Here's Thunder Mesa's revised track plan showing all the changes that have been made. The town of Calico now plays an important role as one end of the railroad in operations. The addition of a reverse loop and short passing siding there now make it possible to operate the layout in a point-to-point fashion. The former village of San Lorenzo has now been incorporated into Thunder Mesa as the "Old Spanish" section of town. This change freed up the far right corner for a turntable and more accessible engine service area.
The improved track arrangement at Calico forced my plans for an On18 mini-layout to be shelved (again), but the On18 line does make an appearance as a point-to-point mining tram feeder between Big Thunder Mine and the ore bins at Calico. Lastly, the Lone Rock diorama now finds a permanent home on the layout. It's a non-operating scenic feature, but its position against the backdrop offers great sight-lines when looking across the aisle (now called "Coyote Canyon") from the McKennon Arch area.
April 2016 Video Log
Howdy Folks! So much has been happening out here in Thunder Mesa Country that it's hard to know where to begin. The right of way has been changed, towns have been moved, combined or added, and entire areas have been reimagined. On top of all that, a lot of real progress has been made bringing these changes to life with new scenery work and modeling at Horse Thief Canyon and the town of Thunder Mesa well underway. The best way to get caught up on things is with a new video log. After that, I'll delve more deeply into the details below.
Engine #9, the Admiral Fowler
Featured in the new video log is the TMMC's latest locomotive: #9, the Admiral Fowler. Like several of the other Thunder Mesa locomotives, it's an 0-4-2 Porter from Bachmann. I've dressed it up with a fancy cap stack and some custom decals from Stan Cedarleaf.
The "Niner" rounds the bend at Dinosaur Gap. The gold capped stack was made from some HO parts in my scrap box.
Continuing the Thunder Mesa tradition of naming locomotives after Disney Imagineers, animators and others who played a big role in Disneyland's development, the new Porter is named in honor of Admiral Joe Fowler. This was the man Walt Disney put in charge of Disneyland's construction, and who stayed on as general manager of the park for its first decade.
The Admiral Fowler has an unusual crew. The engineer is none other than local legend Chuckwalla Slim, and the fireman is his trusty dog, Sparky. Both figures were painted by my friend, the late Verne Niner, and the locomotive bears the number 9 in his honor. The TMMC has yet to acquire a #8.
Cattle Cars
The new track plan calls for some larger stock pens at Thunder Mesa and that means I'll need some livestock cars. The TMMC doesn't own any itself, but it does interchange with the parent Santa Fe, Denver & Carolwood and that line does run some cattle cars. To represent some of that interchange traffic, I've repainted and weathered a couple of old Bachmann cars for now.
Livestock car #59 belongs to the Mescal Lines Ry. Disney Imagineer and well known model railroad author John Olson built his HOn3 Mescal Lines in the early 1980s, and my TMMC owes a very large creative debt to that landmark model railroad.
Car 201 is lettered for the TMMC's parent road, the Santa Fe, Denver & Carolwood. The SFD&C is roughly based upon the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad so it seemed appropriate that their cattle cars should bear the same numbering as the original Retlaw 2 cars at Disneyland.
Out with the On18 "mini-layout" and in With a Reverse Loop at Calico
The plans for Calico have probably changed more than anything else on the layout. Earlier this year I decided to nix the idea for a mini On18 Calico layout in favor of a reverse loop and a mainline stop at the town of Calico itself. I concluded that the space could be much better used for a second town to act as the far end of the line from Thunder Mesa. This decision also meant that the steep grade up to Big Thunder Mine would have to go, and that the village of San Lorenzo could be incorporated into Thunder Mesa town as Verne Niner had once suggested. But don't despair On18 fans! If you take a close look at the plan above, you'll see that the old Big Thunder high-line will now be an On18 mining tram bringing ore to the bins at Calico.
Quick thumbnail sketch for the grade changes at Calico.
Out with the old...
...And in with the new.
The reverse loop is controlled by an MRC DCC auto reverse module hidden below decks.
