It has been a long time

 Well, it certainly has been a long time since I posted. I have been tied up with several projects, one of which was getting my layout videoed and posted top YouTube. Look at PRR-Northern Central if you want to see it in action. It took several months of scenery work and then shooting it to create a 10 minute video. Who can image it would take that long!

So, now I am trying to get back into the swing of things. 

I have asked my grandson to help install the future base of Milton.

 I installed a whole new lighting system using LED bulbs that replace fluorescents in their original housings. Also installed a video system to monitor the trains in the hidden area on the main. I am still tuning that up as I am not completely satisfied. I also have to build two new panels for that area to make the operators' jobs easier. 

 I have been working on tenders, new cars, pulling unpainted diesel models out and painting them. I have also been painting and lettering freight cars, and redoing drive systems on multiple engines. I will cover some if that in future posts. i hope to be a better correspondent for the foreseeable future.

Finishing the Stone Bridge and River Banks

Well, after all that fitting and plastering, we now are getting close to the finished product. I am adding the plaster shoulders to the embankment, bringing it up to the retaining walls that we set. 

I used tape to protect the previously painted bridge as the plaster is added. 

What a mess with all the tools, water, and ballast at the ready,. It seems like this will never end!
Getting closer. The tape is removed and I am cleaning up the joints. I am also adding tape beneath the track to cover the joint so the ballast does not fall through. 

I also took the opportunity of being in the area to paint  the lower edge of the photo to completely integrate it in to the scene. It had a white lower border before I cut it off and then painted the wall.

It looks good and just needs some bushes and trees. They will have to come later. 

Back to the bridge. I used the white glue and spread it on the plaster after painting it the earth color. Then I sprinkled (shifted) grass and earth colored foam on.

This is as far as I am going to go until I finish the river. I will come back and paint the riverbed in the near future. I am now laying the ballast and had to modify the elevation of the track to smooth the vertical transition which takes place on the bridge. I used the ballast to hold the track and then glued it all together. I still have a little vertical wiggle but it is not unacceptable. 

Here is the finished track work and bridge. 

I have yet to add the hairpin railings but will wait on that until the riverbed is finished as they are delicate

It looks good to me, despite being a 4 track HO bridge. Enjoy the various views that follow. 

I have to move on the more structures now. 

Thanks to everyone who has worked on this, including Paul, my son in law Jason and my two grandsons, Ian and Dylan who were the vegetation team!

 

Another Visit by The Layout Elves - A section of backdrop added

Well, I was surprised last week by a visit from my grandsons and my son in law, Jason, to work on a couple of projects.

The first project was to cover most, but not all, of the doorway at the end of the loop leading up the branch. I did not want to cover the whole door as I want to be able to look at the length of the layout from that vantage point. I will cover the top of the door with a drape if I have to. 

Dylan is using an air hammer to nail a Masonite sheet to the frame that we made. You can see that about a foot of the door opening is exposed. 

Here are two views of the finished product. 

Then they shifted to the second project - building the base for the town of Milton which has been awaiting this for about 8 years. First, we had to remove the temporary flooring I had placed there to allow us to raise the wall next to Dylan some years back. 

Some tool adjustments were required

But they got it all up.

Here is the intrepid crew before we laid the new deck. It is cut and down. We even cut up one sheet of Homasote to partially cover it. I have to buy another sheet to finish it. I can't wait for them to come back as we have some more work to get Milton in shape. My biggest problem now is that I am absorbing my horizontal surfaces and have no place to put things. 

After they left, I filled the nail holes and painted the view block blue,

Then Paul came by and we put up a photo I had Backdrop Junction make for me for this space. I have had it about 2 years - letting the idea marinate for a while. It's perspective is a little further away than the photos on each side but I think we can mask the transition with trees. The new photo has more haze than the other ones. I might also add some dry brushed white on the existing photos.

This is how it looks from a distance. Not too bad. I cut the photo down on the left end and added a section of a distant hill to match the photo on that side. Seems to fit well.

A closer shot. 

And the completed project awaiting those trees. I think it does the job!
 

Adding the Scenery to the Area

Well, we had a quiet Christmas with just one of our families visiting. They were anxious to work on the layout so, I took them up on their offer. Ian and Dylan were able to climb around on the river. Jason, their dad, did the honors of painting on the glue and supervising the work. They did a terrific job spreading the super turf for a finished look.

Ian is focused on the far bank and Dylan is working on the tunnel portal area. 

You can see the whole crew as they work in conjunction. The boys are pressing their dad to go faster with the glue! They got the whole area done in about 1.5 hours. Pretty good. Now Grandpa has to build the arch bridge to get us ready to actually pour the river.
 

Tying in the Portal and Tunnel Walls

Well, we completed the plaster and basic ground cover but now have to bring the ground to the portal. I used so Hock stone wall material to make the tunnel liner. I weathered it to match somewhat the color of the portal. It is then glued to a cardboard backer and placed along the tracks. I sealed the bottom and then brought the ballast out to cover the seam. I assume that once the area is covered, you will not see the end of the wall so easily. I did not want to go too far in case of unforeseen events. 

Here is a view from overhead. All this will be covered with plaster. So, I need to protect the track during construction. 

I built a webbing over the track and holding the upper portion of the liner walls in place. 

I glued paper to that webbing. I stuffed the tunnel with paper towels to be sure no plaster or water got to the track. That was successful.

Now I added webbing and paper to make the final land form transitioning from the upper track to the lower track. Tape has been added to protect the color of the portal and walls.

The paper has been brought down the side to the face of the tunnel portal. 

Plaster cloth has now been added. It was careful work to tie to the face of the portal and wind wall.

Completed view and Structolite has been added to the plaster base. 

Ground paint has been added to complete the basic construction.
 

Working on the Land Form

We are starting to add plaster cloth, working from beneath the bridge in another room. Cloth is up on the left side

Both banks completed so I can now go back in the main room. 

Coming along the river, you can see the tunnel portal and wall above the plastering as we put the cloth along the banks.

We have finished the far side of the river and as much of the near side as we can do until we make the tunnel.

It is beginning to look like a river.

The junction of new work and old work. We are adding the Structolite to the left. 

Structolite is completed and the ground color has been added. 

The portal complex has been installed. Paul is adding the basic colors of ground foam before coarse turf is laid. He had to climb into the river to reach the far shore. 

A closer look at the portal with its finished coloring. 

I ballasted the track into the tunnel before we finished installing it. I also added glue strips to he back of the walls so I could add the webbing to it without harming the expanded foam. 

I had to notch the portal to allow trailer trains to go through as it sits on the interior of a curve with super elevation. You can see the white spot from the notch before I painted it.

Looking back the other way, the ground covering is going in. 

Paul is now adding grass coloring to the area.

 Next up, I have to integrate the plaster work around the portal and walls.