[Severn]

im going to have to try to remind myself to buy only pre-cut kits. ideally snap together, no glue (or glue optional). i can't recall now what kit it was but there was a seemingly complex laser cut kit on that marklin of sweden you tube channel -- that was snap together and it looked good. it wasn't a bridge though.

(i found it -- this round house --

)

 

[LateStarter]

Snapshot
Tracks to the steel mill hopper dumps.

 

[LateStarter]

El Muro Palacia
"The Palace Wall".
(entry to El Barranca).

Falling rock zone for sure!
So far, this is taking the greater part of two months.

Basically a "stack-puzzle"... adding separate sculpted pieces over cured plaster cloth.
The pieces are chunks of razor-carved balsa, (sealed with polyurethane) individually 'painted' with 3M Patch-Plus-Primer, then 3M'd into place after sanding.
Some of my blood is in there, from self inflicted wounds.

It's literally a vertical diorama...
It can't be set in place until the wavy issue with the superelevated curve is addressed.

 

[Stumpy]

That looks really good.

As soon as I saw it my mind went to Pilot Mountain, NC, which I've driven by hundreds of times. That probably wasn't your "prototype", but you certainly could claim it was.

 

[LateStarter]

That looks really good.
As soon as I saw it my mind went to Pilot Mountain, NC...

I've run by there on Rte 52 on my Harley a few times. A really cool sight.

 

[LateStarter]

This is the only strata I tried to replicate...
Part of me is regretting that.

 

[Lemonhawk]

Why? You could try an ink wash to darken the crevices, but I'd leave it alone. You also could collect some pictures of real rocks and duplicate that.

 

[Stumpy]

I'd leave it alone

Agreed. Leave it alone.

I see what you're trying to draw our attention to. However...

In geology and related fields, a stratum (plural: strata) is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil, or igneous rock that was formed at the Earth's surface, with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers.

.. layers. It looks good. Leave it alone.

 

[LateStarter]

Shady lane
Gravel/dirt rear entrance to Shapiro's.
6500k lighting.

 

[LateStarter]

Snapshot
A shallow bluff near Pines Nest.

 

[LateStarter]

Finally connected
Salvage yard junction to the mainline.
(lots of 'mind-changing' delays in this area).

Looking back toward the mainline from the rail access to Shapiro's.
I originally had a grove of tall sycamores and a shack here, but it looked too busy... not desolate and 'lonely' enough.
Against the dreary pale backdrop, it now looks more like the misty or foggy "wood's end" I was thinking of.

I used code 100 rail here... for a more prominent track-appearance.

The stone wall in the shadows on the right is the remnants of a Civil War rampart.

 

[LateStarter]

Housing and population shortage
So far, Worlee is a ghost town.

I don't have many residential houses to place...
Not that much room left, after all the commercial structures. A planning flaw I guess.

"Housing" consists of a couple each of scratch-builds, bashes, AMB, Walthers, LaserArt, BTS, and a couple of Rix Quanset huts... sounds like a lot, but it's only a dozen or so. Mostly all (as yet) are unplaced in their assigned location.
One of the few houses that have been placed is a bashed FOS kit, which combines it with a gas station.

I guess my population is mostly incoming commuters... rail workers, steel mill workers, office workers, etc.
Plus, even 99% of the residents and workers are unpainted Preisers, waiting to be dressed and characterized. Only six have been painted, and only three of those are placed.
Other than those, only the crews inside some of the diesel cabs are the sole signs of humanity.

 

[LateStarter]

Rapido RDC
SP #10.

The SP had just one RDC motor coach, and some Budd cars, sometimes running MU'd in commuter consist.

My original plan (way back) was to include an elevated transit system like the Chicago South Shore Line.
It would run on piered & girdered elevated trackwork, from hill-to-hill, and station to station.

It all changed when Rapido came out with their RDC series, and blew up my South Shore theme... I had to have one.

Complete with "mouse ear" number boards, the SP edition is top drawer detail.
The Proto RPO looks good with it.

 

[LateStarter]

The swales of Worlee
Unfinished groundwork.

Track is laid here, but ballasting and groundwork are barely started.

Culverts and swales abound in Worlee, to drain away flood waters from northern plains.
Many go under tracks that are either deck-bridged or earthed over. Here, one runs mostly parallel.
The gravel/ballast crossover in the foreground is one of many. Some will be paved asphalt.

 

[LateStarter]

BTW, some of my culvert faces are N scale tunnel potrals.

 

[Stumpy]

some of my culvert faces are N scale tunnel potrals

Just the idea I needed. TY

 

[LateStarter]

Snapshots:
1.) Inside "Woods End".
2.) The rear "scenic" route to Shapiro's.

 

[Stumpy]

Good looking woods.

Static grass or tufts?

 

[LateStarter]

TY, sir...
Both, plus some dyed & teased faux fur.

 

[BigGRacing]

It is just like walking down a hauling road during hunting season