It's not all modeling

As mentioned previously in this blog, not all my time is spent modeling, but rail fanning the real thing. A number of us - Ken Heyl, Allan Silverberg, Jim Martin, and Stan Swope - travel to The Horseshoe Curve area in western Pennsylvania two or three times a year to photograph the prototype. We've just returned from such a trip with several unique photos.

Showing up early one morning was this Norfolk Southern heritage unit remembering the Southern Railroad. It's one of my personal favorites. As part of its 30th anniversary celebration two or three years ago, Norfolk Southern painted one each of some 20 engines in the colors of railroads absorbed through mergers and acquisitions. Each of the heritage units is used in regular daily service, and have become highly sought "targets" by rail photographers throughout the NS territory. They even enjoy their own section as a part of the NS website.

We also spent a day "chasing" the Everett Railroad, a short line that originates in Hollidaysburg, just outside of Altoona, and travels to Martinsburg, switching several industries along the way. In the photo below, it's seen returning from Martinsburg via Roaring Spring, and passing the historic Roaring Spring station.

It was a great week, and now back to work on the P & LE.

Adding a small industry

On the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, just across from the famous St. Louis Arch, is this small oil unloading industry. It has the storage/office building of some sort, an oil unloading platform, and a series of storage tanks. It can be seen from I-70 just before the highway turns west back on to the bridge; however, this shot was taken from the St. Louis-Chicago Amtrak train about a month ago.

The second photo is my effort to replicate the facility; the building, oil unloading platform, and storage tanks are placed here simply to check space parameters and perspective. Obviously, there is a great deal of work to do in terms of adding piping, possibly more tanks, painting, detailing, and weathering. But I think when completed, it will make a nice scene in a corner at the entrance to Paducah.

The four white tanks in the foreground are from a Walthers kit; the four large tanks behind are scratch built from Plastruc materials. I may add 2-4 more; undecided right now. The unloading platform and building are from an estate sale.

Little Steps

Sometimes in model railroading, progress is measured in little steps. Such is the case with the track bumpers seen at the right.The bumpers started as a four-part Walthers kit. After they were put together, I spray painted them with Tamiya brand yellow (a bright color). Next, in a learning process, I worked for the first time with Pan Pastels, a makeup-like powder product highly recommended by well-known modeler Tony Koester. Using Burnt Sienna Extra Dark (nearly black) and Burnt Sienna (rust) from their Rust & Earth palette, I experimented with using first one and then the other first, with "wiping" and "dabbing" the colors on with makeup sponges, and finally, decided the best result -- for me, at least -- was wiping on the rust color and then dabbing on the dark color. I finished by lightly spraying with Dullcoat. Sharing the experience with Tony, he assured me that I really didn't need to use the dulling spray at the end. The thing I especially  like about the powders is the ease in wiping them off and starting over, plus the fact that I do not airbrush. These little detail items add a lot to the P&LE. It should be noted I have not yet done anything about ground cover, so this scene is far from finished.

Paducah Yard Gains Structures

I just realized it's been more than three months since my last post, but rest assured I haven't been idle during all that time. A lot of the work has been track work and wiring and not leant itself to photos, but some has been around the Paducah shop area (above). The warehouse in the foreground is an addition to the P&LE, as is the car shop farther back. The warehouse came from the late Bob Buschart's railroad; the car shop was a purchase several years ago in Ohio. The two box cars at the warehouse are models I finished in the past week, and yet to be weathered. The two tracks to the immediate right of the warehouse have to be moved, along with the warehouse, to the right about two inches to allow for more space for the tractor trailers on the other side. A corner of the Dean Freytag-built engine shop can be seen at the far right.

Allegheny Mountains taking shape

The Allegheny Mountain range as a backdrop for the P&LE is starting to take shape as seen here behind the coal loading facility. First, I cut two sheets of 3/4" pink insulation board freehand and glued them together. A two-inch piece was too thick to allow clearance on the outside track.

Next (below) came covering the insulation boards with plaster cloth, using the Woodland Scenics product.

(Below) Testing the look ... so far, so good. The next step, from a suggestion by professional model builder Tom McKenzie (a member of our Thursday night group, the Gandy Dancers) is to cover the entire surface with dry wall mud. That will be followed by paint, the addition of rock outcroppings, and finally trees, hundreds of trees.

I've got a long way to go, but I'm enjoying finally starting on scenery, and since the reason for the P&LE to exist is primarily hauling coal, the coal facility seems to be the logical place to start.

Signature photo

This photo, which will become the signature photo of the P & LE on the NMRA Gateway Division website, is the result of experimenting with camera settings and some long range help from expert Richard Schumacher, the developer of the website. With the Dean Freytag-built engine house as a backdrop, the photo shows the P&LE engines, engines painted to represent the James Creek Railway (named for fellow modeler David James), and a Buckeye Western engine, from the railroad of the late Dave White. The website is undergoing an extensive renovation by Richard, and while not complete, there is enough finished for him to put it up on the web, and it's outstanding.  The site includes a number of St. Louis-area layouts--complete with descriptions and photos, a long list of "how to" articles by a number of fine St. Louis modelers, listings of events, the division's newsletter, and much more. With its new platform, the website is much more flexible, and becomes more evolutionary. You can access it at www.gatewaynmra.org. Take a look!

Starting scenery at coal yard

Just starting the coal yard scenery with landforms to give a distant Allegheny Mountain appearance. This shows two sheets of 3/4" insulation board carved to represent the mountains on the horizon and then glued together. A 2" insulation board thickness did not allow enough clearance between the wall and the track, and the two sheets together provided the added advantage of allowing for slightly more contour. Next, this will be covered by plaster cloth, painted green, and finally trees and rocks will be added. The plaster cloth and painting will be done off site of the railroad, but trees and rocks will be added when the landforms are in place. It just keeps moving forward.