CCMR Layout Update #11: Signs of the Times

[@jeffherdz]

LOL !! It looks like the seagulls had a thing or two to say about his Sox's cap and took it out on the windshield of that work truck. And now I have "Turn the page" playing in my head ....thanks !! LOL ....Big Seger fan.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

I’ve got Old Time Rock n Roll in my head every time I look at that bar.

[@melkitson]

Your attention to detail is phenomenal. You really do inspire me to open my eyes when I am out and about to spot things that I can do on my layout to create more realism. Very impressed with your gulls. I have reached an age, 70, where I really struggle painting my figures and tiny details in N scale.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Thanks Mel, it isn’t always easy on the eyes I agree!

[@JasonJensenTrains]

Your work is incredible! Your KZbin channel actually inspired me to start my own N scale layout. I’m always inspired by your videos!

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Jason - that's wonderful to hear. I've been watching your channel for years and implementing what I've learned on the layout. Really glad to have offered something back. - Eric

[@brooklyngraham1151]

Seeing what you’re doing on Chicago Crossing is always an inspiration. I’m sure that the majority of subscribers to this channel are ‘N-scalers’ themselves, or at least considering it, so we all know the challenges of fine detail on so small a scale. I’ve just started ‘dirtying up’ some of the urban areas of my layout, and it’s amazing just how time consuming all those little details are. Thanks for sharing your progress.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Absolutely! I find it's at least as fun as running trains, though making those boxes becomes tedious after a while...

[@AModelRailroadNewbie]

Wow, your ability to paint the fine detail in n scale is amazing. I have trouble painting the tires on fire trucks and you paint a Sox logo on a cap..... Great job..

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

very tiny brushes!! Also - wheels and tires are kind of a pain in the ass, usually I have to revise a little too.

[@kahunatiki6498]

Excellent update and the details/detail work is outstanding. Caught the Celozzi/Ettelson billboard signage “At York and Roosevelt Rd….. Where you always save more money!” 👍👍👍 Have a great February! Scott

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Thanks Scott - I couldn't pass up the opportunity :). Still need to make a billboard for Victory Auto Wreckers...

[@kahunatiki6498]

@@ChicagoCrossingRR in case you didn’t know, after decades Victory recently closed.

[@KSRailfan]

Hah, that’s incredible! I missed that at first and had to go back and find it. An absolute classic of Chicagoland advertising!

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

@@kahunatiki6498 well shoot - all the more reason to memorialize that commercial on a billboard :)

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

@@KSRailfan yeah it's a sort of Chicago-specific 'easter egg' detail along with the Tom Skilling WGN billboard. I've never been able to find a prototype photo of either from back in the 1990s (makes sense, no digital photography back then so why waste film on a billboard!), which actually adds to the fun of making something that seems plausible.

[@conrailfan6277]

Nice update, your scenery is awesome for N Scale, I'm so used to HO scale after 40 years of being in that scale I'm definitely going to need a magnifier!! 🤣🤣🤣 As a Trucker I can also say your Industrial scenes are spot on too, for the past 20 years as a truck driver I've kept a notebook so while I'm sitting in a dock I can jot down interesting buildings, rail sidings and the various structures and equipment around the area, I used to pickup at a plastics factory and the dock guys let me check out the covered hopper silos and loading, unloading equipment there, very cool!!

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Thanks much! That notebook you kept is probably a really great resource for the model railroading community - awesome that you did that!

[@conrailfan6277]

@ChicagoCrossingRR Yes, my new route now has me going from Anderson Indiana to Madison Alabama to deliver Toyota parts to the assembly plant, there I get a real close up view of New cars being loaded onto auto racks and then the loaded string being taken over to the interchange siding for NS to pickup, that is the same line that goes to the Huntsville intermodal terminal, that place is MASSIVE!!!!!👍👍👍👍

[@conrailfan6277]

@ChicagoCrossingRR I'm bummed some today, the Train show was at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis this weekend and I couldn't get down there, I want to start building a unit coal train for Conrail and it's hit or miss right now on N Scale Conrail equipment!!

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

@@conrailfan6277 I'd bet! I've seen some of the auto terminals in the southeast where they get loaded/unloaded onto ships. Crazy operations.

