Happy New Year

Happy New Year and best wishes in the new year!
Scott

Layout Update

I have developed the building/street layout for Walnut, Illinois.  Below are two photos showing the paper templates that represent the various buildings and streets that will make up the town.

 The long and narrow rectangular shapes represent the state highway (Illinois Route 92) and various side streets.  The highway will cross the mainline from the top left of the picture and turn west (down in the photo) to follow the tracks toward Prophetstown.  The larger rectangles to the right represent buildings.  The buildings are multiple story store fronts with the exception of the one closet to the foreground.  At this location a gas station is proposed. 

This is another view from "the air" showing the track arrangement relative to the town.  The track with the three cars is the interchange track between the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad (CNW) and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad.  The track from the lower right to the upper left (through the diamond) is the CNW mainline from Nelson, Illinois to Peoria, Illinois.  Although this at-grade crossing did exist, I cannot find any evidence that there was an interchange track located at this location.  But, since this is, my railroad and I wanted some additional industries to serve by rail (and an interchange track is a great industry because it can handle any type of car) I decided to use some modeler’s license and include it.

More updates coming!  Stay tuned for updates on building the structures that will become part of downtown Walnut!
 Thanks,
Scott

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!  I hope your Christmas Season is a blessed time with family and friends and that 2012 is a year that your hopes and dreams come true!
Scott

Scenery Progress Part II

Included in this post are several photos of the scenery near the Green River.  As mentioned previously, the scenery is no where near complete, except for the "prime coat" which helps to begin the transformation from blue foam to realistic scenes.

 

The base scenery for the Green River area.  I have still not decided exactly how to complete the river.  The bridge is an Atlas steel deck bridge that has been painted and weathered.  The concrete abutments are 1x4's painted and weathered to simulate cast-in-place concrete abutments.

CB&Q 900 (GP-20) rolls through the cut and over the Green River on it's way to Walnut, Illinois.

Another look at CB&Q 900 as it meanders along the line to Walnut.

One more shot of the 900 on it's way to Walnut.  The Great Northern 40-foot boxcar is destined for L.D. Spaulding Grain in Walnut.

Now that the base scenery for the Green River area is complete, my next focus will be the town of Walnut, Illinois.  I have developed a basic footprint for the town using paper cut-outs to simulate the building sizes.  Walnut will be the largest town modeled on the Dragonfly.  It will include several buldings, streets, a city park, and other details.  

Check back soon for the next blog post and more information on the progress of the CB&Q Dragonfly Subdivision.  Happy Railroading!

Scott

Scenery Progress

I have made substantial progress on the scenery around the Green River area.  For the most part I am pleased with the look, understanding that it is really just the base scenery and that a lot more detail will be added.  Items like trees, bushes, rock outcroppings, and other things will help make the scene look more realistic.  It is wonderful to watch the "fields of blue" foam slowly disappear!  I will post updated pictures soon.

On another portion of the railroad, I am laying out Walnut, Illinois.  So far, I have identified several structures that I will use and have cut paper to the size of each buildings footprint.  Using these footprints, along with 24' wide (HO Scale) paper roadway, I am developing the city around the railroad.  I will snap a couple of pictures of this process to include in the next update as well.

Happy Railroading!

Scott