Thompson River Route Blog 4

Now that I have been getting back to work on this project, there are some new things to write about. Since the last blog I have done a section of ground cover, completed ballasting the mountain stretch, and completed the river below. I think most will agree that largest challenge behind this list of tasks was ballasting. Ballasting is a skill which often takes us several attempts to get good at. However, there are ways to fix a poorly ballasted section of track, you can usually add a thin top layer if it comes out lumpy or pull out the bad section with a hobby knife.

The ballast I have used on this project is Woodland Scenics [1]  medium grey blend. Being a grey blend, this ballast has a mix of light and dark grey rocks, relatively appropriate to the location I am modelling. The first step for many is to apply a coat of rail brown paint to the track and ties. The rail brown gets rid of the unrealistic silver shine of the rail sides and weathers the ties; especially if the ties were black. When applying the paint, whether by airbrush or paintbrush, be sure to wipe all of the paint off the top of the rails before the paint dries. In the case of concrete ties, the colour is meant to stay light grey so a full spray of rail brown would ruin their look. Instead, I will be ballasting first and then using a paint pen to coat the sides of the rails and the loops holding the rail to the ties.

When ballasting, the first step for me is to pour out an approximate amount of ballast onto the track, working in small sections at a time. With some ballast ready to be leveled out, I take a wide paint brush and gently brush out the centre of the track. This will still leave pieces of ballast on the ties but do not worry about those yet, they will be brushed off on the later steps. With the centre roughly levelled out, I use the paint brush to push away and level the sides to roughly the rail tops. Once the ballast along the entire area is level with the rail tops, I use a piece of cardboard to push down the ballast on the ends of the ties. This will not expose the tops of those ties completely but it will compact the ballast and make gluing easier. The next step is to run my finger along the ends of the ties to clean the rest of the ballast of the tops. You could use a paint brush for this step, however, I have found that a paintbrush likes to throw ballast back up onto the ties and the bristles get between the ties which clears too much ballast out from between them. A paint brush is less destructive to your finger but I have simply had far less frustration and far more ease with using my fingers. The same trick works well for cleaning the centre of the ties. Once all of the ties have been cleared of any ballast on their tops, I then us the piece of cardboard to press a nice slope into the sides of the ballast, this technique gives a very clean and level look to the ballast.

Now, the critical point in ballasting track, gluing it down. This process can be detrimental to the perfect look of your newly laid ballast. The problem is that due to dust and oil on the surface of the ballast particles, water and glue does not like to soak in and adhere to the ballast. Instead, it will clump up and force the ballast around leaving it anything but clean and level. To get around this problem, first apply a generous number of sprays to the ballast with a mixture of water and a few drops of dish soap. The dish soap will allow the water and glue to easily cling to the ballast. The glue I like to use is a 50/50 mixture of water and scenic glue (or roughly a 3/1 mixture of water to thick white glue). With my glue concoction ready, I use an eye dropper to apply a good amount of glue to all of the ballast. Since the ballast was pre-soaked with water the ballast will run into the ballast evenly. The only other thing to be careful of is putting too much pressure onto the eyedropper, the wet ballast is very easy to push around which means to much pressure behind the glue stream will create unwanted troughs. Once the ballast has been thoroughly soaked with glue, allow it a day to dry and it should be solid to the touch.

The next thing I will explain is ground cover. For this project I will not be using much grass and foliage as the prototype is almost barren as well. It will mainly consist of dirt and rock, all of which was collected from a near by forest. I started by covering the steep banks in a layer of fine dirt. I applied a layer of white glue to the bank and ran dirt down from the top, this eventually covered the entire bank and because it was run down from the top I got vertical streaks just as the prototype has. Next, I created piles of larger rock along the river's edge and on any level points on the bank. The glue mixture used for ballasting works well to seal in the ground cover. One exception being any rocks larger than half a centimetre in size, these should be laid on top of a layer of thick white glue. I then added some other small details along the river bank. Small branches from deadfall make great driftwood stuck in the rocks. The occasional pieces of ground foam (grass/bushes) can be added to gaps in the rock where dirt can collect and grow plants. A spray from the water bottle and a generous coat of glue concoction will seal in all of the ground cover.

