Now We're Rolling!

Ocali Creek Railway 2-6-0 number 145 speeds a train of reefers loaded with Florida citrus toward Northern markets at Christmastime.  Oranges at Christmas have become a tradition for many during this season, thanks to fast, dependable transportation provided by railroads spanning the sunshine state.  The orange and green Shepaug Valley car behind the locomotive is likely headed for Connecticut.  The Ocali Creek is a short line tapping the riches of central Florida.  This train will speed through the tall pine forests to a connection with the Florida East Coast.

Finished the Mogul to a state where I can run it for a while before adding weathering and final details.  In fact, I will likely finish the OCRY cabeese before I weather this locomotive along with the cabeese and some other too-clean rolling stock.  Neither the bell nor whistle cords have been added, and there's no coal in the tender.  That's okay as there are no handrails to pull yourself up into the cab either.  Those are the last details to add.  The railings will go on before I weather, the cords and coal after.

Note how the pure black paint obscures the details in this poor garage light.  HA.  Just kidding.  I hope this photo goes to show that a glossy black paint job looks beautiful and actually highlights the detail, most of which is molded on and not separately applied.  The poor garage light is a basic florescent shop light.  The image was captured with a digital camera set to auto ISO and a close-up macro with no flash.

What's the Intent?

One of the blogs I read from time to time is Mike Cougill's over at OST Publications.  One of his thoughtful musings published just a few hours ago as of this writing is here:

http://www.ostpubs.com/whats-the-intent/

In it, he asks the question which titles his post.  I mirrored it as the title of this post to start something.  I'm hoping that any other bloggers that read this site from time to time will take up the gauntlet and write their own "What's the Intent" post to answer the question for themselves.  (Jim?  Luke?)  Mike's focus lately has been on modeling cameo scenes as a way of advancing ideas about the artistry of the craft of model railroading.

For me, I can sum it all up in one photo and a short description:

 

McDonald, Dale M., 1949-2007. World of Motion attraction in EPCOT Center at the Walt Disney World Resort - Orlando, Florida. 1983. Color slide, . State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/101839>, accessed 18 December 2018.

This rather poor image depicts what has been called the "World's First Traffic Jam".  It's a show scene in the now-extinct World of Motion pavilion at EPCOT Center in Orlando, Florida.  This ride-through attraction showed guests a history of transportation through humorous scenes depicting advances in our mobility, and presenting future transportation possibilities.  (I recommend searching out the attraction on Youtube, as there are several decent ride-through videos you can view.  An image search for this attraction may also turn up a great shot of this scene under construction, with the study model built by Imagineers in the foreground.)

No, I'm not replicating this attraction in my garage, but taking cues from Disney's original mission for EPCOT - to Inspire, Educate and Entertain.  This attraction did that and more.  My railroad will do the same but with a much narrower focus.  It will show scenes typical of the 1920s in central Florida.  There will be humorous scenes, at least one of which will be lifted almost directly from the World of Motion.  Distinctive elements like a paper boy on the corner hawking the daily or the remnants of the horse drawn streetcar track will educate and invite any viewers to ask questions.  Creating believable, realistic scenes will also drive me further into enjoyable research.

The trains themselves will be moving elements within a three dimensional artwork, literally framed.  They will "operate" in traditional model railroad fashion, but the operational function serves the purpose of telling the story.  That story is the specific history of the land boom in 1920's Florida and how the railroads played their part in that story.

Personally, my intent is to create a slice of a world that could have been, into which I can visit and observe and interact.  I can admire this creation and relax as a train trundles through this miniature world, or I can take on the role of conductor, planning the moves to get the pickups picked up and setouts set out, then get back home in time for that new radio program.  Maybe I'll pick up the extra from the kid on the corner.  I hear Lindberg is going to try for a trans-Atlantic flight.

Mogul Update

I have been making steady progress on the IHC 2-6-0 rebuild, reaching the painting and decal stage.  Now all that's left is to wire the LEDs.  The headlight will be wired to two connector pins and the resistors will be wired in the tender, along with the rear light.  The LEDs are prewired nano LEDs from Evan Designs, set into holes drilled into cast brass light housings.

Paint is all acrylic except for the brass bits.  The graphite is a craft paint called 'tin' and the red is called 'lipstick'.  The black is BLACK - not gray, or weathered black, or black warmed with red and softened with white a la John Allen, but BLACK.  I've never been a fan of painting a locomotive any color other than what it was or is in real life.  Funnily enough, I freelance.  Still, black is black.

