Thanks so much for the kind words! The railroad fulfilled a life-long ambition, and keeping it small allowed it to happen and reach completion in a reasonable time. Well, actually, keeping it small wasn't a choice since that's all the space I had.

Mary, thanks so much for the kind words!

Dave, thanks so much for the kind words. Achieving a more or less "completed" layout is very satisfying. It is interesting to hear the comments from visitors who have never seen a quality scale model railroad before. They are amazed that such things exist. Of course, we in the hobby know better!

Thanks and you're welcome! Having a layout reach the more-or-less completed stage was a life-long dream, finally realized.

@@CarlBrainerd I'm glad you can enjoy that dream..

Thanks so much for the kind words. Small is beautiful! (and easier, too)

Ken, thank you very much for the kind words. You're right, I did have the basic concept of a double-switchback logging line connecting a log camp to a sawmill fixed in my head up front. The rest was just details. I did mock up every building, which was good for planning, good for understanding how the buildings went together and would look, and also filled in for the real buildings until they got built for real. A few tweaks to the building placement did happen during the mockup phase.

John, thanks so much for the kind words. I set out trying to make it "good" by putting into it all the tips and techniques I've been reading in Model Railroader, etc., all these years. Gratifying that it came out looking pretty decent. I wish the clouds had been better, but I figure "good enough" for a first attempt at them.

Michael, I hope you go for it! Much success......

Could you tell us what some of your milestone dates were? Like when you completed framing benchwork and started drawing track on your plywood? When you had your track cut out & up on risers? When you completed all your buildings? Thank you!

Michael, Sure. Pulling dates from my photos, my construction timeline was something like this- Dec '14 First L-girders built (extra long), although at that time I didn't have a plan yet. Dec '15 Benchwork construction started for real, after finalizing the plan Feb '16 Benchwork done in the garage (still needed to be moved inside for assembly) May '16 Backdrop pieces made and framed July '16 Backdrop panels painted Aug '16 Benchwork and backdrop panels assembled in place Sep '16 Basic wiring done before starting plywood Sep '16 Plywood laid down to start track plan work, including mockups Nov '16 Track plan finalized and drawn on plywood Nov '16 Sub-roadbed cut out from plywood Dec '16 Sub-roadbed elevated on risers Dec '16 Roadbed installation complete (Woodland Scenics TrackBed) Dec '16 First piece of track installed Feb '17 Started 3-D scenery landforms (styrofoam) Aug '17 First structure completed May-Aug '18 Sawmill construction (took a long time) Jan '19 Log pond "water" pour at sawmill Jan '19 Last piece of track and last tree installed Mar '20 Last structure completed April '20 Barnhart Loader completed (maybe that's actually the last structure) Oct '20 Installed sound modules for the sawmill and log camp At that point the layout itself was essentially finished, and I moved on to building log cars, etc. So the actual layout construction took about 5 years. Structure building took about 2 1/2 years, in parallel with track and scenery work. The small layout size allowed it to happen within my lifetime!

Jerry, here's a list of the kits as best I remember or have documentation- Around the Sawmill- Sawmill- Master Creations Coon Gap Sawmill (may be out of production) Bower's Brewery (next to the sawmill)- Micro-Scale Models Cushing & Bliss machine shop (next to the brewery)- Micro-Scale Models Main Engine House (near the sawmill)- Micro-Scale Models Pine Creek Enginehouse Sanding Facility- Model Tech Studios Water Tank- Evergreen Hill Coaling Tower- JV Models Yard Office- Micro Scale Models "Maintenance Office" Company Headquarters- Precision Lasercraft "Scott Wire & Cable" The Mine- Builders in Scale Model Foundry "Silverado Mine" Around the Logging Camp- Engine House- Master Creations Coyote Draw Engine House Loco Service Facility- Master Creations McCabe Engine Service Facility Bunkhouses- Master Creations Storage Mini-Warehouse- I think it was called Reece Supply Company, manufacturer long forgotten Kitchen Building and Log Loading Crane- Suncoast Models "Logging Camp" Water Tank Facility and Boxcar Shed- Fine Scale Miniatures Thanks for asking! Cheers! Carl

EW, thanks for the kind words. I used the exact suitcase connectors that Model Railroader uses on their projects (from 3M, I think). Got mine from Micro-Mark but they have have them at places like Home Depot, too. As far as I know there's been no problem with them. So far!

Thanks for the kind words. Best wishes on your layout building, too. Carl

John, thank you so much. My current project is building a steam loco from an old Bowser kit. It is a Pennsy 0-4-0 switcher that I'll relabel as a castaway that went to the timber company. I am making video snippets as I go. This is a time-consuming project that has already taken a couple of months. But hopefully it will get finished within another month or two. That should be the next video. Thanks for your support!

William, thanks for the kind words. They do help to make the years of work worth it! Carl

No, I didn't notice any such effect, although I recognize it is mathematically/theoretically possible. Even with a 5% grade, I guess the climb angle is still pretty small trigonomically speaking. So, no noticeable problem.

