Well.....one of the lessons

Well.....one of the lessons learned so far is to not make these modules in isolation, but instead consider them as just piece of the whole. On module three I made an error in alignment of the incoming tracks, a mistake that cost me a fair amount of time, frustration, and materials.

This module is the easiest one - no fancy track work, not even a switch!  While module three was drying, I thought

The main feature of this module are the grades (the only ones on the layout). The branchline climbs an inch while the mainline (staging) simultaneously drops an inch, hopefully allowing me to "hide" the staging from view without covering it from above.

First step, as always, was clearing off the module (the unfinished one make great workbenches), and laying out the plan.

With the plan in hand, the incoming alignment on this one looks pretty good.

I started with the down grade to staging, and immediately wished I had ordered the Woodland Scenics foam slopes. But I didn't, so it was time to brake out the "cheese grater".

I started cutting, and used this piece of gorm riser to check my slope. The foam is 1" thick, so it was an easy way to set my start and finish points. I just kept at it, marking high spots on the foam with a sharpie, and than grinded away with the grater. Oh yeah, I kept a vacuum handy and running the whole time.

I kept checking progress both with the board, and with some cork roadbed.

I was able to play with the alignment of the foam board from above, to ensure the path would be smooth.

With that slope done, I started on the branchline rise. I marked the edge of a piece of foam board (again, using the gorm riser as a ruler), and cut across it with a Zona saw. This gave me a roughed piece that I could smooth out with the cheese grater.  Here is the branchline riser being located, note the module to the left has the plan in places so I have a clear view of where it's headed.

more alignment...

Once I was happy, I applied glue and my foam "spikes". I've used this method for a long time, simply driving in toothpicks as rebar, they really work wonders holding foam together both while the glue dries, and afterwards. I normally try and drive them in at an angle.

Once they are in, I just cut them off flush.

Another alignment check....

I took this shot for my own purposes, to take a careful look at the grade. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the slope, but I think I'll need to shave down a couple of spots before the cork goes on for real.

Once that was in, I grabbed some of the scrap that I've accrued, and starting filling in this area as sub-structure to the finished scenery.

So now to wait until the glue sets.....

A clean plaster cloth application

With the glue dry, I've continued to move forward with this, putting down some plaster cloth to form the terrain surface of the module.

Now here is another high-rise challenge  -  I don't have a utility sink or drain. It used to be that when I was working with plaster, I filled a bowl with water, dipped in the plaster cloth, applied it, and than threw the bowl contents into my yard, hosing out the bowl.

So now, no hose. No yard.

I'm sure that I'm not the first to do this, but I wondered if I could apply the plaster cloth a bit differently - put it down dry, and than using a spray bottle, soak it from above until it was saturated and moldable.

First up was cutting some plaster cloth up to cover the rough areas that I wanted covered. Note the plaster cloth is completely dry at this stage.

And after spraying (what felt like 50 gallons of water, as it was a finger pump spray bottle), it seemed to be working!

Once that had a chance to set, I started applying the cork roadbed to the module.

Again, you can see my toothpick spikes, holding the cork down to the surface. The front siding roadbed is sanded down to a flat slope, as the ties will lie directly on the foam board.

Once all of that was dry, I went ahead and applied another coat of plaster cloth. This one went much easier, as I used smaller strips, and applied them one at a time. Again, there was no cleanup, and minimal mess.

Maybe not a big deal

Slow Down?

I wonder if I should slow down some, to let you guys make some comments before I go past that stage!

I've already coated the plaster cloth with what I could find locally as ground goop (basically some tinted plaster).

as far as an undercoat, I think it's smoothed out a lot of the edges, and should be good enough as a base for the scenery.

Once that was fully dry, I went ahead and put down the crossties. Note the mainline and branch line ties at the end are still wet, I put the module back into place to ensure the lineup was right before applying the ties.

With the ties in place

With the ties in place, it was time to bring out the foam buildings to ensure the placement would work.

For this module, that means the lumber yard complex.

Operator View

Looking back along the siding from the module edge (the branchline rises to the right)

So that looks pretty good to me. Looks like enough room to reach in and work with cars, and the buildings look logically placed.

I thought I'd take a look at it from other angles though.

Seen from the front of the engine house on Module 2

and from the very end of the yard on module 1

These indicate to me that a view block of some sort will be necessary on module 3 to divide the scene between the engine house and the lumber yard. At this moment, I'm thinking trees should suffice, but I need to run some trains in this area first to see what my real access needs are.

Nice work Scarp

First - AMAZING work on that track in the last shot.  through the exercises you've done you are becoming a master at laying track that looks lightweight with the right amount of maintenance for a secondary branch line.  Your varied tie spacing and orientation just look AWESOME...really spot on! 

One thought on your lumber yard:  it looks like you will have a decent grade in front of the main mill building.  Are you planning on spotting cars in front of it?  It looks like there is a hump that starts just parallel to the building (or it could be a shadow) that may make cars roll past.  I'm having issues with my free-rolling cars rolling away from spots on grades I can't even see so it's worth taking a look at if you plan on spotting cars there.

