November 2nd: Long time coming...

I have been having a lot of trouble posting to Blogger.  It's been a long time since I've been able to post an update.  Anyway, here goes!  I'm trying this from another computer.

We have nearly completed the farm.  We've put in a plowed field on the south side of the stream and a cow pasture on the north side.  The cow pasture is surrounded by a split-rail fence and there's a barbed-wire fence headed down to the creek to keep the drinking cows penned it.  We have made the track over the stream a viaduct with concrete drainage pipes feeding the flow from the upper stream down to the lower.  A scratch-built bridge will provide a way for the farmer to get across the stream with his tractor.

Here is the west side of the cattle area.  Note the scratch-built cattle grate made from leftover pieces of other kits, the hedgerow and then split-rail fence.

The cows are happy in their field!

Note here the dump truck and the spilled hay on the ground.  Getting people glued into the layout has been quite a challenge but we're getting it done.

And, just for fun, a shot of the area we spent months working on earlier this year.  I took all of these photos with the iPhone 6 Plus.  Takes great photos. 

We have also finally finished the pavement on the roads in the town and painted them.  We will work in a commercial area on the southwest side of town next.  We are going to get WiteOut pens and use them to draw the lines on the roads and parking lots.  Should make putting the lines down a little easier than just painting them.  If that doesn't work, we'll check out Michael's to see what kind of paint pens we can come up with.  More to come, so keep checking back!

"After" Photos From Last Post

We reset the tracks using Fusion Fiber.  It worked like a charm.  No more derailments!

Here, the Fusion Fiber is being laid to support the track.

"Before" Photos From Last Post

So, I have been trying to upload photos to the blog for months now and have had no success.  So I am posting this using the Chrome browser.

So this is Track 1, having been pulled up to reset to try to fix the derailing issue.

August 2nd, 2014: Moving Back To The Track

So we have been spending a great deal of time working on landscaping so we decided to start August by cleaning the tracks, running the trains and trying to fix some issues that have been plaguing us for quite some time.  The last time we worked on the electrical, we found that some wires had snapped from their connections and there was a short circuit somewhere.  Another issue that has been driving us nuts for the last year or so is that on the southwest part of our outer track (Track 1), as the train comes down past a switch and around a curve, the back truck of the loco would kick out and when it hit the double crossover track it would derail completely.  A solution has been found!  We tore the track up and cleared the landscaping from around it and then reassembled it and let the train run on it without securing it to the foam...and the derailing no longer happens!  So we made use of Fusion Fiber to secure the track in its naturally stable state and redo the landscaping at the same time.  Result?  Our longest-standing issue with the layout has finally been resolved.

Photos will be coming in additional posts.  Blogger is not allowing me to save with photos on this post!

Landscape Scenery, Hal Rosengarten Style!

In this video, Hal will explain his techniques for applying the scenery media to the foam or homasote substrate that makes up our layout.

June 30th: How To Build Trees

In this latest installment, Hal Rosengarten walks us through the procedure for making trees!

June 16th Update

The western cliffs are pretty much done, the road over the new overpass along the cliffside is done (except for the painting), the western hamlet is pretty much done and the painting of the buildings has begun.  Check it out in the video below!

(video will be put up shortly)

May 10th, 2014: A Long Overdue Update

So, a lot has been done in the three months since the last video.  For some reason, this site has not been allowing me to upload photos like it used to so the last update was kind of a non-event.  Anyway, work continues on the road and cliffs on the west side of the layout and a new barn has been constructed and the farm is laid out roughly.  Here is the total view of the layout in the video below:

March 30th 2014: Things Come Together!

So we picked up a bunch of buildings at the Greenburg's Train Expo yesterday in New Jersey and even more ideas.  So today we continued playing in the basement and talked strategies for what comes next.  In the meantime, there are some loose ends that we are working on, so here's a tour!

First off, here is the master at work.  The removable cap piece in the southwest corner has taken a long time to get ground cover but it's now done.  So today's work involved covering it in trees.