Modular Nickel Plate Road in Bellevue

[seusscaboose]

Great progress

Two questions

1) So... I know your not doing the power house or machinists shop

What about the smoke stack that was at the power house with nkp on it?  Any way o work that in?

2) are you doing the concrete platforms in front of the station?

Eric

[btrain]

Great progress

Two questions

1) So... I know your not doing the power house or machinists shop

What about the smoke stack that was at the power house with nkp on it?  Any way o work that in?

2) are you doing the concrete platforms in front of the station?

Eric

Thank you, Eric!

I’ll be doing the smoke stack, and maybe some kind of brick structure near the roundhouse to look like a mini power house. I’ve got a lot of scrap windows from these Walthers roundhouse kits, which I’ll be able to kitbash into something.

As for the passenger platforms, there’s one by the station and one between the tracks. They’re styrene sheets I put in last spring, but it didn’t dawn on me that they’re dreadfully short!
They are long enough to fit one entire 70’ car, but obviously that’s not long enough, so I’ll lengthen the platform between tracks when I work on that module again.

[btrain]

I haven't had much of an opportunity lately to work on the layout because of car problems. It turns out that I have a blown head gasket on my Buick Century, and with 250k miles on it, I'm not surprised that now's the time to put it out to pasture.

The one major project that I've accomplished this month was building of the Bellevue roundhouse. Obviously it's a Walthers kit with a few modifications. First I covered the exterior walls with a light coat of HobbyLite filler to simulate the concrete. I used a styrene card to flatten out some areas, along with some fine grit sandpaper to get rid of any lumps.

I made a trip out to Bellevue to check on the real thing after the filler had dried. Currently the roundhouse is still standing, but has some its brick windows and roof removed. I don't know if it's being torn down, but I've heard rumors that NS's signal department wants to use it as a storehouse.



Here's a photo of it during better times.



After checking it out and becoming more confident in choosing what shades of colors to use for the concrete along with the window frames, I airbrushed my model with Tamiya deck tan mixed with some light gray.



The giant sign with the road name was going to be a slight problem in finding the right decals for it. Luckily I stumbled across Bill Mosteller's greatdecals.com website and found O-scale express boxcar decals. They worked perfectly except for the fact that I forgot to put several layers of clear coat over the decals. I applied painters tape over it before I weathered the roundhouse with powders. The decals of course came right off after I removed the tape.    Bill was greet enough to send me another set after I explained the situation. 



On the east end of the yard I've been cutting into the foam with a Stanley Surform Shaver to create a soybean farm. It's now covered with dirt and awaiting Busch's small plowed field mat to be put in place. Hopefully I won't go crazy applying Elmer's school glue in very thin lines while sprinkling on green turf. 

[seusscaboose]

I like it

More pics!

[jdcolombo]

Nice job!

Here's my interpretation of the Bellevue roundhouse:

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

This one used the superstructure of two of the old Heljan roundhouse kits; the rest of it was scratchbuilt from styrene and Grandt Line windows by one of my operators, Steve Hankel.  It's not as deep as it should be (a Berk just barely fits inside), but it fits the space available!

For my sign, I just printed the logo on some heavy-weight paper, cut it out and glued it to an .060 styrene backing and then weathered that with chalk.  No decals needed.

John C.

[btrain]

Nice job!

Here's my interpretation of the Bellevue roundhouse:

(Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)

This one used the superstructure of two of the old Heljan roundhouse kits; the rest of it was scratchbuilt from styrene and Grandt Line windows by one of my operators, Steve Hankel.  It's not as deep as it should be (a Berk just barely fits inside), but it fits the space available!

For my sign, I just printed the logo on some heavy-weight paper, cut it out and glued it to an .060 styrene backing and then weathered that with chalk.  No decals needed.

John C.

Thank you John! I really like your roundhouse and it's one of the things that gave me the impetus to do my layout.

[jdcolombo]

I think you got the sign logo better proportioned; mine is a bit too big.  And I'm going to have to get off my lazy butt and do a proper round coal dock, like you have.  Your overall engine terminal scene is excellent.

I just hope the NS doesn't tear it down.  The fact the roof is gone is worrisome, but since the whole thing was concrete, it probably doesn't much matter that the interior is currently exposed.  And current NS management seems a bit more conscious of history, given the steam excursions they've done with NKP765 and their help in resurrecting the J.  So maybe they'll find a good use for the roundhouse and keep it around a while longer . . .

