For the layout addition portion of the challenge I am going to working on the Bridges Area of the Layout.

I want to accomplish the following:
Layout down the roadway and sidewalks.
Place the roadway tunnel portal.
Place the pedestrian tunnel portals.
Place the retaining walls.
Fill in behind the bridge abutments and retaining walls.
Shape the terrain at the wingwalls
Scenery

It may be a little too ambitious but we will see.

HHere we have a couple of PRR U25B locomotives (Bowser Executive Line - DCC Ready) on point of a mixed freight coming through Leiperville Union Station.

Hi all, I am new here and just initiating my introduction post. I hope you will like my intro and will welcome me here. My name is Aniston and I am from the USA, I would say about my interests, I enjoy traveling, Book reading, Gardening, Cooking, and photography. These are the hobbies I like to spend my time with. I hope you guys will enjoy my interests and we will have a good quality of time discussing with each other. 

while these two are not in the box kits they are in enough pieces that it's like a kit the stock yard is something my son got in a lot he bought the ice-cream shop is something i got in a grab bad years ago time to make something useful out of them.
Jim

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this one has been on the backburner for 4 or 5 years it's about 40 precent done.
Jim

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well, it's about time to finish this one a lot of small detail is needed.
Jim

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these are the helium cars that i started about 4 years ago figured its about time to finish them.
Jim

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New Haven U25B locos (Bowser Executive Line DCC ready) roll between the Golden Canning Company and O. L. King & Sons Coal Dealer.

I've been thinking about motivation to complete some scenery on my layout when "poof!" along comes a 2024 Build Challenge.  It's kismet!

I talked about this on my layout page in the past few weeks, but for purposes of establishing the state of things for the challenge ground floor - here's the situation.

I put the rough draft of a background of the city of Hazleton, PA up behind my coal breaker back around New Year's 2024.  The thing was a pretty big "bash" project and got me thinking about what I wanted to do around the breaker.  Back in it's heyday (not necessarily the period I model when all the breaker was doing was processing strip-mined coal) the breakers around cities and towns like Hazleton, Wilkes Barre, Scranton, Pottstown, Shamokin, Mt. Carmel, etc. were the lifeblood of the town - the industries employed thousands of people and pulled the railroads in to haul their product.  The towns put up with the dirt, the grit, the poor water quality.  Some of the breakers weren't far from the hustle and bustle of town, and Hazleton was a good example of that.

So, I started exploring space claims to expand my micro version of the city and added a small addition to my layout to the left and in front of the backdrop.  Right now it's foamboard with a base of 1/4" plywood and some 1x strips for extra support and aesthetics.

   

It's 32 inches wide and ranges from 16 (extreme left) to 26 inches deep, so it's not what I'd consider a "large" area - perfect though for a contest that ends in 3 months!

There's also a pie-shaped area between the breaker and backdrop that I'll scenic at the same time that's not nearly as big, and is going to take some work to squeeze myself in there to work....  

   

I'm going to freeform this area.  No exact replica stuff planned.  However, I do plan on cramming some structures (or bits of structures).  The ones closest to the breaker will be coal related or provide services for the workers.  As you get closer to town (closer to the backdrop), there could be industries, apartment buildings, stores, etc.  Things should be linked by roadways, and there should be room for parking. 

To fit with the backdrop, the terrain should run from high near the front of the layout and downward toward the backdrop, which is an added challenge.  I also need to attempt to disguise the lack of depth available and give the illusion of more space that I actually have.

I've previously built or saved some structures that I've had in mind for Hazleton, but as you can see in the picture below, they need to be supplemented to reach my vision for the space.

   

I've already purchased a few more Clever Models kits that I think suit this build including a coal and grain elevator (which I may integrate into the breaker with an elevator into the structure):

Clever Models Paper Models for the 21st Century - Catalog Pg 17X (squarespace.com)

And, the coal dealer, which has some nice accessory pieces that should work well as a coal business for the locals:

Clever Models Paper Models for the 21st Century - Catalog Pg 08X (squarespace.com)

And, Lucky's Lunch Counter - serving the breaker employees a lunchtime:

Clever Models Paper Models for the 21st Century - Catalog Pg 14X (squarespace.com)

As I said, not plan here - it's a freelance.  I'll be building structures and playing around with how I can integrate them into the space.  It's going to be a lot of trial and error.

Hope you enjoy the ride, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the other contestants are working on!

This is a kickoff to our first challenge in a while. My goal is to take the log cabins that I built a while ago and make a historical park to place them in. I have three structures that can go there, a log cabin, a log ranger station and a two-hole outhouse. I plan on having a chain link fence, a parking area and I'm not sure if I have room for much more. Going to play it by ear as I go.