Hey Joe Atkinson , any new updates on the IAIS?
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Having missed the IAIS until rolling back to Iowa, (Grew up there, Carroll on the CNW,) it is great fun to see these. Nice paint and a wonderfully diverse roster! The only thing missing is the QJ! Any plans for one of those?Comment
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The Great Train Expo in Council Bluffs in December? Just wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing a local show.Last edited by Joe Atkinson; 10-03-2021, 09:38 AM. -
I’ve never been to the Ralston show. I’ll have to check it out next year. The Council Bluffs show alternates between Great Train Expo and the occasional WGH, but both seem pretty similar as far as my purchases are concerned. Great way to spend an afternoon.
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Hi Allen - Things have been pretty quiet lately. Between family visiting, an insane deadline at work, and a one-month-and-counting delay on my ballast order, the layout hasn't really budged for the whole month of September. The ballast is supposed to be here in about 10 days or so, so that'll help, and it's looking like I'll have some layout time this weekend that may allow me to get the mainline peninsula backdrop up.Hey Joe Atkinson , any new updates on the IAIS?
Until then, I'll share a few brief layout tour pics, taken immediately after I finished putting down, sanding, and staining ties. First up: The west end of Atlantic yard and the East Nishnabotna River bridge. Staging is just out of view to the right. The junction with the Atlantic Spur is behind the green storage tanks. This is the scene in the upper left corner of the layout plan.
Turning around from the view above we see Atlantic yard looking east. Material stored under the layout at these two locations will be gone once the Atlantic Spur is built.
East end of Atlantic yard in the upper right corner, Wiota on the right side of the peninsula, and Anita on the left. Backdrop down the middle was originally planned for early next year, but since I'm waiting on ballast right now, I thought I'd switch gears and do it now.
Adair’s West Central Elevator looking west. On the far left is the mainline leading back to staging, completing the loop around the room.
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Looking great Joe!
You've made some progress since the last time I seen any post.
Sorry to hear about the ballast delay, but seems to the way for most everything these days.
At least you were able to procure some. 👍Comment
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Thanks Allen. Perhaps my biggest bit of "progress" lately has been to realize that I needed to chill out about my goal of having the mainline portion running by the end of the year. Just for myself, I've never been fond of time-sensitive goals for my hobby since I've found that the temptation to cut corners can creep in as a means of meeting those deadlines. Or, just as importantly, I find myself rushing through things so much that I don't allow myself time to really think through each step and the best way to go about it.
Anyway, lesson learned. I'll be a lot happier with the end result if I keep my eye off the calendar. -
Very True Joe.
My father always had a saying that stuck with me. "If you don't have time to do it right the first time, when are you going to find the time to do it over?" Sometimes it's better to step away from a certain project or take a break and clear your thoughts and reassess your plans before moving on.
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So true, Allen. And taking a step back can sometimes give us time to consider a better approach to how to do something, or a better vision of what we'd like the end result to be.
Paul SchmidtComment
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Another aspect of the “deadline rush”: I didn’t realize until yesterday how much enjoyment I’d been robbing myself of in each task. With the deadline no longer a priority, I found myself having a great time just installing backdrop supports on the peninsula. Before, these tasks had become just a burdensome means to an end, but now I was taking the time to slow down and enjoy the sense of accomplishment in each one again.
It’s no wonder that the hobby had become less fun for me lately. I was making it a job! Much better now.Comment
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Just playing trains when life is too busy to allow for more progress is part of the enjoyment of the hobby for me. The layout runs fairly reliably, and so now it is just train time. Relaxing and pleasant. Am glad you are back to enjoying the hobby!Comment
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Totally agree on having a continuous run option. I had one on the old layout and admittedly didn't use it often, but it was still important enough to me to design it into the new one as well. With the new layout being in just one room rather than spread across two, I think I might be more likely to just sit back and run trains now and then. I'm looking forward to it!
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Following the instructions in a 2013 Bernie Halloran article in MRH on using rolled vinyl for backdrop coving, today I finished sanding, priming, and painting my coving, as well as my peninsula backdrop (built with the same material) and cold air return vents. And literally the moment that visitors starting arriving! This is the OS Omaha op session weekend, and my goal was to have the backdrops done for the open house. Mission accomplished!
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Joe, Nice work!!
I know all about work being done because of the visitor thing, that is how it was for me in August/September.
So how much adhesive did you get on your clothes???lol
I use that stuff alot,, never fails,, it gets everywhere!!
You could have also used FRP adhesive. FRP is a fiberglass reinforced panel that generally used in wet areas such as bathrooms and commercial restaurants. Now, that glue gets EVERYWHERE,,not fun.Last edited by Greg; 11-03-2021, 03:49 AM. -
Greg, surprisingly the cove base adhesive wasn't all that messy. Got a little bit on my fingers, but nothing on my clothes or the dropcloths. Of course, it would have been a different story if I hadn't put down dropcloths. ;-)
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That looks awesome Joe!
