Grand Trunk Southern

[shark_jj]

Thanks lock4244.  The trackplan is based on the P&G plant in Mehoopaney, Pennsylvania circa 1970.  The original mockups were based on the plant but when I got three small buildings in an estate sale, I based the construction of the rest of the buildings on them including the colours.  The one thing that will be getting changed is that green piping.  Just haven't got to it yet.  In 1972 that plant generated 24,600 car loads for the Lehigh Valley.  It produces Charmin products, so toilet paper, paper towel, and diapers.  At the time I couldn't decide between the P&G plant, an auto parts facility, or a Campbells plant.  I remembered there was an article in MR 10 or 15 years ago which showed those same 3 industries using the same trackplan and very little variance in the buildings which convinced me I was on the right track.  If I became bored with one, it would be easy to transition to one of the others.  All I would need to change would be the inbound cars.  In the case of the Campbells plant, one or more of the buildings would be replaced with silos.  Unfortunately, I can't put my hands on it at the moment.

[shark_jj]

As posted in the Weekend Update, my grandsons came over Wednesday night since our railfanning was rained out by the remnants of Hurricane Beryl.  The youngest one Nathan, (Nate) took on the task of framing the roof of the large building in the plant at Ethansburg.  Ethan has wanted to try his hand at scenery so he wanted to cover up the plywood that was still showing in Ethansburg. 

Nathan working away on the building.



Ethan covering all the trackage at the plant in Ethansburg. 



Here are what the boys accomplished after 3 hours of work.

[shark_jj]

While the boys were working away in Ethansburg, I progressed with the roadwork leading into Gavinsport.  Here is a bit of a photo essay of the work to date.

Paint and basic ground cover was added to the plaster.



I decided I would model a cut through here so some vertical cuts were put into the plaster and Scenic Express dirt blown onto the surface.  First application of static grass applied to the hillside.  I wanted to get the basic scenery in on the hillside so glue didn't run down onto the grout road.  I have a suspicion it would stain. 



Once the scenery dried, the self adhesive window seal was put down.  This would define the edges of the road and hold the grout in place while it dried.  I was looking to create a 22 foot wide road.  A touch narrow, but it is a country road and not a super highway.   Two asides.  You have to love working with plaster, that fascia is a mess.  The slight crack was created when I readjusted this curve to make this scene fit.  This particular fascia will get repainted so this will all disappear.  Similarly, that blue masking tape is holding up a switch list for the Gavinsport PM switch job.  Till I come up with a better method, a temporary tape job on the fascia is where we are currently at. 



In this photo we can see that the window seal has been removed from the grout roadway.  It still has another 12 hours of drying time ahead of it.  This was Wednesday night and the boys put some static grass on the small lower area and together we blended some scenic material and trees along the bottom of the backdrop.  I was sharing with them the need for different textures while using colours that would flow into the colours on the backdrop and create an impression of seamlessness.  I think they did good.

[shark_jj]

The next step on the road was to give it an overall sanding.  Once that was done, I created a paper template of the finished curve.  In my youth I was an Engineering Tech laying out highway curves and this one would have given me nightmares since it is really about 3 different curves all in a small area, but that was what was required to make it fit this space.  I tell you that to explain why I couldn't just use a compass to layout the radius for the next steps.  I cut out the template and I would use the inside radius and outside radius to cut masking tape to the curve outline for the roadway markings.  Once the outsides were done, I then drew the centreline radius on the template and cut it out so I could use that for the centrelines.  Similar to Nathansville, I started out to do a double yellow line in the centre of the road.  It quickly became apparent that the double line was going to be more trouble than it was worth.  In Nathansville most of the roadway was straight with only a small curve which I was able to do in relatively short order.  2 1/2 feet of curve turned out to be a different story.  I  decided I could live with a single yellow line down the middle.   

Here is a picture of the paper template.



The next step was to mask off the lines.  While this is a simple task, it is also tedious.  What you see in the next two photos took about 4 hours of work.





Once the masking was complete, the next steps go very quicky.  Using my Pan Pastels I dabbed on the colours.  White on the outsides, yellow for the centrelines.  I highly recommend the PanPastels if you are using grout.  It is not a smooth surface and in testing I found I couldn't stop paint from going under the masking tape even when I used a dry brush dabbing technique.  Possibly a lack of skill on my part, but I suspect it is the fact that you don't get a good seal on a micro level between the grout and the masking tape.   Word of warning, Pan Pastels don't dry in the traditional sense, they are more like weathering powders.  By that I mean they will smear if someone rubs on them.  Once I have applied the PanPastels I give the road an overspray of dullcote to seal it.  The road isn't finished yet, I will be using the PanPastels to apply weathering to the road surface.  You can also see that cork has been put down along the edges for the soft shoulders of the road to be installed. 

Photo of the roadway lines.



Here is a quick overview of how the scene is progressing.  The lack of water under the bridge jumps out at me everytime I see a picture of this area.  I need to restrain myself and be patient since that will be the last step after all the other scenery is complete. 

