Along the Right of Way ...

My Friend Ray's Been at it Again!

Milepost 563

From time to time, I've shared the work of one of my model railroad friends, Ray, with you.  He is a master scratch-builder as demonstrated by these models of the Wabash station in New Paris, Indiana.  It is rumored that Ray has assembled a kit or two in his life but he is much more comfortable with a few sheets of styrene roofing & siding, a handful of Tichy windows & doors and some plastic cement.

Ray's work is remarkable in that much of what he does is of buildings and other structures that no longer exist.  He will see a picture of a station that he likes and begin his reasarch.  When he finds a sufficent number of photos, he then picks a feature such as a door or window that he is reasonably sure of the width or height.  This gives him a reference point and from there, he will make up a sketch with dimensions of what the building will look like.  He lays it out, cuts it out, assembles it then paints it and he has a very good model to show for his efforts.

Perhaps you feel a little intimidated by his work but take a look at the sheds in the background of this photo.  Ray built these as well.  In many cases, they are a simple four walls, sloped roof and a door or window.  Some are no more than a lean-to attached to the side of another structure.  They would be very simple "first try" projects that would allow you to learn how to measure, cut & assemble styrene.  I know from first-hand experience that you simply dive in and have at it.  Some things you can only learn by immersion.  Tool needs are simple as well... all you really need is a good steel-straight-edge, a good Xacto knife with several sharp #11 blades, a good ruler and a few files or emery boards to clean things up a bit.  Oh yeah, if you are a bit clumsyclutsy like me, a band-aid or two might be handy as well.  Those knife blades are sharp.  :)

Even if you aren't motivated by these photos to go out and grab some raw material and start your new building career, you can appreciate the work Ray has done here. 

Keep in mind that many of us model that time about 55-65 years ago when there were small structures/sheds everywhere.  You had maintenance sheds, lineside phone booths, handcar sheds, small bunk houses, storage sheds, simple passenger shelters, outhouses and a myriad of other simple buildings that would make great first time projects.  So don't be afraid to simply have at it.  Styrene shapes & sheets can be found at most any hobby shops (Evergreen Styrene is really good to work with:  http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/) and Tichy windows and doors can be ordered directly from Tichy Products.  Their web site is:  http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.php

Above all else, like the Nike commercial says, "Just do it!"

dlm

 

 

My First Shot at some Van Dorn Ends on a Car

Milepost 562

In the past, I've talked about some loose-knit email groups that I belong to and some of the things we have discussed.  One group of guys have a particular interest in older style freight cars... wooden cars from the early 1900s up until about the time of the Great Depression when steel cars began to rule the rails.  Well, this group was the basis for my interest in Van Dorn car ends.

Van Dorn produced some experimental stuff that was used in early car construction.  One of those items was a stamped metal freight car end that was made up of concentric circles for ribbing/strength.  They were among the first metal car ends used to replace wooden ones but for whatever reason, the design never really caught on.  Some Pennsy cars, Illinois Central cars and Southern Pacific cars are the only ones I've ever seen with the unique Van Dorn ends.  Here's a picture of a model of one...

Westerfield Model

I began my model by first looking for something with concentric circles on it.  I tried food containers, rubber cane tips and even experimented with small O rings but nothing looked right.  So I enlisted the help of a family member who is a machinist by trade.  He was able to cut me four pieces from aluminum that were based on the measurements I gave him.  Without his help, the project would have been over right then and there.

Once he gave me the pieces, I was in business.  I took an Accurail double-sheathed wooden boxcar and cut away the ends.  I then smoothed the cuts with a file and stood the car on end on a piece of glass so that the roof walk supports on the end wouldn't touch.  I placed the aluminum blank in place and cemented two pieces of square plastic stock on the inside of the car to hold the blank flush with the end.  Note that I didn't glue the end itself just yet.

After the glue dried, I looked at the arrangement I had and realized that at least a portion of the rings protruded beyond the end of the side of the car, so I added a thin strip of stock to each plastic strip on the car's ends.  This caused the aluminum blank to stick out about 1/16"; just about right.  I filed the edges of the blank to round them off a bit to make for a better looking end product then using some CA, glued them into place and let them dry. 

 

From here on out, it was easy to finish by adding the ladders, some wire for grab irons and a brake wheel & staff to complete the model.  The rest of the kit was assembled according to the Accurail Instructions.

 

I'll need to add some decals and a finish coat to cover & protect them then the car will be ready for my railroad.

Like the Vulcan ends that I presented a few months ago, this will certainly be a unique piece of rolling stock to add to my layout.  No, it isn't quite in my era but some cars seem to somehow survive long past their normal life span.  I guess one of those cars will be on my layout. 

dlm

 

What would I REALLY do with this?

