Started Building the Embankment and Mounting the Backdrops

 The title pretty much sums it up. I started things off by taking a long strip of white Styrofoam roughly 3/4 of an inch thick and two inches wide and beveling it with my hit knife. Next, I painted the whole thing raw umber and glued it along the backside of the Altoona peninsula with white glue.

Once the paint and glue dried, I broke out the lichen and started gluing down. At first, I tried using Elmer's spray adhesive. Turns out, this stuff isn't meant for Styrofoam. Oops! So after melting some of the embankment, I switched the white glue. 

With the lichen glued down, I moved on the the backdrop. I tried gluing one section to the wall, and it looked all wrong! The white edges of the foam core board stuck out like a bunch of soar thumbs. The solution was to painstakingly paint the edges with black acrylic paint. Once mounted, they looked awesome.

I'm pretty stoked about how the backdrop is turning out. I have about one more section to mount and that project is done.

Improved the First Train Show Building

This building is jazzed-up DPM Otto's Auto Parts. The seller added a base, interior LED light, signs and some roof details. A lot of the detailing is quite nice, but some of it had to go.

First and foremost, the styrene base was glued to a larger balsa wood base. The latter made a rather unconvincing. The first thing I did was pry the sucker off, remove the vehicles and toss it in the trash. 

Next, I pried off the plastic base and drilled a hole through the center for the light wire (the were regionally routed out the back wall). While the base was off, I re-glued the window inserts and drapes.

Not a bad little 30-minute project.

In other news I've started building the embankment along the back edge of the Altoona peninsula. More on that to come.
 

Train Show Haul

 As threatened I went to a train show in Simpsonville, SC this morning. It was a small show, but there were some deals to be had. 

On the N Scale front, I was hunting urban buildings and managed to buy four nicely-detailed buildings. Some of the bases will have to come off and the modern cars have got to go. But otherwise, they're quite nice.

I also picked up five ore cars for my I1 to pull. They're quite elderly and as such are equipped with Rapido couplers and deep wheel flanges. The later will have to be replaced. The former I can live with as these cars will be run in a unit train that will pass from one staging yard to the other.

 

 

I also picked up a few things for my children's (really mine) O Gauge layout, the V&R Railroad. One vendor was selling a Lionel USRA 0-8-0 and a trio of freight cars for 60 bucks. That was smoking deal so I snapped that up. That is my son's Victor's train to run. 

I also scored a Lionel Percy for my daughter Rosie. They are both super excited to come upstairs and run the trains. That makes me happy. 

And what Lionel layout is complete without some of those cantankerous operating accessories? None! I snapped up this operating gateman.

Speaking of the V&R Railroad, it's lived on the carpet long enough. I'm planning to build a 5x8 table for all this stuff along with a kid-friendly control panel.

Why Didn't I Think of This Sooner?

 I've been moving forward with the Altoona end of the layout for better part of a month and a half now. Today, I had one of those eureka moments normally reserved for waking up at three AM or sitting on the toilet. 

As I've mentioned previously on this blog, my main concern with scenicing Altoona was said scenery hindering operation and getting damaged in the take. The solution to this concern is dead simple, make the middle of the peninsula a lift out!

With a lift out, we have functionality for operating sessions and nice scenery for show. Implementing this may be a tall order, but well worth the effort.

Train show tips

 I've decided to go ahead and attend the train show in Simpsonville this coming Saturday. It'll be the first show I've been to in the better part of two years. I've going to train shows since I was kid and I've even helped run a bunch with old club up in New York. I that spirit, I've decided to give you some of my tips and advice.

1. Have budget and stick to it.

2. Have an idea of what you want. For example, I'll be on the hunt for buildings and maybe some freight cars. Knowing what you want makes easier to stay on budget and avoid buyer's remorse.

3. Don't buy the first thing that catches your eye. Browse the whole show first. Yeah, you risk missing on that first thing but, if you do buy it, you risk missing out out on something may have wanted more.

4. The best merchandise is there at the beginning of the day, the deals happen at the end. This is an obvious trade off. All the good stuff is there at the start, but so are all eager buyers. At the end of the day, dealers are going to be tired, and more willing to make a deal so they don't have to lug the stuff home.

5. Do your homework. Say a dealer has that new engine you've been looking for. If you've checked several retailers before the show, you'll know if you're getting a good deal or not. Or, you can always use your phone to check the price. Do that discreetly, however.

6. If you're buying a locomotive, try before you buy. Most trains shows have a test track. If the dealer doesn't want you testing it, that's a big red flag.

7. Get business cards, flyers, and receipts. Maybe the dealer has an online shop. Also if your engine is a lemon, you'll want some recourse.

8. This is my most important piece of advice, Don't be afraid to leave empty handed. I get it, you got up early, drove a good distance and paid the admission only to not find what you're looking for. It sucks. The worst thing to do is buy something just to buy something. It's a sure-fire recipe for buyer's remorse. Sometimes the best train show deal is leaving with your money in pocket.

Started Mocking Up the Altoona Backdrop

 As mentioned previously, I ordered some urban photo backdrops off eBay (seller a.b.b.r_81 (link). What I got was a sheet with five two-foot long sections of generic urban building printed on sturdy paper. Ultimately this gives you a roughly 10-foot backdrop. Not bad for $32!

I started by rolling the section up the opposite way from which it came rolled. This allowed it to lay somewhat flat. Next I cut out the first section and mounted it to some foam core board with Elmer's spray adhesive. 

The next step was to painstakingly cut around each individual building with a razor blade. A good bit of work for sure, but nothing I can't handle. As of right now, the first section is temporarily in place with a bit of masking tape. 

At the moment, I'm not sure if I want the buildings at track level or raised up a bit with some kind of retaining wall. I do know I have to somehow fill the gap between the wall and the layout, a task I am dreading. We shall see.