On the peninsula I'm assuming you've used some sort of upright supports to attach and hold things in place?
What kind of supports did you use on the wall end of the peninsula and the corners?
The joints looks real clean, nice work.Comment
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Thanks Allen! Yeah, I forgot to take pics of the peninsula supports, but they're just vertical 1x2s and 1x4s, with 3" strips of Masonite running horizontally along the top and bottom. The vinyl is then glued to the Masonite strips using cove base adhesive.
That same adhesive is used to attach the vinyl to the walls, both at the end of the peninsula and in the corners. No other support or hardware of any kind at those joints. In the corners, you just measure the height of the scene, cut the vinyl to length with scissors, apply the cove base adhesive (the kind I used was in caulk tubes), and position the vinyl. Once the adhesive was dry, I just mudded lightly, sanded, did another skim coat, and then sponged, primed, and painted.
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Nothing like visitors to spur productivity, Joe Atkinson! It looks very good.
Next layout I build, vinyl flashing or cheap vinyl flooring will definitely be considered for backdrop material. I'm getting a bit weary of hardboard's dust and weight, not to mention having to wet it to get it to bend more easily for coving.
Wonder if vinyl would, with some necessary adaptations, be useful for fascia and valances?Paul SchmidtComment
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Thank you very much Paul.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend vinyl for fascia and valances. It requires a fair amount of stiffness behind it for such an application, and that substructure starts to offset the benefits. Also, I found that it's very helpful to have at least two people available for the install in order to guide long stretches of vinyl smoothly and clamp as you go. The corner coves are easily a one-man job, but longer stretches definitely call for more help.
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I've been working on weathering ties for the last couple weeks and thought I'd post a quick update.
First, a couple prototype pics from Atlantic, Iowa to show what I'm shooting for.
And here's my attempt to recreate that look on the layout using PanPastels:
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I love the white vehicle in the first post, is there a chance of seeing the weathering close up, is it a rescue vehicle for pulling cars etc.Comment
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Thanks Jaz. That’s a Maintenance-of-Way boom truck I kitbashed to represent an IAIS vehicle that was a fixture at Atlantic in my era. Details and more pics are in my blog entry at https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/38339 .
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I'd like to try this, Joe. It looks as if you are obtaining good results. Are the colors adhering well to the ties?
And it appears that you are using a soft, rounded tip brush?Paul SchmidtComment
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Thanks Paul. The PanPastels adhere well, but don't hold up to water, so this has to be done after the ties are ballasted. I'll also have to be careful ballasting the shoulders when that time comes.
The brush is actually flat, with a relatively sharp tip. Seems to work pretty well for quickly applying the PanPastels to the ties alone. I'm also doing the ties on the finished portions of the layout that came with me in the move, where there's already rail attached. For those, I use a smaller brush with stiff bristles to keep the color off the rail as much as possible.
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Question for you Joe,
After your ties are glued down, did you coat them with anything like paint or clear flat finish? I did a "rattle can" coating of my wood ties with Krylon primer and then applied the PanPastels. I used the foam applicator/handle tool to rub the PP onto the ties. There was no loss of PP coverage when I sprayed the ties with 50/50 water and isopropyl alcohol.
I'm just trying to understand why some find the PP powder washes off and I didn't get that result. Curious........
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Hi Tim - I stained my ties with a Minwax stain before applying the PanPastels. What I've found in the past is that their durability seems to tie directly to the force with which they're applied, and the brush shown in the photo isn't as stiff as some, so that force wasn't all that great. What I may do before I start putting down rail is to find a larger, stiffer brush to sort of scrub the PanPastels in a bit more. I'm not super worried about loss of material since the ties shouldn't see a lot of handling going forward, but it would be nice to see them hold their color a bit better if they get wet.
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Joe Atkinson
What if you'd apply a sealer of sort over the ties after your done applying the stain and PP's, either spray or brush Dullcoat or an acrylic flat sealer?
Doing this before you ballast of course. You're basically staining wood like cabinets and trim.
Once you apply a sealer and top coat over the wood, they become water resistant and in some cases, water proof.
And yes I agree Joe, the harder you work them onto a surface, the better they stay.
Have you used one of the small foam applicator brushes that Tim mentioned? They might rub the PP's on better...Comment
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Hi Allen - Dullcote might have been possible, though my experience has always been that Dullcote causes light-colored PanPastels to do their disappearing act. Too late for me to seal them before ballasting, as the ballasting is now done except for the shoulders. I already had it down before the idea hit me to weather the ties.
I've tried using the applicators that Tim mentioned, but found them to not hold up very well for me on rough surfaces. Because the ballast is already down, they're going to take a beating. -
Or stick your finger in an old tee shirt and rub the Pan Pastels in.Last edited by Allen; 11-22-2021, 05:56 AM.
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