First look at the car float

Working up ideas for how the car float will sit in Portland. Each has a benefit that needs to be looked at for which will work the beat.

This one has a better angle for the connection to the siding.

This one has the opportunity to place the holding yard in the front or behind the boat.

Portland progress

It s time to change Portland. It will be the last major construction on the layout. I do not want to cancel a session, so I try to do as much as I can before tearing up the actual layout. In this case it was just easier to "go for it" and hope for the best.

 In the first picture you can see all of the old Code 100 track is now gone and I'm working on cleaning up where new roadbed will go.

I have now added the new benchwork table top where the return loop used to be and started gluing down the roadbed for the mainline and two sidings. In the fore ground is the location of the car float.

I Guess I Need a Slogan

With the change of name I'll need to figure out a slogan for the initials CBN or CBNR.

The old initials had a decent one. BRWM - "Best Ride Within Maine"

CBN Herald and Decals

I made a slight modification to the previously posted heralds. It's color comes in between the two earlier ones and more correctly matches the CMQ herald color

I also found the CMQ decals and the correct paint colors at Highball Graphics. Since most of the decal is here maybe getting the herald and road name printed won't be so bad.

The paint scheme looks like this.

I

They suggest Tru Color TCP-84 Maersk Blue and TCP-121 Mo PAC Eagle Gray.

I have ordered the decals and will get the paint soon. I guess learning how to paint and decal is finally rising to the top of my list.

Name Change is Back

Along time ago I was looking into a name change. The original name didn't fit anymore. I also had a hard time trying to make a good logo. One reason was the long Name. I brought it up about a year and half ago, with some possible changes. Since that time I saw pictures of the Central Maine & Quebec Railroad. I liked their logo and paint scheme a lot. I also have always liked the Belfast and Moosehead Railroad name. It runs out they both have a moose in their logo.

The name I had always leaned toward was Casco Bay Northen, which pretty much covers the area I'm modeling.

So I break out Photoshop and try to relearn how to do things. The first try was to modify the BML to colors that matched an engine picture I had and make the Moose a single color like the CMQ.

Then I changed the Moose to black. And even tried a black outline.

Then I brought back the original colors of the Moose.

Then I modified the colors to bett match the CMQ logo colors. I also tried a darker gray, but you couldn't see the name real good. Depending on the light in the picture the engine seems to change colors somewhat.

I'm leaning toward the lighter blue and the Moose with the shading, but I may have to try other colors first.

I also have all of the other names that was mentioned earlier in the photoshop version of this picture, but they are hidden for now. 

Plans for Portland

Here are plans for Portland. The top part of the plan is very similar to what is already in place. Everything to the front is new. I hope to make Portland a lot more water front. This will include the barge (car float) and hopefully three other wharf areas.

I did a preliminary set up and all looks good, but things might change a little as I get started. My biggest worry would be over loading Brunswick yard. At the moment I'm using the old sawmill tracks as a temporary barge. It doesn't do justice to the real thing, but I get a feel for what will happen to the yard. 

Since I made all the changes to the upper and lower level, I added about 25 cars to the layout. The good news is that at least half won't get into Brunswick. So maybe it won't be a problem.

Car Float Will Happen

I decide to go,with the car float, so here is the car float under construction. 

It was suggested that I should use metal rails instead of the provided plastic rails. It was a slight pain to do that, but the results are definitely better. I also started the car float apron to make sure that the change of rails wouldn't mess me up.