Central Vermont Railway

Time Warp?

2012-02-10T23:05:00.001-05:00

Bernie came by after work tonight and we managed to get a few things done. He did some more backdrop painting and then, before he left, wanted to get a couple of pictures with his iPhone of the previous backdrop. The closest train at hand (actually the only one on the layout at the moment) was a CN GP40-2W with a string of "modern"cars. But, they still look pretty good - even the train needs weathering and the track needs final paint and ballast.
Is an era shift in the offing? Hardly - but I do enjoy this engine since I remember seeing them when I was kid and thought they were pretty neat!

Graffiti: Model It or Not?

2012-02-04T22:31:00.000-05:00

Back in the 1957 Bob Decker went the entire length of the Northern Division taking pictures of every CV building and facility he could – whether or not there was a train in the picture.
I didn’t notice something interesting about this shot of the Essex Junction, Vt. water tank until I scanned the slide and looked at it on the big screen. Although whether or not to model graffiti is a question faced by modern era modelers, I didn’t think it was an issue for me – after all, I’m modeling the steam era in northern Vermont – hardly the kind of place and time I expected to see any graffiti, even something as innocuous as this particular example on the base of the water tank.
And this says “Class of ‘50” – and I know Bob Decker took this photo in 1957, so this graffiti was around for a while. So, the question is, whether to include it on the model of the Essex Junction water tank or not.

Future to the Rescue?

2012-02-04T21:44:00.001-05:00

Building rolling stock is perhaps my favorite part of the hobby. Since I profess to like it so much, you shouldn’t be surprised that I think building, painting and decaling a single-color boxcar should not be that much of a challenge. Then I ran into this project – a Missouri Pacific 10-6” 40-foot boxcar.
The origin is one of the Sunshine Models doorprizes from the Naperville Railroad Prototype Modelers shows Martin and Trish Lofton sponsored for years. Each year, the presenters and attendees staying at the show hotel were presented with a door prize – some are loads, and one year we got a complete flat car, but most have been an assortment of resin details (doors, ends, etc . . .) to convert an injection molded plastic car to some specific prototype or another. I have ten or so of these and they all produce some pretty neat and unusual transition era freight cars.
I constructed this freight car while we were building our present house, so it's the most recent freight car I've built.

The building process went remarkably well. The door prize parts were installed on an InterMountain 10’-6” AAR boxcar, and I even replaced most of the Intermountain details (ladders, brake rigging and the like) with parts from Detail Associates. Then I rearranged the brake components to match the prototype (which differed from the stock Intermountain arrangement and fashioned the underbody piping from brass wire.
I photographed the finished, but unpainted car and then sprayed the model with Polly Scale acrylic paint. Then, like usual, I gave the model a clear gloss coat and applied the decals. I finished decaling and applied the final clear flat overcoat. I have never had decals silver (leave visible film) as badly as these did. I suspect the issue was the Testors Acryl clear finishes I used. It was the first time I tried using this stuff, and found it left a visible, white, streaky haze. Perhaps I got an old bottle of the stuff.
What a mess.
I put the model aside and built, and rebuilt, the layout.
After all the issues I've been having with the Berry Machine kit, I figured a break to build a freight car was just what the doctor ordered. So I opened the box with the stash of freight cars and guess which one was the first one to greet me?
Great, another problem child!
I studied the model, and figured the basic car was worth the effort to strip and refinish it. But recently I’d been reading in FineScale Modeler about using Future Floor finish as a decal clear coating. I have some of the stuff, so I figured I had nothing to loose. If it worked, great, if not, it was just one more layer to strip. I lightly brushed a coat of Future on the sides and left it to dry overnight. This next morning the silvering had all but disappeared - although the car still had some streaking, but I think that will be easy to hide with some weathering. Once the model is weathered, I'll post a follow up. In the meantime, I think I'll use Future to do the decals on my next rolling stock model.

Building Berry Machine Co. - 2

2012-02-02T22:32:00.002-05:00

Work continues on the Berry Machine Co. complex with the boiler house. Like the penstock this second of the three structures included in the kit has some good news and some not-so-good news.

I glued to the subwalls to the inside of the clapboard walls as indicated in the directions. After prepainting and glazing the windows I stained the walls with alcohol and India Ink, and set things aside to dry. Once the walls were dry I drybrushed them with craft paint “Parchment” which is a slightly cream-colored off white. I assembled the walls, added the pre-painted corner posts, and got ready to install the subroof. So far, so good.
Then, things started going downhill.
When I placed the roof with the correct amount of overhang on the front of the building, the other end was far too short. Out of curiosity I compared the roof panel to the drawings of the prototype, expecting the kit sub roof to be short. Guess what? It was too long – by a noticeable amount! That could only mean the building was also too short.

I also noticed that the two side walls are not oriented corrected. Interesting, the photo on the lid of the box shows the boilerhouse walls oriented the same as the prototype drawings I have, which is opposite the photos in the instructions. And guess which pictures I used??
So now I have a too short building with a too-long roof that doesn’t match the photo on the box or the prototype picture . . . Egads!

I’m not sure what I’m going to do about this. I can live with the walls being oriented incorrectly since I doubt anyone will ever notice once the building is installed on the layout. The roof is another matter. I certainly need to cut a new roof panel. I might make the roof from Evergreen corrugated styrene material as I think it will produce a neater roof than the corrugated metal material in the kit.
Or I might scrap this one and scratchbuild the building from the start.

Building Berry Machine Co.

2012-01-29T18:30:00.002-05:00

With the basic layout plan finally figured out, it’s time to resume the “Peninsula Campaign.” Like most peninsula campaigns throughout history, this one had bogged down. I could keep planning, and planning but until I had some of the key structures complete I would never be able to move forward completing the scene. So, starting this weekend I turned my attention away from the layout proper and towards the modeling desk. I decided to start by building the BEST Trains Berry Machine Shop kit. This kit consists of three structures – a penstock, boiler house, and the machine shop itself.

These pictures are from the BEST trains web site, and show the kit and prototype:

This is a mockup of the machine shop building in the approximate location on the layout:

Here’s the obligatory photo of the kit parts spread out on the modeling desk:

This weekend I managed to get a pretty good start at the boilerhouse and the penstock – and I’ve managed to prime most of the detail castings included in the kit.
Here’s the penstock as it looks now. I still need to add the nut-bolt-washer castings and finish the roof. Since all three buildings have metal roofs I’m going to finish them all at once. I also need to add the stairs and platform to the penstock.

The good news? The parts of the kit are well made, fit, and seem complete. If this kit has a weak link it’s the instructions – frankly to say “They leave a lot to be desired” is kind. They aren't wrong, just incomplete. One example? There’s a mention in the instructions of “add the stairwell and platform” to the penstock – but not drawings, photos, or even an indication of which parts to use other than a reference to a piece of 1/16th” scribed sheet “3/4” x 1-1/14”. That’s all well and good, but there’s no piece of scribed stock that size! And, although the laser cut parts have locating tabs and the like, they are not made so there’s only one way to put together the building. In other words, it’s really easy to assemble a wall backwards . . . don’t ask me how I know.
Luckily, I have drawings of the prototype buildings from a different source (not included in the kit) that are proving invaluable at filling in the blanks left by the instructions.
Despite the frustration with the instructions, the kit is going together and I’m enjoying a chance to finally build a model again. It’s been too long.
I’ll post a follow up report once the boiler house and machine shop buildings are together.

Experimenting with Foam Granite

2012-01-24T21:05:00.004-05:00

Although I highly recommend New England Brownstone plaster products, there are times when you need a “quick and dirty” stone retaining wall or abutment. In this case, I needed abutments and a short stretch of retaining wall for a street overpass. Since these components will be obscured by other buildings when the scene is completed, they didn't need to be detailed or foreground models.

I was figuring this was going to be a long evening of trying to kit bash a Chooch abutment or casting my own out of plaster when Paul Dolkos mentioned he’s had some success carving them out of pink foam board.

The photo shows my first attempt (this is an experiment on some scrap foam) after about 10 minutes of effort.

Simply cut out the basic shape and then use a dull pencil or some similar instrument (I used a pencil and the blunt end of a fine paintbrush) to “carve” the stones into the Styrofoam surface. I found I could create the look of the face of the stones by pushing in on the foam with the pencil tip and dragging it. It’s important to avoid “breaking” the surface. I went ahead and used an X Acto to carve some deeper crevices in an attempt to highlight the individual stones.

Some black and white paint, blended together to make a base gray, and some lighter gray and tan highlights, and finally a dry brushing of white, produced a pretty decent cut stone retaining wall. While I wouldn't consider this a "foreground" model, it's a quick and easy way to get the effect. And, considering how much Styrofoam I have laying around, the price can’t be beat!

