Seaboard Central 2.0

[wazzou]

Much, much better DFF.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It's not bad, but... I like real coal better.

A bunch of years ago we picked up some that had fallen from a coal car (or maybe the tender of one of Strasburg's locomotives) and just pounded the crap out of it with a hammer before putting it through a screen.

Nothing beats the real thing.

[wm3798]

Black sand is great for a base, but in the end, it looks like, well, sand.  If you install it the way you've done it, then give it an overspray of gloss black first, then a mist of flat black, you get a pretty convincing coal load.  The paint makes it more opaque than the sand is, and the gloss undercoat gives it a nice coaly sheen.

Of course, if you go bicycling up the Black Fork Grade, there's enough chunks of the real thing laying around... just beat it with a hammer to get the grain right!
Lee

[sirenwerks]

Black sand is great for a base, but in the end, it looks like, well, sand.

The black aluminum casting sand is slightly courser than just black sand.  If you know someone at a foundry to get some, the stuff that's been used is even better, as it fuses and gets even courser and less uniform.

[Specter3]

If you have not seen it up close coal is way more shiny than you would think.

[davefoxx]

Post CRHS Rail-B-Q, I'm amused this morning by my growing Conrail fleet.  I usually try to support the CRHS with a purchase from the CRHS Shoppe at each function.  As you can see, I've attended quite a few Rail-B-Qs and train shows where the CRHS Shoppe was present.  This is starting to look more like Pennsylvania than North Carolina!





DFF

[basementcalling]

Not with that Kudzu, Dave. Not to worry.

[Ian MacMillan]

Now, I'm no coal expert (for example, I have flood loaded cars and tipple loaded cars in the same train )

Depends. If it was coming from the same load out they would be the same. If the train has already been yarded and marshaled then it could be a mix from different mines with different load out set ups.

[davefoxx]

Deconstruction day!

Before deconstruction:


I tore out the road, sidewalks, and wooden railroad crossings in Aberdeen for a multitude of reasons, not least of which was DKS's primer on styrene road and sidewalk construction over in his Trenton Transportation Company thread.  I repaired the track around the former railroad crossings and repainted those two sections after I scraped the CA and wood bits off of the ties.  Next, I'm going to spend a little time properly laying out the road, after some research in the prototype Aberdeen for some guidance.

After deconstruction:


Goals:
-Slightly wider road
-Street parking, if it will fit
-Different building arrangement, allowing more buildings to fit the plan
-Better wooden railroad crossings and finished with india ink weathering, rather than paint
-Plan for a street made of black styrene that is only sanded (no paint!) to capture the asphalt look
-Better sidewalk construction with curbs (I need to buy some 0.040" x 0.040" strip)

DFF

[Chris333]

I find the key to being happy with my roads is to not ever look at other peoples roads 

[davefoxx]

I find the key to being happy with my roads is to not ever look at other peoples roads 

Don't think you're off the hook, Chris.  I've seen your roads, and you're just as responsible as DKS for causing this.   

DFF

[DKS]

-Better wooden railroad crossings and finished with india ink weathering, rather than paint

No need for paint, or even India ink... get some pre-stained railroad ties. After gluing them in place, sand them down (I use a set of nail buffers). The look is just right, with no need to do anything else.



Excuse the white crap in the flangeways--it's simulated slush.

[davefoxx]

No need for paint, or even India ink... get some pre-stained railroad ties. After gluing them in place, sand them down (I use a set of nail buffers). The look is just right, with no need to do anything else.

First, modeling asphalt without paint, and now wooden railroad crossings with just pre-stained and sanded ties?  Ha!  I love that you're making this so much easier for me.  Matching colors is difficult for me; you could say it's near impossible.  But, I can sand black styrene, and I can sand pre-stained ties.  Thanks!

DFF

[Chris333]

Now you have to worry about the correct grit   

[davefoxx]

No.   No.   No.   No.   No!   No!   Noooooooo!



In early 1986, Seaboard System GP40-2 #6382 was the very first locomotive painted in a CSX scheme for the impending merger. 

DFF