The "Storm Lake Mobil" Builld

I thought I would attempt to do a build blog.  To follow along as I construct the "Storm Lake Mobil" kit from JL Innovative Design (http://www.jlinnovativedesign.com/) .  I'll probably be plagerising every other build blog I've ever looked at before, but I'm new to all of this, & the way I see blogging is that it's a new extension of the hobby, that I enjoy. (Even if I only have 1 follower of my blog!)  It's a diary of sorts & like the hobby of model railroading, is very cathartic!

So here goes!  I can't promise the build to go quickly, as life must still go on in the real world, but I will do the best I can. 

As you can see it's a laser cut wood kit with plastic doors & windows, a few metal parts, & plain paper signs.  It looks pretty easy & the instructions look well thought out & practical.

"EL" AKA Run up

I'm in the home stretch on the ore dock run up.  It took a total of 10 "Imagine That" ( http://imaginethatlaserart.com/ ) elevated 2 track extension kits to complete.  The kits are really easy to build & have awesome detail.  They are laser cut wood kits & they have a natural patina from the wood & laser cut/burnish marks.  I wanted mine to match another painted bridge that adjoins it so I matched the paint & dry brushed the aged detail.  I did have to adjust one section where there's a curve & I wanted to add a switch/control tower.  The tower is a "JL Innovative Design" ( http://www.jlinnovative.com/ ) Avon St. Elevated Tower it's also a wood kit.  I thought it would add some uniqueness to the over all scene.  Some the the ideas I got were from a book on Iron Ore railroads titled, "The lake Superior Iron Ore Rasilroads" by Patrick Dorin (1977)  Some of the trackage leading up to the dock ( which I've termed "run ups") looked a bit like the "Elevated tracks".  So I thought using the Imagine that kits would work just fine.  I would've liked to lay the track myself onto the "El" but I'm not good enough or willing to be frustrated enough to try & attempt to create an "N" scale turnout from scratch.  So Peco & Atlas flex track will suffice!

Sectional's Complete

As you can see I've built all the sectional pieces, there are now a total of 8 sections. The original 2 are 8' x 32". The other 6 are 6' x 32". I haven't made the upper level yet on these sections primarily because I haven't quite decided yet on the way I'm going to get the train from one level tothe other. I'm not a fan of helix', too much unseen trackage. I'm leaning towards a sort of Tehachapi loop kind of set up so I won't have this long continuous uphill climb. That would take up to much realestate.

Here are a few more shots of the lead up to the ore dock that I've been working on as well as the kitbashed bridges & some roadway underneath them. I had to start some of them or working on them afterwords would have been a pain.

The last 2 shots are from the other side of the city showing lead up bridge at a different angle. You can also get an idea as to how how these 2 sections join as apposed to how they used to be joined (from an earlier blog post). The last shot I did for Lynn Lunde. I met her & Bob at the national convention in Milwaukee last month. I sent her some pictures of one of their buildings (Schwitters Department store) that I completed. I think it turned out pretty well.

A New Angle

The "L" becomes an "I" as the 2 existing sections take on a new shape!

I'm pretty happy with my decision to switch from a fixed layout to a sectional. I'm still not sure about how I will get up to the 2nd level but that'll be worked out in time. I took off all the shelf layout parts from around the wall as I was once again inspired by an article in Model Railroader. I want shallow scenes {Approx. 16", w/ the exception of the one city section} so I can have full use of both sides of each section. This meant that having the wall shelving wasn't fitting the bill. I've mapped out the sections on the floor in blue painters tape & have allowed for ample aisles to make moving around the layout comfortable. It did mean some annexation of some of the existing family room area. There was no grumbling about it from the natives so I guess it's alright. The sectional also allows for some creativity as you can see the city has taken on a new shape, from an "L" to an "I".

The ore boat is actually a modified HO scale kit.

A side shot of the waterfront area, the water is matte medium & I still need to add the water effects.

A view looking north from the waterfront.

A side view of the Gazette & Daily Advertiser building & the backside of the Greyhound Bus Terminal.