White River Junction in 3-D

2012-01-17T17:33:00.001-05:00

A group of high school students in Hartford, Vt., have developed a really neat 3-d map of White River Junction using Google Maps and Sketch up to create very realistic renderings of the buildings. Also included are short histories of many of the key structures in the village.

You need Google Earth plug in to explore the 3-d map - but it's well worth spending a few minutes walking around town!

This screen shot shows the familiar White River Junction station in the center - the CV track is curving to the left from the bottom of the picture, the B&M line to Wells River curves to the right. On the extreme right you can see the B&M Northern Line to Boston. Although the tracks aren't clearly indicated, you can see where the B&M diamonds were located.

"Walking" up the river (yes, you can virtually wander around in the 3-D landscape) you can get a view of a number of key structures in White River Junction. One of the most familiar, forming a backdrop for the Central Vermont yard, is the billboard on the Ward Baking Co.

3-d Planning

2012-01-02T12:37:00.002-05:00

Over the last couple of weeks I've managed to find a fair amount of time to work on the layout. Although I did get a fair start at kitbashing the Cooley-Wright foundry for Waterbury, I haven't actually completed any projects in the last two weeks - and nothing is even remotely close to be being ready for photography.
Yesterday Dave Emery came by and we did some "3-D" planning and arranging of the mill stream scene. This scene, which is essentially the back half of the Waterbury peninsula, is intended to showcase several water-powered (or originally water-powered) New England mills. With Dave' help I was able to identify the key elements and get a good idea of how the scene will look. Some of the "mockups"we used were more than a bit unorthodox, including structure kit components, boxes, folded up pieces of paper, and even locomotive boxes! But even these unusual mockups served their purpose - letting us visual how the scene and each element would look. I'll try to get the new version of Illustrator loaded into the computer later and see if I can sketch up a version of the resulting plan.
Over the last couple of weeks I've studied the planned White River Junction scene. Without going into a lot of detail, while WRJ may "fit" in the space, it will never look "right" to me. I've been stressing over that scene for months - which includes full sized mockups of the key buildings. Anytime you get that stuck on a layout project it's a sure sign something just isn't right.
The solution?
The layout needs a freight yard and some sort of engine facility to execute the planned operating scheme - I also want to include a single large industry that takes a variety of freight cars. Both of these items can be found in Palmer, Mass. So, the yard will be based on the CV yard in Palmer - a small yard that is ideally suited for a model railroad. It was even used as a base for several local freights during my era - the exact same purpose I need a yard to serve on my layout. The single large industry is covered by the Spencer Wickwire Plant.
I've started mocking up the scene this morning and have found it fits much, much better than WRJ did. With WRJ I was constantly fighting the space - that's not been the case with Palmer.
For a track plan, I didn't have to look any further than my the article I co-authored with Iain Rice in own Model Railroad Planning 2000. The first Southern New England layout, featured in that issue, included a version of Palmer yard. The dimensions are almost the same!
So in a way I've come full circle!

Tree-covered hillside

2011-12-27T21:56:00.001-05:00

I suppose it comes as no surprise that many of my Novemberscenery techniques lean on my friend Paul Dolkos’ pioneering efforts. However, since Paul’s former Boston &Maine New Hampshire Division didn’t include any really deep scenes depictingtree-covered mountains, I was on my own when it came to figuring out how tomodel a leafless tree-covered hillside. Or so I thought. After seeing Ted Pamprin’sC&O layout on our recent foray into New Jersey, I decided plain ole’ Supertreeswere the way to go to quickly and effectively duplicate the look of barrentrees on a hillside.

I created a small hillside starting at the end of thebackdrop and running about 3-4 feet. Ata couple of places on the hillside I placed rock castings to create the look ofexposed granite outcroppings – a common sight to anyone who has hiked throughNew England forests. Although the rockcastings looked a little jarring just sitting on the bare hillside, theaddition of the bare Supertrees, a few Supertrees flocked with green toresemble distant pines, and some flocked with brown to look like oaks blendedthe rock outcroppings into the scenery and created a pleasing appearance (atleast I think so!).

Overall, I’m happy with how this scenery is shaping up. After the roads and buildings are placed I’lladd some foreground trees, built up from Crepe Myrtle tips and other weeds withfiner branch material, in front of the hill. This will further blend the tree-covered hillside into the background.

This is a "background hill" - to give you an idea of how it will look in the finished layout setting, I positioned the Waterbury station and feed mill in place.

A couple of blogs and websites worth a look

2011-12-27T21:32:00.003-05:00

My friend Pierre Oliver is modeling the Wabash in Southern Ontario, (I know, weird but true, the Wabash went to CANADA!!!) circa 1951. You can read his layout building exploits here.
Pierre is also a custom freight car builder – and is one of the best resin car builders out there. His car building business is “Elgin Car Shops” and is worth checking out.

Jason Fontaine has a very, very nicely done layout called the Southern New England Railroad. Yes, we’re both aware that our freelanced railroad names are a little too close for comfort but no matter -– Jason’s railroad is really nice.
The railroad was featured in MR a couple of years ago, and since then Jason has been hard at work expanding the railroad. There's photos of the layout of Jason's SNER here and his blog chronicles his efforts at expanding his version of the SNE.

Trees, Trees everywhere

2011-12-20T18:46:00.000-05:00

Background trees added to the long neck of the peninsula.

This helps break up the joint between the modeled railroad

and painted backdrop.

One thing you need when you model a New England railroad is trees - lots of 'em. In my case they come in two distinct categories - foreground trees, ones that are "stand alone" items - and "filler" trees. I decided to spend some time over the last few evenings adding some of those "filler" trees to the area between the mainline and the backdrop. I've started "grassing up" the area between the mainline and fascia edge as well.

Next step is to add the texture (static grass and the like) between
the track and fascia.

This is an example of "large scale" modeling - not in the proportion but in the amount of material needed. I didn't count how many individual Supertrees are now planted on the layout, but it took most of Sunday afternoon to prep the trees, paint them, and install them. I think the time was well spent since this portion of the layout is at last starting to look a little more complete.

Happy First Birthday!

2011-12-17T09:56:00.000-05:00

I find it hard to believe, today marks the first anniversary of this blog.

It was also one year ago that I started the extensive rework of my layout. Here's the view from the bottom of the basement stairs in late October, 2010:

Here's a shot taken from the about the same spot this past September:

When I decided to change the layout I promised myself all the heavy construction work - benchwork, backdrops, and the like - would be finished within a year. I'm happy to report that I accomplished that, and I've even gotten a fair start at the scenery.

I do need to get the track in White River Junction and Essex Junction sections complete - and that's a goal for the remainder of this year.

The only other "goal" I have is to get the "Front Door" scenery completed - I need to get rid of the pink foam that's still visible in the mill stream area.

I enjoy posting my progress to this blog, and appreciate all the comments I receive on it. I hope you will continue to follow my adventures. Here's to a productive New Year on the Central Vermont!

Backdrop Video Trailer

2011-12-12T18:05:00.000-05:00

Coming This Holiday Season . . . from Dog Butt Films, in conjunction with Leaping Hound Productions ....

December 8 Work Session

2011-12-09T23:01:00.001-05:00

Good work session this evening on the Central Vermont Winooski Sub. Bernie braved the DC traffic to come out to Manassas for a Friday night session. I worked on roadbed in Essex Junction while he painted a late fall backdrop behind Waterbury. I won't bore anyone with photos of roadbed - but the backdrop Bernie painted came out pretty sharp.

We did shoot a couple of short videos showing Bernie at work - I will post those later.

We found some pictures in Morning Sun's Central Vermont Railway in Color for inspiration. One of the most recognizable items in the Vermont landscape is "Camel's Hump" - the second tallest peak in the state but one with a unique profile (hence the name). Bernie used a photo taken by my good friend Alan Irwin as a guide - Alan's picture is in the lower right in the open book.
In the image below you can see the unique shape of Camel's Hump - but Bernie was careful to not make shape TOO distinctive since the backdrop would look odd when viewed from a different angle. Looks like there is already snow on the peak - it won't be long before Waterbury will be buried in the white stuff . . . maybe we need to run a couple of ski trains?

Along the narrow "neck" of the peninsula, Bernie added some "foreground" tree detail to my already outstanding backdrop painting efforts! (Actually, I think he "tweaked" my trees more than a little). The Supertree in the center is there as a height reference. One thing that has become obvious is I need more light on this section of the railroad. We discussed some possibilities for that as well.

I couldn't resist setting up a simple "test shot" in Waterbury. I want to finish up the work on the track in Essex Junction - but I also really, really, want to get to work on the "front door" Waterbury scene.

