I spent most of this winter working on various models but I did make progress on the layout in a few key areas. First up: the rest of the baseboards.
Continue reading “Building a Model Railroad – Part 9: More Baseboards! More Backdrop!”
As I’ve spent more time analyzing train traffic on BN/BNSF’s Seattle Subdivision it’s become apparent that though the timber industry had lost much of its pre-World War 2 luster by the 1990’s, forestry-related products still made up a very large percentage of loads headed south. Though standard and bulkhead flats could still be found moving this traffic, the center beam was king.
With that in mind, I took a look at my ever increasing roster of completed rolling stock and decided it was high time I added a few of these ubiquitous cars to the mix.
Having assembled half the baseboards in the last update I decided it would be good to move on to the section of backdrop along the wall. Since the baseboards aren’t yet screwed to the benchwork this made everything a lot more accessible. I didn’t work at it very diligently (because Summer) but I finally got the base layer of paint down about a week ago and decided it was time to share my progress.
Continue reading “Building a Model Railroad – Part 8: The Backdrop.”
For the last couple of months I’ve been slowly cutting and gluing the baseboards for the layout. I needed to do this now so that I would know for sure where the bottom edge of the backdrop should be. I’m a little over half done but that’s enough to let me start hanging the backdrop, so I figured I’d write this up now before I change tacks.
Continue reading “Building a Model Railroad – Part 7: Baseboards”
I don’t think there’s any question that I’m a better modeler today than I was a decade ago. That’s probably true for anyone trying to be their best at something. Our “best” is a constantly moving target that changes with every new skill mastered and bit of knowledge gained. So, with that in mind, I decided that it was time to take a second look at my model of Seattle & North Coast F7A #101, which I began way back in 2007 and didn’t complete until 2014. This model has always had a few annoying issues caused both by inexperience and not having the proper tools and I figured that at this point I was ready to make a second attempt.
Continue reading “Upgrading an old model.”
If you’ve been following along since I began this series on my layout build, it probably appears as though I spent three years dawdling over the basement remodel then magically had the benchwork built and installed over the course of a month while simultaneously caring for a new baby.
Though this benchwork system is pretty quick to build, it didn’t quite happen like that. In fact the components have been complete (but un-assembled) for well over a year now and the main tables were in use as a flat surface to build the basement wall panels on. All I really needed to do was screw the various tables and modules together.
Continue reading “Building a Model Railroad – Part 6: Benchwork”
This update is clearly way overdue but the summer modeling doldrums hit hard this year and I ended up spending most of my free time working on outdoor projects and other things I can only do when the weather is nice. That said, I did manage to complete the basement renovations and am only one small push away from getting the backdrop hung on the wall.
A lot of the stuff I’ve been working on was identical to the stuff I highlighted in previous posts so this update will be shorter than normal but there were a few unique challenges to solve and hopefully this will be a good capstone to this phase of the layout.
Continue reading “Building a Model Railroad – Part 5: Finishing the layout space.”
Last month I started what I hope will be a monthly series on the construction of my layout. Knowing my penchant for procrastination and the ease with which best laid plans are upset by life and other obligations, I made sure that I had enough material to cover at least the first few months of posts. So here’s the track plan, right on schedule. Continue reading “Building a Model Railroad – Part 2: Layout Design”
Well another year has come and gone with very few posts from me. But after three long years 2020 looks to be the point where I can finally begin to put time and money into building a layout. In fact, the benchwork is 90% complete though at the moment it’s not in its correct configuration and is serving as a series of work tables for the last bit of construction in the basement. If everything goes to plan I’m hoping to have the prep work done and be hanging the backdrop and valance over the next couple weeks. In the meantime I thought it might be worthwhile to fill you in on my plans.
Continue reading “Building a Model Railroad – Part 1: Planning”
As I was getting ready to paint a batch of wheels I got to thinking that I haven’t done a post on how I do so. I went back and checked and sure enough I don’t see one. So here you go.
MILEPOST 15 