Doc, that really looks great! Thanks Ken, for making the video show up.
Looks great Tom! The ultimate compliment from my wife Marilyn watching over my shoulder, “is that real?” I had to point out the ceiling in the video 
Your work is paying off!
Your work always makes me smile, Doc. Your ability to make a scene come alive is impressive. Great video, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the very nice comments. I really appreciate it. Here is a little more of the new RR.
It was time to weather the bridge over the Linville River and put in some water. We went from this:
(https://i.imgur.com/7Tg3Pp1.jpg)
To this:
(https://i.imgur.com/G6u78dI.jpg)
Using an interesting product called ModPodge you can make a shiny water surface on flat painted hardboard.
(https://i.imgur.com/Y3TvixS.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/UhfVMGp.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/lr3Hdu9.jpg)
Here are some classic railroad pictures of a train passing over a through Truss Bridge in the Blue Ridge.
(https://i.imgur.com/8niAky4.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Z2X6HAF.jpg)
Thanks for looking. Doc Tom
That looks great … can we get a refresher pic of how the other side came out …
Sean McGillicuddy said:
That looks great … can we get a refresher pic of how the other side came out …
Hi Sean. Thanks for the (+) feedback. I have started making some simple videos of the layout. Here is a “pacing” video of all completed trackwork so far.
Doc Tom
Having decided that the trains would not derail on the freshly planted On30 track on the Linville LDE it was time for some groundcover, ballast and grade crossings.
(https://i.imgur.com/PHq3C8b.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/eCkSf9U.jpg)
Everybody loves a train and here’s a picture of the little people at a grade crossing.
(https://i.imgur.com/o624Cwm.jpg)
Here is the same scene when it was in the blue foam stage.
(https://i.imgur.com/9WxDGwN.jpg)
A bit of a difference.
Thanks as always for looking.
Doc Tom
Great picture! I wouldn’t have thought that the picture with the blue foam was the same location. When it was just blue foam, did you invsion how it would look after all the scenery was in place?
Ric Golding said:
Great picture! I wouldn’t have thought that the picture with the blue foam was the same location. When it was just blue foam, did you invsion how it would look after all the scenery was in place?
Wow…that is a pretty personal question! What the man does behind (currently) closed doors really should not be any of your business Ric !
Rooster is making me blush… When It was in blue foam Ric I had a general idea of what I was aiming to do. It just takes forever to bring these models to fruition.
Doc Tom
Electricity was extremely rare in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains in 1920-1924. Geraldo’s kid “Sparkie”rigged up a crude generator to harness the water power in the creek out back of the farm. This allowed a simple light at the barn to turn night in to day.
(https://i.imgur.com/tdCXmpi.jpg)
Cy Crumley stopped the train to catch a view of this new fangled invention of Sparkie’s.
(https://i.imgur.com/kSCsl5b.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/bhswsMb.jpg)
Old man Geraldo prefers the kerosene lantern in his cabin and doubts that ‘tricity’ will ever catch on in these parts.
(https://i.imgur.com/qBqV4KM.jpg)
Thanks for looking. Doc Tom
Here’s a little more to add to the story of the railroad in the Blue Ridge.
A chestnut tree at Linville on the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Rail Road in the early 1920’s before the chestnut blight wiped out these magnificent trees in the Smoky Mountains and the Blue Ridge. Chestnut bark siding was used to cover several structures in Linville including the ET&WNC depot.
(https://i.imgur.com/i0YP3zv.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/MC8k2Qn.jpg)
Now to find a suitable product to recreate this siding for the depot (in foam board mock up in the picture).
Thanks for looking. Doc Tom
Doc Tom,
Isn’t it basically going to be about color? Whether you use doll house shingles, generic balsa wood or cardboard, cut to look like shingles, isn’t it going to be the final color that makes the depot look like the prototype? I’d think a smokey grey brown if the shingles were unpainted and the structure had been out in the weather for a couple of years. The longer it has stood out in the weather, the more grey to dark grey it will all become. If painted, then its just whatever color it was and its all about the texture of a shingle. But in the 1:48 scale, how much is going to show?
Ric Golding said:
Doc Tom,
Isn’t it basically going to be about color? Whether you use doll house shingles, generic balsa wood or cardboard, cut to look like shingles, isn’t it going to be the final color that makes the depot look like the prototype? I’d think a smokey grey brown if the shingles were unpainted and the structure had been out in the weather for a couple of years. The longer it has stood out in the weather, the more grey to dark grey it will all become. If painted, then its just whatever color it was and its all about the texture of a shingle. But in the 1:48 scale, how much is going to show?
Yes color and texture are the main components to focus on in model railroading.
A fellow modeler on another site even recommended pieces of crepe paper.I thought that was a nifty idea.
Doc Tom
I got a static grass applicator in the mail recently. I thought I would give it a try. A little bit of a learning curve and You Tube Vids certainly helped.
(https://i.imgur.com/fMnTAdC.jpg)
I have always liked this effect in “O” scale.
I used a mix of Woodland Scenics 4 mm grass. I think the effect is rather nice. Thanks for looking. Doc Tom
No More Excuses.
These two prototype pictures of the Depot inspired me to build the Linville LDE,
on my On30 homage to the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina (ET&WNC) Railroad.
(https://i.imgur.com/muUUjSh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Fp7Dmll.jpg)
With the track painted and ballasted, the water tank and shed in place, trees and grasses planted,
there are no more excuses to get on to scratch building the Linville Depot as it was in the early 1920s.
(https://i.imgur.com/CK76LIu.jpg)
With Evergreen Styrene and San Juan Details on order,
I will be taking the plunge to replace the foam core mock up over the next several weeks.
(https://i.imgur.com/xftLkE1.jpg)
Hopefully a nice model will be ready in the near future.
Fingers are crossed and nerves need steadying. (http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/images/shake_125.gif)
Did I mention scratch building makes me real nervous? (http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/images/shake_125.gif)
Thanks for following along so far.
Doc Tom
Got Milk?
Well maybe if the cows relax after the whistle shrieks of the steam engine calling for the river crossing fade away and Geraldo can get his tiresome children to do some milking chores today.
(https://i.imgur.com/jTHFIf3.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ghoJ7VG.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/na1hGHK.jpg)
Doc Tom
This is the prototype picture that inspired me to try scratch building the Linville Depot on my On30 rendition of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina RR.
(https://i.imgur.com/YbJ1hNI.jpg)
In the early 1920’s it was a setting out point for tourists escaping the cities and getting in to the beautiful North Carolina Mountains with transportation provided by the “Varnish” of the ET&WNC RR.
For the past 6 months I have been using spare time to try and recreate this classy picture.
(https://i.imgur.com/xnbQfOK.jpg)
And a few more shots in 21st century color:
(https://i.imgur.com/MDty5l1.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/grvLRd0.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/YL3Mda3.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/OPYKnb3.jpg)
Here is how the little depot fits in to the Linville Layout Design Element (LDE).
(https://i.imgur.com/WLoutNK.jpg)
Thanks for looking. Dr Tom