The sliding door in the photo below is in a deplorable state. Slosher #2 (Cadu – he’s on the left in the photo, Lonnie is on the right) has repainted the sliding door but his efforts didn’t go very far in fixing the underlying problem. So, Lonnie came up with the brilliant idea of covering … Continue reading
West wall backdrop
One of my long held dreams is to have a camera sit atop a freight car and take a movie of the main line from the engineer’s view point. This “dream” took a huge step forward when the backdrop on the north wall was installed. Further progress was made when the portal on the northwest … Continue reading
It’s all in the detail (on the Mendocino Coast Model Railroad)
The mark of truly great model train layout is the detail. If you can get the visitor to say to his/her partner, “Did you see that?” then you know that you are on the track. Detailing takes LOTS of patience, time and most important a vision of what the final diorame might look like. We … Continue reading
Scenic Painting by Club Member Basil Casabona
Basil is a retired scenic painter for the movies. Basil has had no trouble diving into layout, hill and rock painting – a subject that many model railroad builders are hesitant to try, so he’s offering these tips for taking up a brush. If you don’t like what you did – no problem you can … Continue reading
Wiring the Layout and Renewing the Sea Wall
It takes a lot of effort to have the layout operate flawlessly four hours a day. seven days a week, two hundred and eighty days a year. In this picture you can see several projects going on at the same time. Frank Davis is on the floor working on wiring. The sea wall, as you … Continue reading
Toenail Ridge before it was
When you enter the western door to our layout you are confronted by a MOW (Maintenance of Way) consist inhabited by thirty plus noisy Minions located at the foot of Toenail Ridge. The Minions and the Logging Camp didn’t get built till 2012. Here are three pics I found of Toenail Ridge whilst it was … Continue reading
Constructing the Point Cabrillo Diorama
Club member Mike Aplet was the man who had the vision and the skills to build the cliffs of our diorama of Point Cabrillo. He envisaged using Colin Davies prototypically accurate model of Point Cabrillo lighthouse atop the cliffs of the Point with the wreck of the Frolic on her side in the waters below. … Continue reading
Mini Trestle for the West Wall
Club member Mike Aplet built this “mini” trestle. It has been worked into the west side wall hillside to extend the Toenail Ridge line. The “test” engine is an 0-4-0 LGB which frequently works the Toenail Ridge line.
Constructing the base for the Homestead at the base of Three Chop Ridge
In the middle of the pic below you can see a small house and to its left the outline of a tunnel portal: The homestead is sitting on a platform. This platform is strong enough to be stood upon so that we can reach the top of the ridge. The platform was the last piece … Continue reading
Northwest corner of the layout aka Three Chop Ridge – More pics by Mike Aplet
Work on Three chop Ridge continues apace as these recent pics from Mike Aplet show. Why is it named “Three Chop Ridge”? Because, it was an archaeological dig on Three Chop Ridge of a Pomo Indian village that, ultimately, led to the discovery of the wreck of the Frolic which in turn led to the opening … Continue reading