Milepost 561

Don't ask me why but for the longest time, I've been fascinated with this particular model, the Faller Hexenloch Water-powered Sawmill.  It is of a European mill that was originally built back in the early 1800s.  The kit itself must be quite extensive as I seem to remember reading that it has over 200 parts and sells for around $80 plus shipping.  It comes complete with a "scenery piece" which I believe allows you to model the pond with real water and a motor to do some automation.  It must be quite the kit.

But here's the problem:  What would I do with it?  I know, I know... through the years here, I've advocated that it is "MY railroad" and that I should do what I want to do.  But this one really stretches that axiom in that it is of definite European design and just wouldn't fit in easily with a 1950s Eastern Ohio layout theme.  But still, it is a nice kit and one that really does hold my interest.

Water powered anything has always been of interest to me.  This dates back to my first seeing Mabry Mill down along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The mill was operated by the US Park Service for many years after the Parkway was established but now, due to its age, it is only maintained for display purposes.  No longer can you get that gritty water-ground corn meal or buckwheat flour.  But it is still one of the most photogenic places I've ever visited.  In fact, I read somewhere that Mabry Mill is the number one photo attraction in ALL of the National Parks.  But I digress...

When you find that one building that you just gotta have, there is usually a way to incorporate it into your layout in most circumstances.  Small-town downtowns usually have a variety of architecture so you can simply say that the owner of this shop or that church just liked the style so that's the way it was built.  We have all been to theme parks with various international flavor where a distinctively Dutch or fancy French style building looks right at home.  But to have a working mill like this one out in the middle of nowhere... that's a stretch.  So maybe, just maybe, this one will stay on the hobby shop shelves.  Sometimes, you just have to draw a line in the sand... er... on the layout!

dlm

 

Work Continues at Galatea

Milepost 560

I mentioned several weeks ago that CSX is building a transfer track at Galatea, just east of North Baltimore, Ohio, to allow trains from the new Intermodal Yard to travel south on the CSX line that runs from Toledo to Columbus through Bowling Green, Findlay, Kenton and Marysville.  Last time I was there, the roadbed appeared to be graded but there was no sign of trackwork except for a large stack of ties.  On my most recent visit, I saw signs of real progress. 

The above photo is looking south and east on the outside of the curve.  The track in the background is the north-south line.  The track in the foreground appears to be switches that will be built along the right of way then spliced into place when they are ready.  This saves downtime on the main line.  Trains are stopped, the old track is cut out and removed; the ballast is re leveled, the new track switch is lifted into place, the rails are welded and the signals & switch motors are attached.  This is done much more quickly than if the switch were actually built in place.

Just to the north of the diamond, work continues on the new signals that will allow the southboudn trains to be made aware of the settings of the new switch.  It appears that the new signals are ready to go except for the final aiming of the lights in the direction of the oncoming trains.  Note that the signal heads are turned away from the track so as to not confuse the train crews currently operating on this portion of the line.  In the photo on the left, the left-most signal mast is currently in use.  I suspect that this will be removed once the new ones are put into operation.

I'm a bit confused by the width of the new roadbed.  There doesn't appear to be enough space for a second track yet the roadbed seems unusually wide.  Perhaps like everyone else, I'll have to wait to see the final track arrangement.

Way back when the new yard was first proposed, I said that it would have a huge impact on the rail traffic and both the local and regional economies of the area.  This is just another example of that; now, with the addition of this track, a vast area south of the CSX main line will have reasonable access to the new yard.  What kind of additional economic development this will generate will only be seen in the future but you can bet that access to a modern rail transportation facility like this one will weigh in the decision to locate new industries in the area.

dlm

Rob's Trains

Milepost 559

It was a really nice day the other day, so instead of going home and loafing, my wife & I decided that we wanted to take advantage of the sunshine and fair, mid-winter weather.  So we jumped in the car and headed east in search of a new hat for me and a new train store to investigate, Rob's Trains in Alliance, Ohio.  The hat was to go with the new leather bomber jacket that she got me for Christmas and the trip to the train shop was to investigate a place I hadn't yet visited. 

(photo from web site)

Rob's was easy enough to find on Main Street in Alliance but the town itself is a little out of the way.  They were in the midst of recovering from a fire that had destroyed the building next door so their stock wasn't quite back to normal.  But what I found was a lot of track, a wide selection of Woodland Scenics materials, almost every different type of coupler that Kadee makes and a wall full of detail parts.  There was also the typical display of Evergreen Styrene products and K&S metal parts as well.  Most of the stock was HO but there were other scales represented as well.  The store was nicely kept and clean even though they were in the midst of building a display layout.  The staff seemed friendly enough as were the other customers I met while I was there.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment was not seeing much in the way of rolling stock, both kits and RTR, and pretty much a lack of buildings of most any kind.  I don't know if this is because of choice or if it was because they hadn't completely restocked their shelves after smoke the fire next door had pretty much ruined their inventory.

