Trafalgar Road

So I laid the remainder of the dirt surfaces, painting the table first of all with a 50/50 mix, then spraying Isocol on the surface before spraying it with the 50/50 mix and Isocol again. So far it seems to be holding pretty well, but I underestimated how much of the glue mix/ Isocol I used so it's back to the store for more later...

 

I sourced some foam sheets from the nearest JB Hi-Fi, and have now added hills and sanded them back.

I hadn't made hills out of foam cuttings before and I was actually pleasantly surprised how simple the whole process was...and satisfying. The layout feels less like a 'table' now...

I just have to find a suitable covering for the foam, glue and paint it then begin glueing the grass/ foliage to the hills and the rest of the areas that need to be done!

 

I ended up using felt for the covering material (and it was only $7 a metre at the local HobbySew). At first I imagined I'd cut it into two separate sections for each hill- but quickly realised how difficult it'd be to get one large piece of felt to fit all the contours. I watched a video I'd looked at before and the guy (who used quilt batting for his mountains) said join marks in the material are nothing to worry about if you prefer to cut individual strips of material- because the joins become invisible once you ad ground cover.

So yesterday I added the felt covering to the mountains and then earlier today I painted them up. Even with just the paint applied I can hardly see the joins in the material, which is promising. I added two layers of a custom green mix to give the grass surface more depth (and because I don't want the final product to have that stark green of British meadows in the spring, as the ground cover I've got isn't that shade). Once the paint is dry I can finally move on to the step of adding ground cover, foliage and ballast!

 

*BUMP*

I haven't posted in a while, but that's because I've been busy...

I still have to get more ballast to finish the main lines, but otherwise you can see progress for yourselves. Once I've got more ballast and completed the track-work, then I can move on to the structures (overhead bridge, station platform and the air-brushing of the depot).

Keen observers may also notice a new addition to the loco's in my arsenal:








I'm unsure what to do with those sidings now. I was thinking an oil terminal but I don't want to cram the layout. Perhaps just a small freight platform or even leave them as they are? They're meant to have the mostly-disused look to them, as you can see from the tufts of grass growing between the rails!

 

*BUMP*

Ultimately I ended up selling the layout. I needed the space and there were some issues (like the roadbed) that I would rather have re-done. The problem with the foam roadbed is that it already had the track pattern imprinted, so as you can guess when I went to lay ballast some sleepers sat flush with the top of the foam and led to the ballast sitting unevenly in places rather than all sinking between the rails.

So now that layout has a new home, and for the meantime if I want to give the locos a run I could just lay the track out temporarily. However I bought this book on track plans while in the USA a couple of years back, and I'm thinking I'd love to build the following with space allowing:

The ruled lines are 12" apart each so that gives you an idea of the size of this layout, but it appeals to me for a few reasons:

- It allows for continuous running in both directions with longer trains
- Despite being a larger size, the trackage is minimal which gives it more the appearance of a real section of railway line
- Has a hidden storage area to keep stationary locos/ trains without needing to play 'hand of God'
- Includes two freight sidings to make running more interesting

No idea when I'd start on this, however...