The last element of this project that I will discuss in this blog is the river. This was a relatively simple addition which consists of some paint and Woodland Scenics water effects [2]. First I start with a light grey/brown shade of paint along the river bank, followed by increasingly darker shades towards the deeper points in the river. With the landscape I am modelling I expect the river bank to drop off pretty quickly and go to a significant depth, so there is very little light colour along the bank before going into a black centre. Once the paint has dried, I squeeze some water effects paste onto the surface of the river and spread it out with a wide paint brush. This is where some creativity and maybe a photo of a rushing river will come in handy as you spread out the paste to resemble the waves bouncing off rocks and rapids in the river. Lastly let the water effects dry and you will be left with a clear but three dimensional flowing river with realistic depth.

That sums up this blog, the project is starting to take shape nicely and is fun to just look at now. Next time I will discuss weathering the track work beyond painting rails and will hopefully have some work done on the fictitious town to share. As a little bonus project I will talk about the signalling I have just installed with a makeshift system to operate them automatically.  ~~Tyler Fedoroshyn

Please leave your comments!

Getting Started With Milliput

Getting Started With Milliput

Milliput is a trade name for epoxy putty. There are five grades: Standard Yellow/Grey, Silver Grey, Superfine White, Terracotta, and the latest addition - Milliput Black. Each grade is presented in similar packs containing 2 x 56·7gm. sticks and the general instructions for preparation and usage are the same.
The two sticks have a long shelf life but once mixed the resultant putty is at first soft and highly adhesive and then gradually hardens. Speed of hardening is dependant on temperature and at normal temperatures (20-25ºC) Milliput becomes rock hard in three to four hours. By the application of heat the setting time can be reduced to a few minutes.

After setting hard Milliput continues to cure and is fully cured after an elapse of time equal to the setting time at the same temperature. Once fully cured Milliput can be machined, drilled, tapped, turned, filed, sawn, sandpapered and painted. Milliput can be sandpapered and painted immediately it has set. (it is advisable to wear eye protection during this process).
Milliput is an excellent adhesive and will bond any of the following to itself or to any of the others - wood, brick, cement, metals, concrete, plastics, glass etc, but note that Milliput is not intended as a thin layer adhesive and should not be used where a paste, mucilage or thin glue is indicated. Milliput will set under water and is heat resistant up to 130°C.

Shelf Life:
We recommend Milliput is stored in cool, dry conditions. Please reseal bags after use. Stored correctly this product should remain workable for about 2 years.

Black Milliput was introduced in response to user demand and can be used for Repairs to antique clocks, Guttering, Ebonised wood, Marble, Slate, Cast iron, Basalt ceramics and black plastic parts in cars (such as bumpers, small handles, buttons and knobs).

Yellow-Gray Milliput The epoxy putty with a thousand uses in modeling D.I.Y and industry. (Car repairs, military models, Marine craft repairs, household repairs like gutters)

Silver Grey Milliput was introduced as slightly  finer filler and is widely used for modelmaking, sculpting, taxidermy and for the repair of garden ornaments. (porcelin restoration- dolls & plates, Military Modeling, Domestic Repairs, ).

Superfine White Milliput For the restoration of porcelain and other ceramics for the repair of antiques, objects d'art, Victorian dolls, picture mouldings, etc. For sculpting and modeling. For the repair of white domestic chinaware and for filling scores and dents in white domestic equipment e.g. washing machines, refrigerators, etc. (porcelain restoration- dolls & plates, Military Modeling, Domestic Repairs, ).
**It is very important when using this grade of Milliput, because the sticks are virtually the same colour, that you mix the two parts for at least five minutes.**

Terracotta Milliput used for the restoration of terracotta and other ceramics. Also for the repair of garden urns, pots, Statuettes and damaged brickwork, etc. Also for sculpting and modeling. (Earthen wear pots, Quarry Tiles, Statuettes, damaged brickwork)

Use Milliput to add features for realism to models and figures or to customize.

