The Making of a Prototype Factory: National Carbon in Fostoria OH (11/30/18)

[crappie]

worked there late `960'safter gov vaction in charlie land

[OldEastRR]

Wow ... somebody who actually worked at NCC on TRW! Maybe you can explain or identify some of functions of buildings and structures. What the heck that big long building next to the NKP mainline was and what it was used for would be really helpful.

[jdcolombo]

UPDATE:

We now have the big furnace buildings done and added to the scene (with a mockup of a building that sort of attaches to the two furnaces):

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The furnaces fit against the backdrop at an angle, which meant that I had to "fake" the complete building on the left (west) side by using a photo backdrop.  Still working on that - in the bottom photo, the roof seems to "sag" where the photo and real building attach, but that effect is the result of the photo angle; because it is a photo, the viewing angle changes the sight lines (you don't see that "sag" in the top photo).  What I really need is a hologram!  But at least it's better than just the cut building with no roof at the end.

Still more buildings to go - the one to replace the cardboard mockup, then another one along the track at the front of the scene, and a low warehouse building toward the right in-between the two spur tracks to the right of the furnace buildings.

[Kisatchie]

That is SOOOOO neat! Great job.


Hmm... I wish someone
would model a banana
plantation...

[MK]

Simply amazing John!   

[jdcolombo]

Hi everyone.

Here's an update.

I've added the small building attached to the furnaces called the Coke Conditioning Building ("CCB" for short, which still exists at the factory today), along with some basic ground cover and ballast on two of the service tracks into the plant.

Old East RR really outdid himself on this building.  He hand-soldered together dozens of GMM brass windows for the window arrays, and built the walls with a "shadowbox" design that gives depth behind the windows without a "see-through" problem.  A lot of modelers use black construction paper to cover windows, which takes care of the see-through issue but doesn't give the illusion of depth behind the window.  Old East's technique does both, after painting the interior of the shadowbox with dark gray "blotches."  I'll take credit for adding the window glazing (individually-cut pieces of acetate transparency sprayed on the back with a light matte finish and attached to the brass with CA), assembling the "kit" provided by Old East and doing the painting.  I think this particular building, though small in comparison to everything else, is a highlight of the scene.

Here is a photo of the parts I started with.  Some I've already assembled and painted, but you can get a sense of the complexity of the construction technique used by Old East:

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And here's a photo of the building partially assembled:

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And here is the completed building on the layout:

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For comparison, here's a photo of this building as it looks today:

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I've got some work to do on the "outbuilding" to the left of the CCB, and there is one final large building to do for the scene (plus all the detailing work, which I have to do for the entire layout), but I think this scene is coming together very nicely!

John C.

[narrowminded]

Outstanding!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So hot. I dig it!

[OldEastRR]

John,
Very interesting post!  I'm also a BIG fan of prototype scenes (LDE's) and I fully agree that faithfully reproducing a prototype scene and era is a lot more work than imagineering something, or using a kit or RTR structure out of a box. 

The only drawback to it is that it usually takes longer, sometimes a LOT longer.  However, for me, the wait is worth it.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Yes. I Started fabricating this NCC plant in June 2016. Still have one large building to do. Since it will be the one closest to the edge of the layout, needs excellent construction and detail. I wasn't working hours every day on this thing, but a good chunk of time went into it every week. Plus there's lots of research and measuring and calculating compression ratio that is stuff you don't need to do with a kit.
If John puts in all the "little" details in this scene (abandoned tank bases, telegraph line poles, etc) then it will look fantasdtic.

[jmarley76]

Looking great!