Layout Progress

[inxy]

Slowly but surely. Taken ten months to get to this point. Lost most of the summer with no ac in the garage.

The start
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/DSCN0820.jpg

Road work and dry lake bed
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010245.jpg

Housing an cars added
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010265.jpg

Closer up views
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010269.jpg

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010272.jpg

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010274.jpg


Street lights and landscaping next.

B

[tjcruiser]

Sh*t ... I think I nearly fried my computer by drooling into my keyboard so much. Wow ... that's right up my tinplate alley. I love those buildings, and that track is sweeeeetttt! The "extra" ties look great. I'm jealous, of course ... my little setup is O27 ... I wish I had O, like you.

What's the deal with the roadway, though? You have a '70's Austin Powers shag carpet thing going on there! ;) Just teasing a bit, of course ... you're the boss/king, of course. Do be careful (on a serious note) of having the carpet fibers get sucked up into the loco motor at the crossings ... not a good idea.

Cheers,

TJ

[inxy]

The road is ballast and is supposed to resemble a cinder/gravel road. Hard to tell that from the photos. I placed cut down rubber ties between the rails at the crossings.

Total cost of the buildings is under $150. Took about five months to find them at bargain prices.

B

[tankist]

can't see pictures from work :(
this is a placeholder for myself to look later at home

[inxy]

Added some lights and start of ballasting and landscaping

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010296.jpg

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010297.jpg

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010298.jpg

B

[inxy]

More trees and shrubs added. Next is grass, dirt, some rocks and more people.

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010446.jpg

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010437.jpg

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010436.jpg

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g423/inxy/P1010438.jpg

B

[seabilliau]

I really like your houses. Where did you find them? I'm looking for something similiar but not sure where to look.

[inxy]

Ebay - run a search under "Lionel prewar" or "O scale buildings". They are listed every so often. Current prices range from $50 to over $100. Over a four month period I found in mine, average cost per house is under $65.

B

[tjcruiser]

That big red one (mansion) with the green roof is spectacular. It oozes "tinplate" theme!

TJ

[Massey]

Nice looking layout.

I also just noticed the large piece of glass outside the door. Is that a table top? and if so did it have 5 other pieces of rectangular glass that made up it's legs held together with 4 little brass clamps?

Massey

[inxy]

Just call me the tinplate man. The red mansion looks better in the pic than in reality. A couple buckets of paint and a long weekend would do wonders for it. Way down the road I'm thinking of a paint job but my problem with that it will no longer be original. As there anything on the market for coating the building to slow rusting and further deterioration but destroying the value of the building ?

B

[inxy]

Good eyes Massey. Glass top is from a dining room table that I bought thirty years ago. The base was a circular chrome drum like thing that rust got the better part of. Scrapped the base and someday I may find a use for the glass top. Weights a ton and I hate to trash it.

B

[JackC]

That piece of glass is costly. We had a patio set with a 48" round top, wind toppled it and the glass shattered. It was almost cheaper to buy a new set with chairs than replace that glass!

Nice layout btw

[tjcruiser]

As there anything on the market for coating the building to slow rusting and further deterioration but destroying the value of the building ?

B

If maintaining the "original fabric" is your goal, I wouldn't coat it with anything. Keep it as dry (low humidity) as possible, preferrably away from direct sunlight, too.

TJ