San Lorenzo Merges With Thunder Mesa Town
Before his untimely passing late last year, Verne Niner and I discussed several different options for integrating his award winning San Lorenzo diorama into the layout. One thing he had suggested was making San Lorenzo the "Old Spanish" section of town. I immediately liked that idea since it implied a long and rich history for the town. It's something you see a lot in the older towns of the Desert Southwest, where Native American, Spanish, and Anglo cultures all come together and overlap. Still, I was hesitant to alter Verne's beautiful diorama until I came up with the new operating scheme placing Calico at one end of the line and Thunder Mesa at the other. Now there was no reason (or room) for a third town on the layout and I found myself thinking back to our early conversations. The decision made, I carefully disassembled the diorama, cataloging everything in pictures, and managed to save every last detail except for the bead-board foam base. In their new placement, the adobe structures have a somewhat different orientation, but their positions from left to right are the same. Several of the structures also have new foundations at differing heights to better compliment Thunder Mesa's boomtown aesthetic. Adding lighting to the structures was always on my to-do list and this move seemed a logical time to also move forward with that project.
The San Lorenzo structures in their new locations as the Old Spanish section of Thunder Mesa. Disneyphiles may also notice that this arrangement mimics the orientation of Rainbow Ridge to the early California flavored area of Zocalo Park at Disneyland (former location of Mineral Hall and Casa de Fritos). This is no accident and the fountain area here is now called "Zocalo Plaza."
LED lighting has been added to the jail.
The Mercantile has also received LED lighting, along with some new signage and a wooden front porch.
One more thing that remains intact from the original diorama is the Pricom Dreamplayer sound system. The mission bells ring, chickens cluck, horses whinny, and the angry banditos still threaten the pig bathing in the fountain. It's a wonderful scene, and I think fondly of Verne every time I look at it.
New Rockwork, boardwalks and Retaining Walls
With the San Lorenzo structures becoming part of Thunder Mesa, it seemed like a good time to tackle some of the scenery work around town too. The new rockwork that forms a backdrop for the town was built and finished with the same techniques I've been describing in the step-by-step build of Horse Thief Canyon. With the rock and paint work done, I've since moved on to building all of the retaining walls, board sidewalks, and steps through town.
The rockwork behind town was built up with carved layers of extruded polystyrene foam. The layers were then blended together with spackling compound and Sculptamold.
Once the sculpt is complete, the rocks are painted with latex and acrylic paints. Here I'm applying a wash of diluted black to darken the cracks and crevices.
After final paint and with a backdrop in place the scene starts to come together. This new promontory above town is called Castle Rock. Just below that is Injun Joe's Cave, where, as legend has it, lost Spanish gold is still waiting to be discovered.
Here's an overhead view of the new board sidewalks and retaining walls built in town.
And a view from the depot platform. The timber retaining walls help to separate the depot scene from the town beyond. One by one, each of the paper and cardstock mock-ups in town are being replaced by fully detailed models. It would be much more difficult to plan a scene like this without them. The Marshal's Office will likely be my next structure project.
A quiet night in Thunder Mesa Town. Soon, ground cover, weeds, and other details will be added to further enhance this scene.
Engine Service Area
With the San Lorenzo structures moved to the other side of the tracks, that freed up their former location for an expanded engine service area with much improved access. The centerpiece of this scene will be one of the excellent turntables from Kitwood Hill Models. I'll be building the 9" gallows turntable here, and when completed it will allow the layout to operated in a point-to-point scheme between Thunder Mesa and the reverse loop at Calico.
The new engine service area and an inset of the Kitwood Hills Model turntable. Can't wait to get started on this terrific kit!
Horse Thief Canyon
Meanwhile, progress also continues a-pace at Horse Thief Canyon. I'll continue to update the build of this scenic slot canyon in its own step-by-step series.
Horse Thief Canyon - nearly 75' deep below track level. The mainline will cross here on a classic deck-truss bridge.
Effects Control Panel
Each section of the layout will eventually have its own small panel for controlling lights, sound effects, music, and animation. The first such panel is now complete for the Thunder Mesa section.
This small panel was built into the layout fascia on the Thunder Mesa section. The panel face was created in Photoshop, printed on cardstock and laminated with a matte finish clear acrylic. This was then affixed to 1/8" thick masonite. The functions are controlled by simple SPST on/off switches, and a green LED indicates power. All of the effects on Thunder Mesa run on a 9 volt DC system.
