The GAP

The baseboard that we used to start the our project was a curve test module. After it was built and used to test various radius curves , it was stored above our model train area. Unfortunately, I managed to damage the foam at the end of the module getting it back down. This was because I did not build the module with a protective piece at that end like the other end. Let’s call it lesson learned. At first I did not think it would be much of an issue until I placed the end piece of our module 2 next to the “Slow Trains Down South” module.

A look down the end of module one. The 3/4 inch plywood should have been carried to the top of the foam

The next module’s endplate and the gap in the connection

The GAP, a closeup

As you can see in the pictures, the junction looked terrible and a fix was very much in the need. So to correct this problem, I took a scrap piece of Luan plywood and cut it to fit the end. Of course, the road bed needed to be fixed, and then more ties relaid. Finally, we are ready to distress the ties and Maggie can paint them.

Maggie is NINE

Well, it is a big day ending a tough week. Maggie is 9 today. So Happy birthday to our “Slow Train Down South” painter and many more. In case you did not read about it, Maggie came up with the idea to not stain the ties for “STDS” but to paint them with acrylics. I added to her success by applying chalks to represent the dark stain between the rails commonly seen as well some hints of green here and there among the ties.

Maggie at the 2013 Brownie Dance

The “Lifetime” Layout vs the “Sustainable layout”

Have you read the term “lifetime” layout in some of the model railroad magazines. I have seen this quite often. The idea of a lifetime layout came to my mind recently. It has been several weeks since I have had a chance to work on “Slow Train Down South”. Why you ask. Well other things going on in life such as children’s baseball and softball games, cub scout and brownie events, etc. I am certain that I am not the only person who has limited modeling time at times. So how does this tie in with a “lifetime layout”? Well, yes I know, at this rate it could take a lifetime to build “Slow Train Down South”. But no, this is not what I mean by a lifetime layout. My understanding of a lifetime layout is the one that is the “capstone” of model railroads in one’s life. The one that someone has always wanted, but never had the time, resources, or space to build. “Slow Train” is a learning experience layout, more like a sustainable model railroad than a lifetime model railroad.

The crew of “Slow Train Down South” showing off their work

Sustainable, a word one thinks of more along the lines of  agriculture, is really the type of model railroad we are building. A quick Goggle search leads one to the fact that Sustainable is an adjective and means, among several definitions,  “Able to be maintained at a certain rate or level.” I would like to propose the sustainable model railroad. A sustainable layout is a project that can experience some downtime and some time of progress. It can be more than a physical model railroad, it is the armchair part of learning about a prototype or developing a freelance railroad. It is doing field work and collecting information about a location, a freight car, locomotive etc. It is about developing friendships. It is about learning new skills and improving “old ones.” It is about operating a model in the fashion that you the operator chose. It is a layout that sustains your involvement in a hobby.

Ours is not an O scale monster completely filling a 30 ft by 60 ft area, the “lifetime layout”. Instead, our current model railroad is a multi-module plus staging yard railroad. It can serve as a teaching tool for a third grader to learn how to measure her fractions. It can be used as an art project to learn how to use chalks and acrylic paints. It can be used by a first grader to make railroad ties like the ones he sees on walks along the old railroads. It can be used by me to practice new methods for tracklaying, scenery, and prototype operations for a fictional narrow gauge railroad. It can sustain our interests for years.

Graham along the “York”, a 4-4-0 that belongs to “Steam into History” in New Freedom, PA

A fond farewell to my walking companion

Said goodbye to our Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Chessie, today. She was my longtime right-of-way walker and traveled many miles on the Northern Central Railway hike and bike trail near our home. Of course most of the miles were the same ones over and over again, but we always discovered something new with the changing seasons. She loved swimming in Beetree Run and Little Falls of the Gunpowder and it gave me an excuse to explore the multiple bridges in our area.

Chessie Mathews

One of Chessie’s last trips this winter was a mild Sunday and we explored the bridge above the Beetree Road crossing. Her company will certainly be missed but never forgotten.

