WM Western Lines Engineering Report

[GaryHinshaw]

Looking good Lee.  That freight house has such a mid-century feel to it, and the lighting is really effective.  I was inspired to dig around for some more photos of Cumberland and came across this page that might wet your whistle, so to speak:

http://korns.org/misc/RR-TC/RR-TC.html

Lots of shots of Cumberland from the turn of the century to the 60s, with a strong WM and B&O presence, including this shot from 1957:



Is this the same freight house?  If so, you need that sign and apparently a bunch of cars parked about.

-gfh

[wm3798]

That's sort of it, Gary.  The location of it is about right.  I believe that building was torn down in the early 60's to make way for the freeway bridge, so I'm "bending light" in a couple of instances.  Using the DPM kit as a base takes out the pitched roof, but gives me the lower profile I need, since I'm crossing the site with the highway on a viaduct.  The layout of the building overall is very loosely based on the freight house that stood at York, PA, with the sloped roof and the wall of wide roll up doors on the track side.

I've also fashioned some signs to go on the annex that are reflective of the signage at York.  Stay tuned for some pics.

I'm developing some ideas to replace this building with something even more WM flavored, but for now this is a good place holder.  (another advantage of using easily unplugged modular wiring!!)

Lee

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Using the old C80 rail is a very groovy idea.
"Fits" with the structure as rafters, too.

I got some copper tape http://www.homedepot.com/buy/outdoors-garden-center-animal-pest-control-insect-mosquito/corry-s-15-ft-slug-and-snail-copper-tape-barrier-182003.html  that I was going to try on the ceiling of buildings to run the lights off of, but I'm a-re-thinkin' mah thinkin'.

Thanks for sharing, Lee.
I really dig the various colors to subtlely separate the scenes.

[wm3798]

Now with signs!

The big signs follow the York warehouse style.


I'd love to build a replica of the York head house for this...  Maybe one day.

The sign on the canopy follows the WM practice on most of its stations and TO offices.


Now I'm thinking of adding a couple more LEDs to illuminate the signs on the annex...

I've tried the copper tape, but I never had much luck with it sticking permanently, especially after trying to solder to it after it's installed.
Lee

[wm3798]

As introduced elsewhere in these pages, there's a new business, Hoffman Manufacturing, that has joined the Cumberland Chamber of Commerce. 

There's some interesting 1:1 Hoffman Manufacturing companies out there on the interwebs, and I'm seeking suggestions as to what type of business this should be.  Here are some of the likely candidates:

http://hoffmanmanufacturing.com/
Sheet metal fabrication...  Interesting, maybe coil steel going in and lots of odd little products going out... or

http://www.hoffmanmfg.com/
This one's based in Oregon, and does a lot of environmental techno stuff, which is right up Phil's alley being as he's a science nerd, but might be a little too green for a gritty industrial site in 1970.  I did notice they make vibrators though...  Might make for some interesting carloadings.

http://www.hoffmanmc.com/
This one's my favorite so far... Good medium scale manufacturing, good potential for inbound and outbound freight, and a product I have at least a working understanding of...  Also likely to have existed in 1970.

http://www.hoffmanonline.com/index.aspx?cat_1=1361
Air conditioning systems... another good one for the building in question, and without a doubt, the most workable logo for signing the building.  Flat car loads of large heavy objects could be sourced here.

As always, your thoughts and opinions are welcome...
Lee

[Philip H]

Personally I'd go with option 3 because it would give you an excuse for a gantry crane and all sorts of other ad ons to move the steel. And asdly you are correct - the enviro techno stuff is too new for your era..

[wm3798]

Today my attention turned to US 48, which passes through town on a tall viaduct.  I picked up some basswood at Ben Franklin (the closest thing to a hobby store around here since Hobby Town USA went teats up) to build the pilings, and pulled some Rix bridge railings from the collection of stuff I've accumulated.



I have three 3/16" I beams running under the deck.  I plan to add some larger and more detailed girders along the outside where they'll be more visible.  To make the center guard rail, I used some Gold Medal brass ladders laid on their sides, and sandwiched between two strips of styrene.

Here's a wider look at the scene:


The upper shelf is the Thomas Sub where it exits the helix.  I'll be adding a slightly wider fascia board to that to mask the hardware and wires under there.  Ultimately, the highway will have street lights, road signs and other details to draw attention away from the upper deck.

This view shows the proximity of the bridge to the station, and the type of girders I need to build for the long sections.


The last major scenic element to deal with in this corner is the B&O interchange track, which shouldn't be too big a deal.  I've got to get a few more packs of I-beams, and install the flood walls in Wills Creek... then we'll be careening headlong into the station building project....

Lee

[wm3798]

More views of the bridge as it progresses...

Concrete pilings installed


Bridge deck assembled, aligned and masked


Roadway paved and lines marked.


Details painted.

Final touches will include the big main beams, and street lights, along with some signs.

Lee

[wm3798]

Wifey's at a conference in Ocean City, so in the hotel, I built the heavier looking beams for the highway bridge.  I'll post a couple pics when I get home on Monday.

[wm3798]

Okay, for those of you concerned about the structural integrity of the US 48 bridge, here's the progress I made this weekend...




Still a bit more to do in the painting and weathering department, and there's a few minor alignment issues to iron out, but I think this accomplishes what it needs to.  I used 3/8" Evergreen tile, split off one row of tiles, and added strip styrene to get the ribs.  The section over the main line tracks will be removable.

While waiting for paint to dry, I started monkeying around with some el cheapo signals I picked up on ebay for a song...





You'll pardon the hasty paint job.  These come from our favorite Chinese ebay vendor, "We Honest" , and they're a pretty good deal for what they are.  They're about the same height as an NJ International, but clearly nowhere near as well detailed.  But I got four signals for the price of one NJI, including shipping.  I have a  couple of NJI's that I'll be using in high visibility locations, but these are not bad for stand ins.  The main issue is the heads are pretty fat, and they don't trim much off the LED connections on the back.  But  a little black paint and a good photo angle can cure a world of sins.

Currently I'm using these simply as switch indicators, but I'm planning to buy enough to install signals everywhere they'll be needed.  One day the electrical elves will come to help me wire in  a proper signaling circuit.

The next signals I'll install will be at the top of the helix to West Staging, so that begat some scenery work around Greenwood.  I decided to add a little more real estate to the town, so I bumped out the fascia with a piece of 2" foam.  It went from this:


To this:


Adds a little breathing room around the depot, and will generally allow for a little more "nothing" on the aisle side of the tracks.  Probably a stand of trees or something.

Stay tuned for more excitement.
Lee

[Pomperaugrr]

Adding the extra 2" of scenery along the fascia makes a huge improvement!

Eric

[Scottl]

I agree, adding foreground scenery makes an incredible difference.

[davefoxx]

Adding the extra 2" of scenery along the fascia makes a huge improvement!

Eric

Not necessarily during busy ops sessions when there are multiple operators who could stand to have two inches or more removed from their waistlines. 

[Philip H]

Not necessarily during busy ops sessions when there are multiple operators who could stand to have two inches or more removed from their waistlines. 

Of which you, Mr Foxx, are not one (yet)

 

[wm3798]

That's why "Bean Pole" Foxx will be the Elkins operator...