Wordless Wednesday: First Railroad Hobby Show

Layout Update Mondays: Wiring

The underside of the MOW module section.

As I have mentioned before, I tend to build layouts a bit backwards.  Even though I have started the scenery work, I still haven't finished the wiring.  When I laid the track, I installed all the feeders I'd need, however, they haven't been connected.  Part of the reason is that I have been waiting for the control system to be constructed.  One of my friends, an electrical engineer, is in the process of building a really neat throttle system which is based upon Arduinos.  I hope to install it the first week of January.  In the meantime, I went ahead and installed wiring harnesses to connect all of the modules as well as install the two turnout motors.  Now, back to work on structures and scenery until the throttles arrive!

Wordless Wednesday: Ready for Paint

Layout Update Mondays: First Texture

Initial scenery on the MOW module.

A long time ago, I wore out a set of Dave Frary's how-to scenery videos - actual VHS videos - as he demonstrated his well known texture over texture scenery technique. (Visit Dave's website here.) Even though some of the materials have changed from those early videos, the techniques he presented are still applicable today.  This past week I've been able to finish the "first texture" layer of scenery on three of the five modules. With this base coat of ground cover added, the scenes are starting to come alive and would look presentable for a train show.  Most likely, I will only truly finish the scenery on one or two of the modules for the 2016 edition of the Railroad Hobby Show and the other three modules will simply reach this "first texture" level of scenery. 

With only five weeks (!) left until show time, I am starting to prioritize what portions of the layout I would like done for this year and what will have to wait until next year. While I hadn't planned on having everything complete for this year, in general, I like to bring a layout where there is at least a basic level of scenery completed.  With a few more days of work, I should be pretty close to having this base coat of scenery applied to all 44 square feet of layout.

Figure Fridays: Rail Crew

The O Scale Rail Crew for the Tribute to Springfield.

One of the focal points of the layout will (hopefully) be all of the figures which will help tell the story of the Railroad Hobby Show. 

The first set of figures I have finished for the layout is the rail crew. The figures started as the Bachmann O Scale Mechanics. In order to modernize the figure set, each figure was repainted to have a safety vest (the modern green version) as well as change some of the colors of the pants and shirts.  These simple revisions completely changed the look and feel of the original figure set.

Layout Update Mondays: Painting

Base painting completed on the modules.

I've always felt that one of the significant milestones of layout building is painting the base scenery color onto a layout.  This is the first chance to really begin to see how the final layout will look and it also means that the final scenery step has arrived.  While there will still be a lot of work on details and structures left to complete on the layout over the next year, adding scenery will make the layout look tied together while those other projects are on going.  Over the past week, I've been able to paint all of the road surfaces and landform areas in preparation of adding scenery.  Hopefully, the layout will start to look visually more complete over the next couple of weeks...

History Fridays: 1997 Railroad Hobby Show

Before the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum was wowing the crowds at the show with their full size narrow gauge dairy car, vendors in the Young Building got quite a show each year in the late 1990s and early 2000s. During this time period, one of the members of the Mohegan Pequot Model Railroad club was a commercial truck driver.  He worked for a moving company and had access to a tractor and 53' trailer.  Since it was the slow season for the moving company, they agreed to donate the use of the trailer to the club for about a week around the show.  The Wednesday before the show, the club would pack up its HO and G scale layouts inside the trailer.  Early Friday morning, the tractor trailer was the first entrant into the building as club members would race to unload so other exhibitors and vendors could enter and begin their setup.  After the show on Sunday, the tractor trailer would be the last vehicle into the building as many vendors needed to do move out before there was enough room to enter the Young Building.

This was certainly an unusual sight for those working in the Young Building and would bring everything to a stop as the big doors were opened and the rumble of the tractor-trailer filled the building. The first year the club was able to use the trailer was 1997 (which is shown in the video above).  For eight years, this was the routine.  While today the club simply has its members bring their own modules - typically in personal vehicles - this was a fun behind-the-scenes story for a number of years of the show.

