The Coal Mine Area

The 3 level area around the coal mine has a large rock face made up of many separate castings which were joined with lots of Drywall compound.  Once it was painted with just a base coat it looked quite good.

Great Wall of Waldo

Not sure if that will be the name of this town or not, but this area has the greatest height difference between the two levels and is also narrow. This requires a lot of rock to build a cliff this long.

The bottom picture is the entrance to the staging area.

Tracks into Grants Pass

There is grade difference between the branchline and the mainline tracks coming up to Grants Pass. At this area the height difference is small so it was simply plastered in. While the plaster was wet it was brushed with an old paint brush.

Work on the port area.

The land forms supporting the original port buildings were worked on. Most of the original buildings were at different elevations in the original port so their base heights versus their dock heights had to be accommodated by either raising or lowering the area they sit on. I also like to keep any dock that has water under it, removable to be able to keep the water surface clean. At the same time any holes where the water will be were filled. After the plaster dried a base coat of water colour was applied using dark blue and green paint. Rock castings were installed in areas between docks and sea walls. The areas under docks received a coat of plaster which was bushed horizontally to simulate rock lines. After the plaster dries it will be painted 50 shades of gray.

This is the area were the Boat repair building will sit.

Two buildings needed bases at different elevations. 

Water painted in.

What a perfect place for a stream.

As I was wiring in the feeder wires my eyes wandered to the backdrop behind the proposed farm area. The valley seemed to me to run right into a slot in the rock formation. With a little rework to the rocks, channel the stream, it will cascade to the valley floor and run through the farm to the edge of the layout.

The stream was drawn in and then moved to the right. This will add to foreground scenery.  The house and barn areas will have another layer of ceiling put under them to create a slot for the stream to run. Nearer the track the stream will be cut into the existing tile an run under the track through a culvert or stone bridge down the level of the branch line.

Some rock castings were added at the waterfalls to create a chanel to direct the stream.

Two layers of ceiling tiles were added to either side of the stream with a channel cut into the tile under the road bridge and railroad. The stream will continue out and under the branch line. 

Cab plug ins

My cab plug ins are made using telephone wall plates, the ones with 4 wires. I pop out 1 of the plugs from the back. Using a tapered rasp mounted in my drill, I reem out the hole to fit the plug receptacle for my other walk around throttle, I call cab 1. The other original phone plug is for a Varipulse walk around throttle. These plugs are wired to my power buss cable. By locating 1 plug at each end of my layout and 1 in the middle I can reach all of my 11 X 14 foot layout easily.

Rasp

Control panels for DC block control.

My layout is DC block control. The way I set the system up required 3 panels. At Crescent City and Grants Pass, the 2 ends of the layout needed a plug in for each cab and a DPDT switch to select either branch line or main line power. The main control panel is located near the port which is the center of the layout. It has a plug in for each of the 2 cabs (I may also tie in a stationary Tech I I throttle) and 4 rotary switches to select which cab powers which section of the layout, which are the mainline, the branchline, the port and the logging spur. A DPDT switch controls the power to 1 leg of the wye. It selects power from either the Port or the branchline which requires the engine to stop on that leg of the wye as the switch is thrown, reversing the polarity to the engine. The plug ins are spaced so that the hand held cabs can reach all areas of the layout easily. The 3 panels are pictured below. The top 1 is the main control panel,  the next 1 is at Grants Pass and the last is at Crescent City.
See Control Panel post March 10, 2018

Another river runs through it.

Well I have this road bridge I want to include on my layout but no place to put it. So cut in a river, add 2 railroad bridges, raise the surrounding terrain and add the bridge, easy. Roughed in river shown below. The background will be touched up to match the foreground.

The logging camp takes shape.

The Lumber camp being located in a back corner of the layout will be built on a platform and then installed. All of the structures were arranged first and then the spar tree was put in place. A few minor moves and it all seemed to fall into place. Because a water tank was located on the hill, the bath house/latrine was move right below it. One of the bunk houses was elevated for a better visual effect. There's very little flat ground in nature so the more levels the better. Piping from the tank to the bath house, boardwalks, stumps, people and other details will complete the scene. When this diorama is finished and installed the background will be touched up to match the new scenery. The foreground river and scenery will be added and the trestle will be built and installed. Only then can the main and branch lines be added in front of this scene.

Horses deliver the logs to the spar tree. 

The bath house repositioned under the water tank. 

Overview of the camp.