Working on the Team Track/Transload Area

Today I pulled a project out hat I had been working on for quite some time. About a year ago I built a transload shed as I saw on an Atlas forum. First building I tried turned out terrible after i painted it. I tried again with some more Pikestuff kits I had. Turned out OK. I painted it and then weathered. The weathering was awful and the building looked out of place. So back to the drawing board.

After some more reading, and careful measuring and cutting and sanding, I came up with what is pictured below. The main body, door and garage doors are Pikestuff. The concrete base was made of strips from the Pikestuff kits. I painted them with a textured paint from Lowes. I then followed up with a primer gray to capture the cement/concrete look.

I still need to do some touch up painting around the base and add some detail parts.

Stairs are cast metal from a DPM kit and the railings are from a Walthers kit. I started to add the downspouts.

I will be adding another downspout for the other side and i will put a light fixture above the door. I plan on adding some decals and a light weathering job. I also have the industry name to put on the building as well.

Have a great rest of the weekend and happy modeling!

Patched Out Power

Well it's been some time. Hoping to get back on track as work sometimes takes the front seat, as well as family. I was lucky enough to get some work done on some motive power. I scored a GP39-2 off eBay. It was an Atlas Trainman unit that had been weathered,and had Lok Sound decoder installed.

First thing I did was clean off the weathering. It wasn't very prototypical. I also removed the horn from the front and filled in the hole with some styrene rod.I touched up the area with some reefer orange paint. I then removed the factory BNSF lettering from the long hood. I then masked and airbrushed the reefer orange onto that area to finish the patch out. 

Next I added some BLMA RV AC units to the roof and relocated the horn. I had some of th BNSF Heritage Green, however it was not cooperating. I ended up painting a brass horn I had BN Cascade green to show the horn was replaced. I also added a small piece of metal rod between the AC units to represent an antenna as seen in the prototype photos. I also repainted the handrails yellow. Metal lift ringers were also added.

 I wasn't happy with the yellow handrails, so i reverted them back to white. I also touched up all the grab irons with white as well. I also removed the factory numbering on the unit. I kept the 2703 because of the number boards. I added some Gothic Numbers form a Microscale Industries sheet, and added the Washington Northern logos to the nose and below the numbers.

I'm currently in the process of updating all the warning and caution labels, and I will be adding some safety striping to the sill later. I also added some Details West MU receptacles with cable, Atlas Air Hoses and a Details West Plow to replace the Atlas one..

Below we have WN 2703 switching out the foods plant. 

Track Down...Feeders installed

Last week I was hit with being sick and had some remnants of that this weekend. Today I was feeling much better and decided to hit the train room. First up was some cleaning and organizing with a deep clean of the area rug that is in the room. After that I decided to organize some containers with my rolling stock. You never realize how much rolling stock you have until you go through it.

I then decided to break down and do my least favorite, but most important, part of model railroading. The wiring. I guess because my soldering iron skills aren't the best is why I shy away from it. But you only get better with practice. I practiced on a couple pieces of track a few years ago and the results weren't bad but nothing like the guys that have been doing this for years. So I decided to solder directly to the rail as opposed to soldering to the rail joiners. I saw in some places that this was frowned upon because you do not have the best electrical connectivity as you would going direct to the rail. Plus this method was mentioned in the book How to Build a Shelf Layout (http://www.amazon.com/Build-Switching-Layout-Lance-Mindheim/dp/1453811346/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1450061846&sr=8-3&keywords=lance+mindheim.)

Got a little too close with the soldering iron and melted some of the foam. 

I will fill it in with foam putty.

I also worked on another industry for the layout. Not sure what it will be. This is a City Classics kit. Its a pretty easy build and one of my favorites. I painted it using rattle can paints from Rustoelum and Valspar. The concrete color is tan camouflage paint and the brick is the brown primer. The door are a light olive type color from Valspar. I tested out the car entrance and I need to lift the building a bit to achieve rolling stock making entry.

Stay tuned. Hoping to have the wiring completed this week!

Moving Along!

Hey Gang! Sorry for not updating as usual. I got hit with sickness truck and was unable to get anything done. I am feeling better so it's back to the train room.