[OldEastRR]

Good idea to make a base for the entire row of buildings as one piece. Then cutting out the areas between buildings. Also realistic, as brick buildings aren't usually built with nothing between the bricks and the ground (unless its solid rock). On anything else the bricks would shift and sag variously all around the perimeter. I always notice the absence on layouts of brick buildings without even a hint of concrete or cut stone footings.

[wm3798]

That's a signature scene right there, you know.  Really coming together.
It looks like it might be a photo backdrop, but maybe trains run on that viaduct back there?

Lee

[shark_jj]

Thanks Lee, a couple of Erie Lackawanna F units leading a freight would have been great.

[shark_jj]

I continued work on the scenery in the area of the Clarion Jct., Gavinsport road.  In addition to the static grass, I now added a number of trees and a variety of ground foam.  Trees include, cheap plastic pines covered with Woodland Scenics ground foam to Scenic Express Super Trees, to a number of trees that I acquired at estate sales.  Right now I have an inventory of about 200-300 trees so I pick out ones I think will suit the scene.  I learned several layouts back never to throw away trees, you need so many that they will come in useful somewhere even if it is just background filler.  I'm also a big fan of the Woodland Scenics Fine Leaf Foliage, it is nice and airy and makes nice trees and in particular great bushes.  The ground cover is a mix of numerous types of Woodland Scenics ground covers.  Course Turf, Underbrush, and Bushes.  I got lucky about 15 years ago and my local hobby shop was closing up and they had a clear out sale.  I bought 50 of those big jars of Woodland Scenics Ground Foams for $1 apiece.  I think I have at least one of just about everything they offer.  Like every other modeller, diluted white glue is the method for securing the various ground textures.  I got on a roll putting the scenery down so there aren't any step by step photos but here are a number showing the finished product.

This photo shows the hillside after some trees have been planted and some ground cover applied.



In this photo you can see that I have added the soft shoulders to the road and added more dirt to the bottom of the cuts.  The dirt is from Scenic Express.  The ballast and the dirt are still wet from the diluted white glue application. 



In this broader view you can see the scenery that I applied in the three areas, the foreground, the hillside, and the area behind the tracks.  At this point the shoulders and the dirt had dried.  You can note a colour variation between the dirt on the hillside cut and the dirt at the bottom.  On the hillside cut, I brushed on white glue and blew dirt on top of it.  At the bottom I put the dirt down dry and then applied alcohol and diluted white glue.  The latter has dried darker than the dirt blown on to the cut.  In real life the variation isn't as noticeable as the photo but I may add some green at the bottom just to break up the contrast. 



A little broader perspective.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Damn that's beautiful. I love it.

Another one of those "reasons I love N scale" photos.

[Bendtracker1]

That turned out very well Shark!
I just hope my farm scene looks as good when I'm finished with it.

[shark_jj]

Thanks guys.

[shark_jj]

PHOTO TOUR POST #1

After cleaning up the layout for last weekend’s operating session, I thought it was a great opportunity for a photo tour of the entire layout.  The layout is roughly 13 ft by 22 feet.  It is a walk in design.  You go around the room twice on two separated levels.  A full circuit of the layout at an average scale speed of 30 mph takes about 6 minutes and 30 seconds.  A train which leaves the lower level staging yard, goes up the helix, traverses the layout, goes back down the helix and into lower level staging takes around 15 minutes.  One of the reasons for designing and installing the two upper level staging yards was that all of that time difference is on trackage hidden from the operator.  The two new visible upper level staging yards have definitely added to the “fun” quotient for operators, however, operations are still evolving since the reduced times puts a lot more pressure on the Clarion yard operator.    There are quite a few photos so I will limit them to about 4 or 5 per post and provide descriptions and mention things I thought went well and have helped make the layout more enjoyable.   

ENTRANCE TO THE LAYOUT ROOM

In this first photo we are standing at the entrance to the layout room.  On our right is the Helix Staging Yard, so named as it sits above the Helix to the lower level staging yards.  In the aisle on the right we can see the town of Nathansville.  The track in the foreground leads left to Nathansville, and to the right it goes around the Helix staging yard and up the hill, around the short peninsula that you see and into the main yard at Clarion.  Trains which depart the Helix staging yard enter onto this trackage and head to Clarion Yard.  In the immediate foreground you can see where I am planning to create a farm scene. 

The previous PRR layout in this room had a duckunder at this room entrance.  It was high, 55 inches, so it was really a stoop under, but as I have gotten older, 76 now, that was proving to be a PIA or more truthfully a pain in my back.  In this design, removing the stoop under and providing open access to the room was one of the best decisions I made and has dramatically increased my enjoyment of the layout.  It has the added bonus of making the room more accessible during layout tours.



In this view we are looking right over top of the Helix yard and you can see down into the helix.  When the Helix supported my PRR Allegheny Division layout all 4 tracks were in use.  I have reduced that to 2 tracks for this layout.  You can see at the front an area where there is still pink foam.  This is where the lower level track starts up the grade and I have been undecided on the scenic treatment.  At the narrowest point this area is only 3 inches wide.  I think I now have a plan which involves a short backdrop on the half wall that you cannot see and trees hiding the loop.  We’ll see how it evolves.



