A re-birth (of sorts)

When I first started this layout I knew some of the things that I wanted to be a part of it. I must admit that I don't know really too much about railroad protocol, how they're designed, why they do the things they do when planning them. That has always been my Achilles heel. I get moving along, laying down a bunch of track, envisioning what the scenery will be like around it ( because that's my favorite part!) & after doing all of that & having sceniced a good portion of it do I realize that the track isn't doing so well, that the plan is flawed & it makes me want to scrap it & start over. That is very expensive! My plans before have always been about continuous running, a circuit, I've never given thought to a point to point railroad. What would this look like if it was on a map?? The fatal flaw has creeped up once again. I'm content w/ the current city & how it's turning out, but the train has gotta go somewhere. A lot of the previous trackwork is still in place & it's clogging my brain. I went to the library & got a book by John Armstrong on building railroads similar to the real ones. Real railroads don't tend to run in a circuit. Then like a light bulb it dawned on me! This is my problem. I added an upper deck to a section to add distance for a passenger train that I purchased, but I had made it part of the circuit, not a destination to get to. It pains me to think that I'll have to rip up stuff that I've already done. It took so bloody long to do it, the wasted materials.... Grrrrr! But if it doesn't work both physically & mentally what good is it. I must begin again. New ideas abound. A re-birth has begun.

I've included some overview photos of the whole area for your purusal.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/OverAllViewOfTheEmpire?authkey=Gv1sRgCPiV_K_N4vys6wE#

The Waterfront District, "a wave of change"

Things are moving along on the creation of the waterfront district. {My wife thought this was a cute photo op. of me painting the lighthouse} The track has been laid in the engine yard, it still needs to be wired, but that's not to difficult. The turn table is another story. It definitely won't be rotating automatically & I need to figure out how to wire it so it doesn't cause short circuits. As an afterthought, the turn table looks neat but is a big pain in the butt. I've been working on the light house for the entrance to the harbor. This has proved to be very time consuming, but the results look good. It's the Branch Line Trains Light House kit. There are a lot of small, fragile wood parts & while putting it together I marvel at the thought process that must have gone into it to make it so architecturally accurate looking. The rocks for the landing are pink foam board, torn & cut, secured with ground goop (Awesome stuff) then painted & highlighted.

The bottom of the bay is a ceiling tile. I sealed all around the edges w/ foam adhesive & "Paved" over the top w/ drywall patching plaster. Once it's dried I'll sand it & paint it & apply some "Magic water" stuff that I've had for about 5 years now. I bought it at trainfest but haven't gotten around to using it. It was too good a deal to pass up at the time. Stay tuned, there'll be more water front building's to come. I've put some more photos of the progress in the Building the waterfront district photo album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/CreatingTheWaterfrontDistrict?feat=directlink

To the inquiring minds that want to know, yes the lighthouse will function (light-up). Whenever I get around to buying the kit for it.

What's in a name?

I've pondered for quite some time over what to call my Railroad. It's not a prototype, it's not geographically based. The scenery is a mix of all the things I like, urban scenery, mountains, canyons, country side. There is logging, coal mining, ore mining, produce shipping, passenger service. I have settled on an era, mid 1940's to 1950's. The engines have character, as do the boxcars, the vehicles & buildings, advertising signs, & overall feel, make for a very comfortable time to model. Men wore ties & suits, women wore dresses. There was a moral compass that helped to shape things & a clear understanding of things. It's like looking at a old farmers face that has been wind burned, tired, yet strong & full of character. He doesn't need to speak a word because the story is on his face.
I've also chosen to stick w/ Santa Fe based engines, partly because I've lived in Santa Fe & really enjoyed it, I also because I love the coloring & logos. I haven't named the any of the 5 cities along the route. Those I guess also help to name the line. One name that I am going to give to the logging town is Eurydice (Pronounced "Your-Rid-A-Shay"), it's my wifes name. As for the rest, I'm open to suggestions.

Creating the waterfront district

I thought that I would attempt to chroncicle the creation of the waterfront district. I had already started some of it, some of the street paving, the tracks are laid, the cut-out for the harbor is done & some of the buildings are done. The waterfront district also has the the engine yard & round house. Some of the business' in the district are an ore dock, a fuel dealer, some fishing business', Saulenas Tavern, the Anvil Bar, a pawn shop, a rescue mission/church, a boarding house, Velitkovskys Distributors/ heavy shipping, Coldwater Seafood Products, Geo Roberts Household Porducts. There will also be a lighthouse at the end of the pier. Stay tuned & we'll see how this work out. I've attached a link to other photo's on this entry.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/CreatingTheWaterfrontDistrict?feat=directlink

In the begining.....

Well this is my attempt at a blog। I've never done this before & was inspired to do this by Joe-daddys blog as a way to document / share my N-scale model railroad empire with anyone who cares to follow along। I'm sure there will be other topics touched on from time to time, but it's primarily about my railroad interest। Enjoy, I guess, & feel free to comment along the way...More to come later. See the attached link below as a photo trip of the progress. C-ya!
http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/InTheBeggining?feat=directlink