Thanks for the help, Bernie!

Garden State Road Trip

2011-12-05T17:39:00.001-05:00

Naturally I had to kick off the trip report with some CV RS-11s!

St Johnsbury, Vt., on Mike McNamara's HO railroad.

Just back from an enjoyable weekend tour through the New Jersey countryside with Bernie Kempinski. We started out early Saturday morning, heading north towards the Garden State. After paying homage to the governors of both Maryland and Delaware (it takes about 15 minutes and $9 to get through Delaware – Maryland is almost as expensive but at least you’re in the state longer) we arrived at Mike McNamara’s “Northeast Kingdom” HO layout. Mike models the railroads in an around St. Johnsbury, Vt., in 1980. Lots of colorful engines and freight cars. Mike was a great host and we had a good time looking at his layout, taking some pictures, and shooting some videos of trains in action.

After lunch – at a local pizza joint, where surprisingly no one was named “Tony” (for the record, we did ask . . .) we headed north. Lola, the GPS in my wife’s Honda Accord, decided to take us on a circular tour through downtown Princeton – but at least we saw a horse in the middle of the road.

When we arrived in Newton we checked into the hotel and Tony Koester picked us up and took us on a tour through the northern New Jersey countryside. Tony pointed out all the old railroad archaeological artifacts and abandoned right-of-way. It was very interesting, but difficult to see in the dark.

From L to R: Bernie, Perry Squier, and Tony Koester.

The St. Mary's Penn., scene on Perry's P&S is a great example

of prototype modeling.

We stopped first at Perry Squier’s house. After meeting “Richie” – a rather large (and hungry) horse, we went to the basement to look at Perry’s Pittsburg & Shawmut. Set in 1923 this is a very nicely done coal-hauling railroad in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I especially liked Perry’s signature scene of St. Mary’s Penn. I also think Perry has done a wonderful job modeling what many consider the “Golden Age” of railroading – the era just before the “super power steam” of the early 1920s.

I really liked how Perry's layout fit the space.

From Perry’s we headed to Ted Pamprin’s Chesapeake & Ohio. Set deep in the New River Gorge in West Virginia I especially wanted to see for myself how Ted’s leafless trees look in person when covering a large mountainside. I’m happy to report they look just fine. Ted had some great tips on landform modeling, including using leveling sand, secured with this thin adhesive, for basic ground cover. Neat layout – his Thurmond, W.V. scene is right on – and looks great.

Ted Pamprin's HO Chesapeake & Ohio New River Sub.

Ted's Supertree-filled mountainsides look great!

A look at Thurmond, W. Va.

After a very nice dinner (although the wait was so long Bernie was able to do an impromptu version of his USMRR clinic on his iPad while we waited in the bar!) we headed over to Tony’s for an tour/indoctrination on his Nickel Plate. This is a BIG layout – having edited the article on the track plan back in my MR days this was the first time I’d seen the layout basically in place (I visited Tony a few years ago before he had finished most of the basic infrastructure. The NKP Clover Leaf is a big project – very impressive. I’d classify it as “industrial strength” model railroading – everything – locomotives, throttles, freight cars, wheelsets, etc . . . has to be done in bulk. It’s really quite a project, and I admire Tony for his dedication to bring his favorite railroad to life in his basement, and appreciate the chance to operate on it - I had a great time.

Go faster, Bernie, this is supposed to
be a "Fast Freight" route!

Frankfort Yard on Tony's NKP.
Yes, this yard is 60 feet long!

While we completely enjoyed the operating session, I, for one, left secure in the knowledge that style of layout was just not right – for me, anyway. Seeing Mike’s, Perry’s, and Ted’s layouts confirmed, to me at least, that I really prefer the single deck layout arranged with a “panoramic” view over the multi-deck, long mainline at the expense of all else approach. I felt completely vindicated in my decision to remove the upper deck from my own railroad. I’m also continually tempted by an earlier era than I presently model – then I realize how much inventory I have on hand and think I should stick with the 1940s/50s era.

Overall, a great trip that left us motivated to work on our own railroads. Now that I have a few weeks at home, the weather is cold outside, the days are short, and it’s time to get something done on the Central Vermont!

Planning Essex Junction

2011-12-02T20:08:00.001-05:00

I have been spending an hour or so a night for the last couple of weeks planning, and re-planning, the Essex Junction scene.
I’m happy to report these efforts are starting to pay off.
This scene and I go way back. The first layout I started building as an adult (when I determined the CV in the steam era was right for me) featured the Essex Junction scene. That one never got past the benchwork stage. The second time I modeled it was in N scale on a small layout I built in a rented townhome when I was on the MR staff. That scene led to an article on Essex Junction that appeared in Model Railroad Planning.
It's finally time to do this scene again - this go 'round will be HO scale.
Essex Junction is, in reality, two different “scenes.” The first, and most recognizable, is the area around the trainshed itself. Here’s a familiar view of the trainshed.

The second, much less familiar scene was area around the wye, just a couple of blocks south of the trainshed. It was rarely, if ever photographed – at least in its entirety. One photo showing the wye is this very early image:
Using CV engineering department drawings and Sanborn Maps this map shows the track and most of the industries in, and around, Essex Junction in the early 1950s.

On the layout, I’m taking the approach of making whatever compromises I need to make to have the trainshed look as much like the pictures as possible, even if it means I have to “tweak” the wye scene slightly. Perhaps the biggest compromise I made was to flip the location of the wye and trainshed, relative to the other modeled towns on the layout. Coming north from Waterbury (on the layout, around the bend on the peninsula) a train should go through the wye and then past the shed on its way north to St. Albans. On my layout the train will go through the shed and then the wye. If I maintained the prototype elements in their correct orientation, the track would curve in the “wrong” direction relative to the most commonly photographed view of the scene. I felt it was important to capture this angle for the trainshed scene to look right, even if it meant flipping the relative location of the shed and wye. Besides, when I mocked up the scene with the elements in the “right” place there was little room for the wye trackage. The shape of the basement dictated the placement I’m using.
Due to the configuration of the layout and the basement, I can also add a live third leg of the wye to serve as a live interchange track representing the Burlington branch. This same track will also permit me to reverse trains between sessions by backing them over from the north end staging yard.
I suppose there are some who would be bothered to no end by the compromises I’ve made on this scene. I think the finished scene will look like Essex Junction, even if the individual elements are not arranged exactly like the prototype.

Hectic Fall . . .

2011-11-16T18:08:00.001-05:00

I can't believe we're almost halfway through November. I haven't gotten much done model railroading-wise in the past month - we had two trips to Charleston, SC - one to see my youngest son (who's a senior at The Citadel) get his school ring on Parent's Weekend, the second was last weekend to attend my 25th reunion. In between I went to the MER convention in Cary, NC. The one weekend we were home was spent doing fall outdoor chores.
We have family visiting for Thanksgiving week next week - so essentially November will be over in no time. To top it all off, work has been really nuts lately.
Bernie Kempinski and I plan to visit and operate on some out of town layouts the first weekend in December - once that trip is done I think I'll stay home for a while!
The shorter days and cooler temps have me all fired up to hunker down and work on some models - but things have just been too hectic.
I have had a few odd moments to look over the "alcove" area. The current layout plans called for putting Essex Junction along the "long wall" at the entry to the layout area. But that area is not ideal since it's almost too much room for Essex Junction, and the wye would loose one of it's legs. Why not, I thought, move Essex to the alcove - leaving room for me to include White River Junction (or at least the CV-centric elements of WRJ) where I was planning to put Essex Junction?
Some early tests with mockups show this might work - here's an early sketch showing where Essex Junction would end up. (After looking at this with the full-size mockups, I think the Essex Junction trainshed would actually be better on the peninsula (across the aisle from where it shows on this diagram):

Trip Report - MER 2011 Convention, Cary, NC

2011-11-02T18:43:00.002-04:00

I rolled back into town Sunday evening after spending a very enjoyable three days at the NMRA Mid East Regional Convention in Cary, NC. Model railroad conventions can run hot or cold, and I've been to plenty of regional conventions over the years - and frankly some of them have been awful. But not this one.

First of all, the show went off without a hitch - the hotel (Embassy Suites) was excellent - even the food in the on-site restaurant was pretty good and reasonably priced. The clinic lineup was outstanding - they ran four rooms from 8:00 until 11:00 pm for three days - quite a feat! the weather on the drive down was great, but by Friday the skies had clouded over and it was pretty windy and rainy so I stayed inside most of Friday. Judging from the audience size in the clinic rooms so did most of the other attendees!