~rb

Trackwork

Rich,

thanks, but all of your nice comments are not from my work - they are a direct result of hand laying track. The process of hand laying, even using a tie jig like I do from Fast Tracks, naturally generates the random nature that you find appealing. So thanks, but even though this effect is one of the things I really like about hand layed track, I can't take personal credit for it!

On the lumber yard, there is a slope going down, but it's all flat (two car lengths) inside the yard area. I put in the slope for a couple of reasons, the first is to conserve cork sheet (as I'd have to raise the buildings if I kept the siding on roadbed), and the second is to make the variation in terrain just that much more pronounced.  I think that is a shadow making a visual effect, as the slope seems pretty smooth.

Back to work, I got the ties ballasted in place last night.

asdf

I also thought I'd experiment a bit with the "hidden" mainline. In this photo I put a couple of box cars on each track (the branchline to Barre has the PTM green boxcar)

and setting the camera at ground level near where the lumber yard is going to be, took a shot.

so no Rutland car in sight! Sure, this is at the most extreme angle, but once there are trees on the layout, I'm thinking this will work at a standing height as well.

Connected

Man, this one went fast! 

I got the mainline (staging) down, than the branch line, and than I stopped. I decided to put in a single piece of rail for the lumber yard siding, but I needed to run feeders first....so I did that, and ran those before rail went in. In this picture, the feeders are already "hot", as the module is mounted to it's fellows, and the bus connected.

Soon, all three tracks were connected, and passing rolling stock and locomotive tests.

a good view of all three tracks.

after playing with it for a while, and continuing to tweak the turnouts on the third module, I took another look at the levels. This is my actual eye level view, with the C-Liner on the main line (staging). I think it will be easily hid with some 4-6 inch trees.

Beginning Scenery

First up to scenic this module for me was to do the wooded hill and slopes.

A coat of white glue

and than some of the crushed leaf I brought from home, followed by a little bit of colored flock. This is meant to form the forest "floor". This coat was also sprayed with alcohol, and wetted as well with more white glue and water.

Right of way

Quick update, today I was able to get some grass along the edges of the right of way of the branchline.

soon we can begin planting trees!

Building Construction

The Allen Lumber Company occupies the sole siding on this module, and with some other projects on hold (either from waiting for parts, or from lack of personal enthusiasm) it was time to start construction on the buildings.

I wanted this to be a bigger complex (multi-building), and the complex consists of two main kits  -

• Branchline Trains Nickel's Milling and Feed
• Railroad Kits B.J. Scott Lumber Company

While neither of them are exactly what I should be using, they're what I could find before I moved, and I think they'll work well enough.

I took apart both kits this weekend, and decided to start in with the Branchline kit, as it's a lot less complicated than the B.J. Scott Lumber kit from Railroad Kits. I figured it'd be a good start.

And here's the start...the main building was ink washed, assembled, glued, and braced.

The roofless entrance is not attached, I'll be painting that separately, and I'll attach it afterward. I'm currently planning on a dark green building, with the entry way in white with green trim. 

What's unfortunate is the best side of this building is along the tracks, but I'm thinking it's going to work well enough in this spot.

I thought

I thought I'd show how I reinforced this building prior and during assembly.

the interior braces I apply to the walls before assembly - this is thick basswood I got in a bundle from MicroMark, and it's perfect for straightening out bent wall. The corner pieces I put in after the glued corner joints just get set - they really help solidify the structure.

You can see similar applications as a center beam for each of the roofs.

Note that I'm not doing any interior detail on this, so I wasn't concerned on exact placement, exact cuts, or size.

Definitely

will be doing this with my next wood kit build, which is a barn and outbuildings for a farm.  I think it would make it easier to build as well as solidify the structure.

Painters

a light spray coat of Poly Scale Dark Green.

and a light brush of Poly Scale Reefer White on the Entry.

I also painted the trim sections at the same time the airbrush was out (in Dark Green) Interior window parts and doors were painted over in Grimy Black.

I ran into my first problem with this kit - one that is unusual from my experience with a Branchline kit - the freight doors didn't fit.

They were too small. all of them.  In order to fix the problem, I used excess wood sprue to brace across the inside of the doorway, so the doors would have something to stick to. Again, as the interior is not being modeled, no biggie.

the opening on the far right of the building is closer to the front of the layout, so for this one I tried less of an obvious fix - just in case.

After the windows and doors (most of them), came the trim. Problem two with this kit arose  - there were not enough pieces. I ended up five pieces short.  To make up for the shortage, I used more extra sprue, trimmed to the right length and width with a razor blade.

Looking at the roofing, I'm thinking seriously of using this aluminum siding from a Campbell Models Corrugated Warehouse kit as roofing material for the "addition".

I decided to model this door as open, meaning I had to fake an interior with some scrap and basswood. While I hate to point it out, you can see how I screwed up the nail holes with the scriber on the entry way. I'm hoping to hide it with signage and landscaping.