John C.

[btrain]

Took advantage of the sunny weather today to shoot the east yard module. The module is almost completely sceniced and just needs to have some bushes and trees added. The soybean field went in pretty well and needs to be completed to the end of the module. The layout will be shelved again this summer until the days become much shorter in late fall.

[jpec]

Some fine modeling there...

[btrain]

I've been getting back in the model railroading groove, as I'm sure most of us are with the changing of the seasons. Most recently I've been working on the Kimball module by laying down foam, cork and track. In researching this little hamlet, I've come across a little SOHIO gas station/store. I first saw it in John Rehor's, The Berkshire Era, a book that is a must for anyone interested in the NKP during the transition era. Looking for more info I used vintageaerial.com to get a better look at the building, and to also get a general feel for the area.

This helped greatly in the scratch building of the store, unfortunately I couldn't find the passenger and the freight station for Kimball, since they had been moved off NKP property by the time the aerial photo was taken. I do know that the freight station does survive on someone's farm in the area, and I'll be making a trip up there soon to get measurements. It's said that the passenger station survives in a farmer's barn, so I'll have to do some sleuthing around to track it down assuming it still survives. The last photo I was able to find of it intact was from the early 1990s, so if anyone has more information about it please call the FBI, errrr, I mean me and I'll be eternally grateful for whatever nuggets of information you'll supply.

[btrain]

I've been plugging way on the Kimball module of the layout. There's one more module that needs foam, roadbed, and track, but I'm almost at the point of completing a full circuit of track.



Here you can see the modules stacked when stored, all together the tables are nearly 3' in height and take up the space of a small dresser. One problem is that the height is a bit too tall to fit in the back of my Kia Soul, so one module will have to be stored sideways across the folding seats in the back.



On the "L" shaped module that leads from Kimball to staging, I put a Monroe Models wooden overpass to help break up the scene. I'm not 100% sure at the moment if I will scenic the staging portion. I'm concerned that it may distract from the main attraction of Bellevue yard on the other side of the layout, or if I should extend the Masonite a few inches around it so viewers don't get confused.



A nice model railroading hack that I wish I knew earlier, is the use of a paint edger when ballasting. This is probably the most pain and stress free way to shape ballast, along with creating a very nice and neat edge.



The part of model railroading I enjoy the most (especially in the gray doldrums of winter) is putting down some scenery. I used a mix of 2mm light and dark green ststic grass mixed in with 4mm Woodland Scenics straw for the dairy pasture and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I just need to stain some dowels for the fence so ol' Bessie doesn't go down the right of way. This past fall I had a chance to go visit Caboose Hobby in Denver, while not as fully stocked as it used to be, I did find some nice peal and place wild flowers by Silflor. Their 2mm Silflorettes add a nice touch of color, and remind me of the wildflowers that dot Ohio highways when I'm out cycling.

I still have to knock on the door of the farmer that now owns the Kimball freight station to get some measurements, but hopefully by April I'll have both station on the layout and a full circuit of track to finally run some trains! 

[btrain]

It's been a little while since I've posted, but I wanted to show some updates to the layout.

This past weekend I was invited by Bill, of the Galesburg City Job, to display my layout. I was a bit hesitant at first since there was much work to be done, but it did give me the motivation to make it presentable to the public. The only problem is that I couldn't get the DCC system installed in time due to me chasing the Big Boy out west, but just running a switch engine back and forth provided much entertainment to guest and myself.

It was great seeing light bulbs go off in several people's minds when they were looking over my layout. It reminded me of myself several years ago when I saw the Galesburg City Job and was inspired to build my layout. So in a sense, it felt like I was paying it forward to those who were taking notes, and to be running next to the layout that inspired mine was just a real honor!

[nickelplate759]

That is SOOOO nice.  And yes, I'm biased.  I'd upvote three times (or even twice) if I could.

[w neal]

It was very nice to have you and your beautiful layout there. I'm sorry I was busy being in seller mode. I'm pleased you received lots of good feedback. It was well earned.

[btrain]

It was very nice to have you and your beautiful layout there. I'm sorry I was busy being in seller mode. I'm pleased you received lots of good feedback. It was well earned.

No worries! Haha, I was in la-la land since this was the first time I was able to do a switching session on it. I had a great time, and I’m looking forward to next year!