HO Railroad Camp

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Such a treat to see where this is going to be installed on the layout. and yes, there is an absolutely insane amount of castings in this kit!

SteveCuster

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate it and it's keeping me motivated.

More progress between yesterday and today...


I painted a good chunk of the castings, still a lot more to go though.


I weathered up the tarpaper and added some details to the roof. I also added the little roof over the freight door and the bumper.



The other side roof...


I glued this one down.


I added the flooring for the repair shed, the concrete loading dock and the supports for the little overhang over the freight door.


I started framing out the little overhang on the repair shed, I just placed it here to make sure everything fit where it should.


All the parts are glued up, after the glue dries, I'll weather the wood a bit more.


The base ground cover is added and soaked with glue, this is not my favorite part of a scene. This is where all the weird stuff can happen with all the moisture around a structure. The loading dock is being held down with whatever I had around that was heavy enough.

Next step will be gluing the repair shop and beginning the detailing of the scene, my favorite part of a build.

Thanks for following along.

Karl.A

Dang Steve, when you get going you just keep on going, fantastic !!

Roof over the warehouse looks perfect, great weathering, the tires and scraps of wood look so natural and blend in perfectly.
The truck repair is also coming along so well.

I wish I had your vigor right now, it's like watching a three year old run around and wishing I still had that kind of energy... haha.

Outstanding progress and fantastic results, I'm really enjoying watching you work.

EmeryJ

That is looking first class Steve. Excellent work. Thanks for sharing the layout pics.

SteveCuster

Thanks Karl and Emery!

Jerry

What can one say about your work. Just excellent just exleecent!!

Jerry

KKarns

That’s some layout Steve. Never get tired of seeing updates in situ! Are you able to run trains while you are adding all those great SWSM structures?

SteveCuster

Thanks Jerry and Ken!

Ken, the track has been operational for a long time, but I really only run the trains when my 2-year-old asks me to, the track usually gives me trouble until I get a few runs around with a cleaning car. I think I may invest in a dcc keep-alive decoder so the trains run a bit more reliably. Anyone have any experience with these?

TomMich

Progressing nicely. Those castings turned out great! Nice mix of green and yellow boxes they are in! ;-)

brownbr

I've installed a keep-alive in an On30 critter. Worked great.

SteveCuster

Thanks Tom!

Who made it Bryan? and did it have a decoder with it or was it piggybacked on an existing decoder?

brownbr

I wish I could remember Steve. It was definitely TCS but I can't remember if it was the decoder or just the capacitor. Thinking hard I believe I used a Soundtraxx Tsunami decider (Galloping Goose for the aoogah horn) then added the capacitor. Put it in a BMann HO 44ton donor and built the Boulder Valley twin schnazz critter around it. Fun little loco...can't tell which end is forward so I attached some bull horns to mark the front (; I made the roof removable, but I can't see down into there between the engineer, wiring and tape.

brownbr

Then look what I found...

SteveCuster

Thanks Bryan. Thats a cool little engine, I love those O scale critters.

I'll contact TCS and give them the engines I have and see what I need.

SteveCuster

Todays update...


I added the tarpaper roof to the overhang, I also adding corrugated roofing to the repair shed. The kit was intended to have a shingled roof but I like the way the O scale version looks with the metal roof, so I went that route.


Weathered all the roofing up a bit. The metal roof is removable.


I glued down the repair shed. The ground cover is only dirt right now just because I wasn't sure where the details and vegetation will sit just yet. It looks like Tombstone or Deadwood here, hopefully it won't when I'm done.




Once the glue dries, I'll start detailing the interior and all around the scene here. Hopefully I'll get to that later tonight.

Thanks for following along.

CarlLaskey

Real nice Steve.

Jerry

Nice! Looking for those details to make the scene come alive.

Jerry

Karl.A

Looking great Steve, just that groundwork drying out shows how good this is going to look.
The metal roof and signs on the truck repair are already starting to show it's character.
Can't wait to see you filling this scene up with all those awesome SWSM details that you do so well.

SteveCuster

Thanks everyone!

I spent some time working out the details over the last couple days.


Started putting together the interior of the repair shop.


I also started adding some details around the exterior...






I started working on the loading dock details as well.



Last thing I added tonight was a small fence for the rear of the scene. The toothpick is holding it up while it dries. This fence will work to close off the back of the scene and also give me another spot to naturally pile details along.

Thanks for following along. I've been simultaneously working on the welding shop and it's placement on the layout. I should have an update on that part of the kit soon.

brownbr

Really coming together.

KKarns

Great scene work Steve. Amazing how much time it takes to put these scenes together. Casual observer has no idea.

CarlLaskey

Steve.
You have been busy and it all looks so natural.

EmeryJ

Wonderful progress Steve. You got them melded into the layout so nicely. Taking note of how you did this. Thanks for the pics!

TomMich

Great work! Nice placement of details.

Jerry

Beautiful!!!

Jerry

SteveCuster

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all the positive feedback!

You're right about that Ken, but it's one of the most rewarding parts of the hobby. Once a scene starts coming together and feels right, it's worth the effort.

KKarns

You're exactly right! I find it's hard to get started but once things start working it just moves along and every little detail that you add just makes it better...layer after layer of details, that's the key.

sdrees

This is looking great Steve!

TomMich

Amen to what Ken said! the details make the scene!