Annual Open House - Nov. 19th

This year the layout will be open in November for the annual Model Railroad Open House schedule for the NJ/PA/DE/MD area. Along with a number of other NJ area layouts, I will be open on Saturday November 19th from 12 noon to 5pm.

The schedule and website has a changed a bit for this year. There are actually 2 separate web sites now, 1 for the DE/MD layouts and 1 for the NJ/PA layouts.The older link will only show you Delaware and Maryland layouts.

Here is the link to the web site for New Jersey and Pennsylvania layouts:

themodelrailroadopenhouse.com

The format of the site is a bit different, I find it a bit difficult to understand as it really is a web site for PRR info with the model railroad open house schedule added in. But it is out there for everyone to enjoy, and I'm glad we do have volunteers to provide this info. Just click on the Schedule menu at the top to see the open house info.

Here is a direct link to the layouts open on the 19th of November in case you are planning to see other layouts in addition to mine:

http://pennsyrr.com/index.php/mroh-schedule/event-calendar/day/20161119?catid=2

Hopefully I'll see you then. Now back to the layout to get some more things completed before the open house!

(Note: As mentioned, for the DE and MD open houses, the old site of http://modelrailroadopenhouse.com/ can be used)

Sept 2016 Op Session

Last week on Wednesday 9/28 I hosted the NEK Op Session #4. I invited 7 guys over to help put the layout through it's paces and see how things fared. The process is helping me determine the best way to sequence and run the trains that I have scheduled, and also provides insights into how I can better convey the operations I want to run on the layout to the operators. 

We got through almost the whole schedule and things ran pretty smooth. The track cleaning and CRC 2-26 treatment definitely was worth the effort as there were no electrical issues related to dirty track. A few things popped up with older turnouts not having power through the points, and a turnout that did not throw completely. These will be addressed before the next session.

It is always interesting to see how others run trains in different ways than I planned. And some things I just need to find a better way to convey to the operators. So some things are still a work in progress, but overall I think everyone had a good time.

Here are some pictures from the session.

Bruce got down to business in Morrisville breaking down train VM-2, the St. Albans to Morrisville LVRC train. The power is on the engine house track (the engine house is still to be built as you can see!)

Mark served as Yardmaster in St. Johnsbury, and he enjoyed the new method of throwing turnouts, using Touch Toggles (from Berrett Hill) on the panel in front of him.

Working with Mark as St. Johnsbury yard engineer was Joe. Joe handled locomotive movements with Mark working the waybills to get things figured out and keep an eye on the schedule. St. johns bury is the busiest spot on the layout, so how it runs dictates how the session progresses. Definitely a 2 person job!

Chris wore the right color shirt as he operated Canadian Pacific train 917 from Newport, He will have cars to drop and pickup, and then he will proceed to E. Deerfield MA. On the lead are a CP 424 and RS10 along with a B&M GP40-2.

John ran the LVRC MJ-2 train from Morrisville to St. Johnsbury. Here John is picking up a boxcar on the siding in Hardwick, and wondering how long he is allowed to block the road crossing.

I assigned a 2 man crew to the B&M train 4301, the White River Junction to Groveton turn. Here Bill and Chris handle the MEC interchange traffic at Whitefield. In front of Bill is another Touch Toggle panel for the 6 switches in this area.

Later in the run of B&M 4301, Bill and Chris arrived in Groveton to work the paper mill. Groveton has benefited with the addition of structures and scenery since he last op session when it was strictly plywood. A local switcher at Groveton assists in work of breaking down 4301 and getting it turned around and heading back south as BM 4302.

Phil was on hand to help out, and here is preparing to assemble the ballast extra from Hardwick to meet a Maine Central train of empties in St. Johnsbury. The ex-CR transfer caboose is new to the LVRC. Phil is about to pull the hoppers from the spur .

Phil has arrived in St. Johnsbury and is working to swap his loads with the MEC train of empties brought in by John. Here Phil has cut off his power, a Vermont Northern C420 and pulls forward. John is on the CP main with the MEC train. The yard crew looks on, waiting for this maneuver to finish so they can get back to work.

John ran the North Stratford to St. Johnsbury turn, MEC train TY-2/YT-1. Here John is using the passing siding at Crawford Notch to run around his train and prepare for the trek west to St. J.More trees arrived in Crawford recently, and the foreground buildings are part of the Whitefield scene.

Phil ran the MEC YQ-1/QY-2 turn from St. Johnsbury to Whitefield and back. Here is doing some work in East St. Johnsbury, dropping an empty pulpwood rack.

