[Stumpy]

Could you fit the existing layout into this larger space... ?

I spent about an hour in the train room last night, adult beverage in hand, mulling over that exact notion. Of course I'd have to cut it in half and stand it on edge to get it through the door. Honestly, I made too many mistakes laying track. Ex: the passing siding by the coal mine is so short it's worthless other than for static display of rolling stock. The trestle bridge is a hump - so much so that the track leading into it changes angle so abruptly that I can't run anything with three-axle trucks. So I think I'll either leave it as is or slowly cannibalize it.

Again, that is where my head is at right now.

 

[kilowatt62]

Yep. Given the track issues you mentioned, I say cannibalize. Otherwise, you know you will be redoing the trackwork anyway (frustration) in many places if you add it to the basement layout plans.

 

[Gramps]

With your fantastic attention to detail and modelling skills and you honestly feel that you made too many mistakes laying track, then I agree with the above. You were obviously great at what you did with your layout and enjoyed doing it so maybe a fresh start is the answer. Go with your gut.

 

[afboundguy]

I'd go nuts with that kind of space. You could do a scale mile and more in HO. Imagine the terrain you could build on a layout with that much room.

You could do all kinds of entertaining down there as long as they like trains!

I know right? I know having a basement is a nice thing but my basement is tiny compared to a lot of other basement pictures I see... Well I could do an awesome full basement layout but there's too much space dedicated to storage

Is this space home to your 3rd layout?

Yes. that is the plan.

 

[Stumpy]

An impromptu vegabubbul stand.

WS "Farmers Market" and "Paul's Fresh Produce".

 

[Stumpy]

A couple of big rigs in Eastwood Ridge.

They need a shot of dull coat.

 

[J.Albert1949]

Stumpy, who is the manufacturer of those big rigs in the pics above?

 

[Stumpy]

The REA truck is IMEX... imex-model.com

The Lee is Mini-Metals... classicmetalworks.com

 

[Stumpy]

I'll probably pseudo-finish out the top of the mesa, but it won't be as originally planned.

The purchase of the WWII Deutsche Reichsbahn Br. 52 loco in winter camo has spawned a plan.

I've always had the idea that part of this layout would be done in winter. I guess that's why I have ~100 snow-dusted conifers in a storage box.

Since the mesa is somewhat "detached" from the rest of the layout the plan is... Somewhere in the Ardennes - Early December 1944.

The mesa

Even though it'll mostly be covered in snow, the first thing is to put down some grass. Because there will be areas where the 50 mph wind gusts have blown the snow away.

Paper template

And we have grass. The station is from the free-haul I got a while back.

 

[Stumpy]

Picked up these Boley brand Panzer Tiger and Jagdpanther tanks off ebay for $8 each including shipping. They're fairly well detailed for that price. They just need a little winter camo airbrushed on, a little work with a detail brush and a little mud.

 

[Stumpy]

A sturmgeschütz 75mm gun kit to go along with the two half-track kits. This'll be the smallest tank kit I've ever built.

But the next task is to get the river/waterfall done.

 

[MichaelE]

They look great. You'll have to figure out a way to make tank track depressions in the grass.

 

[Stumpy]

You'll have to figure out a way to make tank track depressions in the grass.

And snow.

 

[Gramps]

Earlier in this thread there were comments about a third layout, is that no longer the plan?

 

[SF Gal]

I stopped in to check out your layout...like the videos and pictures and instructionals showing the final results, nice thread of a cool layout...following. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Stumpy]

Earlier in this thread there were comments about a third layout, is that no longer the plan?

Yes, that is the plan. I will begin that layout after I retire. 589 days to go.

 

[Gramps]

Yes, that is the plan. I will begin that layout after I retire. 589 days to go.

But who's counting? Glad it's still a go.

 

[Stumpy]

This just in...

Deutsche Reichsbahn Br. 52

 

[Stumpy]

Armored train with the General der Panzertruppe on board heading for the "rest and refit area" somewhere in the Ardennes.

 

[MidwestMikeGT]

They look great. You'll have to figure out a way to make tank track depressions in the grass.

Many decades ago, as a teen, I was really into dioramas and had mulled this question over. I experimented and found that if I put some brown paint-stained plaster of paris on the felt I had used for the ground (yes, it was that long ago), and allowed it to almost dry, then pressed the tracks onto it, there would be indentations which looked like the tank (or vehicle) went over it. The stuff that was left on the tracks was used to continue with lighter areas. Back then, (not sure now), AirFix, Revell, and Monogram models had plasticized tracks which were soft and malleable.

Just sharing a thought from last century!