Exhibitor Thursdays: Mohegan Pequot G Scale

Mohegan Pequot G Scale Layout at the 2011 Railroad Hobby Show.

Exhibitor Spotlight Name: Mohegan Pequot - G Scale Years at the Show: 20 Display Style: Modular Layout Type: Model Railroad Club Size: 38'x58' Present Location: Young Building Past Location: N/A Home Location: Ledyard, CT Website: MPRR Club Social Media:

The Mohegan Pequot Model Railroad Club's G scale layout features huge yards, drawbridges, coaling towers, and intermodal facilities. The railroad always has lots of running trains with its double track mainline delighting railroad enthusiasts of all ages.

Over the last 10 years or so, the club has been partnering the with the Central Connecticut G Gaugers to help bring a larger and more impressive layout to shows. This influx of members has kept the group active and attending events in New England as well as shows as far away as Pennsylvania.

At the Railroad Hobby Show, the group display's a 38'x58' layout inside the Young Building.  Traffic is always busy and the large size of the trains certainly draws a crowd. Over the years, the group has steadily added to the display with new animated scenes.  For example, the layout has included a working drawbridge, intermodal crane, and even a drive in movie theater.  There are some rumors that a working rotary dump module is in the works and might just make it to the show this year...you'll have to stop by the show to find out!

To learn more about the club, visit the website at: www.mprr.org

Wordless Wednesday: Paving

Layout Update Mondays: MOW Details

MOW area in progress.

Things have been moving on the layout over the last week.  With the Thanksgiving holiday, I was able to finish adding all of the foam landforms around the entire layout and begin the process of paving on the Young Building, Slide, and Mallery Complex modules.  The paving is not much to look at - just a lot of bright white spackle.  Each pass takes awhile to dry and it usually takes four or five before I'm happy.  This means there is not much to see until it is ready for paint.  In the meantime, I have been slowly working on painting and installing details to the M.O.W. area. The rocks and retaining wall were all painted and weathered along with the fuel unloading pad and fuel stand pad.  The jersey barriers, fuel stand, and safety bollards still need to be painted.  Overall, this scene is getting close and is now ready for ground cover.

Wordless Wednesday: Car Repair at the West Springfield Yard

Layout Update Mondays: Young Building

The Young Building under construction.

With a shortened holiday week, the only project I was able to start was construction on the Young Building.  As can be seen in the photo above, the core of the building is 1/2" birch plywood.  Eventually, I will add a veneer of brick along with the various details needed to complete the exterior of the building.  In the meantime, I needed the core of the building done so that I could build a tray which is attached to the module for the building to sit in.  This will allow the building to be taken off when the module is moved but also allow the building to fit nicely into the scenery when placed on the module.  Once this tray was completed, I glued it in place and then started to add foam around the rest of the module which will eventually be shaped to match the topography of the area.

Wordless Wednesday: Paving

Layout Update Mondays: More Landforms

Foam glued in place on the Slide and Mallary Complex Building modules.

With the trackwork installed, it was time to get back to completing all of the landforms on the remaining three sections of the layout.  (The Memorial Avenue and MOW sections had the landforms completed over the last couple of months.)  The process was fairly simple.  First, I added some wood strips for profile boards around the edge of each sections.  I prefer have something protect the foam on the sides of the module.  Layouts I have seen which simply use the foam as the edge of the module tend to show wear and tear a lot faster as the foam scratches and dents easily.

The next step was to glue foam insulation in place.  This was done with both carpenters glue and hot glue.  The hot glue acts as a temporary clamps so work on shaping the foam can happen quickly.  The carpenters glue takes a few days to dry but creates a strong bond.  I've tried hot glue on its own but found that over time (usually several years), the foam will delaminate - not ideal for a modular layout.

The final step was to shape the foam to the desired contours.  I used several tools like a back saw, key hole saw, and various surform tools to complete the job.

Shaping the foam with a surform tool.

The final contours on the module.

Wordless Wednesday: Paint

Layout Update Mondays: Trackwork Complete

An overview of the completed trackwork.