One last picture captures Phil working the Gilman paper mill switch job. This was a new assignment I added to handle spots and pickups ahead of train YQ-1. I had found that too much time was being taken by this train so adding another job alleviated the issue.

So at least this time I did remember to capture some pictures, which can be tough when everyone is caught up in the action. But slowly the kinks are getting worked out and the crew is better understanding the layout and the operations. Still more to do to as I keep learning from each session, but it will be fun to continue to refine things. 

Hopefully the next session will stay on track for mid-November.

Track Cleaning and CRC 2-26

I should have a number of new posts coming up. Things have been busy as I got the layout cleaned up and staged for an Op Session, which went off last night (9/28). I did manage to take some pictures this time, so look for that post soon. I also have some updates on the Groveton scene and a FOS scale structure that was fun to assemble. But for this post I wanted to mention what some of the guys in South Jersey have been doing for cleaning track.

For years I have been using alcohol in a track cleaning car to prepare the rails for an op session or open house. And I'd take the locomotives through an alcohol wheel cleaning session using a paper towel and running the loco to spin the wheels over it. Time consuming, and usually good for mainly that one time. Things would deteriorate slowly depending on how soon I ran things again, and in some cases which locos were involved. Some locos just seemed to need another cleaning right away after a session.

A few layouts in the area have taken to an extra step following this cleaning, and that involves applying CRC 2-26 to the rails and the loco wheels after they are cleaned. The reports have been very encouraging. One layout did this task a year and a half ago and has not touched the rail or wheels at all. He operates every month, and there are no electrical contact issues. It seems the CRC 2-26 helps prevent the oxidation that occurs and assists in allowing the electrical contact to be made between the rail and wheel. I'm sure there's more science to it, but for me, I'm just looking for a solution!

Here is the can of CRC-26. It is a smaller can I picked up at Home Depot. Some guys have a larger can. In front is the Homasote block I use to apply to the rails. After a little time it gets thoroughly saturated.

So, I had 2 of the regulars from the local operating crew in South Jersey stop by to assist me in doing the same for my layout.

Step 1 was making sure the rails were clean. In general my track is not too bad and is mainly just in need of a light cleaning to remove surface oxidation. We used regular rubber pencil erasers for this, to remove any oxidation without scratching the metal surface. I also have aWoodland scenics track cleaning block, and the white side is similarly soft like an eraser. Around Groveton it took a little more work as I was recently doing scenery work there. Here I used the reverse side of the Woodland Scenics track cleaner to remove glue and paint that accumulated, then finished with the smoother white side of the cleaner to finish.

This is the Woodland Scenics track cleaning block, shown here using the softer polishing side. In this section of Groveton, I had a bit more work to remove scenery residue that was not an issue throughout the rest of the layout.

Step 2 was to next apply the CRC-26. The method employed by the guys in the area is to spray a small amount of CRC 2-26 onto a Homasote block and drag it back and forth over a section of rails to put a light coating on top. Doing it you can feel how the resistance changes and generates a kind of polished feel.

Using the Homasote block with CRC 2-26 applied, lightly spreading it by going back and forth, with no real pressure.

No need to apply pressure as you are just putting a thin coating over he rails. I was able to do about 10 feet of track and then applied a little more CRC 2-26 to the block, then repeating on the next section of track. Basically it is just a feel. As long as the block still has 2-26 on it, and as long as you hit all the rail, you should be good.

Step 3 was to let this dry without running, at least over night. When you check the rail out you will see it is not bright and shiny but has a slight yellow, dull look to it. Nothing that looks odd, just not the same as perfectly scrubbed nickel silver before running  on it. This apparently is the coating of CRC 2-26 doing its thing in preventing oxidation.

Step 4 was to address the locos. Basically I used paper towels and alcohol while the engine was running to clean the wheels, letting them spin on the paper towel until the black buildup came off and the towel looked clean when the wheels were moved to a different area.

Step 5 was to apply some CRC 2-26 to another piece of paper towel and repeat the running over the paper towel to get a thin coat onto the wheels. Then let the loco wheels dry to allow the CRC 2-26 to set.

Maine Central RS-2 554 is getting an initial wheel cleaning by running over this paper towel soaked with alcohol. It helps to hold the loco and let the wheels spin. Adjust the paper towel as you go to ensure the wheels run clean. A similar technique is then used to apply the CRC 2-26 to the wheels.

One extra step I did as I restaged the layout was to run each freight car over a paper towel with alcohol. This took a while, but was the first time I cleaned any freight car wheels, so it seemed the right way to go considering I had address all the track and all the locos. No need to spread any crud over the nice clean rails!