Frontierland Music Loop
Every land at a Disney park has its very own soundtrack, usually a one hour music loop that helps to reinforce the land's theme and further immerse guests in the experience. I've always enjoyed the music played in Frontierland and thought it would be a kick to add it to the railroad. I put together my own extended loop that also includes music from the Big Thunder queue and Big Thunder Ranch (now gone!). The music is provided by an inexpensive MP3 player and piped in through speakers hidden under the layout.
What's Next
The first 3 months of 2016 have been a very busy time on the railroad but with each project completed I see three more that still need doing. Coming soon will be new structures for Thunder Mesa Town, ore bins for the On18 line in Calico, a build of my Kitwood Hill Models 9" gallows turntable (can't wait to get started on that one!), some new scenery and effects for Rainbow Caverns, a backdrop to install, and Horse Thief Canyon to finish. All that and more should keep me busy through the end of the year.
A look ahead at the future through the magic of Photoshop. This is the view standing in Coyote Canyon and looking toward Big Thunder Mine and Rainbow Caverns. Horse Thief Canyon is at left and Dinosaur Gap is on the right. The Indian Pueblos will be right about where the thunder storm is on the backdrop. I've also imagined some black drop curtains down below the fascia to give things a more finished look.
Though work on the layout has been steady, I haven't had the time to update this blog as often as in the past. Going forward, look for more long posts like this one to come out every few weeks or so, and for more frequent posts (sometimes several a day!), head on over to Facebook and follow the Thunder Mesa page there. As always, questions and comments are welcome below. Thanks for checking in, amigos. Adios for now!
As 2015 draws to a close, it's only natural to look back at what was accomplished in the past year and to think about all that still needs to be done. The TMMC has come a long way this year, with the entire mainline now complete through the expansion areas, a more logical layout for the town, and scenic work well underway in Rainbow Caverns and Hanging Rock. Still, there's much yet to be done. So many projects in fact that at times it can be a little overwhelming and I start to wonder if maybe I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Thunder Mesa isn't really a very big model railroad, but the high level of detail, scratchbuilt structures, animation and lighting effects means that progress can be rather slow at times. Still, my enthusiasm for the project remains high, and there are a number of projects that I'm looking forward to tackling in the new year.
So, without further ado, here's a look ahead at some of the TMMC's "unfinished business" that I'd like to get done in 2016.
Geyser Gulch
This lone, temporary trestle bent has been standing in for a real bridge over Geyser Gulch for longer than I care to admit. I've drawn up plans for the bridge, purchased materials, and even figured out a way to make "Old Unfaithful" geyser erupt in the background. I just need to make time to finally finish this signature scene.
Thunder Mesa Mill
Just to the right of Big Thunder Creek stands this paper mock-up of Thunder Mesa Mill, based loosely on the boarding area structure for Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland. This is where all of the ore from the mines at Calico and Big Thunder Camp gets processed before being shipped out to the wider world. As such, it's pretty important to the economic lifeblood of the railroad. It's also a signature scene that really helps to establish the story of the railroad. Replacing this mock-up with a fully detailed, scratchbuilt structure is high on my list of priorities for the new year.
The Backdrop
Don't be fooled by the pretty photos I post, most of the walls around the TMMC layout are still embarrassingly bare. I've been using temporary backdrops for most photos and Photoshop composites for the really arty ones. But help is on the way. The above image is a low-res version of a digital painting I created that will be printed upon 3oz vinyl scrim and then affixed to the layout room walls. This will give me a seamless sky backdrop that wraps around three sides of the layout. Landscape features like distant buttes and mesas will then be painted on 1/8" hardboard and mounted between the 3-D layout scenery and the sky backdrop. This should make for some dramatic scenes that look like they go on forever.
Thunder Mesa Town
Hoo-boy, there's loads to do here. Other than the depot and Big Thunder Saloon, nearly everything in town is still in the paper model mock-up stage. As usual, I'll have to take it one structure at a time and finish what I can. It's highly doubtful that I'll get all those little building done in the coming year, but I would like to make a good start on the scenery and ground cover and then tackle as many of them as I can. We'll see what happens.
