The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[davefoxx]

I finally ballasted these two turnouts, and the points still move freely!  While I was at it, that damaged Bullfrog switch machine from a few weeks ago finally gave up the ghost.  Fortunately, I was able to remove it and glue the wood mount back together.  Good as new!



I’m off to ballast that siding, which got a feeder this morning, because the turnout wasn’t feeding power through.  This problem long preexisted the ballasting.  When I complete the ballasting of that siding, the SBD’s track on this side of the layout is just about finished.

DFF

[davefoxx]

The siding is ballasted.  Well, with some ballast.  I wanted this track to appear as if it’s less maintained, so I buried the track in ballast, dirt, and weeds.  I also painted and weathered the end-of-track bumper and permanently installed it.  That should, hopefully, keep trains out of the lake:



This area is now mostly dry, so the SBD has spotted the first car:



DFF

[Chris333]

Put up a new poll.

Should Dave cut a boxcar in half at 45 degrees and plant it in the lake at the end of the siding?

_ yes

_  no

 

[mu26aeh]

Put up a new poll.

Should Dave cut a boxcar in half at 45 degrees and plant it in the lake at the end of the siding?

_ yes

_  no

 

Only if he were to model NS, and make it centerbeam car....

[amato1969]

Love the grassy look of that siding, nicely done.

  Frank

[davefoxx]

Put up a new poll.

Should Dave cut a boxcar in half at 45 degrees and plant it in the lake at the end of the siding?

_ yes

_  no

 

I almost put an entire train in the lake a few weeks ago.  I must have leaned against the layout and inadvertently thrown that switch.  Thankfully, that track needed a feeder, so when the engine went into the siding, it lost power.  Double thankfully, the locomotive did not have a Keep-Alive, so it stopped almost immediately after clearing the frog.  I was at the workbench and noticed that the sound cut out.  Boy, was I surprised when I realized what I had done.  Could have been much worse.  Now that I've installed a feeder this weekend to power that dead rail, I'll have to be more careful.  Of course, that end-of-track bumper is glued down now that the ballasting is done, so it might prevent rolling stock from going swimming.

DFF

[glakedylan]

Dave, would that be the equivalent of a railroad modelers buttdial? 


your ballasting and detailing on that siding is looking spot on.
you have certainly captured a track that is less maintained


thanks for sharing
sincerely
Gary

[davefoxx]

Dave, would that be the equivalent of a railroad modelers buttdial? 


your ballasting and detailing on that siding is looking spot on.
you have certainly captured a track that is less maintained


thanks for sharing
sincerely
Gary

Yeah, but it’s formally called the “gut-throw.”  And, considering how many hundreds of dollars can be invested into just one model train, the gut-throw can be gut-wrenching. 

Thanks, Gary!

DFF

[Point353]

Should Dave cut a boxcar in half at 45 degrees and plant it in the lake at the end of the siding?

Yes. Here are two candidates:

1) The obvious choice is a  D&H boxcar with just the "I ❤ NY" section visible:



2) However, a CR boxcar with just the "can opener" visible above the waterline has its own appeal.

[Lemosteam]

I've done that before, but I was too lazy.  It's tough enough cutting spikes from the track and getting the "asphalt" to snug up to the rails.  It's takes even more precision to fit the ties to the rails and the asphalt to the ties.  Looks good, though.  But, as stated, I'm lazy when it comes to modeling.

DFF

Decals?

[davefoxx]

1) The obvious choice is a  D&H boxcar with just the "I ❤ NY" section visible

But, I don't really love NY. 

2) However, a CR boxcar with just the "can opener" visible above the waterline has its own appeal.

Yes, with the music from Jaws playing in the background. 

[davefoxx]

Decals?

That probably would look good, but I imagine track cleaning would do a number on the decals.  I have the rails only ever so slightly above the road surface.  One slip with the Bright Boy and . . . 

DFF

[mu26aeh]

But, I don't really love NY. 

Yes, with the music from Jaws playing in the background. 

Perfect excuse for an airbrush graffiti moment, red circle with a line thru it over the heart

[davefoxx]

This is a test, and only a test.  I took a Scale Trains Kit Classics (inexpensive at $13.99) boxcar decorated for the Norfolk and Western and started to reletter it for the Seaboard Central, to see how my new custom decals fared.  I can work with this.

Before:



After:



In all fairness, it still needs a clear coat to bury the decal film, which hopefully will hide all of the scars where the N&W lettering was removed.  I’ve only done one side so far, and I’ll need to get tiny letters to patch the lettering on the end of the car.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I used Micro Sol to remove the lettering.  It took a good fifteen or twenty minutes of soaking under toilet paper scraps to get that lettering off, not five minutes as advertised on that YouTube video that was discussed recently here in TRW.

DFF

P.S. Thanks, @DKS, for the help with the artwork that the custom decal maker requested.

[Dave V]

Well, Dave, I'd say you hit a homer there.

So, just to be clear, is this supposed to be a former NW boxcar acquired by the SC?  If so, painting over the old lettering and creating a slightly different "patch" is half the fun.  You certainly don't need to do it, but it also means you wouldn't have to worry so much about the tedious removal process.

If it's meant to be a car built and painted specifically for the SC, it also looks awesome as that (after the matte coat of course!).

Regardless of the car's history, it looks very good and very plausible.