Bruce DeYoung gave two excellent clinics - one of slate roofs and the other on "Modeling tricks and tips" - here's Bruce showing one of his tips - a great way to spread ballast:

Danial Fisher is a structural engineer who specializes in steel-framed buildings. He gave an "extra fare" clinic on modeling steel framed structures. For $12 I got a GREAT handout and a small kit to build a steel-frame shed (or addition to an older building. Dan displayed this model, which is a Walther's Car shop with complete framing and bracing added to represent a steel-framed building with brick curtain walls. Sorry for the quality of these photos - I took them with my iPhone in the clinic room! Apparently, Dan's factory manufactures droids!:

I did get out of the hotel for a little while. I had lunch with Mike Brestel and John Roberts on Saturday, and then headed over to check out Bruce Faulkner's N scale CSX layout. To give some sense of this project, Bruce's layout is about the same size as mine but is double-deck in N scale. He has a CTC signaling system installed, but is only now really starting to make progress on the scenery. It looks like a great railroad to operate and I may need to get a few of the locals from this area to make it our next operating road trip.

Here's Bruce:

And here's a view of his main classification yard:

All in an all, an excellent weekend seeing old friends and making new ones!

New blog you might want to check out

2011-11-01T06:10:00.000-04:00

My friend George Dutka has started a blog on his White River Division modeling adventures - check it out at http://whiteriverdivision.blogspot.com/ .

George's layout is great example of a relatively small layout that provides big modeling opportunities.

Check it out.

On the road . . .

2011-10-27T07:53:00.001-04:00

I'm off to the NMRA MER Convention in Cary, NC today. I'll be there through the weekend. Hope to see some of you there! I'm bringing along my drawing tools and graph paper and plan to spend some quiet time this weekend working on (finally) drawing a trackplan . . . we'll see how that goes!

Stand-in Vermonter

2011-10-02T08:54:00.003-04:00

I ran across this USRA Light 4-8-2 lettered for the Southern New England Ry. the other day and decided to see how a passenger train would look on the bridge. This is a "Stand-in" for the CV's Vermonter - my plan is to run it on the layout with a CV RS-3, but that's another project that's not done yet!

I liked the picture (which was literally a "grab shot" with my iPhone!) so much I thought I'd post it here.

Walking tour - 1

2011-09-23T18:01:00.002-04:00

When Dave Emery came out for the open house last weekend he took some overall pictures of one side of the peninsula. So, I'd thought we'd start the "walking tour" with them - mostly because there's no track down in the "around the walls" section - something I plan to address very soon.

This is the view looking down the peninsula from the bottom of the basement stairs:

Looking back at the peninsula (to the far right) - the Williams Creek scene is in the center.

Turning left from the previous shot reveals the unfinished section around the wall (the benchwork extends behind the photographer also). Current plans call for one fairly large industrial complex - likely a wire rope plant, to go along the left side of this shot.

When I get more track in place and cleared off I'll post photos of the rest of the layout.

Open house!

2011-09-19T20:09:00.002-04:00

We had about 40 local NMRA members come by and visit over four hours
during the open house Saturday. I enjoyed having a chance to see old friends, and make new ones and got a kick out of seeing the reaction to some of my rather unusual construction methods.
The layout performed well without any issues - I was really pleased especially considering how "temporary" some of the wiring is at this point! I actually laid some track the in the morning and wired it in time for the open house! I really shouldn't have done that, but I wanted to be able to run the entire length of both sides of the peninsula. I had a list of 10 things I wanted to get done for the open house - issues with one turnout cost me more than a day of troubleshooting which blew the timeline so I didn't get the fascia painted (item no. 10). I considered painting it on Saturday morning, but cooler heads prevailed when I had visions of visitors leaving with splotches of fascia color on their clothes!

Jeff McGuirk (in bright green shirt) chats with Potomac Division members
at the September 17 open house.

   Jeff (my oldest son, in the green shirt in the photo) came up from Virginia Beach for this event. He helped clean up before the open house and was a great help during the proceedings - he mostly ran the trains and I talked, and talked, and talked. Which apparently isn't really a problem for me . . .
   Everyone who saw the previous layout footprint found the new arrangement to be a real improvement. I'd estimate we had as many as 25 people in the basement at one point. It seemed cramped but not overly crowded - of course I'll never have half that number for an op session. But I concluded the day secure in the knowledge that 8-12 member crew will be very comfortable in the space.
   I reviewed some options for the mill stream arrangement with a few folks, including Dave Emery who's an expert on New England mills. We did come up with a workable arrangement for the Lamson & Goodnow kit but I'm still considering using the Atlas Middlesex building since it seems a little larger, more modern, and might fit the space better.
   I also talked through some decisions that need to be made for the "yard" area - which is still an expanse of open benchwork. Stay tuned to this blog for more details on how that area will shape up in the next few months.
   The decision to change the layout has been worth the blood and sweat to pull it off. Since the entire layout is actually cleared off I should take a series of pictures as a "walking" tour (Dave showed me some cool pics he took with his "extreme wide angle" setting) and record what it looks like at this point - about nine months to the day after I started construction!

Down by the Old Mill Stream

2011-09-14T17:48:00.002-04:00

Making some progress on the mill stream scene. I got the New England Brownstone culverts painted and installed, and carved the large hill that divides the peninsula in half to shape. I also got a coat of "ground goop" on the hill and started on the riverbed before I gave out last night. In this shot, I hadn't gotten the track shimmed - hence the "washed out" look!

This shot shows the area (to the left and right of the river) where the other two planned mills may go (L&G to the left; Delabarre Woolen to the right):

Goal for tonight is see if the L&G kit will fit the area. I may well decide to go with an Atlas Middlesex Mfg. kit since that may take less room than the L&G complex.

Then I have to get the layout room cleaned up for the open house this weekend!

Marty

Peninsula Progress Report - I

2011-09-14T17:35:00.000-04:00

With the Williams Creek scene basically completed I decided to start the rough scenery on the mill stream scene that bisects the lobe end of the peninsula.

I've got the foam stacked for the hill that will serve as a viewblock between the town scene and the mill stream in place. The cardboard mockups are for one of the three planned mills along the river – this particular mill is based on the Berry Excelsior Mill from NH – the cardstock mockup closest to the camera is the Berry Machine Shop. The other mill in this scene will be the upcoming South River Modelworks "Delabarre Woolens" - that will go to the lower right of the photo. Although freelanced, it looks a lot like one of the mills that stood alongside the CV tracks north of Eagleville, Conn.

A third mill, in the large area to the lower left of the picture, is a possibility as well. It may be Lamson & Goodnow - another SRMW kit that's my model railroading albatross, the Atlas brick factory kit, or a scratchbuilt structure. Frankly, I may opt not to add a mill anything to the area in the interest of preventing an overly crowded appearance.

You can see I've cut the stream bed into the foamboard and the point where the spillway will be installed should be apparent - even in this pink wonderland.

The last photo shows where the mill stream will leave the modeled portion of the scene - the track is on a curve here so I decided to go with a culvert (from New England Brownstone) instead of a bridge.

"Houston, We have a problem"

2011-09-06T17:33:00.000-04:00

We had family visiting for most of the weekend, so I didn't get a lot done on layout - until they left for the airport on Monday morning. I spent the first part of Monday afternoon getting the remaining feeders connected to the buss wires. Then I tweaked a troublesome turnout on the south end of Richmond (just beyond the bridge scene). Once I got the passenger cars through it without any issues I dug out the Division Point 2-10-4s and one of my Overland 4-8-2s.

The 2-10-4 made it through the mainline route of the switch - the diverging route traveling northbound direction was no joy - that wasn't a surprise and is something I can handle with a timetable special instruction (there's no reason for a 2-10-4 to be on that siding anyway).

Then I got out the first 4-8-2 - it ran back and forth just fine, I was thrilled. Then, the engine stopped. I mean it just froze. I immediately suspected a wiring issue - after all I was testing the wiring. Then I figured perhaps it was a track issue - no problem, the engine was on the rails. Then I noticed the side rods were a funny shape - the main rod looked like a mountain range - going up and down. That can't be right. Apparently the long screw holding the valve gear assembly into the third driver had loosened to the point where it slipped out of the driver on one side - throwing everything out of whack.

I put the engine back in the box, and put the other 4-8-2 on the track - checking it to be sure it was in good shape. It ran back and forth even better until it started stuttering - I shut it off right away and examined it closely. Believe it or not, this engine had the EXACT SAME issue - loosing it's siderod screw after a few runs back and forth.
So now I have two engines that are down hard until I have enough time to really work through the issue. I've never been much of a locomotive mechanic - looks like that's about to change.
I'm so mad I could spit.