Turntable and Engine House
Well, at least the water tank is finished (but that might be moving to Hanging Rock). The current turntable here is unpowered and a hold-over from an earlier version of the railroad. I'd like to replace it this year with one of the fine A-frame TT's from Kitwood Hill Models. The engine house is planned as a white-plastered stone structure to harmonize with the adobe structures of nearby San Lorenzo. Time will tell if that plan pans out or I decide to go with something else. Obviously, the turntable approach track and engine house tracks are waiting for more permanent structures to be built. All of the track in this area needs paint, ballast and final detailing.
Rainbow Caverns and Big Thunder Camp
These two go together because one sits right on top of the other. I've made some good progress on the interior of Rainbow Caverns this year, but as you can see the exterior scenery is still far from finished. I'd like to finish the rest of the interior scenes this coming year and complete the rockwork cave openings on the exterior. As for Big Thunder Camp, it's planned as a major mining scene with several scratchbuilt structures. Sounds like a good candidate for my 2017 list. In 2016, I'll be happy to get the final track laid up there and all the wiring done for the lighting and animation to come.
Natural Arch Bridge
This is the connecting bit of scenery between Hanging Rock on the left and Rainbow Caverns on the right. It shouldn't take very long to finish up this scene once the branchline track to Big Thunder Camp is laid across the top of the bridge.
Hanging Rock
This scene is still a little less than half finished, mostly because the plans are not yet 100% firm in my mind. Olson & Furlow's place still needs LED lighting installed and a few more outlaw figures. A small depot made from an old combine car is planned for the near side of the tracks, while an ore tipple, shack and water tank will probably be against the cliffs on the other side. There's much more rockwork to be finished and a couple of tunnel portals to detail too. The tunnel interiors will be a project all their own.
Calico
Last but not least is the portable On18 Calico mini-layout that so far exists only in the planning stages. This almost qualifies as a substantial model railroad project all on its own and I could probably spend most of 2016 working on it and nothing else. The latest plan, shown above, is slightly simplified from the earlier figure eight scheme proposed. It hews a little closer to the Knott's Berry Farm inspiration now while promising to be easier to operate. My tests with N scale/On18 mechanisms told me that they didn't much like the 6% grade I had in mind before. This flat, simple loop now gives me room for an underground "Glory Hole" mining scene and some animated blasting on the other end. I have no illusions about finishing Calico in the coming year, but I would very much like to make a good start on it and at least get some On18 equipment running. Once again, time will tell.
To 2016 and Beyond
Once again I would like to give my sincere thanks to everyone who has been following along with my modeling efforts on the TMMC. You guys are the best and I'm just getting started. I wish each of you all the blessings of the season, a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. Feliz Navidad, amigos! Adios for now.
Verne Niner's Gazette Award winning San Lorenzo diorama has arrived at its new home in Thunder Mesa Country! The 18"x30" scene fits snugly into a new corner of the layout and will represent one end of the line in operations.
Back in October of last year, my friend Verne Niner announced that he would be dismantling his legendary Estrella & Sonora Grande layoutin order to move on to new projects. When he began to sell off the structures and equipment, I was lucky enough to call dibs on his wonderful San Lorenzo Village diorama. After months of planning, and a couple furious weeks of benchwork construction, I'm happy to report that the sleepy border town of San Lorenzo has been safely settled into its new home. The village now resides in a corner of the layout room on its own custom-built layout section. Physically, it's just down the aisle from Thunder Mesa town, but in operations, it will represent the far end of the railroad.
Here's an overhead view of the new 48"x66" San Lorenzo section. This piece of benchwork acts as a literal bridge between the central Thunder Mesa section and the Hanging Rock and Calico sections along the wall. Changes always happen during construction and I've altered the plan somewhat by changing the orientation of San Lorenzo. Now the track enters the village from the opposite direction via a wye, a much more logical arrangement if this is meant to represent the "far end of the line." This change also allows for the San Lorenzo track to connect to a narrow staging shelf that will be built along the wall. What I'll lose in aisle width should be more than made up for in enhanced operations.
This section of benchwork will also house a large chunk of Rainbow Caverns. The foreground track will curve through three cavern scenes before emerging at Hanging Rock.
Here the existing layout joins the new benchwork and the new route through Rainbow Caverns. Passing trains will be viewed through rugged cave openings and the largest scene will feature some dramatic subterranean waterfalls.
