I am amazed by your layout. It has so much reality, the cracks in the roads, dead end roads, some figires, realistic industries and so on. All well weathered. You talk about lack of space. I guess 90% of modelers would be more than happy with your layout. Ok it's always the same. It is a never ending hobby.
as soon as you lay the last piece of track, you start thinking... but what if i could add one more? glad you like the layout, the hobby is a labor of love for sure.
i plan to use him for operating session - like "A wealthy client has added a late special order. the car, added to the end of the train with a security caboose will need to be handled in the following ways..."
A little behind…nice March update…kinda built my layout using the same philosophy as yours…still need to add more scenery in my “quite spaces”…that small town view looking down the street is great
better late than never! Not sure if you saw or not, but I managed to find myself a Southern high hood SD40-2. Definitely one of my favorites. I enjoy the scenery in the quiet spaces, but figuring long term, eventually there's no more scenery to build and watching trains will be where the fun is at, right?
Grew up 4 hours north of Pittsburg around the Bradford area. I’m modeling mid PA tho around the sand patch grade mid 80s early fall. Love all the work you’ve done so far on your layout! Keeps me inspired to where mine will be some day. Long way to go! Lol
That's awesome. Beautiful scenery there. I'm glad you find it inspirational - enjoy the process of building it, the scenery in that area is stunning in fall.
Lance Mindheim had the best advice I’ve heard on the subject of scenery and utilization of space. He said if you want a realistic looking layout then you should “model the ordinary and downplay the extraordinary.”
I would tend to agree with that. But ordinary has A LOT of detail, like trash and discarded pallets; heavy weathering. The devil is in the details and I am always fascinated by how much detail can be added. Even in quiet scenery spaces, different foliage, rock details, etc. make a scene pop - like the focused point of a photograph. There's some goofy things available - some of them fun, some of them I don't understand. I do have a t-rex on a flat car, so we'll put that in the extraordinary category.
@@AlleghenyNorthern I hope my comments weren’t taken as being directed at your layout. They were in response to your thoughts on the quiet spaces, etc. I think your layout is very nicely composed and makes sense that it’s to be viewed as individual scenes along the way. That’s exactly how I approached my layout as well. The T-Rex is fantastic!
Thanks. The little trackmobile is from Shapeways. Here's a link: www.shapeways.com/product/6ZYGGWVSC/railking-rk275-rail-car-mover-n-scale?optionId=3884925&li=marketplace
i have a fairly nice size room, but if i had double the space, i'd probably still run short. there's always a need for one more piece of track, isn't there?!
Thanks. The vehicles are a mix of sources - but most of the eye-catching ones are 3D printed from Shapeways and custom painted by me. I don't 3D print or model myself but since there are services that do, I utilize that for now. I have a video, it's a bit older, where I talk about the different vehicles from the Tomica, GHL, Showcase Miniatures, Train-Worx, and even some OG Atlas and Kato models you can find on my layout. I am getting ready to do a road-building scene featuring exclusively 3D printed equipment, stay tuned for that - it'll show the process.
Thanks for the reply. I have an FDM printer but it's tough to get good quality with such small scale vehicles. I look forward to the road building scene. I'll look into some of the companies that you listed. Enjoy the holiday season.
Loving the intermodal and the auto rack yard update! Wanting to know about your Container ship? Where did you buy it or who built it? Also 2 cranes or transmission towers, red and white lattice booms, along the back wall I n your upper deck? I'm working on building a 16 foot HO Intermodal yard and a separate 10 foot container port with a scratch built plastic container ship.
So the container ship is a Sylvan model kit. I purchased it from Walthers, but other site have it as well. It's a complicated kit, and took about 16 or 18 hours to build and paint. Lots of trimming for the resin parts but the effort is definitely worth it! The crawler cranes are from Amazon, they're by Tomica and they're slightly out of scale.
