Layout Construction–March 2011

Helix Rebuild
If at first you don’t succeed, it maybe time to try again. The helix worked great for awhile. No problems. Trains ran smoothly after a lot of tweaking. With the change in seasons and humidity, the wood changed and trains did not run as smooth. After spending a lot of time looking for a solution, I decided the swing bridges would have to be redone. The most reliable solution was to change the swing bridges into drop bridges. I decided on using a pin system for reliable alignment. Wood dowels were inserted into the bridge and matching holes drilled in ledges in the layout. Shims were used to raise the bridge to the proper height. A benefit has been access into the room is now little easier. I again used an extension cord and receptacle to connect power to the helix.

Continued Work at Denton
While looking at future scenery possibilities for Denton, I originally had the creek going straight back into backdrop.  I tried using a small mirror technique to give the perception of the creek continuing on beyond the background. The angle needed for the mirror to work, made it impossible to hide in the scenery.  For the second time, if don’t succeed, you need to try again. This time I changed the course of the creek bed to bend  out of sight to the right.

BEFORE

AFTER

I also added the foam contours for the tunnel entrance and positioned the concrete portal and wing walls.

Train Show – March 2011

The Hostlers Model Railroad Festival is the largest show of the season. This year was better than ever. There were more vendors and displays then in past shows. New vendors from outside of Utah included Colorado, Nebraska, Idaho and more. The manufacturer, Exact Rail from Provo, had a small display both to answer questions about their products. We spent all day at the show looking at everything and I attended one clinic. If there was only enough money to match the products I was sure that I needed.

An short video about some interesting animation of a dump truck. Might be something I’ll use.

Here I am attending a clinic about the proper weight for rolling stock. Free and very informative.

I made out like a bandit with all the products available from vendors. Or, did they make out like a bandit from me? We were able to cross off several things off our “Scavenger List” and add things that were never there. The last photos of the painting truck and crew will make a nice story scene for the farm house.

Layout Construction–February 2011

Denton Update
This month I spent time assembling grain bins for the elevator. A connecting platform will be built from the elevator across the tops of the bins. I also began to layout some the future building locations for the town.

I assembled the farm house and barn for the not yet named farm. This farm will also include a hen house, garden and other small details.

The grain bins did not include a base for the bins to sit on. The foundations need to simulate concrete. I cut circles from high density foam used for RC planes. Once the these are painted a concrete color, they should work great.

Layout Construction - January 2011

Laying track to Geraldine.
With the helix finished, it was now time to continue laying track to the next station on the line. Geraldine was originally created as a stop on the Milwaukee Road railroad. It was named for Almira Geraldine Rockefeller (or perhaps her daughter, Ethel Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge), the wife of William Rockefeller, the director of the railroad at the time. It is located 54 miles northwest of Lewistown and 48 miles southeast of Great Falls. Geraldine will feature a stock yard, the large Montana Elevator company and a gravel loading ramp. The ramp is not really located in Geraldine and not really for loading gravel. With artistic and operational license in mind, I attached the ramp to the end of Geraldine. The ramp was used as a different way of loading grain into box cars during the early years (see the photos below).

Turnout Control
I have mentioned the use of Bull Frog turnout controllers before, but hadn’t really discovered the best way to use them. On the upper level, I needed to make sure the control rods would be able to clear the lower level lights and operate reliably. It looks like I achieved success in the following photos. A big problem was the linkage from the fascia to the actuator. I cut apart a barrier strip and used only one at a time. Small screws located in the holes are tighten to clamp on the rod (actually another name for coat hanger wire). This allows for adjustment and easy assembly or disassembly.

Train Show – January 2011

We attended the Ophir, Tintic & Western Model Railroad Club 20th Annual Train Show at Thanksgiving Point on January 29th. This always an interesting show. A smaller show then others, it is well attended by the public with a good selection of vendors.

I was able to pick up several structure kits and a new DCC decoder for a locomotive. All of the structures are kits that need to be assembled and painted. Most will be located in the town of Denton.

Layout Construction–December 2010

Building Construction
I built a Feed and Seed building kit for Lewistown. This industry will receive covered hoppers of grain, fertilizer, chemicals and box cars of other agricultural products. It ship box cars of bagged fertilizer and other agricultural products. The name of this company is the Lewistown Fertilizer & Grain.
The building need to be modified to it in the space. One half inch needed to removed from the rear of the building to allow enough clearance on the track side. I added a door on the left side to create a small office area and truck loading dock. The roof on the main building are individual shingles created by making small cuts every 1/4” along the length of heavy brown paper. Then a strip 3/8” wide was cut. The strip was then applied to the roof. A lot of work, but worth the final result. Final weathering and details will be added when the surrounding scenery is finished.

More Buildings
I have been looking for a propane distribution center. This particular kit has been out of production for several years. After searching hobby shops locally and on the internet, I finally was able to win one eBay for a reasonable price. The building had already been assembled. In shipment there was some damage. It will be a challenge to resurrect the building and make it fit in to the space.