C&TS #463 in steam again

Was pleasantly surprised with a note the other day that Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad returned their K-27 #463 to service. There is going to be a special run on May 20th. Wish I could attend. If you can, and have never ridden behind a K-27, here is a link to the news and information about the special.

Maine On2

A new WordPress blog has been started, the Maine On2 FAQ. If you are interested in Maine 2 footers and On2, I highly recommend that you check out the blog!

Rail for Slow Trains Down South

Lets talk rail size. What rail weight would a 30 inch gauge railroad use on their mainline, passing sidings, spurs etc? A valid question, especially since we are building a finescale model railroad. We want the “track” to be another important part of the whole model.

With that “given”, our next project has centered on rail. The kids quickly lost interest in this discussion, probably because the had no real world comparator. So what does one to look at when trying to figure out what size rail to use? The answer: rail height. My next quest was to then find a photograph of a 30 inch gauge railroad and somehow figure out the rail height. Thirty inch gauge is not a popular prototype in the United States. I could just base my rail height off of  3 foot gauge prototype, but I wondered if 30 inch gauge would use a lighter rail than even most of the 3 foot railroads in the United States.

So my journey started by looking through photographs of 30 inch lines in Brazil. One of my favorite 30 inch gauge railroads is the Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas (EFOM). Over the years I have managed to obtain quite a few photos from friends and also off the internet, so off to the photo library. I have a fair amount of photos of EFOM’s #21 and #22 (old number 47 and 48). These engines are very similar to Bachmann’s On30 outside frame 4-4-0. So my next step was to find some useful dimensions from these engines to gauge the height of the rail. The book “West of Minas Narrow Gauge” by Dr Paul E Waters has an abundant amount of information in its appendices. After a short search, I discovered that #’s21 and 22 lead  wheel are 501mm in diameter, about 20 inches (19 23/32 to be exact). As luck would have it, I had a photo of number 22 on the turntable. my best estimate is that the rail is about 3 1/2 inches tall. consulting the NMRA rail standards page, I determined that the rail is 40 pounds per yard or close to code 70.

Have a look and see what you think.

EFOM 22
Photographer Unknown

Getting started: Painting the ties

A close up of the ties with a little bit of ballast in to see the end results

The ties are glued down and distressed. Next step was to paint the ties. Yes, I said paint. Maggie and I used a variety of acrylic paints to paint the ties. We had watched Troels Kirk’s “Realistic Color for Railroad Modeling” DVD recently and instead of staining the ties, we thought we would give painting a try to see if we could get our end result with painting alone.  Maggie wanted to show me some of the “tricks” she had learned in her summer art class last summer, so she dabbed a few of the ties after I had thoroughly botched several. However, we got the knack of doing it after working with our paints, best mixed colors etc. Each tie was painted a little differently. Now granted, a lot of work on a large layout, but we are building one module at a time. Our biggest concern is to, as Maggie said, make sure the next section looks like this one!

View of the Forest end of the module. Road crossing in the middle.

After the paint dried, we went back over the ties with both brown and black chalks. I blended the chalks in using 200 grit sandpaper. We decided to use the chalks to blend all of the ties and tone down some of the brighter green we had lightly dabbed on the ties to represent moss etc. Maggie and I decided that this was real cool process compared to the stain a batch of ties process and the results were very realistic. See for yourself.

A view of the module from above

A view across the ties with the “raw” rail in place.

Slow Trains Down South: The road crossing or “The First Section”

The kids and I started our new finescale model railroad project last week. Maggie and Graham have been asking me if the could help build a “train layout” so they could “run trains” with me. I thought this would be a great way to (1) get me back into an active model railroad hobbyist instead of a collector and armchair doodler and (2) teach both the kids and myself various skills. Please join the three of us as we build “Slow Train Down South”, our adventure into a southern United States 30 inch narrow gauge railroad. We chose On30 because for my peace of mind we do not have to worry about dropping a brass or diecast locomotive on the floor. Plus, they have seen several On30 modular layouts and have really enjoyed watching them. The kids are going to help do various items as we build the module, even helping to write a post or two. This will help them with school work and even accomplish a few Cub Scout and Brownie requirements.