First Scenery - Williams Creek

2011-08-30T18:14:00.000-04:00

The inspiration for this scene is the prototype photo I bought from Bob's Photos a few years ago.

Russ Greene at New England Brownstone used the photo to create his plaster abutment kits. The bridges are Micro-Engineering 50-foot deck girders. I wanted to have the river look more like a clear New England stream than a Midwestern or Appalachian muddy river (although this week I know plenty of rivers in Vermont look plenty muddy and murky . . .).

The sub-base of the river is 1/4" Masonite painted black and covered with a combination of sifted sand, gravel, and Scenic Express "River Bed" gravel. I left some of the black-painted Masonite showing between the rocks to represent deeper areas. I applied a coat of Envirotex, let it set up completely, then painted some tan riverbanks and some green/black areas on top of the Envirotex - again, not covering the surface completely. Once that dried I added a second layer of Envirotex. Since the Envirotex leaves a perfectly flat surface, I've been adding several coats of Min Wax Polycrylic Polyurethene. I think at this point I'm at six coats, and it's just starting to "bubble" a little - which is a bad thing on furniture (MinWax warns against too many coats) since the resulting surface looks rippled and a little like waves.

I still need to finish this up obviously (the blue tape on the track should be a hint). Still to come:
1. A few more coats of MinWax
2. There are one or two of the background Supertrees that look a little too wavy from the side - they will be replaced with some with straighter trunks.
3. Foliage, undergrowth etc . . . around the base of the piers
4. Adding some electrostatic grass to the embankments
5. The harvested field with the corn shocks (the field is not visible in these model shots)
6. And, obviously, a coat of paint on the fascia.

.... Oh, and a few more coats of MinWax!

Central Vermont's 42000, 43000, and 44000-series Boxcars

2011-08-18T17:46:00.005-04:00

In his latest flyer, Martin Lofton at Sunshine Models announced two different Central Vermont 40-foot single sheathed HO scale boxcars as part of a series of “converted automobile cars.”
The Sunshine Flyer announcement states “The Central of* Vermont had two series of outside braced auto cars with a 10’ IH, the 41000 series with a door and a half, and the 42000 series with a 12’ double door. The latter were rebuilt into 6’ door cars and renumbered in the 43000 series. The last two series are planned.”
(* I’ll admit the incorrect addition of “of” to the CV’s corporate name is a pet peeve of mine. The railroad never, officially or otherwise, referred to itself as “Central of Vermont” – it was simply Central Vermont).
Of course, the actual story of the CV's 42000, 43000, and 44000 series boxcars is a little more complicated. This announcement provided the necessary impetus to unscramble the somewhat convoluted story of these cars. (The prototype information here is, of course, also usable if you’re looking to build those somewhat long in the tooth Steam Shack/F&C versions of these cars that are likely collecting dust on your shelf. I know they are on mine!)
The late 1920s were heady times indeed on the Central Vermont Railway. Across the system, new facilities and bridges were built and older ones upgraded. The upgrading included new motive power (the 700-series 2-10-4s and U-1-a class 4-8-2s being the prime examples) and a new generation freight cars, the most numerous of which were two classes of single-sheathed boxcars.

Construction and Components
A total of 500 cars (42000-42499) with two six-foot Youngstown doors, (giving them a 12-foot opening) were delivered new to the CV from Pullman in October, 1929. The cars were single sheathed Howe truss design with 3-3-3 early Dreadnaught ends. They were all fitted with six foot Youngstown steel doors with Camel hardware, Hutchins roofs, and KC air brakes with Universal lever-and-ratchet hand brakes. The cars rode on cast steel ARA U-section trucks with spring planks and Barber lateral motion bolsters equipped with six springs per side.
Their 3,705 cubic foot capacity was considered generous for the time. In fact, these cars were close in size to the 1937 AAR car (at 3,713 cubic feet), that wouldn't be built in any quantity for another decade.
In the mid 1930s, 125 of these cars (CV 42125-42499) were transferred to the Grand Trunk Western, leaving 42000-42124 on the Central Vermont roster.
In the 1940s the cars were equipped with AB brakes, with many getting Ajax brakewheels in place of the ratchet style brake.
In the years following the transfer to the GTW, 97 of the 125 remaining 42000-series cars had their roofs raised approximately 4” to accommodate auto loading racks. The spotting feature of the raised roof was a noticeable deeper flange running along the length of the car at the roofline and a double row of rivets at the top of both ends. Like most freight car spotting features, once you know to look for this the difference is very obvious.
If you're keeping score, between the mid-1930s and the early 1950s only 28 out of the original 500 42000-series cars remained on the CV roster in their “as-built” configuration.
Between 1953 and 1956, a total of 59 (16 original height, and 43 raised roof) 42000-series cars had their auto-loading equipment removed, were rebuilt with single six-foot doors, and renumbered in the 43000-430058 series.

This car shows one of the "as built" 42000 series cars after it had been converted to single-door and renumbered in CV's 43000-series. Note the "pregnant tapeworm" CV is centered on the door - it never appeared on the body of CV's single-sheathed boxcars despite what some model railroad manufacturers have offered over the years.

This view of a 43000 series car after it had been transferred to MoW service clearly shows the extension on the end and along the roof line

This car is one of the increased height cars that has been converted to a single door car. Note the top rail for the former left door is still visible. Also, note the difference in the X brace to the left of the door - it's an angle instead of the hat section bracing used on the original portions of the car.

Auto racks were removed from all the remaining 42000 series cars by the mid-1960s. Eight of the 42000-series cars were equipped with special loading devices to ship granite.
In September 1960 four of the 42000-series cars (2 extended height, and 2 as-built height) were equipped with steam and signal lines for use in bulk mail service in passenger trains and renumbered 44000-44003. They were repainted CN Green #11 with black roofs, ends, and underframes and had small placards with two small Central Vermont Maple Leaf monograms on the sides.

Not only does this image show two of the converted "head end" cars in their original Maple Leaf paint scheme, it also shows a comparison of the as built (right) and raised roof 42000-series cars.

In 1963, with the adoption of the CN-family’s famed “wet noodle” logo, the 44000-series cars were repainted, this time with large CV “pregnant tapeworm” logos across both doors.

Paint and Lettering
If readers of this blog would be interested I can prepare a more detailed review of CV paint and lettering schemes at some point in the future. In the meantime I’ll offer these notes for painting the 42000/43000 series cars.
Trucks and underframes were originally black, although they were repainted the body color as the cars were repainted over the years. The sides, ends, and roofs of the cars were boxcar red (I prefer to use Badger or Scalecoat CN Red 11 perhaps toned down with some Earth-color paint). All lettering was white on the red cars. As built the cars were lettered with “Central Vermont” and car numbers in Roman-style lettering. Later, the now-familiar stacked Gothic lettering became standard. Originally there were two white horizontal lines, one above the reporting marks and a second below the road number, although these gradually disappeared with repainting over the years. Other than this, admittedly minor difference, the cars remained in this scheme for the rest of their service lives. In the early 1960s, the CV began applying intertwined CV “pregnant tapeworm” lettering across the door(s) .
Four of the cars were equipped for passenger train service and repainted and lettered as described above.

Modeling
HO scale modelers have had resin models of these cars available for years. They were offered by Steam Shack (and are still available from www.steamshack.com). Funaro and Camerlengo manufacture these kits for Steam Shack, so they are also available separately from F&C. F&C/Steam Shack offer four versions of the 42000/43000 series cars – double and single door and original height and raised roof. Steam Shack does sell a set of decals for the 44000 series “Maple Leaf” passenger scheme, but based on the photo on the Steam Shack website the roundels look oversized.
As I mentioned at the outset, Sunshine Models has announced the 42000 and 43000 series cars will be released Fall 2011. I’m not sure if the Sunshine Models will be the as-built height or the modified height (or both). I’ve dropped the folks at Sunshine a note and will update this based on any information I receive from them.

Foreground Trees

2011-08-05T20:50:00.000-04:00

I want to work on some scenery - for a change of pace from track and wiring and also to have a place to pose some "finished" photos, especially around my bridge scene. The problem was I didn't have any foreground trees. So I decided my "weeknight" project - for those times when I had a few minutes in the evening - would be to build up some leafless deciduous trees.

Last spring we had a bunch of landscaping done - and we ended up with several Crape Myrtle plants. These flower in the summer, one flower on the end of each branch, and the seed pods and flowers turn brown in the fall. To get the plant to flower again you really need to remove the seed heads from the plant. Here's one of the plants in the side yard - this was taken in late spring.

You can see the seed pods on the dried out bloom below - I kept these cuttings thinking they may make decent tree armatures. They do, but it takes a little bit of trimming. Of course, the seed pods have to be removed and the "droopy" ends of the branches need to be trimmed off as well.

