Car Wash on the Trenton Subdivision in N Scale

Roger Litwiller's picture
Thu, 2014-07-31 05:19 — Roger Litwiller

VIA Rail's, Kokanee Park passes through the Car Wash Area in VIA's Maintenance Shop, on my Trenton Subdivision in N Scale.

I have always wanted a Passenger Yard on the layout.  Setting up passenger trains, shop area and an opportunity to display unique rolling stock and engines in VIA Rail Service, provides another level of modeling and operations.

Having a wash area to keep the passenger trains spotless was a must for me.

I decided on the Four Brush Car Washer Kit produced by Stewart..  Using this metal kit as the base, I built a platform.  The concrete slabs are 1 mm styrene sheets and the grates are  walkways left over from another model project.  The railings and wash solution tank is part of a sanding tower kit. 

Included with the Stewart kit are "brushes" for the washers.  This was my only sore spot with the kit.  They consisted of black plastic tubing and the appearance was horrid.  To remedy the problem, I picked up 6 mm pipe cleaners and cut them down to size to fit inside the wash pans.

The pipe cleaners give a much better appearance of the round brushes that spin along the side of the car..

As you can tell from the photo the area is not yet finished.  Once I ballast the track, place warning signs and figures, the area will look much better.  The black hole in the foreground is for a manhole cover, providing access to the components below the wash area.  I have a figure that will be coming up through the manhole.

Comments

edfhinton's picture

Awesome brushes!

Thu, 2014-07-31 08:25 — edfhinton

The pipe cleaners as brushes look great.  Before reading the text the first thing looking at the picture that struck me was that the brush bristles look good even with the layout being N scale. I will definitely have to steal the idea of having pipe cleaners amongst my modeling supplies.

Nice scene.

-Ed

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Proprietor - Northern New England Scenic (V3). N scale NH B&M Eastern and western coastal routes in the late 1950s.

https://nnescenicmodelrr.com

 

Roger Litwiller's picture

The nice thing with the pipe

Thu, 2014-07-31 11:59 — Roger Litwiller

Thanks Ed,

The nice thing with the pipe cleaners is they can work for any scale, just by increasing the width of the bristles.  Michael's and Walmart have good selections.

The down side, I had to buy a package of 25 one foot long pipe cleaners in assorted colours to use only four inches on the diorama. 

Roger Litwiller -Author

View my layout, "Trenton Subdivision in N Scale" on the Railroading Page on my website. rogerlitwiller.com

READ my MRH Blog.

wesgarcia's picture

Outstanding!

Thu, 2014-07-31 11:59 — wesgarcia

Hi Roger;

Great idea, it really adds to the over all effect of the car wash.

Wes Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Roger Litwiller's picture

Thanks wesgarcia, It took a

Thu, 2014-07-31 12:02 — Roger Litwiller

Thanks wesgarcia,

It took a little bit to figure out the layout and how I wanted it to look. I am very pleased with how it has turned out. Can't wait to finish the the ballast and details.

Roger

Roger Litwiller -Author

View my layout, "Trenton Subdivision in N Scale" on the Railroading Page on my website. rogerlitwiller.com

READ my MRH Blog.

wash rack photos

Thu, 2014-07-31 13:22 — mesimpson

Interesting operation to add to a layout.  Attached are a couple of shots of the CP washrack in Vancouver BC circa 1974.  Fritz Lehmann photo.  



Marc Simpson

https://hudbayrailway.blogspot.com/

https://ageologistchasingtrains.blogspot.com/

Read my Blog

Roger Litwiller's picture

Thanks M Simpson, These are

Thu, 2014-07-31 13:27 — Roger Litwiller

Thanks M Simpson,

These are great photos, wish I had them earlier. This is an area you seldom see photographed.

Thanks for posting your comment and photos.

Roger

Roger Litwiller -Author

View my layout, "Trenton Subdivision in N Scale" on the Railroading Page on my website. rogerlitwiller.com

READ my MRH Blog.

mrbill's picture

Clean cars are happy cars

Fri, 2014-08-01 07:15 — mrbill

First of all it looks really great. I'm in agreement with the other posts. The pipe cleaners were inspired thinking. The only one I ever saw had a pipe hoop with high pressure nozzles the cars passed through as a final-final rinse as I was told the detergents were strong enough to cause paint fading and corrosion if left in step wells, hinges and window frames on locomotives. Bill

mrBill

Roger Litwiller's picture

Thanks Bill, I tried to find

Fri, 2014-08-01 07:38 — Roger Litwiller

Thanks Bill,
I tried to find as many prototype photos as I could and that's not many. As we all know compression is the order of the day for modelling, but it would be nice to replicate all areas fully, especially in a passenger yard because not too many do.
I'm glad you like the pipe cleaner idea and thanks for taking the time to post your comments.
Roger

Roger Litwiller -Author

View my layout, "Trenton Subdivision in N Scale" on the Railroading Page on my website. rogerlitwiller.com

READ my MRH Blog.

santafeNscale's picture

At the car wash...

Fri, 2014-08-01 15:34 — santafeNscale

Roger, really a great job on this! The pipe cleaners look believable. Cool feature to model.

Craig Kempf-Arlington WA

Roger Litwiller's picture

Thanks santafenscale for your

Fri, 2014-08-01 18:42 — Roger Litwiller

Thanks santafenscale for your comments.

Roger Litwiller -Author

View my layout, "Trenton Subdivision in N Scale" on the Railroading Page on my website. rogerlitwiller.com

READ my MRH Blog.


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