I got a bit of an orange peel finish on the cab roof, due to the gloss varnish not going on thick enough.  I'm not happy with the way the gloss behaved - some of the paint buckled and wrinkled, but it wasn't in a place where it will be seen.  Overall the finish is fine, but I am going to look into the Tamiya varnishes as I've heard great things about them.

Once the LEDs are wired I will reassemble the loco and add final touches like the crew, coal load and bell and whistle cords.  I have cleaned paint from the tender trucks but will run the engine on DC to turn the drivers.  Weathering is something that'll happen down the road, most likely.

BTW - my most recent post on "What Vintage" has far and away surpassed any other post I've made on this blog.  Welcome to all the new readers who came by for that post.  Stick around and check out some of the other posts and feel free to comment!

What Vintage?

     A while back I experienced the sublime joy and pleasant challenge that comes from building a craftsman kit. This was no ordinary kit – it was an HO scale model of an HO scale model – a 'tribute' kit to a box car skillfully built and whimsically lettered by John Allen of Gorre & Daphetid fame. Not only that, but this car is a throwback to earlier kit construction methods; it was made primarily of paper.

     Though the car ends, sides, roof and even the inner structure are made of paper, they were laser cut and printed. The underframe is cast resin, and details (the ones that weren't paper) are from Tichy and Grandt Line. That means full underbody detail with all the fiddly bits. Couplers? Kadee scale size, naturally. Trucks? Tichy arch bar.

     And another thing – this kit is now out of production and the manufacturer, sadly, out of business. The car I built is a 'Superior Detritus' box car offered by Full Circle Models. John Allen's original was a Central Valley box car kit. My kit was lettered (and weathered!) by computer. John's was lettered by hand.  Right-click and open this image in a new window for a REALLY big version:

     All this prompted me to ask, “Just what is 'vintage' anymore”? For example, is this piece of rolling stock, 'vintage'? If you define vintage as 'old', then the answer is no. After all, the kit is only a few years old. But if you didn't know how old it was, would it have that 'vintage' look? How does a model railroader define 'vintage'?

     Webster's listing for the word vintage includes three relevant definitions:

1. a collection of contemporaneous and similar persons or things
2. a period of origin or manufacture
3. length of existence 

     By one of these definitions you could say a boxcar kit produced in 2014 is 2014 vintage, like the model year on an automobile. This definition works for my detritus car too – it is a 2010 vintage kit.  But my car also fits another of Webster's definitions; the model represents a car built in the late 1800's. In that sense the period of origin or manufacture is not defined by the actual age of the model, but the perceived age of the car the model represents. So in this sense it is an 1890s vintage car.

     Even so, isn't this really dodging the question or escaping on a technicality? I get the feeling that 'vintage', to many modelers, represents that 'golden' era of American-made craftsman kits. You know, the ones that came with a tube of glue bearing the same name as the kit box, or similar boxes of wood and metal parts with printed car sides or decals to apply. Couplers? Take your pick – after all, you had to supply them. Trucks? If you were lucky they 'snapped' onto the bolster. These were kits from the 'vintage' era of model railroading, surely.

     I love those kits, (even though I am 1975 vintage, myself), and the Detritus car almost fits this definition also, doesn't it? It is no 'shake the box' kit. Though laser cut, it required a great deal of patience, time and craftsmanship to assemble. It is in fact, a model of a model built in that 'vintage' era. So my car is a 2010 vintage kit, representing a late 1800's vintage box car, based on a 1950's vintage model, built using a mix of 'vintage' and modern techniques. Whew! I'd say it's vintage all around, wouldn't you?

Details I Didn't Think I'd Do

Here are two things I did to the 2-6-0 that I hadn't planned on doing.  The first is a stand, made simply from two bent pieces of flat brass strip, for the rear light on the tender.

Shown above are the finished light, the little block of plastic I was going to use initially, and a third 'leg' I bent.  I bent enough legs to get two that matched in height.  In this image the LED is not in the casting.  It has since been added and the wires are run down behind one of the legs.

The second unplanned detail is less detail and more functional addition.  Note the bits of metal in this image.

