The Very Last White River and Northern Railroad

[DKS]

Sorry for the long absence; had to break away from modeling to deal with some personal issues. Anyway, for a change of pace I've shifted my focus to scenery, specifically the stretch of river from the mill spillway down to the three bridges area. I'd envisioned this as a series of rapids cascading along a slab of solid bedrock, per this reference image.





I had a relatively flat piece of Cripplebush Valley rubber rock that was perfect for a riverbed, and I installed it on 12 November 2020 (above), along with some rugged rock faces along the edge of the firefly meadow.



After blending the rock pieces together with colored sanded grout (above), I painted and stained the rock faces (below).



Next, I added some rip-rap around the base of the falls to blend the finished portion of the mechanism into the surrounding scenery (above), and then sprinkled unscreened river rock onto the rest of the riverbed (below). I bonded it all in place by applying alcohol followed by diluted white glue.



When the river rock was set, I repainted the riverbed, then liberally applied India ink and Rustall washes (below).



With the riverbed complete, I brushed on two coats of thinned acrylic gloss medium (below left).

   

When this was dry (above right), I smeared on a layer of clear silicone caulk, then dry-brushed it with white acrylic paint where the water would be turbulent (below).



At that point, the entire riverbed was "wet" when some areas should have been dry, so I repainted and stained the dry surfaces. Finally, I added tiny plants to the dry areas, then added more vegetation to the rock faces. I declared this stretch of the White River done on 15 November 2020.

[wm3798]

Im going to come up with an excuse to come up and see you..  Covid or not.  I'll be in touch.

[Lemosteam]

Im going to come up with an excuse to come up and see you..  Covid or not.  I'll be in touch.

Just a little out of the way to pick me up too?

[basementcalling]

I am assuming there are photos in David's last post that I am not seeing. Anyone else having this problem?

[peteski]

I am assuming there are photos in David's last post that I am not seeing. Anyone else having this problem?

If you use Chrome browser, see the three posts about the problem in the Admin section of the forum: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?board=11.0

[Chris333]

On my latest layout adventure the creek base is flat. I wanted to model larger boulders and tried to grind a flat spot on a few small rocks... Rocks are hard! 

[DKS]

On my latest layout adventure the creek base is flat. I wanted to model larger boulders and tried to grind a flat spot on a few small rocks... Rocks are hard! 

You can make rocks with built-in flat bottoms by mixing up a very thick batch of tinted plaster and dropping blobs of it on waxed paper.

[chicken45]

If you use Chrome browser, see the three posts about the problem in the Admin section of the forum: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?board=11.0

Thanks for posting this...this solved my issue that I posted about a few weeks ago.
Interesting that it was across different browsers for me, though. Either way, it's resolved. Pete, thanks for posting the link...DKS, thanks for posting the solution!

[Maletrain]

OK, I changed my settings, and I can see the pictures in Chrome on my laptop.

But, now I have 2 reasons to feel insecure while looking at DKS's excellent work. 

[LIRR]

looks great, very nicely done...

[DKS]

So, with the Newport & Rock Falls ( https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=46796.0 ) done in record time--unexpectedly--what was I going to do as a follow-up? I thought about going back to work on the Mountain Vista, but it just wasn't doing it for me. The fact that a devout roundy-rounder such as myself was "content" (if one were to use that term quite loosely) with a point-to-point plan should have been a big clue. I'd made a quick, offhand scribble and, with little thought as to the consequences, hung my hat on it. I even got other modelers to buy into it, and invest their time and effort in what ultimately turned out to be a dead-end project.



If I learned something from finishing the Newport & Rock Falls, it's that nostalgia is a potent and satisfying feeling. But finishing that layout got retro N Scale out of my system--doing another one wasn't going to scratch any other itches, and I had a strong hankering for more, but different, nostalgia.

I needed to return to my modeling roots. The retro layout revisited what got me totally hooked by N Scale in the first place. But it was my second layout--the original White River & Northern, my first "serious" layout--that permanently locked me into the hobby as a modeler. Granted, that layout is pretty embarrassing by today's standards, but scratchbuilding everything as a teenager was challenging in all of the good ways.