Jim, thanks so much for the kind words. The sawmill kit is a beauty but, boy, does it have a lot of parts when you count all the battens on the siding as separate pieces, which they are, of course. The count may be several thousand! But great in the end. The layout is 3 feet deep all around. I drew the plans with the radius at 18", but I think during construction a few spots came out a little smaller to make everything fit. The locomotives don't mind, but I had to carefully check truck/wheel swing on the Kadee log cars. Since they are all metal they could short out on a sharp curve if the wheels touch the frame at both ends of the car. I filed some notches in the frames so the wheels couldn't make contact. Carl

@@CarlBrainerd Thanks for the reply Carl Keep up the great work. Hope to see more videos in the future.

Ted, Sure! The open areas (and track, too) in the logging camp and the sawmill "yard" area where there is basically bare dirt are made/ballasted using a product I got from Scenic Express. The label on the jar is a long one- "Express Scale Ballast, Medium (or Fine) Natural Soil & Dirt, Natural Stone Aggregate". A long name for what is basically "dirt". The product numbers are SE0413 for Medium and SE0403 for Fine. I also thought it looked pretty much like dirt ought to look. I took a sample into Home Depot and had them mix up a custom paint of matching color, so the base coat for all scenery used that paint, with application of the Scenic Express "dirt" or Woodland Scenics ground foam as appropriate on top of the wet paint. So there's matching dirt color under everything. Carl

Brian, video done! See the new video on turnout controllers. Thanks for the suggestion. Carl

@@CarlBrainerd just watched it. Fantastic. Appreciate your efforts.

A former aerospace engineer, but alas, no drafting involved. But of course a lifetime ago in high school there was that drafting class.....

Thanks so much! Many of my structure kits were probably bought from Valley Model Trains, but it looks like their website is down and I'm not sure if they are still doing business. Some others probably came directly from the manufacturers via their websites. I think Bill's Train Shop may have taken over Master Creations. Here's a rundown of the structures on the layout- Barnhart Loader- Keystone Locomotive Works, via eBay Bower's Brewery- Micro-Scale Models (a different company than the decal maker with a similar name) Bunkhouses- Master Creations Coaling Tower- JV Models Cushing & Bliss machine shop- Micro Scale Models Engine House in log camp- Coyote Draw from Master Creations Engine House near sawmill- Pine Creek from Micro-Scale Models Engine Service Facility in log camp- Master Creations Jamestown Water Stop in log camp- Fine Scale Miniatures (out of production, try eBay) Log Camp Kitchen & Log Loading Crane- Suncoast Models Log Camp Supply Building (green)- manufacturer is lost to history, but it was called Reece Supply Company Log Cars- Kadee Log Tractor- Woodland Scenics Maintenance/Yard Office- Micro-Scale Models Mine- Silverado Mine from Model Foundry, part of Builders in Scale (out of production?) Sanding Facility- Model Tech Studios Sawmill- Coon Gap Sawmill from Master Creations (out of production, try eBay) Company Headquarters near sawmill- Scott Wire & Cable from Precision Lasercraft Water Tank- Evergreen Hill I collected these kits over a number of years because I liked their looks. Then I made sure the layout design had a place for them. Good luck with your search for kits you like.

@@CarlBrainerd Thank you very much. Sadly as you had said most kits look like they are no longer available but I really appreciate your time to post the info!

The structures are all from kits. Some might be out of production but still available on eBay. Here's the list- Around the Sawmill- Sawmill- Master Creations Coon Gap Sawmill (may be out of production) Bower's Brewery (next to the sawmill)- Micro-Scale Models Cushing & Bliss machine shop (next to the brewery)- Micro-Scale Models Main Engine House (near the sawmill)- Micro-Scale Models Pine Creek Enginehouse Sanding Facility- Model Tech Studios Water Tank- Evergreen Hill Coaling Tower- JV Models Yard Office- Micro Scale Models "Maintenance Office" Company Headquarters- Precision Lasercraft "Scott Wire & Cable" The Mine- Builders in Scale Model Foundry "Silverado Mine" Around the Logging Camp- Engine House- Master Creations Coyote Draw Engine House Loco Service Facility- Master Creations McCabe Engine Service Facility Bunkhouses- Master Creations Storage Mini-Warehouse- I think it was called Reece Supply Company, manufacturer long forgotten Kitchen Building and Log Loading Crane- Suncoast Models "Logging Camp" Water Tank Facility and Boxcar Shed- Fine Scale Miniatures

@@CarlBrainerd Wow!

Hi, Dan. Sure! I figure that as the saying goes, a picture really is worth "10000 words", so I did make a short video about the drop-down interchange track. It's posted now. Thanks for your interest.