Here's the "stripped" armature - ready to have the finer branches added:

I used the pieces of the fine Super Trees sold by Scenic Express applied one at a time and secured in place with hot glue - much easier than the CA I used to use to build up trees. I always ended up with little bits of SuperTrees on my fingers!!

Here's a tree just about ready for the paint shop (I'll paint them primer gray with a dusting of "Camo Brown" on the ends) - On this one I also plan to remove that oddball branch on the bottom.

I don't plan to make forests of trees this way. This is strictly for foreground "specimen" trees. But I'm pleased with the way the Crepe Myrtle branches make the trunk and main branches look more robust and the Super Tree foliage adds the finer branch structure. I've made about a dozen of these in the last week of evenings - which should be more than enough to scenic the bridge scene. That's tomorrow's project.

Missed opportunities? What might have been?

2011-07-12T20:58:00.001-04:00

When I tore out the upper deck (and frankly, most of the lower deck) on the layout last fall I seriously considered other options - some radically different than anything I've done previously. One possibility I contemplated was a East Tennessee & Western North Carolina RR layout in On30. I couldn't resist the Bachmann model of no. 11, and since I remember visiting "Tweetsie" in North Carolina with my kids when they were little - and even getting a few cab rides in no. 12 - it's always been a tempting theme for a layout.
Another possibility I hinted at in a conversation with Bernie Kempinski was an On30 layout that was patterned after the Maine Two-Footers. This certainly isn't the first time I've flirted with 2-foot modeling in 1/4" scale. Back in my MR days, the very first plan Iain Rice and I collaborated on was an On2 layout (this was the days before On30 took off) based on Phillips (o maybe Strong), Maine on the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes RR. If I ever dig up that plan I'll post it here - it's never been published.
Bernie, always willing to be a trouble maker, and perhaps sensing a convert to O scale, quickly fired off a track plan for the layout area patterned after the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington. I'd forgotten about it until we were watching "Aerial America" on the Smithsonian Channel the other night. Basically, the series is an aerial tour of one state - the one that happened to be on was Maine - and one of the stops was a aerial look at the Wiscasset waterfront.
Just for fun, and maybe to offer you some inspiration, I've included Bernie's trackplan here. The footpring is very close to the current HO layout.

As I build my "simplified" layout - which still has several dozen turnouts and a lot of buildings I find a LOT that's appealing about the 15 or so turnouts on this layout.
But not this time - I have too much invested in the CV of the steam era to change at this point.
But I also think this will be the last CV layout - the next one (if indeed there is a next one) will likely be something very, very different.
So part of me wants to file this plan away on this blog so I can come back to it, just in case.

Peninsula Campaign - Part 3 - Decisions, and more planning

2011-07-03T11:42:00.001-04:00

This should be the last of the "planning" posts for the peninsula project. Sure, there will be more planning as construction commences, but I'm ready to start building.

I've decided "option 2" is the best choice (from the previous post). This decision means I have to (1) figure out if I'm going to add a second mill - where the Branchline creamery kit is shown in the earlier pictures and (2) determine a logical way for the river to gracefully exit the visible portion of the layout.

I don't want to use a bridge over the river as bridges are a little problematic, especially on curves, but mostly because I want to avoid a non-prototypical bridge intruding onto the Waterbury scene. The answer seems to be a culvert. After all, a culvert is really, in essence, a small bridge with the added advantage of being very subtle.

For this scene I think I'll go with the arched stone culverts offered by New England Brownstone, (http://nebrownstone.com/culverts.htm)

If you aren't familiar with NEBS masonry products you need to check them out as they are some of the most realistic stone and brickwork you'll every find.

With the river taken care, the next step was to select what to use for "the second mill." The Berry Mill is a multi-building complex - an old wooden mill building with several outbuildings. I've narrowed the choice down to one of two possibilities for the second mill - the first would be a building scratchbuilt based on this prototype photo:

That leads us to possibility #2. About 12 years ago - maybe longer - I bought and started building a kit from South River Modelworks called "Lamson & Goodnow." The issue has been I've never finished because I could never find a place for it on any of the layouts I've built in the intervening years. Perhaps it would work here? Here's what the key buildings in this complex look like.

This photo was taken on the upper level of the previous version of the layout. I may well use it on the peninsula scene - the brick buildings would contrast nicely with the primarily wooden Berry mill complex. Besides, I have the kit so it seems a shame not use it. But the issues I've had "placing" L&G over the years shows a real problem with these craftsman structure kits. We can easily be lured in by how great they look on a diorama, but it can be a real challenge to incorporate them into the layout.

Perhaps the planning isn't quite done yet . . .

Waterbury Peninsula Campaign - the planning continues . . .

2011-06-29T17:37:00.001-04:00

A few days ago I described the basic approach I'm taking with the peninsula area. When I started laying out the path for the waterways, I quickly determined one of two options - both of which are shown in my rather rough sketch attached.
The first shows the river arranged as I've been planning - essentially the water "disappears" (somewhat gracefully, I hope) around a bend and between two low hills. One of those hills forms a "background" for the feedmill and freighthouse in Waterbury.

OPTION 1:

The area around the station/feedmill will remain a "freelance free zone" - in other words it will be prototype specific. Some of the rest of Waterbury will be freelanced as needed to best fit the space.
NOTE: The white building in the lower right is a Branchline creamery kit. The white line through the center represents a road. (hey, Rick Johnson I'm not . . .) Not sure the creamery will remain in that location.
Although this looked okay on paper, and in initial planning - looking at it now I'm thinking the river/feedmill/background hill is just a little too cramped. It just doesn't look natural. To look right a mill should have a intake and an upper pond, with a falls, and a lower pond. I have that here, but it looks too forced - and the lobe end of the peninsula would end up with a few town buildings, a street, and a bunch of trees . . . and believe me when you model New England the last thing you need is a reason to make even MORE trees . . .

OPTION 2:

This shows my current leanings - and it offers the advantage(?) of possibly adding a second mill (with another dam/falls) in the location currently occupied by the creamery building.
More importantly, even without a second mill complex, I think the water course looks a lot more natural. The hills (represented by the stacked foamboard) can be moved slightly to the right - which will free up the area behind the feedmill and freight house.
Disadvantage - I'll have to add another bridge to the mainline along a curve in the foreground. It doesn't have to be a particularly long bridge, but bridges, especially on curves, can be a real pain. One possibility is a large culvert (or even two culverts) is one possibility. The other may be to do what Paul Dolkos suggested and simply let the river "disappear" behind some trees.
Perhaps that bane of New England modelers - all those trees - are useful additions to our bag of tricks.

It's almost time to fire up the foamboard excavation tools . . .

Peninsula Campaign - Part 1 - Planning*

2011-06-27T18:06:00.000-04:00

I've been accused on not doing "enough planning" in the past. I'd say I do too much planning, but it tends to take a 3-d form like this.

I spent some time last evening creating and arranging mockups (of structures, and of some of the landforms) on the lobe end of the peninsula.

The peninsula in question is located at the entrance to the layout area of the basement. One side of the peninsula is devoted to the Waterbury, Vermont scene, the key elements of which are the station, the feedmill located directly across the tracks from the station, and the freight house (which is not mocked up in these photos). While there were small industries located trackside in Waterbury, I'm not planning on modeling all of them.

The question of how to handle the "other side" of the peninsula has been a particular sticking point. I've long had an interest in water-powered mills in New England - but modeling one of a narrow shelf is problematic since to accurately portray how they function there has to be an "lower pond" and an upper pond, separated by a dam. Also, some of these mills were massive rambling affairs - what I was looking for was a (preferably) wooden mill - definitely more of a scenic highlight that an major traffic generator for the ole' SNE.

I started with a BEST Trains kit (http://besttrains.com/products_1008.html) for the Berry Machine shop in Wolfeboro, NH. When I got that kit, Dave Emery mentioned to me he had plans for the rest of the mill complex. He kindly lent me the 3-ring binder filled with drawings for each of the mill buildings and detailed information on how the mill operated. Believe it or not, this place was in business into the 1970s - still making rail shipments until that time.

After spending some time sketching out the plan, I figured it was promising enough to move on to the next step - a three dimensional mockup of the entire peninsula. I don't do this for every scene I model, but with all the elements involved here I felt It was important to see how the water, the mill buildings, and, Waterbury station scene would all fit together. And, perhaps most importantly, see if I could maintain some visual break between the two sides of the peninsula.

The photos show how this has progressed to this point.