@@AlleghenyNorthern Of your opinion, does the Great Lakes Ore Ship do justice as a small, Mondern Container Ship? Does Walthers make that ship in N scale or did you buy the HO scale sized ship? I know as modelers go, we need to compress things to make them fit, but I'm only building a port for my layout. An end point of a vast array of different rail lines dropping off unit trains and/or picking up steel, grain, oil, fuel or merchandise being emported back into the states. So I didn't really want to compress my ship too much, except for length maybe. Although I have enough room to build an exact HO scale container ship! I'm working with almost 30 feet of basement space. I'm also building my own Grain Port Elevator with a scratch built bulk ship. Two massive A frame style Container ship cranes and also like to have a RORO ship for autos and Wind Turbine parts! I'm sort of following the layout of Bernard Kempinski? Spelling may be off.
@@CONTAINERMAN68 Where rail meets water is a fascinating scene; sounds like you've taken on some serious scratch-building projects! If you're looking for ocean-faring vessels, I'd stay away from the great lake freighters. I suppose with some modifications they could be made to look right on an ocean setting, but you wouldn't see one chug into the port of Savannah, let's say. My ship is N-scale and it's roughly 24" long when built. I left the hull as is, with no compression. Even the Sylvan container ship isn't exactly what you'd see today - it's ore fitting for 70/80's before the intermodal industry exploded and the super-carriers emerged. With some scratch-building, you could probably take the Sylvan model and make it into a truly modern carrier, though. If you fully detail the ships out, they're going to be massively impressive moored in the harbor - don't for get your tugs and escort ships!
@@AlleghenyNorthern Someone built a full HO scale Comtainer ship. Over 15.5 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall for thr pilot house. I have the space but do I really want to build something this massive?
@@CONTAINERMAN68 LMAO... that's a bit much. i mean, impressive i'm sure but that's a lot of boat. The kit will probably fill in as a good representation.
Couple of generic tips: 1) don't rush - it's not a race, it's a marathon - enjoy the time. to that end 2) work in small spaces at a time, get it right, then move on. 3) don't go cheap, buy good material - scenic express and woodland scenics stuff would be my recommendation for most scenery. 3) don't settle for 'ok'. make sure the scenery looks the way you want before you move on, or you'll be forever going back to change it. i have several of those areas. 4) static grass! and super trees - don't waste time with substitutes, you're just going to replace them later. 5) before you start the scenery, make sure the trackwork is flawless - otherwise, you're ripping up beautiful scenery to fix frustrating track. 6) Pick a season (or two) study them before you start. Summer is easiest. Spring is next. Fall is difficult because everyone wants to throw out vibrant colors and that looks like toys, and winter is the most difficult. What season are you planning?
Those are known as "spine cars" on account of them only having a frame and then platforms to receive the trailers or containers (containers ride single stack only). Those models are made by BLMA prior to their acquisition by Atlas. They're beautiful models, but I believe out of productions. They used to sell for around $90 for a five-unit set. I'm not sure if you can still get them anywhere but if you find them at a train show or a random hobby shop, don't let them go!
hello C Mastracci... look like you on your way to getting those scenes going... looking forward to your layout tour... i'm thinking of doing the same... i thought my layout occupied a lot of space but i think you have me beat...BTW... can you check to see if i am blocked from your channel. I did not get a notification of this video i found it by looking for vids to watch.. thx 4 sharing....vinny...
Oh no, that's not good. You've missed a lot! You're definitely not blocked - haven't blocked anyone since joining. Maybe try unsubscribing and resubscribing?
Yup. Everywhere except the staging - that's Atlas flex track with Atlas remote turnouts. The turnouts suck, I had to file all the plastic frogs to avoid the locos getting stuck or derailing. No issues with the Kato #4 or #6.
@@rong648 EZ Track isn't quite up to par with Kato. Kato really took the sectional track to a new level - especially with their elevated and street-run track for their tram system. I had some basic EZ track eons ago, but dumped it when i found a hobby shop selling off some early Kato sets and from there, fell in love with the track. It's not cheap, but it's worth it.