While I chose to not replace the cast-on power reverse or air compressor assembly, I did fill-in the back side of the air tanks.  Since I removed some weight from inside the boiler to make room for wiring, I decided to replace a little with these bits.  I had these cut-offs from another steam project in which I had removed the cast metal clunky air tanks and replaced them with scratchbuilt parts.  The metal is ZAMAC, most likely, so it is heavy.  Though it is not that visible, it adds a tiny bit of weight and that helps the overall performance of this locomotive.

As of this post, this engine is fully detailed and ready for paint.

Who's That Girl?

This post is a bit of a diversion from the most recent modeling efforts.  Readers of a certain age, upon reading the title to this post, will be immediately struck with an ear worm, courtesy of Madonna.  For this, I am truly sorry.  However, I needed to use this title as it is the central question of this post. 

Over the summer the boys and I spent time "off screens" each morning from breakfast to lunch.  I accomplished a great deal, including some fun tasks I had been postponing.  One such joy was working a puzzle I had purchased at Disneyland a few years back.  Here is an image of the completed puzzle:

Pay attention to the colors used; sky blue, various reds and browns and other southwestern U.S. earth tones.  These are the predominant background colors.  What interests me are the bold accent colors; red, gold and green.  (Again, my apologies if you just picked up a different 80's song on the brain).  Two greens are used - a lighter bright green on the banner behind the BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN RAILROAD lettering, and a darker, forest green on both the locomotive cab and the Disneyland plaque at the bottom of the frame.

There's also a little green on the sparse foliage, but there's one other place that dark forest green is used.  Here, take a closer look and see if you can spot it:

This is a BIG high-quality image, so right-click and open it in a new tab or window if you need to.  When you work a puzzle, you notice things you might not have in a casual glance at an image.  I tune my eye to a certain color and gather pieces with that color, knowing that they'll likely fit together somehow in a group.  I knew the Disneyland emblem and locomotive cab were the same color and the shapes of each were different enough I could easily separate them into groups.  But the girl...

Now we can return to that initial question, "Who's that girl?"  I believe that she is someone important, probably to the artist who created this poster.  Maybe a wife or daughter or girlfriend, or even the artist herself.  Why do I believe this?  A few reasons.  First, the aforementioned color.  She's wearing the same color as the two other powerful and important elements in the piece - the locomotive and the park emblem.  All the other guests on the train are wearing shades of red or brown and even sky blue - all background colors.

Secondly, she's positioned just above the EXACT center of the image:

I added the white lines in Gimp to a borrowed image of the attraction poster to illustrate this.  You can also follow the sight lines of the track coming from the lower right quadrant towards the center through the locomotive and they point directly at her.  In an image full of off-axis and frame-busting elements, she is one of the most "forward", just behind the locomotive and track.

Finally, she is the ONLY person in the image looking directly at the viewer.  Everyone else is seated in their ride vehicles facing the direction of travel while her shoulders and face are turned toward the viewer and her eyes are looking at you.

While she may be someone important, she is not the focus of the poster overall.  Even on the full-sized poster at Disneyland park, she's only a couple inches high at most.  She, along with all the other guests on the train, are dwarfed by the imposing typeface and font size of the lettering.  The ominous clouds, towering peak and rushing locomotive all spell out the attraction's name - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  And where do you find it?  Why, Frontierland, of course.  Even the planks on which you are encouraged to "climb aboard 'n hang on" are larger.

But as I mentioned earlier, working a puzzle affords the opportunity to observe the distinct elements of an image and study the artistry behind the work.  Big Thunder is one of my favorite attractions at Disneyland and I love working puzzles, so this was all joy to work this one.  I rarely return to a puzzle after working it, but I may have to on this one in order to get it mounted and framed...or maybe I'll just work it again, and perhaps I'll notice something...or someone...else next time.

Steam Status

Here is where the 2-6-0 stands at present:

I have been occasionally sanding the joint on the tender sides with a very tiny piece of very fine sandpaper glued to a stick, in order to avoid sanding away the rivets.  However, I have sanded away all the rivets on the rear of the tender.  I did this when I removed the cast-on ladder.  I will replace the rivets with Micro Mark rivet decals similar to the double rows that were there, and the ladder with a brass casting from Wiseman.  Also on the tender I will be adding a platform for the back-up light.

All that remains on the locomotive itself is to add a pair of handrail stanchions just in front of the cab wall, and a bit of fake wiring conduit to replace where I shaved some off while removing another detail.  After that it is a matter of determining what value resistor to use for the LED's and then wiring them in place.

