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Q. How can I get in touch with you? A.Email usually works best. Click this link: mailto:lmindheim@shelflayouts.com
Q. Who makes your palm trees? A. They're kits made by Hart of the South Models. www.hartofthesouth.com
Q. Who makes the grass in the canal scenes. A. It's grass fiber and deco grass made by Heki (Part number HK1573 through HK1594). I also use Silflor "Prairie Tufts"
Q. What did you use for water in the canal. A. It's ordinary Envirotex epoxy. When the epoxy was dry, I blotted on ModPodge gloss medium to create the look of ripples.
Q. Where did you get your ballast and soil products? A. Arizona Rock and Mineral Company. www.rrscenery.com
Q. What type of control system do you use? A. Both layouts use the EasyDCC wireless system put out by CVP products. www.cvpusa.com. East rail is simple enough that it could easily be controlled by a standard DC power pack (which it was for the first few months) but going DCC makes sound simpler and also gives you the flexibility you get with a wireless throttle.
Q. Did you paint those clouds on the backdrop? A. No. The clouds are courtesy of mother nature and a good photo editing program. I cropped the sky into the photos.
Q. Do you still have your N scale Monon layout? A. No, it was dismantled in December of 2007. The room it occupied is being refurbished and prepped for a new HO layout based on the Allapattah produce district in Miami.
Q. Why did you take down your N scale Monon layout? A. I thoroughly enjoyed building, operating, and experiencing the Monon layout but it had run its course. It was largely complete and new challenges awaited. I wanted to start fresh with a new theme. My interests had shifted from modeling large expansive scenes (which N scale is best at) to smaller more detailed scenes (which is better suited to HO). I wanted to model the modern era for a change. When you are building a layout over time the section you are presently working on will be built with a higher level of modeling skill than the first section you built. It is just a matter of experience. Eventually you get to the point where what you can build now would be a lot better than what you built ten years ago. In my case I felt I could build something of higher quality now than I could when I started the Monon layout, particularly in the mechanical/electrical areas. So, with the Monon concept already proven, the allure of new themes, and hopefully better building skills it was time to start fresh.
Q. Are those your paintings in the Miami! section? A. Yes they're mine but they aren't paintings. They're edited photographs.
Q. How often do you operate? A. Once or twice a week. After work I'll switch for a half hour or so. Several times a year I'll have a more formal session with guests during which we'll run for about an hour.
Q. How are your turnouts actuated? A. They are simply hand thrown. I just flip the points with my finger tips. There is enough friction that the points stay in position.
Q. I don't see any runaround track on the East Rail track plan. How does that work out? A. In this case it's simply not needed. You'll notice that all of the turnouts, except one, are oriented in the same direction. This allows for a straight forward push/pull switching operation. I stage the train on the cassette with the locomotive behind the cars and push them or pull them into the appropriate location. Weeks Gas is handled by putting those cars behind the engine in staging. I was going to add a runaround track on the staging cassette but decided it wasn't needed. It should be noted that the prototype track arrangement is set up the same way. In real life CSX has a runaround track outside of the industrial park. The crew shuffles the cars around on the runaround track and then pushes the entire cut into the industrial park.
Q. What mistakes did you make on the East Rail layout and what would you differently? A. There were several lessons learned with this project. - I prefer lighter blues for backdrops but I took things too far and went too light. The backdrop looks fine in person. However, the very pale blue plays havoc with digital photography and it's really a challenge to take photos with crisp colors. The next time around I'll go just a few shades darker when I do the backdrop. - I used vinyl coated aluminum siding rolls for the backdrop. In some photos the texture of the vinyl coating is visible. Next time I'll orient the aluminum so the smooth side, not the textured side, faces the layout. - I mounted the valence directly over the layout. As a result, the 4" or so of the layout closest to the aisle is slightly dark. I should have mounted the valence several inches further into the aisle so that the lighting would catch the entire layout. - I used Gorilla Glue to fasten some of the structure roofs to wooden support blocks. When the glue dried this combination created a large amount of warping in the roof. I will no longer use Gorilla Glue on structures. Perhaps I used too much glue. I'm not sure.
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