Well, progress has been a little slower than anticipated but a major milestone was reached over the weekend - all of the track has finally been installed.  It took a lot of time to add about 480 rail anchors to all of the sections of track but it sure looks nice.  As I installed the tracks, I added the electrical feeders but have yet to hook everything together.  The first train will have to wait a bit.

The siding on the Slide module.

While I was taking a few breaks working on the track, I was able to mock up the building, roadway, and landscape locations to make sure it all works as designed.  One part of the layout had been bothering me - the proposed paint shop building on the Memorial Avenue module.  The dirt access road from the MOW module was curving right into the back of the building and just didn't look right. I thought about eliminating the building all together and just installing a driveway but the resulting scene was too wide open.  So, I decided to freelance a bit and add a much smaller metal building.  I figure this could be the railroad headquarters building. Based on the mock up, it feels about right.

Now, back to the shop to finish the wiring!

Revised railroad headquarters building.

Wordless Wednesday: MOW Details

Layout Update Mondays: Paving Memorial Ave.

Adding drywall mesh to the road base.

Last week was a bit busy so I didn't manage to make too much progress.  The one project which I started was the paving of Memorial Avenue.  A few weeks back I had finished the landforms on the module and installed the curbing and catch basin for the road.  This week, I started with the paving process.  The first step was to add drywall mesh over the cork base.  This will reduce the potential for the roadway surface to crack in the future.  The next step was to glue in the various manhole covers and the final step was to add a base coat of Sculptamold to the road.  This took a couple of days to dry but provides a good base for the final road surface which I plan to create using drywall compound.  However, that process will have to wait until later this week...

Sculptamold applied to the road surface.

Another view of the Gate 9 entrance driveway.

Wordless Wednesday: Paving

Layout Update Mondays: Weathering Track

Track weathered and ready for service.

With track installed on two of the five modules, I decided to finish a small portion of the track on the MOW section to break up the tedium of installing rail anchors and distressing track.  Because of the larger scale, all of the details can be seen which makes the process of completing the trackwork a bit more labor intensive than working in smaller scales.  Below is the step by step of how the track will be completed on this layout.

Step 1: Distress track, detailed and ready for paint.

The first step, which was completed a couple of weeks ago, was to detail and distress the track.  In this case, I added rail anchors and then used a hobby knife and small razor saw to break up the square lines of the injected molded track.  Atlas had molded in some decent wood grain but since I was looking to build a beat up industrial siding, the ties needed to look a little worn down.  If I had been modeling a well-maintained Class I mainline, I probably wouldn't have taken this step.

Step Two: Paint Ties a light gray color as a base.

When looking at most side tracks, the older ties tend to turn a gray color. So the first step was to paint the ties a base gray color.  I mixed up random amounts of differing shades of gray and then painted the ties.  I tried to avoid a uniform color and have subtle changes in color along the siding.  In real life, ties don't weather at the same rate and are changed out at different times, leading to slightly different colors.

Step Three: Paint rails a rust color.

With the ties painted, the next step was to paint the rail, rail anchors, and tie plates a rust color.  While this takes a bit of time, neatness isn't hugely important. Often, the rust from the tie plates will weather the areas around it where it sits on the ties.  As the paint dried, I feathered the brown onto the ties near the tie plates to help blend all of the colors together.

Step Four: Paint some ties a black color to represent ties which have recently been replaced.

Speaking of replacing ties, one of the details I wanted to add was to make the siding look like it recently had some ties replaced.  In this case, I simply paint a few random ties a black color.

Step Five: After ballast has been glued down, dry brush black down the center of the rails to represent oil and grim left by the slow speed switching movements of the locomotive in this area.

After the paint dried for a day, I ballasted the track using Woodland Scenic medium gray ballast with a little bit of cinders mixed in.  After the ballast was allowed to dry for a day, the final step was to add an oil streak down the center of the ties.  While not as prevalent today with more environmentally friendly locomotives, it wasn't unusual to see a dark steak between the rails - especially in area where there was heavy, low speed switching - exactly what we have here.  I dry bushed black paint between the rail covering the ties and ballast to gain the final effect.  The finished trackwork can be seen at the beginning of the article.

