Boston & Maine Eastern Route Progress

[jbvb]

Mieke's work on the Bexley station ( I apparently didn't save it when RR-Line ended ) reached the point where we need to design the relationship between the kit's roof and the platform sheds (can't do a busy B&M commuter district station without extensive sheds): So seven years of thought about the Depot Sq. area turned to action:



In 1980, the raised area behind the main line was home to Standard Hydrocarbon & Petrochemical in the town of Sawyer on the Tech Model RR Club's layout in MIT's Bldg. 20. I expect removing it will be the last major repurposing change to Sawyer as it becomes Bexley. 

My coping saw is visible on the cut line, leaving 4 carlengths of spur for Bexley Produce.



The Chipman St. boxed pony truss bridge prototype is at the bottom. With this depot location, I'd add another layer of 2" foam between the bridge and the depot, leaving room for a platform about 2" wide, stairs etc.



Except for more platform & stairs, the area right of the depot would be filled with 1" foam, using the depot to hide the change in level. I'll ask Sunday's operators what they think, then either implement or sketch out Plan B next week.

16-Nov-2015:



Ron G. saw me modeling an Acme facility and found this (Athearn, I think). The 'landing gear' was missing, so I made some from .030 x .060 and 3/32" tube. I decided a 28' package & crate trailer didn't need two axles, so one's in my stash now. After a bit of Grimy Black
it made it onto the layout for yesterday's op session.

[jbvb]

21-Nov-2015: Mieke put the roof on the Bexley station the other day, so I continued with its setting:

 


The hardboard inbound (WB) platform is fitted and supported, with a quick coat of black latex in case I don't get back to it before the Tour.
The foam landforms are my second try at contours, using hot wire, knives and a Surform tool. The ramp up left of the station will lead to a pedestrian bridge, the ramp to the right gets baggage to and from the forecourt.

25-Nov-2015: I'm modeling this area as the result of a grade crossing separation done about 1900, a few years after Mieke's station was built. The railroad got lowered while streets approaching the overpass were raised. And this is why the EF 17 station has a main floor two or three steps above platform level. At least, that's what this hodgepodge of gnawed away foam is intended to convey.



After painting streets and building foundations roughly, I needed stone retaining walls. I will use Wood Putty, painted black and carved through to white for the mortar lines. But I didn't trust it to stick well to styrofoam. So I used more 3M Super 77 spray cement to stick fiberglass window screen to the vertical surfaces.  9 years later, it's holding up perfectly after many removals and replacements of the foam "station square" liftout.

28-Nov-2015: About 50 Tour de Chooch guest book entries, maybe 65 or 70 total visitors. My friend Alura's father had a layout when she was young, but she never got to run it. Today she ran mine almost continuously for 7 hours when Ron G. got called away. He did make it back near the end. A few cars found new ways to give trouble, but I was too busy talking to visitors to even take pictures so they'll get diagnosed next week.

3-Dec-2015: A tiny step backward on the scenery: While fighting with what turned out to be a diaphragm problem ( <Rapido AF car, not yet uploaded> ), I reduced the grade Eastbound from West Lynn:



This required breaking the backdrop joint behind Bennett St., but all will be well tonight when I have time for sanding & painting. In other news, the layout is scheduled for AP Scenery evaluation next Thursday.

10-Dec-2015: My AP Scenery evaluation did go well and all that remains for me to do is get the papers into the proper in-box.



I tried a new camera angle (more or less 'looking west from the future Rt. 1 overpass across Little River'). Pretty much the first place on my layout where I can shoot along a curve and look realistic. Of course, the absence of equipment helps.

[jbvb]

17-Dec-2015: Not much layout progress; the Hub's been busy and various kinds of end-of-year cleanup is ongoing. What bumped this thread was I made an index showing page number, date and highlights and added it to my 1st post (Feb. 2008 on Modelers Forum).