The first image shows the Waterbury station scene - note: the structures are obviously unfinished or "stand ins" at this point. In the second photo, there will be an industry (a canning plant) built "into the hill." You can see the end of the canning plant spur in the lower left corner of the picture:

The next photo shows the view looking back from the "mill side" peninsula - NOTE: the roof height on these mockups will actually be lower on the modeled scene since I have to "excavate" the river bed. The red mockup in the background is the Machine Shop - the penstock and boilerhouse (outlined on the paper) are also included in the BEST Trains kit. River will go between the large mill building on the right and the grain mill and woodshed (the two mocked up buildings on the left. River will then widen out to form the lower pond beyond the penstock, with the water flowing "into the hillside" to the right (behind the main mill structure).

Here's a view looking from Waterbury towards the end of the peninsula (NOTE: the looming 1" scale dollhouse is only there for me to finish wiring it . . . it doesn't reside there permanently!)

Initial assessment:
1. The elements will all "work" and seem to fit the space without looking overly crowded.
2. The hills may have to have an unrealistically steep angle behind the feedmill to help mask the end of the backdrop and still allow the depth for the mill. One possibility would be to shorten the main mill building slightly - the other would be to make the ridge one piece of foam taller. Also, the trees add about 3-4" of height to the ridges.
3. Even if some of the rooftops on Watebury are visible on the mill side - or vice versa - they will look like roofs poking through the trees - so this may not be a big problem.
3. Photoshop backdrops for the sky will be a necessity for overall "pretty pics" of this end of the layout. Close up, low angle shots will work much better in this section.

*The name of this thread is presented with all due deference to the Duke of Wellington, General McClellan, etc . . .

A bold fascia color choice?

2011-06-15T21:49:00.003-04:00

I haven’t posted on this blog lately simply because I’ve not done much on the layout. Oh, I’ve done plenty of thinking about the layout, but not much actual progress has been made. The reasons are many, including spring fever, a large amount of landscaping work that started in late March and is only now winding down, and simply a loss of inertia. A little bit of planning never hurt anyone. And daydreaming about that next layout is perfectly harmless, provided it doesn’t overshadow progress on the layout you’re actually trying to build.

But this bout of analysis paralysis has been the worst I’ve ever experienced. In short, I’d taken down all but the basic benchwork for a large, basement filling layout (that I’d built in near record time) and things haven’t fallen back into place as quickly as I thought they would. I have a number of structures and building mockups – I must have arranged, rearranged, and then re-rearranged them a bunch of times. Nothing seemed to look right, nothing was working right. In short, I was frustrated – burned out – and somewhat ticked off at myself and the layout.

So, as I’ve been busy at work at and puttering around the house for the last few months I’ve been doing a lot of second guessing what I’m planning to do in the basement. “Is this the “best” benchwork footprint?” “Should I model this town or that town?” I’ve even questioned era and prototype – after all, I’ve been doing some form of the Central Vermont steam era thing for well over a couple of decades. Perhaps it’s time to do something truly different?

I’ve decided the answer, at this time, for me, is “no.” I have the necessary collection of rolling stock and locomotives (too many of the latter, but that’s a story for another day) to come pretty close to accurately recreating the CV of the late steam era. I have a plan for most of the layout that I think will be interesting to build and operate. A huge question still remaining is what “Town 3” will represent. Perhaps some form of White River Junction? Perhaps a semi-freelanced industry such as a paper mill or limestone quarry. Or maybe another “typical” Northern division CV town – (If that’s the route I choose then the two most likely candidates at this point are Swanton or Randolph). Since I don’t really know what I’m going to do about the south end of the railroad, I’m going to loosely glue a few Atlas code 83 turnouts and lengths of flextrack in place as a temporary staging yard.

What I need to do is focus on those sections of the layout that are fairly firm in my mind – Waterbury and Essex Junction. After all, there’s no reason to let over thinking prevent me from making some headway on the rest of the railroad.

What does any of this have to do with installing fascia panels?

The Essex Junction trainshed mockup in place.

Plenty. You see, one of the best cures for analysis paralysis is to do something – anything – that resembles progress. In my case, I was sick of tripping over the strips of Masonite and other wood cluttering the basement. Rather than wait until I had a “perfect” track plan I decided my immediate goal was to get the benchwork completed. This in my case meant installing the fascia panels. Once that’s done, the benchwork will, at long last, be complete.

So, what comes after that? All the track is laid in Waterbury – and even wired and painted. But there’s still a lot of track in Essex Junction that needs to be installed. Refining the Essex Junction track arrangement is the next “big” project. I've got the mockup of the trainshed built and have been using it to determine the exact position of these key element in the scene.


For reference, the mockup is about 28" long in HO scale.

View from looking south towards the trainshed.

NOTE: Sky blue is not the final fascia color. Those are actually leftover pieces of Masonite from the lower-level backdrops on the formerly double-decked peninsula.

Trains Running – Service restored to Waterbury!

2011-04-07T17:06:00.000-04:00

A significant milestone in the development (or re-development) of the HO scale Central Vermont Winooski Subdivision took place last night when Central Vermont S-4 8015 ran under its own power through the newly-laid track in Waterbury, Vt. Power was a provided by an old MRC Tech II power pack connected to the buss wires with alligator clips. I learned a long time ago it’s better to perform the initial “smoke test” with a DC power pack than the 18 or so volts the DCC system cranks onto the rails.

A lot of work remains – but at least Waterbury has been declared “operational." The track gang will enjoy a well-deserved rest for the weekend before starting work on extending the mainline.

Upcoming appearances

2011-03-29T17:57:00.001-04:00

I have two appearances coming up where I discuss the Central Vermont Ry project - one "live" and one online.

A few weeks ago, Chris Abbott and Jim Lincoln of Model Rail Radio podcast (www.modelrailradio.com) interviewed me. Among other things, we discussed the changes I have been making to the layout and the plans for the railroad moving forward. I'm not sure when the link to that conversation will be posted, but keep an eye out for it.

About that "live" performance. The next clinic I'll be giving will be at the Potomac Division one-day "MiniCon" in Annandale, VA, just outside the Washington DC beltway, on Saturday, April 2. In addition to myself, you'll have a chance to hear a clinic from my good friends Andy Sperandeo, Paul Dolkos, and Bernie Kempinski. Andy is going to talk about his tips and techniques for building resin freight car kits. Paul will present an update on his new Baltimore Harbor District Railroad, and Bernie will be offering his clinic on modeling Civil War Railroads. Also, Norm Wolf will be premiering his clinic on going from a freelanced "beginners" layout to a prototype-inspired RF&P layout.

If you're in the area be sure to check it out. More information and details can be found on the Potomac Division web site - http://home.comcast.net/~Potomac_NMRA/

Hope to see some of you there!

Planning the Essex Junction Trainshed

2011-03-07T13:55:00.000-05:00

I managed to mess up my back during the weekend so I have not been able to work on the layout – I simply can’t stand for very long or hunch over anything. Luckily, today it feels better than it did yesterday and far better than on Saturday.

Since I can’t really work on finishing up the track work in Waterbury, and daytime television isn’t worth anything I decided to round up some photos of the Essex Junction trainshed. I have a lot of information on Essex Junction, but it’s scattered in numerous binders, books, and file folders. It was time to put it together in one “Essex Junction” reference binder. Included with this post are a few pictures of the shed.

When it was built (sometime just before the Civil War) the shed looked like three tunnel portals, side by side.

Over time as engines and cars got larger the shed portals were too small, so they were removed by the late 1880s and replaced by a wood gable ends that spanned all three tracks (when the B&L line was abandoned in the late 1930s, the third track – actually Track One – was removed leaving two tracks that ran through the shed. Here’s the way I’m going to model it (top photo is looking north, bottom photo is looking south):

This is going to be one of those signature projects on the layout – it has to be done “right” since it’s such a critical element of the scene.

You can see lots of details on Essex Junction in my article that appeared in Model Railroad Planning 1998. I also wrote another article on Essex Junction, this one including plans of the station and trainshed drawn by my good friend Laz Scangus, in the February 1993 Mainline Modeler.

I’ve built an N scale model of the trainshed before (it appears in the MRP 98 article). But for this HO scale model I want to take it a step further and include the ceiling truss work as well as some interior lighting. Mostly, I want to be able to recreate some of the photos shown here, taken inside the shed.

There is also the practical aspect of coupling and uncoupling cars inside the trainshed. Do I make the entire roof removable (for operating sessions we’d take the roof off) or add an opening in the roof – similar to what Jack Burgess did with his model of the Yosemite Valley’s El Portal station?

Perhaps what I need to do is leave one side wall removable, perhaps held in place with magnets. That way, if I want to shoot a picture from inside the shed I can take that sidewall off and get the camera lens “inside” the building.

