CSX Cumberland Division

[Bob]

Good Lord - those streets are incredibly looking!  Did you ever post anything someplace that goes over how on earth you have managed to pull this off?  That Z scale image is amazing!  I was going to ask whether it was HO!

[CRL]

@DKS, you do realize there is a fine line between providing inspiration and dashing our hopes & dreams on the rocks of inadequacy, don’t you? It wasn’t bad enough that your modeling is exquisite, you just had to tell us it was Z Scale!!!

Aaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggg!!!!! I need a hug... 😔

There’s so many ideas to steal here.

[mu26aeh]

We're  not worthy

[DKS]

There’s so many ideas to steal here.

Steal away! They're not proprietary. I used to have some pages on making the road, but they're long gone. I'll see if I can resurrect them.

[Bob]

The great thing about Duffields is it is characterized by a single road that crosses the double-track mainline, and is notable for 3 structures, all of which are simple.  As I have never scratch-built before, this made Duffields the logical place on my CSX Cumberland Division for my first attempt at scenery.  First up was the MARC train shed, which I posted above.  Second is a now abandoned building that I am calling a general store.  This is now largely complete - I need to add a few more detail parts and weather everything.  I have to admit I am having fun with trying to figure out how to put everything together.  The color is way too yellow, but such is life.  The general proportions are good; I need to find a better solution for a cinder block foundation (most of what you see in the photo will be buried as in the prototype, as the ground slopes upwards towards the back of the building.  I spliced together two 3D-printed steps to make them wider, and I decided not to mess with the railings - it is evident you can spend a great deal of time on small details that will largely escape detection when placed on the layout.  Next up will be the church described in an earlier post, and then I start with landscaping.

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[wm3798]

Nice work!  But don't sell yourself short on those details.  Those are the things that DO make a difference.  I'm more likely to notice when something is missing than if it's there.  Little touches like railings, or trash cans, or a dog in the yard, is what takes your scene and turns it into the setting for the story you're trying to tell.

See the Nuggets thread in the N Scale section of the forum, to get an idea of what you can include...
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=48053.0



Lee

[Bob]

Good point Lee, and the Nuggets thread is great!  I'll add railings and think about what else I can add.

[LIRR]

agreed. great looking streets. I think faded, aged asphalt (as well as faded, aged concrete) are the toughest look to get right. 
you nailed it.

[Bob]

I have largely completed the third structure based on prototypes at Duffields, West Virginia.  First was the MARC passenger shelter, next was an abandoned store, and next up was the Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church (left most photos).  There is still some detail work left to do, and I seem to be too heavy-handed with weathering powders at times and I certainly have a lot to learn about photography, but I have very much enjoyed building my first structures.  However, there just is not enough space on the south side of the tracks – the parking lot is truncated, and the church barely fits between the tracks and layout edge.  However, Duffields is situated at a junction between two layout sections, and these form a slight bend (bottom right photo).  I reasoned that if I straightened this out by using a new piece of fascia, I would gain several needed inches.
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I cut a 4-foot notch in the existing fascia, then installed a new 4-foot piece of ¼” MDF board (bottom left).  The middle top photo shows the layout after the notch has been removed, and you can see where the ‘bend’ is located (near the end of the train).  In the middle bottom image, the new fascia has been installed, and the bend is no more.  The right two images show where things stand now with a new piece of Styrofoam.  I’ll have to re-do the road and parking lot, but the gain of about 3-inches makes this part of Duffields much less cramped.  An added bonus is that Duffields now sits on a single piece of Styrofoam, so I can take it to the shop bench to work on scenery.  Next up is a new road and parking lot, then it is time to apply sculptamold and start my very first attempt at scenery.
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[John]

Great work on Duffields .. you are capturing the buildings well .. I also appreciate the fact that you changed the benchwork rather than cramming it all in to the existing space

[Bob]

The layout is not deep there at all, and Duffields is a place that can be modeled pretty accurately in N scale, so it would have been a shame to cram things together.  Fortunately, the 'bend' in the benchwork made for an easy fix!

[Bob]

2019 marked my first-ever attempt at scenery, and as covered in the CSX Cumberland Division blog under Layout Engineering Reports, I first tackled Duffields West Virginia, the site of a MARC station stop where Flowing Springs Road crosses the double-track mainline, with an abandoned store, a simple church, a run-down B&O depot built in 1839 (second oldest B&O depot still standing in the country), a few houses, and scenery that is not complicated: mix of forest and fields.  I first had to widen the scene to fit everything in, and below are the 'before' and 'after' shots.  Still much to do, but I am happy with how things are turning out.  I will post more photos and a more detailed description in the Layout Engineering thread.  Happy New Year to everyone, and thanks to all TRW members for their advice, paitence with questions, and excellent posts that provide many ideas.


I have found scratch-building structures and working on scenery much more fun than I had imagined.  With some degree of trepidation, I began work on the Dufields West Virginia portion of the layout.  Earlier posts showed how I built structures to match those at this rural location where Flowing Springs Road crosses the double-track mainline between Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg, West Virginia.  A simple MARC passenger shelter with adjoining parking lot and some interesting track-side equipment, a single road-crossing, a church, abandoned 1839 B&O depot, and what I am calling a general store (also abandoned) marked this as a good spot to try-out scratch-building and scenery construction skills for the very first time.

Earlier posts in this thread showed photos of the structures and a map.  The first phot looks in the direction of Shenandoah Junction.  The passenger shelter and parking lot are in the foreground.  In the enclosed fenced area are two structures – no idea what they are, but I took both a large and a small BLI cabinet, filed the roofs flat, and one the smaller structure installed vents that I found on the Shapeways site.  You can then see where Flowing Spring road crosses the track, with the church to the right and store to the left.  The depot is hiding behind the trees in the distance.  The second photo is from a more elevated perspective.  For the asphalt under the shelter, I spray painted styrene with a flat gray, then using an airbrush gently misted some white followed by black to give a somewhat speckled appearance.  I think this looks between than just the flat gray.  Also, I should note that there is a pedestrian crossing of the tracks, which you can see just beyond the shelter.

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[Bob]

The photo below shows the track crossing in greater detail.  I still need to install the crossing gates and do some more work where the road meets the backdrop. The two large trees in front of the back drop are super trees.  But, as many of you know while these are great, their trunks are awfully skinny.  So, I experimented.  I made-up some light white hydrocal plaster in a paper cup, then dipped each Super Tree into the plaster and hung to dry.  I made about 12 as an experiment.  After drying, they were painted gray and foliage put in place.   I rather like how this has turned out – the main trunks are about 2-scale feet in diameter, which is pretty reasonable.

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The last two photos are from the other end, looking back towards Duffield.  You can see the depot in the last photo.  Still need to put in more weeds, bushes and underbrush, and boy does static grass get everywhere!  I’ll have to clean this all up!

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I have to say that with the videos one can find on-line, posts from TRW members, the willingness of TRW members to answer questions from those of us getting started, and the great materials you can buy, making scenery becomes fun rather than a chore.  Still much to learn and improve upon, but I will be excited to look back at the end of 2020 to see what gets accomplished in the coming year.

[Chris333]

Is the depot still standing?

Oh I get it. The station is the old stone building?

[Bob]

Yes, the old depot is still standing - it is close to the tracks at a bit of an angle, and is very close to the road-crossing.  Here is a photo I took of it this past summer:

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