After these final details are complete I can paint and letter the engine.  We are still having warm, dry afternoons here so I want to get it painted before the temperature drops much and the air gets moist.

Back on Station

Work has resumed on the Fallburgh Station kit.  A while back I made interior wainscoting and chair rail/trim using Gimp.  The donor image was a door I found online.  I liked the classic lines of the door and the color.  Here are the doors, wainscoting and trim printed on plain paper:

Here are the doors in the office:

And here's the other side of the office as seen from the street-side doors:

I've also given the exterior walls a few light coats of a basic acrylic black wash to enhance the board and batten detail and tone down the stark white color.  The green trim and windows also received a highlight coat of Seminole Green, just a shade lighter and a bit more yellow than the Forest Green I used as the primary trim color.  This is to give them a little depth and represent sunlight.

Since these images were taken I've added all the wainscoting and some of the chair rail.  I left them separate in order to allow for any discrepancy in height from the floor to the bottom of the windows.  However, it has been a real pain to get the chair rail glued in without grunting and grumbling.  Even so, the effect is really nice. 

I have also built a desk out of balsa for the office, and have a few other pieces of furniture along with accessories like a clock and a phone to go in.  Some of these are castings, some printed and some scratchbuilt.  I also have a station master, courtesy of Model Power, that will eventually take up residence in the office.

Much more to do, but it's great fun and I'll share more as it happens.

Miniature Benchwork

In preparation for building the framework for my next layout, the Pine Branch Park, I decided to try something I'd read about before; building a model of the model.  I enlarged my plan to a scale of 1/8 inch equals 1 inch, or 1-1/2 inch equals a foot.  This allowed me to cut thin strips to represent 1 inch wide material that I could handle without much trouble.  The overall size of the model at this scale works out to 6 inches by 9 inches, keeping the whole thing within a regular sheet of card stock.

Here's what I came up with:

Glamorous, ain't it?  Okay, so maybe it won't win any awards but it has served a very important function.  It showed me a few pitfalls and mistakes I might have made - these are easier to correct and far cheaper in card stock than plywood.  For instance, I want 1 inch flanges on the outer sides and 2 inch flanges on the inner members.  It was also fun to see flat sheets of card become a surprisingly strong framework.  The card stock is glued with Titebond II wood glue.

I will be using 1/4 inch plywood for the actual framework as well as the top.  I hope that by using girder construction for the frame I can avoid the eventual warping that comes from dimensional lumber exposed to temperature and moisture changes, as well as produce a light and strong frame that can be easily handled.  While I won't be moving this railroad as much as I would a portable module, I will be moving it eventually and early in the construction phase may be tipping it on its side to do wiring and turnout control work from the underside.

Pine Branch Park

After some consideration, I've decided to name my next model railroad the "Pine Branch Park".  This is a play on words and a nod to the region and specific context I'll be modeling.  "Pine Branch" refers to the little creek running through the area and across a corner of the modeled scene while conjuring images of a literal bough or limb of a pine tree.  Yes, a Florida railroad perhaps more commonly calls to mind palms instead, but for central Florida, the pine was the more lucrative tree.  Several will be modeled on this section of the line.

"Park" refers to the industrial park.  While a small street scene with shops and residences will be modeled, the real reason for the railroad is the industrial complex.  As I've pored over period photos, the ones grabbing my interest are scenes of industry and residential areas, more than the countryside and open wilderness.  I hope to expand this railroad into those areas eventually, but for now the city, or rather, this aspect of the city will dominate the scene.  Here's one such photo that lived on my desktop for a while:

Ocala Manufacturing Company - Ocala, Florida. 192-. Black & white photograph, 4 x 5 in. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/6252>, accessed 5 August 2018.  Right-click and open in a new tab for a much larger view.

 

 I've also had good input from folks over on the Railroad-Line forum into the track plan.  Here is the latest incarnation.  Note the yellow highlighted line, signifying the main track.  At some point I'd like to continue this track to another area in order to run through trains.  For now, however, the area modeled is self contained and can be run simply as a loop of track or switched in a more formalized operating scheme.

Finally, a word on how I plan to proceed.  I remember fondly the series "Especially for Beginners" in Model Railroader magazine, running from January 1991 through December 1992.  That's a full two years dedicated, essentially, to one model railroad dubbed the Cripple Creek Central.  In my opinion it was not the best name choice as I can't see the model railroad resembling either well-known Cripple Creek, i.e. Colorado or Virginia.  At least it was closer to the western example scenically, but I digress.