Cramming too much into your model railroad (towns too close together) is the worst mistake one can make. On the current n scale double deck layout I am building on TH-cam, scenery is the majority. So much so that in 15x20 feet the bottom level will have 1 “town” encompassing 20%. The rest or 80% being EMPTY desert. On the top level. The ratio is 30% 3 small towns to 70% mountain scenery. It has paid off! Not having the caboose in the previous town when it arrives at the next station. The trains actually feel like they are going somewhere.
If I had a few more feet of space, i'd put in a little more quiet space myself but just like rail fanning, I like locomotives but lose interest when boxcar after boxcar rolls by. So for operations, I need the cars to shove somewhere but I'm usually looking at my locos in the scenes and with strategic scene blocks, the train appears to have come from somewhere far away. I like to think of my layout as a switching layout with a mainline run.
Your reflection on quiet spaces and urban areas was very valuable for me. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed; hopefully inspired to fill your layout with awesome details.
"Thanks to the modern operating theory of lease power, I can get away with that"
Best sentence I've heard in a long time!
should also mention that same statement applies for fallen flags, retired locos, and other anachronistic elements LOL!
I am amazed by your layout. It has so much reality, the cracks in the roads, dead end roads, some figires, realistic industries and so on. All well weathered.
You talk about lack of space. I guess 90% of modelers would be more than happy with your layout. Ok it's always the same. It is a never ending hobby.
as soon as you lay the last piece of track, you start thinking... but what if i could add one more? glad you like the layout, the hobby is a labor of love for sure.
Love the T-Rex on the flat car! Very subtle.
i plan to use him for operating session - like "A wealthy client has added a late special order. the car, added to the end of the train with a security caboose will need to be handled in the following ways..."
Love the way you have the trees as view block but can still see the train.
so very common here in coal country. nothing like riding shotgun trying to squint through the trees to see the train!
I just came across your channel and find your autumn trees and scenery really outstanding, excellent job!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed!
A little behind…nice March update…kinda built my layout using the same philosophy as yours…still need to add more scenery in my “quite spaces”…that small town view looking down the street is great
better late than never! Not sure if you saw or not, but I managed to find myself a Southern high hood SD40-2. Definitely one of my favorites. I enjoy the scenery in the quiet spaces, but figuring long term, eventually there's no more scenery to build and watching trains will be where the fun is at, right?
@@AlleghenyNorthern nah, didn’t see it…got more of your videos to catch up on
Man I love your layout!!
Thanks! Stay tuned, big plans are in store for this winter!
Thanks ... You have inspired me to get off my fat butt and start working on my layout that has been sitting for far too long.
Yes! Git 'r done!
What an Awesome layout..always enjoy your videos..look forward to the layout tour
Thanks! Glad you enjoy; hope to have the vid out later this month, stay tuned!
Lol love the dino on the flat car
Great update! Looking forward to the layout tour!
Grew up 4 hours north of Pittsburg around the Bradford area. I’m modeling mid PA tho around the sand patch grade mid 80s early fall. Love all the work you’ve done so far on your layout! Keeps me inspired to where mine will be some day. Long way to go! Lol
That's awesome. Beautiful scenery there. I'm glad you find it inspirational - enjoy the process of building it, the scenery in that area is stunning in fall.
Nice video 👍👍🔝🖖
Lance Mindheim had the best advice I’ve heard on the subject of scenery and utilization of space. He said if you want a realistic looking layout then you should “model the ordinary and downplay the extraordinary.”
Yeah because the ordinary is what's seen everyday and extraordinary is an occasional thing.
@@williambryant5946 unfortunately the weathers catalog is overflowing with extraordinary things
I would tend to agree with that. But ordinary has A LOT of detail, like trash and discarded pallets; heavy weathering. The devil is in the details and I am always fascinated by how much detail can be added. Even in quiet scenery spaces, different foliage, rock details, etc. make a scene pop - like the focused point of a photograph. There's some goofy things available - some of them fun, some of them I don't understand. I do have a t-rex on a flat car, so we'll put that in the extraordinary category.