A front view of the Northern Light Hotel, Randolphs Restaurant is on the 6th Floor.

A side view of the Northern Light Hotel. {2 kitbashed DPM kits}

Time Flies!

A look at the passenger platforms at the station & south into the tunnel approach.
A straight on shot of the passenger terminal. Still needs a lot of detailing.

Looking north into the passenger station tunnel, w/ lights!
The engine facility w/ turntable is under construction.

A look north to the front of the Keller Furniture complex.

An arial shot of new sawdust collector & structures.

A close up shot of some of the buildings along the waterfront w/ their new pilings.

Looking south at the Keller Furniture plant w/ my scratchbuilt sawdust collector & loader.

A view of some of the elevated track that will lead up to the ore dock.

The peninsula is where the ore dock will sit.

A look at the latest add on completed yesterday to the KTLC News studio. a garage entrance.

A multi-story housing project. (Kitbashed 4 tenement backgound buildings & a Brachs candy building on the side)

Looking at the rougher part of town near the industrial district.

Some of the industrial district, still needs a lot of detailing....

A look at the business district taking shape.

Lets see, my last post was Sept. 16 2009.... Wow, it's now almost 7 months later!! I'd like to say time flies when your having fun, but I've been busy making $$ to keep the empire afloat. A great deal has changed since the last post, as you can tell by the photos. Currently I'm working on the waterfront area. Just finished a Model Tech wood structure (Roscoes small engine repair) as an addition to my Keller furniture manufacturing facility. I also scratchbuilt a sawdust collector & loader w/ bits of odds & ends that I had laying around. I thought it turned out pretty good. I also did some street running in the harbor town area. It was a bit of a pain to have to scratch out all the plaster w/ some dental tools along the trackage but it was the only way I could think of doing it to make it look alright. I want to add another wood structure to the scene, American model Builders kits "Nine Mile House & Tavern" kit. I thought the wood structures were more fitting in the harbor area.

I also completed 4 "Imagine That" elevated track sections for the lead up to the ore dock. The are really easy kits to build & look great. Unfortunately, because they look so good, I'm thinking about adding a couple more so the whole city section has them instead of some other form of bridge or embankment.

The track is laid & bus wires run, now it's time for soldering fun.....Sorry for the Dr. Suess moment. I just got a book form the library on the Ore hauling railroads of Northern WI, MN, & MI. I really like the big wooden ore docks. That'll be on my next section that I build, which will be the 2nd one for this city.

I needed to incorporate a riser on this current section so I will have enough of a climb to bridge the other tracks on the way to the elevated ore dock. I'm also in the process of laying out some of the structures to get a feel for how the whole scene will flow.

Rippin' it up!

With a great deal of thought & comiserating, I'm rippin' the layout up & starting anew. I was so excited & inspired to see the Beer Line sectional layout at the start of this year in Model Railroader that it was a revelation in new ideas.
When I think about all the time & effort that was stuck into the layout so far it is depressing to think about tearing things apart. Yet, equally depressing for me is the thought that if in the future should we decide to move to a different house I don't want to face the thought of yet another 1/2 finished layout just being ripped apart & all the effort to be for naught. So, the new design will be a sectional w/ around the wall shelves as well. The sections will be movable. One of the most important things for me is to get some real distance for the passenger trains to travel. I wanted a sense that you were really going somewhere. The scenes that I have currently created are too deep & suck up a lot of space.
I have 1 section completed, that is the framework/benchwork. The sections will be 8' long x 32" wide. Each section will have a scene on each side so that will make the depth of the scene about 15".
Now for the scary part... I'm also going to make these sections double decked. The top section will be 24" wide x 8' long. Did I mention the sections are on wheels as well? Well they are. Not that they will be moved a lot but if they do, it should be easy to. The shelf sections will be roughly 12-18" deep. To be able to use the upper deck section I will need to have a helix. I think I will be purchasing one of those rather than torturing myself trying to build one myself. I'm also going to try to photograph the entire project. So, stay tuned & lets so how this works out.
Here are some photos; http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/NewSectionalLayout