The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[davefoxx]

I received an order of track parts from MBK yesterday, so, hopefully, I'll be able to spend some time in the train room this weekend.  Up first, will be a minor revision of trackwork in Aberdeen, i.e., replace a left-hand crossover with a right-hand crossover, because I think I made the same mistake on the v3.0 that I did on the v2.0.    This realignment will allow a train coming down the A&R to crossover and enter Aberdeen Yard without having to pull all of the way to other end of the passing siding before reversing.  In my defense, I was following the track plan that Gordon Odegard developed for the Bedford Valley, but I failed to account for the addition of the A&R line to the plan.  But, hey, I wouldn't be me, if I didn't constantly do track realignment projects. 

I also bought a wood trestle kit to begin working on the bridge over the Seaboard System to allow the A&R to reach staging.  I really would like some guidance on staining or painting the trestle.  I want that old sunbleached, creosoted look.  I probably need to just use India Ink, rather than wood stain.  Thoughts?

DFF

[davefoxx]

Oh, and another project is to build a small plate girder bridge for the Seaboard System over the creek/lake.  I bought and built a MicroEngineering 50' ballasted deck girder bridge:

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Micro-Engineering-HO-50-Ballasted-Deck-Girder-Bri-p/mec-75-507.htm

I used a ballasted deck, because the single track is slightly curved at this spot.  I guessed at the size of the bridge that I would need and was deeply concerned that it would be too tall to look right over the waterway that it has to clear.  But, after building the kit last night, it should work out fine, since there's not much boat traffic to clear.  I will need to check to see if my bucket of anchoring cement is still good, so I can build the abutments.  Pictures to follow.

DFF

[wazzou]

I don't know the kit you bought or the materials in it, but I don't think India ink alone is the way to go on wood.
It will still look a little like bare wood with India ink stain.
To achieve the look you're after, I like to use a medium gray primer to more or less seal the wood and then I use Polly Scale RR Tie Brown with lightly dry brushed light gray highlights to bring out some grain.
The pile will be a little darker near the bottom where the Creosote hasn't bleached as much.

Oh, and RE: grain...I would use a medium sandpaper to raise some up a little so the piling shows some age and your highlights look more natural.

[davefoxx]

Thanks, Bryan.  Those sound like some great tips!  That also makes it easier, because I can build the bridge first and then apply the finish.

DFF

[milw12]

Dave,

Byran is probably right about the India ink and that there are better alternatives, but I'm reasonably happy with my grade crossing:



I believe I 'dyed' the wood by soaking it in an India ink wash, let dry, installed, then applied multiple ink washes to tie it together. I originally tried to stain the wood with coffee, which I remembered reading as a child in an ancient model railroading guide. If you want coffee-stained ties that smell like old coffee for a few days it works great  So technically this crossing has a coffee stain base followed by India ink. 

Lucas

p.s. Hope you don't mind me posting a picture of my sub-par work in your thread, I can link instead if need be.

[davefoxx]

Subpar?!  I think that turned out really nice.  I'm not sure I want the old coffee smell, though. 

DFF

[davefoxx]

Here's the track realignment project.  Not long after the A&R track up the hill was installed, it became obvious that the crossover nearest it was backwards, so trains trying to access the yard had to do multiple reversings or go all of the way to the end of the passing siding.  Again, the original crossover design was borrowed from the Bedford Valley track plan, but I neglected to modify the plan after the A&R line (a la Seaboard Central branch) was added to the plan.

Before:



Using yellow carpenter's glue makes it easy to pull up track.  A little sanding to smooth the cork and we're ready for the new track.  The pushpins seen here are holding down scraps of cork needed to patch the roadbed where the holes through the subroadbed under the turnouts used to be:



At the end of Day One of this project, the turnouts are installed (I had to move four turnouts for this realignment), including the holes through the benchwork for the future Bullfrog turnout throws.  I've connected one track and am waiting for the glue to dry, so I can run a train around the roundy-round and up the hill:



DFF

[milw12]

Subpar?!  I think that turned out really nice.  I'm not sure I want the old coffee smell, though. 

DFF

Definitely wouldn't do it again or recommend it, some things are best left in the past. Most importantly it was a waste of good coffee

Track is nice, can't even tell that it's a re-alignment!

Lucas

[davefoxx]

Thanks, Lucas!  Here's the final result.  Done, and it's still before noon on Sunday.



Trains are running through this complicated track work just fine.  Unfortunately, I was left with an s-curve situation that I was really worried about.  In the picture above, you will notice the points-to-points turnouts at the bottom right.  I would have loved to get these points much closer together, but there's some framing under the layout preventing me from doing that, if I want under-the-table switch throws.  See?



But, nothing derails through it.  Whew!

DFF

[davefoxx]

A U-Boat sighting on the Seaboard Central!  Much to @wm3798's chagrin, a C&O U30B has been added to the roster.  I like having at least one piece of motive power decorated for the Chessie System, so to hint at the impending merger of the Chessie and Seaboard roads.  My era is 1983-86 and ends at the CSX merger.

I love having this U-Boat, as, if memory serves correctly, the roads did start sharing power in the few years before the CSX merger, and GE units tended to head south and EMD units tended to head north for the ease in maintenance on the two roads.  So, a C&O U30B on the Seaboard System occurred probably more than you would imagine.



DFF

[wazzou]

Sound?

[davefoxx]

Sound?

Absolutely!  What a difference a U-Boat sounds like as compared to a Geep.  Chug-chug-chug-chug.

DFF

[Dave V]

Hey @davefoxx , what do you use to get your Styrofoam contours so smooth?

[davefoxx]

Hey @davefoxx , what do you use to get your Styrofoam contours so smooth?

@Dave V,

It's mostly carved into shape with a snap-blade knife, and then I hit it with the random orbital sander.  I try to use the power sander as little as possible, because it kicks up some fine dust.  To minimize that dust, I have the sander in one hand and the shop vac in the other.  I use lightweight spackling to fill any remaining gaps, cracks, and gouges.

Hope this helps,
DFF

[wm3798]

DFF

You'll need to buy a big rattle can of flat black to properly weather it to show where the black smoke belches from the turbocharger, and of course a proper coat of grime (Hays Watkins notoriously declared that dirty locomotives pull the same amount of freight that clean ones do as he shut down wash racks all over the system...) then you'll have to go out and purchase a couple of Western Maryland GP9s, since even at twice the age of the Uboat, they ran more reliably and will come in handy to tow it's dead rear end around your layout.

And don't forget to file a wheel or two flat so you get the proper sound effects.

Lee