I clear coated the warehouse building of the paper company. I need to just install a roof section and paint it, clear coat the building and that will be ready for some details decals and some weathering. I also added a second story to the food processing/bakery plant. I also reconfigured the silos to go along with the track plan i had in a previous post. I mounted the background building to a piece of 1/2" thick foam board, then I glued some plastruct metal siding to the top to match the original structure . I still need to add some more details and weather the top. I am also working on an unloading area for grain and tank cars. Still in the planning stages with this not exactly sure what I want to do.

(I was taking the picture at a weird angle)

I also go to gluing down my track. I am now about 85% done. After that hoping to start installing feeder wires and have some trains running soon. The sickness put me back a few days.

A view from the paper plant side of the layout.

Weathering some Motive Power

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving Holiday. Mine was full of traveling to family and enjoying GREAT food!

Over the holiday I took some time to work on some of my GP35s. With the painting done and just some minor parts being installed, I figured I would begin weathering. I first started with doing a wash of 70% rubbing alcohol mixed with some black India Ink. Results were OK, but noticed some paint beginning to wash away. Then I realized that the clear coat I used was acrylic. So I fixed what I could and blended in the paint. Crisis averted! SO i decided to try out my Valljo black wash. Results were, but after it dried, I realized I went a little too heavy and it was really bad. SO I decided to take sum rubbing alcohol and try and fix what I did. It actually worked and with some patience and some fine tuning, I was able to salvage. So my wheels were turning and decided I would try and make a wash using oils and some Turpinoid. Well let me tell you, results were AWESOME. After everything dried I realized it was heavy in spots. SO i got out the turpinoid and worked on thinning out the heavy spots and blending. I was happy with the results.

The top 3 photos were pre-touch-up work.

A little more touching up.

Posed by the paper plant

Little dark.

This one turned out the best.

As for the photos, you can see in the last set that the track is starting to get put down. I am about 60%-70% done with putting track in place. Next up will be to glue it down in place. After the track is glued, I will be putting in the feeder wires and get all the wiring hooked up. Hopefully I will have some trains running by next week!

I also took some time to work on the paper plant and extended the walls a bit to match the other background building I installed. Once all that is in place, I will begin detailing.

I also scored an Atlas Gold Series MP15DC w/sound off eBay. It was a undecorated unit. I plan on working on putting it together and preparing it for paint. I noticed some of the extra spots for the number board and marker lights. I am going to tape those areas off to prevent any paint from getting on them. My plans for the marker lights are to paint them with some clear red paint. I was always a fan of marker lights and I wanted to keep some nostalgic symbols on the locomotive. I also have some Kato SD 40-2s that will need to be prepped for painting as well. I also have an old GP unit that will be getting a makeover. It was from my old freelanced layout. I plan on repainting and redoing that loco as well.

Lastly I also won a Atlas Master Series GP 38-2 on eBay as well. This too is an undecorated unit and will be painted up as well. LOTS OF WORK AHEAD!

Atlas Gold Series MP15DC

Sunday Funday

Today I took some time to work on some of the structures for the layout.

First up was the bakery/food processing plant. I put on the painted sections for the warehouse portion and glued them in place. I need to prime and paint the masonry that goes at the bottom.

 I then installed the base for the silos and the building next to them. Once the glue dries, I will install the tops of the silos and then add the detail parts (rails, ladders etc.)

Some other plans I have for the plant and some unloading rack/area for the vegetable oil, corn syrup and liquid sugar. And a place for grain and flour unloading. This will be a nice build and I will be kitbashing and scratch building some of the structures. Can't wait to detail and weather them. I need to purchase some industrial tanks and the food processing plant should be good to go.

Stay tuned!

Motive Power Project

Well its been a few weeks. I actually finished this project about a week or so ago but with planning for a wedding I haven't had much modeling time.

I now have some time and wanted to post the progress of the newest addition to the WN.

Here is the cab and hood area all painted. This was pre clear coat.

 

Took the time to detail the cab a bit with the addition of a figure. I wanted to have a little more realism in my locomotives rather than a ghost cab. I added some of the decals and started applying the handrails. Figure is from MeDoMinatures

Here is another shot of the locomotive engineer.

