Heath USG Gypsum Plant
After spending a lot of time working on the Denton area, it is now beginning work on the building in the Lewistown area of the layout. It has been several years since I built the Heath Gypsum plant from a Life Like Supply House kit. There was still many things I could do to improve the overall look of this building.
An overall view from late September 2014
(Left Photo) Since this is a major industry in the area the building needed a signage that reflected its importance. This sign is approximately 4’x8’ scale size and faces the crossing leading into the parking area behind the building.
(Right Photo) One of the car setouts for the plant is a chemical tank car unloading area at the farthest end of the structure. The chemical holding tank is from a DPM Inks kit that I had decided to cannibalize for use on other parts of the layout. The fence is from the Walthers chain link fence kit. The small pump shed is from Branchline Trains shed laser-art kit. When this photo was taken the pump hose had not yet been attached to the shed. You can see the hose in one of the photos below.
At the front of the structure is the receiving area for the incoming gypsum in covered hoppers. To create the unloading grate under the rails, to get started, I removed several ties from the track. Then used other ties to build a box for the grate to sit on. The ties were then painted a concrete color and the inside of the box was painted flat black to give the illusion of depth. After the paint had dried, I cut down a side grille for an F unit upgrade from Detail Associates to the proper length and glued to the top of the box. To move the gypsum from the unloading bin into the plant, I went to my scrap box and constructed a box from the bin to building. The cover for the box is an extra hatch from a covered hopper for servicing access.
(Left Photo) The last piece that was needed for the gypsum unloading area is the access stairs from the building to the unloading bin area. This was a simple construction of Plastruct shapes and diamond pattern sheet. The hand railing is bent wire glued to uprights. The stairs are from the extremely valuable scrap parts bin that everyone should keep on hand.
(Right Photo) To help keep the water supply constant for the plant, I used the Plastruct tank kit. The kit is pretty much built as is except for the hatch at the bottom left of the tank. To give it a more industrial look, I bought some small head sewing pins and drilled holes in the access cover. The pins were cut short and inserted in the hatch at regularly spaced intervals.
(Left Photo) The rear trackside door needed a platform or at least a stair case. I had considered a rail car loading platform, but decided that it would interfere with the chemical unloading area. So I decided on a simple platform that would be additional outside storage of barrels. A lone red barrel at the bottom of the platform will eventually be a mini-scene built around a hazmat crew. More to come on that later.
(Right Photo) The final enhancements to the gypsum plant was the addition of pallets and other junk to side of the main loading area. Every business has excess piles of unused items lying around waiting for a specific use or disposal.