If you are in the area and are looking for a new shop to investigate, you might want to consider giving Rob's a visit.  More about them can be found on their web site at: http://www.robstrains.com/  The site includes photos, hours of operation and easy to follow directions to get there.

Until next time...

dlm

"Containerized" Housing.

Milepost 558

This one is just too good to pass up.  It would only be appropriate for those of you who are modeling in the era of containerized shipping which kind of limits things to modern modelers within the last 10-15 years but here it is anyway.  It certainly qualifies for the "there's a prototype for everything" crowd as well.

First, you get a couple of shipping containers.  Several model companies make them so they shouldn't be hard to find.  These look to be of the longer, 53' variety.  Cut out one side then set them side-by-side and glue them together.  You don't need this arch shaped opening as it isn't visible from the outside but does show where the porch "roof" shape came from.

Mark out the location of some windows & doors.  Tichy makes some older ones that may still look OK.  If not, do like I would do and head to the scrap box.  I'm sure that you will find something in it that would look appropriate and work just fine.  Cut the shape of the porch roof from the side you cut from one of the containers then glue it in place.  A few scraps of Evergreen plastic should serve nicely as porch posts.

Cut the openings for the windows & doors then install them.

That's about all there is to it!  You now have a new home on your layout.  Kind of gives the term "side by side" home a new meaning, doesn't it? 

As I've said so often in these pages, you never know what you will see Along the Right of Way.

dlm

Another Look at Wunderland!

Milepost 557

A friend of mine sent me the latest video link from Wunderlandz, the really popular & very large model railroad layout over in Germany.  They keep adding to it and this latest video shows some of the newest additions...

Now, according to the video, there are a few large passenger ships that sail around in the new ocean coastal section.  One of them featured in the video looked just like a cruise ship.  That was no doubt built from scratch.

The airport is also brand new.  Planes take-off, land & taxi to their designated terminal.  This scene from the night depiction is very impressive.

There is more animation on the layout now as well, allowing for interaction between the layout and its visitors.  In this scene, a tree has just fallen onto the house.  Prior to the patron pushing the button, everything looks normal.

The video also mentions how many thousands of LEDs are used to light up the night time simulation.  There are several night scenes in the video and all of them are very impressive.

The entire model railroad layout is controlled from the computerized monitoring center shown here.  The computer geek in me would certainly like to see this part of the display as well, but I'm guessing that it is off-limits to most visitors.

To visit the site with the video, please click here:

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exhibit/video/5-minutes-wunderland/

Gosh, now I have to put Europe on my list of places to visit... :)

dlm

 

Almost Enough to Convert Me to an O-scaler... NOT!

Milepost 556

I'm not sure what to make of this one...  I received an email recently from a model train company telling me that this was a new release from Lionel and that if I wanted one, I needed to get my reservations in NOW!  Only thing is, I'm not sure what I'm buying if I get one of these...

First, the rig looks like a chopped coupe from the 1950s which makes sense since that was the heyday of Lionel Trains.  During those years, almost every boy (and lots of men) wanted a Lionel Train under their Christmas tree.  But what's with the dual wheels on the front? 

At one time, such a design was fashionable in Formula 1 race cars with the thought being that more rubber on the road made for more efficient turns and less sliding around at high speed.  Hmmm... but you don't need to make turns on a railroad track; the design of the track does that for you.  So still I wondered what I'd be getting...

Oh, maybe it's a snowplow!  Well, the blade on front sure looks like it could be designed for that.  But it's lettered for the Union Pacific... that's located out west where they have large Russell Snowplow's, big rotary blowers and Jordan Spreaders to remove nature's annual reminders of cold, wintry weather.  Still no clue...

I've got it!  Maybe it's an inspection car.  Most all railroads of any size have inspection cars.  At one time, they were modified locomotives, many with very fancy oversized cabs on them to allow for the railroad brass to inspect the line in style.  They often afforded new investors and political dignitaries the chance to see the line "up close and personal."  I'm not going to mention anything about money that may have exchanged hands on these trips... I'll leave that to your imagination.

So there you have it, the latest offering from Lionel Trains is a 1950s coupe with Formula 1 steering, outfitted with a snow blade and designed as an inspection car.  But after all of that, I realized that the model was an O Scale model and simply wouldn't fit on my layout!  All that mental work for nothing!  Nonetheless, it is kind of neat looking and, HEY!  Model Railroading is supposed to be fun!

dlm

NKP 1000 Series Caboose Kitbash (Part V)

Milepost 555

This is the fifth & final installation of my NKP 1000 Series caboose kitbash article.

