The GnATTERbox

Just a quick update. I've started to detail the layout a little, so I thought that the Critter Shed would be a good place to start. Here are a couple of pics so far: http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_63.jpg http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/...

Nice layout, looking really good. That was very quick work. Please keep us posted on your progress.
Cheers.

But is an idea which would add life, tell a story, and imply a future story. Brilliant!! That's what I like about this place, someone always comes up with a great idea. This will give me the best of both worlds; keeping the roof open for visual effect but being able to add interest and a future eve...

The small maintenance shed, I was thinking, would have "rolled roofing" which is quite common in this area if you want a cheap and quick roof. I'm not sure about the critter shed. I had thought about leaving it open to see the detailing better, but I'm open to suggestions on this.

The critter shed has been built so I thought that I would share of couple of pics: http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_57.jpg As stated previously the front of the old shed has become the back of new shed. Instead of laminating all of the lumber,I used the same...

Thanks Doc. I have managed to finish the basic ground cover on the layout. Here are a couple of pics: http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_61.jpg http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_62.jpg For some reason the areas that are...

Doc, best of luck with those couplers. Okay, but who's the daddy? No one ever talks about that. I think the daddy works at the Patent Office, but I'm not sure. Here are a couple of shots of the office area which almost has all the basic ground work done: http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amh...

Doc, I'll probably set it up as a general maintenance area for things around the facility. Maybe to go as far as fixing wagon (flat car) wheels. All other wagon or critter repairs and/or rebuilds will be handled at the critter shed. As far as the uncoupling goes, I tend to agree with Don. Once the l...

They say that "necessity is the mother of invention", which is true in this case. I'm using link & pin couplers on my layout, so I couple and uncouple the cars by hand. I was looking for something to do this with; so I opened up a large paperclip straightened it and put a hook on one e...

Doc, I've tried to find basket liner but was unable to do so. The polyfiber idea I got from demaine22's latest G9 project. It's cheap and a bag goes a long way. The junk is disposable lighter parts that Steve B. did a thread on some time ago, although I don't remember which thread that it was. Ken y...

Have had some time to work on the layout of late, so here are some progress pics: http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_47.jpg http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_48.jpg This is the warehouse from CA Farms reworked. The pape...

Welcome to the Gnuthouse. Glad to see that you jumped right in. There are a great bunch of people that hang out here and share ideas and suggestions.
The critter and wagons look really good so far. What materials did you use to construct them. Keep up the good work and again welcome.

Thanks for the railing idea guys; I never thought about that, but it works. Just need to figure out how to do it. Maybe brass rod or something alone those lines?
Yes I meant the railroad stuff, but thanks for the cooking tip.

The sector plate area is pretty much finished. Here's an aerial view : http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_45_1.jpg I put in "stops" on the two outside tracks, so all I have to do is make sure that the sector plate is against them and the tracks are l...

Thanks. Now that you mention it; yes I believe that the correct term is "sector plate". Surprisingly everything fit nicely; the only fence that I had to make was a small piece in the corner. Will be using the office building and the warehouse from CA Farms; after a face lift on the warehou...

So here are the first pics of the rebuild of "Herb's Mechanical": http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_43.jpg The track plan is about the same with the exception of a "swing table" instead of the turntable. The layout is being built on a 1/2 ...

Thanks for your comments guys. Doc; I do like the concept of using kitty litter. I think that I'll do a test area on some scrap foam-core to see if I like the effect. I checked out "Watts" and did like his use of litter with rocks and gravel. Boghopper; I did pack-up the layout and put it ...

Unfortunately I've had a hard decision to make. After reading the "dirt links", I decided to check the dirt that I used for metal. It was really bad, and being that I did not want to ruin my critter, I decided to remove the dirt from the layout. Well, I guess that I did too good of a job p...

Willow Creek - Wow!! Thanks for the links on using real dirt. Very interesting read; so much in fact that I will probably remove it from the layout, if I'm able to. Thanks again, much appreciated.

Should be a very interesting project. Looking forward on how you progress with this.

Thanks for your comments. Doc, looks like we'll be using "good old fashion elbow grease" to winch the cars down the rails. Willow Creek; thanks for the tip when using natural dirt, I was not even aware of such a thing. Next step will be to "plant" some weeds and grass clumps onto...

The capstans are now weathered and bought a necklace at a thrift shop which was rusted: http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_37.jpg http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amherst56/Herbs%20Mechanical/IMG_39.jpg http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc374/Amhers...

Really nice looking layout. Great to see a father and son project, that's what memories are made of. I especially like the grass, it looks so real. Great job.

Sounds interesting, waiting to see what a G9 layout looks like and your "paper critters".

Thanks guys for your encouraging words. Yes I really like this scale because I can use materials found easily and cheaply. Just proves that you don't need to spend a ton of money to make a layout and have fun doing it. Doc, as mentioned above the turntable idea from Carl's A.'s website really works ...