A "Cool" Tip!

If you are interrupted while you are mixing Milliput, you can put the Milliput into a deep freezer until you can get back to work. This will keep the product at approximately the same state of setting at which it was frozen for up to 36 hours. Simply remove the now frozen product from the freezer and warm in the hand and it is ready to use. If stored immediately on mixing it retains its sticky nature.

Milliput crusting cure
Tom Sime - Epoxy 101
 
There are differences between brands of epoxy putties but they all have very similar properties.

I have used Milliput, AB as well as Magic Sculpt and if Milliput is used, as a “base line” AB is a little firmer in texture and Magic Sculpt is a little softer as well as having a surface “sheen” that (I find) makes judging depth a little more difficult than with Milliput.

One of the big problems when you purchase Milliput is that you don’t know how old it is. The darker stick has a tendency to “crusting” on its outside surface if its kept in storage for to long. If this is not dealt with then when you mix the two components you will have small pieces of the crust in the mix that will not cure properly as the Milliput hardens.

The cure for crusting is as follows-
1) Warm an oven to 200 Centigrade/Celsius.
2) Place the encrusted stick on a piece of foil and put into warm oven.
3) Make a cup of coffee/tea and drink it. This should take you 20 minutes.
4) After 20 Minutes carefully remove HOT Milliput from oven remembering that its HOT and STICKIE and if you touch it will STICK to YOU and BURN.
5) Allow the Milliput to cool till it is warm to the touch (don’t let it go cold) and you can handle it without burning yourself.
6) Now simply mix it well with itself thoroughly, this will take at least 3-5 minutes.
When the mix cools completely you will find that the lumps have been reconstituted and are no longer a problem.

All epoxy putties change in consistency between mixing and curing. At the time of mixing epoxies are soft and pliable, as time passes they tend to firm up and are less easy to work with sculpting tools. This knowledge can be used to your advantage.

Putty that is freshly mixed is soft and therefore ideal for sculpting and shaping with dental tools, toothpicks and homemade tools designed to meet your personal needs. I use Milliput for figure sculpting and use a selection of various sized needles that have been epoxy glued into the handles of old paintbrushes. A paintbrush moistened with a little water can be used as an aid to sculpting, blending and smoothing out the surface of whatever you creating.  

Putty that is no longer soft and malleable need not be discarded. If it has started to firm up it is perfect for rolling out and being cut and shaped for clothing, tarps, blankets, bedrolls etc. To roll out the putty simply dust it with a little talc place it on a flat surface and use piece of dowel/plastic rod to roll it out. Use a moist paintbrush to remove the talc before “fastening” into its final place.

There are few things more satisfying than creating your own sculpture/conversion. I hope the forgone helps you to do just this.

Another customer adds - A quicker method that I use is to place the "crusty" one on a glass dish and microwave on full power for approximately 10 seconds (depends on m/w output), then mix with itself.  just remember it is HOT when it comes out of the micro.

The info in this article is from Milliput.com & Tom Sime a customer

Atlas #57 Product Alert

January 23, 2013

It has come to our attention that some of our customers experience a sticking button on some of our number #57 Deluxe Switch Controllers.

If you are currently using the #57 Deluxe Switch Controller please return it to Atlas for repair or replacement. If we can repair your #57 Deluxe Switch Controller, we will return it to you within a week.  If your #57 Deluxe Switch Controller needs to be replaced, we are expecting a new shipment of them with a modified button to arrive in May.  For dealers or distributors returning new product in the package, your replacements will also be sent in May.

For return purposes we ask that you call us first at 1-908-687-0880 and ask for a customer service representative who will issue you a return authorization. There is no charge for either a repair or replacement of your #57 Deluxe Switch Controller.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and will do our best to expedite the replacement or repair of your controller.