Still standing in the entranceway to the layout this is the aisle leading into the main part of the layout room.  On the left is the peninsula which houses the Procter and Gamble plant at Ethansburg.  The plant produces diapers, paper towels, and toilet paper, so has many of the same types of cars as a paper mill.  In real life this plant sits on the Susquehanna River, on this layout it sits on the Clarion River.  The layout is only one level on the peninsula.
 
On the right hand side we can see the city of Clarion and underneath it on the lower level we can see the Lower Level Staging Yards.  There are several things in this photo worth pointing out.  The first is aisle width.  The aisle you see here is 42 inches wide.  Keep your aisles as wide as your layout room allows.  Two adults passing each other as they move around the layout takes up more room than we as model railroaders often allow for.  The lower level of trackage on the Upper Level is hidden as it passes under Clarion Yard.  Not being a big fan of hidden trackage, I opened up the fascia so that a train passing through here could be seen by the operator and the track would be easy to clean.  I had a plan to put small backdrops behind the tracks but this has been delayed as I like the ability to see the wiring and tortoises if I have to work on them. 



In this last photo of the first group, we see the inside of the Helix.  Using ¾ inch plywood has made the helix very stable.  The threaded rods allowed for adjustments in the initial stage with little to no muss or fuss.  I must say I am still of two minds when it comes to helices.  They certainly lengthen the run and offer opportunities for multilevel layouts, but they are awkward to keep track clean, and I hate losing a train in them for extended periods.  My decision to build the two upper level staging yards shows that I got tired of it, however, with the number of trains I stage and run, I still need it, so it is a necessary evil.  Everybody has to come to their own conclusion on helices. 



In the next set of photos we will take a look at the Nathansville Aisle.

[shark_jj]

PHOTO TOUR POST #2

NATHANSVILLE AISLE

In this first photo we see the town of Nathansville which is currently under construction.  In recent posts I have talked about using grout for roadways.  You can see the throat of the Helix staging yard and the grade leading to Clarion Yard.  The scenery between the two sets of tracks is removable to allow access to the tortoise machines powering the yard throat.  Nathansville has a Farmers Co-op which includes a coal dealer and an oil distributor.  It also has an industrial area with a brewery, a cement plant and a grain silos.    The tunnel portal is one of the two entrances to the Helix.  The papers on the fascia are from the operating session and are instructions for the Nathansville Local.  I need a better solution than masking tape.  I have considered some type of slotted device similar to throttle holders, or perhaps something as simple as a hook holding a small clipboard.
 
I have also described them in previous posts but this photo also shows the drop down wiring panels I use for easy access to track wiring around the layout.  These are normally hooked up under the layout but since I have been working on it, most of them are in the down position.



Moving further into the Nathansville aisle we see the south end of Nathansville.  This photo clearly shows the two track levels.  The upper track to the left leads to Clarion Yard and to the right it leads downgrade around the Helix Yard and into the north end of Nathansville.  It also leads to the Helix Yard.  The lower level track to the right leads to the grade and Clarion while to the left it will pass under Clarion Yard and make its way to Gavinsport and Ethansburg.  My plan is to have trees on that hillside before the Open House in the first week of October.



In this final photo we  see the two levels very clearly.  You can barely see Clarion Yard on the left but that is the destination for the upper level trackage while the lower level enters a “hidden” section.  The bridge that you see is based on a bridge just outside of Scranton in which the Lehigh Valley passed over the DL&W and there is a box structure which I have to construct underneath it to support the bridge girders.  It’s been on the to do list for a while.  I have it on the detail list which I’m trying not to start until I have all the plywood on the layout fully covered.



Next up we will take a look at the Main Aisle Ethansburg side

[CNR5529]

(...) however, operations are still evolving since the reduced times puts a lot more pressure on the Clarion yard operator. (...)

I was thinking about this the other day, perhaps the solution is to put 1.5 people switching the yard during an ops session. Keep the yard master role, and give him a helper to work the yard. One can sort cars from the north side and one from the south. That second person likely won't need to work the yard the full ops session, so they can double as the local switcher in Clarion too, to the various sidings in town. They can start the am shift sorting the mess from the previous day together and get the first freights on their way pretty quickly, and in the afternoon the helper can start handling local traffic (or get dispatched for the odd pusher service when needed)

[shark_jj]

I think you are right Fredrick, we need to work both ends of the yard.  The problem is also compounded by the fact that the layout would operate most effectively with about 4 operators.  However there are 7 regulars in the group and I feel a need to keep everyone occupied and so I give in to the tendency to send trains out onto the main a little quicker than I really should so guys aren't sitting around.  Works great for the mainline guys, not so good for the Clarion Yard operator.  That is why last Saturday I was trying to limit it to 5 guys in the layout room and then dispatch accordingly.  It worked kinda so-so, I still need to slow down the pace of the mainline freights.