Layout Construction – November 2011

Geraldine Area
I did manage to get some work done on the layout during November. I continued work on the Red Coulee Creek bridge. There is a lot of work that goes into construction of a bridge. Most of that work is not really interesting enough to photograph. What is more interesting is the work I did on the gravel dump at the west end of Geraldine. The first step was the construction of the truck dump ramp itself. This is a wood craftsman kit from Blair Line LLC. This was an easy and fun kit to build. Now that the dump ramp was built, I knew how high to make the scenery for this area. This dump ramp was actually used a grain loading ramp in the early 1900’s. I have updated the industry for the time period I model and to create an different type industrial siding for the railroad. The rest of the photos show the foam scenery construction for the area.

New Structure and Vehicle.
I assembled the Laser-Art Structures shed kit from Branch Line Trains to be used as a speeder shed for Denton. A Durango Press Fairmont speeder from J L Innovative will eventually sit in of this building waiting for its next run down the line.

No gravel dump would be complete without a front end loader to help load the dump trucks and move rail cars when the railroad is not available. This front end loader is a metal kit from Woodland Scenics.

Wasatch Rails 2011 – November 2011

The First Show of the Model Railroad Season
The leaves have fallen from the trees and the temperatures are dropping, but you really know it’s fall when the announcements for model railroad shows start to appear. The first show of the season is the Wasatch Rails in Salt Lake City. This year was a good gathering of fellow modelers. The show is sponsored by the Wastach Division of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA). There was a good selection of layouts and vendors. A new feature this year were clinics sponsored by the Utah Society of Model Railroaders. The clinics included weathering, soldering, foam scenery construction and a Boy Scouts Merit Badge. I attended several of the clinics and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Show Treasures
As always, you can’t pass up some of the great deals you find at these shows. This year was no exception. Among the treasures were several more cars to add to my collection. A Milwaukee Road box car and a hopper car.

For the layout, I purchased a chain link fence kit which will be used for the oil depot at Lewistown and the Heath gypsum plant. I also procured several switch stands to be used in Falls yard when that area is finished. All in all, a very enjoyable time.