@@AlleghenyNorthern I hope my comments weren’t taken as being directed at your layout. They were in response to your thoughts on the quiet spaces, etc. I think your layout is very nicely composed and makes sense that it’s to be viewed as individual scenes along the way. That’s exactly how I approached my layout as well. The T-Rex is fantastic!
@@bricebeasleysounddesign not at all. I was merely expanding in agreement to what you posted.
That's a great looking layout. Love all the details. Have to know where the track mobile came from that's at your roundhouse.
Thanks. The little trackmobile is from Shapeways. Here's a link: www.shapeways.com/product/6ZYGGWVSC/railking-rk275-rail-car-mover-n-scale?optionId=3884925&li=marketplace
Looking really good
Looks good, envy your space.
i have a fairly nice size room, but if i had double the space, i'd probably still run short. there's always a need for one more piece of track, isn't there?!
@@AlleghenyNorthern yeh, I would be happy with a 30ft by 12ft room for me.
Great looking layout. Nice work. So much to see and appreciate. Where do you get your n scale trucks and construction vehicles?
Thanks. The vehicles are a mix of sources - but most of the eye-catching ones are 3D printed from Shapeways and custom painted by me. I don't 3D print or model myself but since there are services that do, I utilize that for now. I have a video, it's a bit older, where I talk about the different vehicles from the Tomica, GHL, Showcase Miniatures, Train-Worx, and even some OG Atlas and Kato models you can find on my layout. I am getting ready to do a road-building scene featuring exclusively 3D printed equipment, stay tuned for that - it'll show the process.
Thanks for the reply. I have an FDM printer but it's tough to get good quality with such small scale vehicles. I look forward to the road building scene. I'll look into some of the companies that you listed. Enjoy the holiday season.
Loving the intermodal and the auto rack yard update! Wanting to know about your Container ship? Where did you buy it or who built it? Also 2 cranes or transmission towers, red and white lattice booms, along the back wall I n your upper deck? I'm working on building a 16 foot HO Intermodal yard and a separate 10 foot container port with a scratch built plastic container ship.
So the container ship is a Sylvan model kit. I purchased it from Walthers, but other site have it as well. It's a complicated kit, and took about 16 or 18 hours to build and paint. Lots of trimming for the resin parts but the effort is definitely worth it! The crawler cranes are from Amazon, they're by Tomica and they're slightly out of scale.
@@AlleghenyNorthern Of your opinion, does the Great Lakes Ore Ship do justice as a small, Mondern Container Ship? Does Walthers make that ship in N scale or did you buy the HO scale sized ship? I know as modelers go, we need to compress things to make them fit, but I'm only building a port for my layout. An end point of a vast array of different rail lines dropping off unit trains and/or picking up steel, grain, oil, fuel or merchandise being emported back into the states. So I didn't really want to compress my ship too much, except for length maybe. Although I have enough room to build an exact HO scale container ship! I'm working with almost 30 feet of basement space. I'm also building my own Grain Port Elevator with a scratch built bulk ship. Two massive A frame style Container ship cranes and also like to have a RORO ship for autos and Wind Turbine parts! I'm sort of following the layout of Bernard Kempinski? Spelling may be off.
@@CONTAINERMAN68 Where rail meets water is a fascinating scene; sounds like you've taken on some serious scratch-building projects! If you're looking for ocean-faring vessels, I'd stay away from the great lake freighters. I suppose with some modifications they could be made to look right on an ocean setting, but you wouldn't see one chug into the port of Savannah, let's say. My ship is N-scale and it's roughly 24" long when built. I left the hull as is, with no compression. Even the Sylvan container ship isn't exactly what you'd see today - it's ore fitting for 70/80's before the intermodal industry exploded and the super-carriers emerged. With some scratch-building, you could probably take the Sylvan model and make it into a truly modern carrier, though. If you fully detail the ships out, they're going to be massively impressive moored in the harbor - don't for get your tugs and escort ships!