Looking back at this series years later, I have come to realize what is perhaps unique about the approach taken to building this railroad.  I imagine Jim Kelly had an idea in mind as to what direction the build would take and how the railroad would progress, but that wasn't clear up front.  Seems like MR project layouts are presented, most often, after they've been completed.  The step-by-step articles that follow are retrospectives on what was done and how. 

In the case of the Cripple Creek Central there seems to be an organic, 'let's see where this leads' approach.  Track was 'laid', but not fastened down so that changes could be made later.  Buildings were purchased because the author liked the way they looked, almost like the average person would do when perusing their local hobby shop.  Scenes were built then later modified.  The control method was changed half-way through the series.  While the general direction remained coherent, the details were more fluid and it almost seemed as if you got a glimpse inside the mind of the creators (there were multiple contributing authors!) as they each worked on the project.

This seems very different than the more dominant approach put forward by the conventional school of planning, often attributed to John Armstrong.  In this method the track plan is made to fit the space and is driven most often by the goal of getting in as much operation as possible.  That approach, combined with the emphasis on prototype modeling, has been a strong current in the hobby for a long time, certainly since the days of the great freelancers like John Allen and W. Allen McClelland or the artists like Malcolm Furlow and Dave Methlie. 

My approach to building this railroad is, as I see it, somewhere in between.  I want some operations so I've planned those in.  I think it is best to do that up front when you have specific structures you want to include such as the Purina Mill and Union Ice industries shown on the plan.  But I've also left room for other elements to change.  Currently I'm considering a coal dealer for the unnamed Industry A.  That would fit well next to the Ice plant, but we'll see what I feel like doing when I get to that stage in the construction.

The primary reason I mention the Cripple Creek Central, however, is the measured monthly approach they took to build this model railroad over the course of two years.  The series was so comprehensive, including everything from soup to nuts, that Kalmbach made it into a book.  I would like to build and complete - yes, complete - this model railroad in a couple years.  I don't buy the tired trope, "a model railroad is never finished".  While the progressive steps I take in building the Pine Branch Park won't exactly parallel the stages of construction seen in the CCC series, I will aim for monthly installments that show visible progress on the construction of the railroad with a varying focus for each.

Naturally benchwork and trackwork comes first, but soon after I will be installing a station and some streets.  I may devote a month to the Purina Mill, but also to the Woodland Scenics grain truck and the Purina ventilated box cars (former reefers) I have to upgrade and rebuild.  Static grass wasn't really a thing in 1991, but I have all the parts to build a static grass applicator so that'll feature one month along with putting down some ground cover. 

But beyond a few vague ideas, I'm going to let the build take me where it will.  Adam Savage talks about the way a project actually leads you as you build it and suddenly new directions appear which you wouldn't have seen before you began.  I know this to be true and it is an exciting aspect of any long-term project.  I hope you'll journey along with me as I build the Pine Branch Park Model Railroad.

White Walls, Green Trim

Airbrushed Delta Ceramcoat Acrylics, thinned with windshield wiper fluid.

White and Forest Green

Here's a tip; paint in the garage in the morning when it's cool, then let it dry and cure throughout the day when it's pushing 100 out there.  I started painting the corner trim and rafter tails, but decided to brush paint those.  The castings were primed with rattle can gray primer whereas the wood was not.

Layout Alternative

When did a model railroad become a train layout?  I'm no model railroad historian, but I bet there was a time before we called it a "layout".  I've seen it described as a "pike" and this term seems even more dated, as if I should be wearing an engineer's hat with my shirt and tie and smoking a pipe as I run the trains while my family gazes on adoringly.  If I told a non-model-railroader I'm building a train layout in my garage, would they know what that meant?  Would they wonder if I were planning to set it up for a while then take it down, like a train around the Christmas tree? 

As someone who has worked in a field with specialized language, I also recognize that some words don't mean much to the average person.  If you go to a traditional church on Sunday you probably enter the narthex before going into the sanctuary for worship and perhaps afterwards spend time in the fellowship hall.  However, you didn't go to church, you went to a campus.  The church is the body of people, not the building they meet in, but how many folks know this distinction?  The narthex is the foyer or lobby or entryway and the sanctuary is the auditorium.  The fellowship hall is a different auditorium, but sometimes resembles a gymnasium or large meeting hall.  Some churches work hard to eliminate "churchy" language and label their spaces accordingly.  Others stick with traditional names and expect newcomers to learn them.

