Finished the first three control panels to control the turnout motors.  I have one additional control panel to build so that all the turnout motors at Fuhgeddaboudit Yard will be powered and controlled.

The Yard Grinch will be directing all movement into, through and out of the yard.  

Yes, Yard Grinch.  Follow directions or no choo-choo for you.

The Yard Grinch will have two large control panels to operate all turnouts between the arrival and departure areas.  The road engine engineer can operate the first two control panels below but under direction of the Yard Grinch.

Single push button operation with green LED's indicating selected route.  Eventually (probably next model railroad lifetime) I plan to have a dispatcher control mainline and branch line turnouts remotely via DCC using a single pushbutton to send a macro command to set a route.

First pic is at the location where the yard's arrival and departure tracks join the dual track mainline.

Next pic is at a secondary location where arrivals and departures can join the main.

Below is the Yard Grinch's control panel for the classification and entrance to the loco servicing area.  I will be building the control panel for the turnouts between the loco servicing area and the departure area.

And a peek under the covers.  Not the neatest wiring job ever but it works.

 After much procrastination I finally got to work on the bridge and river areas and the City of Brooklyn Heights.

The railroad bridge between Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights is a Walthers dual track arched Pratt truss bridge and is 23" (166 scale feet) long.  It spans the Gowanus River which separates the two cities.

In actuality the neighborhood of Fort Green is not next to the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights in Brooklyn, NY and the Gowanus is not a fast flowing clean river.  The Gowanus is a canal that is fairly dirty and ugly.  My railroad, my imagination.

The structures in the images below are from Walthers, City Classics, Downtown Deco and Carl's 3D Printing Emporium (the monument).  The auto bridge and Union Station are from Dick Wegner's layout.

The first three images are views of Brooklyn Heights.

Before any of you prototype guys say anything I know that a real railroad would not run a steam locomotive through an underground passenger station as in the image.  It's my railroad and every passenger is issued a gas mask.

Gowanus "River" bridge with a short freight crossing

The last is the view from Fort Greene towards Brooklyn Heights.  Two of the Downtown Deco structures have been completed by my artistic assistant (Marianne) and two others are under construction.  Two more a waiting to be started.

I will be adding more scenic details but the major work on the scene is done.

Since my last blog update in late November I have been working on additional scenes for the upper level.

I finished, except for more details, the town of New Utrecht, New Utrecht Station and Depot and the New Utrecht industrial area.

First pic is looking down Main Street in the downtown area of New Utrecht.  Next pic is New Utrecht and the New Utrecht Station and Depot.

Below is the view from New Utrecht Station towards downtown.  The two tracks on the left are the dual track mainline which starts its descent to the lower level at this point.  Next track to the right, in front of the station, is the upper level branch line.  Tracks behind the station service the coal mine.

Next pic is a panorama view from the coal mine on the right to downtown on the left.  This is along the 14 ft. wall on your left as you walk into the room.

Next is the view as you enter the train room.  This is along the 41 ft wall.

On the left is the under construction town of Fort Greene with the monument at Fort Greene Park.  Carl 3D printed the monument.

To the right is Brooklyn Heights which is also under construction.  I completed construction of the structures for Brooklyn Heights and have them staged along with the back drop which will be modified to better fit the scene.

Between the two towns is the Gowanus Canal which will be spanned by a two lane vehicle bridge (temporarily in place) and a dual track railroad truss bridge.  The truss bridge will replace the span of plywood that currently supports the mainline.

Another view of Brooklyn Heights.  After crossing the truss bridge the main line will enter a tunnel under Brooklyn Heights with the station above it.

Last pic is the the Fort Greene industrial area looking towards downtown Fort Greene.

Still a couple of months of work ahead to complete the upper level scenery in the areas that will be difficult to work on once the lower level is in.

 11/22/20

Finally finished the coal mine, coal mine area scenery and mountains.  About 3 weeks of work.  Well, not exactly finished.  Still some details to be added but the heavy lifting is done.

Now it is off to an area about 20 feet down the layout.  This would be to the right of the coal mine down the long 41 foot wall.

I am test fitting building mockups for the towns of Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights.  In Brooklyn Heights I need to disguise, if possible, a 4 inch waste pipe.  A two foot high hill may work.

Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights will be separated by a creek and connected via a dual track truss bridge for the railroad mainline and a two lane vehicle bridge.

My artistic directors, Marianne and Sydney, are working on the next structure.  Rather than choosing a basic plastic kit they opted for a Downtown Deco hydrocal kit.  Nothing like working with 5 minute epoxy to test your skills.

Here is an image of them checking out some online how-to videos.

A few pics of the coal mine are below.  I watched a 35 minute video by "Modeler Man Mike" on building and weathering this structure.  Some good weathering tips that I can apply to other structures.

The kit simulates corrugated steel sheets and has vertical reliefs 2 scale feet apart.  I added horizontal reliefs 11 scale feet apart.  I checked steel sheeting online and they are sold in 2 ft x 12 ft sections.  I assumed a 1 ft overlap.  I do not know if this was the size used at the time a mine like this would have been built.  Probably somewhere between the 1920's and 1940's.