Several months ago, I built a curved module from some smaller scraps to see how the methods and designs that others had done such as the Sn2 Crew would work for me. Instead of building a new curved module, we decided to use this one and fix some of its problems to show other what to do when you make a mistake. More about the things that need to be fixed on in future posts as we build our staging modules and Module Two, “The Bridge”.

Before we started, I ordered several curve templates for various imagineering projects from Ondrew Hartigan of Modelrailroadbenchwork.com. Ondrew was great to work with, and he had my three large radii templates cut and delivered in no time flat. If you are interested in building a modular layout, but do not know much about benchwork or have the tools to construct your own, contact Ondrew!

For “the first section” as the kids and I have called it, we chose a 48 inch curve. The module had been designed to accommodate a much tighter 32 to 36 inch radius curve, but we all thought that the broader curve looked “cool” to quote the tie gang!

We drew our center line and then glued down HO cork roadbed and let the whole thing dry for a day. Next, we glue down stock Mt Albert Scale Lumber Co. On3 6 foot long ties using a Fast Track On3 jigs  purchased from a member of the On3 Yahoo group. We measured the center line from one side of the jig and drew the center line across both of the jigs that had been purchased. Yes, know it would be easier using a On30 jig, but the On3 jig is doing double duty. We are going to reuse it on another project. We then placed the ties in the jig and drew a center line onto the ties. We applied  moderately diluted carpenter glue mix to the cork and laid out our ties. Once again we waited for another day for everything to dry.

My helpers took the day off as I sanded down the ties to be reasonably level throughout the curve. I then proceeded to drag my finetooth hobby sawblade across the ties to give them the appearance of aged ties  that had been exposed to years of weather. I also used my X-acto knife to further distress the ties to give some the look of having been in service for decades. For more information on the process, look at Mike Cougill’s book “Detailing track” from OST publications. Highly recommend the book for beginners and more experienced modelers interested in improving their trackwork. Mike also has some great posts on trackwork in his blog.

An Imagineering Project: “Slow Train down South”

Several people have sent me comments asking do I or did I ever build a model railroad, do I ever do anything except change my mind, and what the heck is model railroad imagineering. All good questions and each deserving of an answer. Yes, I did build model railroads in HO, HOn3, and HOn30. I have also built a module in On2 in the past as well. Do I change my mind, yes a lot. Too many interests and not enough commitment to settling on one idea. What is model railroad imagineering. A good question, and no it is not me imagining I have a working model railroad.

For me, model railroad imagineering is imagining and building a functional model railroad. My interests are primarily narrow gauge in just about any setting. My favorite type of prototypical train is the mixed train, and my favorite operations are very slow paced laid back switching. That said, I have decided to build one of my imagineered railroads from some time ago a southern narrow gauge railway. Mixed trains are my favorite train to run. Recently, had the chance to finally obtain a copy of mixed train daily. Lots of interesting mixed trains from around the United States. Most of the photographs are standard gauge trains, but it still gives me a lot of material and ideas to consider.

The “imagining” part of “Slow Trains” centers around the great narrow gauge debate of “What if”. What if narrow gauge had remained viable and became popular to use for non trunk lines. Now combine that with the multiple shortlines in the southern US during the steam era. Several little towns, forgotten by the standard gauge trunk lines, connected by a narrow gauge  railroad. Now throw in a painting by Don Coker, “Slow Train Down South”, the book “Mixed Trains Daily”, several Library of Congress photographs, and the ET&WNC ten wheelers among the list of inspirations for my version of “Slow Train.” I want to build a model railroad that captures the feel of a small town, perhaps the county seat with several important local businesses, a warehouse or two and several busy team tracks. A muddy river with some young boys out fishing by a pile trestle, a dirt road crossing in the pine trees.

