|
|
Post by smr on Jul 7, 2015 7:57:08 GMT -5
Rob encouraged us to put this thread up here, because neither Dirk nor I grew up in the US and we may miss something important modeling an US layout. Therefore, have a critical eye on us, please! The topic combines sand dunes, a special flora and fauna, water, sun, ships, a little harbor with a little side branch of the Chessie System (to give Aaron`s engine a cute home) with the laid back atmosphere of a great summer day. The topic: Deal Island is one of the last Bay type water and land mosaics on the East Coast left unblemished and untouched by the sprawl of modernism. Deal Island, Maryland - 6 mile long, 3 mile wide neck of small town living surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries in Somerset County of Maryland's eastern shore. And there is a tiny connection to Little Deal Island............ I have teamed up with a master in Z-scale layouts, Dirk Kuhlmann ( , in order to create a layout that challenges some classical Z-scale tracking rules and to come up with a landscape that stimulates everybody`s fantasy.....and gives our AZL models a perfect stage. Here is a drawing to start with:  The layout is now more than 1 year under construction and we hope to have it close to final for the bi-annual Z-scale Convention in Altenbeken, Germany. Since Dirk has documented all crucial building steps with his camera, he can demonstrate therefore here in the forum. In between, he is taking a few snapshots already to look out for some optimal camera positions later on. I will share this progress pics with you. Here are two from the harbor to start with.   |
|
|
|
Post by domi on Jul 7, 2015 16:05:23 GMT -5
The link seems not to work... Interresting and nice project.  Which era are you targeting? Which railroad? Eastern side? And which motive power? GP7/9s? Mikados? Dom |
|
|
|
Post by smr on Jul 7, 2015 17:26:26 GMT -5
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and several smaller carriers. It was incorporated in Virginia on February 26, 1973, and it acquired the C&O (which controlled the other companies) on June 15. On November 1, 1980, Chessie System merged with Seaboard Coast Line Industries to form CSX Corporation. However, the Chessie image continued to be applied to new and re-painted equipment until mid-1986, when CSX introduced its own paint scheme. The B&O and C&O were not legally merged out of existence until 1987, when the company's official successor, CSX Transportation was founded. If I read this correctly, the 70ties and 80ties are ours, but with no limitations on older rolling stock since a side branch not necessarily used brand new materials. To quote Rob "The railroads of the East Coast tend to be more diverse so one would have more options of locomotives and rolling stock. While many of these railroads are now fallen flags (no longer independent roads), one can easily operate cars and locomotives from the B&O, C&O, Western Maryland, Atlantic Coast Line, PRR, Norfolk Western, and others. AZL offers C&O F7s that would fit in very well to the theme." Sorry that the link doesn`t work right now, they are fixing the server, so try again later please. Here is one of Dirk`s Diorama pictures:  |
|
|
|
Post by smr on Jul 7, 2015 17:27:58 GMT -5
The link seems not to work... Interresting and nice project. Which era are you targeting? Which railroad? Eastern side? And which motive power? GP7/9s? Mikados? Dom Aaron is working on a Chessie Mikado - do you want to update us, Aaron? |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2015 17:38:28 GMT -5
I'm afraid work on the Mikado has been slow. It's taken a back seat to other orders but I hope to have it done soon. I didn't like the way the paint was laid out so I'll probably repainted it again and try a little graphite grey or silver to break the colors up on the engine. There just isn't enough time in a day.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2015 17:39:28 GMT -5
I look forward to seeing this layout completed. I have no doubt it will be another masterpiece!
