The Housatonic Railroad - in N scale

[Eric - Housatonic RR]

That is a big improvement indeed and an amazing color match on the road. Even better that the photo came from an actual area nearby to the location that you are modeling.

Loren, that "street view" photo is from the actual prototype location. Ironically, the stone dump bin for the real Specialty Minerals makes a cameo behind my modeled version of it. Here you can see it just above the empty dump truck, to the right of the road in the background photo and the model to the right in the foreground.

[Paul S.]

Nicely done, Eric. The scene under the conveyor certainly "opens up."

[Eric - Housatonic RR]

I just found an online prototype shot that reminded me of a progress photo of Specialty Minerals that I took a while ago, on my layout. I wasn't trying to replicate this photo, but I may need to try to actually stage a better layout photo for such a comparison. I also need to renumber the leased GMTX unit to match the one the HRRC is currently using, as seen in the photo below.

[Steve H AC&Y]

Nicely done Eric. I always enjoy seeing a prototype scene captured on the layout. Very satisfying.

[Allen]

Eric, while it can be hard to model the exact scene, this one is just damned close, nice job!

[Eric - Housatonic RR]

Life has been good, but hectic. I just got back from Montreal after enjoying a full 3 days of Practice, Qualifying and the actual F1 Canada Grand Prix. A good friend invited me to VIP seating and full food/bar service in the Senna Club, on turn 1.

There has not been any recent layout progress, but I did want to post one more video of Randy Stahl's 150 car Milwaukee Road ore train, pulled by two of my HRRC GP7s, running on my Housatonic RR layout.

[Paul S.]

I envy you, Eric! I would love to see an F1 race in person. I did listen to part of that race on Sirius XM.

[Eric - Housatonic RR]

Paul, that was a once in a lifetime experience to be sure.

[Eric - Housatonic RR]

I have had little to no time available for modeling this summer, but I took 5 minutes last night to test out a proof of concept for the solar panel array on the roof of Becton Dickenson. The prototype has solar panel arrays on the roof and in an adjacent field. I had previously attempted to make my own solar panels by printing on transparency film, but I just couldn't get that realistic blue silicone look I wanted. A couple of days ago I stumbled across small solar cells for calculators and cell phones on Amazon. At 100 for $15 I gave it a shot. These are currently simply placed on some styrene strips for proof of concept. I will need to make racks and wiring chases for them, but I am happy with the possibilities these offer. I am going for the overall visual effect on a background building, not detailed model panels. The first photo shows one of my home made panels on the left for comparison.

[Allen]

I'm not much for lighting on layouts Eric, but was just curious. I suppose it would take quite a bit of them to light something.
I agree it's great eye candy, especially for modern layouts!

[craigtownsend]

Neat idea and a decent price. I think they look better than the homemade version. It's something about the color that says "solar panels". Is the entire roof covered in the prototype?

[Eric - Housatonic RR]

craigtownsend commented
4 hours ago
Neat idea and a decent price. I think they look better than the homemade version. It's something about the color that says "solar panels". Is the entire roof covered in the prototype?

On the prototype, only a portion of the roof are covered with solar panels. I will add more. They look a lot blacker on Google Earth, than they did to my eye when I saw them in Canaan.

https://earth.google.com/web/@42.010...22y,360h,0t,0r

[Eric - Housatonic RR]

Life has been very hectic, but good overall. I have done a lot of work on the layout and am posting this overview video showing the current state of the layout. Please excuse my not blowing the 2 longs, short and long going through the 2 crossings. I have added a lot of details and finished the 11' long section in the closet with Sheffield Plastics, a small fmily farm, and Mead/Onyx Paper. I hope to post more updates as time permits.

[Cody]

Awesome layout, thanks for the update.

[Allen]

Howdy Eric, glad to see you posting again, we've missed you.
The layout looks stunning as always and is really looking good.
Thanks for sharing!

[LorenC]

Thanks for posting the new video showing all of your progress. It was very enjoyable to watch. You have done a fantastic job at achieving both believability and continuity.

[Paul S.]

Welcome back, Eric. Then new section look great! You had me with the opening scene of the train crossing the viaduct. Love that scene!

[Eric - Housatonic RR]

Well, the real Housatonic RR just picked up 3 completely rebuilt GP15-1's to replace some of it's aging fleet and reduce use of leased units. I rushed to obtain 3 N-scale GP15-1's, strip, modify, paint and decal these units to match. Two of the proto units were just put into service last week. Fortunately, mine did too. I also picked up 12 Oak Ridge construction and demolition debris gondolas at the Amherst Show on Sunday. I scratchbuilt mesh covered C&D debris loads for 6 gons and put those into service today. The other 6 will remain empty for switching out the customer. Here's a quick video"

[Uncle Pete's Basement]

Eric, your layout rocks.

I keep thinking those cars carry nuclear material because of the Oak Ridge uranium enrichment plant from WWII. That or make a load of the Oak Ridge Boys band.

[BillyJoeBob]

Yes! Most tip-top.

BJB

[denny99]

Awesome scene!

[Paul S.]

Talk about keeping up with the times! Well done, Eric.

[Ianscale]

You make me want to rip up my whole layout and redo it. You have by far the beat nscale layout. Excellent job.