Slow Train Down South by Don Coker
http://www.doncokerart.com/blog/?p=328

For this project, there were several “engineering” items that I wanted to accomplish, primarily building an modular O finescale narrow gauge railroad in an uncommon USA gauge of 30 inches. Why On30, it has become popular and one goal is to show others it is possible to build a nice O scale layout in a small place. Taking a model railroad to a train show is not a common thing to do, but this was a big “given”. That said, learning to build a durable modular railroad was going to be a must.

For my modeling skills, I wanted to challenge myself to design and build a very prototypical trackplan. This is a railroad on a serious income diet and maintaining anything is hard to do year to year, maintaining a lot of extra track and real estate is not feasible. Also, the use of large switch sizes, number 7 or 8 built to P48 standards is another given. To have the track work be a centerpiece instead of a support player is a must as well. For motive power and revenue equipment, initially want to use available ready to run/operate equipment, then include several kits, then several scratch-built cars. I want to operate the railroad very prototypical, so I will have to hook up air hoses, as well as unlock and re-lock switches after I throw them.

Lets travel back in time to the years immediately after World War I and ride on our shortline narrow gauge railroad. We will start in Jefferson, a small but busy agricultural town somewhere down south. Two team tracks and several small businesses provide the railroad with plenty of daily work, at least for one train daily except Sundays. Let’s take a ride back in time and ride the down train as the fireman today!

We arrive at the engine house on the outskirts of town at 6am one hot  summer morning to get our steam engine ready for the day’s mixed train down to the “junction” to meet with the standard gauge. One set of doors to the two stall roundhouse is already open so we walk over and go into the engine house. The engine house smells of coal smoke and lubricating oil, the pumps on the engine are working and our faithful ten-wheeler is hissing and steam is in the air. We swing up into the cab of our ten wheeler, throw a few shovel loads of coal into the firebox and dress the fire to build up steam so we can move. The overnight watchman has kept a nicely dressed fire so it should not take too long this morning. The engineer is oiling around the engine in preparation for the day’s work. Once the engine’s steam is up we release the brakes and back the ten wheeler slowly onto the turntable. With the overnight watchman’s help we get the manual turntable moving and spin the engine around. Slowly, the engineer gets the engine off the table and stops above the ashpit so we can dump ashes and clean the ash pan. We move forward to the sand house to fill the sand dome. Can never have enough sand with the weeds along the right of way. Then we chuff a few more yards to water and coal. After another 10 minutes the engine is finally ready to pick up the morning “down” train. We pull out of the engine house lead and throw the switch to back into the “yard” to pick up our train. The yard at Jefferson is minimal at best with the “RIP track, yard track, and the varnish track.

There are no freight cars on the yard track this morning so we couple to the old baggage car used to haul milk cans and the trusty combine from the “varnish” track. We build up air pressure and do an air test. The conductor and rear brakeman have swept the dust from the combine and checked to make sure the milk can brackets are ready in the baggage car. At around 7am the conductor gives us the all clear to go “downtown” to the station to load passengers, mail, and what few express packages are in the station for our 7:30am departure.

At 7:28 our conductor yells “all aboard” and at 7:30 blows the whistle on the rear platform of the combine giving us the all clear to depart. The engineer release the brakes and we start on our 22 mile journey to the “junction”. As we leave town we cross an old timber pile trestle and wave to two kids fishing along the creek this morning. We cross a dirt road and disappear into pine trees on the way to our first stop. Took us a whole 90 minutes to get to this point. “Slow Trains” has come to an end as we roll into the staging section. The goal of creating a slow pace in a small space with a narrow gauge is complete.

Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsac.1a34360/

Slow Train down South is a link to a slower time when trains were more a part of communities than they are now. Wagons drawn by mules still can be found on the streets and the right of way is sometimes lost in the weeds. The railroad does it best to bring the outside world to Jefferson and the other small towns along the way.