| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Grubes |
Posted - 09/25/2011 : 9:06:45 PM
Welcome to the Eastern Shore Railroad in HO. Many were nice enough to follow my Eastern Shore Railroad in N gauge and that thread explains why I’ve moved to HO, but for those who may not be familiar with the prototype a brief overview.
The Eastern Shore Railroad (now the Bay Shore RR) is a 65-mile shortline that runs from Pocomoke, MD, to Cape Charles, VA with a car ferry that crosses the Chesapeake Bay and terminates at Little Creek, VA just adjacent to Norfolk. The railroad has an interesting history and was once part of the Pennsylvania RR system. I won’t go into the ESHR’s story, however, it is available in the book, “The Eastern Shore Railroad” by Chris Dickon (available through Amazon).
In recent times the ESHR has struggled to survive facing bankruptcy on more that one occasion. Yet the single-track right of way still carries freight up and down the MD/VA eastern shore today. It is the combination of the Eastern Shore mystique along with a personal attraction to the railroad that I established while in the Navy making the occasional trek from Naval Air Station Norfolk along Rt 13 to visit family in Philadelphia that created my desire to model the operation. I’ve photographed the ESHR since 1983 and have visited the entire right-of-way, so I have a lot of visuals to assist me.
I have taken some license in my trackplan as I have included Willis Wharf as a destination (Map below). The real ESHR never served the town, however, for operational reasons and aesthetic reasons I’ve taken modeler’s license. I’ve included my trackplan below and welcome comments.
Operations would start at Cape Charles with a consist just off the ferry. Passing Cheliton and using the entirety of the loop counter-clockwise to simulate distance the train would pass Exmore, Willis Wharf and Cape Charles prior to switching the first destination, the Exmore Granary. Again going around the loop, the next switching moves would occur at Willis Wharf. Finally, after another trip around the loop, the destination would be the passing siding at Willis Wharf that simulates Pocomoke. The train would then reverse direction and repeat the sequence backwards copying the once a day Cape Charles to Pocomoke and return run of the prototype.
I had originally planned on building my railroad using Proto 87 standards and had already completed 3 highly detailed turnouts. However, the possibility of a future job opportunity that might include a move changed my thoughts for two reasons. First, scratchbuilding the turnouts was exceptionally time consuming and I want to (finally) get some trains running. Second, I did not want to run the risk of laying the turnouts and the hand-laid track and risk damage to the trackwork with the possibility of a move looming. Instead, I’ve decided on Code 83 Walthers turnouts and Atlas flextrack.
I’ve included some pictures of my Proto 87 turnouts and my weathered Walthers turnouts and flextrack. I’m curious what Forum members think about the differences and down the road whether it would be worth the significant extra effort to go Proto 87. I really have always believed that realistic trackwork was one of the major factors in satisfying my desires to watch a train up close and not be distracted by plastic ties and large rail so it will be a difficult decision should I start over.
In my next post, I’ll show some pictures of my progress.
Dave
Proto:87 Switches
Comparison of Proto:87 and Walthers Code 83
Atlas Code 83 Flextrack: new and weathered
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Dutchman |
Posted - 05/04/2012 : 06:39:35 AM
Dave, we were in Cape Charles yesterday and took some pics. Among them is a huge gun off the USS Missouri that is sitting in the yard. Two came over on the rail barge, one will stay in a Nat. Wildlife Refuge near the cape, and the other went up to Delaware by rail. So, a huge gun on a flat car would still be prototypical in 2012!
Besides pictures, there are some neat videos in this link, including a hand-cranked swing bridge.
http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/news/story/uss-missouri-cannon-on-track-to-fort-miles/811653
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| quarryman |
Posted - 04/23/2012 : 08:00:54 AM
Dave-
The scenery is coming along nicely. The brooding sky and winter foliage give your layout a lot of character and bring cold days by the Bay immediately to mind.
Mark Chase
Richmond VA |
| Harsco |
Posted - 04/22/2012 : 9:14:41 PM
Very nicely done, Dave....love the "tunnel" effect through the trees....and the foreground and background blending is really outstanding.... |
| Grubes |
Posted - 04/22/2012 : 5:28:42 PM
It's amazing how many trees it takes to make a small forest, especially when there's no canopy to hide behind. I've been adding more, and, consistent with James' suggestion, I'm trying to get away from the uniform look that came across in the last pictures.