I plan to build the shed almost exclusively from styrene. Once I figure out how the roof trusses were constructed I’ll draw them up and we’ll see if they can be cut on Bernie Kempinski’s laser.

Lay of the Lost Traveler

2011-03-05T10:57:00.002-05:00

Essex Junction is the location where a short branch to Burlington connects to the Central Vermont’s mainline. Until the late 1930s, that branch didn’t end at the CV main, it actually crossed itt as the Burlington & Lamoille branch of the CV (named after the original B&L RR).

As one of the key scenes on my layout I've done a lot of research on Essex Junction over the years. One of the most interesting things to ever turn up is the following poem. (I'm not particularly into poetry . . . oh heck, I can't really stand it and never read it after I finished school and didn't have to . . .) But the following shows just how classy this blog is - not only poetry but 19th century poetry no less . . .

A number of railroad towns have been immortalized in poetry and song over the years, and Essex Junction is no exception. The poem, “Lay of the Lost Traveler” is said to have been inspired when the author, the Honorable Edward J. Phelps, left Burlington on the so-called “shuttle train” for Boston via Essex Junction. He stepped off this train in Essex and waited for the arrival of the mainline train. The usual shifting of trains took place and Mr. Pehlps, without inquiring, got on board the train he anticipates will take him to Boston. In fact, he had boarded the “shuttle” train which departed and took Mr. Phelps back to Burlington, his starting point. There, on his arrival, he penned the following:

The Lay of the Lost Traveler

With saddened eye and battered hat

And eye that told of black despair,

On wooden bench the traveler sat,

Cursing the fate that brought him there.

“Nine hours,” he cried, “we’ve lingered here

With thought intent on distant homes,

Waiting for that delusive train

That, always coming, never comes,

Till weary, worn

Distressed, forlorn

And paralyzed in every function!

I hope in hell

His soul my dwell

Who first invented Essex Junction!

“Here Boston waits for Ogdensburg

And Ogdensburg for Montreal,

And late New York tarrieth

And Saratoga hindereth all!

From far Atlantic’ wave-swept bays

To Mississippi’s turbid tide

All accidents, mishaps, delays,

Are gathered here and multiplied!

Oh, fellow man avoid this spot

As you would plague or Peter Funk shun!

And I hope in hell

His soul may dwell

Who first invented Essex Junction!

“And long and late conductors tell

Of trains delayed or late or slow,

Till the e’en the very engine’s bell

Takes up the cry, 'No go! No go!'

Oh! Let me from this hole depart,

By any route so’t be a lone one,”

He cried, with madness in his heart,

And jumped aboard a train – the wrong one.

And as he vanished in the smoke

He shouted with redoubled unction,

“I hope in hell

His soul may dwell

Who first invented Essex Junction!”

Waterbury - Early test fit

2011-02-19T22:12:00.001-05:00

One of my main goals in building this layout is to recreate some of the wonderful prototype photographs taken of the CV during the late steam era. Perhaps one of the best known photographers of the era was Philip Hastings. In fact, it was one picture of the Ambassador slowing for a stop in Waterbury that appeared in Bob Jone's book, Central Vermont Railway, A Yankee Tradition Vol. 5, that made me decide to shift my era back to the steam era.

If the scene looks at all familiar, the header image for this blog is a Bob Carey photograph also taken in Waterbury.

I've built - actually the better term is I've started to build - bits and pieces of the elements needed to recreate that photo over the years. And, although I still have a ways to go, the rudimentary mockup here shows that I will, at long last, be able to recreate that scene.

I built the feedmill from styrene, and the station is a product of my good friend Bernie Kempinski's laser engraver. I have a ways to go to get all the necessary elements in place, but I was so excited about the prospect of what is to come that I wanted to share it.

At this point I haven't decided if I will work on this scene, Essex Junction, or "the bridge" first - it will most likely be the latter since, well, it's the closest to being done, but I can't wait to finally get the Waterbury station scene built.

Test-fitting Essex Junction's trainshed

2011-02-19T21:52:00.000-05:00

Progress has been a little slower than I'd hoped, but things are starting to pick up!

I'm happy to report that this evening, after spending a pleasant day with a bunch of C&O modelers, I came home and got a coat of sky blue paint on the new peninsula backdrops. It's a simple task, but not a particularly enjoyable one - likely the reason I'd been putting it off. But at least it's done. It's amazing how much it brightens up the room.

I also dug out my drawings of the Essex Junction trainshed and used them to make this somewhat rudimentary mockup of the shed and station. I know it may be a while before I get around to building the real model, so this will help with planning the scene. Also, I wanted to confirm the dimensions of the actual model just to be sure the trains can actually run through the shed without hitting the roof joists.

The mockup is made from matte board. I have some black matte board that I'll use to add a roof. Seeing the building "full size" in mockup form convinces me I need a good plan for getting inside the the finished model for access, track cleaning and maintenance.

A removable roof - or at least some portion of the roof being removable, seems to be the answer. I need to think through that one.

I also started toying with building arrangements in Waterbury - but I'll keep that in a separate post.

A little housekeeping

2011-02-04T21:33:00.000-05:00

I've made some changes to the appearance of the blog. I've also been making some progress on the layout. I will post an update this weekend.

From deconstruction to Construction

2011-01-09T18:21:00.000-05:00

I've managed to round a corner of sorts. By the end of last week I'd finished all the "tear out" work and actually started to put things back together. Although I originally planned tosave a lot of existing trackwork, in the end it made more sense to simply scrape the track up and put it aside to reuse later.

Here are a few views showing how things looked in the layout room before Thanksg

iving, and how they look today.

The peninsula lobe has been removed, and the peninsula benchwork now connects to the around the wall benchwork.

This had been the location of the Williams Creek bridge crossing scene - located on

the upper deck. The bridge, piers, and abutments will be reused, but the scene itself didn't make it:

As of today, here's what the view down the aisle is - the upper deck is gone, and the lower level track will be raised about 5" (when I install the new subroadbed):

The helix, at the "front door" to the layout area is gone, replaced by the framework for a new, wider peninsula (with aisles on both sides).

The benchwork that looks like it's "floating in air along the far wall is the former upper level staging yard. It's still there since frankly, it keeps it out of the way. The plan is to remove it, spin it 180-degrees, and reuse it as the new south end staging yard. It will end up along the same wall it is now, only about 20" lower and slightly to the right of its current position.

Once the staging yard is moved, I'm going to install new backdrops down the center peninsula.

Original SNE track plan

2011-01-02T16:15:00.000-05:00

Several folks have emailed me asking to see the original track plan for my prototype-freelanced Southern New England. This was the fourth SNE layout I've started - and, as the title of this blog indicates, the new layout will be much more focused on scenery and operations from the Central Vermont's northern division, meaning the SNE will be going into retirement. (There will still be some SNE locomotives and cars, although long-term plans call for replacing thesewith prototype models).

I never drew a complete track plan for the original layout, and frankly don't want to spend time doing one now. But the following will show how the layout fit the space. Please note that the around-the-walls area, including Thames Street and Montville were "single deck" - the

peninsula was actually a double-deck section.

I got as far as getting all the benchwork, most of the track (a few sidings remained to be added) and even some initial scenery in place before work came to a screeching halt summer. I knew something was bugging me about the layout, but could never figure out what it was. For pictures of the layout, click on the "Stations" link on my SNE web site:

http://web.me.com/mjmcguirk/Southern_New_England_Railway/SNE_Home.html

At this point I'm busy rearranging the benchwork. I initially thought some of the track could be kept in place, but that was rapidly becoming an issue - so I ended up scrapping the entire layout down to the rough benchwork.

Once the layout room is presentable enough for pictures, I'll post some photos of the new, hopefully improved layout!

Track plan

2010-12-23T07:28:00.000-05:00

After some real frustration with my under construction Southern New England Railway layout, I decided to make some significant changes to not only the theme of the layout and the layout itself. For a little more detail on some of those changes see my Southern New England Railway blog post, here.

Currently, the basement looks like a bomb hit it - demo and/or reconstruction of model railroads is never pretty to look at, but I'm hopeful that like a Phoenix the new railroad will arise from the ashes "new and improved."

Seems appropriate to kick off this new blog with a look at the design for the revised layout. The footprint is similar in some ways to the existing layout, although there's no helix, and the peninsula connects to the around the wall portion of the layout at the opposite end of the room, relative to the former arrangement.

Here's a track plan showing the planned new layout arrangement. Note: This plan doesn't show all the details of every structure, siding, etc . . . and, I've deliberately left some "Towns" undetermined since I need to do some more research to narrow down the field.

First posting

2010-12-17T19:04:00.001-05:00

Initial test posting to my new blog covering my HO scale layout inspired by the Central Vermont Railway