28-Jan-2016: or the last six weeks, all progress was in the Signals & Telegraph area: https://modelersforum.com/index.php?topic=6882.15

But Newburyport Draw interlocking drew me back into photogenic stuff. 1939 photo of the Bridge Rd. area of Newburyport between Merrimac St. and the river. Thanks to Ron G. for catching it on the way from the library to recycling:




There's a standard B&M board fence along the top of the retaining wall. I hadn't known about the shanty closer to the river, I'll see if I have room for it too. The home signal for the end of double track is on the embankment beyond the end of the wall.



I didn't have that luxury, so I imagined them digging out part of the wall and pouring a concrete pier so the signal would clear equipment. Kind of barren, unsafe to boot.



So I imagined a wood platform bolted to the top of the wall: Scale 2x4 and 2x8s being assembled.



After an unhappy interval where I found A&I softened Aileen's Tacky Glue and re-assembled it with yellow carpenter's glue, it's in place. Next comes more board fence (some has been on my Rowley module for quite a few years).

[jbvb]

10-Feb-2016: Bulletin Order #17, February 9 2016:

Westward 3-light interlocking signal and dwarf signal for against-current-of-traffic moves from the eastward track to single track at MP 12.5, D'Arcy Ave. have been placed in service.



The camera is looking railroad west under the Robinson Rd. bridge and across Bexley yard and engine terminal (in real-world terms,
south alongside the stairs).

14-Feb-2016: Crossing the Robinson Rd. bridge over Bexley Yard, I saw an F-unit holding at the end of double track. They aren't common on the Eastern and I had my camera, so I detoured through the yard.



Before I could get a good photo angle, he got a signal and started to pull. Not sure why, as the next home signal was three red and the yard job was cleared to go west ahead of him. But they call the guy calling the shots in the tower Train Director and crews don't disagree with him lightly.



The switcher finally finished his air test and started to pull as I was walking by the turntable.

This is somewhat staged, as until the next interlocking is built, both High and Middle Green will usually be displayed simultaneously. Fixing that also requires building 2-3 more signals.

[edit] The March 2016 issue of RMC explains differences between 'Speed' signaling per the NORAC rules and the 'Route' signaling common South and West of the former Conrail. In the 1950s and 1960s, the B&M employed 'Speed' signaling, but without most of the 'flashing' aspects found in NORAC rules. So that's what I'm modeling.

Orionvp17 commented:

"The signals "make it" in that area, and it's cool to know that the whole process is yours. You must feel good about that!"

Thanks, Pete. Your comment gave me to think a bit. I did research commercial offerings, but none of the pre-built signals were going to look right and the electronics I could buy were going to take me down paths I didn't want. I'm able set out on a project like this expecting to like the result, but I have to budget my time/attention; Mieke commented on me getting hyper-focused and pushing harder on this than she expected out of my retirement. So, I'm happy about it, but had I been able to buy pre-wired wireless interlocking modules I could install and program in a day or two, the time would have gone to something else useful.

26-Feb-2016: Bulletin Order #21, effective 12:01 AM February 27, 2016.

Westward Automatic Signal P362 at Newburyport West has been placed in service.



A B&M RS-3 wheels a mid-morning Portsmouth Local across the Little River and into the rural edge of Newburyport, Mass.

This telephoto shot is anachronistic given the pre-1956 subject matter, but I grew up with David P. Morgan's taste in photos. That's one reason I bought the 50-200 zoom. This is 80mm, camera resting on the Hytron spur five or six feet from the loco.

[GPdemayo]

Great job with the signals James.....

[jbvb]

Thanks, Greg.  Sadly, Rob Paisley's site seems to have disappeared. Oregon Rail Supply's site is still up, but doesn't say what's in stock.
-----------------------

2-Mar-2016: A 'grab shot' of a new EMD roadswitcher on the Boston-bound Beach Special one day:



This new Genesis loco is a bit disappointing: It's nicely detailed with the appropriate train lighting box on the long hood, but I shouldn't have paid extra for the DCC/sound version. The decoder sounds OK but they don't support Maximum Speed (CV5). Minimum Speed (CV4) is there, but set to 0 with 28 steps, notch 1 has the loco moving at a slow walk and 28 is way too fast. Also, nothing I did to Acceleration/Deceleration had any visible effect. Maybe they'll have an effect above 128.

