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Hard to believe David has been working on the Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout revisions for an entire year now! What better time to take a look at the work he’s completed thus far. But to keep the progress moving forward, David enlists help from Jenny Maaske, who had a hand in adding scenery to the original layout. Follow along, as David and Jenny work, from the ground covering to the treetops, to complete a section of the display.
MRV, any plans on putting together a compilation of the Olympia project layout videos onto DVD’s? I for one would gladly pay for the finished video, either as a DVD or as a downloaded resource.
Peter, I do indeed have an MR apron!
Seems to be a lot of concern about Jenny’s sweater. I wonder if she knows that she can go onto the Model Railroader web page and purchase herself a nice MR apron! I bet she could even get an employee discount!
Jenny & David. The scenery is looking top-shelf! Cant wait to see more. 🙂
Thanks David. Can’t wait to see the track plan. Love the series.
David Almack, sporks are a real thing and not crafted
https://www.google.com/search?q=spork&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS721US721&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiopNSvzbTYAhXikeAKHQJKA4cQ_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=635
Yes, these were great little tips on scenery applications. The Chooch flexible rock was first rate and now I have some idea what it looks when applied.
Thanks Jenny and David. What a duo! Excellent tips for some truly great scenery.
Another question. In your filming intro you had closeups of some great figures on the laycoat. Where do you find them? Did you hand paint them too?
Really appreciate your expertise
Grew tips on scenery, thank you! Jenny, you have very nice hands!
Thanks for the comments, everyone! I did manage to keep my sweater glue and scenery free! However, had I known I’d be on camera that day, I would not have worn that sweater!
I assume that the “spork” that you refer to and use is something the you “crafted” from a plastic disposable spoon.
Thank you.
David Almack,
Greetings all! Here’s a few answers to some of the questions on this episode:
PC board ties: Ugh! Sorry Dave, I just ballasted those sections last night so there’s not much left to show. This is it in a nutshell – By soldering two PC ties near the ends of the track (one at the end and one about an inch back), you effectively lock the rails from further movement, so rails on a curve will keep their shape. I also drill through the ties and use track nails to secure them to the plywood sub roadbed, again assuring there will be no movement. Note: remember to file through the copper cladding on both sides of the ties to keep from creating a short.
Track Plan: It’s coming! The track plan for new Olympia is being drawn for the MRVP Ultimate Guide magazine, coming out in March. As soon as we have a final version, we’ll post on a future episode of the Log Blog as a PDF. Hopefully by February’s episode.
Log pond rock wall: Yeah, I know, few logging companies would have done that. But I liked the new product from Chooch, and I wanted to give it a shot. Part of the fun of this layout is that it’s not modeled after any specific prototype, which has allowed me a lot of freedom in interpretation – and it should look great when the resin is poured. Also, there was supposed to be a short log ramp there for rolling logs into the pond so they didn’t hit the wall, but in the end, I didn’t leave enough space for it, so I abandoned that project.
Filming the blogs: Funny story there, I usually shoot them alone. We had a power outage at the office that day, so instead of sitting around waiting for the power company to fix the problem, Ben, Jenny, and I threw the gear in the car and spent the morning shooting the blog at my home. I’ll miss their help on the next month – working alone takes far longer – usually a full day!
Scenery order: Normally I’d agree with you on big stuff last. However, when working with steep hills like those on this layout, the big stuff won’t stick on the slope unless it hits the glue first. Last week I made the mistake of reversing the order on a section, and the big bits wouldn’t stay in place, so I planted more grass on the top instead.
Log unloading: Yup, that’s coming in a future installment. I’ve found a frame and cable system I liked from a video on YouTube. I just have to build and install it. As it does just one car at a time, it will give me a reason to have the Porter stationed at the sawmill to move the cars into position.
Glad you’re enjoying the series. My guess is it will wrap up by this time next year, so we are about halfway there.
David
Howdy y’all! Thanks for including the bit about the grass mat material and how to apply it. I had purchased a roll of it last year and I’m now at the point where I can install “the small little pieces of it” on my massive stretch of rock wall work to break up the monotony of such an expanse. Seeing you do this, Jenny, I thought to myself, “Well, duh! Why didn’t I think of that?” I just could not figure out how to use the stuff I thought was such a cool find! Put another feather in your cap for helping to solve one of life’s scaled down mysteries! Just one more reason that MR Video Plus is such an asset to us old codgers having to build our railroads all by ourselves. Thanks for the help!
Hey Jennie, that’s a pretty nice sweater. I hope David agreed to a cleaning bill if you got glue or scenery material on it! Another great video. Thanks.
Great video as usual ! 🙂
I found that I could use dried coffee grounds to get a good looking ground cover around my log unloading area. Nice job guys. I hope Jenny got the glue off her sweater sleeves.
Hi David…
This question actually goes back to something you commented on in Part 10. I posted the question there but I’m also posting it here in case you don’t go back to the previous parts. Can you explain in more detail how you used the PC board ties to lock down the track on both sides of the break? I’ll need to do the same on the lift up section I plan to build, but I haven’t seen any good explanation of the technique anywhere.
Thanks…Dave Heggblom
For a moment there I thought maybe Jenny had grown taller, then realized from the last few shots she was standing on a platform. LOL!
Excellent video, will assist me on my layout. Thanks!!
Looks great, but it would be nice to see the track plan.
Hard’ ley any logging Company would use rock facing around a log dump/pond, because of the cost ,and
upkeep. , your face would mostly be logs, with logs sloping towards the pond.
even some larger company’s would operate under “jyppo” rules. cut the costs, most sidings only lasted for about two weeks maximum. and the dumps just replaced the logs when needed. All logging was make money, cut the cost’s. Your project is great, and you two make a great team. I like your presentation on scenery. looks so easy when “you” do it..
Happy New Year.
Talking about canopy over layout good idea but what do you do when you are making your trains go back from where they started from.
Looks great, with Jenny’s help it made the job go a lot quicker. Plus when there are two modelers doing a project, it’s more fun and you can bounce ideas of of each other. Will there be a new drawing of the revised track plan, I really like the way this is going. I was thinking this new track plan can be worked into a section on my Beaver Creek Railroad, it’s mostly a coal hauling RR, but the Olympia RR layout would work for my White Pines Lumber Co. I also think the new design is better than the original “L” shape. I think if the “L” shape had been longer in each direction it would have been better. I think the linear layout is much better.
That’s my opinion and you know what they say about opinions, everyone has one.
Keep up the good work, I’m looking forward to the next Log Blog
I just wonder about the order that the various layers of scenery were laid down. Personally I would have laid the dirt first the turf second and the added the debris material using the matting to “hide” any bare patches. This is how I would do it and it was the way I saw it and did on several layouts over here in the UK, but each to their own. Still a delightful layout.
Wow, this will be done in no time with Jenny helping and she quickly remembered what Kent had taught her in her very first episode of MRVP… and David didn’t do any sound effects to make Jenny giggle! Can’t wait to see this when its completed. I use many of these techniques when applying scenery and vary a few steps when needed. Important thing to me is layering helps hide spots you may have missed the first time. Question for David: Was Ben there videotaping all the previous segments as it seemed like you may have been remotely setting up each camera shot and doing both sides of the camera work… but we know you are a man of many talents anyway! Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year in 2018!