|
|
|
|
Post by smr on Jul 8, 2015 2:52:12 GMT -5
The Model Railroader once wrote that there is nothing more rewarding to built but a layout containing water and ships together with the railroad. I think this is because most of us connect the sea and/or ships with either vacations or big action. Well, on Deal Island vacation may be most appropriate ;-) But ships are a tricky thing in 1:220, therefore we are very happy that Peter Nolan is supporting us. He is building highly detailed ships for nautic museums and for some specific modelers and is in this business for 59 years now. Here comes one of his ships (click to enlarge):  |
|
|
|
Post by smr on Jul 9, 2015 7:47:59 GMT -5
Some good work could be finished at the harbor site. Most of the buildings have found their position now, tracks and streets, some yet still uncolored water and the basic ground work for the landscape has been finished. An overview is shown in picture 1:  In order to maintain some special steam engine (one of the key tourist attractions) a little facility is still in place. This may become a very nice foto spot once Aaron is done with the "Chessie Steam Special" ;-).......  The big oil bunkers are of course for the local ships:  |
|
|
|
Post by domi on Jul 11, 2015 15:58:49 GMT -5
I'm afraid work on the Mikado has been slow. It's taken a back seat to other orders but I hope to have it done soon. I didn't like the way the paint was laid out so I'll probably repainted it again and try a little graphite grey or silver to break the colors up on the engine. There just isn't enough time in a day. Great! The sooner the pictures, the better. Dom |
|
|
|
Post by smr on Jul 14, 2015 16:29:49 GMT -5
We are installing the water and test running the ships. What do you think? Best, Sven   |
|
|
|
Post by smr on Jul 14, 2015 17:00:35 GMT -5
A few words about the docking pier. We had to make it quite solid because it should allow deep water access. Deep water access however is rare at the Chesapeake Bay. ( Much of the bay is shallow. At the point where the Susquehanna River flows into the bay, the average depth is 30 feet (9 m), although this soon diminishes to an average of 10 feet (3 m) southeast of the city of Havre de Grace, Maryland, to about 35 miles (56 km) just north of Annapolis. On average, the depth of the bay is 21 feet (6.4 m), including tributaries; over 24 percent of the bay is less than 6 ft (2 m) deep.)  Once the location has been determined we can start, building the dunes and to place the tracks. We are using Märklin`s one. The under construction looks like this:  Then everything is covered with sand, yes - real sand! And it immediately looks already like a beach.......  |
|
|
|
Post by smr on Jul 15, 2015 10:15:44 GMT -5
Some good work could be finished at the harbor site. Most of the buildings have found their position now, tracks and streets, some yet still uncolored water and the basic ground work for the landscape has been finished. An overview is shown in picture 1: In order to maintain some special steam engine (one of the key tourist attractions) a little facility is still in place. This may become a very nice foto spot once Aaron is done with the "Chessie Steam Special" ;-)....... The big oil bunkers are of course for the local ships: As you can see now - when comparing with the older pictures, the one side of the harbor has been finished and the little loco depot has become fully functional. The switches work nicely and everybody is waiting for Aaron to deliver the "Chessie Steam Special" - so that we can do some test runs with the final steam engine.  While waiting for the steam engine to arrive, we started with the production of the hand-made trees. At the seaside they are special, you have to take into account the impact of the wind and the hard conditions under which they grow. A first example has been put on the layout in order to test its suitability and land scape harmony. We believe that this one meets our expectations and that we will build more of these. Do you agree? Any questions? ;-))  |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 8:04:46 GMT -5
Sooooo nice! I thought the scenery picture was of an actual hillside! Magnificent work! Truly!
The cars are all finished, the E8AB is painted. I just have to get busy on that steam engine. I had to order more paint and had a few other things going on.
|
|
|
|
Post by patrice on Jul 17, 2015 21:28:26 GMT -5
Wow. This is all very beautiful. That tree on the hillside is wonderful.
Thank you for sharing.
It's very interesting to see pictures of the progress of a scene.
|
|
|
|
Post by smr on Jul 19, 2015 7:42:18 GMT -5
Only an oyster's shell throw away from Wenona Harbor there is Little Deal Island. There exists no direct connection between Deal Island and Little Deal Island, except for a narrow gauge railway for transporting goods.   Prototypically a 900mm gauge field railway, this becomes one of the smallest tracks we ever built. You will find the tracks in our drawing in the lower end in the middle. We planned for a little shop where the very special engines can be maintained. Of course it is closely connected to the harbor and the regular rail road. To the best of my knowledge, the only producer of this "small specialty" in Z scale is the German company Saller Modelle, saller-modelle.de , and an one time-only production of field railway train by Railex. Saller Modelle can provide beside the standard tracks switches and crossings as well. Here is an example of a train from their web site:  The picture nicely illustrates how much smaller these narrow gauge tracks are when compared with the normal Märklin track in front. |
|
Which era are you targeting? Which railroad? Eastern side? And which motive power? GP7/9s? Mikados?