<I later figured out how "creeping featurism" in DCC was making things I'd learned earlier obsolete>

3-Mar-2016:

Bulletin Order #23
Effective 12:01 AM Thursday, March 3, 2016.

At Bexley Depot, Eastward 3-light home interlocking signal governing the eastward track, Eastward 2-light dwarf interlocking signal governing the westward track and Westward single light dwarf interlocking signal governing the Ramp Track are placed in service.

Centralized Traffic Control per Rule 265 is in effect between Bexley Depot and D'Arcy Ave., under control of the Train Director at Bexley Tower. Movements may be made in either direction on single track.



A P-2c Pacific on a Portsmouth Local has pulled forward from the depot to the home signal. The stack is clear, but shortly the westbound Beach Special will clear the single track Bexley Tunnel and there'll be a show.

4-Mar-2016: Orionvp17 and Frank_Palmer complimented my photo.

Thank you very much, Pete & Frank. I'm happy to have gotten it to this point (it isn't nearly as finished-looking to the human observer, but that gets better with time).

In December I was cleaning Broadway Limited E-7 for an op session and it started running erratically: at about speed step 6 of 28, it started to accelerate, then decelerate like the drive had a bind. By speed step 12 it was stopping, jerking ahead, stopping again. It's first run, I think, but with the chip upgraded by Tony's Train Exchange at the same BigE show I bought it at.

I took it all the way apart, looking for mechanical issues; no joy. Needing it for the next op session, I put the chassis back together; same issue.  So I followed the directions in the BLI manual to pull the jumper and do a hard reset. Then I used JMRI's Decoder Pro to dump a configuration I'd saved back into its CVs.

Repairs complete, blue flags taken down, ready for the highball (and blessings on the Decoder Pro contributors).

7-Mar-2016: I spent most of this afternoon experimenting with craft paints on the kitbashed plastic building against the backdrop. I began with a train show rescue of Walthers' Geo. Roberts Printing of the sort that makes me sad: The builder had used something like Ambroid cement to assemble it. Brittle joints, except for a few repaired later with tube plastic cement, brown stains. Never painted. Maybe it satisfied the builder, more likely not. Anyway, I got this background building out of my $5, and I expect to get another.

Learning from experience #1: lacquer thinner will soften WallyWorld's 'Home Shades Primer' even if it's been left to cure for two weeks. So I had to switch to acrylics.

#2: Getting even, mistake-free coverage on plastic with a brush and water-based paints takes about as much time as masking and airbrushing. I may be able to avoid a weathering step, but won't know for sure till I'm done.



Anyway, it fills a big void in the scene Mieke is working on. Mortar and windows next, but it may be several days.

17-Mar-2016: Shooting 'closure' photos for my 'Prototypic dwarf signals in HO' thread, I got one with potential to be pretty:



I was eating breakfast when 'Slivers' called to say today's 'Camel' had a Maine Central Mikado. I hustled down to Bexley depot in time to catch the return trip. #622's clear stack surprised me as it left the tunnel; turned out the train was just six empties.

It will get better once I get started on the Bexley Produce Terminal to the left.

15-May-2016: The HUB Division had its Spring Training convention and then I was out of the country for a month. Now I'm back to doing a little on the layout, but so far only renewed work on getting a good Yellow out of Rob Paisley's 556-based signal driver cards.

[jbvb]

10-Jun-2016: For the Augusta, ME NNGC layout tours page, I needed current photos of two scenes:



Portland-bound past Bexley Engine Terminal.



The 1st Lynn Goat spotted the inbounds and departed for Bexley. Now the team tracks bustle with shippers and consignees.

12-Jun-2016:  The organizers used 7 of the 8 I sent. (2016 NNGC site now only available in archive.org)

I didn't want to show only in/around Rowley, as the urban areas are where my current work focus is, aside from the signaling.

Not much modeling since March. But I'd visited 6 countries & 5 states, my Rowley modules have been out twice, I presented at NE RPM, I'm learning to be a trolley motorman at Seashore and I'm getting ready to send Rowley to Indianapolis. The garden is mostly in and haying is likely to be finished this week, but then I have to get my combine ready to harvest Winter Rye in late July.