I've added some underbrush and most recently have put in some pine trees which really help. I'm about tree'd out, so after doing some house cleaning on the layout and layout room, I'm going to try my hand at a few small buildings, add a road crossing with flashers, and finish the overpass.
Below are a few shots of the wooded area and new pines.
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| jbvb |
Posted - 04/02/2012 : 07:26:48 AM
Maybe I pay more attention to trees than most (easily possible), or maybe I don't know what they look like in the Delmarva area (having never been there), but I think your patches of foreground forest would look better if there was more variation in height and trunk diameter. Height would be easiest to change, and would be most visible from a distance (as in your last photo). Diameter would be tougher: Could you dip the lower parts of some of the weeds you're using in glue, plaster or something like that to bulk them up before final painting? |
| Grubes |
Posted - 04/01/2012 : 8:20:50 PM
Thanks for all the positive comments.
Continuing to add trees and landscaping to the area around Cheriton. I’d like to forest about another two feet then I’m going to finish the bridge that crosses the Cape Charles yard throat, build the abandoned train station (although it’s more a shed than a station at Cheriton) and then my first major build, the maintenance building at Cape Charles.
Some additional pictures below:
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| Tyson Rayles |
Posted - 03/28/2012 : 08:15:26 AM
[:-thumbu] |
| Steam Nut |
Posted - 03/28/2012 : 06:57:56 AM
Dave, Just catching up on you, Very well done. |
| Ollie |
Posted - 03/28/2012 : 02:35:38 AM
I dropped my jaw to the floor.. The work here on this layout is outstanding! |
| nhguy |
Posted - 03/26/2012 : 2:44:52 PM
Looks really good there Dave. Glad you found your recipe. Mine is more green so I use 3 or 4 different greens and go lighter on the tans and browns. It is looking 'cold' on your layout. |
| Grubes |
Posted - 03/25/2012 : 8:36:25 PM
I've continued to work on the scenery and refining techniques for trees and high grass. Finally was able to get a color of grass that I'm comfortable with by combining Buff Titanium, Davy's Grey and a little Burnt Umber. The color is more tan than the yellow I'd had before and I'm more pleased with the outcome.
I also realized that I was planting the grass to densely and my more recent grass areas look much better. Additionally, by spraying the grass more lightly with the airbrush, it preserves the frayed tips of the bristles and more closely resembles the tips of marsh grass.
I also moved the grass I pictured in my previous post. It didn't look natural and instead I filled in the area with more trees (Picture 1).
The second picture is a an overview of the area near the throat of the Cape Charles yard. To the right of the underpass is the yard and to the left is the transition to the line to Exmore.
The remaining pictures are of the new area of scenery.
Previous area filled with grass, replaced with trees.
Overview of area (excuse the poor photo)
New area of scenery
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| George D |
Posted - 03/11/2012 : 12:02:35 PM
OK, I'll rephrase my question, is the grass just glued to the surface or are there clumps inserted into holes, or did you use clay?
Nice idea, I've never seen clay used before.
George |
| Grubes |
Posted - 03/11/2012 : 09:15:54 AM
Arnold, Mark, Bruce,
Thanks for your encouragement.
George,
After trying a bunch of things I settled on sticking the stalks in modeling clay (picture below). I try to get the clay layer as thin as possible so it blends into the existing scenery. I will be using this for marshland and I have a large area that I'll have to cover.
From a distance the effect works and as I refined my airbrushing I was better able to keep the softness of the bristle ends.
I'm not totally happy with my color as I think it's a bit too yellow. I'm going to try a more brown grey look on the next batch.
What I'll also do next time is use a more spread out row on the edges of the area to get away from the clumping look
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| Dutchman |
Posted - 03/11/2012 : 08:59:10 AM
Dave, I like the look that you are achieving. It captures the look and 'feel' of the area. |
| MarkF |
Posted - 03/11/2012 : 12:03:00 AM
Wow Dave, your moving quickly! Its looking great. |