Thank you for your continued support,

Paul Graf, COO
Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.

January is National Hobby Month!

At the beginning of every New Year everyone has a list of Resolutions. Some are common like losing weight or getting more organized; some are unusual* such as learn a new party trick.  Why not be different this year and try a new hobby or rekindle your childhood hobby?


Here at Chinook & Hobby West all of our staff participate in at least one hobby that we sell. Jim loves building and airbrushing model kits, Tyler is creating a new HO layout**, Valerie is delving into painting/customizing 1:32 and smaller figures, and a couple of our guys are taking a break from their hobby to look into something new.



                          
                         Tyler                                 Jim                                     Valerie


So how can you find a hobby? Here are a few tips:

• Think about what interests you. Are you looking to do something outdoors or inside? Something active or quiet? Something to do alone or as a family? Make a list and you may find you can combine two hobbies into one. (i.e- love of photography and trains = railfanning)
• Think about cost/time/space. For Example- Many get intimidated when thinking of building a train layout. They believe they need a huge room, lots of time and a bucket of money. That is not so. You can start with a 4x6 board for HO scale and a starter set and build it up and add to it as you can. 
• Ask questions! When you find a hobby that interests you go to a source that will be able to answer your questions. A store that specializes in what you are interested in, The library, the internet, or someone that may already have the hobby you are looking into. 
• Get started on your hobby! Once you have decided which hobby best suits you in every way and you have bought or borrowed the equipment, clothing, tools and anything else you need, it is time to get it happening. Expect to start slowly at first, while learning, so have patience. You might even find a club to join and meet others with similar interests. This is a great way to make friends and to exchange ideas.

Need some ideas? Model Railroading, miniature figure painting, toy collecting, rocketry, dioramas, window box display, scratch building bridges, Remote Control vehicles, woodworking, Train spotting(fanning), reading, the list goes on and on.....


So come down to either of our stores here in Calgary or email us and we will do our best to match you to a hobby! (even if we may not sell it - lol)

* Reference the article: 10 Unusual New Year's Resolutions http://www.realbuzz.com/articles/10-unusual-new-year-s-resolutions-us-en/
**Follow Tyler's progress (Thompson River) on our blog - http://chinookhobbytalk.blogspot.ca/

~~This article is the opinion of Valerie Gale, Owner of Chinook & Hobby West

Thompson River Canyon Blog Edition 3

Thompson River Route~ Blog 3

So far in this series I have gone over my planning process followed by the benchwork construction, mountain forming, and lastly the shed creation and plaster work. This third blog will go over the shed and rock painting process, as well as some trackside details that I have been adding. As much as I would have liked to have the plaster work complete before this blog, it will take some time yet to finish.

With the rock work I have completed I will begin the painting process. The paint I like to use is bottled acrylic. These are often cheap, thin, and can go a long way. The thin consistency is important as it helps the paint flow in and around the rocks. The colours I  use are burnt umber, raw sienna, red, and yellow. Black and white are also staples of my painting process. I use a large and cheap paint brush for applying paint to my rock work. I say cheap because the brush will have to endure a grueling treatment against the rocks which could leave you less than impressed if using a nice brush. The last thing I like to have on hand is a spray bottle full of water, this will be used to thin the paint and let it run down the rock face. This spray bottle technique is great for eliminating brush strokes and randomizing the colour applied to the rocks, creating a realistic look. 