25-Aug-2016: I hadn't done anything to the layout since June (conventions, travel, farming, hiking) except start cleaning up for NNGC visitors. What I did here was start updating my index on page 1 to include links to related threads. It's only signaling for now (to help a friend find things), but I'll probably add pointers to the few structure threads I've done

27-Aug-2016: That day started off cool but by the time I finished this job, the attic was almost like I was paving full-scale out in the sun:



Bexley's outbound passenger platform is paved, as is the parking area behind it and the access road. Platform shed parts were on hand, but I need at least a footprint for the mail/baggage/stairway building (left edge of the picture) before I start work on the sheds.

29-Aug-2016: Thinking about the express building, I pulled the Railway Design Assoc. 'Easton Mill' out of the kit drawer. The bricks look good, but the edges of each molding need a *lot* of filing to get a clean joint. In their defense, RDA does supply downspouts to hide the seams, but I didn't want to commit to using them.



The two window walls will face the passenger platform, the freight door walls will face the spur closer to the edge of the layout.



A few minutes with a jeweler's saw produced door openings for the stairway. I'll install steel beam lintels and disguise the remains of the arch lintels with signage.

[jbvb]

29-Aug-2016: Mieke commented: I've picked up working on the scenery in East Lynn again, with the tenements (details at another thread <To Be Uploaded>. Clearly, we need to put newer pictures up. Between James and I, there are yard-shaped green spaces and basic pavement and paths. Yesterday I atarted on some of the fence sections - first coat of brownish paint is on. Will have to see how it looks once it has a second coat later this week.

2-Sep-2016: More progress on jbvb's new building (her photos):





3-Sep-2016: Aside from the windows, I'm about done with the original Easton Mill kit - I'll use the double step casting at the west end, but unless I can ID the 'top step' part on one of the sprues, I'll have to make it from styrene. Their roof castings represents wood shingles with bases for ventilators. I need slate, so more styrene and peel & stick.



With the building dimensions established, I can go back to roads, platforms & ground cover in the area.

[jbvb]

8-Sep-2016: About 2004, when I did the backdrop behind the former 'Sawyer' from the Tech Model RR Club (now Bexley), I hadn't worked out how to 'scribe' a panel to meet the angled roof to make a coved corner. So I ripped a strip of 3/32" lauan plywood and bent it around.

As seen above, the depot loomed above it, and I expected other buildings in the area would also. We made a template to extend it earlier this year, but I wanted to use lauan so the spliced pieces would have similar properties. It's hard to find because it frequently comes from illegal logging. All I needed was a 2x4' panel, which came my way last week, and from this day forward I will abuse no more Philippine Mahogany trees:



I yellow-glued a splice strip and drove one screw to secure the top. Then spackled the joint.



The joint isn't perfect, but most will be hidden by 3-D, flat and photographic background buildings. I blended some darker blue down from the top.



The mail/baggage building also grew the rest of its interior walls.

3-Oct-2016: (ianswering a question): The station's from a kit developed by Ed Fulasz and presently manufactured by 'Railroad Kits!'. It certainly shares some architectural features with Point of Rocks, but it's a lot smaller and simpler. I was aiming for a late-1800s feel, kind of "The Mayor and four Aldermen are holding out for a clock tower. What will it cost us?"

After a summer of working on other things, I've gotten some work on the Eastern Route in, mostly electrical:



I built the diode matrix for the West end of Draw staging back in 2010. It's compact and was inexpensive to build. However, I made a mistake building it which has required re-soldering connections several times. The lead that loops from the top of the diode to the output buses touches the buses, but doesn't loop around them - no mechanical strength supporting the solder. And I have to handle the board a bunch when I reconnect it after working on it. Next time (or if I rebuild this version), I'll make a 90 degree bend in the looping lead and pass it under the buss, then cut the extra off after soldering.