I use what I call the "box and stilts" method for building benchwork. Basically, that consists of a box-girder frame made from 1"x4" lumber and 1/2" plywood subroadbed atop 1"x3" risers or "stilts." Here, the subroadbed top has been cut out and positioned but risers have yet to be added. I find this to be a simple, flexible, and somewhat economical method that has served my needs well on a number of projects.
I cut the 1/2" plywood to size and then layout the track centerlines with a straightedge, bar compass, and actual track components like turnouts. Then, allowing at least1.5 to 2 inches on either side of the track centerline, I cut everything out with a jigsaw.
Here's the San Lorenzo depot area before cork roadbed and track were laid. The airspace between the roadbed and the box-frame makes it easier to add scenery below track level. Everything is held together with drywall screws.
That should bring everything up to date for this week. Now I'm just waiting for some more Peco On30 track components to arrive so I can finish up this section and get everything wired. As always, questions or comments are welcome below. Thanks for checking in, amigos, Adios for now!
All those shots of bare plywood benchwork can get a little tedious so here's some eye-candy. In addition to San Lorenzo Village, the TMMC also acquired E&SG Porter #3, the Rattler, along with Lytum & Hyde Explosives Co. boxcar #66 (I designed the decals and Verne Niner painted and detailed the Bachmann car). With its handsome red livery, the TMMC shop crews may never get around to repainting the three spot.
A train snakes its way through Dinosaur Gap on a moonlit night.
My good intentions for posting a new weekly update every Monday were thwarted last week by a total hard-drive melt down. The good news is that all my data was saved and things are now back to normal. Meanwhile, it's been a busy couple of weeks in Thunder Mesa country with many projects moving along toward completion. Expansion progress continues, Rainbow Caverns are beginning to take shape, a new turntable has appeared in Thunder Mesa, the town itself has relocated and expanded, and work has begun on a small depot.
Expansion Progress
Track has been laid on the new layout sections and I'm finally able to run trains again! Much work is still needed on the Calico corner section but the main loop around and through Thunder Mesa is now complete.
Testing a train on the new loop section. Everything works! I'm using Peco On30 flex-track and turnouts throughout the layout. It doesn't have the finer scale appearance of Micro Engineering track, but it operates flawlessly.
The hidden wye within Rainbow Caverns. The unfinished foreground track will go to the new Calico section and "points beyond." I lay my track on Midwest HO scale cork roadbed using contact cement and rail spikes here and there as needed.
No track yet on the Calico section. I'm having second thoughts about the track arrangement here and how it will lead into the next section. Plans are still up in the air and I might change the route before laying down the track.
Rainbow Caverns
With the new loop completed I was able to rough in the area that will become Rainbow Caverns. The caverns will be filled with cool lighting and artificial water affects and should become a real focal point of the layout. The trickiest part so far has been planning for and hiding the necessary access to reach trains and track when the need arises.
The canyon wall on the backside of Thunder Mesa roughed in with 1" Polystyrene foam. The cave-like openings will be viewing windows into Rainbow Caverns. The pink foam is carved to shape with a hot wire cutter.
Closer look at the cave opening. Not much to see here yet. The interior has been painted flat black.
A large piece of the cliff-face is removable to provide access to the Caverns. The removable section is at left. Most of the town now also sits atop a removable foam access hatch.
The Caverns will are being built as a series of shadow-box like vignettes that the trains will pass through. The first two scenes will be reminiscent of great limestone caverns like Carlsbad or Mammoth Cave, and the third will be a major underground mining scene like the famous "Glory Hole" on Knott's Calico Mine Ride. The mine scene will tie into the On18 Calico Gold Mine Diorama to be built above the new Calico section.
A Turntable for Thunder Mesa
The new track plan calls for a 36' turntable at Thunder Mesa. This will be vital to operations as it not only provides a way to turn trains, but also acts as a switch, enabling the locomotive to run around its train. I first saw this type of track arrangement on John Allen's HOn3 Devil's Gulch and Hellengone and always though it a perfect solution for a narrow gauge railroad built in a tight space.
36' turntable at Thunder Mesa. Note the timber cribbing retaining wall around the back of the TT.
I started with a Walther's 120' N scale manual turntable. Sorry to say I cannot really recommend this kit. The castings are very rough and covered with flash and the instructions are a joke. I used it because the pit is the right size and I had it lying around from my old N scale days.
