Great progress!

Once your painting is done to disguise the scratchbuilt components, and you do some weathering  on the brick building, stack and elsewhere, I think it will look good.   The one thing I saw that looked a bit off to me is the height of the cups you  used too make the shrouds for the cooling fans on the heat exchanger.  I would make   them shorter (maybe only 1/4 their current height).  Keep posting photos so we can see how the power plant comes out!

That second photo.

I really like that view from down low looking up, reminds me of places I've worked. Your creative re-purposing of common items is very refreshing in theses days of expensive kits and detail parts. To  me it looks great and looks like a power plant could look , I don't care if it's an exact copy of a specific power plant. I'll be looking forward to photos of it painted and hopefully installed on a layout ....DaveB

The power lines on roof

The power lines on the roof are the only thing I would say doesn't look right. I was a power plant engineer so from what I saw (both investor owned and municipal) the outlet from the generator either came out the turbine room wall(like your lower building) or ran underground to the switch yard. All power for the auxiliary equipment such as fans, pumps, etc would be in conduit internal to plant for an enclosed plant like this, or in conduit on the structural steel in an outdoor facility. 

Otherwise looks great.

Bill Michael

The power lines on roof

Having been a power plant engineer on the civil engineers side myself in Germany I only can second Bill's advice about the generator outlet. Wikipedia has a nice schematic of a more modern and larger coal power plant:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Coal_fired_power_plant_diagram.svg/2000px-Coal_fired_power_plant_diagram.svg.png

Here boiler house and turbine/generator hall are different buildings while you have the boiler above the generator hall but the generator's electrical outlet remains at the same location.

The generator outlet usually is a pipe inside a protecting and insulating pipe not a cable. Here is a picture of the electrical outlet of a 380 MW generator in a power plant:

http://www.fmt.biz/var/em_plain_site/storage/images/medien/bilder/fmtnew/referenzen/energie-und-umwelt/energie_und_umwelt_10/5505-1-ger-DE/Energie_und_Umwelt_10_overlay.jpg

On the top of the following page is a typical cross section of a modern Generator outlet.

http://www.kappeln-eschmidt.de/seiten/abb-922/abb-922.htm

Regards, Volker

Scale?

Hi Canderson,

If that's an N scale building, please contact me.  I have turbine-generator castings for the interior.

Transformer station

The step-up transformer, which brings up generator voltage to transmission line voltage, is usually close to the generator hall, as the three isolated generator busses are quite expensive. Then follows the switch yard.

Here is an example of a modern European linear power plant. The step-up transformer is on the far left end of the line: http://www.think-grid.org/sites/default/files/6_Flevo_The-Netherlands-KA26-1-Cutaway_GENERATORCIRCUITBREAKERS.jpg

What you are building seems to me like an older power plant. So they are not directly comparable. But with just one transformer there is just one generator. Each generator needs its own transformer as far as I remember. On the other hand American are perhaps designed differently. I know of a number of east coast power stations from around 1905 having many small turbines with the equal number of transformers in an adjacent building apex.

Here is an article about the electrical distribution system of a power plant.

http://faculty.mu.edu.sa/download.php?fid=23781

Regards, Volker

Transformers

Volker, is that a combined cycle plant? kind of looks like it especially with the large air intakes.

Usually each generator has its own step up transformer to step the generated voltage up to the transmission voltage. Depending on how many transmission lines go out from the plant/station there will also be switching gear and possibly transformers for each line. The switchyard itself can be quite sophisticated. 

And yes it appears that he is, at least for USA, modeling an older plant. Newer plant tend to have metal siding on the buildings. FPL plants are all outdoors, boiler and turbine. I worked at Duke and our plants were all indoor, boiler, auxiliaries and turbine/generator. The municipal plant where I worked in Fla, had the boilers outside and turbine/generator inside. Many variations just depends on the design and philosophy of plant owner.

Bill Michael

Just want to emphasize

My comments are on plant design to be more faithful to a prototype plant. Your work is great and the overall feel of a power plant is good. 

Bill Michael

emissions

I like the Marlboro pack as part of what I assume is some of the emissions scrubbing equipment.

How will the coal be delivered?

Paul

Combined cycle plant

Hello Bill,

you are right, the linked power plant is a combined cycle gas turbine power plant. I don't know it in detail, I just used the computer animation to show the location of the step-up transformer.

When my professional experience is touched, I tend to get hypercritical. You can leave your model without following my tips. Most people will not realize any inaccuracy. But some easy to follow tips might enhance its appearance and make it even more believable.

Regards, Volker

Volker me too

Modeling license is one thing but when something is off from a true industrial complex it stands out. Power plants really do that at least to me having worked in the power industry for 20 years.

