CSX Cumberland Division

[Smike]

These are the projects I love, big, detailed & accurate bridges. This is turning out real nice.

[Bob]

Immediately outside the Harpers Ferry tunnel portal are two signals - one for the double track mainline (3 lights over 2) and one for the Winchester branch (two single targets over a 3 light unit).  Well, I don't have the skill to make signals like this, and they are not commercially available, but fortunately for me Richard from Custom Signal Systems came to the rescue.  Richard seems to able to make most anything, and he quickly made signals to match the prototype, and they arrived in the mail today.  I am very excited by this - the top row of the attached image shows the 3 over 2 signal Richard produced, with a photo of the real thing for comparison, while the bottom row shows the 1-1-3 signal that he made.  Note that he put the ladder to the side of this one, just like the prototype - how cool is that!

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[diezmon]

I came across this 1940s film on YouTube that I believe shows the scene you are creating. Go to the 6:45 mark of the video and you'll see the Harpers Ferry tunnel portal, followed by a wide shot of the bridges. The entire film is pretty fun to watch.

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Thanks for sharing your work, by the way. It's stunning.

"..shows them to their seats and gives them menus, Large cards with lists of food, so that each can choose the kind of food he likes." 

Were menus a new thing at the time?   

Great work. i'm loving this thread.

[CRL]

Back then, even many restaurants only served “lunch”, which was like the “blue plate special”. On a train, being able to order from a menu with multiple options was a big deal.

[Bob]

It has been a while since I posted - I should probably spend less time running trains and more time working on scenery!  Right now I am looking at a sea of Styrofoam, as I am just about done cutting the first 1.5" thick pieces (which is 20 feet in N scale dimensions) to fit between the tracks and backdrop.  The layout is modular, so the Styrofoam boundaries are dictated by module boundaries as well.  I am sure that numerous Railwire members have already figured out better ways to do this.  At first, I measured everything using rulers and a grid system, and then transferred this to Styrofoam sheets, but this took a long time.  Then I simply got pieces of posterboard, which is reasonably stiff, lay sheets on top of the layout, and then I crawled under the layout and used a Sharpie to draw lines along the track, backdrop and fascia boundaries.  This was much faster, and resulted in better fits as well.  I am sure that this is a wheel that I have truly reinvented!  The first photo shows the future site of Martinsburg.  The siding with the BNSF loco (there are two tracks) are the two tracks that MARC uses for layover purposes.  The Martinsburg West Virginia Station will be next to the tank cars (right image).
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The second image shows the future site of the GM plant that is just north of Martinsburg (the left most two images).  In the left most photo, the single track to the left is the low line which diverges from the double-track mainline at West Combo, and has an easier grade as it circumvents South Mountain.  The imate on the far right shows a train asending South Mountain, having just departed from Cherry Run WVA.  The low line is to the left.
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The final photo has two images.  The left image shows the same train ascending South Mountain.  The right image shows a train traveling eastward on the Winchester Branch - it will soon be in Harpers Ferry.  The double track mainline is to the right, and the double track spur to the left represents the spur that leads to the Millville Quarry.  I have decided that the first part I will actually scenic is Duffields - it has a really simple shelter at the MARC station stop with a parking lot, and there is a very simple Church and General Store that can be modeled, and close by are the remains of a pre-Civil War B7O station amidst a mix of trees and open fields.  Good variety, but nothing too complicated for a rank scenery beginner!
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[Bob]

