7:30 If I'm the rule and not the exception, the reason we wait is because we refuse to compromise on our dreams. When I got the desire to build a layout a few months ago, I wanted to build a layout similar to the White River Line that is currently being built and documented on a TH-cam channel of the same name. However, I live with my parents in a house with no basement. I played with the idea of if they let me use the guest room, what could I make. I tried making a track plan, but I couldn't make something that would fit in that small space. I got dejected, only for my parents to give me permission to build a layout in that room. I initially said I couldn't fit anything in that room. I wasn't willing to compromise. Well then my mom sent me a link to your first video on The Grunge. It opened my eyes to more possibilities of what kinds of layouts could be made for small spaces. I designed something similar, if a bit more ambitious, than The Grunge that I am calling the Trentville Branch Line, as I intend to expand the layout once I get my own house. I've made a lot of progress. In fact this weekend I'm painting the backdrop.
I don’t think any of us *want* to compromise on our dreams, but for most (if not all) some type of compromise is usually necessary. My point ( which I feel like you got!) was that you can actually build something in the meantime while you are waiting for that dream layout to become possible. 🙂 I’m glad you found the channel (thank your mom for me!) and I’m glad it got you building. Keep me up to date on how it goes!
I am a great admirer of The Grunge and it did inspire my ideas when building my current layout, although I have diverged considerably. I model in n gauge and my base board is 48 inches X 19" and is loosely based on the Erie's 28th Street Yard in Manhattan. So I would say, even if only have 4 feet available, one can find room for a model railroad and have the ability to do operations.
I’m glad The Grunge inspired you. That’s exactly what I was hoping for. It’s rare for two spaces (and the wants of the modelers) are exactly the same, so divergence is encouraged!
It took me but a short time to discover you were modeling Canton and East Baltimore. Cool. Great job on the "Can" and Chevy at Penn Mary. Worked for Conrail at Bay View.
get a 2x2 foot peice of glass. find 1x2 feet sheets of sandpaper in two grits you like. spray glue the sand paper onto the glass. now you have a flat surface to sand your parts on.
Excellent Q & A session. I have to admit I sometimes forget to read the comments. Quite often any questions I have are usually answered there. Keep up the good work.
I’m often terrible at reading comments on other videos myself, which is what made me realize there were probably los of people like me out there who were missing the answers. 🙂
I have a possible solution for you backdrop transition, but it'd take a but of reworking it. You could add a road to the backdrop that runs parallel to it, so it appears there's a T intersection at that stop sign. You'd have to squish it down a fair bit though.
That could work. I thought the “sidewalk” that I included at the bottom of the picture would do some of that but it didn’t work like I hoped. My thought on putting a scene there was to draw the viewer’s eye away from the seam so that it fools the eye into not seeing it. So more work to do!
I was thinking of something similar only an 'L' intersection with the road coming in from the right. Behind the road would be a parking area under the building. If you could find a picture of old steel elevated train girders over a road to paste over that bottom section of backdrop and then glue a steel bridge trestle over the transition that disappears behind the pub on the right, it might work. You'd still have to figure out how to hide the street level transition between the old and new backdrops on the left. I'm not explaining this too well but I hope you get the idea. Good luck!
You definitely do an excellent job at explaining everything you do and I really enjoy your videos. I'm a recent subscriber but I kinda wish I would have found you on here sooner. Very informative and I thoroughly enjoy watching. Keep on doing what you do
Instruct people on how to construct a rail road??? I'd rather see videos on "how I construct a rail road" because there are many ways to do it. No one is the "correct" one... Do we really ever get satisfied with a track plan??? I never have... Love India ink and alcohol... Mirrors can be nice if done right and that is hard on a shelf road... Removable roof panels are so great!!! I like your Lego idea for helping to build buildings, really good tip... Didn't think about using then to hold the buildings down - nice... I usually glue something ( air conditioner or chimney ) to each roof panel to make taking them off easy.
Well, I tend to “instruct” by example. 🙂 No, we usually aren’t ever 100% happy with the track plan. I always say it’s the “latest draft.” I do have more to put on the roofs of the building and most likely something will get glued down to use as a handle.
I know I'm like 2 months late on asking this, but the thought just occurrd to me as I plan on adding an industry where cars are spotted inside the building like at the GM plant on your layout. How do you uncouple cars inside the building? Do you take off the roof panel or do you use magnets on the track? Ir do you just uncouple outside the building and push the cars inside?
I usually uncouple outside the building. Using the pick (i use a meat skewer) you can offset the couplers so that they don't couple when you push the cars together. That way you can push the car inside the structure and when you pull, they are already loose. Keep in mind that I'm always delivering in blocks. Each track holds three cars, and those three cars always stay together in the building. Everything is presorted so you can always drop your three cars and they're in the right place. Hope that helps!