Hence, I've decided to attempt "re-imaging" that layout, to use Hollywood parlance. This "new" layout sprouted from the remains of the decommissioned Mountain Vista Railroad, and considering the Mountain Vista sprouted from the remains of the Greystone & Rock Bottom--an ill-fated attempt to do the right thing at the wrong time--it's all decidedly circular, in every sense of the word. Indeed, I wasn't even sure I should consider this a "new" layout.

Be that as it may, allow me to introduce the Very Very Last White River and Northern Railroad. And this time I mean it. I honestly thought that the Mountain Vista Railroad was to be my last one, and I'd led everyone to believe so. But priorities have a way of shifting about when a hard deadline is nigh--a very hard deadline. Indeed, at the risk of employing some gallows humor, it's literally a drop-dead date.

This will be the layout I wished I could have built back in my teens, but didn't have the materials or skills to do so. To save time, I confess I'm robbing the Mountain Vista's grave--in a backwards way. Most of the structures I'm swiping were originally built for the Greystone & Rock Bottom, my last attempt to resurrect the round White River. That project failed due to the loss of a business partner and good friend; since that can't happen again, I have a high degree of confidence this one has a good chance of seeing a golden spike--assuming I live long enough (hence a sense of urgency).

I'm counting on myself to be able to deliver, because this last White River is literally and figuratively my "forever layout," something I assume I'll be associated with after my death. As much as I like the Newport & Rock Falls, it's not what I'd want to be remembered for, and the other contenders are little-known dead-ends: the White River & Northern II was conceptually my be-all end-all layout, encapsulating everything I could possibly want in one space--ended prematurely by divorce; the White River & Northern IV still stands as my modeling high point, having made it to the "big time" (GMR and an NMRA tour)--ended prematurely by divorce; and then there's the Black River & Western, what was supposed to have been my masterwork--ended prematurely by terminal disease. Given the circumstances, I'd much prefer this new layout serve as my swan song.

So, it's once more unto the breach with this old horse. Let's see if I live long enough to justify the time, money and effort I'll no doubt invest in the WR&N IX.

Wither the Mountain Vista? The layout has already been plundered for whatever I can use on the new layout, which includes several of the buildings and some of the scenic elements, as well as a number of animations. Ironically, the Mountain Vista's raison d'etre really wasn't ever animation--it just turned out that way by accident. But to answer a question some folks I know will ask: yes, I'm saving the fireflies!



It was over pretty quickly for the Mountain Vista; in about an hour and a half on the morning of 25 April 2021, I'd removed everything worth keeping. All that remained was a shredded base and a bit of track, which was quickly claimed by another modeler for a wholly different purpose. So, the heart and soul of that layout will live on in a different form.



The final-final version that I've started to build is shown above. Except for one less siding and a few minor track geometry tweaks, it's nearly identical to the original-original.

So let's get started...

[DKS]

I'm taking advantage of modern materials as well as construction methods I've honed over the last couple dozen years. The base is one inch (two half-inch layers laminated together) of Gatorfoam. The subroadbed is also half-inch Gatorfoam, mounted to the base on Gatorfoam risers.



As I was envisioning the tracklaying process, something about the plan started to bother me. It dawned on me that I was basing everything on the geometry of the Trix sectional track of the Version I track plan. But with handlaid track, I didn't need to follow that geometry, which meant I could do away with the two super-tight turnouts toward the middle that were bothering me. So I reworked the plan with smooth-flowing, more aesthetic curved turnouts. The only tricky part was staying within the boundaries of the original plan, because the subroadbed was already cut out, and I was not about to replace it.



Above is before; below is after.



It took three tries to nail it; when I was satisfied, I printed it out and glued it over top of the old printout.



Bonding the subroadbed to the base started out as a really slow process: it had to be done one spot at a time and with great care, beginning with the lowest and highest points, where the line crosses over itself. In order to ensure the strongest possible bonds, each one was allowed to dry for a whole day.