Dictionary.com offers TEN variant definitions of the word "layout" and NONE of them reference model railroading.  Not that this is inaccurate for our use, as most of the definitions refer to the arrangement of elements in a space whether on an advertisement or in a room.  I don't think "layout" presents the same difficulty in understanding, but I wonder if there are better words that describe what we're building and perhaps even what we're doing.  Language is important and if we model railroaders want to share our hobby with a non-modeling public in a straight-forward way perhaps some more useful language is in order.  Even within our ranks it might be helpful. 

Miriam Webster does include a reference to model trains in their definition of layout, but there's an issue with that one.  "Something that is laid out".  Sounds like something that is set up only to be taken down later.  When we build our model railroad do we do so in a temporary manner?  Very few times have I seen articles about model train setups that are meant to be run then put away by taking the thing apart and putting it back in a box.  And, I'd bet we wouldn't call those things "layouts", but train sets or something similar.

So what is the alternative?  What about simply calling it a model railroad?  If we are scaling down reality or some version of it, and running scaled-down electric trains through that setting, then we are modeling a railroad and railroading in miniature.  In light of my previous post on a track plan, I'm going to make a conscious effort to change my language from now on.  I'm not building a train layout in my garage.  I'm building a model railroad.

Garage Railroad Plan

I've always looked at those 4x8 project railroads in the model train magazines with an eye for what could be.  Sometimes there is great potential, sometimes they just don't work that well.  Granted, there has been much ink spilled over how to create a better plan using the same space required for a 4x8 (much greater than 4x8, considering aisles and access to three sides) so I won't go into that here.  But I will posit a contrary view for the utility of such plans as they are - a rectangle in the middle of a room.  When you have a room in which you can't use the walls, one of these space-hogging 4x's may be just the answer.

I have space in our house for a nice railroad on a shelf, but barring some sections that must be put up to run and taken down when done, that doesn't make for easy loop running.  Sometimes (quite often) I like to just sit back and watch a train roll.  In order to do that I need to build something larger, and the only space for that is our garage.  Bob Smaus once wrote an article in Model Railroader about the hazards of building in the garage, and I recommend it if you can find it.  Summer heat, winter cold, dust, spiders (black widows, and not the Southern Pacific RR kind!) and clutter all make for a challenging environment in which to build a model railroad.

However, I have decided I'm up for the challenge.  I recently set up a test loop of EZ track in the garage, ostensibly for testing the 2-6-0.  This is actually our Christmas loop but only when there's a tree in the middle.  I've been having so much fun running trains on that loop - despite the rough conditions in the garage - that I decided I could be very happy with a layout out there.

After much cogitation (the details of which I will spare you), I returned to a simple plan.  Behold the HO scale Morgan Valley RR, first featured in the January 1989 issue of Model Railroader in an article by Rick Henderson (click for larger, or right click and open in a new tab):

This plan has always stuck with me, dating back to the first days of my subscription to Model Railroader.  However, I've learned much since then about railroad operations, model and prototype, and right away I knew I'd need to modify this plan.  I started by removing the short switchback siding and a few others.

I added a parallel siding to an existing one, and shifted a few tracks to align on 90 degree lines.  This was because I was already envisioning a grid of streets.

The dark gray are major roads while the lighter gray are secondary alleys and parking areas.  I believe this should be a consideration in the earliest stages of a plan, as this is often how city planners would view development.  People inhabit cities, and need a way to get around.  On so many model railroads, particularly smaller ones like this, roads seem to be an afterthought and consequently the scene lacks believability.  Roads lead to structures, or in the case of the driveways, connect structures to streets.

Here the olive drab colored shapes represent industries or railroad structures, the blue colored blocks represent city buildings and the dusty rose colored shapes are residential homes.  Trees and water features have been added and some track features labeled.   It is my intention that the streets and buildings will provide a strong grid-like structural element.  The tracks interact with this structure as if, in some cases, they were put in place after the grid was laid down, and in others in concert with it or before it.  The tracks follow a small creek in one corner and pass through a low cut in another, next to the orange grove; otherwise the topography is essentially flat.