Well, I have had enough with cutting Styrofoam, and I have largely tuned up the layout and rolling stock (though there is always more to do), so it is about time that I start with scenery.  But, where should this rank novice begin?  Harpers Ferry and Maryland Heights will be the centerpiece of the layout, so those will have to wait as they are important, complicated, and large (Maryland Heights is to scale).  Instead, I sought an area that would have a few structures, a road, and a mix of forested areas and fields, so I have settled on Duffields, a site for a MARC commuter stop between Harpers Ferry and Matinsburg and just to the East of Shenandoah Junction.  There is a two-lane road that crosses the tracks, a simple shelter at the MARC stop, and a very simple one-story church across the road from the station.   On the other side of the tracks are two houses and what looks like an interesting (and abandoned) General Store.  A short walk to the east brings you to the old (like 1839 old) Duffields B&O depot, which will be interesting to model.  Wikipedia says this is the second oldest surviving B&O depot, second only to Ellicott City.  There is not much in the way of elevation and no rock outcroppings, but modeling Duffields should give me practice scratch-building some simple structures, constructing trees, a road, a rail crossing, and static grass.  It is a very compact area – all 4 structures that I will model are in very close proximity.  The track plan shows the location on the layout, and when I am done with this I’ll likely try Shenandoah Junction where there are some modest rock outcroppings.
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The Duffields MARC shelter is the first structure I have ever build out of styrene.  The shelter is 40-feet long, and is supported by 8 posts that are 9-feet high, four on each side at 10-foot intervals and the width of the shelter is 12 feet.  It has a metal roof and a bit of wood planking on either end painted what is now a faded yellow.  I’ve built this to scale, using measurements and photos I took on my last visit to the area.  I used 0.06” styrene rods for the posts and supports.  I should have used 0.04” rods, but I didn’t think they would be sturdy enough.  I roughed these up a bit with a razor saw and painted them burnt umber to which I added some white paint to get a lighter color.  I used Plastruct wood planking for the ends, but after painting it looks more like metal siding – I’ll have to spray paint next time so that the wood seams are not lost.  Live and learn.  I used Evergreen metal roofing and spray painted with a rattle can.  As you can see from the previous photo, the roof has an unusual rusting pattern, and I’ll try my hand at this next. I think for a first attempt this came out rather well.  I need to do some touch up painting, weather everything (particularly the roof), install the DUFFIELDS sign, and put in rain gutters and downspouts (on order from Shapeways).  I think I’ll install one or two small LED lights, and then I will work on the actual platform on which the shelter sits, which is just asphalt with a railroad tie border and a wooden fence built of 2x4s.

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[Lemosteam]

My forst look at this thread.  Outstanding work @Bob !

[mu26aeh]

Love seeing these modern CSX layouts, and based on prototype none the less.  Between yours, the CSX Mountain Sub and my Hanover Sub, we might have to get a round robin ops going once we all get up and running sending freight across each others layouts like the Trains Across America group that was on YouTube.

Excellent work !  Can't wait for further updates.

[SAH]

Very cool Bob.  When I lived in Charles Town a couple of years ago I occasionally would spend an hour or so watching trains at Shenandoah Jct on Sunday afternoon and would drive past Duffields on the way.  I noted the church and store but had no idea there was a B&O depot nearby.  Nice work.

[Bob]

Hi guys - thanks for the comments.  I had no idea the B&O Depot from 1839 was there either until I started doing a bit of research - it is really close to the current MARC station, and there is even a Wikipedia article about it.  I of course follow the work on the CSX Mountain Sub and Hannover  Sub - I have quite a bit of work to do to get at least some scenery in - it is literally just all pink Styrofoam now!  I live in Berwyn PA, so I think we are in the same geographic area.

[Bob]

I'll probably post this under the Cumberland Subdivision thread as well, but is anyone willing to say something about how you model asphalt?  There are quite a few examples I can find on the web, but what do you think works best in N scale?  I built my first styrene structure - the shelter at the Duffields commuter station, and now I need to model the asphalt base upon which it sits as well as the parking lot and adjoining road.  Using a video from Model Railroader as a guide, I used contact cement to adhere 100 grit or 220 grit sandpaper to a styrene base.  I painted the former a dark grey, then tried to dry-bush on light grey highlights but did not do a good job. I also think it is too dark (bottom piece of styrene in lower right image). Given this, for the 220 grit sandpaper I used a light gray as a base color, then added an India Ink wash and then some weathering powders.  The 100 grit is just too darn rough; the 220 grit may be OK.  Perhaps I should just paint plain styrene?  Any advice would be appreciated!

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[DKS]

My preference is to use black sheet styrene. Sand it with medium grit sandpaper until the surface turns grey. If it's not light enough, hit it with some light grey powdered pigment. Add cracks and seams with a knife dragged backwards; add tar sealant with a Sharpie, add stains and weathering with (fill in the black with your preferred weathering agents).



BTW, I use colored pencils to make road markings.

 

[Point353]

Take a look at the various grit sizes available in silicon-carbide type sandpaper and see if any of them have the visual effect you're trying to achieve.

[Bob]

Thanks for the advice guys!  And DKS - that road and surrounding scenery you  modeled is just incredible!!!

[DKS]

Thanks for the advice guys!  And DKS - that road and surrounding scenery you  modeled is just incredible!!!

Thank you! Also... that's Z Scale.

Here are a few more street images; these are N Scale. The nice thing about using styrene is you can make super-neat joints along rails, and especially around functional turnouts.