Bill Michael

PS: on my FEC layout there won't be a coal fired power plant. FEC did not serve one but I may build a small module of one just to have it. 

castings

Hello Bruce:

I too am modeling a power plant and in N scale.  was wondering what the turbine casting looked like and the cost.

I'm in california

thanks

Miguel

Turbine Generator Casting

Hi Miguel,

Please contact me off-line: BruceNscale@Yahoo.com and I'll send you a picture and details.

refreshing the thread

I love the thrill of the hunt involved with train shows.

So, I have always been intrigued with high voltage power lines. At a recent trainshow, I found some for cheap. Little did I know how brittle the old plastic was, but it's okay... I think I have strengthened it with my repairs. These look like the old towers made by ATT, probably at least 30 years old. At about $1.00 a piece, it gives me a good starting point.

Now that I think about it, an interesting scene might involve a crew changing a 120 KVa insulator. I think those are most always done hot which makes me sweat just thinking about that... Yikes !!! No thank you !!!!

The plastruct I used is supposedly a little stiffer than Evergreen styrene. It looks a little chunky but once it is painted a dull grey and weathered, I think the repairs will blend right in...

Anyone have any suggestions on rebuilding the tops of the towers without too much "pain"?

Power Plant

One thing I have never modeled, a power plant. I guess it is because I spent too many hours working in one making a living.

Insulator ideas

Anyone with ideas on insulators? I know people often use beads, but the high voltage is more saucer or bell shaped. Maybe, it is really too small in HO to care about the difference in a rounded bead and a bell/saucer shape?

Some of the insulators on really high voltage are fairly large/long. Since I am rebuilding the tops, I will probably replicate the ones with the insulators that are pulled more horizontal with the little droop of wire hanging down/between the two tensioned lines to avoid contact with the tower.

Insulator ideas

Anyone with ideas on insulators? I know people often use beads, but the high voltage is more saucer or bell shaped. Maybe, it is really too small in HO to care about the difference in a rounded bead and a bell/saucer shape?

Some of the insulators on really high voltage are fairly large/long. Since I am rebuilding the tops, I will probably replicate the ones with the insulators that are pulled more horizontal with the little droop of wire hanging down/between the two tensioned lines to avoid contact with the tower.

Power Plant Scene

The right hand, lower corner, of my layout plan has been the recipient of a number of ideas for structures,...first there was the Balt city backdrop, then this steel mill scene,..
PHOTO

then more recently the Allied Rail Rebuilders. Ahhh, the old musical chairs game.
 

Change is in the air, I've moved the Rail Rebuilders out in front of the double mainline stone arch bridge, and this has opened up that back corner for new ideas. A power plant scene sounds like a good one,...to power up the city of Balt that lies across that back wall and over into the left hand corner.Now I would have a repository for my coal cars. Perhaps if a lot (or most) of the power plant itself were painted on the backdrop, I could include the electric substation in the open space out front, along with a heavy duty crane installing a big transformer it was unloading form a transformer carrying car?? I have all of these models.

  canderson022002
Will have to explore your plant images a little closer.

PS: I like this image that you posted in your originating post.

Northern Lights Power split in half?

This is that back corner where I am considering the power plant scene,...

That paper dwg leaning against the wall is a pic of the Allied Rail Rebuilders structure that I have now moved out to the front of the arch bridge span.

That frees up that corner and its two walls for a power plant scene.

Suppose I could have a good size coal image on some portion of the wall?

Suppose I were to cut Walther's Northern Lights structure in half and mount them against the wall to make it look like a larger plant?

DPM Power House

I had scene this DPM model powerhouse before and admired the big window shapes. But thought it was a bit too small overall. I got to looking at it again, and wondered if those big windows were also on the rear face of this kit. Just as I was going to ask, I found this image which I think answered my question,...

backside

So this kit might be assembled in a different manner as a 'flat'

Base Structure?

I'm wondering what the originally poster/modeler had in mind when he added to the base of the Walthers kit. Could it be justified in some way?

It really does make the powerhouse look bigger and more powerful.

Powerful Plant

Interesting image of a really powerful looking plant,...that had tracks entering what looks like a wider base structure,..

Not operating but maybe still there

Take a look at Google Earth.  Still there maybe.

Interesting in the post card pic the water on the left is Lake Erie.  The water tank in the upper right is also still there.  At least it was in 2015 when the Google Earth pic sat pic was taken.

Date on pic is 9 14 2015

Shut Down

The gentleman who posted that pic on another forum indicated he lives up near that plant,  and it has been shut down for some time.

Also interesting that a plant of that size doesn't appear to have a big coal pile reserve?