NMRA Silver Plume Bakery Build

I joined the local chapter of the NMRA this year and one of the activities was to build a wooden laser cut structure. In total there were almost 40 people taking part in various scales. I decided to add a scratchbuilt shed to the side of mine and made mine into a snowboard shop. This was also the first building I built where I added interior details and lights. It's not totally done yet but I sure had fun building it.

Coniferous convention

I had some guys over for a tree building session. The following are some photos of our efforts to populate a piece of the Lyn Valley NorthWestern with a few trees.

Here are the tools needed.

This is dyed brown Manilla rope.

Twist it between a wire and.........TA DA! Instant tree.

Spray some glue on it And sprinkle on some ground foam.

Here are some of the trees we built.

Adding rocks

Here is my first attempt at carving rocks. I was not overly impressed with the look so I made a mold of a rock in the garden. The 3rd, 4th & 5th pictures below are rocks made with that mold.

Landscaping

Now it was time to plaster in the basic shape of the landscape. I used the soaked paper towel over chicken wire wethod for this area. Found the paper towels ripped really easy so I'm going to try used dryer bounce sheets for the next section. They are tougher but still pourous enough to soak up the plaster. The layout will smell nice too. :-)

Foothills Ethanol

Now that the brackdrop was painted I need to finish the track work leading into the Foothills Ethanol plant. I decided to build some #4 switches for this area to give me the maximum amount of room to spot cars. In the third picture you can see one of my homemade Electro magnets to uncouple cars with. Much easier to install these before the track is laid instead of trying to install them from underneath. Unfortunately this is what I have to do in the yard if I want them in there. In the last picture you can see how I cut the grain bins in half to save room and make it look like there was 4. The backdrop behind the plant needs to be painted yet.

Painting the next section of backdrop.

I started another big section of backdrop. Trying a new method from the mountains I had originally painted. Overall I'm fairly pleased with the results.

A trip around the LV&N

Here is a trip around my layout as it looks today.First picture is a shot of East Curan Yard.

Here trains come in from the prairies before the long haul through the mountains.

Here is a shot of Curan Station and the west side of the yard.

This is looking east. I'm still playing with different pictures of buildings on the backdrop as you can see. The far corner needs a couple of tall warehouses as well.

At the western edge of Curan yard are the engine refueling facilities. You can see the start of the Rocky Mountains in the background. Better take on lots of fuel and sand for the trip through those babies!

Turning the corner we see the makings of my future ethenol plant. Notice the garin bins. I had first wanted to buy two more and then last month MR had the article in it where Jim Hediger had cut them in half for his ethenol plant. Thanks Jim!

Continuing west we see the future branch line at the lower level. It comes out from the hidden staging tracks which will be under Curan yard.

Looking back the other way you get a view of the first peninsula. This will be the main focal point of the layout with a coal mine in the middle surrounded by rocky peaks and bridges all the way around.

The first bridge will represent Anderson Creek Bridge near Boston Bar, BC.

Turning the corner trains will cross a big rock cut on the other side of the peninsula. This will be the first thing you see when entering the layout under the duckunder.

We continue west and cross another big valley snaking toward the next peninsula where trains will slowly descend to a lower level matching up with the height of my hidden staging yard under Curan yard. You will also have the option to stay high and enter Curan yard again. Note the branch line cutting across under this section in the distance.This is the start of the next peninsula.

My current junk table. Against the wall you can see where I have temporarily cut across so I can run trains all the way around.

The end of the run brings us to the coast and the future container yard. Here trains duck behind the backdrop and enter the hidden staging under Curan Yard.

That's it. Hope you have enjoyed the trip.