Now, back to completing the trackwork on the rest of the modules so trains can be running soon!

Wordless Wednesday: Drawbridge

Layout Update Mondays: Connector Tracks

Overhead view of a connector track between the Memorial Ave. and MOW modules.

Over the last week I've spent a little bit of time finishing the trackwork on the Memorial Avenue and MOW layout sections. For the most part, the process was fairly straightforward but the interesting component of the trackwork in this area is in creating the connection between the modules. 

Most modular railroad clubs use connector tracks - short pieces of track which are made to be removable that connect to the permanently affixed track on the module sections. The connector track offers some flexibility as it is difficult to build really tight tolerances among various builders over time. Having a connector track means that the rails don't have to be lined up perfectly on the module sections as the connector track takes care of the minor deviations between the modules.

Unlike a modular layout, this layout has the advantage in that it will always be setup in the same orientation every time. This style of portable layout could lend itself to simply having the track line up flush at the end of each layout section. While I've seen sectional layout builders pull this off, I'm kind of skeptical about how well this works in varying temperature and humidity environments.  Plus, between the Memorial Ave. and MOW sections (pictured above), the connector track also crosses the Slide section.  This would be complicated to build and align correctly if permenenatly mounted. Instead, the trackwork was designed for a connector track to simply bridge the three modules.

Close up of the styrene under the connector track and those wonderful rail anchors.

To make the connector track, I lined up a half section of Atlas O 36" Radius sectional track over the joint between the three modules.  This was temporarily tacked in place while the abutting track was installed.  Styrene - .010" thick - was used as a shim under the connector track and the permanent track closest to the connector track.  This keeps everything the same height and running smoothly.  The styrene was glued to the bottom of the connector track and trimmed flush with the ties.  This whole section will be ballasted later so that when it is installed, the joint between the module sections won't be too noticeable.  At this point, I also labeled both the connector track as well as the roadbed so I knew which connector track went where on the layout.

The finished connector track ready for weathering and ballast.

Label for the connector track.

As of today, the track is now complete on two of the five modules.  Most of the rest of the track has been test fit but I am still slowly distressing all of the wood ties and installing rail anchors. My best guess is that I've installed close to 350 so far...now back to work...

A close up of the track which has been distressed and had rail anchors added.

History Fridays: 2016 Railroad Hobby Show Preview

2016 Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show Flyer

With just 99 days to go until the doors open for the 48th Annual Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show, I thought I'd share some preview links to what you might expect at the show this year.  By the way, doesn't the flyer look great? I think there is one good looking module on the upper right hand corner...it certainly looks familiar...

RailroadHobbyShow.com - Amherst has rebuilt the Railroad Hobby Show website and it looks great.  There is a lot more information and a clean design. I'd encourage you to check back often for official updates from the organization - especially for the schedule of clinics.

Amherst Railway Society Facebook Page - In addition, the club also shares information about the show on their Facebook page if you want real time updates.

It's never too early to start making those hotel reservations and programming that GPS for the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA. The next 99 days are going to go quick. Hope to see you at the show this year!

Wordless Wednesday: Back to the Future

Layout Update Mondays: 3D Modeling

Some of the 3D printed models created for the layout.

For the last week, I haven't spent much time in the shop but instead have been making detail parts for the layout. One of the struggles most folks have about switching to model in O scale is the sheer amount of items which need to be created from scratch compared to HO scale. Fortunately, with the decreasing cost of 3D printing and simplicity of 3D modeling, any detail parts which are desired for a layout can simply be drawn up on a computer and then printed for minimal time and expense. This also allows customized parts if you're interested in modeling a specific railroad or location - like I am with this layout.

So far I've made about a dozen parts specific for this layout, but I have a list which has already run to 60 parts (!) and this doesn't include what is needed to model the Mallary Complex or the Young Building...seems like I am going to be busy for a little while.