While I will discuss operating this layout in another post, suffice it to say for now that the railroad can handle both freight and passenger trains as it stands.  With a connection to staging (most likely a train-length turntable) as a fiddle yard, the variety of equipment increases.  For now it can be built using track I already own, and using many key structures which I already own.  One final note - the 'Motorcycle Cop' is a nod to a scene from an extinct Epcot Center attraction, the World of Motion.  Find a good video of this ride on YouTube and see if you can spot the cop behind the billboard.

Slingin Shingles

I was well on my way applying shingles to the Fallburgh station when I realized I'd need to do something about the valleys.  Usually there's some sort of flashing to direct rainwater down the roof, rather than allowing it to seep into the attic.  So I Googled cedar shake shingles images and found some inspiration.  Seems like most of the time, especially on older applications, the flashing is copper.

I used the same brown paper bag I had used for the shingles to make the flashing.  I painted a section of paper with a metallic copper paint and let it dry before cutting it into strips.  This I used at the bend in the roof at the change in pitch.  I actually creased the strip and applied the next row of shingles on the steeper pitched roof over the paper. 

For the valley itself where the gabled portion meets the main roof, I just painted the roof card with the copper paint.

As of this post the roof is 97% shingled, with only the top row of shingles to apply before I add the fancy decorative roof trim, an etched brass part, and then the horizontal 'cap' shingles alongside that.  The trim, along with all the metal castings in the kit, has been primed and is awaiting paint.

You Never Do a Project...

...You Only Do the Next Step

Take, for example, this next step.  Pictured are a paint brush, stir stick, paper towel, silver paint, cup of water and two headlight castings.  All I did was paint the inside of the reflector silver.  That's it.

However, before I could get to that step I had to drill out the casting both through the center of the reflector and from below.  This will allow me to place a VERY tiny LED inside the casting which I can do now that the reflector has been painted.

The next step, however, is not to insert the LED, but to test the LEDs with the decoder and resistors to determine how bright I want them to appear.  Then I can insert the front LED and mount it to the boiler.  The rear light will need a bracket to be built before I can place it on the tender, but before I can do that I need to build the tender bunker and prime the tender to check the joints, etc. 

All these 'next steps' add up to a completed project - a beautiful locomotive I'm pleased to operate...but that means I need a layout to run it on, and rolling stock to pull, and industries to switch, etc.  There are many more next steps to come!

Fallburgh on the Back Porch

 My morning beverage, an Americano with cream

This is the time of year when the evenings and the mornings are beautiful, even if the midday heat is just a bit too much.  Our Spring was wet enough and warm enough for mosquitoes, but that doesn't deter me.  California skeeters seem to be slower and less aggressive than the quick little biters I grew up with in Florida.  Or maybe I'm just not as sweet as I used to be.  ha.

 My morning companion, Maggie

Anyway, I used the lovely weather as an opportunity to advance the progress on the Fallburgh Station kit.  I decided to build an interior.  This meant diverging from the instructions and using 1/32" plywood as full-wall bracing instead of square strip stock in the corners.  I will also be including a floor and ceiling that will serve as stiffeners to keep the walls from bowing, hopefully.  The coup de grace will be a strip of specialty stock I found in my pile of dollhouse wood that I will use as bracing disguised as crown molding.

 Walls coming together!

There will be an office, a waiting room and a baggage room on the first floor, along with an un-modeled stairwell to an un-modeled second floor.  That space will serve as a wiring conduit to run to LED lights in the ceiling.  No indoor plumbing, but electric lights!  I haven't decided how far I want to take the detailing inside, but there will be rudimentary furniture and some figures.

This kit has now passed what I am calling, the "structure kit Rubicon".  That is, the point of no return beyond which the kit will not go back in the box.  Most rolling stock will go back in the box it came in after you build it.  Most craftsman kit structures will not.  Alia Iacta Est. 

Craft Nite at Grace - Fallburgh

This is the first post in a sometimes series; probably monthly.  That's because once a month there's a craft night at my church, Grace Lutheran, Ukiah.  At my previous congregation in Washington there was a similar craft night where each person brings whatever they're working on, be it quilting or knitting or model building or toll painting, etc. and spends a few hours working and chatting and snacking.  It is a fellowship event with a craft theme.

