It has been quite some time since I have posted on this blog, however progress has been occurring in the background. As expected for a younger man, life is busy and ever-changing. In the past year I have had very little time to work on the railroad consistently for long stretches of time, only getting a few days or weeks to tackle projects. Nevertheless, time away from the railroad and experiences railfanning the Cascade Sub have strengthened by desire to make progress on the layout and enjoy the unique experience of layout-building.
With that, let's look at some of the projects I have tackled over the course of the past few months!
Operations:
"Behind the scenes" I have been developing an operating scheme for the railroad. My goal is to design sessions that best replicate what a chunk of the day on the Cascade Sub actually looks like for train crews. Time on the ground railfanning has been extremely valuable in guiding this process. That being said, I have, in many ways, pushed aside some traditional operating norms found in many model railroad operating sessions to best represent the modern experience of moving trains up and over "the hill." I hope to write more about the fruits of this labor in subsequent posts where I can better explain some of the concepts I have developed.
Above: Developing the operating scheme has included adding appropriate operating infrastructure like the location name plate in Oakridge.
Terrain:
This summer I continued to push on forming the terrain specifically on the lower deck. My approach is relatively simple and cheap! I start with cardboard webbing or insulation foam to form the basic landforms. I follow this with a layer of contractor's paper. Everything is held together with hot glue. I continue with layers of glue, plaster, and fillers to finalize the terrain forms before adding scenery.
Above: Initial terrain forms in the Salmon Creek/Pope & Talbot area.
Above: Terrain forms between Oakridge and Pope & Talbot.
Above: Initial terrain forms at Salmon Creek and the entrance to the helix.
Above: Exit of the helix. These landforms transition seamlessly from the scenery on the lower deck (see previous photo).
Above: Terrain forms at Fields. This area was completed by Cam Nealy, a fellow model railroader and good friend who I trusted with a hot glue gun!
Above: The Oakridge helper set rolls down grade through newly completed landforms in Fields.
Scenery:
For anyone who has traveled to the Cascades, you will know that is is very lush! This provides quite the challenge when trying to capture the dense and varied vegetation found along the mainline, especially in spring when the colors are equally unique and varied. I made a second pass of scenery through Westfir which has now become the unofficial scenery test ground for the rest of the layout. Using a plethora of reference photos from trips to the line in April and May, I added an additional layer of dirt and ballast, weathered the ties and rails, thickened previous added vegetation, and began adding trees. This area is looking much better, but still has a long way to go. Many more trees must be constructed and added and much of the dirt and rock work still needs touching up. Nevertheless I am pleased with how this area and others are progressing.
Above: Scenery progress around Tunnel 22. I began adding background trees along the backdrop as well as a layer of small trees/large bushes. The rock cut still needs to be repainted/weathered but this scene is looking more and more complete with each pass of scenery.
Above: The first lawn! Now I need to finish the house.
Above: Scenery has begun on the other side of Tunnel 20. This side has gone much faster as I have been able to apply techniques and lessons learned from the other side of the tunnel. This will be a great place to watch trains enter Oakridge.
Above: Speaking of Oakridge, scenery has begun! I started the initial dirt layers in Oakridge along the mainline and in the yard itself before running out of material. There is so much more complexity in the dirt, gravel, and ballast level of scenery that I want to try and capture. This is a time consuming process, but will be well worth it!
That is where things stand at the moment with the railroad. I still have some foundational projects like fascia work and lighting still to complete. Nevertheless, everything looks more and more as I once envisioned many years ago. Now when I step into the room, I am starting to feel that I am being transported to the forested hills of the Cascades!
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