Now back to the CAD program...

Layout Update Mondays: Layout Wiring

Wiring diagram for the layout.

Over the last week, I've been working on starting the process of wiring the layout.  Given how simple the layout is, there isn't really anything complicated to worry about.  However, I felt I'd break down what the plans are to keep the trains moving as well as some animated features which I hope to build over the next year or two.

The track power will be provided by good ol' DC power. Since the layout will only have one locomotive, I didn't feel the need to invest in a full DCC system.  One of my friends agreed to help build me a throttle using Arduinos to control everything - the price of which will be substantially cheaper than any DCC system on the market.  The heart of the system will be placed under the MOW module. From here, several cabs - located at three points around the layout - will be connected via a command bus which will take inputs from the throttles. The plan is to have the throttles built into the fascia instead of walk around throttles.  Again, with only one locomotive on the layout at a time, any throttle can be used to start or stop the train.  So the train could be turned on at one throttle, then the operator can walk with the train along the layout before stopping the train with one of the other throttles at the other end of the layout.

To carry both track power and the command bus, two sets of harnesses will be run between the five modules.  For the track power, I plan to use the exact same Amphenol connectors we use on our HO modular layout. These are very reliable. I've also built a command bus harness which will go along the front three modules where the throttles are located.

Beyond the basic train control needs, I plan to light and animate this layout extensively.  For this, I will have a dedicated 12VDC transformer and run this power in the same harness with the track power.  On each section of the layout, I can connect the various lighting elements and animation controls to this bus.  We've been using a similar system on our HO layout for a couple of years now with great success.

As for the types of features I plan to add, I'll keep a few a surprise until closer to show time, but basically all of the buildings will have lights on the outside and inside.  There will be at least one set of working grade crossing flashers - if not two depending upon what the budget will handle.  In addition, there will be turnout motors and dwarf turnout position signals.

That's all for now, back to installing wiring under the layout...

Wordless Wednesday: Wiring

Layout Update Mondays: Memorial Avenue Construction

Overview of the Memorial Avenue section with the scene sketched out.

Inspired by the trip up to The Big E over the last week, I've been working on the Memorial Avenue section of the layout. The scene is fairly simple with the four lanes of Memorial Avenue crossing the spur, the driveway for the Gate 9 entrance, and a small commercial building. The first step was to add the trim around the sides of the modules to hold in the scenery. The topography in this area has the spur at the low point of the scene. This means that all of the trim is added to the top of the module with the scenery graded down towards the spur. I took the time to cut all of these pieces to match the eventual finished contours and nailed them in place.

The next step was to start adding in the scenery base. For the road, I decided to use cork as the base. I choose this because it matched the exact heights for the roadbed under the track (obviously) but also to add in curbing and catch basins in later steps. Foam could be an option but I felt it would be difficult to keep the lines straight. The cork allows everything to be a bit more exacting than trying to work the grading by hand.

Cork placed for base of road.

First level of cork glued and tacked in place.

I filled the area of the road and sidewalks with a single layer of cork roadbed. This was simply glued in place with carpenters glue. The next step was to add two layers of cork to the areas where the sidewalks will eventually be. These two pieces of cork match up exactly with the height of the curbing which will be placed at the edge of the roadway. 

Cork for sidewalks added as well as some foam for the adjacent hills

Curbing for the road.

All of the curbing was cut and fitted on each side of the road.  Then all of the pieces were glued into place.  It took about 14 sections of straight curbing and two sections of 6' radius curbing for the driveway entrance of the commercial building to complete the roadway.  In addition, a catch basin was also added on the north side of the street. 

The final step was to glue a final layer of cork roadbed down along the base of the road.  This brings the height of the road just shy of the rail height - enough room so that a thin layer of joint compound can be added for the road surface in the future.  This will happen once I have the foundation finished for the commercial building in the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime, it's starting to look like a road.

Curbing and catch basins installed. Cork to raise road to rail height started on the left.

Base for road complete. Ready for final road surface.