 

 

 

I still need to paint some of the finer details and finish up with some of the other details like adding striping and some builder plates decals and other lettering.

New Power! New Project

I wanted to take a moment to to show a picture of a new project.

I purchased a used MP15 from Geno Sharp. Got a great deal on this Athearn Genesis MP 15 w/ DCC and sound. What the selling point for me was the working beacon on the roof (I'm a big fan of them!)

MP15 in the old Alabama Central Scheme. Unit was one of the SOO "Bandits"

First I had to strip the paint off. That was done with 91% rubbing alcohol. Here is the end result.

Tonight I plan on shooting it with a coat of primer, and hopefully have the BN Green on by tomorrow evening!

Stay tuned for more on this project and other upcoming things on the layout!

GP35s

I have been very busy with working on some rolling stock and some locomotives for the railroad. Thanks to Kevin for the guidance and words of encouragement.

Painting has been completed, and clear coat is applied. I used Tamiya clear coat thinned to a 30% paint to 70% thinner ratio. It went on great. I prefer it better than a rattle can. After clear coating, I began to apply the decals.

 

Decals were provided by Kevin, and the number boards were done with Microscale Decals numbers from a lettering/numbers set. I was thinking about using the EMD numbers set from Microscale, but that would not match the photos Kevin provided. Decals were applied via the Microscale Micro Set and Micro Sol process.

 

After applying decals, I painted the white on the handrails and clear coated the engines again to seal the decals prior to assembly. 620 still needs some truck details, and some other small details. 611 needs to have some touch up paint jobs for the details on the pilots and couplers. I also need to add some airlines and some other small details.

 

Both units will need to have DCC decoders installed. I am also looking at having ditch lights put in as well, but that will be down the road. I also want to weather these units as well. I am still on the fence about safety striping as per the era I am modeling is the late 90s. That may change though due to the lack of vehicles for that era.

 

 

 

I put the Geeps aside and started to work on some rolling stock. I picked up a few undecorated ACF covered hoppers on eBay a year or so ago. I took some time to paint them and worked on some decals. The numbers and letter are from a Microscale set and the WN logo is from the decals Kevin sent to me. I still need to add a few more details, weathering and data decals.

WELCOME

Welcome to my blog site dedicated to my model railroad. Over the past few years I have been trying to get a model railroad up and running but due to size limitations I have had to either move or relocate them.

Last winter I was able to finish repainting the finished portion of my basement and put new flooring in. With that, I had the idea to move my layout to that side of the basement. After a few configurations that would prove beneficial, I decided to install the layout on a 16 foot wall section of my basement. I thought about making a larger "L" shaped layout, but I wanted to have a  simple switching layout that would cut down on track installation, and focus more on modeling and running trains.

After having the basics installed, I then decided to begin researching what I wanted to era and scheme to model. I narrowed down my choice to the modern era. After some though, and some more research into which railroad to model, I decided to do a freelance/proto-free lance model railroad. I didn't want to focus on any Class 1 railroads because it seems like everyone does those, and I wanted to be different. I continued my search and decided on making a short-line railroad and base the scheme off of the Great Lakes Central Railroad. I picked up an undecorated Atlas GP40 and decided to repaint it. Well work got in the way, however it didn't stop me from doing more research. One night it clicked. I thought about a crazy idea and it was something I wasn't sure how it would be taken.

My idea was to model a branch line of a fellow model railroader's existing free lanced layout. I always admired this modeler, and his layout. The layout I am referencing is Kevin Klettke's Washington Northern Port Andrews Tide Flats District. (www.wnrr.net). I reached out to Kevin with the idea of modeling a branch line from his railroad. I received an email back from him saying that he would be honored and that no one has ever approached him before about do this.

Kevin provided me with information about different areas that would come off of the mainline of the Washington Northern. After giving some consideration, I narraowed it down to two locations Humptulips and Aberdeen. After doing some more research on the locations, coupled with the model kits I have, I settled on Aberdeen.

In the coming weeks I will be posting my progress on this layout as well as the progress on painting motive power, rolling stock and construction of the industries. I also plan on posting videos to YouTube as well.

Stay tuned!