The other project was lighting some brass passenger cars (chosen because they were easy). My signals are more realistic when cars trip the occupancy detectors, but the resistor wheels I've tried haven't given me consistent results. Lighting kills two birds with one stone:



I used Evan Designs' U-10 LED/current limiter/rectifier assembly. Some cars require axle wipers, but these old Nickel Plate Product heavyweights work OK if the leads are wrapped around the truck screws. For coaches, I put the LED in the clerestory on top of a white paper diffusor installed with rubber cement. It isn't flicker-proof, and one LED doesn't illuminate a whole coach evenly, but it's progress.

[jbvb]

9-Oct-2016: Passenger car maintenance in the DCC era: I built Bangor & Aroostook 6-4-6 sleeper 'South Twin Lake' from a brass kit imported by NJI in the 1970s. I used a nice brass 41-BNO-11 truck kit from Custom Finishing. Last spring I took it to a show and after a bit of running, one of the wheels melted its insulation. Maybe the truck was over a gap, maybe the brake shoe touched the flange:



Either way, the wheelset was toast. Most new wheelsets have pointed axles, but brass passenger cars often use parallel-sided journals. These were .980" long with .055" journals. In my parts drawer, I found Reboxx wheelsets 1.010" long with .065" journals which would fit the sideframes' bearing holes. With a few strokes of a fine file, I shortened them, removing the points in the process. Measure as you go; you can't put back metal dust.

I found a picture of South Twin Lake taken before the 'hotbox':

[jbvb]

14-Oct-2016: Not much photogenic progress recently, but a good deal of fiddling with the location of the MRC wireless dongle, hoping to improve reception in the north end of the room. Nothing conclusive to report yet. So on to Purchasing: (If people think this should have gone in The Car Shop, I can do so).  I just received Rapido's new HO scale New Haven 1948 Pullman-Standard lightweight coaches. The gauge and coupler height were good on all three, the steam line is high enough and far enough back that I don't expect trouble:





The interior light is quite bright, enough to interfere with exposures under my normal room lighting.



I need to look at photos and NHRHTA publications - I didn't realize they were delivered with green roofs. Of course, this might have changed by my mid-1950s era, but it's worth a bit of time to confirm. I only have one other car in this scheme, an Eastern Car Works parlor-baggage, whose roof is black.



I love the end-to-end uniform illumination, but it makes window shades a priority. When I have the first car open I will take a look at the regulator circuit and see if I see an easy way to dim them.

A friend asked if the New Haven cars would have been seen in Rowley on the Eastern Route: Prototype 1948 P-S coaches in New Haven livery probably never ran through Rowley; the Eastern wouldn't have been a likely detour for the State of Maine or East Wind before it was severed as a through route in 1952. The MBTA fixed up a couple of trains of these for head-end power in the mid-1980s, so they almost certainly ran through West Lynn (with a purple window band). But those were long gone when Ipswich - Newburyport service was restored in 1998. In my alternate universe, the New Haven built the Boston Harbor Tunnel and the State of Maine goes through Newburyport instead of Worcester and Haverhill.

[jbvb]

15-Nov-2016: It had been a while: packing, then 3 weeks in Thailand, then the election and firewood. Now Tour de Chooch was two weeks away (I was open Sunday 11/27) and I spent the day in the attic:



The baggage & express building had a roof, and I temporarily assembled two sides of DPM's 'M.T. Arms Hotel' into a background building behind the depot. The rest of the hotel is another partial structure facing Bennett St. in West Lynn. Painting awaits warmer weather, so I've been working on adding a bit of removable street and rearranging the backdrop in that area.

17-Nov-2016: Another 8 hours in the attic and progress at the Bennett St. site (E. end of West Lynn) has become photogenic:



Bennett St. used to stop at the near edge of the single track overpass. It now extends to the wall, removably so I can still install and remove storm windows. The roof of my 2-story kitbash on the left is finished; it awaits windows and curtains. The M.T.Arms kitbash on the right will get brick and facade paint as soon as I get more N2 gas from the local welding supply.

26-Nov-2016: Time ran out for more scenery. Just cleaning & testing before the Tour de Chooch tomorrow:



The express/baggage building is closest to complete. It still needs shingles, downspouts and window glazing. And a big loading platform around it, platform sheds and the pedestrian overpass; it'll be a while. The new commercial building behind the depot needs black on the backdrop behind it, but it isn't as obvious from normal viewing angles.