First step was to spray the entire unassembled model with Krylon clear matte.  To simulate wall sections that had been replaced I masked most of the wall areas and just had openings where I wanted to simulate new sections which I sprayed with Rustoleum silver metallic.  These are the brighter areas of the walls.

The I added a few strips of Evergreen styrene to simulate repaired areas after spraying them with the metallic paint.

Then lots of weathering chalk brushed on.

Just finished painting the backdrop mountains and hills in the area I am calling New Utrecht.

The rock face mountain that is in the corner and that will sit behind the coal mine is a work in progress.  The structure is completed so the next step is to add some rock outcroppings, foliage and trees.

I wanted to recreate the look of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  These are "old" mountains and are rounded at their peaks.  What I wound up with looks like the Appalachian Mountains mated with Grand Teton Mountain.

Here is a photograph I took from the about 5,000 foot level on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.  It is around sunset and overlooks the Blue Ridge.

Here are a few images of the completed backdrop painting.  The big, gray rock looking thing is the mountain that will be behind the coal mine.

Nine layers of 2" pink XPS foam covered in plaster cloth and then stained with a black latex wash.  A taupe wash was dry brushed over this to start to bring out the highlights.

After this I will be building the area of Fort Greene.  Carl 3D printed the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument that will go in Fort Greene Park.  It looks great.  I will post photos of it with my next update.

Originally I planned to complete all construction of the layout and then have several operating sessions before starting to add any scenery.  Well, that plan has changed a bit.

There are several areas of the layout's upper level which will have deep reach in distances after layout completion.  Specifically two corners and the area over the lower level Gravesend Yard.  Even after curving the corners with masonite the reach in distance for any scenery construction and the addition of backdrops would make the work difficult at best.

If you recall the shape of the room, it is 41 feet long and 14 feet wide.  You enter the room at the approximate center of one of the long walls.

On the upper level to your right is the large Fuhgeddaboudit Yard.  In front of you, on the upper level, are the towns of Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights with the Kosciusko Bridge spanning the Gowanus Canal.  Directly below them will be Gravesend Yard with a bump out for the round house and locomotive servicing area.

A short break for an American history lesson.

Fort Greene is the neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY where I attended high school.  Fort Greene is named after General Nathaniel Greene one of the heroes of the Revolutionary War.  The Gowanus Canal is named after the Native American chief Gowanee.  The Kosciusko Bridge is named after Thaddeus Kosciusko, a Polish officer, who fought with us during the Revolution.  There is a Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park honoring the 11,500 men and women who died on the British prison ships after the Battle of Long Island.

I tried to find models that resembled the monument and my old high school but so far nothing close.  See images below.  The high school is the large building in the center.

I made building mockups out of construction paper using the foot prints of the structure kits I currently own and staged them to create towns and to test fit.

Below is Fort Greene looking towards the coal mine at New Utrecht which is one of the corners I mentioned previously.

The coal mine at New Utrecht.  A UP 2-10-2 is leading a freight on the mainline down grade to the lower level while the NY Central A-B-A set of Erie Built units has finished its climb upgrade.  In the background is an A-B set of Pennsy F-3's waiting at the coal mine.

New Utrecht downtown area in the corner.  Note the masonite in the corner.  New Utrecht station is to the right with the tail end of the Erie led freight.

This next image is from opposite New Utrecht station looking along the 14 foot wall toward the coal mine.  The tracks closest to the edge of the benchwork are mainline.  The NY Central 4-6-4 is pulling a passenger train on the upper level branch line.  The tracks for the coal mine are behind.  These tracks will join the branch line and then the main further along the long wall to the right.

Next steps:

Select the back drops.  I plan use a combination of printed and painted back drops but have not determined the specifics.

Build, paint and weather approximately 18 structure kits and prewire them for lighting.

I want to get this done over the next few months so that I can start the lower level construction.

 Next phase of the upper level construction is underway.

Dual track main and single track branch are being extended along the long back wall and around one of the side walls.  This adds room for the town of New Utrecht with a small industrial area, a coal mine, train station and a small downtown area.

The photos below just show the progress of test fitting the track and the foot prints for structures.

Next steps are:

1. Marking the plywood, laying cork roadbed, laying track, powering the track and testing.

2. Since there will be a hill in the corner behind the coal mine I will need to add backdrops and the hill after I finish with the trackwork.  Along with construction of the coal mine.  Long reach in distance to the corner where the hill will be located so this one section of scenery will be added early.  The reach in distance to the farthest track is 21 inches from the edge of the benchwork.

3.  Mount turnout motors and test again.

Small industrial district with three manufacturing companies.  Box cars parked at sidings and a short freight waiting to enter the main from the branch.

The location of the coal mine and tipple on the right where the hoppers are parked.  On the left is the location of New Utrecht train station and depot with a couple of RDC's waiting to take on passengers and a box car at the depot location.

Another view of the location of New Utrecht station with the coal mine location in the background.

Coal mine location.  Tracks closest, and hanging off benchwork, are the two main tracks that start their descent to the lower level at New Utrecht station.  Directly behind the main, and in front of the mine, is the branch that will run around the upper level.

Another view of the small industrial area with the coal mine in the background.