Brass track is notoriously hard to keep clean (although it’s more a problem with oxidation since brass oxidizes much quicker than nickel silver track). So, if you were vigilant about cleaning track I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to use DCC. It works by sending pulses through the rail that the decoder picks up, so that’s why contact is crucial. It would be daunting to keep a large layout clean enough for that, but something Grunge-sized might work out okay. That said, nickel silver track is way easier to maintain and can also usually be found used at trains shows, although possibly not as cheaply as brass track.
I have the same question. I have several atlas customline turnouts in brass that I am loathe to get rid of because of the high price of replacing them all. As I convert to dcc I hope these won’t cause problems.
Hey Joe! What email should I reach out to you at. Couldn’t find in in the description. I have a 2x10 layout track plan that’s half done and I need help with that last bit
Are you able to help with youtube scripts? I got an idea for a video series but I need scripts. If you ever watched any of my videos you know I don't use them and I'm never happy with how they turn out and usually say screw it and post them anyway. Hahha! Really love what your channel is about man.
I swear I saw you mentioned in a recent video about your micromark coupon code not working but I can't find it. I'm having that issue and I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or what.
You should just be able to use PIXELDEPOT as your coupon code. I’ve not heard that it isn’t working so if you co to use to have trouble let me know, please.
It shouldn’t matter where you do it from. I checked myself from my PC and I’m getting an error too. I’ve sent an email to them to find out what’s going on. I’m really sorry about that.
For those that can't locate my email: I can be reached at jparker at thepixeldepot dot com. (Trying to avoid the bots!)
I HAVE USED DPM PARTS FOR SEVERAL LONG BACK DROPS USEING PLASTIC. SHAPS TO HOLD THE TRUE . WORKS GREAT
7:30 If I'm the rule and not the exception, the reason we wait is because we refuse to compromise on our dreams. When I got the desire to build a layout a few months ago, I wanted to build a layout similar to the White River Line that is currently being built and documented on a TH-cam channel of the same name. However, I live with my parents in a house with no basement. I played with the idea of if they let me use the guest room, what could I make. I tried making a track plan, but I couldn't make something that would fit in that small space. I got dejected, only for my parents to give me permission to build a layout in that room. I initially said I couldn't fit anything in that room. I wasn't willing to compromise. Well then my mom sent me a link to your first video on The Grunge. It opened my eyes to more possibilities of what kinds of layouts could be made for small spaces. I designed something similar, if a bit more ambitious, than The Grunge that I am calling the Trentville Branch Line, as I intend to expand the layout once I get my own house. I've made a lot of progress. In fact this weekend I'm painting the backdrop.
I don’t think any of us *want* to compromise on our dreams, but for most (if not all) some type of compromise is usually necessary. My point ( which I feel like you got!) was that you can actually build something in the meantime while you are waiting for that dream layout to become possible. 🙂
I’m glad you found the channel (thank your mom for me!) and I’m glad it got you building. Keep me up to date on how it goes!
@@ThePixelDepotLLC will do. I'm planing on naming an industry Parker Electric Motors due to your love of wiring 😋
I’m honored… I think? 😀
Good answers, good comments. A wide variety of information!
Thanks for all the information! Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Paul! And thanks for your ongoing interest and support!
One of these days I should become a Patreon....
Thanks for another great video, I always enjoy sitting here relaxing while watching. And no it doesn't put me to sleep. Keep up the great work
Glad to hear that at least one person made it through without snoozing. 😉
I am a great admirer of The Grunge and it did inspire my ideas when building my current layout, although I have diverged considerably. I model in n gauge and my base board is 48 inches X 19" and is loosely based on the Erie's 28th Street Yard in Manhattan. So I would say, even if only have 4 feet available, one can find room for a model railroad and have the ability to do operations.
I’m glad The Grunge inspired you. That’s exactly what I was hoping for. It’s rare for two spaces (and the wants of the modelers) are exactly the same, so divergence is encouraged!
Your channel just turned up on my feed. Looks like great content. Subscribed.
Welcome! Glad you found the channel and hope that's useful!
It took me but a short time to discover you were modeling Canton and East Baltimore. Cool. Great job on the "Can" and Chevy at Penn Mary. Worked for Conrail at Bay View.
Thanks! I might have some questions for you!
Thanks joe. I’ll go watch some of those playlists. I love watching the grunge progress. I’ve learned a lot from them.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
get a 2x2 foot peice of glass. find 1x2 feet sheets of sandpaper in two grits you like. spray glue the sand paper onto the glass. now you have a flat surface to sand your parts on.
Great tip!
Excellent Q & A session. I have to admit I sometimes forget to read the comments. Quite often any questions I have are usually answered there. Keep up the good work.
I’m often terrible at reading comments on other videos myself, which is what made me realize there were probably los of people like me out there who were missing the answers. 🙂
Thanks for the Q&A.
Any time! There’s probably another coming at some point.