To paint the rock work I like to keep away from any sort of common pattern. I start with the variation of earth colours applied in small areas at a time, working quickly so I can spray the small area with the water bottle and get it to run into the rock. Repeating this process of small paint applications followed by the spray bottle will eventually leave the rock face with a basic colouring. From here, the darker colours like black can be applied in small points and then quickly sprayed heavily with water to get the black to run down and into the cracks. Letting the darker colours run through cracks in the rock will bring out those details and give the rock depth. Now depending on the region your rocks are supposed to be in, the overall tones will be different. The rock along my route is mostly grey with some very slight reddish tones throughout. At this moment in painting the rocks, they are earth toned with black definition. I now want to work some grey into them to get the overall colour closer to that of the real rocks. To do this I start with white and bring in different amounts of black to get constantly different shades of grey, applied to the front faces of the rock and sprayed with water. Once the overall shade is how you would like it, a few last runs of black down the cracks will bring out the rocks as best they can. The rocks are now very similar to those in nature however they could use some highlights to make them appear more dramatic and represent light hitting certain parts of the rock. To apply the highlights, put some white on your brush and then wipe most of it off onto a paper towel. Quickly take the brush with minimal white left and send the brush across the front of the rocks. What little white left on the brush will lightly apply to edges, points, and sometimes even the larger faces that should stand out. This method of “dry brushing” ensures that the white does not come out too strong and starts to look like raw plaster.

With the rocks painted, it is time to paint the snow sheds. The concrete of the sheds is very close to one single shade of grey so I simply created that shade and applied it evenly to the sheds. The only variation in colour I found was some light weathering from water washing minerals down the sides of the sheds. To represent this, I thinned down shades of brown and, using a thin brush, put streaks straight down the wall wherever I saw it in my photo of the shed.

With painting complete the project is starting to take on a far more realistic look. It is nice to have half of the rock work completed, however, I like to take a break every once and a while to apply some smaller details. The following points are some of the details that I have added to my project.

• Flange Lubricator

This is a device located on the outside rail just before a tight corner to reduce wear on the flanges around the corner. They often colour a patch of the track black from grease, this is an interesting detail that stands out and isn’t often modeled. 

Figure 

• Dragging Parts Detector

This detail is more common and is certainly interesting to see. They consist of a series of plates between the rails and outside the rails which will sense when they are hit by equipment hanging too low and send an automated warning to the crew. They are often placed before points in the track that those dragging parts could do damage, such as grade crossings and turnouts.

• Block Signals

Signaling can add a great element of realism to a layout, especially if it can actaully tell where your trains are. Regardless if you want to set up detection and use the technology available to properly operate the signals, having signals placed along your layout will look great. There are many different specifications for the placement of signals but the basic principle is the same, when a train is sitting in a block, the signals within that block are red, the previous block is yellow, and the one before is green. This keeps trains a safe distance from each other and warns them when one is ahead. 

• Maintenance Sheds

These little structures create some variation in the mountain scenery. Often being the only structures along the tracks they were usually used to store tools, handcars, and speeders.

• Switch Stand

Using scale switch stands can also improve the look of turnouts and goes well with the fine detail of the maintenance sheds. With an under table turnout motor used, the non functioning switch stand can be used, avoiding bulky above table turnout motors or functional stands. 

That concludes my third blog of this project, next time I will explain ballasting, ground cover, and construction of a fictional small town at the bottom of the hill. ~~ Tyler Fedoroshyn

           

Thompson River Canyon Blog Edition 2

Thompson River Canyon 

In my last blog I went over my planning process and the beginning stages of this construction. In this blog I will be moving into the creation of the rock work and the snow sheds. Getting the rock faces looking as realistic as possible was daunting to me as my standards have increased but my abilities have not. Realism for me meant that the rock formations had to resemble what would really happen in nature. I specify a difference here because a rock face can be created to look realistic on a model railroad, however, they may not seem quite right when compared to a true rock face. This difference had puzzled me for a while, it wasn’t until a geologist approached me at the past train show and said “Would you mind telling the owner of this module that his rock face is geologist approved?” Needless to say, the man was very impressed by the structure of those rocks. They were at roughly a fifteen degree angle and followed that pattern across the entire face, just as rock would in nature. Now by no means am I good enough to recreate that incredible rock face from the train show, however, it did open my eyes to the way actual rock is structured. This gave me good direction for tackling the rocks of my tunnels. 

WARNING: When working with plaster, do not pour any of the plaster filled water down your sink. The plaster could       settle in the pipes and harden, quickly leading to a permanently clogged pipe.

