Ken Karlewicz February 2019 Layout Update

 

After buying some  wonderful new scenery products from Scenic Express at the Springfield show this month, I’ve spent  much of the past  couple of weeks planting and detailing the Cherry Valley area of my layout. I have been working with materials from the Martin Welberg line, and have been astounded by how beautiful this material really is!! I will let the images convey what is so special about all of these wonderful textures. The  coal dealer at Buesing’s Bridge  still needs a bit  more weathering in order to make it look truly abandoned, but I plan to have vines growing up the sides, rust added to the chutes, and the remains of an auger pit  added as well.

 

The stream still needs to be finished, but I’ve been working on the foliage along the embankments as thing move down the branch.

This scene was inspired by the Battenkill Railroad AKA, the D&H Washington Branch.

 

Real sifted cinders were used on the line (above and below) and the late summer landscape takes form across the valley and up into the hills.

Many varieties of flowering plants were combined with grasses and shrub like textures along the embankments.

 A newly planted field is seen  above as we round the curve into Cobleskill.

 

The scenery creeps down into Cherry Valley  above ,while also expanding across Richmondville  and into Cobleskill below.

 

All scenes are  still developing and under construction, but progress moves along with a huge boost from Scenic Express and the new Martin Welberg line!

Happy Day to all 🙏🏻

Ken Karlewicz

The Confalone Weathering Dojo

 

I started doing this car up at Mike’s over the weekend and I am about 95% done with it now.I  just need to finish the trucks, wheels and couplers and I think this guy will be ready for the rails. Watching Mike weather cars is something to see cause he just goes at it  without hesitation and certainly inspires the hell out of me, to strive toward excellence in weathering as well. This car was done using one color of oil and two colors of powder.Only the Dullcote was sprayed from an airbrush, but that could also have been done with a spray can. Halfway through, I was struck with  a bit of fear and wanted to quit before I “ruined the car” when it looked like this photo below. 

Weathered yes, but lacking any real contrast and the impact I had  initially hoped for, given the cars cool periwinkle color. Mike convinced me to keep going, and I began to hit the car with some Titanium White oil.I was instantly excited with the results and happy I had gone beyond where I would have likely stopped. I’ve learned from Mike this weekend among other things,  to be bold when approaching weathering, as the most it could cost you is a car and your ability to move beyond your current skill level. When we venture beyond our comfort zone, we are  able to create huge breakthroughs in our modeling and in other areas of life as well. I wish you guys some breakthroughs of your own this week...

Have great day!!
Ken Karlewicz

Few Pictures from Springfield 2019

Rob D

Build A Compressor with Wayne Sittner

I got the idea to build the compressor after finding an old B&W print from the Wilkes-Barre D&H roundhouse taken in 1968.  I used the castings in a JL Innovative Design kit to get a head start.  (To say it's crude is an understatement.) I used Evergreen styrene for all the detail corrections and additions.  

Since the kit showed the innards I decided the leave the door on one side slightly open.  The air hose was a left over length of insulated wire.

Wayne Sittner

Check out Gino's Rail BLOG!

Gino's Rail Blog

Railroad and trolley history from Gino DiCarlo, author of Trolleys Of The Capital District and The Saratoga And Mount McGregor Railroad.

Rebuilding the FJ&G with Steve Lamora!

Merry Christmas 2018

My office view....Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Rob D

Sense of Place

Jack Cutler’s Juniata Secondary

Jack Cutler’s Juniata Secondary HO Scale layout. The Juniata Secondary is a large double-deck PRR themed layout depicting a fictitious PRR branch pressed into mainline service after WWII sabotage has shut down horseshoe curve.

 Tunnels into the helix

 Jack experimenting with some scenery

 Jack builds his own working PRR style signals

 Working CTC, very nice!

Upper staging

Upstate Modelers Train Show in Glens Falls 2018

 Brad Peterson's collection of his Uncles Boston trolleys

The Great Train Extravaganza 2018

The Great Train Extravaganza is eastern New York’s largest model railroad and toy train hobby show. It’s held every year at the Empire State Convention Center in Albany, New York, usually on the first Sunday in December, coinciding with the tree lighting ceremony at Empire State Plaza.

Vermont Paper

I needed a new project away from the rest of the layout, Vermont Paper. It's a fictional space, modeled after the Finch papermill in Glens Falls, NY. Thinking about stuffing a papermill in a 2x 12 space took some planning. I wanted to reuse everything I could from my old layout, plus whatever is in my junk bins. I got a great deal on used code 83 # 5 switches off eBay, that was a start. I realized my original plan wasn't really going to work using what I had so I modified it.

Since I worked the 3 mills on the D&H, I realized what I needed for car space, and different products, and to able to switch. So I planned how many cars would fit where and what a typical inbound and outbound train would look like. I also modified the Walthers mill with a opening on both ends of the main paper dock to increase capacity and ease of switching.

A view of the new old parking lot....
Enjoy, Rob