So the proof will be in how things run I suppose. the cleaning took place in early September. As I restaged the layout, I ran some locos around and down into staging tracks, back and forth. No issues whatsoever. At the Op Session last night, there was not one instance a contact issue related to rail to wheel contact. The few issues we did have were specifically no power on the points of a turnout, and a section of a siding that was dead due to a failed solder joint on the track feeder. These were noted and will be addressed.

Of course this is a short timeframe, so we'll see how things go. I'll be restaging the layout in the coming weeks, and will also have an open house and another Op Session in November. There will be no track cleaning taking place, so it will be a good test to see how things work. But based on the numerous other layouts that are working successfully from this method, I'm confident in seeing good results.

Wordless Wednesday #15

My New Favorite Roof

I am in the process of assembling a FOS Scale liquor store kit. It will be destined for my Woodstown Jct. Free-mo module as it is a little too modern sign-wise for my 1980 layout. It is a pretty nice little kit and I'll post some more photos and thoughts when it is completed. But I wanted to mention the roof. Here is a picture of it before adding a sign and chimney:

I'm quite happy with how this roof came out

In the kit the roofing material was simply a piece of white paper with some scribed lines. Nothing really good about it to be truthful. The instructions mentioned painting it black and gray, and that's it. Hmmm...I've done the black roof and it always seemed too black to me, even if I weathered it with some chalks.

So I decided to experiment. I lightly sprayed the roof paper on the back (non-lined) side with gray primer from a spray can. After drying I had a uniform gray roofing material. Too uniform though. So next I took flat black spray in a can and misted that over the gray. Just far enough to not fully coat it. A few larger drops of black appeared here and there, so I misted more gray over the black to blend it together. The results were just what I wanted. A black roof that has been subject to a quite bit of sun which caused fading. I did not even need to do any additional weathering with chalks or paint.

I cut the sheet on the scribed lines (now on the unpainted side) and used transfer tape to apply to the roof. Any bad areas that had a paint drop that did not look good I worked around. Plenty of material to discard sections. I really think the look is good, better than most of the roofs I have done. I do like a few of the dark and light spots that appear that look like stains. The effect is real nice in person.

I'm glad I was able to turn a pretty mundane material into a nice looking roof for this building. A few more details and this one will be done.

Wordless Wednesday #14

Wordless Wednesday #13

Wordless Wednesday #12

Groveton Scenery

With the main portions of the mill structures complete, I turned my attention to the scenic elements of the Groveton paper mill area. Even without detailing, adding a bit of scenery will go a long way to making the area look more complete and realistic.

I started by preparing a surface for representing the paved lot around the buildings. An access road will cross the tracks to lead to the warehouse buildings. I used more of my supply of left over foam board to build up the road sections between the tracks and the main area in front of the middle and right building.

Once firmly glued in place, I had a nice level surface to work with for the lot and road. For paving material, I use DAP Fast 'n Final spackling material with black paint mixed in. This leaves a nice gray appearance for the main coat.

I put an amount of the spackling into a plastic container (left) and mix in black paint until I get the color I like.

The material is very nice to work with. It is not messy and dripping like plaster. It is more like cake frosting but without being too sticky. In fact it is fairly easy to remove should you get some where you do not want it. I work it onto the surface area with the mixing spatula, then use a drywall knife to smooth the area, I end up with a fairly thin coat of material as the smoothing will remove material as you do it. It can be tough to get all marks out of the surface, but it is OK if you end up with 1 or 2 ridges from the knife edge, These can easily be sanded later when dry. As the material is colored, you will not get any white to show through when sanded. You can also mix up a darker batch and apply over the dried first coat to represent patched areas and pothole fills.

Here I have applied and smoothed main paved lot area which will extend under the middle and right buildings. To the left, the largest building will be directly on the plywood with scenery built up to the edge. The glue gun was used to attach the foam core sections to the plywood.

I also took this time to put in an overall base coat of dirt and weeds. I will build this up with more elements over time, and then do ballasting and more weeds in the tracks. But this base coat helps transform the area from plywood to a scene. Materials I used included Scenic Express dirts and ground foams, static grass and grout in black and dark gray.

Blue tape protects the track and also marks the outline of the building and car sheds. The idea here is to get a base coat of earth, cinders, some weeds and such to then build upon. The standalone building is positioned within the paved lot . In the distance will be a large wood chip pile and trees to hide the trackage behind that area.

The roadway has been paved and smoothed up to the outside of the rails. After about an hour it is pretty well set but not fully dried. I'll do between the rails later as it is difficult to work there without disrupting the wet spackling. Some of the initial scenery of dirt and grass can be seen also. I still need to build up some landforms with sculptamold to the road edges and to hide the turnout control rods. I'll do that later and then reapply this base coat of scenery before moving on to more detailed grass, weeds, etc.