The markers got added to C-2 this way: <Tomar markers thread to be added>

This background building is a little farther along, but the scene won't really coalesce until I figure out how to do streets disappearing at angles with available photos. And Mr. Smith's car looks awfully new; some dull varnish appears to be in order.

[jbvb]

27-Nov-2016: Dave asked how Tour De Chooch had gone: Well; I had help running trains and help downstairs to guide visitors. I only had one DCC decoder crash and one protocol glitch with old-style consisting. And one RTR freight car with an out-of gauge wheel. The signals did their job with only one glitch, which cleared itself up as mysteriously as it arrived. Ron G. brought some of his equipment, which ran all day after a few shakedown issues. We had 48 visitors total, not as many as some other participants report, but only people who could climb 2 flights of stairs came to my attic.

30-Nov-2016: I needed to understand how West Lynn was to be signaled before I returned to work on the Saugus Jct. interlocking. So I spent a couple of days on it; the dwarf signals at the west end of the running tracks now work:



After spending daylight hours around and under the layout, I'd almost finished the design this evening. One question to sleep on, then I can build the interlocking itself and the single home signal I know I need (I may decide I need another).

2-Dec-2016:  My old friend John Purbrick, who worked out that way of building searchlight dwarfs, visited during the Tour de Chooch and remarked on how many I'd built (9). Right now I'm thinking about potential issues before I build the rest of this interlocking: If I socket-mount the home signal that goes by the (scale) switch machine on the right, I can build GE's in-plant track behind it with no risk to the signal.

Bulletin Order #35, December 9, 2016:

At Saugus Draw East interlocking, Eastward two-light dwarf interlocking signal and westward dwarf signal on the eastward main track, and westward dwarf signal on the easterly running track are placed in service. Trains and Engines using the running tracks at Saugus Draw East must obtain permission from the Operator before reversing hand-thrown turnout at the west end of either running track.



My boss sent me over to the Gear Works with a part they needed, so I grabbed my camera from my locker as I left. Since GE bought the plant, the guard towers haven't been manned and the day shift guy at the guard shack by the crossing knows me. I saw the Lynn Goat pulling down the Westbound to run around its pickups so I shot it as the jack turned yellow.



The Oil Job was on the Middle track; their brakeman said they wouldn't pull over the crossing till the Goat was done, but right behind them was a passenger local; I got all three engines in the frame..

16-Dec-2016: That week, I reached a minor milestone - all 18 of my main line blocks had occupancy detection. 11 of them are completely protected by signals (e.g. a signal warns engineers if the track is occupied or a turnout is reversed). I'm designing the last interlocking. There are still 4 mast and 2 dwarf signals to build. At this rate, I might have it done in time for a February op session - all my weekends were booked through the Amherst show at the Big E.

I'm also accumulating evidence for model rail layout building as a path to fitness: Aside from one errand, all of today has been spent working on the RR. A bunch of that was under the layout; I don't know how my gadget interprets crawling around. But it assures me I've climbed 15 floors worth of stairs while walking 4,800 steps (1.7 mi.). Another reason to get out of the armchair...

Bulletin Order #38, January 19, 2017:

At Saugus Jct. interlocking, Eastward three-light home interlocking signal governing the eastbound main track, and eastward dwarf signal governing eastward movements on the westbound main track are placed in service. Westward movements on either track entering the interlocking must proceed until all cars are west of the governing Eastward signal.



Walking down Bennett St. the other day, I heard a funny air horn - not the single-trumpet foghorn the early diseasels came with, not the three trumpet model on an EMD roadswitcher. I climbed up the embankment; lo and behold, it was a Buddliner fresh from Philadelphia. There'd been a story in the Lynn Evening Item last month; this order of Budds is supposed to replace the Pacifics and Moguls I grew up with. I've been carrying my camera every sunny day since then. Timmy and Ike down at the Enginehouse are worried, but they haven't gotten any notices abolishing their jobs yet. I won't be shooting many more of these Buddliners - they all look alike. Fooey! Bexley Tower gave this one a Bottom Yellow, lining it up the mail/express track. I guess the brass want to save a little by turning Buddliners there instead of running through the tunnel and into the yard.