I started with the lowest point (above), using a disassembled vice as a weight. For spacing, I simply cut two long strips of Gatorfoam and glued them horizontally underneath. Then I tackled the highest points, the bridge abutments to either side. I made risers from three layers of Gatorfoam laminated together, then left them glued and weighted for a day (below).



Because of the steep, complex grades on the White River Junction end of the bridge, significant stress would eventually be applied to the subroadbed and riser there. To relieve some of the stress as well as create smooth vertical easements, I made a series of kerfs with a razor saw in the underside of the subroadbed at key locations. (Making angled kerfs on the inside of a curve was a trick I learned back in my college days when I made trade show displays from Foamcore.)

   

To determine the number and spacing of kerfs required, I did tests on scraps of Gatorfoam. Above left, I'm bending a test strip ever so slightly the wrong way to show the cuts; above right, when bent properly, a nice smooth, gentle curve is produced. Cutting the kerfs was rather nerve-wracking, because it turned otherwise sturdy subroadbed into fragile parts that had to be handled with great care; I was only sanguine after I'd cut bunches of risers and glued them in place under the whole area around and under the kerfs.



The layout was ready for track. But was I ready to attempt something I hadn't done in decades--handlay Code 40 turnouts?

[DKS]

I'd been diddling around with structures for more than a day. Finally, I realized I was stalling; it was time to tackle tracklaying. I'm not sure why I was nervous. My hands were shaking, although they do that all the time now. I wasn't doing anything I hadn't done before, nor was I doing anything that I couldn't do over.

Before cutting any ties or rails, I established the design rules. Because the turnouts are all quite small, I wanted zero-stress jointed points--that is, instead of soldering the points to the throwbar, they're linked to it with pins so they can freely pivot. Additionally, the points pivot on the ends of the closure rails, instead of being one piece that's bent into position.

The point-to-throwbar connection was key, and I test-built a set of points as proof-of-concept. First, I ground ~0.080" of the head and web off the end of a piece of rail, leaving only the base. Then I ground the point taper, leaving a narrow slice of the base at the end. After bending the base down at 90°, I inserted it into a #75 hole drilled in a PC board throwbar (below left, top), then bent it up into a relief ground on the underside of the throwbar (below left, bottom) to form a Z-shape (below right). Finally, I clipped the very end flush with the side edge of the throwbar. The points easily slip in and out of the throwbar when held at a high angle, but can't be removed once they're horizontal.

   

The other end of the point would fit into a rail joiner cut in half and soldered to the end of the closure rail. I'd simply pop the points into the throwbar just before I soldered the closure rails on the ties, after which time all of the parts would be permanently locked in place.

I bonded the ties in place with brush-on Krazy Glue, all spaced by eye. Any concerns I'd had about the bonds not being strong enough were completely dispelled when I removed the first batch of ties, and destroyed several in the process. As I learned, the CA bonds the PC boards to the paper template very well, and as the CA soaks into the paper, it further bonds with the Gatorfoam underneath. Those ties aren't going anywhere!

I wanted to have as few rail joints as possible, so it made sense to use flex track rail for the turnouts so they were contiguous by stripping off ties at the ends. But the distance from any one turnout to the next nearest one was always less than the length of flex track, which meant I needed to have all of the ties down for all seven turnouts--including the crossing (below)--so they'd all be ready once I started laying the flex. It went together like a giant logic puzzle.

As I started cutting up flex, I realized that some smaller stretches would have been more trouble than they were worth, particularly the yard area, so I filled in those stretches with ties to hand-lay the track (below).



It took the better part of a day, but I managed to finish the first handlaid Code 40 turnout I've done in the last 20-25 years. The difference is this time I used a "jig," but not like a Fast Tracks jig (I'd need five of those very expensive buggers). Instead of building the turnouts at the workbench, I assembled them in place using T-pins as my "jig." That was the key to helping me do something I'd been unable to do for so many years. Why hadn't I thought of that a long time ago?



   

   

[dem34]

You've been busy. Glad to see a modern incarnation of the Circular layout.

[Scottl]

I really like your solution for attaching the point to the throw bar.  Clever!