[@rockingtr1]

Zephyr will always remind me of the museum so it belongs here. Looks like home!

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

For sure. The Museum of Science and Industry was pretty much my favorite place in the city (and the drive through all the industrial stuff along I-55 was an extra treat)

[@georgiasunbelt]

Always take note of the many details you add to your scenes…great work 👍🏽

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Thank you!

[@chicagolandrailroader]

Really good scenes and attention ti detail. Thanks!

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

For sure, thank you!

[@wilzdart]

Your eye for detail is great, I paint my N scale figures I gave up on paint brushes. I first AB the figure with flesh colored primer, then use long party tooth picks that I sharpen and for fine work I use different sizes of sewing needles. I did find that on truck tires I really like the Tamiya Rubber Black paint. Like the sign a lot.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Thanks Will - that's an interesting technique for sure!

[@minutemanmac]

Looking good. I really like all thr clutter

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Me too, it's a lot of fun for days where I don't quite feel ready to commit to making 'big' scenery adjustments or builds.

[@genej43]

Excellent detail work.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Thank you Gene!

[@davidchang7838]

Thanks for the update. The layout is looking great. How about a few 55 gallon drums / old tires / broken pallets / other junk at the end of the dead spur where the trackmobile is parked. It's a community dumping ground, right, lol? The plant growth is very impressive.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Absolutely David - probably would be a place to contain refuse from the railroad operation over there. I've got some study to do on other abandoned spurs to make sure I get it right :)

[@tczephyr3665]

😂Just when I was getting ready to ask about my beloved White Sox neglect, the guy with the Sox hat showed up 👍👍. A good start.😊 Also, I really loved the Zephyr. Looks like it might be an early Denver Zephyr

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Happy to abide! That zephyr model is of a train that never ran in Illinois but it sure looks the part.

[@pauljensen5699]

Rational logic- The 20th Century Railroad Club is doing an excursion train out of the museum in Union, Illinois to the lake on the C&NW. The Amazon box is from a wayward time traveler using a broken time machine. The time traveler is looking for spare parts at a local Radio Shack. 😂 Now you have an explanation and an excuse for another business on your layout. 😊

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Ha, maybe when I renovate that suburban commercial building, the one side will end up as such :)

[@zmanindy]

thanks for sharing

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

You're welcome and thanks for watching!

[@timkovalick8736]

The Zephyr ran on the CB&Q from Chicago to Denver, The DRG&W from Denver to Salt Lake City and final leg was on the WP to Oakland. So it is prototypical to your layout.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Thanks Tim - the Silver Streak prototype here ran between Lincoln and KC, but it's all good - these ran everywhere on the old CB&Q and pretty much looked the same. Looks totally at home in Chicago :)

[@PennCentral99]

Nice, thanks for the update

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

You bet, thanks for supporting the channel!

[@khyronthethunderhawg6577]

You have captured the look of Chicago perfectly! The Old Style sign are everywhere on all the bars. Don't worry about the Sox fan. My family are all North-sideres/Cubs fans, except for my Uncle, the lone Sox fan. He'll be fine. ;) I can find all these scenes around Chi-town. How did you get the building printed? I have my grandparents place on Fullerton that I would like to get done. Thanks!

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

I lived in a divided loyalty Cubs/Sox household so I get it :). I'd found a vendor on Shapeways who generated the prints from photos I sent. I don't see that shop up there anymore which is too bad - unfortunately I've not learned how to take these buildings and digitize them.

[@khyronthethunderhawg6577]

Thanks! If I find a vendor, I'll pass it on. Also, you need to add a Lou Malnati's Pizzeria. Or with your timeframe, maybe an Edwardo's Pizza.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

@@khyronthethunderhawg6577 I love Lou Malnati's. If I ever add a pizzeria the main criterion would be that it's proper tavern style stuff. Thin crust cut into squares, cheese and sausage, that's it.

[@RailroadGuy49]

Once again sir, I am astonished and amazed at the wonderful detail that you put into this. Quick question, is that bug spatter on the windshield of that white pickup truck that the worker is leaning on? I look forward to your posts! John (aka RailroadDude).

