The Blue Ridge Stemwinder in On30

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
I never got into trains, my older brother always managed to destroy every train set, or race car set I ever got. I still love to look at a well designed and made train display though. Yours looks like it is coming along nicely

Hey Micah,

Thanks for the note. I was the oldest of 5 boys.........but did no harm to the modeling efforts of my younger sibs. But I am the only one still modeling away at age 67. Doc Tom:facepalm:
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
Homabed is some wonderful stuff. That is what is under Crooked Creek’s track, and Harlow’s as well.
It is a good product. Unfortunately the company who sells it now reports at least a three week wait while they "cut it." I'm two weeks into that wait and looking forward to getting it soon. Tom
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
If you'd have ordered something in HO, or N they probably would have it in stock. In On3 I'm thinking of using Ho Homabed, and letting the ends of the ties stick out of the ballast
 

zathros

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You guys nailed it on the wooden hopper car!! :)
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
If you'd have ordered something in HO, or N they probably would have it in stock. In On3 I'm thinking of using Ho Homabed, and letting the ends of the ties stick out of the ballast
Hello Bill. Did you get your homabed from Cascade railroad supply? That is who I ordered it from. Did you find them to be a good supplier if you use them? Tom
 

zathros

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Hah!! That's funny. You make so much stuff from scratch. Much respect. ;)
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
my last Homabed was from California road
bed co, and the previous batch was from Bo Manufacturing, my next will be from cascade, as the previous two are gone.
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
BLUE FOAM TAKES ON SOME COLORS AND TEXTURE.

On my On30 logging mini layout I used Blue Foam landforms in anticipation of this layout depicting the ET &WNC.

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Even learned to carve the foam to look like rock strata by using the edge of a whirling dremel rotary sander.

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So it was time to put those experiences to work on this latest project.

First the profiles of the mountains and hills on the Linville LDE were smoothed out using a Surefoam tool.

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Rock was carved using the trusty Dremel. The first layers of forest ground cover were made up using latex paints and a variety of ground foams.

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Unlike the logger mini, set in wintertime, this mountain RR is set in glorious summer in the Blue Ridge. Next up will be the greens of ground cover and then the trees.

Thanks for looking.

Doc Tom
 

micahrogers

Moderator "Where am I, and how did I get here?"
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That is one area of model making that I have never been good at, replicating realistic nature scenes...
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
That is one area of model making that I have never been good at, replicating realistic nature scenes...
Hang in there and keep trying. My motto: "It's hard to screw up scenery." Can always add some flat paint, more white glue and some more ground foam. Doc Tom
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
I hope your future plans become clearer to you. You have some great modeling skills that need to be utilized to the fullest. Doc Tom


A good deal on a Bungalow a few blocks from Emily’s house came up last weekend. Of course Jennifer is up here for fall break , so she can’t look at it , but her agent has been out there. The agent has been there, and says it is nice, We are going to try to get an eight day option for a asking price cash offer. Jennifer’s older brother is going to finance it for us.

It’s in a really nice neighborhood, we walk out in that area, because it has big lots, for Houston, and lots of trees.

It is about four blocks from Emily’s house, and closer to the grandkids elementary school.

It is a little place for pretty much lot value; and these deals move very quickly, so it would be easy to move if we wanted to retreat to TN. Full time.

The plan would likely be to sell the farm house after I retire, perhaps retaining 11 on the hill above the farmhouse, selling 10 acres with the farmhouse.

We are also working on possibly picking up another acre at the lake, building a storage building, and possibly adding on to the cabin, adding a master suite, and some more RR room in the basement.

The bungalow has a two car garage, with a large workshop with a motel HVAVC . The real estate agent said it looks like it is larger than a single car garage space.

If this goes through , At least I could start doing some planning. Perhaps Starting disassembly of the big RR, while working to get bits of it operable.
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
I’m thinking if we get this bungalow, I might design a simple around the room On3 layout on shelves above the door and windows with some depth of scenery on the long wall, and perhaps a more conventional island RR, perhaps 1870’s inspired, perhaps even with some continual running capability.

At the lake I could build my traditional logging outfit.
 

zathros

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Simply beautiful. I'd love to see a run through you track on one of those camera trains. Pen Cameras can be pretty cheap, you would have to probably make a couple of cars to realize it, but in any event, super craftsmanship. :)
 

Doctor G

Well-Known Member
Evolution at Linville

The transformation from blue foam to colourful topography is underway on the layout design element at Linville on the On30 ET& WNC RR.

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Low lying shrubs and grasses have been planted on the hillsides in anticipation of “O” scale trees in full summer growth to come in the future.

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Homabed roadbed has been placed in preparation for track laying. So, we have gone from track plans to getting the foundation down for the modeled track work.

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I also did the trim of the layout in an olive green color that I think matches the color of the railroad coaches on the 1920 prototype. I would appreciate comments on what Color was actually used by the ET&WNC railroad in 1920 to paint their beautiful varnish.

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Thanks for looking.

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Doc Tom
 
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