I have a possible solution for you backdrop transition, but it'd take a but of reworking it. You could add a road to the backdrop that runs parallel to it, so it appears there's a T intersection at that stop sign. You'd have to squish it down a fair bit though.
That could work. I thought the “sidewalk” that I included at the bottom of the picture would do some of that but it didn’t work like I hoped. My thought on putting a scene there was to draw the viewer’s eye away from the seam so that it fools the eye into not seeing it. So more work to do!
I was thinking of something similar only an 'L' intersection with the road coming in from the right. Behind the road would be a parking area under the building. If you could find a picture of old steel elevated train girders over a road to paste over that bottom section of backdrop and then glue a steel bridge trestle over the transition that disappears behind the pub on the right, it might work. You'd still have to figure out how to hide the street level transition between the old and new backdrops on the left. I'm not explaining this too well but I hope you get the idea. Good luck!
It doesn’t have to be that wide, you could use a motorcycle on the cross street instead of a car or truck to reduce the space needed.
You definitely do an excellent job at explaining everything you do and I really enjoy your videos. I'm a recent subscriber but I kinda wish I would have found you on here sooner. Very informative and I thoroughly enjoy watching. Keep on doing what you do
Well the good news (at least I hope it’s good news) is that you’ve found it now!
I always enjoy your videos
Thanks, Ron!
Thanks
Instruct people on how to construct a rail road??? I'd rather see videos on "how I construct a rail road" because there are many ways to do it. No one is the "correct" one... Do we really ever get satisfied with a track plan??? I never have... Love India ink and alcohol... Mirrors can be nice if done right and that is hard on a shelf road... Removable roof panels are so great!!! I like your Lego idea for helping to build buildings, really good tip... Didn't think about using then to hold the buildings down - nice... I usually glue something ( air conditioner or chimney ) to each roof panel to make taking them off easy.
Well, I tend to “instruct” by example. 🙂
No, we usually aren’t ever 100% happy with the track plan. I always say it’s the “latest draft.” I do have more to put on the roofs of the building and most likely something will get glued down to use as a handle.
I know I'm like 2 months late on asking this, but the thought just occurrd to me as I plan on adding an industry where cars are spotted inside the building like at the GM plant on your layout. How do you uncouple cars inside the building? Do you take off the roof panel or do you use magnets on the track? Ir do you just uncouple outside the building and push the cars inside?
I usually uncouple outside the building. Using the pick (i use a meat skewer) you can offset the couplers so that they don't couple when you push the cars together. That way you can push the car inside the structure and when you pull, they are already loose. Keep in mind that I'm always delivering in blocks. Each track holds three cars, and those three cars always stay together in the building. Everything is presorted so you can always drop your three cars and they're in the right place. Hope that helps!
@@ThePixelDepotLLC I does. Thanks!
I use a lot of used/old track which is mostly brass. Would this affect how a dcc engine run even with clean track?
Brass track is notoriously hard to keep clean (although it’s more a problem with oxidation since brass oxidizes much quicker than nickel silver track). So, if you were vigilant about cleaning track I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to use DCC. It works by sending pulses through the rail that the decoder picks up, so that’s why contact is crucial. It would be daunting to keep a large layout clean enough for that, but something Grunge-sized might work out okay.
That said, nickel silver track is way easier to maintain and can also usually be found used at trains shows, although possibly not as cheaply as brass track.
@@ThePixelDepotLLC thanks for responding, and the layout that I have is roughly the same size as the grunge so it should all work, thanks
I have the same question. I have several atlas customline turnouts in brass that I am loathe to get rid of because of the high price of replacing them all. As I convert to dcc I hope these won’t cause problems.
@@qwincyq6412 I just got my brass track installed and my dcc locomotive runs perfect
@@jacobkaltz1958 that’s encouraging to hear, thanks.
Hey Joe! What email should I reach out to you at. Couldn’t find in in the description. I have a 2x10 layout track plan that’s half done and I need help with that last bit
I can be reached at jparker at thepixeldepot dot com. (Trying to avoid the bots!)
Are you able to help with youtube scripts? I got an idea for a video series but I need scripts. If you ever watched any of my videos you know I don't use them and I'm never happy with how they turn out and usually say screw it and post them anyway. Hahha! Really love what your channel is about man.
Email me. I'm sure we can figure something out.
I swear I saw you mentioned in a recent video about your micromark coupon code not working but I can't find it. I'm having that issue and I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or what.
You should just be able to use PIXELDEPOT as your coupon code. I’ve not heard that it isn’t working so if you co to use to have trouble let me know, please.
@@ThePixelDepotLLC yeah it is not working for me.
I'm doing it from my cell phone, if that matters
It shouldn’t matter where you do it from. I checked myself from my PC and I’m getting an error too. I’ve sent an email to them to find out what’s going on. I’m really sorry about that.
@@ThePixelDepotLLC no big deal! Assuming it gets sorted I'll be using it for future orders.