Imperfections in the paving will be sanded out, and in some cases used to show signs of wear, such as divots made into potholes, and uneven edges showing signs of deterioration. Overall I find this paving process quite easy and enjoyable. Adding signs of wear with chalks and other details will be a fun process.

To ensure the external building would sit properly on the paved lot area, I built a foundation from bass wood, and then lightly pressed that into the spackling after it set up a bit. Putting the building on this ensured it would sit flat and look "planted" instead of on top of the paved area.

The foundation put in place. A little of the material pushed up along 2 edges. I'll be able to lightly sand this down, as well as sand the 2 ridges you can see

Groveton Paper Mill Update

Over the past 2 months I have slowly chipped away at the core buildings in the Groveton Paper Mill scene on the layout. Starting with the excellent Monster Model Works Robertson Paper building kit led to ideas in composing the scene with background flats utilizing DPM wall pieces and Evergreen styrene sheet I already had on hand. Only a couple of times did I devote more than 30 minutes at a time to this (mainly being work sessions with the kit), proving that if you do a little each day or so, you can get things accomplished.

An overall look at the scene with the 3 flats and the standalone building in place. The deck above represents North Stratford, NH, and does not have all track laid yet. Behind the Groveton flats are the Maine Central and Canadian Pacific mainlines (see the MEC train appearing to the right behind the far building), as well as the staging track for White River Junction, which holds the Boston & Maine train that will come to Groveton to perform switching work.

The background flats consist of 3 sections, all of which can be removed for access to the tracks behind. Left to tight, the first flat (pictured below) utilizes Rix/Pikestuff concrete block interlocking sections topped with Evergreen metal siding. A foam core substructure was used (More details are in earlier posts). Pikestuff components for "modern" metal buildings were used to build out angled car sheds protecting the tracks leading into this building from harsh New England weather. These angled buildings provide  a nice bit of dimension to the otherwise flat appearance of the building. I was able to use spray can paints for the white and teal colors, saving me time on firing up the airbrush. You just need to apply light coats and let it dry a bit to build up the color. That way you will not end up with a heavy coat hiding the details. A small amount of pan pastel weathering was added to show that these relatively new buildings were part of a working mill environment.

The more recent concrete block and metal siding building includes car sheds for paper loading.

The middle building flat uses DPM brick modular wall sections to represent an older building in the complex, before the mill expanded. I detailed how I used plaster for the mortar and pan pastels for coloring in an earlier post. I kept the roll up door partially open so I can show some interior details and add little more life to the background flat.

The last flat to the right in the scene combines older brick walls of a lower building that has been expanded vertically with metal siding. Here I included some windows using parts from a left over Walthers kit. I used Dullcote to frost the back of the windows and made sure the foam core behind that area was painted black. The window adds some more interest to the relatively plain look of the metal siding.

The older brick section to the left, and the final section to the right with the sheet metal section above the brick walls and a window to provide natural lighting to the inside mill area. Staged in front is the nearly completed Robertson Paper kit.

The Robertson Paper kit building, with its distinctive arched roof, will occupy an area closer to the tracks. I imagine this older building would now be used as a supporting structure to the expanded mill at this point, perhaps a machine shop.

The kit was a real joy to assemble. The brickwork is outstanding. As detailed in an earlier post, the mortar was done with Liquitex medium following an article in Model Railraod Hobbyist magazine.The process was easy and the results outstanding. The only real challenge was fitting the windows into the opening, which were probably compromised from painting of the walls and windows. Nothing insurmountable, but just a bit more work than the rest of the kit.The roof was particularly well designed and easy to construct. The rafter tails were simple and fit perfectly.

The space available is relatively tight, but still adequate. I will probably locate the building a little closer to the track, and keep an open driving path between the buildings on the back side.

With so much open window space on this kit, I decided to try to represent painted out or blocked panes that you often see in industrial buildings like this. I simply applied paint to the individual panes right on the glazing. I tried various colors, but ended up liking the grays and blacks the best. I kept different colors to represent different times the windows were painted out.

A closer look at the mortar work. I still need to come up with some appropriate signage and other details, plus add weathering and tar repairs to the roof..

The window panes randomly painted out with grays and blacks. I need to add internal dividers into the building to prevent seeing through to other window openings in the panes that are not blocked out. The building is raised up here as I expect it to be closer to this height once I add in base scenery, including evidence of a foundation.

