Apr 2010

The woodwork for the first peninsula has been completed and I have started to lay cork and track from Wildwood to Coleman.
Here you can see track and cork laying in progress. The cork used for the mainline is 5 mm and from Midwest. In the yard of Coleman I used 4mm cork flooring tile.

Here you can see the track laid and fixed down ready for testing. After testing all the track was lifted and the cork was laid.

There is a single slip at the south end of the Coleman to allow access to the industries from the outside mainline. The cork floor tile can be seen in the yard now.

After we pass Coleman the main starts climbing 2'' at a grade of 2.5% round the end of the peninsula to Lacoochee.

Here is the start of the Devil's creek branch line that leads to Cummers paper mill and Devil's Creek Sawmill. The brach line climbs to a height of 6" above Coleman at a grade of 2.5%.

1.5" Wide strips of Masonite board are laminated together in the spline construction process. Spline works really well but it is a longer process because of the drying time of the wood glue. The results are stunning and well worth the effort.

Mar 2010

I slapped some paint on the mock up silos and have finalized the final setup of Wildwood mills.
I have been reading quite a bit about flats and forced perspective so using Photo shop and a scanner I did some tests.

Some came out better than others but that was the whole object of the exercise.

It seems that this one's scale is too big and the one to the right is too small.

All the pictures were stuck to 1.5mm extruded foam sheets with spray adhesive and then cut out with a sharp hobby knife.

Feb 2010

I did a dry fit on the roundhouse base and cut some 1mm extruded foam sheets to use for roads as an experiment.

After that I started building cardboard mock ups of the kits i want to put behind the Wildwood yard. Photo copies were made of the walls with the windows in them and then stuck to cardboard with spray adhesive and cut out. I assembled the mock ups with a hot glue gun.

With the mock ups done I could start getting a idea of what Wildwood was going to look like. Silos could be added in the form of cardboard roll or take away quickly. Buildings can be moved around to see what works where.

Here is a pic with the silos removed form the side of the mill.

Here are some of the mock ups I made.

This building was built at a angle to check the clearance issues on the track coming out of the reverse loop.

Jan 2010

I have started spraying the track in the reverse loop and used Taniya dark earth for the job.
I also started landscaping right at the back of the reverse loop because once the turntable goes in it's going to be hard to reach. The decision has been made to use real rock for ballast that is readily available from one of our club members.

Construction of the Cornerstone cinder pit and tower has now been completed and it is now ready for installation.

I started working on the Cornerstone sand house kit too.

Tree experiments have started, the first ballast has been laid and I have tried some more rock carving but used different colours this time. Here is a picture of my testbed placed behind the tracks.

Dec 2009

Work has been slow over the holidays with family stuff, so not much has been done.
The reverse loop units finally arrived and I could finish the loop. I also spent an evening experimenting with carving rocks out of extruded foam and was very pleased with the results.
I have also cut the hole for my 130' Walthers Cornerstone turntable.

The main power bus for the Wildwood yard has now been completed with all feeder wires installed and the turntable has been test fitted. The reverse loop has has been tested and is working great.

The coaling tower is still a work in progress but the double layer of cork for the unloading bay has been put down. This structure will be removed again and completed in due course.

Construction started in Nov 2009

Construction started at the north end of the layout. Wildwood is the first step on the long road to Tamp Bay. The woodwork for the first phase has been completed and the center lines have been marked using 1:1 printouts and some cork has been laid. The loop around the round house is the tightest on the layout at 24". I started laying so track in the Wildwood yard and all turnouts are Peco gauge 100 mediums.

Here you can see some of the stringers for the backdrops have been put up and the first section of back board has been fitted.

Here are some of the structure kits that that will be going on this part of the Wildwood yard.

Background

My love for SAL started as a student in Gainesville FL 15 years ago and I think I'm the only SAL fan in South Africa.
This is the first layout i have ever built so please bear with me on this one.
It will be a freelance plan loosely based on the stretch of track between Wildwood FL and Tampa via Plant City.

So all you SAL lovers watch this space for future posts.