I brought Fallburgh Station by Sequoia Models, along with my portable workbench and a handful of tools.  I spent about an hour cleaning castings with an Xacto blade and file.  Before I could get to the next step of trimming battens the boys got antsy and I took them home.  An hour entertaining themselves with paper crafts and snacks was about their limit.  Later in the week I pulled out the kit onto the back porch when the weather was lovely and did the batten trimming.  This is a photo in-process:

This is a great kit and I look forward to continuing to work on it whether on craft night or in between, so posts about the station will be sporadic.  Work continues on the Mogul, and I'll update that thread soon.

Put a Smile on Your Face

I had originally thought I might replace the boiler front, or smokebox door.  However, my desire to use as many original parts as possible won the day and I began to work on the factory installed part.  I carefully trimmed away the cast wiring conduit for the former headlight.  A paper punch provided the right diameter styrene circle to fill the opening left by the headlight.  I had a brass number plate casting in my parts box. 

Finally, I used a brass wire and three brass stanchions to make the handrail.  That solved a problem I wasn't sure how to deal with, at first.  The face had three "dimples".  They looked like injector pin marks from the casting process, but it made no sense that they'd be on that side of the casting.  Usually such things are designed to be hidden on the back or inside surface.  I realized they were most likely spots where, on a different model using the same face, a trio of stanchions would be used for a handrail.  So, that's what I did.  Problem solved.

Tender Cuts

I didn't like the long look of the tender as it was, so I decided to chop out a section and shorten the length.  I used the decals that would grace the sides as a gauge of just how much I could cut and still fit "OCALI CREEK".  With this measurement, I determined I could remove about an inch.

Using a hobby saw, I made the cuts as shown below:

After checking with a square, sanding, checking, more sanding, checking again, and still more sanding, I was able to arrive at mostly square and straight cut ends which mated well.

I bonded the joint with Testors liquid cement for plastic and braced it with the plastic modeler's secret scrap; a bit of bread clip.  The tender floor and underframe was secured with the same cement, but braced with small styrene strips along the length.

While I don't have much planned for the locomotive itself apart from a few minor detail changes, the tender modifications are quite extensive.  It will need pads in the shell for screws to attach it to the frame, a soldering board on which the decoder and all the wiring come together, plus details, some of which will be scratchbuilt.  This is shaping up to be a fine project.

Green Steam II

What happens when you strip the Southern Green paint off an IHC Mogul?  You find green plastic underneath that green paint!

Notice the silver smokebox and firebox paint didn't come off completely.  I may have been able to get more to release had I soaked it longer.  What you see here is the result of a couple hours in 91% rubbing alcohol.  I finished removing the silver with a scraper.  The only other green plastic is the cylinders and saddle, not shown here.  The rest - basically the frame - is molded in black plastic, and was unpainted.

Green Steam

I had big plans for my Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0.  Ever since I had purchased it, it was going to be my branch line steamer, hauling a classic mixed train.  But that's the fantasy...the reality is, it never worked right.  I should have exchanged it right after I got it, back when Bachmann was still making it.  Instead, it sat in its box for years before I decided to have a crack at fixing it.  The newer model they've released apparently doesn't have the flaws mine has, though it does not have all the beautiful, separately applied details. 

So when it didn't work I turned to a second option.  A friend had given to me three steamers; vintage models by Aristo-Craft back when they made HO.  These were "New One" models from Japan, thirty years older than the Spectrum engine.  I was disappointed but not surprised when the pretty little 2-8-0 had the same flaw: the drivers were pressed onto the geared axle slightly less than perpendicular.  That means the engine will have a lope; a wobble; a hitch in its getalong.

With both of these options off the table (and considerable time spent fiddling with them to try and make them better) I calmly decided I was going to do the right thing and purchase a reliable, dependable locomotive.  I had watched throughout the Christmas season as a USRA 2-8-2 chugged around the tree hauling a string of hoppers.  This stalwart steamer was made in Slovenia by Mehano for IHC. 

I got on eBay and found that apparently I wasn't the only person looking for great performance at a reasonable price.  But after a while I was able to land a deal on a 2-6-0, an ideal locomotive for hauling a freight or mixed train down a branch.  Sure, the detail wasn't as nice as my Bachmann Spectrum, but it runs (well!) and is a great platform for detailing.  If John Pryke considered it worthy of conversion into a New Haven K-1-B Mogul*, I figured I'd be able to do something with this little green steamer.

Upcoming blog posts will be progress updates on this project.

*see Model Railroader, August 2008, pg. 66