Moving on, I need to add exterior details and signage to these flats. The prototype Groveton pictures I posted provided numerous ideas. I also want to get a base layer of scenery around the buildings and up the back tracks to give the overall back area of this scene a more finished look. Up front scenery and ballasting can come later.

A final picture with a not too perfect panoramic capture helps convey the appearance one gets when standing in the aisle in front of this scene (click on the picture to get a larger view). To the left I will be adding tanks and piping for unloading and storing kaolin, and to the right will be the start of a large woodchip pile, backed by tress to help hide the tracks behind that area.

So still more to do, but this will definitely enhance the experience for the operators who will do switching work at the mill next op session!

Wordless Wednesday #11

Wordless Wednesday #10

Work Continues on Groveton Paper Mill

Inspired by my efforts on the brick facade representing a portion of the overall paper mill in Groveton, I looked over other kits and materials on hand, and also spent some time studying the layout area and planning what might fit where.

I had picked up one of the great Robertson Paper buildings from Monster Model Works when it came out. I did not have a specific location in mind for this building, for which the prototype is located in Bellows Falls VT. Looking at the space and the building kit, I realized I could fit it in as a stand alone building between the tracks and the larger background buildings.

I broke out the kit and spent a few hours with it. Th kit is tremendous to work with and the detail within the brick is outstanding. If you have not tried any of their products, I would highly recommend checking them out. The instructions are terrific also.

The main 4 walls require a little sanding on the ends and then a special corner piece with brick detail is used to join them seamlessly. I used Canopy glue and clamps with good results. The laser cut window components are shown here prior to painting.

After painting the window components (by brush, which does take longer), I started assembling them. These go together great as well, with peel and stick backing to secure the laser cut glazing. Completed window parts are in the upper right. I left the tissue backing on the back sides until I am ready to install them, to help prevent fingerprints and scratches. I did this while watching some railfan videos on YouTube.

After adding internal bracing, I brush painted the walls with craft acrylic paint, as specified in the instructions. I used a color called Heritage Brick which has a nice look and will contrast to the DPM wall I previously built. This building will represent a much older part of the mill. After letting it dry, there was small areas not totally covered and these were touched up. I used a second brick-like color to make some contrast here and there. The walls are ready for mortar next. The kit instructions mention using weathering powder and alcohol. This will be a new technique. I will start with the wall not facing the layout to see how it looks!

Down on the layout, I decided to build 2 larger structures, next to each side of the brick section I just built. These will be built up with styrene, other brick wall components and some concrete block components. More on that later.

To provide a sub-structure base for these walls, I used foam core board. A friend, who is a model railroader and also a developer, has provided many large sheets of this to local model railroaders. These were left over from various projects, having architectural drawings on one side, but empty on the back. I built up the wall sections, added bracing and supports so they would stand on their own, and determined openings for the tracks.

The overall scene changes dramatically with the building sections in place blocking the hidden trackage. To the left is the larger building, 8 inches by 42 inches. This will be concrete block on the lower half, and vertical metal siding above. I will build out sheds to partially cover the tracks leading into the building. These will help hide the view behind. Each track holds three 50' boxcars. To the right will be another section, brick on the bottom and then metal siding above to look like a smaller building expanded in height. The area in front of that will be the location of the standalone kit mentioned above.

In the center will be an older brick section of the mill. The idea is that the mill started smaller in the center area and expanded in each direction over the years. This view from my eye level indicates that I will need a little bit of roof added to better conceal the tracks behind.

Taking a cue from the prototype, I will paint the metal siding a greenish color, which seemed to show up on many buildings of this type in that time period.

Although the Groveton mill closed in 2007 and has since been torn down and the site remediated, there are a number of older pictures to use for ideas and reference.

An overall view from the river side of the mill. The rail served the opposite side. The combination of brick and metal siding is on display here.

The small building to the left gave me the idea to include stand alone building(s). The metal siding shows a number of interesting details that can be added.

A picture from the 1990s of the truck loading area shows the metal siding color and the concrete brick painted white.

 

In the 1990s, after the Maine Central and Boston & Maine (Guilford by that time) pulled out of the area, the New Hampshire & Vermont provided rail service. Here a GP38 idles next to the mill building.

The Berlin Mills boxcar is in a similar color to the metal siding. Again, more interesting details that can be added to the exterior of these parts of my models.

The taller structure with stacks will not be seen on my model as I have the upper deck limiting the height I can model. Here is the successor to the Grand Trunk, the St. Lawrence & Atlantic, switching the mill. The mill was served by both the B&M and the GT. I replicate some interchange at Groveton between the BM and GT, but I only include the BM servicing the mill in my operations.