To begin, I gave the entire length of the route a layer of plaster cloth. This plaster cloth made it easier to apply the plaster rock work. Plus it covered over any gaps in the foam which would otherwise fill with plaster and be a waste of said plaster. Plaster cloth is very simple to use and it creates a clean white surface to work with. To use plaster cloth, cut out a section roughly the size of the area you wish to cover, then place the piece in a shallow bowl of water for 10 - 20 seconds. With the cloth thoroughly damp, apply it to the surface you wish to cover and smooth it out. The holes in the cloth should fill when smoothing out the wet surface but if they don’t it is not an issue. Once the cloth has dried, you can do pretty much anything to it, paint it, apply ground covering, or in my case cover it in rock work. 

With the plaster cloth covering the entirety of the Thompson River route, I began construction of the seven concrete snow sheds. The sheds are being cut from 1/4” balsa sheet which is easy enough to cut with a hobby knife and a dremel. The sheds are designed fairly simply, they consist of a front face with rounded rectangular openings, large end walls that keep rock from reaching over the edge, and a few other small structural additions on certain sheds. With my version of sheds I have compressed them significantly to fit my space, this meant shortening the sheds, lowering the end walls, and omitting the triangular shape of the front wall supports. With the wooden shed pieces cut out, I glued them together and onto the layout with white glue, then gave them a thin, smooth layer of plaster to replicate the concrete look of the prototype. 

Now that the sheds have been put in place, I could begin the rock work around them. This process was quite hit and miss and I wanted to try to incorporate a unified slope into the rock face. Another detail I tried to include were fairly large recessions in the rock. The contrast between large outcroppings of rock and deep reliefs create a dramatic rock face. To get large detailed rock outcrops I used a Woodland Scenics [1] rock molds, this ensures a very good looking cast every time; something that I could not have done by hand. With a good number of these large rocks cast in plaster, I used more plaster to attach the castings to the mountain face. To make sure the casting do not fall off, I put a lump of plaster on the back of the casting and then quickly push it against the plaster cloth. This will not hold it well though, I had to work plaster around the casting to lock it in place and blend the rock into the rest of the mountain face. When applying the castings and other plaster to the mountain, I prefer to keep my batch of plaster small because otherwise it will dry before I can make use of it all. The best consistency for attaching the castings is where it can be scooped out and remain in a lump, just past its liquid point. The latest point in plasters drying stage, where it is very clumpy and almost beyond use is the best for applying right to the mountain face to create rock without a mold. Lastly, before the plaster applied to the mountain face has hardened, I like to dab all of the new plaster with my fingers to rough up the surface, getting rid of any smooth spots.

Now for the tough part, repeating this process along the entire length of the route. It will certainly take time and a fair mass of plaster, however, that’s the fun of it all. As it stands, my Thompson River route has a third of its rock work complete, with three out of the seven sheds built. Hopefully by the next blog they will be complete and photos will be included. Along with that I will explain my process of painting the rock faces and sheds, as well as some little details I’ve been adding to the trackside. 

References

[1] Woodland Scenics (1997-2012) Accessed December 15, 2012. Available: http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com

This is by Tyler Fedoroshyn one of the great staff at Chinook & Hobby West

An HO Layout In Progress

This layout is by Tyler who works at our South store.

• The Thompson River Snow Sheds in HO
  
  
  This is a project that has been sitting in the back of my mind for too long. I wanted to do some rugged mountain modeling with cliff faces that would be impressive to look at. I was too short on space to create a floor to ceiling mountain range but I knew some compromise could be found. I also knew there had to be grade built into my plan in order to avoid the mountains blocking my previous scenery. To do this I had to settle on a rather steep down grade to drop six inches below my current track level. A four percent is what it came out to be. Such a steep grade means helper service which just added to the appeal of this project.
  
  
  The snow sheds along the Thompson River are an iconic sight for the few remaining passenger trains that follow the route along the CN line. One of those trains is the Rocky Mountaineer which can just barely span the series of tunnels and sheds. They have taken a brilliant panoramic shot of their train spanning those sheds which I have been using to get my version as close to the real one as possible (see figure 1).
  
