupted time to devote to the layout. Most of the work was done during that time. I've always wanted a scrap yard too and that small spot seemed just right. I think most of the major work is done now so it will be on to getting the details done. The clouds are made with some stencils I purchased years ago which I just spray paint over. I need to do a little finish work there. Thanks for your long time support Dave! It means more than I can express!
I have an idea about your light switch so you can still use it by changing it to a " smart plug " and then you can use the same space and use it just by using Google/Alexis system... Now, this is MY suggestion and not telling you how to do your layout, but I would have curved your track in the junk yard so you could get a couple of more rolling stock...
Thanks for the comment. I really only have one gondola and wanted to add some more details there rather than have more cars in that space. I'll post another video in a few days showing the final version of the scrap yard. The remote for the light will be here in a couple days so I'll let you know how it works out!
Hey David! I did a tour a couple videos ago but I can do another one if you prefer? Take a look at this video - Lumberton Valley - Episode 23 - 2023 Year End Update - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eLLAsgrcgrw.html That's the year end 2023 tour. Just let me know if you want a new one! Thanks for watching and for the comment!
Hey Jeff, thanks for the comment. I have never used LED's when retrofitting a loco like this, only the incandescent bulbs. I know that there are LED's that come pre-wired with the resistors in place. I'd do a search on eBay or Amazon for them, that way they'll have the proper resistor already attached.
Good update…many great projects keeping you going…like the lighting…what dept. in HobbyLobby did you find the logs? never saw them before…they’d make good pulpwood / log loads
Hey Anthony! The logs were in the floral design department but I've only seen them prior to Christmas. I've looked for them at other times but no luck. They come in a little net bag of about 25 or 30 logs.
Thanks Derek! First time I've had lights on a layout. Now with the plethora of LED's that are available I'll probably be illuminating everything! Thanks for the favorable comments and support!
I've been following your progress since the first garage layout and you have really made great progress with your modeling! Layout really looks good and coming along nicely! Suggestion for the unlevel siding. Put some 4mm static grass between the rails to catch the car axles and they will stay in place without a lot of force. On a feed mill siding it would look natrual.
Great Idea, Richard! I will certainly do that. I'm sure I have some scenery material that will work in there. I don't have any static grass as such but I believe I have some grass tufts made out of static grass. If you've been with me since the garage layout, you've seen a lot of changes! I have several areas of scenery that were sort of experiments that I might be replacing to get more continuity. I'm focusing on getting the layout to operate properly and will comment on that in the next update. Thanks for the long term support! I really appreciate it!
Hey Jeff, I used a DH166D decoder. I don't do sound but the 166 is a six function decoder which offers more light controls, should I decide to add them, such as MARS light, ditch light, number boards, etc. Thanks for your comment and for watching!
I really like youre lumber mill. Lots of good details surrounding it. i didnt know they made a decoder buddy like that! I have an old F unit blue box that I would need that
Hey Joe, if you watch my video on installing that PC board, I have the part number and picture of that Athearn item in the video. There are a couple PC boards available but one of them does not have the clip to attach to the motor.
I saw your comment on Kurt Bergs lighting install and came to check out your channel. It,looks like you had about 3 layouts on RU-vid and the channel looks interesting so I’ve subscribed and I look forward to catching up and your future videos. On most layouts we have to ask for a track plan but I saw at least 7 videos with the plan as a thumbnail. Thank you.
Hey Derek! Thanks for the sub and welcome aboard! I try to post a monthly update usually during the second week of the month. Thanks for watching, commenting and for the sub!
Man you have gone back to the beginning! Our house was about 20 feet higher than that creek as it was above grade. That was during the 2010 flood in Nashville.
Looks good. I like the idea of the battery pack on the outside. I'm adding lights to one of my layouts at the moment so may adopt something similar. Happy Modelling. Mon
Hey Mon, yes I considered using a AC\DC adapter to power the lights but was concerned that I would damage the lights. I've since added another battery pack using LED lights that will be shown in my next update. Thanks for watching and for commenting!
Hey Brian! I checked out your video on the Blue Box DCC install using a PC board. Where did you get the PC board? Was that part of the decoder purchase? Great video. Seems pretty simple. Also, nice call out to Anthony on GSB. The model RR community is pretty special.
Hey Curt, I purchased the PC board on Walmart.com but you can also find them on eBay. The Athearn part number is ATH90616. It was a separate purchase from the decoder. Make sure that you get that part number as there are some others that don't have the clip that attaches the board to the top of the motor. Yes Anthony is a great guy and he requested that I do a video of that board install.
Hey Ralph! I think those batter packs are going to work out well. I ave some LED's that I'm going to use to light the buildings that are on a battery pack. Should be more about that in next month's update.
Thanks for the comment and for watching! I don't think you'll see me doing that type of conversion as I don't do steam and don't care for sound! But I believe there are other RU-vid channels that have videos about this. Take care!
Street lights battery pack/on-off is a great idea…my electrical knowledge is lacking…where’d you find the battery packs? …and how’d you hook it into the switch? curious as to why you glued them in if you gonna be working behind them with scenery
Hey Anthony! I believe I got the battery packs on eBay. Here is a link to a similar item: www.ebay.com/itm/161549014059 They have an on\off switch on the back and a positive and negative lead. The switch is on the back of the pack so it's always on . I just wired the negative lead from the pack into the switch and from switch to street light bus wire. The only thing I may add to the area of the street lights might be some picket fences in front of the house so not much change there.
On the lumber yard switch, don't you have the insulated rail joiner on the wrong rail? That might be why your not getting power down that track because of a dead short. The frog rail is supposed to have the insulated joiner on it I thought.
Good point. I have the same rails insulated on all the turnouts but this one was the only area with an issue. So I soldered another feeder from the powered side (when in the "on") position of the toggle switch to the insulated rail so now when the power is "on" all works as desired and when "off" there is no power to either spur. Funny thing is that I thought that I had tested both spurs after installing the toggle switch and I was sure it was working. Oh well, it's good now! Thanks for the comment and recommendation!