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Thanks John. I love that you see it as bug spatter - I suspect it's just dust accumulated on a tiny model, but maybe now I"ll actually leave it there!

[@chrisbarr1359]

I saw a nice technique for making windshield wiper marks. Mask the area that the wipers would clean, very lightly spray a thin wash to make the window look dirty and remove the masking tape.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

@@chrisbarr1359 the utility truck does need some weathering...

[@Ferrocarril_Chicago]

Do you have plans to feature some infrastructure from the Southeast Side such as the Skyway bridge and some of the bridges over the Calumet River such as 95th Street and Torrence Avenue? Those would be some really cool things to see.

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

I've been tempted to remove the tunnel on the right-hand side and replace it with a portion of the Skyway as the overhead cover - so we'll see. The background offers some really interesting opportunities to incorporate those elements, however. I do think about including that row of vertical lift bridges that from the layout's point of view would sit to the upper right behind the Skyway as a background element.

[@Ferrocarril_Chicago]

@@ChicagoCrossingRR Are your lift bridges custom or do you buy them 3D printed or as kits?

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

@@Ferrocarril_Chicago those are custom builds (save for the rolling bascule in the front, which is an OLD kit). I should note that I didn't build them either. Those are 2-3 levels of skill above what I possess. I recall there was a guy on the internet who did a lot of custom bridge builds for N scale.

[@danielfantino1714]

Of course Zephyr had to pass here. Since big flood in downtown, tracks are under water. In the old days, before river was reversed, when it was a big sewer, Chicago´s low land (read swamp) was often flooded. The solution was to lift manually buildings, big bricks buildings a good 8 to 10 feet, and add soil. Some houses have not been lifted. That would have been an incredible detail, story telling, to have one with ground floor at basement level. Not so many peoples are probably aware of that historic detail. If sometimes you hit a blank, not knowing what to add or change, why not do some story telling like in the evening news or news papers. Like where your dock stone wall is damaged. An "old" photo, slightly fuzzy black & white or color taken (Polaroid, Instamatic, Kodak), then a barge run away that hit & damaged the wall. Sort of close up of part of barge against broken wall that local journalist took and years later (now) the wall never repaired with grown up vegetation. Or some industrys that changed name and vocation. Now a bakery but X many years ago it was flour mill with boxcars full of grain, now coveted hopper...etc . You can edit that story, or use them in sort of scrapbook. A day in the life of that Chicago´s history....i know, just an other silly idea...

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

A big part of the fun of this layout (and any layout that aims toward being one or more dioramas) is the ability to tell stories and provide clues to the viewer that communicate that story. It's why I've enjoyed working on signage so much - it can really anchor time and place together, even if the models aren't exact versions (like the laundromat building).

[@RailroadGuy49]

Great! Either that or pigeon poop! 😂

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

You know, on the sides of my buildings there's no doubt I should be adding bird poop!

[@randysrockandrollrailroad8207]

👍 🤠👍

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Thank you!

[@danielfantino1714]

About that Amazon smile....if we hope to one day "finish" our layout, we must put a temporary brake on historical research. Cause it´s never ending. That style and colors of post office mail box where in use from when to when ? On your downtown layout, did before almost everyone had phone, did on hydropole were installed alarm to warn fire department that there is a fire. If so which style and color ? Your moding 1956, what style was used on street name sign ? And bus stop ? Was street parking in parallel or diagonal (street widht is a clue). That street was one way or two ? Did railroad crossing crossbucks where the same as today ? And sometimes some anachronism survive, like old style gaz station that sold gaz and do (or don´t do anymore car repair) they´re not all transformed in mini mart... It´s easier for some details to be generic. Your fried chicken restaurant "The happy chick" can look anything, but a KFC with its turning incline illuminated barrel appeared when ? Is it still in use now ?.... Well you got the point....

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Heh, for sure. Every layout is essentially a work of fiction, and I'm okay with that :)

[@RichB0330]

seagulls flying rats

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Pretty much!! Of course when I was a little kid i remember my dad 'rescuing' a gull up in Wisconsin by removing a fish hook from its beak.

[@KingTrump2024]

You forgot homeless camps, and all the shootings !

[@ChicagoCrossingRR]

Meh. It's a model railroad, not a political statement.