Rapido "Phase 1c RDC-1" 6113 in the 1955 delivery Minuteman scheme. The first 8 were delivered in 1952/53 with bare ends, single-chime horns and fabricated trucks. Signal uses Oregon Rail Supply heads, base & finial, Free State Systems platforms and ladders.

[jbvb]

24-Jan-2017: My next project wass building the Downtown Newburyport peninsula, whose City Railroad (lower) and Pond St. (upper) spurs leave the main at Newburyport West:



The prototypes for these tracks date to the railroad wars of the 1850s: a B&M branch trying to steal traffic from the Eastern had its passenger terminal at Pond St. The City RR looped south of downtown to serve the waterfront directly, which the Eastern had never bothered to do. On my layout, the B&M freight house will be at Pond St. and the City RR will serve several active customers, including expedited service for the Swift meat distribution warehouse.



Work began today, building the two long L girders and moving my parts cabinet to the other side of the chimney. Tomorrow I need to get a long-planned power outlet installed before I clutter up access to the crawl space by putting the girders on their legs.

31-Jan-2017: I finished a long day by going up to the attic and cleaning up after taking Rowley to the Big E. As I was shifting equipment among my boxes and the layout, some clearly needed weathering before the op session later this month. I experimented with a pastel crayon & brushes, but for the main job I used washes:



Rapido, like Budd, painted the non-stainless part of their RDC underbodies a color somewhat darker than ATSF 'Enchantment Blue'. But the B&M's fleet didn't look like that in service. I brushed on Tru-Color Grimy Black, then Floquil Rust, both diluted with lacquer thinner.



The exhaust area got more Grimy Black, which I then streaked out over the rest of the roof with more lacquer thinner. I'll probably return to 6113 with my airbrush to get more brakeshoe dust onto the lower sides, but I'm willing to show this to visitors.

NOTE: putting lacquer thinner on Rapido's fancy metallic finish worked for me, but sometimes things that work for me don't for others. Start out gently...

[jbvb]

3-Feb-2017: Lining up an op session for the 18th has shifted my priorities to cleaning, including unfinished projects. Yesterday & today I put a chimney and half the roof on the Mail & Express building:



I have the loading platform for the other side done but for legs and staining, but it got washed out of the pictures I took. And for the other half of the roof, I will take the time to fully lay out the shingle guidelines and see if that gets me a more even roof.

4-Feb-2017: Dave Emery had recommended printing a template for shingle location. I replied: I usually eventually manage to get
something printed to the actual size I need, but it's rarely easy. I measured and scribed for the other half of this roof:



The loading platforms need to be leveled, stained and embedded in the scenery. I have a plan which I'll try tomorrow. I used a B&M font from the published Standard Plans and digitized by Ken Akerboom for the sign.



This is the side (and partial interior) that won't even be visible to a micro camera once the platform sheds are in place. The idea is this was the old freight station before Chipman St. in Bexley was grade-separated. During that project it was repurposed as part Mail/Express/Baggage Room, part indoor stairway & limited waiting area.

A question for those who're more on the structures side of things: This took 6+ hours of shingling. I'm looking at alternatives for buildings that aren't aimed at contests and sited 30" from the audience.  A couple of people recommended Clever Models' textures, but as of 2025 I haven't tried them for distant shingles yet.

8-Feb-2017: I postponed erecting the Downtown Newburyport peninsula till after the op session on the 18th, so it's still scenery and structures. I did have what seems a clever idea, shown below:



I've done OK at embedding loading docks and other post-supported structures in scenery. But the hole layout/drilling is a pain, and the structure always needs fiddly leveling whenever it's touched. The Baggage/Express RR and truck docks are far enough from visitors that I decided to try screw leveling. I also had the idea that if a dock warped badly, I could apply epoxy to the screw heads and weight the whole business down till it was permanent. But luckily, that hasn't happened here (still OK in 2025).