Weekend Update 2/27/22

[davefoxx]

Beautiful!!!

What he said, @nkalanaga.

DFF

[Pomperaugrr]

They were only small steps, yet it was still progress. In my limited available time this weekend, I worked on the pavement areas around the Kimberly Clark Paper Products Plant, in New Milford, CT. I got everything smoothed out, sanded and painted, along with a little pavement weathering.  There are still many steps to go, including ballast, ground cover static grass, and a lot of details, including power lines to bring power in to the new factory substation.

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[amato1969]

Love that rail-sized industry @Pomperaugrr !!!

  Frank

[Pomperaugrr]

Love that rail-sized industry @Pomperaugrr !!!

  Frank

Thanks.  I try to duplicate the actual car capacities of the prototype industries on the Housatonic RR.  The interior bays hold 7 and 5 cars respectively, and the overall N-Scale Kimberly Clark building is 24" by 42." 

It also serves to help hide a continuous running track and storage siding along the backdrop.  They both pass through the back of the building and are somewhat visible to the left of the office portion.  The roof is removable for easy access to clean track and re-rail, if necessary.

[davefoxx]

A highlight for what I hope becomes next week's project: An HO scale Bachmann Spectrum 4-4-0 on long-term loan from @Ed Kapuscinski.  While the prototype is Ma & Pa No. 6, I researched prototype 4-4-0s that came close and where decals were available.  We settled on Central of Georgia No. 349, which is not exact but has most of the major appliances in the same spots as the model.  There's some other parts in the box, so I might be able to swap out sand domes and leading truck, where necessary.

CofG No. 349 still exists at the TVRM.  The prototype is a Baldwin product; the model is an American Locomotive Co.  Life goes on.



No. 349 arrived in the Carolina Sandhills yesterday and time was spent breaking in the locomotive and swapping out the couplers for Sergent Engineering couplers.  Bye, bye, boxing gloves!  MicroScale decals are on order.

Seen here in excursion service with "Gull." 



DFF

[peteski]

Since it seems that there is some interest in my layout, here's a "scenic" view of the crossing into Gerti Gravel.  The "gravel pit" is a not-uncommon "valley fill" deposit in the foothills of the Montana Rockies.  During an extremely dry period, before the Ice Ages, there wasn't enough runoff to wash the eroded rocks away.  Sand and gravel built up in thick layers at the base of  the hills, burying the old stream beds, and in some cases, the hills themselves.  With the return of a wetter climate during the Ice Ages, that layer started to erode, but in many cases, the new streams didn't follow the old beds.  Thus, today, you can find wide valleys, separated by ridges and narrow canyons, where  the new rivers cut down to the old ridge, but couldn't change course to go around.  Gerti Gravel is mining one of the ancient buried stream beds, and only has to screen the gravel for size, or, in many cases, sell it as-is for fill.


The background hills are from a photo, taken in the 80s, and printed as a poster, then cut out.  It was taken a few miles from the "actual" site of Gerti, near the Silver City RR crossing, on the Helena-Lincoln highway.

Thanks for starting to post photos of your layout. You do some excellent and realistic looking scenic work.

I just wish you would create a new thread dedicated to your layout (probably in the layout section) so all the photos (including the catenary info) could be viewed there (instead of photos being sprinkled here and there).  IMO, using the "unfinished layout" is not a good  excuse for not showing more of your work.  What model RR layout is ever unfinished?  The forum's layout section is a perfect place to showcase your (unfinished) layout, including photos of the unfinished parts.  Sorry if I sound like a nag, but after years not seeing any of your work, it is very nice to start seeing the fruits of your hobby labors.  Your write-ups are also always very informative, and fun to read.

[Maletrain]

I'll second the motion for nkalanaga to start a layout thread in the Layouts section.  Really nice, inspiring work.

[nkalanaga]

Ed, DFF, Peteski, Maletrain:  Thank you for the compliments!  I think I'll leave the pictures here, though, as an entire thread just doesn't seem "right" too me.  I've spent my entire life with non-modelers, and actually showing off my work sounds like bragging.  So, I'll post more pictures, but a few at a time, and probably in the Weekend Update.  If someone really wants to know more about a particular picture, or model, I can write that up.

Yes, I tend to be a little shy about my work.  Put it down to the way I was raised, but I don't handle compliments well, as I tend to get embarassed.  Insults I can deal with all day!

Pomperaugrr:  Those modern semis take up a lot of room, too, don't they?  That industry is bigger than either of my main towns!  Of course, being small Montana towns, that isn't too far from the prototype.

[nkalanaga]

Here you go:  what Gerti, MT actually looks like.  The gravel pit is behind Loudwater Grain Growers' new elevator, Number 3, stuffed in the corner.  Not nearly as big a scene as the ground-level view looks like, is?

In the background you can see into the closet, where my mountain scenery and narrow-to-standard gauge ore transfer is, as well as the entrance to the staging yard, which is in MY bedroom closet.

[Kentuckian]

Beautiful!!!

Yes! I especially like the the trucks.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Yes, I tend to be a little shy about my work.  Put it down to the way I was raised, but I don't handle compliments well, as I tend to get embarassed.  Insults I can deal with all day!

Fine then. Your work sucks, and people are monsters, so post more pictures of it so they have to suffer

[nkalanaga]

The trucks are a real mixed bag.  The small dump truck with trailer in the background is an Atlas Ford tractor, one axle removed, with a scratchbuilt bed.  It was based on a picture in a "used trucks for sale" magazine I found, literally lying on the ground, in Sioux Falls, SD.  The trailer was made from Marklin Z "low side gon" parts, with wheels from a resin pickup kit.  The crawler tractor is a metal casting from who-knows-where, many years ago.

The big dump truck is a CMW tractor, in factory paint, with a trailer spliced from two Athearn dump beds, on a CMW trailer chassis.  I narrowed the "floor" to give a more typical "center sill" look to the trailer.

The grain truck on the left is another Atlas tractor, with a scratchbuilt hopper trailer.  The only intersting thing about it is that the hoppers were made from leftovers from shortening ancient Bachmann 3-bay PS covered hopper to 2-bay cars.  They'd been lying around for a couple decades, and I finally found a use for them.  Cut the bays from the leftover pieces, narrow them by removing the inside wall, and glue the two sides together.

The other semi grain truck is yet another CMW tractor with a Will Models grain trailer.  In this case, it was a test run, and he sent me two to put together and report on.  I haven't heard much about him since, so it might have been one of his last resin models. The tarp is part of a worn-out shirt!

The small red grain truck is an Athearn Ford C with a scratchbuilt box, while the pickups are Woodland Scenics and Atlas.