CSX Cumberland Division

[Bob]

That's right - they use to run helpers based at Martinsburg up to the crossovers at Hobbs, which is close to Shenandoah Junction.  Didn't know that WM units ran on this frequently.  I hope to get the bridge installed and finish the scene up in the next two weeks, then I'll try to take some good photos.

[Bob]

I've continued to work on Shenandoah Junction.  The first scenery module that has the buildings where railfans often congregate has been installed - this part is largely done, save for some detail work and I need to use sculptamold and rock castings to join this module to the actual layout.  The first photo looks west. The second photo looks east, showing the side of the bridge that is less often photographed.  This side has  a walkway (need to install the railings) and two gray pipes, that I guess are conduit for cable.  You can see Duffields in the background, which is the first part of the layout to be scenicked. The bridge needs to be weathered, but the abutments are in place and the landform on the north side of the track has been shaped and is ready for scenery.  I hope to largely finish this scene over Tgiving weekend.  The last photo is another short of the building that often appears in photos of the junction, given its proximity to the bridge and to the tracks.

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[Bob]

Shenandoah Junction is essentially complete, though like any model RR scene nothing is every truly complete.  I broke out the tripods this AM and used focusstackingonline.com to combine the focus stack - I used my iPhone for the photos.  I had a subscription for Helicon Focus, but I go months without using this and got annoyed at the $10 monthly fee.  In any event, the first photo is taken while standing on the track, looking west.  When you see photos or videos of Shenandoah Junction, they are generally taken from this perspective (well, not while standing on the track, but from the embankment to the left).
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The second photo would be from a drone, and shows the two buildings on the south side of the tracks.  They are much closer together than in reality, and railfans typically stand on the embankment between the two buildings.  A portion of the white, red and blue building is often seen in photos taken from this perspective.
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The last three photos are taken from the other side, looking east. That is Dufflelds in the background, which is the first scene that I modeled.  I think I will now connect these two scenes, which will probably include modeling the Shenandoah Junction postoffice and several mobile homes (I'll probably have to scratch build these - wish Woodland Scenics sold theirs as kits), and perhaps a cornfield as well.
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[Bob]

I should add that just to the west of the NS bridge a road crosses the tracks, with crossovers and signals immediately past the crossing.  Alas, selective compression brings the crossovers immediately west of the bridge, so there is no space for the road crossing.

[Mark5]

Didn't know that WM units ran on this frequently.

Used to go to SJ a lot years ago. WM units would have appeared after Cheesie system got rolling.

[Mark5]

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:

Yup. "the second oldest surviving train station in the United States was recently purchased by an area nonprofit organization formed with the hope of turning it into a museum. Duffields Station was built in 1839."

https://sites.google.com/a/millermutts.com/n-w-hagerstown-district/stations/shenandoah-jct

Mark

[Bob]

I've just installed the next scenery module - this is to the east of Shenandoah Junction, as I am trying to connect this to Duffields, the first scene that I completed.  In real life, Duffields and Shenandoah Junction are just 1 mile apart, and there is a pond between the two close to the tracks, so I decided to model this.  The first shot shows the pond, a house I (from a Walther's kit), the Shenandoah Junction post office, and Shenandoah Junction in the back ground.  You can see the edge of of my first corn field (thanks to Spookshow for tips on this), with the brown open space the future home of two mobile homes. 

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The second shot is from the opposite direction, looking towards Duffields.  I need to put some weathering powder on the tree trunks - I have been painting laytex rubber on SuperTree trunk to make them thicker, and then paint them,  but the trunks seem a bit 'shiny' - nothing weathering powders can't tone down.  I use Woodland Scenics deep-pour water, and tried two different types of reeds in the pond and various edging materials to see what works and does not work.  I'm happy with the overall effect.  My goal is still to connect Duffields and the junction over the weekend, which will give me about 6 feet of continuous scenery.

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[Bob]

The photo did not post for some reason - here is a second attempt.

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[MK]

The ripples in the pond are fantastic!

[Bob]

I used the Woodland Scenics Water Effects material, that you paint on after the base epoxy dries.  There is clearly an art to this - if the light strikes the pond the right way, as in the photo, the ripples look really nice.  But, if you look at the pond at a different light-angle, you can clearly see brush strokes and they don't look so great.  This will take some experimentation to figure out!

[Bob]

I'ld like to thank Spookshow for his advice on making a soybean field.  I made a few modifications.  I took an aluminum baking pan and cut the bottom off, and then strung Jade Heather yarn back and forth, just using scotch tape to hold it in place.  I could then put this atop newspaper and blast it with hairspray.  Then I put it on top of an old cookie sheet and sprinkled on olive-colored leaves.  Then, back to the newspaper for more hairspray, then more leaves, etc.  I could also flip the pan around and put hairspray and leaves on the backside of the yarn so that it was well covered.  After drying, I then cut pieces and used white glue to adhere them to the dirt field.
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[SAH]

Very clever soy bean field technique Bob.  I'll put that one in the resource file for "someday".
Thanks for sharing.

[Bob]

Thanks SAH - Spookshow got me on this track - I used the same yarn as he did, and tried soaking it in scenic cement then stretching it across a carrboard box, but the wet yarn stretched out and I could get the foam to adhere all that well.  The hairspray, in my hands, worked nicely, and using the cut open aluminum basting dish (like you get for turkeys) made it easy to coat all sides of the yarn, and to readily go back and forth over newspaper to catch the excess hairspray, then a cookie sheet to catch and then re-use foam/leaves that missed the yarn.  Bob

[wm3798]

You should open a quarry or a major earth moving operation.  This layout is pure dynamite.

Each shot I have to look twice to make sure I'm not looking at the real things.  You've really captured it.

Looking forward to the next section to be amazed by.

Lee

[Bob]

Thanks Lee!  In fact, there is a crushed stone quarry just to the west of Harpers Ferry next to the Shenandoah River on the Winchester branch.  I have a spur to what will be the quarry, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it.  I could use a bunch of photos as I have no idea what is actually in a quarry!  Any suggestions?