The new Missouri Valley Western

[MVW]

The Cedricsburg Yard reclamation project has been largely completed. Here's the view from about halfway down the stairs into the layout room.



And from the west end of the yard, looking east.



The unsightly hump/dip in the yard has been minimized. Still have to drop feeders and ballast the last three sections of track on the right. Eventually, the class yard will have two more tracks, and all will be double-ended. (The west-end yard ladder continues up the strip of cork at the bottom of the pic above.)

The yard is ballasted with a combination of Woodland Scenics cinders and grout. There are lots of spots to touch up yet. In particular, more grout will be added to the foreground of this scene:



With the completion of the three-track A/D yard, switching is now primarily carried out from the east end. Here's the yardmaster's view:





In the above image, the turnout on the mainline at lower right provides access to the passenger terminal, which I'll be seeking some input on shortly. That's the next big push, along with weathering the fleet.

Jim

[nscalbitz]

And it appears I'm well on my way to mitigating this disaster. Which is good, because looking at that hump made me want to retch.
Jim

Really it's just land and called 'character'.
dave

[MVW]

As threatened, I've started the process of weathering the rolling stock.

After much trepidation, I overcame my fear of weathering a couple years ago, with the help of Tom Mann's book and kind comments/pointers from several  . Of course, after producing one or two decently weathered cars, I moved on to other things. I'm finally getting back to it.

I'm starting with cars from foreign roads. The first ones will only require light touches, based on build or shop dates and my modeling period. I'm doing summer '54 or '55 ... which makes it kind of hard to explain this L&N box car with a 1957 build date. Oh, well. Guess that just makes it the perfect candidate to see if I remember what I'm doing.

Before and after shots:





I'm not armed with an airbrush, but I gave this one a fade and a black wash, and added a slight amount of "earth" and "dust" weathering powders. My thinking is that cars with build/shop dates within a year or two of my period will get this treatment. Older cars will get additional fades and washes, as well as raw umber and burnt sienna washes, and maybe some "rust" weathering powder, and in some cases white weathering powder to simulate streaked lettering.

(I realize this isn't compelling content for you guys, but the photos help me review and (hopefully) improve my work, so I thought I'd share.)

Jim

[milw12]

All content is good content- I like the understated weathering, good look for a fleet.

-Lucas

[MVW]

Thanks, Lucas. The amount/degree of weathering is something I'm wondering about.

I did a quick survey of about half the cars I currently have on the layout, concentrating primarily on C&NW cars. It appeared they could be divided up into five different stages of decrepitude, based on their built/shopped dates.

I – 1952+ (13 cars, 3 years old or less)
II – 1948-51 (5 cars, 4 to 7 years old)
III – 1938-47 (7 cars, 8 to 17 years old)
IV – 1923-37 (5 cars, 18 to 32 years old)
V – 1922- (3 cars, at least 33 years old)

In other words, about 55% of the bunch would be slightly to moderately weathered, 35% considerably weathered, and 10% severely weathered.

I expect few Stage V cars will be added to operations, so the overall “severely weathered” percentage will shrink as I work my way through the fleet.

One of the reasons I'm thinking about this is to devise some rough but logical “formulas” for weathering cars, to maintain consistency. Something like this:

I – 1 fade, 1 black wash, 1 earth, 1 dust (similar to the L&N box above, which got two applications of earth and dust)
II – 1 fade, 2 black wash, 1 raw umber wash, 1 earth, 1 dust
III – 2 fade, 2 black wash, 1 raw umber wash, 1 burnt sienna wash, 1 earth, 2 dust, rust, fading
IV – 3 fade, 2 black wash, 1 raw umber wash, 2 burnt sienna wash, 2 earth, 2 dust, rust, fading
V – 3 fade, 3 black wash, 2 raw umber wash, 2 burnt sienna wash, 2 earth, 3 dust, rust, fading

I'll play with this as I go, but it provides a framework for thinking about a logical build-up of environmental effects over time.

I've set aside 11 additional cars, representing all five classes of weathering. They'll be my test subjects. Along with the L&N box they comprise about 20% of the current operating fleet. By the time this “dirty dozen” is worked over, I should not only have settled upon rough formulas for weathering cars of different ages, but will have weathered a sizable chunk of my active rolling stock.

Jim

[MVW]

Gave three more cars the Class I weathering treatment.

Before:



After:



The effect is slightly more pronounced in real life. There's a feeling of grunginess and a bit of dustiness around the bottom of the cars, and that's about all I'm looking for with this level of weathering. Although I'd certainly welcome any tips for improvement.

Next up, two cars headed for the Class II treatment.

Jim

[Specter3]

Pictures of real ones at the ages you are modeling should be your guide. Even in black and white, decrepitude is evident.

[MVW]

Pictures of real ones at the ages you are modeling should be your guide. Even in black and white, decrepitude is evident.

Yep, been keeping an eye on that, although I find it difficult to find a lot of helpful pics -- and by "helpful" I mean those that provide enough info so you know not only the year the picture was taken, but the build/shop date of the car/s. That's the only way to know how quickly cars accumulate grime.

I have four volumes of C&NW color photos. Most pics focus on motive power, but there are a few that are excellent for rolling stock reference. F'rinstance, here's one of a two-year-old car, from Morning Sun Books' "Chicago and North Western in color, volume 2: 1954-1958":



My reproduction doesn't do the photo justice. In particular, the fading that appears along the bottom of the car is not evident in the original. I imagine the difference arises from taking a picture of a glossy page.

Anyway, I know I'm underweathering, especially in terms of black wash. But I'm also having difficulty taking accurate pictures of the cars I've weathered. As I've said, the effects are a bit more pronounced in real life. So I expect I'll be underweathering the "dirty dozen," but doing so will help me sneak up on the correct level of grime. I can always add more later.

In the meantime, here's the first Class II job, which in the long run may end becoming the Class I level.



Again, it looks a bit more weatherbeaten in person.

Jim

[wazzou]

Hitting the wheels will make a very noticeable difference.

[MVW]

Hitting the wheels will make a very noticeable difference.

No doubt. What do you use for that? I applied some weathering powder to the trucks, but didn't know if I should do the same for the wheels. Seems to me I saw somebody use a weathering marker, the kind some use on track.

Jim

[Philip H]

No doubt. What do you use for that? I applied some weathering powder to the trucks, but didn't know if I should do the same for the wheels. Seems to me I saw somebody use a weathering marker, the kind some use on track.

Jim

I've done work with weathering markers and microbrushes. What ever is handy.

[MVW]

Decided to add a third black wash to my "Class II" weathering treatment. Before and after pics:





Again, the effects are a bit more pronounced in real life. Not completely happy with the results, but certainly better than the untouched cars. Perhaps more practice will help improve my technique. Suggestions?

Next up, a couple Class III jobs.

Jim

[C855B]

I dunno, Jim... the subtlety in the "after" looks pretty darn good, at least to my eye.

[MVW]

Thanks, Mike. Maybe I'm on the right track.

Here's a family shot of the first five weathered cars:



The two cars on the left are Class II (4-7 years old) while the three on the right are Class I (less than 3 years old).

The two on the left received three black washes, while the others only got one. They are obviously in need of a second black wash.

I'm interested in seeing how much more weather-beaten the first Class III cars (8-17 years old) turn out.

Jim

[MK]

To me, the After looks better in my opinion and what I'm seeing on my monitor.