Amoskeag Northern - Simonds Industrial Branch

[Ian MacMillan]

Vacation and lots of rain this week allowed me to get quite a bit of work done on the layout. Biggest accomplishment was finishing up the abutments and retaining wall for Depot St. which blocks the entrance from staging on the east end of the layout. The abutment turn into a retaining wall on the north side of the tracks, creating the lot for Amoskeag Cold Storage. The mill building you see in the background by Depot St. bridge is just a place holder...I have not decided what will be going there yet...but I think it may be some typical New England triple deckers.

The Depot St. abutments and retaining wall took a total of 20 hours to build, and I think 16hrs of it was continuous from Thursday into Friday (1500hrs to 0700hrs). The were then weathered with washes of India ink and brown Rit dye.

There is still a lot of block work to be done on the west end of the layout where the Pemigewasset River crosses under the tracks. I still need to build the abutments for the railroad bridge, and the Rt. 132 crossing....and then I need to build the replacement railroad bridge to take the place of the temporary Kato one that is there now.  I was able to work in some lightweight spackle around the Rt 132 walls to help blend things in...but this area still has a lot to go. The brick by brick construction is just a nightmare! But its worth it.

All of the visible mainline track was also ballasted and gaps cut for the blocks. I don't plan on having the blocks wired for the computer control for the show as I am focusing more on scenery for people to see, so the blocks will all be temporarily wired together and then I will cut in the BD16's after the next show on November 4. There are no additional shows planned at this time until April 2013, so there is plenty of time to get all the blocks up and running properly.

[Bsklarski]

I  like it. So what season is this going to be? I like how you have all the number boards lit up on all the units. I do that when your not suppose to IRL to be a wise guy.

[Scottl]

Very nice.  I like how the scene is coming together, especially the stone walls.

[conrailthomas519]

I second That! Great Look Ian!

[Dave Schneider]

Its looking really good Ian. A bit of a tight clearance for those double stacks! Maybe another course of blocks or do you think it is adequate as is?

Best wishes, Dave

[Dave V]

I like it!  Looks very realistic.  I would say the tight clearance for the stacks looks accurate; most infrastructure in the Northeast was built long before anyone ever thought of doublestacks, and close clearances are the norm.

[conrailthomas519]

Yes Dave, I agree.. tight clearances in the northeast was and is still today the normal. Very effective look for the area Ian is modeling.

[Bsklarski]

I would go three or two stories on the background building so you break up things. All the buildings with the same number of floors wouldnt look right. Yes, the tight clearance is normal for the NE, good job on that. The double stacks through Palmer Mass have about that much clearance.

[Ian MacMillan]

Yes the height of the bridge is spot on for New England. I used height measurements from the Cottage St. overpass in East Brookfield, MA.

The background building is just a place holder for now. What is most likely going to be there are some of the Northeast Scale Models triple deckers.


http://nesm.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NSMI&Product_Code=NE10108

For the season Id really like to do late fall. I did some testing with it on the old house layout. I may try to do it again or go for the typical mid summer... I haven't fully decided yet.

[Ian MacMillan]

Holy crap!!!!!! The last brick for walls and abutments has been laid! It took a total of 103 hours to build the retaining walls for the Pemi river crossing (road and rail), Rt. 132 crossing, and the Depot St. bridge. All I can say is thank god it is done, because it was driving me crazy spending such long hours at a time building them...however if I had not done the long stretches, I don't think they ever would have been completed! Now its time to start working blending the contours with a Surfoam rasp and lightweight spackle.

Once again the rail bridge over the Pemi is a place holder, and will be replaced with a CV truss kitbashed for the double track mainline. The embankment behind the bridge, where the river exits a large stone culvert is for Interstate 93.

I started installing the feeders for the blocks but ended up running out of wire. I am not able to run out to Home Depot until Tuesday unfortunately.

[packers#1]

103 hours? Worth every minute of it man, it definitely sets the scene.

Just thought of this, but how did you build the road bridge pictured below? I'll soon be embarking on a similar project.

[Scottl]

It is becoming clear to me that your day job is getting in the way of layout construction.

[Ian MacMillan]

The road bridge is the Rix kit. I had bought a bunch of them a while back. I built this one using the kits I beams and concrete "old style" railings.

It is becoming clear to me that your day job is getting in the way of layout construction.

Especially now! Since we lost a guy to another dept, we went from 10hr shifts to 8hr shifts until we hire a new guy... so my 3.5 days off went down to 2... Dammit!

[packers#1]

The road bridge is the Rix kit. I had bought a bunch of them a while back. I built this one using the kits I beams and concrete "old style" railings.

thanks; I was planning on using Evergreen I-beams, but might just buy the kit and modify the sides.

[Ian MacMillan]

thanks; I was planning on using Evergreen I-beams, but might just buy the kit and modify the sides.

They do have a kit that has a more modern concrete railing that looks like long K rail/ Jersey barriers
http://rixproducts.com/6280113.htm