@@AlleghenyNorthern Someone built a full HO scale Comtainer ship. Over 15.5 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall for thr pilot house. I have the space but do I really want to build something this massive?
@@CONTAINERMAN68 LMAO... that's a bit much. i mean, impressive i'm sure but that's a lot of boat. The kit will probably fill in as a good representation.
this layout is truly a work of art. I've been preparing for doing some scenery on my n scale layout, so if you have any tips I'd love to know them.
Couple of generic tips: 1) don't rush - it's not a race, it's a marathon - enjoy the time. to that end 2) work in small spaces at a time, get it right, then move on. 3) don't go cheap, buy good material - scenic express and woodland scenics stuff would be my recommendation for most scenery. 3) don't settle for 'ok'. make sure the scenery looks the way you want before you move on, or you'll be forever going back to change it. i have several of those areas. 4) static grass! and super trees - don't waste time with substitutes, you're just going to replace them later. 5) before you start the scenery, make sure the trackwork is flawless - otherwise, you're ripping up beautiful scenery to fix frustrating track. 6) Pick a season (or two) study them before you start. Summer is easiest. Spring is next. Fall is difficult because everyone wants to throw out vibrant colors and that looks like toys, and winter is the most difficult. What season are you planning?
What are the cars behind the BNSF 0:45 seconds into the video? Who makes them?
Excellent layout and video.
Those are known as "spine cars" on account of them only having a frame and then platforms to receive the trailers or containers (containers ride single stack only). Those models are made by BLMA prior to their acquisition by Atlas. They're beautiful models, but I believe out of productions. They used to sell for around $90 for a five-unit set. I'm not sure if you can still get them anywhere but if you find them at a train show or a random hobby shop, don't let them go!
hello C Mastracci... look like you on your way to getting those scenes going... looking forward to your layout tour... i'm thinking of doing the same... i thought my layout occupied a lot of space but i think you have me beat...BTW... can you check to see if i am blocked from your channel. I did not get a notification of this video i found it by looking for vids to watch.. thx 4 sharing....vinny...
Oh no, that's not good. You've missed a lot! You're definitely not blocked - haven't blocked anyone since joining. Maybe try unsubscribing and resubscribing?
Did you use Kato track throughout your entire layout?
Yup. Everywhere except the staging - that's Atlas flex track with Atlas remote turnouts. The turnouts suck, I had to file all the plastic frogs to avoid the locos getting stuck or derailing. No issues with the Kato #4 or #6.
@@AlleghenyNorthern Thanks, I have a small 2.6' x 4.6' layout using Bachmann EZ track. EZ track seems very limiting.
@@rong648 EZ Track isn't quite up to par with Kato. Kato really took the sectional track to a new level - especially with their elevated and street-run track for their tram system. I had some basic EZ track eons ago, but dumped it when i found a hobby shop selling off some early Kato sets and from there, fell in love with the track. It's not cheap, but it's worth it.
@@AlleghenyNorthern I notice everyone is using Kato track. I should have done a little more research before buying my track.
Cramming too much into your model railroad (towns too close together) is the worst mistake one can make. On the current n scale double deck layout I am building on TH-cam, scenery is the majority. So much so that in 15x20 feet the bottom level will have 1 “town” encompassing 20%. The rest or 80% being EMPTY desert. On the top level. The ratio is 30% 3 small towns to 70% mountain scenery. It has paid off! Not having the caboose in the previous town when it arrives at the next station. The trains actually feel like they are going somewhere.
If I had a few more feet of space, i'd put in a little more quiet space myself but just like rail fanning, I like locomotives but lose interest when boxcar after boxcar rolls by. So for operations, I need the cars to shove somewhere but I'm usually looking at my locos in the scenes and with strategic scene blocks, the train appears to have come from somewhere far away. I like to think of my layout as a switching layout with a mainline run.
Way too much going on
sure. ok.