Beautiful layout, it's your attention to the small,common stuff, like the vegetation in the rocks, that just makes it pop, and the wall came out nice, very nice modeling, the street lights are nice to, used to be around chi town once a week, was a truck driver, you nail the industrial look really well,.
Thanks Thomas - always appreciate feedback and comments from folks who saw these areas firsthand. When you don't have much to build out in terms of raw track mileage on a layout it's a lot of fun to dig in and just spend time sweating the small stuff and creating little scenes within scenes.
The water tower is a great addition to an already very impressive structure. The tagging adds another level of authenticity. Having lived in Lincoln Park while Finkl was still around, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Thanks David - really appreciate it! Stay tuned re: Finkl, there are a few good scratchbuilds starting up behind the scenes to recreate (scaled down) replicas of some of the buildings and streetscaping from that era!
Everything looks awesome with the lighting. Sheet piling looks great, too. I didn't know the name of that stuff. I used your recent painting tips for the grain elevator (prior video) for a warehouse I just scratch-built. Thanks for that! I think it turned out pretty well. My next project is to install the terminal block for the Miller Engineering signs this weekend. My layout is somewhat similar: urban, gritty scene, but in HO.
Hi Michael, glad to hear some of these techniques have worked on your layout too - would love to see how it turned out! HO is probably the perfect scale to realize urban grit. So much more opportunity for detailing and the graffiti is a hell of a lot easier to paint on larger models.
Very nice work! It's great to see an N scale layout that's so close to mine in theme and size, and so well executed. Commercial/industrial grunge is fun to model in a small space... And I've just started doing exterior lighting, so it's helpful to see what you've done; I've been thinking about getting some of those WS street lights, and they look really good. Bummer about the crane -- I've been looking at those Railway Express Miniatures kits for my scrap yard. At least I'll know what to expect if I get any. 😐
Thanks for the comments Evan. For the WS lights on the wooden pole, they do look nice. I'd recommend a bit more grunge with a wash of some dark grey paint or india ink just to tone down the color. I have yet to do that on mine so they still look a bit 'bright' for the location. Thus far I've not seen a good n scale hi-cab on the 3D print market, though I did see a Z-scale model on Shapeways that looked fantastic. Might be worth seeing if the shop owner can upscale it to N or send the object file.
Just incredible rework of the sheet piling. You absolutely nailed it. Lighting looks great.
Thanks really appreciate it! I caught your recent video and am blown away by the realism of your Michigan City street running scene. Beautiful stuff.
You have a really nice layout and I enjoy watching your videos. Hard to believe that this is N scale...amazing work!
Thanks Mark, really appreciate it and love your European trains!
Great update. Good looking miscellaneous details.
Thanks Ray!
Beautiful layout, it's your attention to the small,common stuff, like the vegetation in the rocks, that just makes it pop, and the wall came out nice, very nice modeling, the street lights are nice to, used to be around chi town once a week, was a truck driver, you nail the industrial look really well,.
Thanks Thomas - always appreciate feedback and comments from folks who saw these areas firsthand. When you don't have much to build out in terms of raw track mileage on a layout it's a lot of fun to dig in and just spend time sweating the small stuff and creating little scenes within scenes.
Excellent looking layout. I too grew up along the “race track” near the Fairview Ave station in Downers Grove.
Awesome train viewing. As a kid I'd see most of the action in summertime from Hindsale Pool.
The water tower is a great addition to an already very impressive structure. The tagging adds another level of authenticity. Having lived in Lincoln Park while Finkl was still around, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Thanks David - really appreciate it! Stay tuned re: Finkl, there are a few good scratchbuilds starting up behind the scenes to recreate (scaled down) replicas of some of the buildings and streetscaping from that era!
Great update!
Thanks Steven!
Everytime i see your updates I'm astounded at the detail of your work,absolutely awesome. Looking foward to seeing more....from a fellow Chicagoian!😊😅
Thanks Carl always appreciate the support and kind words!
Everything looks awesome with the lighting. Sheet piling looks great, too. I didn't know the name of that stuff. I used your recent painting tips for the grain elevator (prior video) for a warehouse I just scratch-built. Thanks for that! I think it turned out pretty well. My next project is to install the terminal block for the Miller Engineering signs this weekend. My layout is somewhat similar: urban, gritty scene, but in HO.
Hi Michael, glad to hear some of these techniques have worked on your layout too - would love to see how it turned out! HO is probably the perfect scale to realize urban grit. So much more opportunity for detailing and the graffiti is a hell of a lot easier to paint on larger models.
Very nice work! It's great to see an N scale layout that's so close to mine in theme and size, and so well executed. Commercial/industrial grunge is fun to model in a small space... And I've just started doing exterior lighting, so it's helpful to see what you've done; I've been thinking about getting some of those WS street lights, and they look really good. Bummer about the crane -- I've been looking at those Railway Express Miniatures kits for my scrap yard. At least I'll know what to expect if I get any. 😐
Thanks for the comments Evan. For the WS lights on the wooden pole, they do look nice. I'd recommend a bit more grunge with a wash of some dark grey paint or india ink just to tone down the color. I have yet to do that on mine so they still look a bit 'bright' for the location. Thus far I've not seen a good n scale hi-cab on the 3D print market, though I did see a Z-scale model on Shapeways that looked fantastic. Might be worth seeing if the shop owner can upscale it to N or send the object file.