I started the upper roof section with the kit provided materials; I like to let the glue dry before going back and trimming it up.

On the layout...

Kit Progress

Troubles with the kit aside, I think it is going to be a good looking structure when completed. I especially like all the different roof lines. And you selected a great building color. It just looks right.

One Down

Thanks Alan, I appreciate it!

I got back to work on this today.

Finished up the roof, and in the end, decided to use the Campbell corrugated siding as roofing.

And after painting the brick foundation, applying another black ink wash, touching up the trim here and there, and weathering the roofs (not in that order).

I'm going to stop there for now, as I want to get the other building put together and than tie them in visually. Still need a chimney, landscaping, details, etc.

Overall, I've come to not like the stick-on foundation in these Branchline kits, because to me it looks...stuck on. Even with my preferred brick treatment.

At least now we have a place to spot a car!

Foundation

Scarp,

Is the foundation flat or is there some relief to it? It looks fine in the photos above. Was it pre-printed or did you paint whatever the material is? The mortar lines lead me to believe it's pre-printed, but I have no experience with these kits. The roofs look really nice- great job on the weathering. And the engine house and backdrop in those last two photos really look good, too.

Tom Patterson

Slight relief

Tom, thanks for your thoughts.

There is a slight relief on the foundation, but my issue is that with these stick on foundation pieces, the foundation now sits outside the walls, instead of inside (or equal to) the exterior of the walls like, well, a real building.

Were I to redo it with no thought to effort, I'd probably measure and have Monster cut a custom foundation set and than trim the wall height of the kit to match.

I also realize that as I modeled this kit the large "addition" shares a common foundation due to the stick on strips. It would be a much better model if it had a stone foundation for the old part, and than brick for the new - or at least a visual seam. I may add that with a sharpie.

I'm also not 100% satisfied with the engine house. It's a functional stand-in, if I get to the point that I'm looking for something new to do, I think I'll scratch build one closer to the prototype.

Looking Good!

I just love the view out of the window! What a spot for a model rail road! Keep up the good work Scarpia.

B.J. Scott Lumber

As a companion on my layout to the Nickel's Milling and Feed kit, the B.J. Scott Lumber Company from Railroad Kits will represent the lumber part of the Allen Lumber Company.

I started this build the way one should - by opening the box, and staring blankly at the included parts.

Fortunately for the gentle modeler, the manufacturer has very good documentation, including in the box a 10+ page instruction set, two large (tabloid or A3 size) drawing sheets (basically 1:1), and nicely enough, a couple of color photographs of a completed model.

The loose stick wood is color coded on one end, making the correct selection of building materials easy.

After reading through the instructions a few times, the process became a bit more obvious - aided by laying out the main parts to match their drawing.



Satisfied with the process, step one was to treat (weather) the wood with a mix of india ink and alcohol. I did add a bit of brown water based varnish to the mix for a bit of variety.

Both sides get treated, and I let them set over night under nice flat weight (Fast Tracks turnout jigs)



Next up per the instructions was to cut boards randomly into the siding with #11 knife and add nail holes; I did the former, but not the later.

With the boards cut, I braced the walls as described in the instructions. They are drying currently (again, under the jigs) over night. Based on my progress so far, I may get to the painting stage this weekend.

Your flying now Tom...

Well you have certainly hit the ground running since you've been back from the states Tom.  Really like the look of the Allen Timber Company, fits the whole scene really well.

Do you plan on adding any outside racking or sawdust collection silos?  May help further enhance the scene.

Cheers,

Jas...

Time well spent

It's amazing, Jas, how much you can get done in small 30 minute spurts. Naturally it hasn't hurt either that it's been 45+ degrees here, and humid. Kinda keep you in doors!

There will be some outside covered racking with this kit, but I hadn't thought of adding any other.  Layout space may be an issue with that (although something would be easy to scratchbuild).

This is more of a distribution center than production, but the sawdust collector is an interesting idea...

And of course

And of course, after my last comment, progress slowed to a crawl due to other commitments. So I didn't get painting this weekend, but I was able to continue the assemble.

The bracing on the main walls was completed; even though this dried under a heavy flat weight for two days, the walls still bent. I decided to not correct it; I am hoping that it will add some character to the structure.

I'm now deviating from the instructions and have assembled the building. I'm doing this as I'd like to paint this with the airbrush as a complete structure.

With that in place, the next part was assembling the woodshed. In this instance,as the walls are bowing out (which is actually a perfect prototype, this ballooning effect is common on older buildings in New England that weren't built properly, the attached coach barn on my house in NH has the same problem) the magnetic clamping tool is a god send. What you can't see are the magnets holding the taller wall in place while the triangle trim dries.

Warning - slow assembly

Warning - slow assembly ahead!

Just a little every day to get this to where I can hit it with paint, maybe this weekend.

Boiler house to main building.

Woodshed to main building

Boiler house to woodshed. Note that I've added reinforcements, even though it was flat wall to flat wall.

Lean to to boiler house and wood shed.

dry and in place for sizing.

and with the other building

Modeling for the win!