Conrail up in Coal Country

[glakedylan]

deleted

[Point353]

That's a good point. I usually do something similar with cheap brown or tan craft paints. Or my new real love: Tree Trunk from Valspar!

That sounds like the other color that was mentioned, Behr "Wild rice": https://www.behr.com/pro/ColorDetailView/780D-7
It appears to be halfway between light gray and light brown.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That sounds like the other color that was mentioned, Behr "Wild rice": https://www.behr.com/pro/ColorDetailView/780D-7
It appears to be halfway between light gray and light brown.

Oh yeah, that's a great color. I gotta get me some of that too.

[dem34]

That's a good point. I usually do something similar with cheap brown or tan craft paints. Or my new real love: Tree Trunk from Valspar!

It's like Go Away Green.

Had some good results recently with a 3/4 Burnt Umber 1/4 Lite Mocha with the usual apple barrel. Pigments are slightly different and seems to give a dusty look in flat areas and a slightly darker earthy color in depressions

[dem34]

Watered down to 1/2 water half paint looks like this.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I just discovered something VERY relevant for a Coal Country layout set in December:
https://punchdrink.com/articles/how-pennsylvanias-boilo-punch-recipe-became-local-holiday-obsession/

[C855B]

“Make sure you don’t blow yourself up.”

I never heard of it, but I love it already. 

[wm3798]

I just discovered something VERY relevant for a Coal Country layout set in December:
https://punchdrink.com/articles/how-pennsylvanias-boilo-punch-recipe-became-local-holiday-obsession/

You are hereby invited to our family Christmas party at my sister's house... on this one condition...

I'll see to it that there is a stock pot available that is adequate to the task...

Lee

[Blazeman]

Daughter-in-law from Pottsville (Roll Tide) who makes that as a Christmas tradition.

https://www.coalregion.com/speak/speakr.php

[OldEastRR]

Whatever happened to Vintage Chemical? Massive explosion and fireball?

[glakedylan]

I just discovered something VERY relevant for a Coal Country layout set in December:
https://punchdrink.com/articles/how-pennsylvanias-boilo-punch-recipe-became-local-holiday-obsession/

it was also a folk medicine for colds and flu by people in schuylkill county
never tasted it, but then, i had nyquil


G

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Whatever happened to Vintage Chemical? Massive explosion and fireball?

It's sitting boxed up waiting for my next bout of inspiration for.

Or for me to get around to cutting the backdrops for it.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Thanks to @C855B I was able to make more progress laying out the rest of the layout. What you see now is the cork just pinned down while I overthink it.

This section is St Nick with the Old St Nick Breaker on the far side of the tracks and Blaschak Coal on the front.

For reference, here's a scene that inspired it. Note how the breaker is defunct and basically just in the background while loading now is performed by a front end loader. I plan on replicating this by placing my scaled down version of the breaker (built on the base of a Walthers New River mine with a new superstructure) on the far right of the loading tracks in the overview shot.

I'm struggling with this because prototypically that'd be completely unfeasible and inaccurate (in reality there's a feeder yard, loading tracks under it, and then a yard on the other side for outbound loads. This is actually something that often drives me nuts in modeled coal mines where the mine building is in a position where loading a full track of cars is impossible. However, in my case, the mine building really IS just scenery and I don't want to "blow up the scene" and its operations potential by putting it in a place that would be more logical from a prototypical perspective. I figure I'm already taking lots of liberties (since the building itself will be FAR different and smaller than the prototype), what's one more? I'm curious about your thoughts though.

http://conrailphotos.thecrhs.org/Images/CR-9627-and-local-WHSN11-working-the-St-Nick-breaker-on-June-7-1987
http://conrailphotos.thecrhs.org/Images/CR-9627-and-local-WHSN11-at-the-New-St-Nicholas-breaker-on-June-7-1987





The St Nick Breaker loading tracks


Power from the train running back to start working after bringing it up from Cressona


For reference, the Blaschak ramp in the front looks like this:



And the rest of the area:

http://conrailphotos.thecrhs.org/Images/CR-9627-9625-9621-and-more-begin-their-Enola-odyssey-at-St-Nicholas-PA-521987

[Philip H]

So if you are really focused on the operations potential of the scene then you need to make your decisions from that perspective. And based on our prior conversations I’d say you are. So what makes sense operationally in N Scale? What made sense operationally for the prototype? How does your track arrangement marry both answers? What scenic elements compliment that answer and give the right place flavor without sacrificing the operations you pick?

Answer those questions in that order.

Then JFRT.

[pdx1955]

I'll echo Phillip's post on aligning your trackwork with your overall operational needs. I'd minimize the breaker and concentrate on the front end loading. I don't know if there were trackage modifications over the years between when the breaker was in operation to now, but that is common at long-term industries. You could create some hints of abandoned track bed beyond the breaker that would put it into a prototype position if track was there and also which would explain its current position/use to the viewer.