We are in the home stretch!  I hope you are still with me at this point because we are almost done.  After attaching the cupola braces, the curved handrails on the car sides were pretty easy.  The square ones on the ends were pretty easy as well although I did need to enlarge the holes a bit to accommodate the extra paint.
It was really time to see just what we had so I added Kadee #5 couplers to the floor casting and  also added the end rails.  They were held in place with a drop of CA as well.  Finally, attach the floor to the body with the two truck screws and you really get a feel for how this is going to look!

Add just a few more details and we are done.  I couldn't find a smokestack casting so I made one from 3/32nd tubing.  It is a little fat looking but still acceptable.  I added the ladders on the car ends and had to hold them in place with a thin rubber band while the glue set overnight.  Finally, the brake wheel and staff complete the model.

This "officially" completes the model as I built it but you can add a few extra details if you are so inclined.  There are short grab rails near the tops of the doors on the car ends.  And if you are really energetic, you can add the square handrails at the corners of the cupola.  But as I've said several times here, this is not intended to be a show quality model.  Perhaps this is your first venture into kitbashing... or maybe you need a dozen 1000 cabooses for your layout and don't want to spend the big bucks on brass or laser- cut kits.  Or maybe you just built the model for the enjoyment of the process.  Whatever the reason, you should have a reasonable looking 1000 series caboose to tag along behind your fast moving Nickel Plate Berk!

I hope you have enjoyed the article and that you will give building one a try.  If so, please send me a photo of your efforts.  Remember, I still have some caboose kits available that are the basis for the kitbash.  Contact me at danmerkel@sbcglobal.net

dlm

NKP 1000 Series Caboose Kitbash (Part IV)

Milepost 554

 

This is Part IV of my NKP 1000 Series caboose kitbash article.

 

When we picked up the bulk caboose kits for these projects, the person who had them did mention that there were some parts that were not available.  Among them were the square handrails for the caboose ends... both the ones that fit on the body and on the car's end itself.  So again, grabbing the leftover parts of the caboose body, I made a little bending jig for the railings.  I simply glued a hefty block of plastic stock right where the bend needed to be made.  To use it, I first bent the end of the wire 90° and put the small end in the hole near the door.  I then bent it around the block of plastic and then down through the second hole at the bottom of the casting that I had "daylighted."  While I wouldn't use this for bending a whole lot of these parts, it worked fine for the four that I needed.

There is plenty of extra wire to bend the railings for the car's ends.  I did cheat here a bit by making one railing per end instead of two.  You could make two to be a bit more prototypic or you could even paint the center section black after the yellow to make it less noticeable.  The rest of the railings need to be painted yellow so I made very small slits into the bottom of a model box and stuck each railing piece into one.  A few shots of gray primer followed by the yellow paint made short work of those railings.  Let these dry for several days as the paint will come off rather easily if it isn't cured.

It's paint shop time so I masked off the parts of the cars that needed to be protected, mainly the interior of the car body and the middle of the floor casting.  Don't forget the doors on either end of the car.  At this time, I also drilled small holes for the marker lights and installed them into the sides of the cupola.  I then hit everything with some gray primer followed by the final color... red for the car & cupola and black for the roof.  Again, I was lazy and chose rattle cans over the airbrush.  I've found that with a little care, one can get very acceptable results with the rattle cans.  And clean-up is much easier than with the airbrush.  But suit yourself on this one.  As soon as you can safely remove the masking tape, do so and then let the parts dry for a few days.

Call me lucky... call me really lucky but I still have a working ALPS printer so I'm able to almost always print my own decals.  I measured the height and the width of the "High Speed Service" stripe and laid that out in a program I've used for many years called Paint Shop Pro.  It is a Photoshop knock-off and is about one tenth of the cost of the real thing.  It serves my purpose quite nicely.  The "Nickel Plate" in Nickel Plate Road was a little too wide so I had to rescale and print that as well.  Don't ask me about the car number... for whatever reason, 1016 sounded good to me.  I applied the decals using regular decaling techniques and set them aside to dry.  A soaking with Walthers Solvaset about 24 hours later really helped them snuggle down into the wood siding.  Don't forget to seal them with your favorite clear overspray.

Assembly of the roof, cupola and cabin body was easy.  What turned out to be the hardest part of the whole project came next.  I wasn't even sure if I was going to add the cupola bracing but Ray talked me into it.  So I first shaped them from the stiff wire that came with the kits.  The pieces looked good but were totally inflexible and gave me fits.  I soon gave up on that idea and looked around for another solution.  Hmmm... what did I have that would make the job easier?

I thought that if I had some more pliable wire, I could put it into place then "feed" it into the hole in the cupola.  NOT!  So I eventually shaped the braces from some soft copper wire, installed them on the car side then carefully cut them to just the exact length to just fit into the hole in the cupola.  A small drop of CA held them in place.

Remember, I still have some caboose kits available that are the basis for the kitbash.  Contact me at danmerkel@sbcglobal.net

dlm