  
  
  
  
                       Figure 1- Basic foam mountain faces with Rocky Mountaineer panorama in the back ground. Panoramic photo source: Rocky Mountaineer [1].
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For me there was no time to waste in beginning this project, I did up a quick drawing of the proposed route and began construction (see figure 2). The benchwork was really just a simple shelf design, nothing pretty as the mountains will overhang and the skirting will cover the rest. I won’t go into any particulars about how I constructed the benchwork but rather I will lean towards the scenery techniques used through this series of blogs. 
  
  
  
  
  
                Figure 2- Plan for the Thompson River route along current layout.
  
  
  
  
  With the benchwork complete, I went straight cutting some basic mountain faces from foam. The foam I used was salvaged from a roof repair, unfortunately for me this foam was fiberglass based and I was left with some irritated hands after avoiding the use of gloves. The foam itself did a great job though and being several inches thick it didn’t take long to build up the six inches of mountain face I was able to have. I tried to keep the foam carving rough to make the future plaster work as easy as possible. This is where a hot wire cutter (and some better foam) would come in very handy as it would keep the mess down and allow you to be even more creative with how you cut the foam. For the tunnels I drew an approximate track center line along the table top and used a tri-level auto-rack to make sure I had sufficient clearance through the tunnels. An NMRA gauge is also a good tool for this, however be careful as it won’t properly gauge the overhang around a tight curve. With the pieces of foam fully cut out (see figure 3), I secured them to the layout with a generous amount of hot glue (however I left the tops of the tunnel sections off until the track has been secured). There are certainly stronger glues you could use but I haven’t had any issues with hot glue, especially when the track work isn’t relying on the rigidity of the foam. If you are laying your track on a foam base I would strongly advise a glue which will cover the entire surface between the layout and the foam. It should also have enough flexibility to hold up to any flex and movement the layout may be put through.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

          Figure 3- Basic foam design of the tunnels.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  Once the foam was finished, I began laying cork roadbed along the entire length of my Thompson river route. You could use foam roadbed which I’ve done it in the past, however I have grown to prefer the rigidity of cork and I feel it will keep the track level and aligned better than the foam will (with a 4% grade even the smallest of issues could be dangerous). To secure the road bed I used contact cement which provides a quick yet strong hold. I used Atlas code 83 cement tie flex track for the entire route. The concrete ties are prototypical to that portion of the CN line and has a very contemporary look which fits my modern layout well. To secure the track I used a very hot glue gun. It must be “very hot” to avoid any lumps if the glue has cooled before the track was properly laid. The hot glue is again quick which was important to me (being an engineering student, time is always at a premium). I soldered every rail joint to ensure good electrical connection, operational reliability, and realism because the prototype has welded rail meaning there should be minimal “click-clack.” 
  
  
  This project has been a lot of fun so far and I look forward to its completion along with every other step along the way. Hopefully I have inspired some of you to tackle that mountain railroading project you’ve been imagining. With some careful planning it doesn’t have to take up much space and in return it will cost you less in plaster. With the next blog I will begin the task of creating snow sheds and tunnel portals, as well as begin the plaster rock-work and show some other little details I have been adding. Lastly I would like to say that while I am modeling a prototype location and wish to be as accurate as possible, I don’t mind missing a few details along the way, it’s the big picture that I’m aiming for. So if I have misinterpreted any facts along the way I apologize and would be very interested in hearing about how it should really be from you guys. I will likely even change what I’ve done if it’ll help make this project as realistic as possible. 
  
  
  Disclaimer:
  
  [1] Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tours owns the panorama seen in the photo, this is not my own image. Rocky Mountaineer (Copyright 2011).
  
  This is Tyler's Layout. He works at our South store and is part of the FREE-MO group. Please feel free to come down to our South store to talk to him, Jesse, John or Rob; at our North store Ross, Leigh or Ken.