Once the pit is painted and weathered it doesn't look too bad. I painted it with Krylon flat Grey Primer and a light overspray of Krylon light tan for a nice concrete color. The pit rails was painted with rust colored acrylics and the weathering is done with colored chalks. I drew "cracks" into the concrete with a hard lead pencil and then punched them up here and there with a fine point Sharpie.
I built an On30 bridge on top of the N scale girders using scale 6"x8"x8' ties stained with a combination of Minwax Dark Walnut and Early American. I use the Minwax touch-up stain pens to stain most of my wood.
I laid out the rails using a length of Peco On30 flex-track - keeping a few ties on at each end helps to keep thing in gauge. The rail was then spiked down with medium rail spikes from Micro Mark; a good match for the cast in spike detail on Peco track. The rails were painted using Floquil paint markers Rail Brown and Rust. Feeder wires were also soldered to the underside of each rail at this time. The wires extend through the center of the bridge and will connect to a DCC auto reversing unite below the layout.
The rails were trimmed to length and aligned with the approach track on the layout before final spiking. Scale 6"x6" guard timbers were added along the ends of ties along with 1"x12" catwalks on each side. Grandt Line nut, bolt, washer castings finish the bridge.
Finally, the turntable was leveled and shimmed to meet up perfectly with the approach track. Just waiting on delivery of an MRC auto-reversing unit to complete the wiring. The turntable is not motored but I'm engineering a simple gear assembly to manually turn it from the layout fascia.
Moving the Town
Once I started roughing in the scenery around the turntable area it became apparent that there would be much more room for the little mining town than there had been when it was squeezed in behind and above the Big Thunder Mill. The original plan for this area called for a mine of some kind, but that will now be located more logically closer to the mill, while the town will be more fully fleshed out and expanded in the area above the tunnel.
The little mining town of Thunder Mesa. Most of the buildings here are temporary paper-models based on the original Rainbow Ridge structures at Big Thunder Mountain in Disneyland. These quick and easy mock-ups are very helpful when layout out a scene like this. The amphitheater looking area behind the turntable will be detailed with rock-work and timber-cribbing retaining walls. This was a neat detail on Malcolm Furlow's HOn3 Denver & Rio Chama Western that I always really liked and wanted to emulate. To the left of the turntable will be a steep, switchbacking road up to the mesa top.
Thunder Mesa Depot
Since, in my world, the Big Thunder Mill is used to process ore rather than load tourists as it does at Disneyland, I knew that some kind of small depot would be needed for the scenic excursion trains. This depot will be the first actual structure built for the layout (other than bridges) and should make for an interesting and detailed foreground scene. The depot building itself will be tiny, with a footprint of just 10'x16' - really not much more than a ticket office and small covered waiting area. The platform will be bigger however, about 50' long by 20' at its widest. Here's how I built the platform:
The first step was to create some new real estate for the depot along the layout's front edge. This 24"x7" bump-out is the same width as the existing "coffee-shelf" and so adds nothing to the overall footprint of the layout. Some stock pens are also planned for next to the depot.
I want a strong a durable base for my structure so I'm using 1/4" MDF. Here is is cut to the basic shape of the platform.
The 1/4" thickness of the MDF is perfect for simulating the look of scale 12"x12" timbers. I dragged the blade of a razor saw along the edges to simulate woodgrain and used a utility knife to carve lines, simulating the ends of 12' long timbers.
Once stained with Minwax Dark Walnut and Early American, the MDF is very difficult to tell from dimensional strip-wood.
Laying out lines every 1/4" for the scale 1"x12" decking. This will help keep things straight.
The decking in place. The white square is a piece of illustration board glued to the MDF for the ticket office footprint. The actual floor will be built on top of this.
I used a hard 5H pencil to press nail holes into the decking.
Weathering done with colored chalks. This would be harder to do once the structure is attached.
Checking the fit on the layout.
Here's a preview of the depot itself. I laid out the basic shape and built a card-stock mock-up to test clearances etc. This will act as my plan for building the actual structure.
Okay! That's about it for this week. Be sure to check back next Monday for the next update on these and many other projects. (God willing and the computer don't crash!)
