Old Ply Branch and industries HO Shelf Layout

Gday all!!
I am new here but I have been slowly putting together a layout in my spare room to house my North American fleet of switchers and rolling stock. The Area is fictional and loosely based on short line and branch lines found out of Oregon and the Northwest Coast of the American continent.
I am invested in HO standard gauge using Peco #6 points.

Rostered:
Southern Pacific GE44
Southern Pacific SW7s
Southern Pacific S1

Not so rostered...

ARR SW1s
NYC SW1
Privately owned RS3 and
Rio Grande SD9
I also have an A_B_A consist of F7s in SP daylight colours which don't generally hit the rails.

Most my structures are Walthers but there is a bile of unbranded materials and kits I have collected over the years as well.
Anyways...hope you enjoy the thread and I hope I can return some of the inspiration I have gained from Platform1 MRC. This is how it began so many years ago after the move into out first Family home.

 

This is as far as it came up until 2021 with the track being finished and power connected with an old Pace 12VDC controller powered by a 15VAC transformer of an old calculator.

 

The room received more shelving and the layout ended up being supported by the adjustable system which made the legs redundant.

 

Hi again...this is the recent overview I have done on my layout with a little info on all the basic features to date.
Hapy for any feedback or Ideas...I am far from an elite modeler but still enjoy a challenge.

 

Today's Update...I have started to cut away the edges of the foam underlay as I wasn't satisfied with the shape or height of the side of the track.
I proceeded to remove the edge of the foam and install 3mm cardboard sheets to see how I might best achieve a more sunken and yard-like scene for the 2 spurs. I also poured in blast dry to compare how it would lay in each situation. I found the single layer of cardboard would suit a loading dock as the height matched the wagons it would service. The double-layer would be suitable for the lumber yard and areas that require a more flush loading area that may have machines/loaders or trucks crossing the rails.
Here is how it looked.

 

Thanks Gary...layout tips are now well noted...I thinks I have more build pics of the Trestle somewhere. I will have a look and try posting it up.
I ran out of glue this evening and wasn't keen to venture out to the shed to grab more as it's getting cold already so I will leave it at this until I get to sneak off into the train room next.

Short update to finish the days work.

 

Cheers guys...
Yes... that was on my mind James76...I found that one more layer of the same material may become a problem once the detail is added. I will most likely use something thinner. I have vacuumed up the ballast that I laid as a test in this area. Might use a thinner card and plaster over it when I build up the ground again and my confidence...

Thanks Gary...no I have not set a position for anything...I see what you mean with the positioning of the ramp...definitely worth some thought if I don't end up concreting the area on the other side.
Cheers for the input...much appreciated.

Seeing as the weather and football was a flop for us West coasters in the AFL.
Here's today's rainy day project...
At least my Broncos got some wings for the first time in a while in the NRL.

 

Haha...you know what they say about great minds...not sure if I have the guts to attack my point like this though...thanks for the tip.
It is a contact problem for now as when I pull on the blade just a bit it fixes the problem. Cheers

 

Started patching and sanding the eldest son's room today in prep for paint before I install a loft bed for him to grow some space. Our rooms aren't that big so it was his preferred option agreed by the wife and his royal highness as well. After this, I snuck off to the train room while the rest of the mob set off to catch up for a chat at Nannie's place around the corner. I am quite an antisocial critter at times.
I started shredding up some cereal boxes I rescued out of the recycling bin thinking the card would be perfect for the next layer of the yard I had in mind...
after staring at the workspace for a fair while I got to cutting a gluing the card into place. After a short time of working with the glue I realised how well I was going to have to glue this down if it is not to warp when further layers are added.



After letting the adhesive on the card to set I removed the books I placed on top to find everything had settled fairly well...a small layer of card had peeled away but the base was good enough for what I wanted.
Next the left over Rapid packing compound came into play...mixing it as dry as I could to still be able to spread it a coated the area in a thin layer making sure to run flush with the rails. I waited for it to set a little bit and gently smoothed out the high sections with the spatula.



Here is the flyover of the industry as it stands this evening.

 

So I am happy with the plaster on card experiment...that was a total fluke though I did learn that it did need to be glued down really well to avoid warping.
As you can see I am recycling almost anything I can get my hands on to create this layout...Cutting up archive and cereal boxes to create ground levels, using left over patching and plaster compounds to top the cardboard for texture and now I have found a pile of pint cans that can be mixed to create some base colours.
First test colour is Woodland grey mixed with a white sealer undercoat to greater a surface for the concrete pad...after sanding the pad down a little to take off any sharp ridges I watered the paint mix it down and smeared it onto the plaster.

This is the result...



I have decided that there may be trucks and obviously staff needing to access the timber trader...being a scaled-down version of secondary industry, namely timber machining/planing, I will extend the boundaries of the property to the edge of the layout to make it seem as if the yard on the layout is just depicting a corner of it.
I figure this will reduce the amount of fencing I need for the scene.

Had another lil crack at the layout last night after all the critters went to bed...adding the card for roads and plastering over them...this time I used cornice cement as I had run out of the patching compound...it gave me a smoother finish but I had less time to work it so I suggest to mix only small batches if you going to do the same. I am not entirely sure how I am going to finish the road areas and am currently looking through tip and tube clips on different methods of road finishes.

This is the progress to date...




I will edit a tube update today at some point while waiting for paint to dry in the lads room.

 

Cheers Gary,
Yeah I have seen a few of his and also Kathy's content had a fair few ideas to lap up as well...good results from both.

Heres the quick update I promised...sorry about the quality...just throwing footage together as fast as I can to share the progress that's not seen in the photos.

 

Started splashing some paint on the base board and got digging through the kits I have bought over the years...looks like its a grain elevator for the win on the north spur. Looks to me I may need to suss out another short module to let some lead out on the feed siding



Back to the other end of the layout...been looking at grimey timber siding pics from RSG forest Industries on the Molalla Branch East of Portland Oregon.
Pics sourced from the OPR website.

 

G'day legends...
Thanks for the tips Gary...would you believe I was in Bunnings yesdee picking up light switches for the home and actual thought to swing by the tiling section to check out some grout colours...sure enough I got blindsided by the youngest and left with only the electrical gear...lol

All the painting and electrical work is now completed in the boys room so I was able to get a bit of time to put some work into the layout yards...
Bit of planning and some painting and washing of the fence kit.
Found a strip of those Blairline decals in my tool kit which I had forgotten about so I put them to use on the property fenceline.
I have changed the layout of the timber industry so as to show off the fence a bit...no point having a cool bit of graffiti hidden in the ally, mind you that's were they would typically be.
I dug out a bag of scenic materials I purchase years back to see if I could start on some ground cover...be patient as I have never before made it past trackwork due to the amount of times I had to move home before I got married n settled down.
I think it may be beginner's luck but my first crack at it looks good to me.
Roads to the Diesel spur will be on the next work order but for now here is the tube update.



More pics to come.