Jim, my styrofoam backdrop panels have a frame of 1x2s glued around their perimeter on the back side. This stiffens them a little and gives something into which screws can be driven. So, "yes", there is some gluing involved They are still fairly lightweight since that bracing didn't add all that much wood to the assembly. Then those framed panels are secured to the layout structure using small 90-deg angles, maybe 1 1/2 or 2 inches, screwed to the vertical 1x3 supports that go up on the back of the modules to hold the supports for the lighting valence and sky panels. All this can be seen in the one slideshow photo (1:13 in the video) that shows the backdrop from the back side (if one knows what to look for!). A couple of those angle brackets and some of the 1x2 framing can be seen in that photo. My design does not lend itself to easy removal, though, as it was only intended to be removed if the layout had to be disassembled to move it. The panels cannot be removed from the rear because those tall 1x3s that support the lighting valence would block them from coming off the back side. In my case I'd have to first remove the overhead lighting valence supports that stick out over the layout and then lift the backdrop panels out vertically from the front side. Not something to be done "casually". If you don't need to support overhead structures from the back side like I did, I imagine you could engineer the 1x2 framing so it could be attached to the layout frame and be removable from the back. In that scenario, the structure arrangement would be different from the way I did it. My design was driven by the need to have cantilever supports for the lighting valence sticking out from the back side of the layout so nothing would be attached to the ceiling or walls of my apartment. That's why I have those long unpainted 1x3 vertical members that you see in that one photo. As far as painting, they painted up OK. If you catch a reflection of a strong light source on the painted surface and look at it close up, the texture can look a little funny, but it doesn't seem to be an issue for normal layout viewing. You might benefit from trying a test sample before committing. The basic sky blue background is regular latex house paint. I used artist acrylics for the green tree lines and the clouds, mostly the Liquitex brand from an artist supply store. Places like Hobby Lobby and Michael's may have them, too, but I had an artist supply store nearby and figured they would have the best selection. I experimented with a few colors before settling on which colors to use for the various tree lines, adding more blue tint to the more distant ridges.

@@CarlBrainerd Carl, thanks much for the description. Since my lights are in the ceiling, I have no valance to support, so it won't be a problem making the panels easily detachable. I will indeed try painting a piece of foam to see what it looks like, but yours looked great in the photos. If you're interested, you can see a few photos of my layout under construction at facebook.com/jamestownmodelrr.

@@JimOberst Jim, I did take a look. Great work! You really have some nice looking structures. I especially liked the sawmill and curved trestle. It looked like you had two kits that I also used- FSM Water Stop and Evergreen water tank. That FSM kit is the only one of theirs I have had, and I can see why FSM has such a reputation for great kits.

David, several iterations of the track plan can be found in this folder- 1drv.ms/u/s!Amh3E1S2P_vCgakYZoyxPSJUS84SDw?e=0tnu1E

@@CarlBrainerd Thank you, Carl!

The structures were all ordered via the internet, either directly from the manufacturers or from dealers. The structures are all from kits. Some might be out of production but still available on eBay. Here's the list- Around the Sawmill- Sawmill- Master Creations Coon Gap Sawmill (may be out of production) Bower's Brewery (next to the sawmill)- Micro-Scale Models Cushing & Bliss machine shop (next to the brewery)- Micro-Scale Models Main Engine House (near the sawmill)- Micro-Scale Models Pine Creek Enginehouse Sanding Facility- Model Tech Studios Water Tank- Evergreen Hill Coaling Tower- JV Models Yard Office- Micro Scale Models "Maintenance Office" Company Headquarters- Precision Lasercraft "Scott Wire & Cable" The Mine- Builders in Scale Model Foundry "Silverado Mine" Around the Logging Camp- Engine House- Master Creations Coyote Draw Engine House Loco Service Facility- Master Creations McCabe Engine Service Facility Bunkhouses- Master Creations Storage Mini-Warehouse- I think it was called Reece Supply Company, manufacturer long forgotten Kitchen Building and Log Loading Crane- Suncoast Models "Logging Camp" Water Tank Facility and Boxcar Shed- Fine Scale Miniatures

Erik, the sawmill is from Master Creations, which I believe has been assimilated into Bill's Train Shop. The kit seems to be out of production. However, they can be found on eBay. I just looked and there is one for sale on eBay right now.

@@CarlBrainerd cool thanks I really like your layout

Hi, James, thanks for your interest. The structure kits on the layout are as follows- Barnhart Loader- Keystone Bower's Brewery- Micro-Scale Models Bunkhouses- Master Creations Coaling Tower- JV Models Cushing & Bliss- Micro-Scale Models Engine House in Log Camp- Master Creations Engine House near sawmill- Micro-Scale Models Engine Service (in log camp)- Master Creations Water Stop (in log camp)- Fine Scale Miniatures Log Camp Kitchen- Suncoast Models Log Loading Crane- Suncoast Models Yard Office- Micro-Scale Models Mine- Model Foundry, Builders in Scale Sanding Facility- Model Tech Studios Sawmill- Master Creations Company Headquarters- Precision Lasercrart (Scott Wire & Cable) Water Tank- Evergreen Hill The log cars are all from Kadee.