AC&Y - Ohio's Road of Service

[basementcalling]

The mockup for Goodyear went up yesterday.  A bit crude but it shows what is possible.  The North end is pretty straight forward.  The tall white board will be sky color.  A proto photo from the same general orientation follows.  I think I can make it work.




The South elevation will be a bit trickier.  SO much to see in the proto photo.  From right to left is the Reclaim Bldg, Boiler/Powerhouse, and Production Bldg.  They are not connected.  I will try to do that as well.  The reclaim and boiler will essentially be building flats mounted on 3/4" ply, with a partial sky board above.  Partial in that it does not go as high as the center board in the prior photo so the lighting to the back of that scene is not blocked.  The carbon black hopper is represented by the gray pipe.  It somewhat distracts the eye from the A&BB interchange tracks, which did not really go under the building.  I think it may just work out.  I'll live with the mockup for awhile and see if a better idea comes to light.  When I brought all the cars back to their spots it was so cool to see the little trains moving between what will become massive factory walls. 

You must REALLY like brick modeling.   The layout and structures look amazing.

[SAH]

I haven't spent ALL my time screwing around with trucks, couplers and wheels.  I made labels for the General Tire car spots to support the ops paperwork.  White letters on clear tape using a Brother P-Touch.  I think it looks clean and informative.  I'm hoping visiting operators will think so as well.

[LIRR]

Goodyear plant will be an impressive facility, are you including a place for the blimp?

[SAH]

Ed K alerted me to the Faller blimp model, so I bought one.  I'm planning to use it as a mood setting device by hanging it above the Mogadore Valley sections and visible just as you come down the stairs.  It's not unusual to see it in that area.  The current blimp hanger at Wingfoot Lake in Brimfield is not far from Mogadore.

[SAH]

I spent the afternoon at the U of Akron Archives reviewing more of the AC&Y collection.  The Akron Expressway has come up more than once in this thread.  I found some proposal drawings in an AFE for the sale of AC&Y land to the State of Ohio.  @LKOrailroad will find these of interest.  The on/off ramps did not go in as shown, fortunately in the case of the EB on ramp off of Fenton Ave.  Fun stuff.

[basementcalling]

I've decided your modeling motto must be "I like big buildings and I cannot lie." with apologies to the original song, "I like big Butts." 

[SAH]

I like the challenge of constructing large buildings.  Total industrial landscapes really.  Learning about different industries and how railroads serve them is cool too.  The computer controlled cutter and brick paper make the build possible.  I'm starting to get the itch to continue the General Tire build.  Right now I'm working on rolling stock reliability and a few more AC&Y locos and cabooses.  I have a credible ops paperwork starting point worked out.  Maybe by the time we can people again, as Ed puts it, I'll be ready to start operating sessions.
Steve

[LKOrailroad]

A photo showing the terrain profile of the I-76 ramps at Market/Mogadore roads as seen from Brittain service. It was my train watching hill.

https://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=435804&nseq=0 

[SAH]

Cool.  I'll make sure the foliage is always trimmed so you can see the action clearly.

[SAH]

AC&Y 102, the road's only RS1, is complete.  Wire handrails and lots of fiddly little detail adds.  I think it turned out pretty well.  It's good to know I can still manage this level of detail.

I'm modeling 1960 +/-.  102 was scrapped in 1964, hence the rough look about it.  I have two ALCO S2s in the pipeline.  Finally some legit yard switchers on the property.

[SAH]

One of the new S2s drilling cars at Brittain.  I also did one numbered 100, which is a foob.  101 was the start of the class.  None of the AC&Y ALCOs had MU capability.  Only one other was painted yellow.  I want to use a pair on the Mogadore Valley job and would like one of them to have sound.  So the plan is to number the other one 109, just beyond the last actual switcher 108 and model it with MU capability as I did for 100.  Eventually.  Right now I have enough power to run an ops session.  Just need to find some operators.

[SAH]

As posted in a WE Update, here's the desired end point (albeit not this N&W era paint scheme)


The Centralia Car Shops UP CA-3 provides a good starting point.  And it comes apart really nicely after a trip to the deep freeze.


After a whole bunch of modifications, a master was created and I re-learned a thing or two about silicone rubber mold making.


The first castings popped out today (more like coaxed out - my first go at a shell with windows) and the test fit looks promising.  It doesn't look like a CA-3 any more Toto.

[SAH]

The test build continues.  So far so good. 

[CRL]

Cool.  I'll make sure the foliage is always trimmed so you can see the action clearly.

TWSS!   

[SAH]

Nice and shiny like it might have looked straight off the International Car factory floor in 1947.  Ready for the flat finish coat and some weathering.